L’REZ is a Training Restaurant for students from the Diploma in Food and Beverage Business in Nanyang Polytechnic. The training restaurant has been operating since 2013. They serve affordable semi-fine dining menu and the menu changes every term (every 3 months) or during special occasions.
Today, thebouncybellies went over to try out their A “tea-matic” experience whereby the students designed a special menu that infuses teas into the food.
We had the entrée, Harira and Sea Scallop Carpaccio.
The Harira was served hot and the soup tasted fantastic. Caramelized lemon was added into the soup which helps to elevate the dish to another level. The risoni pasta found in the soup gave a different kind of texture to the soup which we rather liked.
The Sea Scallop Carpaccio tasted decent to us. The Sea Scallop was lightly seasoned with salt, the tomato salsa had a sweet tangy taste to it and the Squid-Ink Rice Tuiles was shockingly tasty! Having all these components together works well as the different flavours and textures compliments each other greatly.
While waiting for our mains, we ordered the mocktails ($3.00 each) that are hand-crafted by the students. We had the Blooming Rose and Yuzu Sencha.
The Blooming Rose is mainly made up of apricot and peach tea, topped with a bit of lime, peach, apple and rose bud. It gave off a refreshing taste as we are able to detect hints of fruits in the tea flavored drink.
The Yuzu Sencha is made with lime, honey, yuzu, sencha shokai and lemon juice. The drink had an overpowering taste of Yuzu which we were quite dissapointed as we were barely able taste the sencha shokai. It would be better if the proportion of the Yuzu and the Sencha can be balanced out more. However the overall taste of the drink was still good.
The climax of the whole “Tea-matic” experience was the MAIN COURSES. We had the Seafood Risotto and the Pan-Roasted Chicken Roulade.
The Seafood Risotto that we had was pure stunning. It tasted as good as it looks! The risotto comprises of Calamari, River Shrimps, Brown Beech Mushrooms and Jasmine Green Tea Cured Salmon.
The risotto was cooked nicely, with the rice still having a bite to it. The seasoning of the risotto was done well. Plus points was having the seafood cooked to perfection! Not many armature cooks are able to catch the right texture when cooking calamari, but the students of NYP Diploma in Food and Beverage Business did it well. Kudos to them! The taste of this dish still lingers in my mouth and my mind until now.
The Pan-Roasted Chicken Roulade was amazingly tasty as well! This simple dish was well prepared and executed by the students. In this dish, the chicken was stuffed with Sprue Asparagus, Cherry Tomato Confit, Micro-Ratatouille, Spinach Sponge, Apricot and Peach Tea Jus and, Roasted Garlic Potato Mousseline.
The pan-roasted chicken roulade was tender and juicy. The asparagus that was stuffed in the chicken gave the dish a crunchy texture. The micro-ratatouille was nice however we could hardly taste the tomato in it, which we found weird as ratatouille is a tomato-based dish. Interesting part of the dish was the Spinach Sponge and the Apricot and Peach Tea Jus. The Spinach Sponge was rather good surprise as it is hardly seen in many other restaurants. The Sponge was well made as it gave off a nice spinach taste and it added colour to the dish. The Apricot and Peach Tea Jus was very flavorsome, it lifts the taste of the dish when we have the chicken together with jus. Overall the dish is really YUMMY!!
There was only one dessert to choose from in the menu, which was the Chocolate Creme Caramel Rooibos Bavaroise. The dessert is made up of Tea Creme Brulee, Caramelised Tea Apples, Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Crumbles and Greek Yogurt Sherbert.
FYI: Rooibos or bush tea (especially in Southern Africa) are leaves used to make herbal tea or sometimes redbush tea (especially in Great Britain)
The dessert was a great closure to the whole experience. The tea creme brulee was really tasty and light. The Greek Yogurt Sherbet was nice and refreshing because of its slightly sour taste, which helps to cleanse our palette after having such heavy main courses. We found that the chocolate cake at the bottom of the cup was slightly dry. We thought that eating the cake with the sherbet will make it moist and easier to eat, but unfortunately not. I believe if the chocolate cake could be slightly more rich, the dessert would be a even better one.
All in all, it was really a great meal presented by the students! From the dishes that they served to us, I personally think that they are well trained by the chefs and lecturers in Nanyang Polytechnic. The students are all in their 3rd Year from Diploma in Food and Beverage Business. Keep up the good work & fly the NYP flag high!
Unfortunately, The “Tea-matic” Experience will be ending tomorrow, 9th June 2017. However, you can still head down to try out their new menu which will be coming up soon. Do make reservations if possible as they are a training restaurant. Give the students a chance to learn how to take down your reservations. Also, do give them your support by trying out the food and drink menus specially created by them.
Student/Staff of NYP : $12.00
Public : $15.00
Address : NYP Blk F Level 3
Operating Hours : 11.30am-2.30pm (Monday-Friday)
Reservation : 6451 4384
Email : L-Rez@mymail.nyp.edu.sg
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