The thought of eating roasted reindeer may not go down well with some, especially those who believed that Rudolf is somewhere up there in the north pole.
Recently, Gordon Grill at Goodwood Park Hotel held a New Finnish Cuisine Promotion by Guest Chef Kim Palhus.
Started off with a special amuse bouche from the chef.
Plus freshly baked Finnish breads.
1 glass of Chateau De Malleret 2004 (S$17.50 per glass)
As recommended, I got the special 4 courses Set Lunch (S$58) which features some of the their signature dishes at a special price.
The appetizert was this healthy Beetroot and vegetable salad "rosolli" with mustard seeds, red onion jam and foam of pickled cucumber broth.
Another appetizer in the set was this Cold smoked pike tartar with salmon trout roe, Grandma's cucumber salad and "shore sand" .
The main course was Reindeer roast with barley-wild mushroom "porridge" parsnip puree and beer sauce. The Lapland reindeer is from the northern Scandinavian Peninsula. This is what everyone came here for. Reindeer tastes a bit like venison, but with a more gamey taste.
I also ordered the Karelian Stew separately - Medallions of beef, lamb and pork served with parsnip puree and deep-fried shredded carrot. I thought this would be an interesting dish as it was featured in some media reports, but turned out that that I didn't enjoy this as much as the dishes in the set lunch.
What a name for a dessert. This dessert is called Poor Knights, which is a traditional Finnish dessert made of fried cardamom coffee bread. Cardamom is used quite extensively during baking in Nordic countries.
Ended my lunch with a decaf coffee with brown sugar.
And some Petit Fours from Finland.
Gordon Grill
22 Scotts Road
Ground Floor
Goodwood Park Hotel