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3.9
from 1 to 5
70 Prinsep Street
SingaporePostal code: Show postal code
Telephone: (65) 6333-4358
Website: www.absolutehaven.com.sg
Category:
Restaurants » European
Located in the historic and trendy Prinsep Street , Absolute Haven is the ideal restaurant to unwind and chill out.
Every creation on the food menu is set to excite the palate. The fine selection has been thoughtfully planned so that there is something for everyone. If you're a wine lover, you can look forward to a perfect wine from our wine list to compliment your meal.
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Overall Rating:
301
Absolute Haven pride itself in serving Modern European Cuisine. Barely one years old, the restaurant has attracted numerous food-lovers and had rave reviews about the place. Thus its no wonder LIC must make a visit to Absolute Haven for a dinner.
Located at Prinsep street, the area has seen the entry of many new restaurants and has become a dining spot positioned within walking distance to Orchard. Absolute Haven is probably the crown among the many restaurants there, with the others not really being competitiors to it, but as complements which help to build Prinsep street as a place to dine.
Entering through the gates of Absolute Haven, there is the alfresco dining area where you can chill out with your friends. Otherwise, if you are on a romantic date and do not want to be seen sweating while enjoying your meal, step inside, to the cozy and chic environment of Absolute Haven.
When my friend and i reached the place at 7pm, the place was not full yet, but the crowd starts to come in subsequently. Being brought to our seats, we browse through the menu and placed our orders.
Mushroom Soup ($5.80) A very mushroom mushroom soup, made from portobello mushrooms, shitake mushrooms, and button mushroom. The rendition here is quite similar to the ones I had at Friends @ Jelita, except this one comes up stronger in the "mushroom taste"
Soup of the day ($5.80) We begin our delightful meal with the soup of the day. I'm not really a soup person while dining out so my view may not paint an accurate picture.
Oriental Cod-Fish ($24.0) Steamed cod-fish done in oriental style topped with wolfberries, shitake mushrooms and bacon, served on a bed of asparagus.
This is truly an fusion where East meet West. You will never expect a dish like Oriental steamed cod fish to appear in a modish European restaurant like Absolute Haven.
Wolfberries as a ingredient, are by far rarely found in European restaurant, it further emphasized the oriental-ness of the dish. The use of bacon added flavoring which enhance the taste of the fish.
It does seems slightly weird to have a oriental steamed cod fish as a main course as usually it is more common to find it in Chinese restaurants. Nevertheless we enjoyed the unique experience, there's always a first for everything.But from what we gathered from Phyllis (Absolute's Manager), some customers find it to be too fishy, and the fish will be taken off the new menu which will commerce on 9th April.
Chef's Special Norwergian Salmon ($32) Herb oil confit Norwergian Salmon drizzled with Vanilla cream sauce, walnut & black olive pilaf rice, accompanied with organic butternut pumpkin braised in Earl grey tea.
The food at Absolute Haven are all presented very well, the chef really does put in effort in making the dishes look nice. After all, a good appearance of the food does makes it taste better. Applause to the chefs for their hard work!
Having try quite a few Salmons recently, the version here is slightly different to the ones i had before which are mostly grilled or pan-fried. The herb oil confit salmon is a nice change, and i dutifully finish every bit of it.
The walnut & black olive pilaf rice is good, without a doubt. The organic butternut pumpkin braised in Earl grey tea isn't really to my liking, but i do appreciated the effort put into making this side dish.
Tira Mi Su ($9) A classical Italian dessert served with espresso coffee and liqueur in light mascarpone cheese mousse. The Tira Mi Su here simply melts in my mouth, the liqueur was not too strong which does well for me. The slight hint of cheese in the mousse also provides a variation from the normal Tiramisu.
The thought of the Tira Mi Su dissolving at the tip of my tongue is enough to make me visit Absolute Haven again.
Passion Fruit Panna Cotta ($9) This dessert wasn't on the menu when we visited Absolute Haven on the 22th March. There was another choice, lavender Panna Cotta, which offers a sweet version instead of the slightly more sour flavor of the passion fruit panna cotta. My friend preferred sour to sweet, so we got the Passion Fruit.
Total Bill came up to around $100.15 for two person. I got two Absolute Haven vouchers (entitled to two free soup and main course). But do not let this fact spoils the review. I deliberately left this fact for the end so that my share-readers can read through this review without any hint of biasness. Absolute Haven is excellent, and i'm not saying this because i got a free meal.
