7Adam, an art gallery-cum-restaurant, is housed in an enchanting black-and-white colonial house. The house, amidst serene, lush verdure,  has a long history of 60 to 80 years and it is said that most of the battles in Singapore for WWII were fought on this very hill. You can buy the art pieces, which change every 8 to 10 weeks.

Currently on display are works from the 15 year-old prodigy, Dawn Kwan. After her, the batik artist, Sujak Rahman.

The art pieces are used as decor so you can see how your house walls will look like. The architecture of the colonial house is amazing. When we reached there, Jasper from six-and-seven was already there and he said, “OMG OMG, this place is so beautiful!” As you walk up a flight on stairs, on your left is the Light Room, a room flooded with warm sunlight, giving a very lazy Sunday atmosphere…

On your right, the Cozy Room…

Here is another look at the Cozy Room:

The Cozy and Light Rooms form the centre of the house. You can go to the East or West wing via one of these gorgeous corridors. The tables along the corridors are suited for couples, very quiet, romantic and intimate.

In one wing, there is a bar with a laidback sofa:

Since we are at the bar now on this cyber tour, we tried two preprandial cocktails and one mocktail. For mocktail, we had Adam’s Special ($10), a virgin mojito, with 7up, mint, sugar, and lime. On a hot day, the drink would be refreshing and thirst-quenching. Damn shiok! But we wondered if the price was too high for something without alcohol. That is the general impression of the food and drinks, that the price can be 10-15% lower.

For the cocktails, Chiobu picked Tiramisu Martini ($22) and I, Creamilicious Kit Kat ($23). Tiramisu Martini tasted a bit of chocolate, a bit of coffee and a whole lot of martini. Chiobu didn’t like it because the alcohol was overpowering so I took over and it was ok.

Creamilicious Kit Kat, on the other hand, was a resounding success. Concocted out of bailey’s, chocolate syrup, milk and Kit Kat ice cream, Melicacy said, “I’m usually repulsed by alcohol..” and finished a glass in 2 minutes and then ordered another one. Jasper said, “This is the BEST cocktail I’ve ever had” and then ordered a second glass. CY, who used to write for Hungry Epicurean, chimed in, “I want an encore too!” The reason why they liked it, I suspect, is because it tasted like Kit Kat milkshake, even the texture was full of small ice bits, like a smoothie. But because it is so deceptively easy to drink, you get drunk without knowing it. Clearly, the drink is not for someone who likes a stiff one but there are wines, whiskeys, brandies, sakes, and champagnes here too.

Happy hour from 5pm-8pm with 1-for-1 for some beers.

Continuing our tour of the colonial house, down the same wing, you come to an open space. WOW. This is the perfect brunch location. Extremely leisurely, exuding an ambience of hermitage, far from the madding crowd, you know, like Blue Lagoon (the movie) or those Shaolin temple shrouded in clouds where you have to climb a million steps to reach. 7Adam intends to build a playground for children, so parents can brunch in peace. Brunch will commence only in April. So watch for announcements on RERG facebook and twitter.

On the other wing, there is a private room that can house 16 to 20 people. My birthday is coming, so this is definitely one of my options.

Still on the decor–I am so lor soh (longwinded)–7Adam reminds me a lot of Au Jardin. Obviously, they are both colonial houses hidden amidst luxuriant foliage. Au Jardin appeals, I think, to an older crowd of class and sophistication and old money. 7Adam is  also classy but it is edgier. You can tell from the decor and ambience. The black-and-white checkered floor tiles are mirrored in the black and white table cloth but to break the staid monotony, there are neon-colored stools. Unlike Au Jardin which plays classic vocal jazz (like Ella Fitzgerald), 7Adam plays contemporary easy listening, French songs, and Katie Melua, etc, so you can tell 7Adam targets yuppies, people in their 20s-40s who are financially and mentally independent.

The food: The menu is created by celebrity chef Jimmy Chok, known for his fusion dishes. A French chef has taken over and in March, while most of the food items will remain, he will launch a new set lunch menu and a new dinner degustation menu.

The complimentary baguette came hot! But unfortunately, there wasn’t a free flow.

For starters, we had 7Adam Trio ($30) consisting foie gras, seared tuna loin and crab cake. Of the three, the crab cake is my favorite. Made of AA quality crab meat with crunchy tri-colored capsicum bits, breaded thinly, deep-fried to a crisp, the taste was ever-changing, complex and indescribable. With the wasabi mayonnaise and tomato chili jam (similar to the taste of cai-po, you know, the thing you put on chwee kueh), it tasted, in turns, Western-ish, Mexican-ish, Japanese-ish, and Singaporean-ish. Very awesome.

The second is seared tuna loin with a salad. The tuna was ordinary but the salad stole the show. The cherry tomato was actually cooked/roasted? It gave the impression that it was raw and firm but when you put it in your mouth, it bursts and wow, such sweetness. The surprise came almost like the very first peach you ate in your life. What is also worth mentioning is the salad dressing. The PR said it is balsamic reduction but I thought–and I may be wrong–I tasted something tangier and sweeter, almost like teriyaki sauce. The dressing went very well with the rocket, contrasting and complimenting the bitterness of the green.

