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Tippling Club 2019

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Click here to read our 2022 review of the Tippling Club - Singapore Food Blog

Tippling Club with Archer – OMG!!!

So I did a work ‘favour’ for my bud Archer and in return, he and his company decided to recognise me with literally a ‘free lunch. I cannot thank him enough for this as he went way, way, way to the very top and took me for my first time to Tippling Club. He organised an off-piste menu with wine pairing. This was an, ‘I am in heaven food experience’. This is Tippling Club with Archer – OMG!!!

If you ever plan to go here you need some coin, but every cent of that coin is going to be well spent believe me. Chef Ryan Clift was not in town sadly, but we were looked after, nay pampered, by Head Chef Ayo and his crew this day. It was just perfect, it was a knockout lunch. Off the charts in fact, and the dessert was literally out of this world as you will see later.

One thing about today that has truly annoyed me though. I did not get a photo of Archer and me enjoying this lunch. I guess I was so distracted by the food constantly coming out. Sorry, Luke mate.

You will absolutely need to book if you are vying to come here as on Tippling Club with Archer – OMG!!! It was mobbed. So give the guys a tinkle @;

38 Tanjong Pagar Road (2,404.62 km)
088461 Singapore
 
+65 6475 2217
 
Now because Archer went off-piste, so did the Chef. A great deal of what I am about to share from Tippling Club with Archer – OMG!!! was not ‘on the menu’ so it is going to be some memory descriptions of the food. But we had so much variety and so much wine there may be a little fogginess. Apologies to Chef Ayo and crew.
 
Here we go….
Tippling Club with Archer - OMG!!!
So I asked about the logo design relevance. A logo that a good few of Chef Clift’s staff have tattoos (love that). It is his method of creating a menu. Above the central line is the food as per horizontal lines and below is the wine pairing. Genius!!!
 
