Valentine's Dinner at Plate @ Carlton City Hotel (2014)

Excited about the new stylish, timeless, contemporary and green Carlton City Hotel that opened rather recently near my workplace, we decided to have our 2014's Valentine's Dinner at Plate @ Carlton City Hotel located at 1 Gopeng Street, Level 3, Singapore 078862. The number to dial is 6632 8888. 

Like the exterior of this grand, lavish hotel, the interior exudes elegance and a quiet serenity as well. Heightened by its Chinese New Year cum Valentine's Day decorations and soft romantic music, Plate @ Carlton City offered a soft, romantic and exquisite ambience for all the couples celebrating a special night together. 

Yes, a warm welcome with cool white wine (Chandon Brut) served by the efficient service crew upon being seated, and lovely red rose petals scattered around the tabletop - one couldnt help but bask in the almost sensual setting.

It was a four-course dinner named "Wine & Dine Me" planned out specially for this event. We were first served the starter platter of Crispy Scallop, Lobster Roll and Smoked Salmon with Spring Salad. I started with the Lobster Roll which was no doubt freshly-sweet and sumptuous - even the crispy biscuit "spoon" holding it was a delicacy in itself. The Smoked Salmon had a bouncy texture like sashimi, unlike the usual dry and salty type - so I enjoyed this chewy item very much as well. As for the Fried Scallop, it was absolutely crispy as well, but reminded me alot of Old Chang Kee-style fried seafood items.  Dipped in the chilli sauce it was served with, this fusion item was definitely scrumptious as well.

Next, the piping hot, nourishing soups - thoughtfully segregated into the "him" soup and the "her" soup. 

For the male diner - it was Cream Truffle with Smoked Oyster - a delicious, thick cream soup with tiny oysters within.

For the female diner - it was Double Boiled Superior Herbal Chicken Soup - a clear broth redolent of Chinese herbs, served in a hard coconut husk in which part of the coconut flesh became part of the soup as well. This was truly delectable and any female diner should enjoy this non-greasy tonic soup.

The mains were served after the soups were gaily consumed. 

There was the Bacon-Wrapped Filet Mignon with Rotisserie Sweet Potato, Tossed Spinach Salad and Madeira Wine Reduction - gently charred, tender beef steak resting atop sweet and crispy sweet potato, a treat for the tongue surely.

There was also the Herb-Crusted Garoupa Fish Fillet with Red Beet Risotto, Asparagus Spears and Mushroom Cream Foam. While the gently flavor of the fish was enhanced by the mild taste of the herb, the texture was a little too bouncy, like, undercooked.  I was all right with it and I did not detect blood or experience discomfort, but had wondered if the springy texture of the fish was due to it being somewhat raw / rare.  I loved the beet risotto though - subtly saltish, with wonderful sweetness of the beetroot and chewy texture of the rice.

Finally, we had tea  and desserts.  They actually let me choose the tea I wanted, so I opted for English Breakfast Tea in lieu of Rose Tea (which they did not have). 

The delectable dessert platter consisted of Baked Red Velvet Lava Cake, Lime Sherbet and Macaron with Strawberry. The tiny Red Velvet Cake in a cup was still wonderfully warm, and not too sweet in its sandy, fluffy texture. Paired with the sourish tinge of cold lime sherbet, the taste was divine. I found the macaron a little sweet, hence I popped half a strawberry into my mouth with each side of the macaron I ate.

To conclude, this was a lovely V-day celebration complete with good food, lovely ambience and excellent service. We spent a total of SGD$160.00 here, considerably reasonable for the location of this place and the thoughtful menu. 

The only drawback was the door leading to the balcony area. It was a windy night, hence it blew the wood-and-glass door inwards. At the first gust of extremely chilly wind, we had thought something was amiss, as did the couple dining beside us (the girl and I exchanged looks then looked at the opened door and exchanged looks again). Then we realized that the supposedly heavy doors could be swung inwards so easily, kind of disturbing.