63 Celcius - 8th Jan 2018
Last Friday I went to 63 Celsius at Paragon for dinner after
spending the previous weeknights cooking dinner for the kids before they
started school. Located on the fourth floor and in the new wing of paragon, the
restaurant contains seating inside and outside the restaurant at the atrium. It
is a perfect place for shoppers to refuel as they offer breakfast and brunch
from 9am all the way through to dinner. Besides food, the restaurant offers
their other concept within their group, 63 espresso and the range of coffee
specialties. This second restaurant within the group, first being at Asia
Square 2, has a chic contemporary décor with good use of bronze to give it that
upmarket feel. There is an open kitchen and bar which features the Josper grill
as the equipment of choice for cooking the meat.
We started with an appetiser of tomatoes, cheese and herbs.
This dish consisted of San Marzano tomatoes and Tete De Moine cheese and was accompanied
with basil oil and balsamic vinegar dressing. The florets of cheese looked like
lettuce leaves and it certainly fooled my dining companions. I promptly told
them that Tete De Moine which means Monk’s Head in French used to be made by monks
and the florets is made by scrapping the cheese in a circular motion using a
Girolle. I’m happy to say that my companions absolutely loved the cheese even
after it was hyped up by me with the introduction. The biggest complaint about
this dish was the amount of cheese was too little for the amount of tomatoes.
San Marzano tomatoes and Tete De Moine cheese
Beef seems to be the main focus on the menu and we duly
obliged by ordering two of the five beef dishes on offer. First up was the Stockyard Wagyu Striploin
MB9 which was topped with wild forest mushrooms and beef jus. The beef had a
good char from the Josper grill and the doneness was cooked correctly. The
flavour was what you expect of Stockyard wagyu, beefy with a good amount of
sweetness. Unfortunately it was not as juicy as it could be because the beef
was sliced too thin as a steak. I understand the need to serve 200g portions
however they should do it like how they did the next dish, the Japanese
Toriyama Wagyu Striploin. In this dish, the sirloin was cut thicker and then
halved. After cooking it was cut into three slices and served with sea salt,
wasabi, soy and romaine lettuce. I enjoy Japanese wagyu plainly with sea salt
but sometimes I like some wasabi to spice it up. I am happy to have the
selection to do both here. It was nice to compare the difference between the
Australian wagyu and Japanese wagyu with the latter being more tender and juicy
with a sweeter but less beefy flavour. We ordered a side of Josper grilled corn
which was served with cheese and bacon. The dish had a nice brown crust and the
melted cheese with corn was brilliant; sweet and savoury coming together
perfectly in this dish.
Stockyard Wagyu Striploin MB9 and Japanese Toriyama Wagyu Striploin
Josper grilled corn served with cheese and bacon
The next dish of duroc pork chop was outstanding. The pork
chop was marinated in tare sauce and served on pureed butternut squash and
roasted padron peppers. The nicely marbled pork chop was tender, moist and took
on the sweetness of the tare so well. I would love to come back just for this
dish! We balanced our carnivorous culinary adventure with a vegetarian pasta.
Spaghetti served with mushrooms, tomatoes, garlic, kombu and chilli provided an
umami kick to one very tasty and satisfying meal.
Duroc pork chop and spaghetti
After a day of luxury shopping at the elegant Paragon
shopping mall, nothing quite hits the spot like a comforting meal and strong
cuppa coffee at 63 Celsius. The tasty dishes are creative and beautifully
packaged in a nice ambience, this certainly makes it stand out from all the
other eateries in the vicinity.
~Executive Director
Andre Huber
