Double date
night! Something I always look forward to. Good company good food. 2
adventurous couples with a love for food!
This week we
decided to try Life is Beautiful after reading a review on City Nomads. To my
knowledge, I know they received an average review (unimpressed writer) from TimeOut Singapore . So 2
opinions from 2 trusted Singapore
reviewers...where does the average joe stand?
Now I've been
here before but for a quick nibble and more drinks than anything else. So I was
happy to be able to sit down and have a proper dinner without the drinks agenda
waiting to happen.
I was however
quite put off by the reservation system. The number on the Facebook page so a
mobile number that rings but seems to remain unanswered (I later found the landline! Noob!) So I ended up making a
reservation on Chope but for the wrong time. In the end, I had to call a friend
and see if he could help out with the reservations. Geez, the things I had to
do to get a dinner booking. While there is an email address, I usually prefer
not to email. So it would be nice if they could upgrade the reservation system.
We started with
the Pot of Pulled Pork, Crackling and Duck Fat Toasts (super sinful!). The
sweet and savoury taste of the pulled pork balanced by the crisp duck fat
cracker thins its served with make make smile every time. However, it is the
ultimate minute on your lips forever on your hips sort of sinfulness.
Also ordered
were the crab cakes and we all agreed that the helping was generous for an
appetizer. More importantly, we appreciate that the crab meat wasn't the
processed sort. These were real crab cakes and not crab cakes of a lazy chef.
The presentation was lovely and the lemon remoulade that accompanied it was
light.
This was where things started to get iffy.
The next two dishes to arrive were the Tuna Ceviche, fried padrons & stone
fruit salad ($33) and the Dirty rice stuffed baby peppers with smoked pea puree
($28). The prices were equivalent to that of a main however the portions were
small and unimpressive. I was only able to take a picture of the Dirty rice as
the tuna ceviche was inhaled as soon as it arrived.
The full portion of Buttermilk Fried
Chicken with Hot Sauce arrived next. I really can't fault this signature dish
of theirs. Its was nice to learn that they used free range chicken. However,
the portion came with too much dusting that before you could get to the moist
meat, you had to get past the dry dusting. I do however really love the Hot
Sauce that it came with and started putting the sauce on everything! We ended
up sharing the chicken with the poor guy (my hubby) who thought that the Ceviche and Dirty
rice would be a sufficient dinner.
Last to arrive was the Braised Beef
brisket with Pickled slaw. The meat was nicely done however the last of colour
on the dish made it somewhat unimpressive.
Feeling a bit peckish, I decided to order
the Fried Oyster po'boys with apple slaw. What I got was two mini buns with a
Fried Oyster on top of each. A little bit of sauce of some kind would have tied
up the dish quite nicely as the apple slaw wasn't nearly enough to balance the
bun out.
 |
| 2 in each serving... |
That said, there seems to be a lack of
carbs on most of the dishes. Quite happy to order extra bread or a basket of
fries or some Creole style rice on the side, we were surprised to find that
there wasn't even a selection of sides to choose from.
Then came desserts, oh wait, there were no
desserts! We nicely asked the waitress if they had a dessert menu but was told
that there wasn't one but they did have Dessert Cocktails...um, we shall pass.
We ended up getting our sweet fix somewhere else. Its such a pity though for
diners who would like to close their meal with something sweet. (We were
informed that Fat Tuesdays does have some desserts).
The bill came up to about $260 for 4
people, 3 drinks included. My conclusion is that, Life is Beautiful has yet to
establish itself as neither a dinner place or a nightspot. It seems to be stuck
somewhere in between trying to cater to as much of the market as possible.
Unable to distinguish what Life is Beautiful is all about, it comes across as
seemingly pretentious to the dinner group and caters more to the social
nightlife scene.
While, I don't mind returning in the
future, it will be more for after dinner drinks. All the opinions above are shared opinions by myself and my fellow diners.
Life is Beautiful
Tel: 6423 0939
Email: hello@lifeisbeautiful.sg
Open:
Mon CLOSED
Tues 6pm-Midnight
Wed-Sat 6pm-3am
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