Le Du presents Thai flavors in an elevated and creative manner; every single course felt unmistakably Thai, familiar but with some subtle yet ingenious differences. Each dish was a harmonious confluence of different sauces and ingredients. Flavors are controlled and not at all explosive, despite the use of strong ingredients like chili or lime or lemongrass.
We start with four strong small bites. First, a lightly grilled oyster in a rice cracker. The sauce is sweet and sour but with quite an intensely oyster flavor. The oyster was creamy and soft, and the rice cracker provided textural contrast. Next, a tartlet that presents heterogenous layers of texture – coconut shreds, mung bean, and ginger.
Third, a fish with caramelized fish sauce that leans on the side too sweet that the fish sauce is a little lost on me. Regardless, it’s a tasty bite, and the crispy lotus root is a good touch. Lastly, fried cabbage with a sac of sauce that tastes magically in between sweet and sour sauce and curry. It’s exceptionally rich that the flavor lingers.
The first course is a poached banana prawn, served with beetroot sorbet that has been laced with chilis, garlic, and Thai herbs like lemongrass and basil. The sorbet with all the base Thai flavors is a very highlightable use of beetroot in fine dining. However, the prawn is a bit over cooked that it is no longer has a soft Q texture. My favorite part is the seaweed that has a chewy and pop-able caviar texture. Overall, the synthesis between the flavors is good but not phenomenal.
The squid is stretchy and soft, gently poached then grilled. The squid feels slightly too thin for me to fully appreciate appreciate its textures. It is served with strawberries and coconut mousse – a flavor combination with the squid that doesn’t strike any chords.
The grouper has an amazing sauce but the fish felt overcooked. The sauce is made up of 2 parts – a southern bean curry and a lighter fishier curry. They can be mixed together to form a curry that is quite creamy and fragrant, extremely complementary with the sizably cut grouper. Unfortunately the grouper had a rubbery texture, past the more firm and supple standard.
The crab course is a wonderful blur. There are 4 distinct parts: crab and cabbage salad, purple sticky rice with lotus seed, cauliflower mousse and foam, li hing mui, and a sweet yet spicy housemade sriracha. Together they’re quite a balanced and controlled confluence, with the crab texture shining through the sticky rice.
The signature river prawn is an add on, and it’s the best dish. The prawn is grilled to have a perfect Q texture, topped with a lighter tom yum sauce that incorporates the head of the prawn. The risotto on the side is oily, soft, sticky. There is sweet pork, shallots, and chilis on top of rice and it’s so good that you can have it by itself. The combination of shrimp and rice is a memorable and satisfying combination: it bursts with umami – a large part from the shrimp head and roe – and is epic in the many dimensions of flavor.
The Thai wagyu isn’t too special especially after the prawn. The marbling is alright, and it’s cooked fairly through to have the same texture throughout the cut towards the well done side. The flavor is quite beefy. It goes with 3 sauces – a Thai BBQ that dominates, and a more subtle bell pepper purée plus kale oil that sort of get lost. The leek stuffed with pork and lemongrass is a fun interlude.
The palate cleanser is an apt roselle sorbet. It has welcome zesty notes from the caramelized kumquat peel.
The main dessert features a salted egg caramel drizzled on vanilla ice cream, with a pumpkin mousse on the side. The vanilla ice cream is decent, not particularly creamy or rich. The pumpkin mousse quickly disappears and a taste of bael fruit remains, sort of waxy. The roti was quite stale, which I didn’t really get.
4 Comments
Le Du presents Thai flavors in an elevated and creative manner; every single course felt unmistakably Thai, familiar but with some subtle yet ingenious differences. Each dish was a harmonious confluence of different sauces and ingredients. Flavors are controlled and not at all explosive, despite the use of strong ingredients like chili or lime or lemongrass.
We start with four strong small bites. First, a lightly grilled oyster in a rice cracker. The sauce is sweet and sour but with quite an intensely oyster flavor. The oyster was creamy and soft, and the rice cracker provided textural contrast. Next, a tartlet that presents heterogenous layers of texture – coconut shreds, mung bean, and ginger.
Third, a fish with caramelized fish sauce that leans on the side too sweet that the fish sauce is a little lost on me. Regardless, it’s a tasty bite, and the crispy lotus root is a good touch. Lastly, fried cabbage with a sac of sauce that tastes magically in between sweet and sour sauce and curry. It’s exceptionally rich that the flavor lingers.
The first course is a poached banana prawn, served with beetroot sorbet that has been laced with chilis, garlic, and Thai herbs like lemongrass and basil. The sorbet with all the base Thai flavors is a very highlightable use of beetroot in fine dining. However, the prawn is a bit over cooked that it is no longer has a soft Q texture. My favorite part is the seaweed that has a chewy and pop-able caviar texture. Overall, the synthesis between the flavors is good but not phenomenal.
The squid is stretchy and soft, gently poached then grilled. The squid feels slightly too thin for me to fully appreciate appreciate its textures. It is served with strawberries and coconut mousse – a flavor combination with the squid that doesn’t strike any chords.
The grouper has an amazing sauce but the fish felt overcooked. The sauce is made up of 2 parts – a southern bean curry and a lighter fishier curry. They can be mixed together to form a curry that is quite creamy and fragrant, extremely complementary with the sizably cut grouper. Unfortunately the grouper had a rubbery texture, past the more firm and supple standard.
The crab course is a wonderful blur. There are 4 distinct parts: crab and cabbage salad, purple sticky rice with lotus seed, cauliflower mousse and foam, li hing mui, and a sweet yet spicy housemade sriracha. Together they’re quite a balanced and controlled confluence, with the crab texture shining through the sticky rice.
The signature river prawn is an add on, and it’s the best dish. The prawn is grilled to have a perfect Q texture, topped with a lighter tom yum sauce that incorporates the head of the prawn. The risotto on the side is oily, soft, sticky. There is sweet pork, shallots, and chilis on top of rice and it’s so good that you can have it by itself. The combination of shrimp and rice is a memorable and satisfying combination: it bursts with umami – a large part from the shrimp head and roe – and is epic in the many dimensions of flavor.
The Thai wagyu isn’t too special especially after the prawn. The marbling is alright, and it’s cooked fairly through to have the same texture throughout the cut towards the well done side. The flavor is quite beefy. It goes with 3 sauces – a Thai BBQ that dominates, and a more subtle bell pepper purée plus kale oil that sort of get lost. The leek stuffed with pork and lemongrass is a fun interlude.
The palate cleanser is an apt roselle sorbet. It has welcome zesty notes from the caramelized kumquat peel.
The main dessert features a salted egg caramel drizzled on vanilla ice cream, with a pumpkin mousse on the side. The vanilla ice cream is decent, not particularly creamy or rich. The pumpkin mousse quickly disappears and a taste of bael fruit remains, sort of waxy. The roti was quite stale, which I didn’t really get.
Personal score:
Flavor: 8.5
Quality: 9
Value: 6
Setting and service: +1.5
Presentation: +3.5
Legitimacy/creativity: +4.5
Misc: +3
Total: 78.5 (highly recommended)
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Tltr how mooouch money for this meal?
Ah heterogenous layers of texture.. that’s the stuff
What is Q texture?
Thanks for the thorough review!