The Lobster Club Lunch

The Food

There are lobster-stuffed dumplings on the menu, and Nobu-esque helpings of crispy rock shrimp flecked with coconut. The house sushi rolls have names like “Scallop Dragon” and “Tuna Rossini,” and if the USD185 teppanyaki porterhouse isn’t enough steak for the table, you can order slabs of massaged, beer-fed Japanese beef “upon request.”

Our server dished out chillies and Asian spreads like ginger scallion (that you’d be familiar as a topping for Hainanese chicken rice! - together with chimichuri

There were sticky segments of tender, wok-fried lobster tail in our first wave of dishes.

The carpaccio was another fusion attempt with toasted rice - something Frank Gehry-ish about all the concoctions from Chef Murakami

The Madagascar prawns (huge!) were perfectly done - as are the seared/ grilled scallops. Simple ingredients that need to be fresh. The sauces and dips really gave these dishes a make your own twist - I stuck with the ginger scallion sauce throughout, while others did more of a surf and turf with ponzu mixes.

The clear winner for me was the branzino, an Italian fish dish. The European bass is mild, flaky, and slightly sweet. Branzino tastes remarkably similar to other types of sea bass and halibut. Typically, it's served whole with lemons - you can imagine a perfect Mediterranean dish (like we had at Milos the other day). Grilled to perfection.. and perfect dip for me was the (wait for it..) Indonesian belachan!

We spoke in a few Malay words - and that got the Indonesian head server/ waitress’ attention. I have to say service was impeccable (even by US standards where >20% is customary. She started talking about her journey to the US since 2001 and marrying a local newyorker Caucasian and having a football team of 7+1 kids (she’s pregnant 6 mths with the 8th!)

The Bill

Total damage USD390 for 4 pax including tips