Celebrating A Birthday
From Year To Year
On Tuesday night, I arranged to celebrate my friend’s birthday at ESORA. As Nina’s elder daughter, Chloe, dropped in to say hello before dinner, a selfie was in order. The last time we had a photo together was with my eldest stepchild a year ago at An Iconic Ball. Since then, a lot has happened and we were very excited to catch up with one another. So it was wonderful that we had a leisurely 8 course meal to chat over. In fact, with all the generous extras slipped in, we ended up having over a dozen courses.
Lo & Behold; They Did It Again!
This was our first time at ESORA, helmed by Chef Shigeru Koizumi. Well, it was everything I expected, as the first Kappo-style restaurant in the Lo & Behold’s stable of dining venues. The ambience is serene but not stuffy. In fact, it reminds me of their French counterpart, Odette, which recently won top place as Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants:https://www.theworlds50best.com/asia/en/asias-50-best-restaurants.html.
Muted color tones, clean lines and elemental décor are just enough to delight without being distracting. Although the dining room looked inviting, I was relieved to be seated at the counter to watch the team “on shift”. I was heading to the hospital after dinner myself so I was ready to be fed some positive vibes.
Experiencing Japanese Cuisine & Teas
Chef Koizumi prepared a menu that made us feel as if we were traveling through Japan in spring. Patiently, he explained how various dishes were put together with special regional ingredients. Furthermore these were paired with various teas served in wine glasses by Chef’s charming wife. It really was a fabulous feast and I’ll try to walk you through the experience as I recall:
We were welcomed with an amuse-bouche that was carefully constructed before our very eyes. The young man carefully laid out the strawberries, foie gras and flowers on Monaka wafers before presenting them to us in a traditional wicker basket. Before critics roll their eyes at the Insta-perfect set-up, I say pop that morsel in and eat with your mouth closed. It is delicious, even with the sparkling pink tea it is paired with.
Kagoshima
After that we had huge fava beans stuffed with peas, clams & uni. When the dish was introduced, the nerd in me couldn’t help but wonder if it would affect people with G6PD Deficiency. Then I actually ate it and could think of nothing else but the present. That was without a doubt my favourite dish, even at the end of the meal. It wasn’t just Insta-perfect; it was perfect.
Tottori
The next dish was easy to polish off quickly: fried abalone. In fact, I had mine and half of Nina’s as she was pacing herself for the marathon meal. And this is why I’ll always be one and a half times her size.
ESORA: Spring
Sashimi was presented amid sprigs of cherry blossom to reflect the season, and we were recommended an order to best experience the flavours. We had eel, followed by baby octopus, baby tuna, horse mackerel and a very yummy salmon package.
Hokkaido
From Hokkaido, we had a lovely monkfish soup served with zucchini and yuzu. The milky soup made me want to challenge anyone who uses the phrase “chicken soup for the soul”; it’s monkfish soup or nothing. Since I had night duty later, I couldn’t help but wish I could bring a whole pot with me for comfort.
Chiba
After the soup I felt pretty full to be honest, but the grilled kinmedai was so painstakingly cut and grilled to perfection, I couldn’t refuse. The succuluent fish was served with bamboo, mountain vegetables and flowering rapeseed. Apparently, this is traditionally served at springtime to celebrate the end of winter.
Shiga
After the pleasing tomato-based palate cleanser, the meal continued with omi wagyu served with burdock, yamawasabi and aged vinegar. I had heard a lot about omi wagyu in general, ranking highly with Kobe & Matsusaka wagyu. In my last trip to Nozawa, we took great pains to organise a meal featuring Matsusaka wagyu. It appears that cows yielding Matsusaka beef are massaged with shochu and fed beer, while the ones from the Okaki farm in Shiga yielding Omi beef are fed a well-balanced diet and clean lake water. Well, I don’t know which is better, the alcoholic cow or the teetotaller. But I have no doubt Chef knows his way around preparing both.
Tottori
So the great joke is that when I made my reservation, I explained that I was trying to reduce my carbohydrate intake. However when I begged to be excused from the rice dishes, the ESORA staff mentioned that their Matsuba crab donabe was one of their specials. Consequently we agreed that I would try a small portion. However when I saw the chef mixing the crab meat with the rice in that black earthernware pot, I couldn’t help but beg for more. After polishing off that bowlful of goodness topped with roe, I thanked Chef and he laughingly offered me a second helping. However I had to restrain myself for real this time in anticipation of dessert.
Sweet Ending
Before we had dessert, we were served a pre-dessert which was a little caramel apple shell filled with ice-cream, topped with a dainty wafer butterfly, in the prettiest of floral plates.
Dessert itself was an orange soufflé, which was served in a baked orange. I took so many photos that by the time I was ready to spritz top half of the orange over the ice-cream, it was starting to melt from the hot bottom. The second dessert was wasanbon caramel ice-cream with cheese, topped with a very generous mountain of shaved black truffle. Then Chef & his wife presented Nina with a lovely chestnut cake. It was, as the rest of the meal had been, thoughtful and exquisite.
After dessert, I enjoyed a hot glass of matcha as a series of confections were presented as petit fours. As we left ESORA, I hoped I would have a good night shift, as it had been such a wonderful evening so far.
Celebrating The End Of Night Shift
Fortunately, the shift was smooth with enough interesting cases to discuss with the juniors but not too many that they felt they had to rush through anything. In celebration, I invited the girls to join me for breakfast at the Tanglin Club. While it was not as swanky as ESORA and we were all pretty exhausted, I appreciated our bonding over bacon & eggs. Maybe we’ll see some of these paediatric and family medicine residents again, maybe not. Whatever it is, I hope they’ll remember the good times and of course, the clinical nuggets from their days in the Children’s Emergency.
