HIBISCUS - A MENU WITH TRULY ENLIGHTENING AND DIFFERENT FLAVOUR COMBINATIONS

I don’t really suffer from menu ennui. I always find it thrilling to read the menu when I sit down to dinner especially at some eagerly anticipated restaurant I’m visiting for the first time. But even at, even especially at, the fine dining end there is a certain amount of predictability on too many menus.

So dining at Hibiscus last night in the discerning company of Randy See and Raymond Lim of Singapore’s pre-eminent restaurant Les Amis, was utterly refreshing and enticing to my adventurous foodie spirit. Previously, I'd found some of Claude Bosi's ingredient combinations hadn’t really gelled tastewise and just seemed oddball for the sake of being different. Apart from an amuse shot of cucumber and pineapple soda with smoked olive oil which reminded me rather disarmingly of babycham, last night was spot on. First up were some delicious gougeres which presently seem to be the haute cuisine calling card. They’re one of the best features of Ducasse at Dorchester (Lyons born Bosi trained with Alain Ducasse and Alain Passard among others).

My wonderful, wholly seasonal starter was a mix of iced morel and warm asparagus velouté with candied pistachio and fricassé of more morels – sensational. Equally seasonal and delicately different was asparagus very lightly confited in salted butter and smoked over hay and presented dramatically at the table sprinkled with tamarillo powder. Another intriguing starter partnering oysters poached in their shell with baked canembert cream had already sold out!

Though I’d quibble about preferring my beef served slightly warmer than tepid, what I assume was its’ low, slow water bath poaching treatment delivered properly medium rare meat of memorable melt-in-the-mouth yet still firm texture. Its quintessentially Spring accompaniment of broad beans, braised baby gem, seaweed vinaigrette was spot on, especially with the extra star turn of poached razor clam mixed with lardo di colonnato and momentarily grilled – sublime. Other wholly successful dishes included slow grilled Pyrenean kid with caramelised onion, glazed turnip, whole onion and lemongrass puree and lemon thyme with a “kid” parmentier of the extra offal. Even a relatively safe option of sea bream with morels and lime came with a gently earthy coffee and morel polenta and chicory jus.

Desserts too had a delightful, yet not over-played element of surprise. Especially stunning was white asparagus cream tart (usually I find white aspragus underwhelming and woody, but this treatment brought out a lovely nutty, green accent) served with a gently sharp white chocolate and fresh goat’s cheese ice-cream. Equally pleasing were the beautifully balanced salt/sour/sweet flavours of salted caramel mousse, hibiscus flower jelly, iced balsamic parfait and bergamot lemon sorbet and gratin of sweet olive oil and gariguette strawberries, parmesan sorbet with a tiny elixir of pure 75 year old San Domino Balsamic.

On the strength of this meal, surely Hibiscus will be –re-elevated to two Michelin stars and perhaps even feature in the World’s 50 Best in 2009.