Violet Herbs, Tanjong Pagar
This year, I will be celebrating my birthday by vacationing. Yeay! Sadly, I won't be able to celebrate it together with my bestie because she's going to travel with her sister at the same time. So after reading the online review on Violet Herbs, the so-called affordable fine dining place in Tanjong Pagar area, we decided to give it a try for my pre-birthday dinner (Are we allowed to celebrate birthday in advance, btw?). The restaurant is located along the shophouses at Tras Street in Tanjong Pagar. I seldom go to this area and the area turns out to be quite hipster. There are a lot of pubs and restaurants which open at night offering both casual and fine dining. If you are looking for a hotel to spend the night in this area, you may consider staying at Orchid Hotel or Amara Hotel as both hotels are located pretty nearby.
The older I've become, I prefer a quiet little celebration with those closest people that I love. I guess you really lose interest in celebrating birthday with a bang since you are getting...older too. Anyway, we decided to go the pasta route and we ordered one pasta each. A complimentary appetiser is provided on the house. It looks quite interesting on the plate. The green cream is actually butter (which I initially thought was wasabi). The ball which looks like medium-sized potato is actually toasted bread while the gooey thing on the spoon is raw salmon in tartar sauce. The taste of the appetiser is not bad and the bread is served warm, right after toasting. Yum!
When the first plate of pasta came to our table, we were kinda confused because we did not remember ordering something black to come with our pasta. Turns out this is the rendition of Violet Herbs of Carbonara pasta. The black crackers are made from squid ink. The crackers taste not bad but you must eat them fast because they become soggy in a short time. The carbonara are in the al-dente side and it taste so-so for me.
The next pasta is called Angel Hair Pasta and it is served with a generous amount of sakura ebi. I wish Violet Herbs can be more generous with their pasta portion. The concept of fine dining is always tricky for me, is the portion supposed to be small?
Portion aside, this Angel Hair Pasta served by Violet Herbs taste very nice. The spiciness level is just right without being too overwhelming and the texture of the pasta is on the chewy side, which I like.
If you'd like to go for their main course, their miso cod is getting a lot of good raving from diners. So you can probably go for that. Make sure to take a walk around Duxton area after your dinner to enjoy the rest of the night.