Equilibrium – The Best of All Worlds

At Equilibrium, a modern Italian bacaro and ristorante, you get to have a taste of all culinary worlds. ‘Bacaro’ (a term for a traditional Venetian wine bar) translates into “House of Bacchus”. Fun fact for those who love their Roman mythology – Bacchus happens to be the God of Wine.

True to its name, I was immediately served with two cocktails – The Imperial Seal (S$17) was a refreshing mix of chamomile tea, tequila bianco, Cointreau, lemon, and of course you have it – chrysanthemum flower, served with salt on the rim of its glass. Deceptively mild, the Imperial Seal was very much like a margarita. Although I do not typically enjoy floral drinks, I found this an interesting start to my meal.

Tickled for more, I had the Smoky Nectar (S$18). Albeit bourbon-based, the Smoky Nectar consists of raspberry nectar tea, spiced pear liquer, raspberries, and best of all, smoked hickory wood chips which added a deep, woody-verging-on-slightly-bitter-but-sexy aftertaste. You could smell the woody smokey scent as they decanted it from a flask. I loved it.

The Imperial Seal

Smoky Nectar

Kickstarting the dinner was the Parma Ham and Fóie Gras Crostini (S$15), a pair of toasted garlic crostini topped with parma ham, foie gras pate, fresh garlic and herb tomato concassé, shaved grana padano, sun-dried tomatoes drizzled with vino cotto. It set the tone for the rest of the dishes.

Grilled Calamari with Citrus Air

The Grilled Calamari with Citrus Air (S$15) was a tender butter grilled squid, infused with fennel, chilli and mint, topped with a dollop of citrus air. While I loved the refreshing gravy, I would have appreciated slightly more char on the squid. Nonetheless, it was good the way it was — tender and light enough for a starter.

Panelle

The Panelle (S$12) has Mediterranean origins in Sicily, so you can expect a lot of herbs and spice from this one. It’s basically fried fritters made from gram flour. Paired with cucumber salad, spicy garlic aïole and mango chutney, it makes a decent cicchetti.

La Bombette

The La Bombette (S$9.50) garnered mixed reviews. Inspired by the Pugliese (people originating from Puglia, or Apulia, a region in Italy), the La Bombette features two grilled skewers of succulent pork. At first glance, it looks just like another ordinary grilled pork skewer. What you would not suspect from its innocuous-looking exterior is the explosion of grated parmesan, oregano and chilli flakes from its core. It was a burst of flavours which did not intercept the glory from the pork itself. The only gripe I have was the dish was a tad too dry for me, though the generous toppings of onions salvaged everything.

Aged Beef Ribeye

The Aged Beef Ribeye (S$39), a ribeye cut from New Zealand beef dry-aged for 28 days, needed no introduction. I usually take my steak without any gravy pairing, but I dare say even the mushroom sauce on the side pulled its own weight. The steak itself was a perfect medium rare, tender and juicy. I wouldn’t call it the best steak in town, but it’s decent for its cut and price point.

Pork and Mushroom Aglio Olio

The Pork and Mushroom Aglio Olio (S$19) is a pasta with sautéed bacon, mushrooms and minced pork tossed in olive oil and garlic, seasoned with chilli, parsley and a splash of white wine vinegar and topped with rucola leaves. If you’ve noticed the ingredients used, you may find it reminiscent of our local bak chor mee. Nonetheless, it didn’t quite produce the same effect as the bak chor mee in terms of flavor. I found it rather complex, yet not quite put together. I felt that something was missing from the abundance of flavours and textures. Perhaps it was just me missing my good ol’ bak chor mee.

Sull’imbrune (At Dusk)

If you love pizza, you can add this next dish to your to-eat list. The Sull’imbrune (At Dusk) ($27) is a hand-opened 12” pizza slathered in homeade tomato sauce and truffle paste, topped with mozzarella, coppa ham mushrooms, rucola leaves and soft set egg. A common pizza recipe these days, I found this one very well executed. None of the ingredients overpowered the other (as I usually find for pizzas, where flavours sometimes end up one-dimensional). Here, the taste was well calibrated.

Equilibrium’s desserts are fun. I say fun because they explore modernist techniques to create the mostquirky results. For example, the Deli Dolce (S$21), a charcuterie platter of desserts, challenges convention and overturns expectations (in a good way). A charchuterie platter usually serves bacon, ham, pates, and other umami foods. Here, the chocolate mousse with caramelized onion with whiskey caramel jelly was masquerading as pate; the 64% dark chocolate with nuts and fruit as salami; the preserved raspberry as prosciutto. The bacon jam, which we expected to be brutally sweet, was tantalizingly salty. Paired with its sweeter counterparts on the charcuterie platter, it was pleasant. The Deli Dolce was a real tease on the senses.

Deli Dolce

Lastly, the Watermelon Carpacio (S$14) was a bright and playful take on the watermelon itself. As bubbly pastry chef Belinda explained how she concocted the dessert with compressed watermelon, milk cheese foam, brown butter dust, mint basil gel and watermelon sorbet, one could really see how Equilibrium aims to satisfy the palate through ingenious methods.

Watermelon Carpaccio

On the whole, Equilibrium offers a range of cicchettis, antipastos, mains, desserts and drinks (and bespoke cocktails!) – be it savoury, sweet, spicy, sour or subtle. Helmed by the young and vibrant team behind Supply & Demand (Chef Samdy Kan of the Cre8 Goup), Equilibrium is the perfect chill-out restaurant to head to after a long day of work.