7atenine, Esplanade Mall

Anyone could tell that my parents left for Hong Kong worried sick about Toro and Soba. Worrying if they had enough to eat, worrying if they were lonely or worse, if they were to be accidentally released from their cages and lost foreverrrrrrrrrr. Ooo drama. I don't quite recall them ever being so worried about us (their human kids) when we were younger.

With them away in Hong Kong, Yang and I went to 7atenine at the Esplanade Mall for dinner. I was pretty excited about this because I had won a $50 voucher from AsiaCuisine's Weekly Restaurant Contest. Yes me! Me who had never won a any decent award from school, 4D, Toto or lottery any kind.

7atenine's food menu is mainly divided into 5 sections 'from the land,' 'from the sea,' gattsuri taberu,' 'sides' and 'from the sky'.



Thanks to Chinese New Year, I've definitely been guilty of 'gattsuri taberu,' which loosely translates to ‘eat like there’s no tomorrow’. That being said, 7atenine signature chilli con carne, which had been braised for 36 hours, was something I could have every day.



The saucy minced wagyu beef and edamame beans were served in preserved jar that served only asethetic purposes. Although using ordinary beef would have produced a similar effect, it was remained a delicious flavourful dish. And if you are on a carbs-is-evil diet, I will have your share of that warm toasty bread stick, thanks.



The only item we had from 'from the land' section was the lamb cutlet that had been marinated with thyme and chilli; perfectly grilled, retaining that tender-squish texture. I loved the accompanying side - sweet roasted spanish chillis with crunchy nuts.



Served with wasabish dip, the wasabi cod was one of those dishes that made people smile. If Willy Wonka suddenly had cravings for fish, he would definitely make some of these cod croquette lollipops.





Somebody should have warned me that the crab sandwich was smaller than the SCV tv remote control. That being said, the Japanese king crab was incredibly fresh, the celeriac remoulade creamy but not sickeningly so and the toasted brioche still crisp when served. Crab Crap, can I 'upsize' this?



With some space left (even for dessert), we ordered the saffron seafood risotto. A grilled king prawn, squid, hokkaido scallop & chorizo sliver lay on the risotto seabed as if it were some child's art project. Unexpectedly, the mushy-looking risotto was made up of fine firm grains. We like...

Our churros took a while to arrive and to our surprise, one of the kitchen chefs (I'm generalising but he looked too young to be Head Chef) personally came out to apologize. The churros came in a paper cone perched high on a metallic Scandinavian-ish structure. All I could think of was how Olympic torch-like the presentation was. Gimmicks aside, the churros resembled fat foppy fries, sprinkled vanilla sugar. Don't get me wrong, I like fat foppy fries but they may not be anyone's cup of tea.



The nutella dip thickened too quickly in our humid weather so instead of coating the churros, they ended up sticking onto the churros, forcing them to break apart. However if like me, you have enough common sense and a temporary lack of social etiquette, you would fnd the spoon most useful for scrapping out almost-dried nutella.

I like the concept of 7atenine: the corporate-chillout vibe, the personable service and at the end of the day, the dishes were incredibly tasty but the playful presentation reminded me how what it was like to have fun with my food.

7atenine
8 Raffles Avenue
#01-10/12
Esplanade Mall
Singapore 039802
Tel 6338 0789