Text: The Purple One

I don’t know about you all, but when I hear “organic”, I always associate the word with vegetarians, healthy and pretentious because we all know that organic is just another word for boring.

This issue we came across Eden, an organic restaurant that promises to offer something a little different. In fact, they want to redefine and rediscover what the “organic experience” can be.
The entrance to the restaurant is very discreet but once you walk in, you’ll be surprised by the ambience and theme. They’ve stuck with a green colour palate which makes sense since the restaurant is called Eden, but it isn’t what you would expect. First thing you’ll fix your eyes on is their bar that serves pretty decent cocktails, mocktails and other beverages. Not all the refreshments are organic, but if you want to go for the whole organic experience, they’ll happily serve you organic wine.

We sat down to give the food a try and first noticed the food on the menu isn’t solely vegetarian. In fact, it’s so diverse with choices of seafood and various selections of meat that it makes me wonder how it can be organic.

After talking to the manager, we discovered that all of their offerings (except for two dishes which are marked with an “N”) are in fact organic. Organic seafood means it has been caught in the wild and not cultivated, while the chicken is free range raised and the beef is from grain fed cattle.

We started our meal with the grilled scallops on avocado-lime mousse with spring onion salad dressed with chili kefir lime-leaf vinaigrette. The seasonal scallops were well presented and the onion salad didn’t overpower the dish, in fact the vinaigrette could use more kick.

We moved on with the seared Alaskan black cod served over zucchini, potatoes and lemon scented green beans. The dish was delicious and you can really taste the fish; it had a clean quality such as when you eat good sashimi. It was very fresh and simply prepared with the steamed zucchini a well matched side. The cod was cooked just right giving it some textures to nibble without being chewy.

The slipper lobster with fennel, pine nut and cherry tomato risotto with cilantro gremolata was the highlight of the meal. The portion was extremely generous and the taste was divine. I usually stay away from risottos because they’re usually too rich for my taste but every ingredient used in this risotto jumps out at you. It’s not too sticky and the rice was cooked to perfection. .

We finished our meal with the banofee cheesecake dessert, an item soon to be added to their menu. The dessert was huge and we were told that all desserts are made for two people. The presentation was appealing and at under $100 the dessert is definitely worth it.

Whether they’ve done their job in redefining organic food depends on your definition of “organic”, but have I discovered my joy for organic food? Yes. Definitely. I found that the “organic experience” didn’t make me feel tired like I usually would after a meal. This may or may not be because it’s all organic food, but I’m thinking that it probably does have some kind of influence. I thought the dining experience was great, I didn’t feel too full and I definitely didn’t end the meal with my usual declaration: “I’m feeling so full I ain’t gonna eat for the next couple of days!

Address: 16 Arbuthnot Rd., Central

Tel : 2868 0626