My Humble House

My Humble House or 寒舍 - arguably one of the most prolific restaurants under the Tung Lok group and the only Chinese eatery out of 3 restaurants in Singapore to be voted as one of the top 100 restaurants in the world by Restaurant, a prestigious British magazine. Humble House recently celebrated their 5th anniversary with an exclusive buffet boasting of Foie Gras, Wagyu beef, Lobsters, Scallops and free flow wine. The reception for the night was cocktail style.

Through the immaculate use of wood, water, crystals and lighting, the interior screams modern chic with a touch of class yet oozes a sublime old world charm. A contrast so glaring yet seductive. Candles are used alongside dim ceiling lights to set the mood right for a relaxing dinner, a secret rendezvous or a special night out. Definitely a place to bring that special someone.

I was actually looking forward to the Wagyu beef, but sadly, it fell seriously short of expectations. Thought done up medium rare, I couldn't see or taste any marbling that seperates Wagyu beef from normal beef. And to top it off, portions were meagre, which meant more rounds of queuing. However, to be fair, the beef was rather decent, sweet yet juicy.

Fresh with the memories of having the delightful Peking duck from Asia Grand Restaurant, I was subjected to an onslaught of a weird tasting dish of the same name. Humble House's rendition, unfortunately, was served up cold and the sauce came across as a little too strong. It didn't help that the skin wasn't the least bit crispy or that the crepe was limp.

One of the very difficult dishes to perfect in any restaurant, the Foie Gras was decent enough to warrant a second attempt at the ridiculously long queue. However, it didn't come across as quivery or smooth, leaving behinds bits of sediment when consumed. What I did like about it was that the accompanying blueberry sauce complemented the Foie Gras very well, strong yet not overpowering.

Crispy Chicken Rice - Interestingly, this dish fell under the desserts section. The crispy rice actually referred to the use of rice crispies which were naturally crispy. Add on some chicken shreds, wolfberries et al and top it up with soup to achieve a nice warm dish close to the heart. Reminded me uncannily of your normal noodle soup dish, albeit with an extra crunch.

Lobster Popiah - I must be getting on in age for my eyesight seems to be failing me. I could barely make out the ridiculously small portion of lobster embedded within each nicely sliced piece of popiah. I'm sure the pieces were much bigger, but I'm probably just myopic. Wouldn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the lobster didn't taste like much either, coming across as bland.

Chocolate Fondant - Am I glad that I only took one piece of the fondant to try. The exterior was soft and tasted like kueh, which was a huge turnoff. Not even the oozing chocolate or blueberries could save this dessert.

In case you are wondering, no it isn't free and each of us forked out $80 just to get into the thick of it. I reckon I ate about $30 worth of food and took about $50 worth of pictures. Looking at the math, I'm at a crossroads as to whether I should laugh at my stupidity or cry at my foolishness.

On a side note, I've actually been to My Humble House on a previous occasion and I must say that the food at the buffet is definitely not on par with the regular offerings. However, I maintain my stand that its definitely not worth the price nor is it worthy of its top 100 ranking.

See all my pictures here

My Humble House, part of the prestigious Tung Lok Group and helmed by celebrity chef Sam Leong, is also one of the few restaurants in Singapore that made the top 100 list of British Food Magazine "Restaurant". The hype alone made a visit to the place necessary and we finally conquered the management to grant us photo taking rights during their 5th Anniversary celebration held recently. The celebration promised free flow buffets of Foie Gras, Scallops, Lobsters, Wagyu beef and wine which sounded way too tempting to decline, and so, we went.

The interior was impressive and nicely designed in a chic and slick way. Prepare for an assault on your visual senses as you step into a totally different environment filled with soft lighting, mainly white and black furniture and a combination of sensual candlelight with moving, colored displays. Relaxed would have been the word if not for the fact that the cocktail reception method required us to stand throughout our meals. The place was also packed with people as they mingled and networked throughout the reception, more interested in connections then the actual food prepared. That said, the reception was done such that portions were served for almost all items except dessert, which is either a boon or a bane depending or personal preferences, for this reviewer, it was a bane as the portions served were minuscule and requests for more servings were met with strange looks.