We paid $13.30 for this excellent dinner for the Tiramisu, the Panna Cotta was on the house, courtesy of Phyllis. Absolute Haven promise romantic fine-dining at an affordable price, without burning a hole in your pocket, you can bring your dates there for special occasions. Even for normal events, it's a great place to chill out with your family and friends. The price of their mains ranges from $16 to $32, and desserts are valued at $9-$12.
The friendly manager, Phyllis came up and spoke to us about our meal halfway through. She is a real nice person. You could feel her earnest and sincerity while she was talking to us. There are few managers or bosses in the local food & beverage industry that come across to me as genuine as her. Do call her 9766 3798 or even drop her a sms (which i did) to make your reservations.
The service staff there are polite and quick to help out if we got any inquiries, and my friend note that most of them are good-looking. Anyway thats not the main point, the service at Absolute Haven is indeed what other new start-ups should learn from. Excellent services can never go wrong!
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written above are my geniune feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or biasness. Please do not feel emotional or distress should you have any violent objections. Kindly click the little X at the upper, extreme right of your screen if negative adjectives would be derived. Otherwise, feel free to furnish me with comments, may it be positive or negative : )
" Romantic Fine Dining at an affordable price "
Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!Why is the walnut & black olive pilaf rice good?
20 Apr 2008 at 3:19 pm
Hmm... I want to try the oriental cod fish!
01 May 2008 at 11:32 pm
haha. jes cannot liao. they remove the oriental cod fish from the new menu alr
01 May 2008 at 11:45 pm
93
Review with more photos available here.
The girlfriend and I managed to give Absolute Haven a try. I was expecting something refreshing, cheerful and something close to "fireworks-on-the-palate" after so many positive reviews.
The menu of the day was a revamped one, so in a way we were all guinea pigs sent into an experiment. Which is actually more fun actually, as there would not be any references. Best of all, we get to dine at a fraction of the usual price. Anyway, on with the food review.
Soup - Cream of Rocket We started off with cream of rocket which was quite nicely done. The soup was not overly smooth so that bits of its potato base (my assumption) could be felt. It is a nice thoughtful touch to have added that dimension in the texture. For me, perhaps lacking was a tinge of the rocket's bitterness to authenticate the dish itself. Maybe a bit of minced or chopped rocket might have added a little character to the soup?
Starter - I tried Panchetta Ham & Smoked Salmon Roll I like the combination of the smoky panchetta ham and salmon with the greens wrapped in them. The textures of the meat and leafy greens stood out for themselves with every bite and distinctive flavours complimented each other really well. The smoky meats provided the punch while the greens cleared the palate for the next piece. My only grouse is the saltiness from the ham, but I am sure it can be easily neutralised with more of the salad greens.
Starter - The Girlfriend tried Duck Breast Salad with Berry Sauce I liked the sweet and tangy taste, but foresee it may be too overpowering as one progresses to consume more of this salad. This is perhaps catered to those with a sweet tooth.
Main Course - I tried the Pan-seared Seabass with Poached Egg, Miso Braised Daikon and Olive Pilaf Rice, served with Lemon Cream Sauce High scores on the presentation, but average in taste. The fish wasn't exactly fresh and was over-cooked with edges totally burnt and bitter. Rest of the fish was tough and dry by my standards. Taste-wise, the fish was very plain with the minuscule amount of lemon cream sauce. Overall, it felt like the dish was conjured by a randomised process where you pick cards for every accompanying item and a poor excuse for a fusion dish. Every item did nothing to each other or for each other in terms of taste.
Main Course - The Girlfriend tried the Oven-Roasted Yorkshire Pork Rack with Herb Potato, Vegetables Ratatouille, Fresh Mesclum Salad, served with Coffee Chocolate Sauce The pork rack was nicely done with a tinge of pink in the centre and tender to the bite. The marinate was done just right to allow the freshness of the pork to be tasted. However, the coffee chocolate sauce with meat combination reminded me too much about the coffee ribs available from the tze char stalls. The girlfriend mentioned that the pork could have been better used, i.e. prepared in better ways. The ratatouille seemed out of place because of its "heavy" flavour was more of a clash with the pork and it just felt additionally pretentious thanks to the movie. The use of fresh cut fruits like lychees, longans, dragonfruits, pears would have provided a refreshing edge and balance to the dish.
Dessert - I tried Victorian Creme Brulee I liken this to the Hong Kong steamed egg pudding, but mushier. Well done for that important crusty top layer of caramelised sugar. Unfortunately it tasted pretty plain for a place where I expected more of. No exciting layers of surprised or infused floral scents. Or perhaps that was what the "Victorian" stood for - old, traditional and outdated.
