SIN: Elemen {Christmas 2021}

Motto: "Love Self, Love Earth"

A modern dining concept focusing on creative interpretation of vegetarian cuisine, Elemen promotes a more harmonious and sustainable environment through its wholesome dishes. It offers value-for-money multi-course meals, with each item being meticulously prepared using natural, meatless ingredients.

Their typical 5-Course Set and 8-Course Set, where you can pick and choose the dishes you fancy, cost S$26.80 and S$32.80 per person respectively. Given the year-end festive mood, however, my friends and I decided to go for the fixed SantaLicious 8-Course Set, which is priced at S$42.80 per person. That saved the indecisive me a trouble from having to choose from the selection of mouth-watering dishes.

Kombucha (Set Menu)

Taste: 7/10

A purportedly healthy fermented tea drink that's been gaining popularity in the recent years, kombucha generally doesn't excite my taste buds much. I found Elemen's version, just like most out there, to be lightly effervescent and mildly sweet with a subtle fruity taste. BTW, the drink isn't counted as the first item in the 8-course set.

Elemen Christmas Trilogy (Set Menu)

Taste: 8/10

The main lunch story began with crunchy, refreshing slices of watermelon radish, whose sweet and sour taste prepared me for the next item in line: Caprese skewer. The cherry tomato went well with the mozzarella cheese and the aromatic basil oil sauce that I tried to scoop up till the last drop. The last of the jolly medley trio was a juicy watermelon cube topped with black truffle balsamic vinegar and mint leaves.

Mushroom Carpaccio (Set Menu)

Taste: 9/10

The second dish, an oriental rendition of the raw appetiser dish invented in Venice, Italy in 1950, turned out to be my second favourite for the afternoon. Topped with vegetarian roe and rosemary, the plump bailing mushrooms made really good friends with the crunchy kelp. The duo was tossed in soy vinaigrette dressing that exuded a mild aroma of Chinese herbs, which I enjoyed a lot.

Magic Chowder (Set Menu)

Taste: 8/10

Next came a bowl of creamy mushroom soup that had quite a thick consistency. Minced king oyster mushrooms, red potatoes and celery could be found inside it. There was a nice of balance of flavours, but perhaps not magical enough to warrant a higher score. I'd prefer the herb-studded breadstick to be crispy.

Truffle Snow Blanket (Set Menu)

Taste: 9.5/10

The fourth dish might not look particularly dazzling, but it was the highlight of the lunch. The chunky, yet creamy mashed potatoes, portobello and shimeji mushrooms were bound by rich sauce infused with truffle paté. Completing the equation was the perfectly cooked onsen tamago (lit. hot-spring egg) that oozed out at a gentle touch of the fork. My friends agreed that it was absolutely delicious.

Raspberry Sorbet (Set Menu)

Taste: 8/10

While the kombucha isn't counted as one of the eight courses in the set, the palate cleanser is part of it, which I find to be a bit strange. The refreshing raspberry was certainly needed after the amazing dish mentioned above before we moved on to the main course. It would've been even more lovely had it had a tinge of acidity. 

Jolly Christmas Pasta (Set Menu)

Taste: 6.5/10

To be frank, I wasn't feeling entirely jolly when I had the spaghetti main course. Topped with seaweed caviar and monkey head mushroom bits that were unfortunately quite dry, the pasta was actually al dente. However, while the creamy pumpkin sauce was pretty tasty, I felt that it was a tad too heavy, especially towards the end. 

Matcha Tea-Ramisu (Set Menu)

Taste: 7/10

Elemen's signature dessert with a Japanese twist wasn't bad at all, but neither was it spectacular. I found that the green tea powder was somewhat weak, although the sponge cake layered with mascarpone cheese was light enough. Accompanying it was a scoop of red bean ice cream that was mildly sweet and savoury at the same time.

Merry Berry Sea Salt Fizz (Set Menu)

Taste: 9/10

The lunch ended on a high note with the irresistible fizzy drink that was bursting with the goodness of berries. In addition to peppermint, they put the right amount of sea salt, making it a perfectly balanced drink that hit all the right spots.

Melon's Rating

Taste: 7.5/10

Ambience: 7/10

Service: 8/10

Overall: 7.5/10

Elemen has become one of my most favourite restaurants ever since I tried it for the first time a few years ago. I wonder why I hadn't written anything about it earlier until this post came along. Pika's advice: What else should I say? Try the festive set before the end of the year!

Elemen

1 Kim Seng Promenade

#01-122 Great World

Singapore

(Daily: 11.30am - 4.00pm, 5.30pm - 10.00pm)

*Prices quoted are subject to 10% service charge and 7% GST.

Have a nice meal,

Cliff(y)