Cuvee, Raw Bar

"You are dining where?"

"Cur-veey.."



By definition, the name 'Cuvée' would have been somewhat appropriate (a French term used to denote wine of a specific blend or batch) but Marketing101says to me you should always give your restaurant an easy-to-pronounce name or at least one that doesn't sound like an illness borne out of vitamin C deficiency.

Like, don't you care if the restaurant will be made fun of in school?

Almost undetectable to first-timers, you would feel silly looking for the restaurant's entrance, sliding door situated outside Republic Plaza. A narrow staircase leads you to slick, split level space, with décor reminiscent of style.com's Spring 2007 Trend Report.

The menu is small (a quick glance would take up 4.83 seconds of your life), consisting mainly of sashimi, oysters, salads, cheese crackers sorta food. I'm guessing the purpose here is to drink and discuss business, so food has to be

1. ideally fuss-free and sleek (pasta sauce on that Raoul shirt can be a real deal-breaker)
2. Compliant to the wine, rather than the focus itself.

For those who demand their food to be cooked above a certain temperature, there's coq au vin, beef bourguignon and well, coffee.



Papadums were light and fresh.

P.s. I love the dish that holds the papadums!



The bar serves a raw-lly good deal after 5pm- 50% off raw food. Bourdain-horror stories aside, we got firm supple slices of sake and meikajiki sashimi, which was a real treat considering how the next best cost-alternative is Sakae Sushi (runs for cover).



Featuring the restaurant's centerpiece, the mini wagyu beef sandwiches were a tragic chandelier-shattering affair. Raw purple onions, shredded and crayon-sized wagyu filet banh-mied between toasted baguettes dressed with some orangey mayonnaise. Without the pseudo-wagyu sticks, the sandwiches were pretty decent on their own (baguettes critters ) but once you throw in the word 'wagyu,' expectations escalate ever so slightly. With a texture reserved normally for beef jerkies, one could only bemoan the loss of all the massages and grain/beer diets!

On face value, nothing seems to work for Cuvee -taboo-ish name, small "4.83 secs" menu and missable entrance- but its raw food is worth lingering around for and this might be the first restaurant where you have actually tried everything on the menu! Haha. Some may even warm to this 'cool' restaurant as it is just a sliding door away from the militaristic crowds and chain cafes.