Dominique Ansel kitchen recently offered the egg melt sandwich for 3 days only - Saturday16th to Monday 18th. Not only was it for limited time, it was only offered till it is sold out for the day. I'm not sure if this is a marketing campaign to entice people, but the notion of 'limited edition' made us curious. Since I'm nearby anyway, I decided to drop by to check if it's worth the hype. Hate to say, but I braved cold for a freaking $20 sandwich. I wasn't informed of that price, so I was a little shocked. More details below.
Anyway, the queue wasn't as bad today. I was expecting longer queue given it's a public holiday and that it was the last day of the egg melt sandwich.
Chef Dominique himself was present in the kitchen. I wasn't sure it was him at first till I saw his name on the jacket. By the time, I brought my camera, he went up. This is the shot that I took. He was talking with Chef Wylie Dufresne, whom he collaborated for wd-Ansel Egg Melt. It was labeled as the "ultimate riff on a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich" by WSJ.
I think he's watching me
That's Chef Wylie Dufresne.
Long story short, the 'egg melt' was sold out when I arrived. The 'sold out' sign was placed in the entrance. I was told that it might be available one hour later. I decided to go ahead and order the DKA and the eggclipse because of I had good first impression previously.
While waiting, I was told that I can order the egg melt. I accepted the offer right away and I was pretty surprised when the cashier rang up $20 for it. I thought it was a mistake, but it wasn't.
Fast forward, I got the egg melt sandwich and it was small. I had to look up online to see why it cost that much and I saw that one of the ingredients was black truffle. However, I didn't see any of it. I asked the cashier and I was first told that the truffle should be underneath the egg. I took a knife and flipped around in front of him but saw no truffle.
After checking with his colleague, he told me that under the new presentation format, the truffle was now chopped and mixed with the egg. I didn't taste any truffle though and asked if he can sprinkle additional truffle on the sandwich. Another person came to the conversation (I assumed she was the manager) and explained that there's no more truffle as they were all mixed in with the egg. I accepted the explanation and started to walked away when she asked if I wanted to try something else. I hesitated a little and then accepted an offer for a chocolate cookie. Seeing that it's pretty cheap ($3.50), I don't think it do me justice for the $20 I paid for the sandwich. I asked if I can change for the S'more. She hesitated a little, but she said yes.
So how does the dishes fare?
For some reason, egg-clipse didn't shine this time. There's much taste to it the first time I tried and I thought I tasted truffle (or truffle oil). It tasted exotic before. Now, it was just ok. Not sure is it because I didn't eat it right away this time.
THE EGG-CLIPSE
Squid Ink Brioche, Mashed Potatoes, Mushroom Béchamel, and Two Confit Egg Yolks
DKA still tasted good. Can't go wrong with DKA so far.
BROWN SUGAR DKA (“DOMINIQUE’S KOUIGN AMANN”)
Ultimate s'more is too sweet. Had to drink tea after each bite to clear my throat. Chocolate shards was a nice touch. I preferred the ice cream s'more instead of this cause the ice cream helped to balance it.
ULTIMATE S’MORE
Homemade Speculoos Cookies, All-Honey Marshmallow, Dark Chocolate Cabin Fever Whiskey Ganache, Maldon Sea Salt Milk Chocolate Shards.
The wd-Ansel Egg Melt
Smoked English muffin layered
with soft scrambled eggs, a confit egg yolk, Dufresne’s homemade cheese,
bacon, maple flakes, and some black truffles.
Overall, I was a little disappointed with dominique ansel today. Maybe cause I expected too much, but anyway, kudos to the excellent customer service. I don't feel as bad as I would have been.
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