Keystone @ Stanley Street

While the Palate discount is definitely welcome for the restaurants that I have visited, for Keystone, it almost seems to be a necessity because of its prices. We usually order two main courses and at least one starter, but after we saw the prices, we decided to forego the starter. I was actually eyeing their foie gras, damn it... 

Blackmore Abstract, $55

From the title on the menu, I had no idea what it was and had to ask the waitress. It turned out to be beef brisket with gnocchi and ravioli. I love the presentation for this dish; it somehow reminded me of a garden with colourful plants and vegetables scattered all over. 

Some explanation is obviously needed here. The green ball-like thing is actually the ravioli, which took me by surprise. Isn't ravioli supposed to be... pasta with fillings? Their ravioli felt like a wobbly sweet pea bomb that practically exploded in your mouth once you chew on it. So this has to be eaten in one mouthful. Good luck if you tried to eat half of it or cut it. 

The bbq gnocchi slices looked like sausage slices, and to a certain extent, it almost tasted like sausage slices too. (That's a good thing, by the way.) But of course, the beef brisket was the highlight of the dish. Inconspicuously obscured under the layer of queso manchego cheese, the beef practically melted in my mouth. It was unbelievably delicious and is one of the best beef dishes I have ever had. 

Snake River Farms Pork Belly, $58

This is apparently one of their most popular dishes, and came with yukon chips and baby carrots. The yukon chips were fried so well that the outside was perfectly crisp but the inside was still tender and moist, while the baby carrots were refreshing but normal.

When I eat pork belly, I usually remove all the fat. But looking at this dish, I guess the fat already accounts for half the pork belly! So judging from its price, if I were to skip the fat, I would basically be forgoing more than $20 of my money. My gf and I thus finished every bit of the pork belly. It was wonderfully cooked and extremely good indeed, but I would still prefer the previous dish to this.

As can be seen, Keystone is obviously rather expensive, even after a 50% discount. We still felt a bit hungry after eating as the portions were quite small, but we refrained from ordering anything else, even the desserts. In the future, we should grab some bak kut teh nearby before coming here for dinner...