As many past reviews from restaurantweek.sg pointed out, the food is good overall, but not astounding. There are some dishes like the honey oat sorbet (organic honey milk) and the soda bread are amazing though. Both dishes celebrate the comforting flavors of oats front and center. Accompaniments like the butter and honey foam complement the oats without stealing the limelight. I am no expert in Irish cuisine, but I think these two dishes exemplify what Irish flavors should be.

As for the other dishes, the oyster has a warm savoriness that is balanced by the dill but leaves an oceany aftertaste long after the meal. The duck is a little dry and could use more fat, but the smoked mashed potato is to die for! The porridge of grains using barley, koji, and blue cheese is a creamy take on Italian risotto but better. The fried garlic adds a lovely crunch but can come off a little overpowering unless it is stirred into the porridge. The brie cheese with lavash is a humble dish that showcases the flavors of Tipperary. It has a creamy rind and a crumbly center, it is mildly salty, and it pairs well with the sesame lavash crackers. The cheese is served with an apple onion chutney with mustard seed, which is delicious on its own, but overpowering when eaten together with the cheese such that it feels more like a palate cleanser than a condiment.

If you ignore the bread at the start, the optional brie cheese, and the ‘grasshopper’ mint chocolate, the lunch is essentially a 4-course meal of tiny dishes – an oyster shot, a porridge/risotto, a main consisting of a small piece of Irish duck, and a sorbet dessert for $68. It is effectively a sub-sampling of the dinner menu without the appropriate adjustment in food quantity. I really only felt like I have eaten something substantial after the cheese course since it came with a lot of lavash. There needs to be either a stronger main, or two mains instead.

Is it worth it? In my opinion, maybe not since there are many other stellar restaurants with 4-course meals that cost less for more food during restaurant week. While the flavor profiles of the dishes are quite good, I don’t feel that they can necessarily command the price of $$$$. For comparison, Dempsey Cookhouse & Bar at Jean Gorges has a 3-course lunch set + complimentary bread for $45. Add an additional starter to make it a 4-course meal and you get significantly more food. Bar-A-Thym has a 4-course restaurant dinner menu that costs $68 with significantly more food (and complimentary bread). Ultimately, it’ll depend on whether you think Cure is creating food that can rival these other similarly-priced menus in quality if not in quantity. For me, it doesn’t quite hit the mark…

(I hope I’m not insulting any chef by comparing these restaurants together. :p)

Minor points:

1. The whelk looks good! Together with the corned beef, it might be worth the extra $20 to get the non-restaurant week lunch course.
2. The dishes don’t really need to be paired with wine.
3. What happened to Irish stew?
4. What happened to Guiness stout on tap?
5. Why is the lunch menu served different from the one I saw on restaurantweek.sg?
6. I was still hungry after so I had Foong Kee top up my gas tank.