Cuillere : French Cuisine at Serendra

My Entree of Choice : Tenderloin with Fromage Blue

Finally! After almost half a year of "silence" , I am writing my very first entry for 2008. I promised myself to be more prolific this year since I certainly have more time to do my reviews. And what better way to begin than to write a review about my dining experience on my special day. It was actually a last minute decision because I really couldn't decide where to take my family to celebrate my turning 27 (gulp! not to mention that I was not exactly ecstatic about turning a year older and getting closer to the 30 year mark!) . So I figured that a safe choice would be Serendra simply because there were still a number of restos that we haven't sampled just yet.

It was a Sunday night and at around 7:30, Serendra was packed. I shouldve known a lot of families were out for dinner. I realized it was actually a bad choice because 1) there were a lot of people (and I wanted a quiet dinner) and 2) I didn't make any reservations. Our first choice was Mamou but as expected there was no available table for us. We were clueless and hungry already. No one wanted to decide where to eat so I had to think of an alternative. We walked around and most of the restos were full. We were running out of options until we came across this small place called Cuillere (pronounced as kweeyer). I scanned the menu quickly and thought it was worth a try (plus the fact that there was only one table occupied). That actually made me worry a little because less people usually means lousy food/service. However in this case, dining there actually turned out to be a good choice :)

Moules Frites

We were served freshly baked baguette (crusty on the outside and delightfully soft on the inside) as we studied their menu. Everyone ordered a different entree so we could taste from each other (this is our usual strategy when dining as a family). We started off with their moules frites (steamed mussels in white wine sauce served with fries) which we all enjoyed to the last mussle! For my entree, I ordered their filet de boeuf fromage blue (tenderloin steak with blue cheese on a bed a spinach and artichoke) since I was craving for steak. The presentation was lovely and the steak was cooked perfectly (and for me that would mean medium RARE). My brother tried the grilled lamb which they served with ratatouille and mustard butter and gratin dauphinois. The lamb serving was huge and i loved the mustard sauce (it had whole mustard seeds which reinforced the unique tangy taste). My boyfriend ordered the gambas thermidor in risotto a l encre noire (blank ink risotto with grana padano slivers). The serving was a bit small but it he surely enjoyed it to the last piece. Ofcourse the black ink risotto is not exactly something you'd want to order on a first date. Also, you better check your teeth before smiling for the camera after eating this meal. And lastly, my sister sampled their pan seared sea bass with risotto which she equally enjoyed. The meat was cooked just right and the risotto was oh-so-creamy. All of us moved forks to sample each others food and we all came up with a verdict that the food was sumptuous. And so we were left with the question of why there were only a few customers that night...maybe people still haven't discovered the place. We're glad we did...by chance that is! :) Bon Appetit!

Prawns Thermidor with Blank Ink Risotto

Pan-seared Sea Bass on a bed of Risotto