Choosing your Valentine’s Day dinner venue is an art, as you must search high and low for a place which fits both the importance of this occasion and your budget. But if you just want to pull out all the stops, I can hardly think of a better place to impress your date than Raffles Hotel.
When you think of the Raffles Hotel, the first thing that comes to mind is the Singapore Sling. However, right next to the famous Long Bar where it was first concocted, there is the lesser-known Long Bar Steakhouse, where premium meats are a specialty.
If you’re looking for an even more atas location, this hotel has got you covered with the Raffles Grill. This formal dining room is one of Raffles Hotel’s oldest restaurants, right next to its historic lobby – one of the most luxurious parts of the hotel. Expect silver tableware, a pre-war silver beef trolley, beautiful chandeliers, and excellent service.
There will be a Valentine’s day weekend event on 13th and 14th Feb 2015, where two of Raffles Hotel’s renowned restaurants will be serving up a menu specially made for lovebirds. The Raffles Grill has gone all out with a 6-course degustation menu for $598++ per couple, while the Long Bar Steakhouse will be cooking up a 4-course dinner at $198++ per pax.
We were invited down for a sneak peek of the delicious food these restaurants had to offer. As much as I wished we could, our stomachs would be unable to fit everything from both menus in one night, so Raffles Hotel picked 6 highlights from both menus for us to try.
The appetiser in this wine glass may look simple, but don’t be fooled – it’s what’s on the inside that counts. Polenta is a usually simple dish of boiled cornmeal. Peel back the top layer of Polenta, and you’ll find the Ceps Daube, a stew made from finely diced Ceps Mushrooms slow-cooked in wine. The Ceps blend deliciously with the truffle oil laden cornmeal.
Under the seaweed and spring onion is a humble cube of beef cheek, patiently slow-cooked so tender a baby could eat it. The seaweed also adds a new dimension by introducing a light taste of the sea into this otherwise earthy dish.
The delicious smell of the scallops reached me before waiter did, and had my mouth watering even before I picked up my fork. The light sear on the scallops not only unleashed its fragrance, but also added texture to the meat. However, I did not like that the centre of the scallops were slightly overcooked.
Turbot is a really ugly species of flatfish, but that doesn’t stop it from tasting delicious. The meat was firm and sweet, and well brought together by the Black Trumpet Mushrooms. Pairing the Turbot with these well seasoned mushrooms brought out the flavour of the fish in full glory.
The Young Zucchini Flower was prepared in a very interesting way. It was boiled, rather than fried, and stuffed with green peas in hazelnut oil. On the first bite, the thin petals bursts open to release the delicious green pea jus.
The dramatic presentation of this dish was befitting of the name “a la diable”, which translates from French as “has the devil”. Pigeon is an exotic dish here in Singapore, typically found in Chinese cuisine where it’s roasted and dipped in salt.
The Pigeon meat was a more sturdy meat than chicken, yet does not have a thick layer of fat under the skin like in ducks. The sauce drizzled over the dish was a herbal and bitter, which reinforced the taste of the meat.
This dish was made to show off the freshest ingredients from the land and sea. It is said that fresh ingredients are the most delicate, and thus best eaten raw, and that is exactly how it was served. The Tartare was not even seared like they would a beef tartare, to preserve the original taste of the tuna.
The only cooked item was the Anchovy. I am not usually a fan, but this one might have changed my mind. This little fillet brought a huge bang to this mild dish with a strong flavour disproportionate to its size. Unlike other anchovies I’ve eaten though, it did not leave a fishy aftertaste, so you can enjoy it without worrying about bad breath on your date.
From romantic colours to the heart shaped Meringues, the plating of this dish simply screams Valentine’s Day. Just like you and your date, the ice creams that dominates this dessert are made for each other. The tangy citrus zing of the strawberry matched the sweet and creamy vanilla, creating a firework of texture and flavour that neither can achieve on their own.
A thin film of champagne jelly over the fresh strawberry slices ends the meal on a celebratory note, and leaves you craving more.
I may be reading too much into things, but I liked that the design of the dishes addressed the Valentine’s Day theme by having many ingredients complement each other, only achieving their full flavour when paired. While the food was top quality and the service was exceptional, nothing I tried stood out as being particularly memorable.
If I had to choose, Tuna Tartare and and Strawberry Vanilla Vacherin were my favourite dishes, and both happen to come from the Long Bar Steakhouse’s dinner menu. But between the two, Raffles Grill is definitely a more impressive venue with excellent food, so it is still a tough choice.
Rating: 7/10
Address: Raffles Singapore, 1 Beach Road, Singapore 189673
Timings: Raffles Grill, 13 February 2016, Saturday 7pm; Long Bar Steakhouse,14 February 2016, Sunday 7pm
Contact: 6412 1816
Alternatively, you can book your dinner via Chope at these links:
Long Bar Steakhouse
Raffles Grill
This post was brought to you by Raffles Hotel.
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