It was one of those impromptu dinners where my friend and I decided to meet up at the very last minute. Unsure of where to head to, I suggested Fordham & Grand after remembering a recent Facebook post by another friend. And with that, we came unannounced (without making any reservation), but were able to secure a table for 2. In fact, only one-third of the tables were taken up on the weekday evening.

Looking for the entrance can be a little tricky if you don’t have their unit number. The only tell-tale sign of the restaurant is an inconspicuous metal plate placed just beside the door. When my friend and I reached, we noticed a couple walking up and down along the stretch while trying to locate restaurant entrance. Of course they only realised where the entrance was after my friend and I entered the place.

And from the menu, we ordered:-

1) Salmon tartar, kaiso salad & ponzu dressing, $17 (above) – This was refreshing good! The slightly tangy flavour of the dish definitely whetted our appetite!

2) Lobster linguini, ginger, chili, coriander & olive oil, $32 (above) – The pasta was cooked al-dente. It’s a very average dish. I cant quite put my finger to it, but there’s just something missing from the dish. Maybe the portion of lobster meat was insufficient? The only lobster meat we had in our dish was the lobster claw. Or was it the sauce?

3) Roasted spring chicken, foie gras & ratte potatoes, $28 (above) – Plating wise, this definitely fails big time. Will have preferred the chef to put in a little more effort rather than just merely scooping and placing everything onto the plate. The chicken meat was tender, but really… Roasted chicken is not exactly a very difficult dish to pull off for a restaurant of Fordham & Grand’s caliber. Taste wise, I din quite see how the foie gras complimented the chicken. I enjoyed my chicken and foie gras separately.

4) Grilled kurobuta pork collar, grapes & sucrine lettuce, $34 (above) – The meat is slightly tender, albeit leaning towards the firm side. Definitely not the melt-in-your-mouth type of tenderness. As for the lettuce that came along with the meat… Give it any fancy name, but at a restaurant that aims to be fine dining, I certainly don’t accept my lettuce served raw.

5) Orange martini, $15 (above) – Confit, granite & jelly with sesame tuile. If one is full and is insistent on wanting to try the desserts, this will be a very light-on-the-stomach dessert. The jelly is at the centre, towards the bottom of the martini glass.

It was a disappointing dining experience. We tried 3 of the 8 available choices for main course, and all 3 dishes fell short of our expectations. I mean, that’s almost 50% of the menu for mains. What are the odds! Many had recommended the french toast, but Fordham & Grand has unfortunately removed that from their desserts menu since March 14.

Related posts:

Dinner @ ZOTT’S True Alps Dinner @ OKB // CLOSED Dinner @ Restaurant Andre // CLOSED Dinner @ Restaurant André [Revisit] // CLOSED Dinner @ Fi53ftyThree // CLOSED