My least favorite is pan-fried foie gras with black vinegar and crunchy apple. There was slight sugar added, which caramelized onto the foie gras, giving it a wonderful taste. It tasted like childhood, actually. But it lacked a vital, vital essence of foie gras: foie gras is suppose to be firm outside and melt like butter in your mouth. But this one was firm. That being said, I’d rather eat a firm foie gras than a mushy one like the one I had at Les Amis.

Pan-fried sea bass in tomato kaffir lime salsa ($25) is usually served in a fillet but for the purpose of our food tasting where we shared food, the chef cut it and stacked it up. Such a gorgeous plating, displaying the texture, the striae of the fish and the golden-browness of the skin!! Unfortunately, like an Abercrombie and Fitch salesperson, its good looks didn’t mean it tasted good. It was somehow fishy, dry and bland.

The PR told us linguini with portobello and spinach ($28) is her favorite and we agreed it was excellent. The pasta was slightly over al dente, so it was softer, which I like. People who detest spinach, a very Asian vegetable in this Italian dish, usually don’t eat it because of its sliminess. But the cream covered and blended with the spinach so that it seemed as if it was a strand of green linguini. And that damn delicious tomato again. I am not a tomato person, in fact I hate it but in this instance I must ask, Y U NO give more?!?! The more I ate the pasta, the more it grew on me. It was not explosively mindblowing; it was a subtle fondness.

I said that the Novus’s steak was the best looking piece of meat I have ever seen and I wanted to marry it. Do you believe in bigamy? Because I do. This braised lamb shank ($32), with kaffir lime couscous, was so HOT! It had this animalistic magnetism to it. It’s like the Novus’s steak is Brad Pitt, pretty boy, while 7Adam’s big bone of a lamb shank is Hugh Jackman. And we all know Hugh Jackman is a beast… a very delicious beast.

An interesting story regarding this lamb shank. There was a tingling on my tongue and I asked the rest of the food reviewers if they tasted something spicy. They all said no. The PR asked the chef and the chef said that the sauce is made of hoisin, garlic…and wait for it…just a tiny pinch of… wait for it.. chili powder! I’d like to thank my parents for giving me such a sensitive tongue.

Mixed reviews for this lamb shank. Chiobu said it had the stench of lamb. Melicacy said no have. I thought while the sauce covered the stench–so there wasn’t a stench–the taste was only ok, a tad dry.

What I would recommend instead is the braised wagyu beef cheek with mashed potato ($35). (Sorry, no photo, the wagyu was inferior next to Huge Jackman Lamb Shank so it refused to photograph properly.) It had that melt-in-your-mouth tenderness but it also had a something extra that most beef cheeks don’t have. Most beef cheeks are tasteless, usually the sauce (red-wine sauce?) is glazed on the surface of the meat, but at 7Adam, you could taste the sauce permeating past the surface. I’d like the sauce to be thoroughly infused into meat but at least 7Adam is in the right direction. The mashed was thick and satisfying, one of the better mashed around.

For the readers’ sake, we tried ALL the desserts. Sigh, my hard life. The vanilla ice cream, with fresh strawberries, pepper and balsamic ($12) in the first photo above – well, don’t order it. It costs the same price as others but there isn’t a “main lead” in the combination. However, the rest of the three desserts were good to excellent.

Poached pear in red wine with vanilla ice cream ($12) provided an alternative to non-chocolate eaters. The sourish red wine with sweet vanilla ice cream was nice but it wasn’t anything jaw-dropping.

Chocolate souffle ($12) came in a small souffle cup and the dark, dark chocolate, bitter with a tinge of sweetness, was delicious and addictive. The other chocolate option is milk chocolate mousse on a thin wafer with peanuts ($12). A smidgen of it stood lonely on the plate and I didn’t ask if the rest wanted it. I just snatched it for reunion with its family in my tummy. It tasted like smooth peanut butter. I took the last mouth for the souffle too. Usually Melicacy is the one who takes the last piece, so you know how much I liked the chocolate desserts.

I don’t usually mention the service when I go for food tasting but the manager with a soul patch, Mr Shah Majid, deserves a mention because I noticed that he served the ladies before the men. This is the correct way of serving. He also asked after us a few times, whether we were fine.

Directions: It is easy to miss the 7adam. As you travel along Adam Road, the side where Singapore Bible College is, you’ll see a SPC petrol station. Immediately after the station, maybe only 5 meters away, there are two roads named “Adam Park.” Turn left at the 2nd Adam Park street. FREE PARKING! Yes, no need to pay for my lorry.

Overall, we left feeling satisfied with the ambience, decor, quality of food and service. I almost didn’t want to write this review because I don’t want to reveal such a lovely, quiet place. It is a completely different world from the terrible traffic on Adam Road. We will return. Perhaps when it opens for brunch?

7Adam
7 Adam Park
Singapore 289926
T: 6467 0777
Website
11am-11pm daily

Rating: 3.117/5 Eves

PS: We thank Sera and 7Adam for their kindness and hospitality for the food tasting.