Tippling Club with Archer - OMG!!!
So this little stunner was one of the ‘pre-lunch’ snacks. Yes, folks, we had THREE snacks before the official lunch started. How about that? So this stunner, as I was saying, arrives. Sorry Chef Ayo I am guessing here so I’ll act vaguely. These were cheese snaps with this intense tomato paste and some flavoured caviar drops. Now, these caviar drops are not fish, there is a really clever machine that puts a gelatin ‘skin’ around liquid to make these. So you can make sauces and soups and present them as these gorgeous little shiny balls – flavour-pops these are.
Tippling Club with Archer - OMG!!!
Up next is another snack. This is served on a bed of black salt. I can only describe this as a pastry pillow that is stuffed with a cheese souffle, topped with a slice of toasted cheese and again some of that amazing caviar. A mouthful only, but an incredible flavour explosion – and how pretty does that look too huh?
Tippling Club with Archer - OMG!!!
Yep, another snack. And this was just bonkers good. Charcoaled chilli peppers with an unknown foam. This was so, so good. Salty, crunchy, a little sour, then sweet. Again texture slaps in the face, with flavour pops all over the place. This one I really liked a great deal.
Tippling Club with Archer - OMG!!!
OK, 3 snacks over and done with. Here comes a palate cleanser now. This came in two parts. Now if I remember this was a herb (basil ++) oil which sat in the bottom of the glass. The Chef then added clear tomato juice (I have done a ‘white’ Bloody Mary and it is a pain, as you have to squeeze it through Muslin, but the effect is stunning). You pour this in and the basil oil bubbles to the top, as Chef described it as a palate-cleansing lava lamp. Again genius concept and what a cracking taste to boot. Citrus overtones. Just a cracker.
Tippling Club with Archer - OMG!!!
Now, this was a funny one for Luke as he traditionally hates everything on this plate. Conversely, I love them all. But even Luke admitted that this was just a crazy good plate. This blew me away. If you had all this together it was just an immediate food explosion. Top-grade beef carpaccio, raw egg, black truffle shavings, hazelnuts, and I think a dollop or two of some form of mayo I think. This was just crazy good. Dear me – I am in heaven, I can hear angels singing, or is that Fred Astaire? Maybe it was both…
Tippling Club with Archer - OMG!!!
I really am not going to do this justice sorry. All I remember was having a major dreamy food experience afterwards. Insane food. Foie gras with maple syrup charred pineapple, a sort of granola mix and some drizzles of something I forget. Dear me. Again this is textural and flavour-pops all over the place. It’s like being in a food haunted house, you keep getting surprised all the time as you munch on.
Tippling Club with Archer - OMG!!!
In kicks a cocktail. Zesty and sour with orange peel. Holy moly, almost palate-cleansing again. Did you know Tippling Club’s Bar is #31 in the top 50 bars in the WORLD? Hell yeah!
Tippling Club with Archer - OMG!!!
Oh, man this dish. It was described by the Chef and Luke and I were like really, sounds intriguing (AKA OMG again). Chef gave us confidence that this was a dish that worked, so let’s be having it then. Beetroot risotto (see what I mean), with shaved cheese, cured meat and some other stuff this old brain cannot remember from the description given. I tell you what, man oh man, this was a stunner. Creamy and sweet risotto, a bite of cheese and a smoky kick from the meat. A marriage made in heaven. Genius, just genius. Who would have thought of beetroot in a risotto? Well clearly Chef Clift and team, duh! And how absolutely foodporn is this to look at?
Tippling Club with Archer - OMG!!!
And stop the boat. When I said foodporn, you have to include this dish (in fact all the dishes), but check this puppy out. Is that not a thing of beauty? If I was single I’d be on bended knee to this. This is Tippling Club’s lamb dish today for us. I think mint and pea puree, a perfectly cooked little ‘nugget’ of lamb, a roast spud, a hunk of shaved black truffle and other amazing goodies. The lamb was like butter, I kid you not. As tender as a baby’s bum. My Mary would faint if she was served this. A dish to die for, yep this is Death Row Cuisine front and centre. One of the very best looking and tasting things I have ever had come past these lips of mine. Just an absolutely divine dish.
Tippling Club with Archer - OMG!!!
Now this one is just bonkers and lateral Chef-ness. It’s one of the dessert dishes. It’s a medicine tube, and yes it is full of little pink tablets and one blue tablet (Viagra?). What the hell is it? It’s cheesecake and white chocolate. I kid you not. This is Willy Wonka on steroids. I again steal here from Facebook; Take one tablet by mouth, until all is taken… Love pills, prescribed by ‘doctor’ @chefryanclift from our Tippling Club ‘pharmacy’ Strawberry cheesecake & amp; white chocolate blue virility pills. Brilliant!!!
Tippling Club with Archer - OMG!!!
Out come those drugs again. Must have been a freaky night when Chef Clift and the crew came up with this one. I know let’s make a dessert that tastes like space smells. How about that? OK let’s work with NASA to get some actual spacesuits from the actual space-station, extract the essence from them, create a smell that we’ll scent our coaster with and then create a taste that matches the smell for our sorbet. Yeah, that’s a great idea Chef…
Tippling Club with Archer - OMG!!!
And here it is. A chocolate asteroid filled with a sorbet that tastes like space smells. This is bonkers. Willy Wonka would have had to get seriously messed up to create this one. It is absolutely bonkers, but also bonkers good. A Mandarin and Madras sorbet, yes folks Indian curry sorbet. It works so well. As you are eating it though thoughts of the spaceman’s sweaty pits from the spacesuit are flying through your mind. Whatever…
Tippling Club with Archer - OMG!!!
I really cannot do this justice. Another dessert. One of my favourites too. Rhubard. So acidic and tart. Served with these little ‘spring rolls’ filled with a custard that might have been turmeric to give the deep yellow? I just cannot remember, and apologies to Chef again. The sauce with this too was sublime and wee Quinnell of delicious sweet creaminess to cut through the acid. Foodporn at its best again, and flavour sensation and textural eroticism. OMG. But I can hear a fat lady singing sadly, the end is nigh…
Tippling Club with Archer - OMG!!!
The crew at work. I love an open kitchen as you know. Here are the genii at work. All of them with tweezers in the top pocket of their aprons, yes this is Michelin Star-grade plating here folks. Back to that foodporn. Seriously when I bring wifey I want to sit at the bar here and just Chef-watch.
Tippling Club with Archer - OMG!!!
I was even lucky enough to have a visit upstairs to the private area. No BS I was a little light-headed, and not just from the copious amounts of booze I had just consumed over lunch… This space is heavenly. Here they do master classes and the like. The stove top (the black ’tile’) is convection based. The ovens are nuts good, even with rotisserie within. It’s a workspace I could only dream of. Imagine having mates/customers over and cooking right there in front of them!!!
Tippling Club with Archer - OMG!!!
Then one of the Chefs (sorry mate I forget your name, just remember you are moving to NZ to explore new pastures) shows off to me the ‘experimenting area’. Thank you so much for sparing me your time for this. Blimey, Charlie, it looks like the old science lab at Chatham House Grammar School. Bunsen burners and the like… WOW!!!
Tippling Club with Archer - OMG!!!
This absolutely knocked me for six. In these little bottles are the scents of their previous dishes (I think). Like someone making up a new perfume or aftershave, I suppose, blending scents to create new flavour combinations. It’s mind-blowing to sit and think of what these true professionals do to create those dishes being served below us. Again back to, this lunch was an experience. An experience this old brain/Brian will never forget.
Tippling Club with Archer - OMG!!!
Private dining space too. Luke advised me he did the launch of Ten Ten here. What an incredible space to do that in.
Tippling Club with Archer - OMG!!!
The Grange wall. Just for effect like, but very effective. It’s a WOW moment for sure. Of course, the real bottles are stored according to need…
Tippling Club with Archer - OMG!!!
Archer even kicks in the cheese course. Oh go on then mate, don’t mind if I do. Now I looked on Facebook and spotted this as I just could not remember the description of the day, only that the rind was edible and the cheese within was a mousse. From Facebook, the guys say this is @blackcowvodka ‘Black Cow’ Cheddar from Dorset in an edible ‘wax’, hazelnut oatcake and Branston pickle. Whatever this was it was a belter. Just bonkers good cheese with a super tangy pickle, and a stunning white port to boot. Boom!!!
Tippling Club with Archer - OMG!!!
And here are those oatcakes with some seriously beautiful smoked ham, some cracked black pepper and some thyme leaves. Wow!

So there you have it, folks. Probably the very best lunch this fat gob has ever experienced. I am so very lucky to have a mate like Luke to treat me today to this smorgasbord of excellence. Thanks to Chef Ayo and crew this day for making this something I will never forget as a foodie. And of course thanks to Chef Clift, it being his gaff after all. This has to be a place you try once if you can. I have not been able to sleep on my front since. When I get my new job I think I’ll be back with wifey to celebrate (AKA NO KIDS). I am desperate to have this experience again. And that was that Tippling Club with Archer – OMG!!! was over. We left and went back to Meatballs, and then Siglap to a ‘normal’ life. You have to try. You categorically will – ENJOY!!!

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