Cuisine: International
Address: 38 Carpenter St, #01-01, Singapore 059917
Nearest MRT: Clarke Quay station (Northeast line)
RVLT is a revolution of great and fun vinous experiences, a progressive gastro wine bar known for its downright delicious food and juicy, smashable wines by genuine winegrowers from around the world. Led by the philosophy that everyone should eat and drink real, our wine and food program is all about quality, sustainability and naturality.
This wine wall is intriguing and it serves as the wine menu. Prices are clearly indicated on the bottles. There is also a sommelier at hand to give you some recommendations, depending on your taste and preferences. While “organic” can be interpreted somewhat differently, broadly speaking, an organic wine is one that is made from organically grown grapes.
In addition to a reduction of sulfites in the bottle, organic winemaking also bans any GMOs or non-permitted additives. The biggest omission from conventional winemaking is the lack of coloring agents and concentrated wine additives like Mega Purple, and flavoring agents such as malic acid and caramel. Due to the higher cost of production and imports, this translates to a higher price for a bottle of organic wine for the consumer.
For appetisers, we ordered the Homemade sourdough with seaweed butter ($12). It was also served with honey by the side. We enjoyed the salted butter with bits of seaweed or kombu, the first time I had tried this east-west concoction was at Lola’s.
Luna and Gaia Orange wine. From the vines to the bottle, they take great care to produce one of the finest wines in Provence. In the vineyard, after experiencing chemical culture, we can now easily measure the differences that exist between former, outdated, traditional methods and the organic culture, not only through the evolution of some soils of the property, but also through the generala sanitary state of the vines, which had a formidable impact on the quality of the wines. It was light, slightly sparkly and easy on the palate. The blend of Chardonnay, Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains, Vermentino, Roussanne gave it a nice orange colour.
Next, we had the chilli crab ragout “cheong fun”, with ebi ash, yolk and homemade rempah ($28). The “cheong fun” skin was not the same as the Chinese dim sum stall, but still it was soft and light to the bite. The chilli crab was quite generous and we wished there were some mantous by the side as well, to soak up the goodness of the chilli sauce.
Next, we had the hand cut pasta with confit lobster tail ($48 for the original, $88 for the upsized). Our portion was the upsized one, but other than the double portion of lobster and slightly more pasta, it wasn’t really worth the extra money. They should have given us more pasta as it can soak up the delicious gravy made of XO sauce. Not sure where the lobster is from, but it looks pretty small. My friends commented that the hand cut pasta taste like “mee pok” which is the flat noodles sold at Chinese stalls. Actually, I also had the same sentiments and usually not a fan of hand cut pasta, which I had also tried at Jamie’s Italian.
A more filling and value-for-money main course would be the Roasted Iberico Presa ($48). It has a fusion of Indian and Spanish flavours, with the former coming from the curry corn puree and lemongrass curry jus, while the latter is mainly the type of meat used in this dish. This was my first time tasting iberico meat being prepared in this manner. The meat was juicy and not overcooked.
Wine RVLT has two seatings on its busiest day – Fridays. 6pm and 8pm. Since we went on a Saturday dinner, I had reserved a dinner in advance and was pleasantly surprised that we need not vacate the place by 8pm. Despite the small quiet street it was situated at, the restaurant still packs a crowd, mainly due to the regulars who go there for drinks. We had a great time there and the staff were very knowledgeable and attentive to us, making it an overall pleasant experience. The music was slightly too loud, so it was not so conducive for talking. As for the table lamp, I liked how we can adjust the brightness at our table, either for photo taking or to enjoy our meal, making it a pleasant ambience.