Peking Duck - I found the pancake tasting too much of egg and the skin a little too fatty for my tastes. Its also practically tasteless since i did not return for subsequent helpings and the long queue did not help one bit.

Shrimp, Chicken Meat and Pork - The moment you enter, you'll notice young ladies carrying trays of food asking you to try one of the items above. Each item was well made and tasted wonderful in bite sized portions. However, you need to be quick to catch them before they walk off again to serve others.

Foie Gras (Goose liver) - The item with the longest queue was the Foie Gras. Somehow, i was expecting a steady flow of this item from the kitchen but that was not to be. It was prepared piece by piece on a small grilling plate in plain view and everybody queued up for this. It also frequently ran out of stock and people had to wait even longer for them to prepare the item again. Taste wise, its average at best with the pan frying and batter being unevenly cooked at parts and the foie gras itself less smooth then other offerings i've had before. Decent but not worth waiting for.

A picture of the wines offered - Do not be deceived. You do not get to bring bottles of wine home. The 'free flow' is indeed true but limited to only small tastes at a time. There were a few really good wines distributed among the 6 counters, each touting wines of different origins but these were mostly commercial ventures instead of free providers. Basically, each tasting session is accompanied by a brief introduction of the wine and where you can get it, asking for more is possible but still nets you less then half a glass which may or may not be a good thing. For me, i love wine, be it red or white and i love champagne, so when i ask for more, i mean more. Not another few drops in my already diminishing glass. Nonetheless, i do not deny they had a few pretty good offerings.

Wagyu Beef - The wagyu beef, one of the main draws for attending the celebration. Its served in bite sized pieces yet again and done medium well. The above actually shows the beef in super zoom and after asking for bigger portions twice. It is that small and i'm not kidding. The counter also happens to be one of the least occupied which meant our group frequented it the a lot. I counted at least 10 trips to that counter alone and still it did not fill me up. Taste wise, i could not discern if it was indeed wagyu because the texture and meat quality seems average. The thai sauce also took plenty of focus away from the meat, leaving us wondering if it was beef or pork we just had. Its decent but debatable.

Chocolate Fondant - One of the few desserts prepared on the spot as the rest were cakes (Badly made ones too.) The fondant was nothing special as the cake was tasteless and quivery. The molten chocolate also felt rather tasteless as it was neither sweet nor bitter.

Space @ My Humble House - We adjourned to the second location after much disappointment wishing for a glimmer of hope and a glimpse of the promised lobster.

Crispy Chicken Rice - One of the better items for the day, the crispy chicken rice used rice crispies akin to Kellog's corn flakes and added chicken shreds with an assortment of wolfberries and greens. Soup was then added to the concoction and served. I've never had this before so it came as a surprise, a pleasant one at that. Crunchy and fragrant with the usual Hainanese chicken rice taste. Worth a try.

Lobster Po Piah - Wondering where the lobster was? Its right here! In the popiah. It didn't surprise me in the least that the portion of lobster meat present in them was pathetic since it seems to be the order of the day at Humble House so far. The popiah was nicely done but i could not taste much of the lobster even after we took out the lobster meat itself. Another attempt at cost cutting? Bravo!

After the event, all i could feel was the pinch at having spent $80 for this 'celebration'. Sure, we were full but i'm sure we didn't even come close to covering our cost for eating here. At best, the portions i had could have been $35 worth of food. Perhaps the hype was too much and we expected more from this prestigious place, but judging on this event alone, the food was average at best and the servings were meager and stingy. Also, having to queue for food when i've paid $80 is unheard of and silly. To be fair, i've heard that the normal offerings are of a higher quality and usually, mass production simply does not produce good results in terms of food. However, that does not change the fact that the event could have been managed better and the guests taken better care of. Portions should have been bigger and given more readily when asked and seats should have been given. And although, everything promised by the marketing department was given, the should not give the impression of trying to scrimp and save on the offerings by cutting corners and making people wait. The overall experience has not been a good one and i will be hard pressed to find a reason to return.