2.0 of 2.0

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I had the good fortune (or was it misfortune?) of visiting the reincarnated Roganic on its second day of opening, and while that meal delivered some very tasty bites, I wasn't sold on the sharing concept for main courses... and it was also a heavier meal such that I felt stuffed for the first time. Well, they've apparently revamped the format, so I guess it's the 2.0 version of Roganic 2.0... or should it be version 2.1?

Once again, I was seated at a table with the ladies - and B Bestie didn't even show up himself and sent Giona instead. No peanuts tonight, then...

We began with three snacks, which were similar or identical to ones I had last time:

Oolong cured Himalayan trout, beetroot sand carrot and hawthorn - the cured trout came coated in smoked Oolong tea oil with some Oolong tea salt (WTF is THAT?!). The roll was made with dehydrated sand carrot, then stuffed with diced trout belly with salt-baked sand carrot with celeriac. Unfortunately the shell wasn't crispy anymore, but the filling was a little sweet thanks to the carrots.

Scallop cracker, emulsion of farm offerings - the tapioca cracker came with seaweed powder and did taste a little like scallops. The dip made of tarragon, dill, and parsley was very fragrant, but the acidity was pretty high.

Maitake mousse, wagyu ox tongue, pickled shimeji, ramson oil - from the top one can only see the caramelized chestnut mushroom [tuile]...

Digging into the cup, besides the aerated maitake (舞茸) mousse we did have ox tongue, shimeji (しめじ茸), and the green ramson oil.

Jacques Lassaignes Les Vignes de Montgueux - there was good level of acidity, pretty lean on the palate but still got a little ripeness. However, this is just not the type of Champagne I prefer.

Preserved summer truffle honey bread, cultured brown butter - the look of these laminated "brioche buns" from The Baker and Bottleman reminded me of the sesame roll at Caprice, but here they came coated with some honey glaze, which was quite nice.

We had to choose a starter, and OF COURSE I chose the one where the main ingredients came from Taiwan! This also happened to be the new version of a course I enjoyed last time.

Young Changhua tomatoes in perilla and coal, fermented pistachio - some of the tomatoes were cured in lemon sugar, and of course these were very nice. There was fermented pistachio purée at bottom, and also tomato water spiked with coal and perilla leaves. The toasted pistachios sprinkled on top were particularly tasty.

2022 Hiedler Grüner Veltliner Thal - a little green on the nose, and you know it's not a riesling, and in fact smells more like muscat.

Since most of us were having the tomatoes, Giona got an extra bowl of the other dish so we could taste it.

Warm seaweed custard, May Queen potato, smoked eel and horseradish - apparently the potatoes were slow cooked, and we had chunks of smoked eel along with a fermented horseradish jelly and cream... which was pretty nice and light.

Giona ordered an extra supplemental course for us to share. Again, it's an updated version of a course from my last visit.

Hokkaido scallop, grilled Mr. Lin's asparagus, nasturtium and smoked dashi - the scallop was nice and sweet and contrasted well with the acidic elderflower jelly on top. All around the scallop were barbecued green asparagus and fermented white asparagus from Taiwan, as well as cubes of lardo which were chopped too tiny - perhaps because they were too damn salty. The dish was very acidity-driven, and pretty refreshing. This seemed simpler compared to the last version I had.

2021 Robert-Denogent Pouilly-Fuissé Climat Vieilles Vignes - good acidity on the palate, and more on the lean side, with some lemon citrus on the nose.

Even though I chose the intermediary course whose main ingredient sounded like it traveled less distance to reach this table, I was still worried that it wasn't "local" enough. Happy to find out I need not have worried.

Sabah grouper poached in dulse butter, sweet potato leaf, roast shrimp and rosehip - the Sabah grouper (沙巴龍躉) presumably farmed in local waters was poached in butter with dulse. The flesh was very tender, as one would expect, despite how big this chunk was. It came with sweet potatoes and deep-fried sweet potato leaves to give it more mass. The sauce made with roasted Japanese tiger prawns (車海老) and rosehip vineger added acidity and some fermented flavor profile.

2020 Rafael Palacios Val do Bibei As Sortes - this has a nice and toasty nose, with good acidity on the palate.

I am always going to choose pork over chicken for the main course, regardless of how good the chicken is... but I forgot about the last time I had this pork here...

Wah Kee Farm pork with whey cabbage, pickled walnut and sauce finished with apple mead - there were quite a few different elements on the plate...

The pork filet from Wah Kee Farm (華記農場) was tender but honestly, it didn't have much flavor - just like when I had it a few years ago. Thankfully the spelt underneath soaked up the acidity from the sauce made with roasted pork bones and apple mead.

The croquette came with a pickled walnut emulsion, and I loved all the pork fat inside - from the skin, perhaps?

The cabbage was cooked in whey and made into a nice millefeuille.

2012 López de Heredia Reserva Viña Tondonia - this was very fragrant on the nose, with some blueberries that almost started to border on rubber. Nice and ripe on the palate, still got the tannins but there was enough acidity to balance it out. The nose also showed a little bit of savory minerals in the midst of potpourri fragrance.

Giona made sure we shared the supplemental cheese course:

Frozen Yoshida cheese, Alpine plum and caramelizsed soda bread - the ricotta comes from Yoshida Dairy Farm (吉田牧場) in Okayama Prefecture (岡山県), served frozen with "plum wine jelly", "plum wine jelly jam" (dafaq is that?), topped with broken bits of caramelized soda bread. Those chunks of soda bread were basically like croûtons, then... and we've got fruity sweetness plus acidity going to work with the creamy cheese.

Aerated Kyoho grape, sheeps' yoghurt and apple marigold - Taiwanese Kyoho (巨峰) grapes, sheep's milk yoghurt sorbet, aerated grape juice (which I guess meant foam?), dehydrated grape skin, and marigold oil. This was nice and refreshing, with plenty of sweetness from the grapes along with acidity from both the fruit and the yoghurt, plus some savory touches.

When it came to dessert, I chose to support Taiwanese produce once again.

Golden Diamond pineapple tartlet, toasted rice and jasmine - the Golden Diamond pineapple (金鑽鳳梨) from Taiwan came as fresh, semi-dried, and caramelized within the jasmine tea-infused tartlet, along with some cream. The ice cream on top was made with toasted rice and sobacha (蕎麦茶).

Domaine des Marnes Blanches Macvin du Jura - this was a little tea-like with notes of jasmine flowers, and also pretty fruity. Very nice and alluring. So happy with this.

We ended up two sweet treats:

Frozen mint cake and assam tea -

Baked chestnut [madeleines] with Zen Farm figs - the madeleines were very sweet but I don't think I tasted any chestnut... just the Grand Marnier.

With this revamp, the number of courses has been reduced - leading to a lighter meal if one chose not to add supplemental courses. The presence of acidity throughout the meal also made sure nothing felt too heavy - even when you've got chunks of sweet potatoes around. At the end of the meal, I felt pretty good and not stuffed to the brim - and this is what I've always liked about my meals at Roganic. I also appreciated that I could choose my own dishes without having to negotiate with my dining companions about what we wanted to share. Finally, I loved that they chose to use some of the beautiful produce from Taiwan.

Many thanks to B Bestie and Giona for the kind invitation, and I am grateful to the ladies for the company. And I hope the guy who gave his date a bouquet of 99 roses had a good night.