Last week was a challenging brunch to organise. Zouk Out being the night before, even I found it difficult to arrive for brunch. Nonetheless, I was eventually undeterred.
Even before the menu arrived, I ordered a cappuccino.
Verdict:lackluster and impersonal. It came in a boring generic cup and saucer. The type one finds so often waiting for you in a hotel room beside that white plastic electric kettle. It sat there staring at me as I did at it, nonchalant and blank.
Atmosphere: Lets just say that cheesy piped music of waves and babbling brooks just doesn't cut it.
I ordered a plate of scrambled eggs on toast with sides of salad, mushrooms and a grilled tomato.
Verdict: Most of the items on the plate melded nicely into one another. The best item on my plate was the grilled tomato. It was sweet and tangy, which promptly woke up my senses immediately. Clearly someone had put in the effort to procure fresh produce. The scrambled eggs came delightfully milky, but at times teetered close to runny. What seemed silky and smooth at first soon clashed with thick layered eggs. I could only imagine as a result of negligence. It had the texture of folded over eggs rather than scrambled, each layer solid to the bite. It was as if someone carelessly left the eggs to cook and harden on the stove and came to chop it up before serving. Lacked the mixed and fluffed texture of eggs scrambled without leaving its side.
The one item that was in shocking conflict were the mushrooms. The cook had a generous hand for garlic but a stingy one for the flame. I was left with an overwelming taste of garlic green and peeled on my mushrooms. Where that may have worked with a stronger tasting dinner menu. On the breakfast plate, it stood up and bashed the subtle flavours of the other items. Not to mention it left a very bad after taste in my mouth. I next ordered Siew Mai and Har Kow.
Verdict: I don't believe I've ever tasted Dim Sum as bad.
The Siew Mai was mediocre at best. Interestingly, they paired it with a black bean sauce that worked. The filling tasted cheap and with an unpleasant porkish after taste. I could only best describe it was mooshed up pork paste. Har Kow almost made me quit dim sum for the rest of my life. I love Har Kow. They should be clean and fresh tasting. The skin should never interfere with the fresh prawn in its core. As pretty as it came, with a sprig of dill and some roe balanced on each piece.
The Har Kow skin was sticky and thick. It spread all over the inside of my mouth. Where the effect may have been creamy, it must have been unintended. The skin was dry on the outside and could hardly have been steamed for a minute. While dill and roe had the obvious potential of being brilliant complements the Har Kow's flavour, it could only have been done if the Har Kow tasted clean and refreshing. This dish was stuck in an identity crisis. On one hand, dill and roe should have tasted fresh. One the other, the har kow itself was thick and heavy, not to mention the prawn bits inside were not fresh.
To add insult to injury, the roe was dry and plasticky. It got in the way of every bite and in the most unpleasant manner. Like little balls of wrapper mixed into your food. It was obviously stale and might have been left out of the fridge for at least a week.
I wouldn't be surprised if the dim sum came from the instant packets in supermarkets.
All in all, Oosh was a disappointing experience. For a place with so much potential, it fails to deliver.
I give it a 2/10
