With FOC Restaurant, Michelin starred Nandu Jubany has launched his debut outside of Spain. FOC being pronounced as ‘fock’ (that’s what I heard as when I called to make reservation, or was it ‘fog’), and not F.O.C.

So yes, reservation was made 2 weeks in advance for a weekday evening for 3.

I meant to check them out 2 months ago, but our then reservation got messed up. Was pretty (in fact, very) sure our then reservation was accepted, but we were turned away when we turned up at the entrance cause of a private event. Definitely not cool.

But I was hard up about wanting to dine here, so a second attempt was made. Thus, this visit. Ha! So… To make sure one’s reservation is on, one must receive the confirmation call from the restaurant the day before. If not, ring them up on the day itself to double check! =)

My friends arrived early at 6.30pm and feedback that the restaurant was empty. But when I reached at 7pm, they were already running at 60% capacity! And I liked the ambience, especially their ingenious idea of using head moulds (which I read were heads of the owners), traditional Spanish wine decanters (porrons) and pepper grinders to light up the place.

And in my opinion, I felt we were given the best seats in the house. Ha. We took counter seats and were seated at the end where we could watch the main action. I say main action because it was where the head chef (I overheard the staff calling him “Cap”) would do the final touch before sending the dishes out. Awesome view. Keke. And to my delight, there were hooks beneath the counter table for customers like me who need to hang my heavy and bulky bag. =)

And from the menu (pages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5), we ordered:-

1) Vieiras a la brasa con caldo de bonito y caviar de soja, $16 (2 pieces) (above) – Grilled scallops with bonito stock and homemade soy caviar. As there were 3 of us, we ordered 1.5 portions. Gigantic pieces of lightly seared scallops presented on a big shell which went well with the soy caviar.

2) Bunuelos de bacalao con pure de manzana, $12 (5 pieces) (above) – Cod fish puff fritters with green apple puree. Thinking we would be served something similar to fish tempura (haha), FOC surprised us with airy, fluffy balls. This was interesting although 1 of my dining partner did not like it. I guess he wanted to see the physical pieces of fish. Well, I don’t blame him. He was pretty hungry since he reached (early) at 6.30pm.

3) “Cansalada” confitada con pure de coliflor, $14 (4 pieces) (above) – Confited pork belly with cauliflower puree. I did not like this. While the meat was tender and almost melt-in-the-mouth, it was too fatty. I did not like that one of the crispy skin was red. An indication that the pig skin with the red stamp was used. Something which I personally prefer not to have / be used.

4) Gazpacho de sandia con helado de aceite de olive ahumado, $12 (above) – Watermelon “gazpacho” with charcoal smoked olive ice cream. A cold dish, my dining partners liked this, but not quite for me. I couldn’t quite make out of the complex taste. But I appreciated the initiative by the staff as the dish was spilt into 3 portions for our easy sharing.

5) Cochifrito, $14 (2 pieces) (above) – Crispy pork tacos.

6) Bocadito de carrillera de ternera con nueces, $16 (2 pieces) (above) – Braised beef cheek with nuts and homemade grilled steam buns. I don’t take beef, but my dining partners said this was really good. It was also recommended by the staff as their must-order.

7) Bocata de foie-gras a la brasa y shitake marinado, $22 (2 pieces) (above) – Grilled foie-gras with marinated shitake and green apple. Similarly, we ordered 1.5 portions. I really liked this! From the crisply fried buttery buns to the melt-in-the-mouth pan fried foie gras. Sinfully good.

8) Pulpo a la gallega, $22 (above) – Octopus Galician style, prepared with paprika, olive oil and potatoes.

9) Chuletitas de cordero a la brasa con berenjena a la brasa, $22 (2 pieces) (above) – Lamb ribs with yogurt and eggplant. Another must try!

10) Huevos estrellado con chorizo, $10 (above) – “Scramble before you eat” eggs with Spanish “chorizo”.

11) Arroz negro con mariscos y “all l oli”, $22 (above) – Black Mediterranean squid ink rice with seafood and garlic mayonnaise. This was really good although it was more on the wet side. We were left with 3 more spoonfuls when the head chef asked if he could clear our pan, which of course I turned him down (cause we wanted to finish it all) with a wide smile. And I’m not too sure if he took a double look cause he’s happy to see us excited over his food or because of my (possibly) ink-stained teeth. Haha.

12) FOC hamburguesa de chocolate, $12 (above) – FOC chocolate burger. A cute dessert where bun was made of vanilla ice cream coated with white chocolate, patty of chocolate mousse, cheese was mango and tomato being represented by strawberry.

13) Tarta tatin, $8 (above) – Apple pie with ice cream. This was good although the ‘skin’ of salted caramel was a little too intense when consumed alone. And I realised the ball was meant to be presented as an apple. However, the stick/ stalk was accidentally left out as the head chef happened to be busy at the stove to plate our dessert properly before sending it out.

14) Espuma de crema catalana, Complimentary (above) – “Crema catalane” FOC style. We were surprised to have this on the house. Did I charm the head chef with my (possibly ink-stained) smile? Haha. $12 on the menu. With ice cream beneath the thick later of foam, this was their version of creme brulee. A bit like eating cloud. Ha.

It was a good meal although a little expensive. But that’s only because we ordered a lot. I wanted to try more but the stomach couldn’t take in more food. Haha. Glutton me at work.

I always enjoy my meals especially with a good view. This time being able to see preparation of the dishes in kitchen and seeing how the head chef goes around making sure everything was done properly. And they mean business when they say ‘charcoal grilled’ for there was an oven with charcoal within.

When we received our confirmation call, we were told the table would be taken back by 9.15pm for the next seating. And the 2 hours were more than enough to eat comfortably if one was worried. So I say, grab the phone and make reservation!

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