Mezza9, Grand Hyatt
It's been years since I last dined at Mezza9. It's one of those places that used to be super hip and fabulous...the "in" place to be seen dining at. Somehow, over the years, it's slowly but surely lost (a bit of) its glamorous luster. It's somewhat faded into the wallflower background of the 90's amidst the gleaming new restaurants in our ever-changing metropolis. It was very telling, when Lips and I walked in, without reservations, on a Friday night, that we got a table immediately. Throughout the night, the restaurant was, at most, half-filled. It used to be that you couldn't get a table without reservations.
Mezza9 is like an upscale, fine-dining version of ahawker centre food court, where you get a diverse mix of international cuisines all under one roof, spanning Japanese, Chinese, local, and western fare. Save for the western grill and desserts, which are delicious, I say ditch the rest of the cuisines. You just don't get your money's worth with the rest. Imagine paying twice as much for chilli crab that's half as good as Jumbo's. That said, every once a while, the Japanese cuisine section churns out a couple of stellar dishes.
Service here has remained consistently affable and attentive. We like their professionalism, attention to our preferences and quirks, without being overly intrusive. Do remember that this place has a dress code as well. I know I'm not particularly consistent when it comes to noticing (or remembering) whether a place has a dress code but Mezza9 is one of those place I've always remembered (I don't know why though) that has a dress code.
Mezza9's Set Dinner ($79) is a steal, with all of its star players all available for order in the 3 course meal. The Blue Swimmer Crab Cakes appetizer kicked off the meal on a very high note. This is an absolute must-try here. 2 gargantuan balls of crabmeat are breaded and fried then served alongside a remoulade sauce.
We loved how sweet and moist and textured the crabmeat is. In fact, I liked it so much I actually took the trouble of removing every (well, almost!) single piece of parsley laced in this! Best crab cakes ever.
The Char-grilled Yakitori Skewers of chicken balls, beef cubes and vegetables paled in comparison with the brilliant crab cakes, but they were good on their own. Brushed with a stickily sweet yakitori sauce that lent some smokiness, the meats were juicy and tender.
The perfectly portioned Char-grilled Tenderloin was full-bodied (it walked the fine line between the American Angus flavour and Japanese kobe style) and done to a perfect medium, served atop sauteed green beans, roasted mushrooms and thyme bearnaise sauce on the side. Save for the overcooked and way too soft beans, this was a reasonably well executed dish.
The Market Fish-of-the-Day, a delicate monk fish, was a perfectly grilled main. It was soft and super moist, seasoned just right so the natural flavour of the fish comes through every bite. The sauteed spinach was also simply seasoned with garlic, providing a nice plain background to the simplicity of the fish. This was good enough to render the sweetish tomato-base sauce and lemon redundant.
The Rotisserie Chicken was a hugely portioned main, with crisp golden skin and succulent meat. That said, this could have been marinated longer for more flavour to seep into the flesh. Rocket leaves, grilled peppers, and caramelized onions lent variety and texture to the dish.
For dessert, we got the Cheese Plate paired with very tangy strawberry marmalade, moist and wine-soaked fruit bread, and fresh grapes. We noted that the pairing of each of the cheese with their adjacent counterpart was brilliant. The tangy marmalade enhanced the fruity notes of the soft bottom left cheese, the nutty fruit bread contrasted well with the salty pungency of the medium hard cheese, while the clear freshness of the grapes balanced out the blue cheese.
The Chocolate Fondant is Mezza9's signature dessert, with coffee and dark cherry sauce, chocolate cookies and Valrhona chocolate ice-cream. Super rich and strictly for the sweet toothed, which probably includes every female. I would have preferred vanilla ice-cream and a stronger, more bitter coffee sauce to add layers to the overt chocolate tones.
The crusty fresh-out-of-the-oven complimentary Bread and chilled salsa made for a substantial and pleasant start to the meal.
Mezza9
Grand Hyatt Hotel, Mezzanine level
10 Scotts Road
Tel: 6887 5942
Open Mondays to Saturdays from 12noon to 2.30 for lunch;
Daily from 6pm to 10.30pm for dinner;
Sunday brunch from 11.30am to 3pm
Website
Mezza9 is like an upscale, fine-dining version of a
Service here has remained consistently affable and attentive. We like their professionalism, attention to our preferences and quirks, without being overly intrusive. Do remember that this place has a dress code as well. I know I'm not particularly consistent when it comes to noticing (or remembering) whether a place has a dress code but Mezza9 is one of those place I've always remembered (I don't know why though) that has a dress code.
Mezza9's Set Dinner ($79) is a steal, with all of its star players all available for order in the 3 course meal. The Blue Swimmer Crab Cakes appetizer kicked off the meal on a very high note. This is an absolute must-try here. 2 gargantuan balls of crabmeat are breaded and fried then served alongside a remoulade sauce.
We loved how sweet and moist and textured the crabmeat is. In fact, I liked it so much I actually took the trouble of removing every (well, almost!) single piece of parsley laced in this! Best crab cakes ever.
The Char-grilled Yakitori Skewers of chicken balls, beef cubes and vegetables paled in comparison with the brilliant crab cakes, but they were good on their own. Brushed with a stickily sweet yakitori sauce that lent some smokiness, the meats were juicy and tender.
The perfectly portioned Char-grilled Tenderloin was full-bodied (it walked the fine line between the American Angus flavour and Japanese kobe style) and done to a perfect medium, served atop sauteed green beans, roasted mushrooms and thyme bearnaise sauce on the side. Save for the overcooked and way too soft beans, this was a reasonably well executed dish.
The Market Fish-of-the-Day, a delicate monk fish, was a perfectly grilled main. It was soft and super moist, seasoned just right so the natural flavour of the fish comes through every bite. The sauteed spinach was also simply seasoned with garlic, providing a nice plain background to the simplicity of the fish. This was good enough to render the sweetish tomato-base sauce and lemon redundant.
The Rotisserie Chicken was a hugely portioned main, with crisp golden skin and succulent meat. That said, this could have been marinated longer for more flavour to seep into the flesh. Rocket leaves, grilled peppers, and caramelized onions lent variety and texture to the dish.
For dessert, we got the Cheese Plate paired with very tangy strawberry marmalade, moist and wine-soaked fruit bread, and fresh grapes. We noted that the pairing of each of the cheese with their adjacent counterpart was brilliant. The tangy marmalade enhanced the fruity notes of the soft bottom left cheese, the nutty fruit bread contrasted well with the salty pungency of the medium hard cheese, while the clear freshness of the grapes balanced out the blue cheese.
The Chocolate Fondant is Mezza9's signature dessert, with coffee and dark cherry sauce, chocolate cookies and Valrhona chocolate ice-cream. Super rich and strictly for the sweet toothed, which probably includes every female. I would have preferred vanilla ice-cream and a stronger, more bitter coffee sauce to add layers to the overt chocolate tones.
The crusty fresh-out-of-the-oven complimentary Bread and chilled salsa made for a substantial and pleasant start to the meal.
Mezza9
Grand Hyatt Hotel, Mezzanine level
10 Scotts Road
Tel: 6887 5942
Open Mondays to Saturdays from 12noon to 2.30 for lunch;
Daily from 6pm to 10.30pm for dinner;
Sunday brunch from 11.30am to 3pm
Website
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