Review Pelanggan untuk Vong Kitchen - Alila Hotel SCBD

Australian Grilled Lamb Chops. Broccolini, tomato harissa and crispy potatoes. The main star was clearly the lamb. The potatoes tasted okey, but not fantastic. The lamb was good. It had that sweetness to it that cut the strong lamb meat smell. It's not 100% gone. Maybe around 80%. It's a good thing for me. Some people like their lamb to have no gamey or lamb distinctive flavor, some even like to have a beef kinda flavor on their lamb. For me, it's nonsense. If I want to taste beef, then I'll go for the beef. Why go for lamb which has more cholesterol to it, what a bullcrap. The portion was quite big but the meat itself wasn't that substantial. The greenies and potatoes filled 70% of that plate. 

Half Kilo of Australian Ribeye. There's no chance you'll eat this alone. It's huge and pure meat. Well, we got to share, that's why it came medium well. There's no way I'd order other than medium rare steak. It kinda surprised me that the meat wasn't tough eventhough it'd been cooked medium well. Nice quality of steak and they cooked it well. Btw, the sauce, I don't get it. Why ruin the already good piece of meat with unnecessary sauce. I'll come back for the steak next time and ask for no sauce. 

Oh one more thing. I don't know who is he but that time a man came to our table and asked whether everything was good. I told him that the taste was good but the presentation of the steak was ridiculously pathetic. Then he defended himself and saying that they want to keep it simple. Just steak and sauce. I totally agree with that statement, steak is supposed to be served as simple as possible. But this one looks kinda messy. Weird cut and way too saucey. It's my opinion, not really matter.

Tiger Prawns a la Planca. Generous amount of fillings. Prawns, mussels and broccoli in green curry. For me they did a great job on the green curry, not too rich but creamy enough. I just hate it when the broth overwhelm the main ingredients so yeah, I do give more credit on this. However, the fillings itself wasn't that great. The seafood was sweet and tender but that's it. Nothing lousy, nothing special. For me, I did more enjoy the ambiance rather than the food itself. Oh, one more thing. It served with ginger rice. To be blunt, it just tasted like hainan rice. A delish hainan rice. I think they used basmati rice and it gave nice texture. It tasted good and super fragrant. Love it.

Roasted Duck. Dry aged duck, carrots, celeriac with citrus chili sauce. 3 chunks of duck meat and 3 piles of shredded duck. The duck was quite tender with slight gamey taste. It's weird but I did prefer the shredded duck. It lost the nice tender texture but it tasted richer and homier. It had that very clean kind of sweetness. The citrus sauce was so so, to be honest it lacked of zestiness. However, still a solid plate of duck and not too mention, the plating was dope. So colorful and elegant. 

All of my friends who tried this claimed that it's the best dish of the day. Well, I do have different opinion. For me, the best dish of that day was easily the lamb chops (I've posted the review). The duck was good but not mind blowing. There's no oomph to it. It's quite tasty but that's it. Nothing special to remember. There is no right or wrong. When it comes to food, it's all about preferences. All the best I can do is giving my own opinion. You don't have to agree with me, better try it youself.

Molten Chocolate Cake. If you check my previous post, you'll see how I love their mango panna cotta. Compare to that one, this one is clearly nothing. The chocolate wasn't bitter enough (I prefer the dark bitter chocolate, it's my preference though), the texture wasn't airy enough, the vanilla ice cream wasn't creamy enough. Everything was lack of something. It tasted like mediocre molten chocolate cake. There's nothing special, nothing stand out. I've tasted a lot better chocolate cake. If you happen to come here, I suggest you to go for the mango panna cotta. Btw, it's totally edible don't get me wrong. I just expect something more for that price. 

Mango Panna Cotta. The plating was superb, it gave that satisfaction just by looking at it. Further, it made me wanna scoop that goodness. The mango panna cotta was quite strong. It tasted sweet, rich and deep at the same time. It's good but not mind blowing. The highlight for me was the texture. So soft, clean, velvety and smooth. That was my first thought. Then I tried to eat the mango panna cotta with the fresh fruit they put aside. Dang! The sourness and tanginess really boosted the mango panna cotta. It's no longer child play. It tasted so refreshing and I felt like it's hugging my soul. 

I ain't dessert kind of guy, so my opinion might miss in every aspect. But 1 thing for sure, I did enjoy this one and I'll have no complain if I've to eat this every single day.

Yeah, it's pricey. But let's not ignore the magnificent ambiance and great services, I think it's worth to try. If you have special occasions to celebrate or someone to impress, I'll recommend this one.