Went here without any expectations but was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food. We ordered the truffle pasta, seared salmon with wasabi mayo, and crispy pork belly. I thought each dish was executed really well.

The truffle pasta had a good chew to them and lots of mushrooms; sauce was creamy and the truffle flavor wasn’t overpowering.

True to its name, the salmon dish was excellently seared — crusty outside, but moist and tender inside. The wasabi mayo was creamy, tangy, and spicy. The mash highlighted the flavor of the potato with just enough chunkiness for texture.

The crispy pork belly was more like tender lechon deep-fried to crisp up the exterior. You could tell it was slow-cooked from the fall-apart texture, but was a bit lacking in seasoning IMHO. This dish needed the sauce, which was savory with a hint of fruitiness.

For dessert, we had the red velvet cake and the taro cloud roll. Was surprised when they served them in thin slices divided among the three of us. While I appreciate the thoughtfulness, it bordered on presumptuousness and we couldn’t appreciate the serving sizes properly.

Both items weren’t too sweet and I like how I could taste the cocoa in the red velvet. The cloud roll was a light and moist cake wrapped around a taro paste filling. Was expecting more of a mousse-like consistency for the filling in keeping with the name, but I guess it also works as textural counterpoint.

Some minor quibbles: (1) The furnishings were run-down and ill-maintained, especially the seats. While the neoclassical exterior of the building was preserved, the interior is eclectic in terms of style and can be jarringly so. (2) Service could be improved. They don’t accept card payments supposedly because their POS device wasn’t working, but based on the reviews here it seems to be a long-standing issue. Staff were nice but could be a bit more attentive. Also took a long time to serve the pork belly dish. (3) Pricing is definitely expensive. The quality of food partly makes up for it, but given the ungenerous serving sizes I’m not quite convinced about the value-for-money.