After trying June, July and August menus by the 3 chefs at Magic Square, I thought that was the end of my visits to Magic Square since I tend not to revisit the same restaurant too soon. But my IGGF (InstaGram GirlFriend) really wanted to check out the place. And thus, I agreed to head back again. Ha. However, what I didn’t expect was for the reservation process to be so painful (The previous 3 visits with my siao-on instagram foodie friends were reserved by @abbey_thebolobao).

Following the instruction on Magic Square’s website, I sent our reservation request in mid August via whatsapp for Saturday in late September. However, I was told it’s fully booked. As such, I requested for any Friday (2nd seating) in September but didn’t receive any reply. Slightly frustrated, I resent another text 8 days later with a list of Fridays and Saturdays for October. But I received a text only 3 days later. And in it, I was informed that only the 1st seating was available for October’s Fridays and Saturdays. By now, I was frustrated at the slow and inefficient reservation process. But thankfully, another friend was heading down to Magic Square and helped to make my reservation at the restaurant itself. So yes… With my friend’s help, my IGGF and I managed to snagged a reservation for mid October. But no, we didn’t get our preferred Friday slot. We got a Thursday. 2nd seating of course!

While one should be punctual, one need not reach too early if one is in the 2nd seating because there isn’t any (proper) waiting area. One have to stand around until patrons of the 1st seating clears out. Which is usually around 8.05pm. And once everyone reached, Ken Loon or Gabriel Chan would start off with an opening speech before chef-of-the-month takes over. And it was a great coincidence that chef Abel Su was responsible for October’s menu because of the 3 that I tried, his was my favourite. But for the record, all 3 chefs are great.

Chef Abel started the dinner by sharing October’s menu was a sequel to his July’s menu. “I’m using philosophy of Chinese ingredient through a more contemporary mind set,” he explained. And after the presentation, we started our 9-course menu ($78) with:-

1) Dish #1 (above) – Chef Abel explained the standard recommendation from the fish mongers was to make fish ball when they bought the cougar pike. As such, he decided to play along with it and created this dish which was fish ball cougar-pike-ball wrapped with milk curd that’s done in the style of tofu. Further topped with cougar pike floss and vinaigrette made with fish bone. Really good.

2) Dish #2 (above) – A cold dish of chicken which was poached, cooked in sake and then shredded. Served with fish maw and goji berry sauce. The chicken was so tender and flavourful. I enjoyed it on its own. Didn’t really like the sauce.

3) Dish #3 (above) – Seared langoustine (tail) on sesame leaf tempura, topped with fresh sesame leaf and aged tangerine peel vinegar.

4) Dish #4 (above) – Boiled cabbage stuffed with chicken breast and its liver, angelica and onions. We were told it was also grilled for its smokiness. Accompanying paste was made with onion. Lots of it. If I didn’t hear wrongly, 15kg worth of onions were used.

5) Dish #5 (above) – Japanese turnip. Sous vide before grilled like a steak. Served with sauce made from roasted chicken skin, and crispy bits of chicken skin.

  

6) Dish #6 (above) – Chicken wings were deboned and stuffed with chestnut, shiitake mushroom and mochi before they are double fried, and glazed with caramel. We were encouraged to use our hands, and it was a delicious messy affair.

7) Dish #7 (above) – Chef Abel mentioned the other parts of the langoustine (head and shell) were used for this dish. Served with pickled radish, mustard green, crumbs and light emulsion. Really good. The langoustine risotto was so rich!

  

8) Dish #8 (above) – Peach gum (cooked in coconut water) layered over with osmanthus-flavoured shaved ice. I didn’t really like this though.

9) Dish #9 (above) – Black sesame tartlette and black sugar ice cream.

Having dined here 4 times now, I could confidently say Magic Square never fail to surprise and deliver. This (October) meal was outstanding. My IGGF and I were gushing over most of the dishes. My favourites were the langoustine dishes and chicken wing. And noting that the 3 chefs rotate and that Magic Square is a year-long project, it’s inevitable (for me) to make comparison; I compared chef Abel’s July and October menus and I could definitely see he is progressing and getting better! I am already looking forward to what he will bring to the table in January 2019. Yes, going to make reservation!

And I am also glad to say Magic Square has improved their reservation system. During our dinner, we were told we could make our reservation online through their instagram page.

I highly recommend one to check out Magic Square.

Related posts:

Dinner @ Magic Square Dinner @ The Magic Of Chongqing Dinner @ Chikuyotei (UE Square) Dinner @ Candlenut [Revisit] Dinner @ Restaurant Labyrinth [Revisit]