Explore
TOS RSS feed
TOS Twitter
Tippling Club
Competitions
- Win tickets to the Singapore Chinese Orchestra
- Win tickets to Ciné Club at the Alliance Française de Singapour
- Win tickets to W!LD Rice's Animal Farm at the Drama Centre Theatre (21 Apr-8 May)
- Win tickets to The Tempest at The Esplanade
Poll
Subscribe
Subscribe to Time Out Singapore
24 copies for $40. Loads of the best Singapore news, listings and reviews for just $40!
Print
Emailpublished on Apr 29 2009 - 14:15
Some chefs make the mistake of labelling molecular gastronomy a cuisine, rather than the culinary toolset that it actually is; hence, underneath all their faffing with foams there’s nothing but hot air. Fortunately, the duo behind the Tippling Club, chef Ryan Clift and award-winning mixologist Matthew Bax, is not mistaken. The humour and sensibility throughout their delightful, thought-provoking menu – a champagne- and-kümmel cocktail is called F*** the Sub Prime – are proof of this.
 |
 |
The idea behind the five-, ten- and 15-course dinner menus is that every course is a food-and-drink duet, each tailored to match the other. Consider fat Hokkaido scallops in crisp golden shells of ‘potato spaghetti’, garnished with basil jelly dice and sweet onion purée: alone, it’s merely a pleasant jumble of sugar, starch and umami, but thrown into sharp, delicious relief when washed down with acidic Rocky Valley Riesling. Similarly, braised Wagyu beef is served with horseradish-potato purée and wrapped in a transparent beetroot gelatine envelope to match its velvety Malbec counterpart.
The most striking combination on the five-course menu came with the dessert: chocolate-curry mousse and sweetcorn ice cream under a dome of pineapple and saffron bubbles. The fruity, Japanese-style curry melded perfectly with the bitter chocolate. Partnering the plate was Pharmacy, a cocktail tribute to British art provocateur Damien Hirst (it’s named after the Notting Hill restaurant he co-owned). Served in a pill bottle filled with gin, diners are instructed to squirt a syringe filled with Aperol liqueur and drop in an intensely tart lime-sherbet capsule, before shaking and taking a sip. Sweet, vegetal, astringent and sour notes mingled in witty mimicry of cough syrup, harmonising with the mousse’s cardamom accents.
An overdose of creativity does occasionally overshadow the execution. In one appetiser, lovely Sauternes-infused basil seeds and frozen powdered foie gras totally outshone the lumpen cromesqui they were only meant to garnish. The chicken and chips fell flat too, combining deep-fried, paper-thin wafers of chicken breast purée and juicy chicken ‘oysters’ for a jokey take on junk food. It left me with greasy fingers and a disappointed palate, so I was grateful for the cleansing tartness of the yuzu-choya cocktail on the side.
A golden scallop
Dining in the daylight affords an opportunity to appreciate visual details that get lost in the murk of romantic lighting: a natural spotlight is crucial in picking out, for example, the three shades of cauliflower served with barramundi. The juicy, slow-poached fish is covered in a lick-the-plate-gorgeous cauliflower-cheese purée (‘inspired by my mum’, Clift says), and served with pickled purple cauliflower and a garlicky ‘couscous’ of crumbled green cauliflower – the dish is topped with coriander leaves and candied slivers of orange zest to add a few extra shades.
Don’t even think of driving home if you’re opting for the works. Upon departure, dinner guests are presented with a sachet of ‘tippling tea’ as a morning-after remedy, which I’m grateful to report worked like a charm. Dinner prices are rather steep for these times, but innovation of this calibre never comes cheap.
Words by:
Christopher TanTippling Club details
Address
8D Dempsey Road
Transport
Nearby Stations: Take a taxi
Telephone 6475 2217
Main courses from $29.00 to $195.00
Open Lunch Thu-Sat noon- 2.30pm; dinner Tue-Sat, 6pm-midnight.
If this map or venue details are incorrect then please Contact Us
Want more?
- Marmalade Pantry - Modern
- Corduroy & Finch - Modern
- Food for Thought - Modern
- Nosh - Modern
- The Screening Room Bistro - Modern
- Caffe Pralet - Modern
- Brown Sugar Café - HAS MOVED LOCATION WATCH THIS SPACE - Modern
- The White Rabbit - Western 448m
- Barracks - International 38m
- La Forketta - Italian 46m
- Jones the Grocer - Modern 46m
- Margarita's - Mexican 72m
- Hacienda - Bars 200m
- Red Dot Brewhouse - Bars 277m
- Camp - Bars 46m
- Margarita's - Bars 72m
- Society Bar - Bars 127m
- About the site |
- Contact Us |
- Privacy policy |
- Media |
- Submissions |
- Jobs at Time Out |
- Advertising |
- License our content
© 2007 - 2010 Time Out Group Ltd. All rights reserved. All material on this site is © Time Out.
I think the reviewer calling it the Rip-Off Club hit the nail on the head - we were there last night - ordered 2 Pisco Sours at 35 bucks a piece that we thought was steep but I love Pisco Sours and was prepared to pay - when the bill for 128 bucks came - 64 bucks a drink we balked - are they kidding??? The drink dominated by a very large block of ice that consumed the bulk of the volume of the glass was frankly mediocre - how do I know - 5 years of living in Lima Peru, the capital of Pisco Sours gives one some perspective...at 35 bucks it was a ridiculous price (at that price the ice cube was worth 20 bucks) - at 64 (an input error it was claimed) it was insulting - we left 50 bucks for the drinks, far more than the drinks were worth, and left. I have to conclude it is a bunch of new expats in Singapore thinking the locals and long term residents have more money than sense - I think they will find out that's not the case - I give them a year at most before word get's around and all they get is the unsuspecting tourist. I feel sorry for the tourist...
Posted on Sun 24 May 2009 10:42:26
Clearly the Time Out reviewers want to be friends. Some of the food is very nice. Still more creative than good. Buy a dehydration machine and then remove water from any ingredients and then apply it over and over again. Sooo creative... And the staff, faithfully memorising long stories about the food and then terrorising the customers for every dish. Annoying. All of the drinks are very sweet and not suited for dinner. And the key problem is the price. At half price what they are asking - maybe it would be a decent place.
Posted on Tue 03 Mar 2009 14:43:02
By far the best culinary experience of my life. This easily beats Cliff restaurant and destroys Il Lido. We recently had our honeymoon in Singapore and did all the fine dining restaurants. Ryan the Chef found out it was our honeymoon and laid it on beautifully. This restaurant and the service is world-beating. Much better than the over-rated Tetsuya's, and a touch above the amazing Claude's in Sydney. Do yourself a favour and treat your loved one to an amazing culinary adventure. Not to mention the creativity of both the food and the cocktails. Not a rip-off at all. Just appropriately pricing a meal you will never forget. Thanks to Ryan to a very special meal to top off a great honeymoon.
Posted on Sat 14 Feb 2009 10:28:39
I have no idea what the previous good reviews were about as this place should be renamed the Rip Off club. While a nice idea - pairing with tapas and cocktails, it does not make up for the abominably high prices, tiny portions and overall no value for money. Overpriced and underdelivers - you have been warned!
Posted on Tue 09 Dec 2008 13:06:10
Tippling Club is simply just amazing although it's already getting hard to get a seat on weekends. I've been 4 times now but the last two times we had to wait for a seat. The best bar in Singapore perhaps Asia at the moment. A must for drink fans !
Posted on Wed 26 Nov 2008 09:07:51