Restaurant Week Lunch at Salt Grill & Sky Bar (2 Orchard Turn, ION Orchard, #55-01 & #56-01) Reservation: 6592 5118

It's such a hassle to make reservation through phone - Book now through Chope for Instant Reservations! Reservation is highly recommended at Salt grill!

Visited on 15th March 2014 (Sat). Restaurant week lunch at $40++ per person = Total bill of $94.16 for 2 pax.

Salt Grill is a stylish restaurant set against the backdrop of the breathtaking Singapore skyline view with full floor to ceiling glass windows . Helmed by celebrity chef Luke Mangan that offers Luke's special style of contemporary Australian cuisine. You can expect high quality food here and you can also indulge in pre or post-dinner drinks at their Sky Bar on the 56th floor.

Directions: Take the escalator up to Level 4, walk to the concierge of ION Art and you'll see Salt Grill Reception at the end of the counter. Inform the staff of your reservation and they will direct you to their delicated lift up to Level 55 of their exclusive dining restaurant! 

Salt Grill has very elegant settings with great panoramic view! And we were lucky to step into Salt Grill with new colours of chairs after they refurbished the restaurant!

We were served with warm nice bread...

'glass' Sydney Crab Omelette, enoki mushroom & 

herb salad, miso mustard broth

 Omg this entree really exceeded my expectation! I was thinking how nice can an omelette be? But Salt Grill indeed proved to us that a simple omelette can also be so tasty with their fresh crabmeat inside! The omelette complemented very well with their superb miso mustard broth too! The crab omelette is really melt-in-the-mouth..... *Drooling* Must Try & finish the super yummy broth!!!!!!!

Citrus Cured Salmon, avocado, apple, fennel, salmon roe

The salmon was fresh!

Grilled Barramundi, caramelized witlof, capscium & sultana

They controlled the temperature very well! The barramundi here was within expectations - Fresh, Tender & Tasty!

Chocolate delice, salted caramel, honeycomb, praline ice-cream

The chocolate delice was too dry and too rich that you will get sick of it after a few bites. But  the honeycomb and praline ice-cream was a great match!

Lemongrass panna cotta, char grilled pineapple, ginger beer sorbet

My first time trying these 3 rare desserts that we'll find in other restaurants. To my surprise, both lemongrass panna cotta & char grilled pineapple tasted great! As for the Ginger beer sorbet tasted a bit weird, so not for me...

Overall the service here was warm. The restaurant was bright and fresh during the day that will keep you awake at all times with such a nice stunning panoramic view! Food was delectable except the chocolate delice.. We were disappointed that we're unable to get window seat to enjoy the view although we requested. Hope we can get it when there's no restaurant week! We'll definitely be back again soon, hopefully the menu will have more selection!

*Highly Recommended*

For the Restaurant Week Dinner Ambience in March 2015, click here

You can also enjoy the Afternoon Tea platter at $30++ per person including coffee or tea from 2:30 pm- 5:00 pm daily.

It's such a hassle to make reservation through phone - Book now through Chope for Instant Reservations! Reservation is highly recommended at Salt grill!

Set Dinner at Cherry Garden (Mandarin Oriental Hotel - 5 Raffles Avenue, Level 5, Marina Square) Reservation: 6885 3500

It's such a hassle to make reservation through phone - Book now through Chope for Instant Reservations!

Visited on 14 March 2014 (Fri). Cherry Garden is one of the most beautiful chinese restaurants in Singapore that offers splendid Cantonese cusine. 

We pre-ordered their Dinner Set Menu in advance, so that we can enjoy the Dinner Menu during lunch time for our anniversary. (I prefer abundance of natural light during the day; can take clearer photos) :-)

Lunch: 12 - 2.30pm, Dinner: 6.30-10.30pm

We chose 1 of their most premium set dinner menu ("Thought" Menu)

7 Course "Thought" Set Dinner Menu 
Price: $138++ per pax + 1 Pot of Chrysanthemum Tea for 2 ($6.00)
= Total bill of $332 for 2 pax.

 Love the spacious grand waiting area outside the restaurant. You can lounge around here before they officially open!

  The antique doorway to enter the restaurant

The beautiful waiting area inside the restaurant  (Photo from Mandarin Oriental)

I like the Oriental feel here, made us feel very relaxed!

Love this window seat so much - beautiful!

Trio Treasure of Ruyi: 
Roasted Pork Belly + Wasabi-Aioli Prawn + Drunken Chicken in Hua Diao and Rose Dew Chinese Wine

This trio were great appetizers! The skin of the roasted pork belly was crispy and the meat was tender with some spices. The prawn was crispy outside and succulent inside with a very mild wasabi taste. (Good for people like me who don't take wasabi) Love the fragrant Hua Diao taste of the tender drunken chicken.

Bird's Nest Soup with Crabmeat and Egg White

Thick broth with bird's nest inside, very yummy with generous portions of crabmeat!



Wok-fried Fresh Scallops with Celery and Mushrooms 

The scallops were fresh, and the mushrooms and vegetables complemented the taste very well.


Baked Half Lobster with Premium Cheese Sauce

The lobster meat was not that tender as this was baked, other than that, it tasted marvellous!

Steamed Cod Fillet with Superior Soya Sauce 

We don't take beef so the manager changed to Cod fillet for us in 2 different style. I was expecting the steamed cod to be melt-in-your-mouth but it was a little below expectations, but nonetheless it still tasted great!

Oven-baked Honey Marinated Cod Fillet with Black Pepper

This was excellent! Truly lives up to the reputation as one of their signature dishes.

Stir-Fried Rice Vermicelli with Seafood, Silver sprouts and Yellow Chives

This dish was incredibly delicious! Fresh prawns and scallops with the yummy taste of vermicelli!

Chilled Cream of Mango with Sago Pearls, Pomelo and Lime Sorbet

Omg this was my favourite dessert!!! I like the way they served this dessert with smoky dry ice at the bottom part of the bowl. Love the lime sorbet with mango sago combination!

 After we settled the bill, they will put the receipts into this envelope. I like the way they present the receipts. It shows the difference to dine at premium chinese restaurants and normal chinese restaurants. :)

Service was very prompt and good here! Plates were cleared regularly. The only negative part was that the waitresses lack a friendly smile, otherwise it was perfect! The 7 course meal was served very promptly one after another till the end. We also loved the ambient music while we enjoyed the meal. Overall we were satisfied with everything here. 

*Highly Recommended*

Buffet Dinner at Azur (Crowne Plaza Changi Airport, Level 2) Reservation: 6823 5354

It's such a hassle to make reservation through phone - Book now through Chope for Instant Reservations!

Visited on 15th Feb 2014 (Sat).

Buffet Dinner: $55++ per person 

You will walk pass this beautiful lobby lounge before you reach Azur....

  

 

 Take the escalator up to level 2 after you see this cosy corner!

 

And here is Azur!

  

 Overall, the food and dessert quality is so so and limited variety here. Service was ok - Plates were cleared regularly. Don't think i will come back again with this price of $55++ per pax as the journey is far and nothing attracts me except the cosy environment. For those who have not came here before and would like to explore this nice hotel, maybe you can try Azur once as it's a cosy place to dine at.

 Website: http://www.crowneplazadining.com/index.php/dining/azur