OChre: Celebrating Our 5th Anniversary!

Last week the girlfriend and I celebrated another milestone in our relationship. No we are not getting married (yet =D), but we had been together for five years already! That's definitely worth a celebration no? The girlfriend had a simple request for dinner venue: Good ambience. So off we went to try out OChre!




Located at the top floors of Orchard Central, the Italian restaurant was definitely a good choice for dinner for two. With stylish furnishing and an open kitchen concept, there wasn't much of a weekday crowd while each table was also nicely spaced out for an non-intrusive meal. Service was also very much attentive, as plates were replaced and ice water was refilled promptly throughout.

The only pity was that the window seats didn't warrant any view of the skyline or Orchard Road below, no thanks to the building design.



Complimentary Bread Basket, Soup of The Day (Piccolo Size) ($7.00)

The way they served the bread was kind of odd. After introducing us to Ciabatta and Olive Bread, the staff then asked us to pick one, put it on our plates, and left the whole basket on our table. I mean, if you are serving the entire basket, wasn't the "picking" kind of redundant?

Anyway, it was hard to get impressed by any Ciabatta after you have tried The Dunearn's rendition, while I thought the other one was slightly better with its dense texture and prominent bits and taste of olive within.

We each had the supposedly smaller serving of Cream of Mushroom but was pleasantly surprised by its not-so-small size and thick, creamy flavour. Like!


Smoked Salmon Pizza ($20.00)

I had a pizza craving ever since the start of exams so I knew we had to order one from the menu! Unfortunately, while the thin dough was pretty well done with a crisp, smokey outer rim and chewy centre, it was generally lacking in flavours. The scarce usage of smoked salmon bits was also a let down as we could barely taste it among the mouthfuls of dough.



Seafood Tagliolini ($21.00), Duck Leg & Eggplant Tagliatelle ($18.00)

We liked how the pastas were available in Starter portions to try more at one go! While the seafood medley and its tomato cream sauce was just normal, the ragout of tender duck shreds and eggplant cubes was rather outstanding.

However, the biggest issue we had was the pasta itself. Somehow, the tagliolini tasted very much like the Chinese yellow noodles while the Tagliatelle resembled undercooked meepok. Not sure if it was meant to be like that but we weren't impressed at all.


Chocolate & Hazelnut Lava Cake ($13.00)

There's always room for desserts! Served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, I thought it would be even better if the cake itself was thinner, making more space for the gooey goodness of chocolate and hazelnut bits. It was also a little too petite for our preference.

Bill for two was $92.02 with no service charge, a rare sight for a place with dress code and fine-dining service. Food-wise, OChre didn't leave much of a positive impression but thankfully, the ambience made up for it as we spent a good three hours in the little haven. Here's to many many more 5 years ahead!

OChre Italian Restaurant
181 Orchard Road #11-03/04
Orchard Central
Tel: 66340423

Taken with Nikon D70