Restaurant Gaig is for many reasons a unique dining experience in Singapore. The upmarket restaurant in Stanley Street has a proud family history, being the first international outpost for famed chef Charles Gaig’s Michelin starred Barcelona location. Charles is a fourth generation restauranteur elevating the Gaig family name from its origins in 1869 at the Taberna d'en Gaig in Barcelona.
Restaurant Gaig in Singapore carries on the proud family tradition and is managed by Charles’ daughter Nuria, who has dedicated her life to Catalan gastronomy.
With the arrival of spring in Catalonia, Executive Chef Marti and team salute the vitality of the spring warmth with a refreshed five-course Chef’s Menu ($158++ per person) that celebrates the heart and soul of Catalan cuisine. A particular highlight of the menu is a focus on the revered suckling pig which features throughout using the Spanish tradition of nose-to-tail gastronomy – a nod to Chef’s national heritage and to minimise waste.
Our meal commences with a trio of enticing snacks – a lobster salpicón tart which combines lobster and diced vegetables in a house-made kueh pie tee shell, a suckling pig and carabinero prawn and my personal favourite the salmorejo sandwich – an ice cream style sandwich where tomato soup sorbet is adeptly served between slices of tomato water meringue.
For our first starter we enjoy a duck foie gras terrine and multi-spherical anchovy which continues the Catalan tradition of mar i muntanya (sea and mountain) – it is a beautiful sight to behold, almost too good to eat with it’s delicate casing embracing the surprisingly sublime pairing of pate and anchovy.
The absolutely sensational signature dish is served next – a traditional cannelloni which is a legacy of the Gaig family prepared from a 152-year-old recipe. Roasted meat is wrapped in cannelloni sheets and served with tantalising truffled cream sauce.
The squid ink rice and silken floral dish presents as a flower garden on a bed of white silken cuttlefish. Inside, a modern take on the traditional paella with Bomba rice, Japanese firefly squid, squid ink and a seafood broth of prawn head, lobster head, and rockfish which deeply absorb into the plump rice grains.
Our main course is all about the suckling pig and we are treated to three incantations of this much-loved delicacy. A highlight being the tealight candle which is in fact fat rendered with bacon that slowly melts into a luscious warm dip for freshly baked bread. Crispy succulent loin is served with deep-fried tail where fruity mango chutney balances out the flavours. The suckling pig’s trotters and bones are reduced with butter to concoct the rich accompanying jus.
For those who cannot get enough of the suckling pig, a supplementary pig’s head dish ($25++ per half portion) is offered for a complete immersion in the centuries-old Spanish practice of nose-to-tail gastronomy.
Moving onto the sweeter end, a palate cleanser jelly comprised of Xoriguer Mahón Gin and lemon juice reflects the refreshing flavours of the famed Pomada cocktail from the island of Menorca.
A stunning lactic goat’s milk and guava dessert completes our outstanding gastronomical experience – perched on a bed of white chocolate sand, a sphere of milk mousse is covered in guava glaze and topped with wispy cotton candy. A lighter dessert which cleverly marries sweet and sour flavours.
I have long wished to dine at Restaurant Gaig and while I was always anticipating a stellar meal, Nuria, Chef and the team truly surpassed our expectations. This is innovative Catalan cuisine at its finest.
A repertoire of innovative renditions intertwined with the Catalan heritage – experience the refreshed Chef’s Menu at Restaurant Gaig.
a. 16 Stanley St, Singapore 068735
e. singapore@restaurantgaig.com
w. singapur.restaurantgaig.com
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