Dessert - The Girlfriend tried Passionfruit Panna Cotta Here at Absolute Haven, Panna Cotta has a texture of curdled cheese and plenty of zesty punch from passionfruit, orange peel and berries. I can't be sure if I like this dessert as it didn't taste bad, but neither did it taste fantastic.
Overall, the food just didn't wow me as I had expected more thoughtful, cleverer, refreshing combinations in ingredients.
Service The staff was friendly but rather slow with service and response and lacking in initiative. However the worst part has to be their failure to prioritise. The girlfriend and I had to run off for another appointment, so we asked for the food to be served slightly faster. Our expectation was only to be served with the first batch of the dish we ordered, but they weren't even able to do that. Worst, for a group of over 20 people, they failed badly at coordinating for the food to be served together, making patrons without their food stare blankly at those who do. Some had even finished their food before their partner's had arrived. That is totally unacceptable.
- 8 more comments »
Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!1 star cos of their service?
31 Mar 2008 at 10:48 am
1 star for everything and for being a pretentious restaurant.
31 Mar 2008 at 10:51 am
Hmm.... Well different ppl different views.
31 Mar 2008 at 10:58 am
46
After so long, my post is finally ready! Haha…
My partner & I decided to try out this place after seeing several reviews with good feedback on the place. Somemore, with the 15% discount offered by Yebber, what are we waiting for??
We did not make any table reservation & but luckily the place was not packed with diners. Probably it’s because it’s a weekday and also that we were there pretty early, at about 6 pm. We were given a choice between the outdoor seats and the indoor ones. We chose the latter. The interior looks cosy & spacious. Each table came with a small tea light candle to brighten up the dim interior a little. Of course it did make the place more romantic too. Haha…
We were greeted by their friendly manager who even let us choose the seats since the place wasn’t packed with diners. Interestingly, the ice water they served had slices of strawberries in it. That’s really special, as most places at most serve lemon ice water. Strawberries in water? That’s really my 1st time trying it! Well, the strawberries did give the ice water a tint of sweetness & sourness. Pretty refreshing!
Here comes the food part! When we asked about certain dishes in the menu, the manager was very patient in her explanation & made some recommendations to us. These are what we have ordered.
Asparagus Roll with Bacon Dressing ($8.50) – This starter was great. I like it! The combination of asparagus & bacon was a perfect match! The asparagus was crunchy and a little sweet while the bacon was salty. So when the two came together, the taste & crunchiness made u crave for more. It will definitely improve your appetite & get you ready to indulge on the main course. Thumbs up!
Chef’s Special: “Rocket” Soup ($3.90) – “Rocket? What’s that??” That’s the first thought which came to our mind when the manager recommended the soup to us. Nevertheless, we decided to give it a try. Well, it looked like some blended spinach soup. But upon tasting it, it has this very unique taste which I quite like it. After checking with the manager, we realized that rocket is a kind of bitter vegetable. Yet the chef managed to cook it in such a way that the bitterness of the soup was gone. Wow!!
Prawn Bites ($9.50) – Quite a normal dish to me. Tasted just like the Japanese prawn tempura. But the light wasabi sauce which came with it was nice.
Stella Artois Battered Fish & Chips ($16) – This was my main course. It came with two big pieces of fish, deep fried and coated with the beer batter and a large serving of fries. The fish is fresh and tender, with a little beer taste. Find it quite a normal dish & I ended up attacking my partner’s main course which I am going to talk about next.
Tenderloin Steak ($28) – It’s my partner’s main course but I find it more yummy than mine. It came as a generous serving of steak. Looked good & smelt good. It was also served as requested – medium rare. Perfect! The sauce went well with the steak too.
Victorian Crème Brulee ($8) –I’m not a big fan of crème brulee and thus definitely not an expert in judging it. Yet I find it quite nice, with the milk taste not too overwhelming.
Crepes Haven ($12) – It was recommended by the manager. It did look good, with a flame over it when served. However, it did not taste up to our expectation. The sauce which went with the crepe was too sour for my liking.
On the overall, most of the dishes we have ordered were good. To add on, the service was excellent, with our glasses constantly topped up with ice water. The manager was warm and friendly too and was open to feedback on the food from us.
I shall be back to try out other dishes!
- 3 more comments »
Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!Finally!! Yeah!!
12 Mar 2008 at 11:34 pm
YAY finally!
13 Mar 2008 at 12:12 am
I ate the crepe haven the 2nd time I went. Too soggy and soft. Yucks.
13 Mar 2008 at 12:26 am