As previously mentioned, I had lunch at Tippling Club yesterday. It's located at Block 8D of Dempsey Hill, sharing a compound with Barracks. I've been eating so much of good food these days that it's starting to take a lot to impress me because I've tasted so much better things. I mean, those food can be good, but they won't necessarily make a lasting impression on me because I've tasted things far superior than that. But Tippling Club has successfully imprinted a lasting impression on me. From the eclectic instruments used to serve the food, to the lab-like kitchen and the food itself, really was wonderful.

So because of the slightly unique nature of this restaurant, take a guess as to what the item in the picture below is used for:


Unlike your usual restaurant, most of the seat at Tippling Club are in the form of bar stools and a bar counter. There are tables for 2, but there are probably only 3 of them, excluding the Tippling Terrace.


Tippling Club is known for their one-of-a-kind cocktails crafted by Matthew Bax, head bartender and a partner of Tippling Club. Sadly, I didn't get to taste any because 1) I'm under-aged 2) A cocktail pairing will set your meal to 100++. However, I did get to see this food critique to my left sampling some cocktails. It was so interesting how they used different scents, salts and textures. There was even a cocktail that came in a McDonald's apple pie box lookalike. I also love the whole feel of the place. The liquors were hung from the ceilings on both sides and I was sat in front of this rows of bottle which contains spices and ingredients like blue poppy seed in jars. It feels like a Chemistry lab doesn't it?

I got down to ordering a 3 course meal which is 55++. However, I must say that the waiting time for the food it long, so definitely don't go there when you're really hungry. My parents were moaning because they were really starving at that time. But despite that, I still love that place infinitely. I also love how the server would explain the ingredients in every dish when it is served up to you. I guess a reason for that is because the kind of cuisine served at Tippling Club can only be classed as experimental. Hence, if not for the serve telling me, I wouldn't have known what I was eating at all. Actually, even with the serve telling me, I still couldn't wrap my head around one of the ingredients used in my appetizer. However, I do greatly appreciate this element of the unknown. It's something I've never tried before and I will probably never find another restaurant like this. Ok, maybe I will since Tippling Club is opening a branch called Open Door Policy in Tiong Bahru, which offers ala carte at a more accessible price. Back to Tippling Club. I'm amazed at how creative their dishes turned out and I'll definitely go back another day. Tippling Club's head chef is Ryan Clift, who is also a partner.

To my pleasant surprise, an amuse bouche came before my 3 course meal started. I didn't expect it so I was pleasantly surprised by it.

Before I go on, an amuse bouche is typically an appetizer which is not ordered by the patron. It is decided by the chef and it serves as an insight to the chef's style of cooking. It also helps to open your taste buds, in that sense.


So the amuse bouche for that day was Pepper Embers. The black thing at the very top of this picture is actually peppers charred and fried. It's sort of like a spin off of tempura, but way better tasting. The blob of sauce below contains wasabi and some other ingredients I can't remember off the top of my head. Yes, I did consume this dish with that weird contraption in the middle. I can't even remember the name of it. I told you it was so lab-like.


My appetizer was Ocean Trout. The orange slice below was the trout. topped with yoghurt of the extreme left, green apples, textured apples (the slices) following it and fennels after that. I have no idea what that white powder thing it. All I know it, there was a hint of pepper in there and that was as far as I got. This dish is very unique, in term of its taste. I don't know if it's supposed to be as how I'm going to describe it, but I hope it is. I started on the inside of the plate, which is where the fennel was. The trout was leaning towards the salty side and the fennel gave a very refreshing taste. I'm not quite sure how to go about describing this, but it was a first for me. It's a very light taste. I like it. Then I got towards the white powdery part which gave another angle on this dish. Then, the apples contributed a sour taste to this dish. Finally, my favourite part, the yoghurt. The yoghurt was sweet and the trout was salty. Absolute match made in heaven.


My main course was a Cep Risotto. It's basically a mushroom risotto with cheese melted on top of it. It's very tasty, albeit a little too savoury and heavy. It's also leaning towards a wetter risotto. This is on par with the saffron risotto I had in Milan.


Lastly for dessert, I had the Dessert Odyssey. It's inspired by the film Space Odyssey. The white ball is actually some lime yuzu thing (I'm just splattering out terms I could catch) that was put in the fridge for it to semi solidfy. Then there is bits of white chocolate and some kind of biscuit that is supposed to resemble meteorites. This dessert is decent I guess. There was nothing fantastic about it other than the concept and it's looks. I'm one for anything lime flavoured so I enjoyed this a little although the dessert which my parents ordered surpasses this.

So that was my three coursed meal. Extremely memorable, thoroughly appetizing and well worth a try. The servers there are extremely friendly and nice to so you could always ask them questions about the dish you're eating and such.

These are the dishes my parents ordered.



So now I can finally reveal what that queer thing in the first picture is.


It's actually a rest for you cutlery. Extremely innovative.

You can find out more about Tippling Club, here