Life as a Bon Vivant: The Pantray @ CWB

Friday, June 12, 2009

The Pantray @ CWB

Thanks to KC's introduction and review on this new restaurant The Pantray, I can't help myself but head over to try it out myself. As mentioned by KC in his review, The Pantray belongs to Stonegrill Group with another Stonegrill outlet located above The Pantray at this CWB location. This is obviously an attempt of Stonegrill to venture into the more casual dinning arena. Being the curious person that I am, I asked my friend to join me in my venture tonight.

Arrived at 8pm and the place was already crowded and even when I booked a day in advance, we got the little table at the corner where my friend had to sit beside a column. The place was bright and the decor can be described as high-end diner which is very similar to the Brunch Club or the Press Room. The menu looked pretty interesting with alot sketches of the food items & interesting dish names. Since KC tried the All Day Pantray Breakfast in his review, I ordered something else instead to give it try. (sigh ... their mussels were gone / sold out by the 8pm already !!)

(1) Soft Shell Crab Salad, (2) Catch Catch! (Halibut with Crispy Fritters & House Fries) & (3) Deluxe Bite Burgers (Three Mini Burgers: French Foie Gras, Full Blood Wagyu & Salmon Fillet with Garden Salad and House Fries)

(1) Soft Shell Crab Salad

The most interesting thing about the salad was the salad dressing which was Wasabi Vinegar. I was surprised how refreshing it tasted. The soft shell crab was fair because it was not as crispy as I expected, likely they were pre-deep fried in my opinion. No surprises here. One thing to note before going onto the next dish: my next dish (aka main course) arrived almost as soon as I finished taking the picture on the left !!! Is it just me or places I went to recently loved to rush me out? hummm .....

(2) Catch Catch! (aka Fish and Chips)

Halibut with Crispy Fritters & House Fries -- My friend ordered this dish and honestly, when it arrived, I thought the whole dish was just fries because they all looked very much alike. O yes, the fries, the so-called House Fries, those are WEDGES!! They were so big and thick that they cannot be considered fries. Therefore, for the purpose of this review, their "potato wedges" were fair full of potatoes and very hot. Very good with BEER tough! As for the Halibut, it was a very fresh piece of fish indeed but the batter was abit too thick as if it was another piece of those "potato wedges."

(3) Deluxe Bite Burgers

Three Mini Burgers: French Foie Gras, Full Blood Wagyu & Salmon Fillet with Garden Salad and House Fries -- Where should I start ... humm ... Bite and Mini are certainly two very appropriate words for the name & description of this dish because they were MINI and of BITE size. Should I use fork and knife or just my two fingers? A big dilemma indeed. No comment on the House Fries because they were the same as the one from the Catch Catch dish. The Garden Salad, the same from our Soft Shell Crab Salad. Now, the mini burgers. First, the mini buns were under toast for all three mini burgers. Secondly, the French foie gras (French?) was not very tasty or should I say rich in flavor. Thirdly, the full blood Wagyu was rich in flavor, but it was abit overcooked or too "well done." (and, temperature wise, was not as hot as I would like it to be, maybe pre-grilled / pre-cooked?) Finally, for the salmon mini burger, taste was fair but again the food temperature was an issue.

Aside from the above issues, I have to say that their service was pretty good. Staff were attentive and friendly indeed. However, there are certainly room for improvement in terms of their food. Maybe it is because of a Friday night and that they are still experimenting with whatever they are experimenting with. I have no idea. If you ask me at this moment, I personally prefer Press Room over this place. On the bright side though, I might come back on a weeknight to try the All Day Pantray Breakfast and other dishes like pasta (ie: Beef Parpadelle) + pizza later hoping there will be some improvement because I do like their atmosphere to some extend. Please work hard The Pantray !!! I will be back later on a less busy night of course !!!

Likes: