Loola’s

C says:

Ichiban Boshi on the 2nd floor of Esplanade has been taken over by Loola's, another bistro/casual dining eatery from the Awfully Chocolate group. Loola's serves dinner till midnight, making it a very convenient option for those of us who can't quite manage to grab dinner before a 7.30 or 8 pm show. We did that on Friday - we had a quick snack before the show, then came here at 10.30 for a late dinner.

It was a bit too late to eat as much as we normally do; we ended up sharing a starter, a main and a dessert. The starter was my choice - a very interestingly described salted vegetable soup with duck confit and egg emulsion (S$9). A twist on kiam chye arh!

The presentation was anything but, but one mouthful of the soup and you can't mistake it for anything else. It was the essence of kiam chye arh, just in a different texture. Very cool. The quenelle of duck confit added a nice layer of texture and flavour too.

We originally wanted to order one of their souffle preparations - either the crab souffle or the souffle omelette, but were told that both would take about 20 minutes. We decided to save that for another time, and ordered the Lobster and Sheets instead, which was butter poached lobster with pasta sheets and a lobster bisque sauce.

When it arrived I thought we'd been served a crepe instead, but on closer inspection it was indeed a disc of fresh pasta. This was better than expected - they were very generous with the lobster (at $42 they ought to be!), the pasta was silky smooth and the bisque sauce was divine. My only criticism would be that the lobster was slightly overcooked and was a bit rubbery.

Because I picked and pretty much ate all of the starter, the dessert was all A. He ordered the chocolate mille crepe (S$11) - layers of chocolate crepes sandwiched with chocolate cream. Comparisons to Classic Cakes' version are inevitable, and I think the original is still better. It's lighter and each crepe is thinner. Loola's tastes good but it's a lot denser and heavier.

Despite a sudden post-show rush, service was good and we got our food very promptly. I've read some negative comments about the other Awfully Chocolate food joints in the East, so I was actually more than impressed with Loola's. Definitely warrants a return visit, perhaps at a normal, non-post show time.

A says:

While the menu was very interesting, I didn’t have high hopes. I was pleasantly surprised that the hostess provided excellent service and the food turned out decent. The lobster was far from perfect considering the $42 price tag, but other than that, every was reasonable. This will probably be our default post-show place from now on.

Loola’s

8 Raffles Avenue

#02-14, Esplanade

Tel: 6336-9563