It was time for my best foodie friend, Ada, and I to catch up again and it has almost become a ritual for us to do so over a nice meal at a restaurant neither of us has been to before. And this time, it was to be Chalk.

Chalk is located on Mount Sophia and housed within Old School. Aptly (if not unoriginally) named Old School, the site used to be the location for Methodist Girls School. Much of the architecture has been kept so we really felt like we were going to school for dinner (ok, bad joke).

Anyway, just a tip for those driving up. Mount Sophia is off Sophia Road, which means that at some point, you would need to make a left-turn, so watch out for it. Ada and I missed it and had to make our cab driver take an extra round.

We finally made it there and so class, it’s time to dish out the report card:

Food / Beverage: A-

Shortly after we were seated and had ordered our food, we were served a plate of bread. Exactly four small slices of it – two slices of normal bread (which, presumably, came from a baguette) and two slices of foccacia bread. The normal bread was, well, normal, but the foccacia bread was fluffy, soft and light. It was quite special, since foccacia bread tends to be a bit dense. The bread is free-flow but expect only four small slices each time (well, I guess it’s a sign we were not there to eat bread)

Ada and I started off with an appetizer of half-dozen escargots baked in garlic and butter. The escargots were not un-nice, but were certainly forgettable. They felt like they were lacking something, an oomph perhaps, but I just can’t quite put my finger on what. Maybe it’s the fragrance of the garlic and butter which were not well-absorbed, resulting in a somewhat non-descript taste.

Soon after we had finished the escargots, our main courses arrived.

Ada ordered the gnocchi with scallops and prawns, cooked in an orange butter sauce. She was initially torn between choosing the Three Different Kinds of Seafood, the Duck Confit and this gnocchi, but was won over by the waitress’ description of it – “not overly creamy because the cream has been neutralized by the citrus”.

I (predictably) ordered the Salmon Confit, though I did toy with the idea of having the Beef Stew with mashed potatoes.

Ada generally liked her dish, especially the cream. She said it was special and that it was - as the waitress has described – not too creamy or heavy (or in Singaporean lingo – “jelard”); the citrus twist did the trick. However, she did opine that the gnocchi was too gummy for her. I think this could be due to her personal preference because I liked the gnocchi precisely because it was starchy with texture. Overall, I also thought the dish was good, but felt the scallops were too dry.

As for my Salmon Confit, I really enjoyed it though Ada did not feel the same. True to the “confit” style of cooking, the salmon retained much of its flavor and taste. The salmon was very soft and juicy and each bite literally melted in my mouth. I liked that the taste was subtle and muted. However, if you prefer your salmon to be strong and robust in flavor, then this is probably not for you. I also liked that while I was adequately filled, I still felt like I had enough space for dessert (which is almost always a must!).

And so enter the desserts.

Ada and I initially wanted to share the Sampler Dessert Platter, which consists of four desserts selected by the chef. The four defaults were the Crème Brulee, the Panna Cotta, the Apple Rhubarb Crumble and the Warm Sticky Date Pudding. We asked if we could switch some of the items but were told that they could not accommodate our request due to it being a busy night. Hence, we decided to skip that and have individual desserts instead.

Ada opted for the Crème Brulee with Almond Biscotti and I decided on the Panna Cotta with Berry Compote (after struggling for awhile between choosing this and the Chocolate Fondant Cake).

When the desserts came, I was quite surprised at how generous the portions were.

Ada’s Crème Brulee was delicious! I really liked it, and so did she. The taste was creamy and milky and just sweet enough. Some places tend to make their crème brulee a little liquid(ish) in texture, but Chalk’s crème brulee was soft but firm enough. It is probably one of the better crème brulees that I have had in awhile.

I liked my Panna Cotta as well, though I have also had better (Pasta Brava, Oso). The texture was a tad too firm and I would have preferred it a bit softer. Taste-wise, it was nicely rich and milky, but I would have also liked to have tasted a little bit more vanilla in there. As for the accompanying berry compote, it was very sour by itself, but complemented the richness of the panna cotta well.

Ambience: A+

Because Chalk is tucked away on a hill, it makes you feel like you were far away from the hustle-and-bustle of the city, or like you were away in another country. I felt a strange sense of wanderlust just being there. Within the restaurant itself, if you sat in the alfresco area, you would have a breezy view of Plaza Singapura. Ada and I were seated inside, where the lights were warm and low. It would certainly make for a very romantic date setting. You can see the kitchen area because it is separated by glass. At one point, while standing near the kitchen, Ada even waved to the chefs inside. -_-

Value: A

Chalk is by no means what you would call cheap. But if we are talking about value, where the food and the ambience are taken into account, this place offers good value. While I can’t remember the prices exactly, their starters ranged from $15 to $25, main courses were between $25 to $29 and desserts $13 to $25. For a place like this, I believe the prices to be very reasonable.

Service: B-

It’s in the service area that Chalk is lacking. I find it hard to write this because it’s not that the service staff was outright unpleasant, it was just that they did not seem genuine or warm or attentive enough. It was as if they were happy doing the minimum that service staff were required to do so as not to be categorized as un-nice, but they did not seem willing to offer more.

A few examples:

1. Ada requested for warm water and I asked for iced. They completely mixed us up and gave her the cold and me, the warm. Twice.

2. We had to ask twice for more bread. And the second time we did, we requested only for the foccacia bread. They still came to us with two slices of normal bread and two slices of foccacia.

3. While introducing us to the specials of the day, the waiter seemed unsure of what they had and did a lackadaisical job in the promoting of the specials.

4. There was a particular waitress who – on the surface had a sweet disposition – but served us with a somewhat gritted smile.

5. The service staff tried to clear our plates even when we were not done.

I am probably being harsher than I should be, but I am one for high service levels, especially so for chic restaurants like Chalk. To me, it is about the total package. You might have a great ambience and excellent food, but if your service is below par, then the whole dining experience becomes subpar as well. Throughout the dinner, Ada and I were discussing what I should give as a rating for the service levels. At the start, I said 6.5 and she said “No lah, where got so bad? I would give 7.” As the night wore on, I went down to 5, and she said “No man! I think it’s a 4 now”. I have finally decided to give it a 6, because it’s not like the service is of a failing grade, but there is certainly room for improvement.

Remedial lessons for Service 101 perhaps?