Novus Resturant And Bar

Decent service but a tad too overpriced?

Popped by for a quick lunch on a quiet Saturday afternoon at about 2pm and there was only 1 indoor table occupied. They have quite a comprehensive choice of starters, mains, and desserts for the 3-course set lunch ($38 per pax), but note that a fair number of them require a 'supplementary' $8 or $10.

Bread basket - 3 types of bread which was served barely warm. Other than the brown walnut bread, the others were sliced white bread and normal bread roll - not impressed for Novus's standards. The basket was served with herb butter but didnt qujte taste the herb.

They served a complimentary mango sorbet with beetroot after the bread basket, which was only average I feel.

Short seared yellowtin tuna with tomato marmalade: pistachio, tomato cubes, ginger foam, black & white sea salt - done just nice with the centre of the fish nicely pink. The tomato provided a very refreshing crunch, and the ginger foam was mild and not too bad, although I didnt quite figure out where it came in in the dsh.

Crispy snapper fillet and octopus: marinated granny smith apples, puree of granny smith apples, sliced fennel, cider foam - The fish was very fresh but the chef was too heavy handed with the salt, so much so I ate probably about 1/4 of it. The octopus, think just blanched without any seasoning, was very fresh too, but it came in 2 huge chunks which made cutting it up and finishing it really tricky. The apples were tasty!

Walnut Genoise: Walnut Genoise, banana ice cream, chocolate cloud, mini banana chip - genoise is an italian cake which is supposed to be light but didnt quite taste like it. I liked the banana ice cream which did not have the very 'chemical' banana taste in most cakes or ice cream. The chocolate cloud was typical, and the banana chip was really just one chip.

My lunch mate had a sorbet with tapioca pearls as her choice of dessert, but it was utterly disappointly bland and presentation haphazard.

Coffee - decent coffee that was served with a cracked macaroon, which was way too sweet as well.

Service was quite good but perhaps because we were the 2nd occupied table. Requests for vinegrette and balsamic vinegar was accommodated quite quickly. I was also pleasantly surprised that they actually have small place cards to show what each of your choice of dish includes, with nuggets of info ahout some of the ingredients. That was quite cute, and you dont have to keep guessing what's on your dish anymore.

Ambience was very good, and I would assume it will have a more romantic feel come evenings. The food surprised me because I had expected more usual set lunch stuff instead of the slight slant towards molecular cuisine, although it could be better.

I find $38 a tad pricey for me so even though ambience and all others were not too bad, I'll probably think about it before I return.