Charming Location

Wong Ah Yoke Sun, Oct 21, 2007 - The Sunday Times

HERE was a time when location meant everything if you wanted to open a restaurant.

Now, location still means everything, except that you're no longer talking about just Orchard Road or being next to an MRT station.

A good location these days could very well mean being as far from the shopping crowd as possible for a different experience.

Perhaps it has to do with more people owning cars, but it no longer matters if your restaurant is not serviced by any bus or train; free parking is just as good a draw.

The lure of new food enclaves such as Tanglin Village thus has all to do with atmosphere - being away from the hustle and bustle of the city despite being just a short drive away.

That is also how Mimolette charmed a loyal following to its secluded location since opening five months ago.

The mid-range Continental restaurant is housed in an enchanting little bungalow on the grounds of the Bukit Timah Saddle Club, and accessible only through a single-lane road from Eng Neo Avenue.

The area is filled with trees and fields. Birds twitter among the leaves and in the stables, you can spy a horse flicking its tail.

It is a peaceful scene, even if you have to watch out that you do not walk into clumps of horse manure by the road. But as a witty friend remarked: 'At least it's classier than stepping on dog sh**.'

The restaurant itself is laid out like a house with different rooms of various sizes.

The smaller rooms just inside the door, however, are used as a foyer and to link to the restrooms. The dining area is kept to just the biggest room, which has large windows reaching almost down to the floor. It's bright and cheerful during the day and at night, it looks out onto a small alfresco area where tables are set next to trees strung with fairy lights.

When it comes to the food, Mimolette offers a decent selection of popular Western dishes with an emphasis on French cooking.

Reports from friends who visited the place during its first couple of months had been that the cooking was uneven - although everyone liked the ambience. That was why I decided to give it some time to work out its kinks before reviewing it.

But from my two visits over the past few weeks, the kinks are still there. There are some nice dishes but others still need working on.

At a dinner two weeks ago, for example, I was rather pleased with my appetiser of bamboo clam fricassee ($18).

The shellfish was steamed with white wine, which was a good pairing. It was lightly cooked and its sweet juice mixed well with the wine, with additional flavours coming from slices of garlic and vegetables like broccoli florets and mushrooms.

The only discordant note came from the cherry tomatoes, which were too sharp for the mild-tasting clam.

They would have worked if the dish had come with pasta, which the restaurant does as well, but otherwise avoid biting into the tomatoes before you finish eating the clam. You wouldn't be able to taste the latter otherwise.

My main course of Yorkshire pork rack ($26) was decent but unmemorable. Also, the plate looked rather messy with streaks of apple balsamic reduction all over it.

A cleaner presentation would have gone better with the simple charm of the surroundings, and made the food more enticing.

My companion's pan roasted cod ($33) was also unremarkable.

The angel food cake ($13) (above) which I ordered for dessert looked a bit of a mess too but a happy mess. The sponge cake was covered with white fresh cream and colourful berries tumbled all over the plate.

It tasted really good, enough to make me forget all about calories as I tucked in spoon after spoon of the luscious cream-covered cake. The bits of strawberries, raspberries and blackberries gave it a bit of tartness, and the crunchy citrus meringue hiding in the cream was a pleasant surprise.

Mimolette serves brunch on weekends and its lazy ambience in the morning is perfect for the meal.

It's one of the few places here where you find a croque monsieur ($16) or, even rarer, a croque madame ($18).

The former is a popular French breakfast item comprising a slice of brioche topped with shredded ham and cheese before being gratinated. A croque madame has a fried egg on it as well.

Pair that with a cup of coffee and finish up with one of the delectable cupcakes ($4 each). Add a pinch of gossip with some close friends - as I did one Saturday last month - and I couldn't think of a better recipe for an enjoyable start to the weekend.