Although the menu is going through a seasonal change and some of their signature items were not available, what was presented made up for the slight disappointment. Service was also impeccable, attentive but not overbearing.
J's carte blanche consisted of a first course of the cold angel hair pasta with Oscietra caviar. Tossed with chopped chives, garlic and truffle, and decadently topped with the caviar, the burst of flavours would wake any sleeping appetite.
Her second course of the pan fried foie gras with a sweet preserved apricot was excellent and it had to be the the best I've had in a long while. The foie gras was crisp on the sides but juicy in the middle and topped with toasted finely chopped nuts. Definitely made up for the missing home-made torchon of foie gras, which is a signature.
For her main course, she had the grilled half smoked Anjou pigeon, fragrant of Maghreb. With a fear that the meat would be tough while trying to saw off a bit for me to taste, we were pleasantly surprised that the meat was succulent and tender to the bite.
My own lunch creation of my French must have of the oven-baked onion soup with Leffe beer and puff pastry was made from an excellent beefy broth naturally sweetened by the beer, and the puff pastry was so good I was peeling off the soft bits stuck to the bowl. My main course of braised rabbit with prunes, brown beer and Valrhona chocolate brought raised eyebrows from our friendly server - apparently women rarely order it since they may find it gamey, but if it is the restaurant it is acclaimed to be, I said it wouldn't be. He was pleased and so was I when it finally arrived and I tucked into it. The chocolate did well to blend itself into the dish and not overwhelm. The rabbit was also tender and fell off the bones easily. The prunes were a good touch and stopped it from being too heavy on the tum-tum.
Although stuffed, we were determined to have dessert and shared our server's recommendation of the fine apple tart a la dragees, with Havana rum raisin ice cream. Oh my, this has to be now the best I've had to date. The thin and crisp pastry filled with perfectly cooked apple bits and baked with crushed almonds and icing sugar oozed the kind of warmth from inside you get from sitting with a loved one in a ski lodge by the fire place with it snowing outside.. you get the picture..
Back to reality, Gunther's was still a great place to spend a rainy afternoon in hot and humid Singapore. Perhaps I might try it on a hot and sticky night next time for dinner.
36 Purvis Street
#01-03
6338 8955
1. we start with the marinated lamb rack roasted with assorted herbs and tea leaves.
2. the winner for both J and I was the Mandarin fish fillet wrapped in golden salty egg yolk. Deep fried to a golden yellow and served with both the head and tail in tact, and laid out fish bone style, the fillets were fluffy on the inside, and crispy and fragrant from the generous salted egg yolk on the outside. A must-try if you love salted egg yolks as we do!
In keeping with the Hairy Crab season, we select an old favourite of baked sesame pockets but a stuffing of pure sauteed hairy crab meat and roe with bean sprouts and mushrooms. Perfect crab freshness with some crunch made for an excellent Shanghainese taco and drizzled with quality Zhejiang black vinegar, that much better!
1. the amuse bouche of creamy soft polenta, topped with melted gruyere and topped with a summer truffle was delicate in texture and taste. Heavenly combination, especially with the freshly baked bread, by Chef Osvaldo's wife. Mmmmm.....
2. the appetiser of an excellent cut of Culatello ham, with sliced peaches and spicy fruit preserve were a nice combination of fresh natural sweetness from the fruit and a subtly fragrant saltiness from the ham.
3. Mains - My traditional Piemonte veal ravioli with truffle was excellent and in my opinion, the deal sealer for me. The al dente raviolis were each individually, painstakingly stuffed with shredded veal which was full of the hearty rich goodness of veal, unlike other veal raviolis where the veal is pulverised to an unrecognisable pulp and taste. I could eat this dish all day, and even though the portion was not modest, I lapped it all up.
4. R's mains of Risotto carnaroli with saffron and bone marrow, was most pretty in its presentation, and when he kindly offered me a spoonful to taste, it matched its good looks. The richness of the marrow was perfectly accompanied by the saffron-dyed arborio, where each mouthful was to be savoured and not swallowed too quickly.
5. Dessert was probably the only thing which was fairly ordinary but it was really our second choice since our first choice of golden apple strudel with Barolo Chinato ice cream would take a whole 20 minutes to make and I had only 10 minutes to order, down dessert and rush for a 4pm flight. So we settled for the summer berries with honey ice cream and crispy pancake. Don't get me wrong, it was not bad at all - the tart summer berries cooked in its own juices with sugar, was tart but nicely so, and made for an exciting contrast to the sweet honey ice cream and thin eggy biscuit of a pancake. 
The other highlight was the soba (made in house - a Kuriya specialty) served chilled with generous slices of duck breast, and a soft runny egg. Mixed into the soba soya sauce and thinly sliced spring onions, a perfect burst of flavours. 
And the standings are now Ming Kee: 1; Mellben: 0. Ming Kee wins with the crab offering which was sweet, juicy and meaty. And very very fresh too - the meat literally fell off the shell without effort. Instead of a soup base, the bee hoon was stir fried in the crab's juices and roe. Alas, while the crab was huge and plenty for 3, there was barely enough beehoon to go round and of course, Grandma gets an extra helping just by virtue of her status.
What was tasty was the substituted scallop (they were out of geoduck) baked with spicy mentaiko sauce. The fresh soft scallop was just cooked just right and the spicy mentaiko which I have a weakness for as I believe it makes anything yummy, was good enough on its own. 
