Opus Bar & Grill – Ambitious Steakhouse Opens at Hilton Hotel

About Opus Bar & Grill

If there’s one thing foodies know the Hilton Singapore for, it’s their crowd inspiring cheesecake. That, and Iggy’s on the second floor, one of the culinary temples of Singapore. But Hilton Hotel aims to change that with their latest addition in their F&B repertoire, Opus Bar & Grill.Opus Bar & Grill sports modern cooking techniques and Asian influences. The restaurant itself is a lovely looking place with a curved and circular themed decor. The food is mostly grilled on the impressive charcoal grill which serves as a focal point in the dining room. We had sample portions for the dishes. Actual portions will be larger in size.

Appetizers

Cured Salmon ($19)

A dish bearing on its simplicity and quality of ingredients. The salmon was firm, full of flavour, and was lent a new lease of life from the citrus vinaigrette. A pleasure to eat overall and a good use of a vinaigrette.  

Seared Hokkaido Scallops ($23)

The scallops are served with edamame beans, miso espuma and blood sausage. If you’re wondering if blood sausage is anything like what it sounds, it is. It’s not something out of a horror movie that’s going to burst in your mouth, in fact the texture is similar to a dry lup cheong and adds a saltiness to the dish.

The miso espuma is a heavy and creamy sauce that complements the scallops well. The dish was light overall. Taken together there’s a hint of something potentially great, but I felt that the flavours came off a little too shy.

Smoked Buffalo Mozzarella Salad ($16)

This classic Italian salad was something I was really looking forward to. The tomatoes used here are heirloom tomatoes from France, which means the original plant is extremely old unlike commercial seeds that are hybrids and engineered to produce more. 

The tomatoes were slightly sweeter than the average one, but it didn’t strike me as anything to write home about. It might have been the fact that tomatoes aren’t in season yet. 

The combination of tomato and mozzarella is classic, but the chocolate vinaigrette didn’t agree with my tastebuds. It felt really awkward for me and lent a bitterness to the salad that was supposed to be light and refreshing. 

Mains

Reminder: The servings pictured are sample servings.

Glacier 51 Toothfish Fillet ($47)

On the outset, this dish doesn’t look very exciting, the colours don’t really pop. But while it lacks in style, this dish makes up for in substance. The fish is deceptively light and packed with flavour. The brown butter sauce was decadent and complemented the fish well with a luxurious coat of flavour. You’ll wish all fish tasted as good as this. 

Char-grilled Kobe Wagyu ($92 | Sides $7 each)

Typically, the steak would be ordered on its own and you can choose your accompaniments. Our sides however were chosen by the restaurant. I wasn’t bothered by it though, especially after tasting them. 

The steak comes with a selection of three different kinds of salt -Rosemary, Himalayan, and volcanic salt. I personally prefered the rosemary salt’s tinge of herbaceousness on the beef. The other two had more of an earthy tone. The steak was fantastic and you could literally feel the fat melt in your mouth. It wasn’t too fatty either and it was very pleasant to eat.

The bone marrow was luxuriously sinful. Cutting into it is like watching liquid chocolate ooze when you bite into your favourite candy bar. It was fatty and decadent, and I loved every second of eating it. 

The smoked risotto ditched the traditionally moist presentation for a drier texture. It was well cooked and flavourful with a very strong smoky herb accent, which provided pleasant reprieve from the two other components on the plate. 

The price of the beef might turn off some diners but I’ll say that the quality was certainly present to justify that cost. More affordable grades of beef are also available at $58 or $62.  

36-hour Pork Belly ($36)

The pork was also a hot favourite at the table. Tearing through it’s tender exterior was a joy and tasting it was even better. The sweetness really came through. The pork is served with sweet lychees and coffee sauce, and if you’ve ever had kopi pai guat served in cantonese restaurants you’ll have a general idea on how the taste was like. I prefered to have the pork on its own however, and dipped it into the sauce only when it got a little too sweet. 

Dessert

Coconut Sago ($14)

Actual serving portion

This fun dessert starts off with a sago base, and is topped with a mango gel and white chocolate and then topped with young coconut granite (flavoured shaved ice). Digging into this will expose you to an array of textures and flavours that playfully go off in your mouth with enthusiasm. The mix of density between the light ice and heavier gels play well together too giving the dessert a great mouth feel. 

The new grill on the block

Opus Bar and Grill has some great dishes, the main courses definitely stood out from the rest of the experience, in fact they were excellent. But there is still more work to be done on the appetizers before I would consider it to be a magnus opus. Still, it still has some solid offerings if you’re feeling the craving for some meat on Orchard road. 

If you need another reason to dine here, Hilton Singapore is the only hotel in Singapore to be certified by the Marine Stewardship Council, which means all the seafood here is sustainably caught so you can eat guilt-free and cause minimum damage to the environment.  

Address: 581 Orchard Road, Hilton Singapore
Operating Hours: Dinner: 6.30pm-10.30pm | Bar: 10am-12am 
Rating: 7.5/10 

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This post is brought to you by Hilton Singapore