Valentine's Dinner at Hue Restobar

So it was Valentine's Day and I had made reservations at Hue Restobar at the Amara Hotel. It was supposed to be a surprise (surprise as in dunno what to expect, not surprise as in WOW!) for Sumdumful, except Simon didn't know it was supposed to be a surprise and told her I was gonna bring her here. Anyway, we have walked past this place several times but had never really paid much attention to it.

Hue Restobar (pronounced as 'Hway')
Our Vietnamese Restaurant and Bar, offers authentic Vietnamese cuisine in a contemporary and minimalist interior. It is the perfect setting for a sumptuous lunch, a romantic dinner or a relaxing after-hours hangout.

I had picked this place because they were offering an affordable set dinner including glass of red/white wine. I was expecting more of a Vietnamese menu (perhaps presented french style), but it turned out more like European food that's slightly Vietnamese influenced. Well, not that I'm complaining actually.

When we arrived, the restaurant looked pretty good with its minimalist decor in dim lighting and rose petals strewn around on the floor. However, they were playing mushy love ballads which made me cringe at times. Sitting through an entire dinner with mushy love songs is overkill and unbearable if you ask me. I really hope they play better, more appropriate music like chillout, lounge music on normal days as the ambience would have been a million times better!!

We were the first to arrive, which was good in the sense that it kept the suspense for us as we couldn't see beforehand how the next course would be served. I'm sure we must have spoilt the fun for the rest of the couples everytime our courses arrived! Bwahahahaha!

They promptly served us our wines when we sat down. The first course was Roasted Pumpkin Soup with Seafood Quenelle. The soup was very delicious and it an excellent smooth, creamy consistency. The Seafood Quenelle is something like a poached dumpling made with mashed seafood - a bit like a soft fishball with seafood flavour.

The next course of starter was this Warm Salad of Scallop and Endives Duck with Grand Marnier. Interesting flavours nicely presented. It made me look forward with anticipation to see how the rest of the courses would be like. Sauce can look sexy sometimes if drizzled sexily on a plate.

This was my choice of Main Course - Spring Chicken simmered with Red Wine and Grilled King Oyster Mushrooms. I wasn't sure there were any Grilled King Oyster Mushrooms on my plate though. I think the chef somehow decided to serve it with Sumdumful's Cod instead. :-S

The aforementioned Sumdumful's Grilled Cod Fillet with Braised and Crayfish Sauce. The slices you see are probably the grilled king mushrooms that should have been on my plate. HAHA. The cod was delicious. OK, actually, cod is almost always delicious, but this cod was pan seared perfectly and the sauce complemented it beautifully.

Eat finish already. Full. Burp.

Dessert - Champagne Sago Soup with Summer Fruits. We couldn't really taste any champagne in the sago. The summer fruits were an assortment of berries (strawberries, raspberries, blackcurrents etc) cooked with sugar until the juice reduces into a sauce. However, it was way too SOUR. Not enough sugar.

Ok, at least the Chocolate Pralines were nice.

One glass of wine each is never enough for us. We also drank some draft Hoegaarden.

Yes, this "I Love You" cushion is mushy. But not my fault, it's free! At least I HOPE it is, cuz I took it from the table. And it's smooth and nice to squeeze.

Overall, it was a pretty good experience, the food was good and thumbs up for the service. Pity about the music though. *EEeWWW*