Located on the grounds of what was once Hilton Hotel Singapore, this restaurant has remained as is despite the property changing hands to become Voco Orchard Hotel. As my brother was craving for steak, we made a reservation here for our next family meal. This decision was mostly swayed by the fact that there was an ongoing AMEX deal of $75 cashback with a minimum spend of $300, as well as an additional 20% discount from the free-to-join IHG loyalty programme!
- Our order:
- Freshly shucked chilled oysters – half a dozen ($28++)
- Crustacean bisque ($22++)
- Signature 1kg black angus bone-in ribeye ($158++)
- Grilled seafood platter ($148++)
- 1.2kg whiskey-aged wagyu tomahawk ($168++)
- Wine ($46++ for 2 glasses)
- Spent: SGD$536.71
The restaurant is on the first floor of the hotel right by the lobby area and was rather dimly lit with mood lighting. We were promptly ushered through a really crowded environment to our table further inside. Given the number of diners then, it got exceptionally noisy at certain points such that we had to raise our voices to hear each other across the table. This definitely wasn’t the most pleasant of ambiences we’ve experienced.
Service was surprisingly quite a letdown as well – it was so difficult to get any staff’s attention and even if we did, they’d be so tense and hurried that we felt like we were imposing on them. Granted, there were a lot of diners and it must’ve been busy, but I didn’t think it was appropriate for them to be clanging tableware and whizzing past our faces as they set our tables.
When we finally managed to flag down a staff to add on the wagyu tomahawk to our order, she simply nodded and walked away without asking for our preferred doneness. Fortunately, another colleague of hers, Janson, eventually came over to clarify and made the effort to engage more personally with us, which we did appreciate.
First, we had our starters of fresh oysters and a bowl of crustacean bisque comprising lobster, gnocchi, green peas and Cognac. According to my brother, the oysters were super fresh (to the point where they would retract when he squeezed lemon juice onto them, eew) and tasted delicious, although they weren’t as plump as he was hoping they’d be. The first few mouthfuls of bisque were really flavourful in spite of its thin and diluted consistency, but it got a tad salty after a while.
Next up, the black angus ribeye and the grilled seafood platter consisting of a whole Boston lobster, Atlantic scallops, king prawns and Chilean salmon. My brother requested for the ribeye’s doneness to be slightly above rare but a hair less than medium rare. The meat was generally juicy and well-seasoned but some parts were still fairly tough to chew.
The seafood platter was my favourite dish of the lot! Every component was cooked wonderfully (meaning nothing was rubbery) and seasoned nicely, especially the salmon which had a melt-in-your-mouth texture.
After finishing what we had initially ordered, we realized it wasn’t enough to feed a table of six adults so we added on a wagyu tomahawk. When the dish was served, the chef came out as well to flambé the meat. It was quite the spectacle, albeit a very brief one. I could taste the alcohol, though not overpoweringly so, but my brother’s fiancée couldn’t at all so I guess it depends on your tastebuds. We requested for the same doneness as our earlier ribeye order – the meat was slightly more tender this time but equally chewy and unpleasant for certain parts.
My overall rating of the experience: 3 out of 5 stars. I suppose we sort of expected a greater wow factor than what we experienced with the beef dishes, given that this is their specialty as a steakhouse. The food was nice, don’t get me wrong, but it just didn’t really live up to the price tags on the menu. The ambience and the staff also unwittingly created a setting that wasn’t particularly inviting, with the incessant noise and palpable tension being a huge put-off. Maybe it just wasn’t the best of days to have dined here (Saturday nights specifically). I wouldn’t discount the possibility of dining here again but at the moment, there are probably other options I’d consider first before getting to this one.
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Dania Experiences 