Princess and The Rock: Food Review: A Perfect Date at Museo

This evening my husband and I had a chance to go on a date to Museo (pronounced as Moo-Zay-O) at Sentosa Cove, Quayside Isle.

On arrival, we were immediately greeted by a friendly-looking server and we received commendable service throughout our dining experience; the wait staff were attentive without being overly-intrusive. The different courses were also served in perfect timing, there was just enough time for a little tit-a-tat in between courses.

For aperitifs, my husband had the Breakfast Martini [$21]. It is a blend of London dry gin, blood orange marmalade, citrus and champagne. I did not try it as I am pretty alcohol-intolerant but my husband felt it did a great job in waking up his palate (pun intended), likely due to the refreshing citrus flavours. I initially wanted to go for a simple mixed juice but was thankfully "dissuaded" by the waitress, who introduced me to the Iced Lychee Tea [$11]. Man was I glad I followed her recommendation! It was the most competent version I've tasted so far; I could detect both the flavours of the fragrant tea and the lychee distinctively, yet they blended harmoniously to make a soothing drink.

Iced Lychee Tea

Next, we had the Mezzanine Signature and the Double-Boiled Chicken Broth with Mini Maultasche [$14]. I ordered the soup due to curiosity as I saw it being served to the customers in front of us; the presentation was so pretty I had to try it to see if the taste matched up. Unfortunately it looked better than it tasted, the broth was lacklustre as compared to most Chinese double-boiled soup I've had and the dumpling was mediocre. It was not a bad dish, it just didn't wow me. I'd probably set my expectations too high based on the presentation. Good thing the rest of the dishes quickly made up for it.

Double-Boiled Chicken Broth with Mini Maultasche

Now the Mezzanine Signature easily stole the show for the night. It is a good dish for sharing as you can choose 4 mini dishes out of 12 to include in your customised Mezzanine Signature [$39]. Or if you prefer, you can opt for the pre-selected option, which includes 4 appetisers infused with local flavours [$38]. We had Joy of Life (Smoked Roast Pork Belly served with Hot Sauce)[$12], Smile of Mona Lisa (Deep Fried Camembert Cheese served with Cranberry Sauce) [$12], Monet's Garden of Lilies (Mango Prawns served with Micro Greens) [$12] and Three Musicians (Soft Shell Chilli Crab served with Tomato-Chilli Sauce) [$12]. I indicated the price of each dish as you can order them individually too, if you are not up for all 4 of them. My husband's favourite was the mild-tasting camembert cheese with cranberry sauce while I did not favour any one more than the others as they were all lip-smackingly good! Worthy mention goes to the tomato chilli sauce that went with the soft shell crab; it packs quite a punch in terms of spice and the umami-ness of it was quite addictive. The only change I would suggest is to use real, SHELLED crab claw instead of soft-shell crab as I feel the latter is done to death. With the crab claw shelled, it would be as convenient to eat as the soft shell crab but the juiciness of fresh crab meat would definitely bring the dish to another level.

Mezzanine Signature

By this time, my husband and I were already quite full but we were still rather game to try the mains after the delicious appetisers. I ordered the Pan Seared Cod Fillet [$33], which came with a side of baked scallop in it's own shell and mushroom risotto. The cod was suitably flaky and the onion relish that came along helped to cut the natural oiliness of the fish. As for the scallop, let's just say I wished there was more of it! I did not care for the creamy and cheesy risotto as I felt the mushroom taste did not come through and it was a tad overdone in my opinion.

Pan Seared Cod Fillet

Succulent Scallop in Shell

My husband's Sliced Beef with Mushroom "Zurich Style" served with Pan-Roasted Rosti [$28] was received with slightly less enthusiasm as he did not expect his beef to be swimming in a pool of mushroom cream. Don't get me wrong, it was still a tasty dish, I guess it was just another case of the reality not meeting the expectations. In fact, I pretty liked the mushroom cream sauce, there was just too much of it. My husband enjoyed the tender beef slices but again felt the cheese melted on top of the Rosti was "too much". He also ordered a glass of Snowy Creek Reserve Merlot [$12] to go with his main, which according to him, was one of the best house red he's had.

Sliced Beef "Zurich Style"

To end off the evening, we ordered the Vodka Chocolate Lava Cake [$12]. It was just standard fare, despite the spike of vodka, we definitely had better elsewhere. We could only stomach one dessert between the two of as the servings were generous to say the least. The other desserts like Eton Mess (Strawberry and Peach Marinated with Lemon and Rum, served with Whipping Cream) [$12] and Green Tea Creme Brulee, served with ice-cream of choice [$12] sounded like promising options that we may try the next time we visit.

Vodka Lava Chocolate Cake

The great ambience, excellent service and delectable food made for a perfect date at Museo for us. It was a pity I could not take good pictures of the view outside as it was already dark when we arrived. I'm sure the beautiful view of the marina would add to the overall experience. I highly recommend Museo for that special date night or girls/buddies night out. In fact I am planning on bringing Princess here for our one-on-one date together!