The Chop The EmQuartier โซน The Helix Quartier ชั้น 9

So, it's been a week since the grand opening of Emquartier's upper Helix restaurant zone, and aren't we foodies excited to try every single places there and possibly be the first to claim that they have tried them all. Well, I'm a sucker for new places to dine and ended up finding myself hiking the spiraling walkway of the Helix four days in a row from the grand opening day. First place I checked off the list is Chop (coincidentally the same name as a popular cooking reality show, which successfully lured me to try). If you are patient enough carrying your stomach to the top of Helix, this is where you will find Chop. And after a long spiraling stroll, you're most likely to settle at this cozy-looking, classy dark-toned venue with the attractive Steak and Lobster dishes on the menu. And that's exactly what I ordered, Wagyu Steak and Lobster Surf 'n Turf, one of their most recommended dishes. Another friend ordered Wagyu stew with mashed potato. We also got Hot Chicken Wings for sharing. First comes the complementary bread with soft garlic spread, a welcoming and unique plate, if you fancy eating bread with whole garlic. Alas, it was a failed attempt of an appetizer, but a success at adjusting our expectation down of what's to come. it was a bold move to serve whole garlic and bread first thing, and so it was badly executed. After a typical Chicken Hot Wings dish, I was ready for the Surf 'n Turf. It was a delightful sight. A generous portion of steak casually resting on the lobster claw, decorated with half corn on the cob, baked potato and a revisiting of the same whole garlic from the complementary. The appearance of the dish has heightened my expectation back up, and mistakenly so. The steak was so-so, not as juicy and soft as I hoped it would be. It was close to being good! it was cooked perfectly medium-rare, but it must have been the meat quality itself that done the dish wrong. As for the lobster, typical size (not too fancy), relatively fresh, though it was getting cold by the time it was served. Don't expect to get the juicy fat from this lobster, as you might get from an oceanside local stall though. All in all, it was a so-so dish. Not the best steak or lobster in town. Another downfall of Chop worth mentioning was the time it takes to get its dishes out, which could be due to it just been opened for 2 days. A friend came late and ordered his Wagyu stew about 10 minutes after we ordered our Mains, but ended up getting his dish roughly 30-40 minutes after we all got ours, and had to painfully watch everyone else finishing our food. It could be that they turned to serve other tables before getting back to our one late order. Chop seems almost a guarantee good food at first sight, but it ended up like a party finished too early. Given so many restaurants to choose from at Emquartier, I find myself thinking it could be quite a while before I return for a repeat here.