Seafood Paella: muscles, prawns, scallops, and chicken
(no,... Chicken doesn't live under the sea...)
When life throws you lemon, make lemonade out of it or go to Limon and eat your heart out. Life wasn't throwing me lemon when I made my way to Limon the other night. It was the value for money deal that a friend found from this professional community in Singapore. We were promised a 5 course all you can eat sumptuous Spanish meal for SGD 38, flat rate. Whoa, for a food lover like me, this is hard to resist. As someone who is not so familiar with Spanish cuisine other than paella, sangria, Iberico and Parma ham, I looked forward to this event and did my research online on what I should expect.
Limon Special Lemongrass Flavored Punch:
Lime, Pineapple and Lemongrass
It turned out that the owner and chef of Limon is not a Spaniard, but of Thai origin who spent some time in the world of Spanish cuisine and decided to open a Thai - Spanish fusion restaurant. Interesting concept, right? I couldn't imagine what that would be like. I also had no idea where Purvis street is either. Oh well, in the name of good food, what wouldn't I do?
Limon: front view
Stepping down the taxi, I found a row of shophouse built in a colonial manner with big awning that said "Limon". The shophouse is a two floor joint with wooden floor, stairs and tables. At the end of the room, there laid the spread of food for the night and to the right was the bar nicely decorated with tall shelves and various types and shapes of liquors.
The assortments
The Bar
While the chefs and kitchen staff prepared the spread, I was busy taking pictures and taking in the kind of food that I would soon devour. I was rather puzzled to find a lot of non-Spanish food: Green Curry Beef! That is SO not Spanish... still, the smell of it suggested that it's a good quality food. Anyway, I'll start from the beginning with the soup, pumpkin soup. Pumpkin soup, in general is one of my favorite soup and I can tell you that Limon's pumpkin soup did not disappoint, whether or not it is a Spanish cuisine, I cannot tell you without first consulting with my Spanish connection. Nevertheless, the pumpkin soup was creamy without being too creamy, savory without being too salty and sweet without feeling sugary. Seemed to me that they used ripe and sweet pumpkin.
My soon to be dinner...
Next, I tried the Homemade Assorted Mixed Nuts which had pecans, peanuts, cashew nuts and almond fried in anchovies, parsley, lemon and basil leaves. They were savory and fragrant, which reminded me of the Thai Peanuts that I used to get from a nearby supermarket at home. The second tapas I tried was Tortilla (Spanish omelet) and Patata Bravas (Spanish piquant potatoes). I wasn't a big fan of the Spanish omelet as it didn't have a lot of taste in it but I was a fan of the Patata Bravas. I had a strong suspicion that what made it so good was the garlicky white sauce and tomato based red sauce adorning on top of the little cubes of potatoes.
The tapas: Homemade Assorted Mixed Nuts,
Tortilla & Patata Bravas
My plate of Pumpkin Fusion soup and the tapas
Homemade Assorted Mixed Nuts: pecans, peanuts, cashew nuts and almond
fried in anchovies, parsley, lemon and basil leaves
Still yearning for a second of pumpkin soup but knowing full well that my stomach did have a capacity, I moved on to the main course. I filled my plate with a little bit of everything and started from paella. I don't know much about Spanish food so I can't comment on its authenticity however, I did like the texture which was soft which reminded me of risotto with mild hint of spices. I liked the fact that the paella was filled with not only squid, prawns and muscles, but also chicken wings and scallops. I then moved on to the Carne con Curry Verde (the Spanish way of saying Green Curry Beef) that turned out to have some eggplants and mixed them with my paella. It was delicious.
Carne con Curry Verde (Green Curry Beef)
The Brocheta de Salmone (Grilled diced Salmon) and Gambas al Ajillo (Spanish style Prawn with Garlic) were too bland for my liking. Perhaps it was because they were accompanied by the Green Curry Beef which has so many spices and rocks your tastebuds that these two dishes paled in comparison. I did like the Spanish style Prawn with Garlic better than the salmon. The prawns were sweet and juicy.
Gambas al Ajillo (Spanish style Prawn with Garlic)
Brocheta de Salmone (Grilled diced Salmon)
Last but not least I tried the chocolate cake, and I even decorated the one on my plate. The chocolate cake was disappointing as it lacked the richness of cocoa. It didn't taste as though it was made out of chocolate but sugar and chocolate coloring. Usually real chocolate would have that unique flavor to it that I couldn't taste with this little chocolate slice.
Pastel de chocolate de la casa
My expectation of a full blown Spanish meal fell short that night, as there were some dishes that didn't feel so Spanish to me. However, I did enjoy the food especially the paella and the Green Curry Beef. Next time I feel like Thai food I would definitely come back, but I am still searching for that authentic Spanish meal. If you have any idea where I can find this in Singapore or Jakarta do let me know.
LIMON
7 Purvis Street #01-01
Singapore (Bugis Area)
+65 6333 9004
Click
here for website
