THE AMBIENCE
An air of colonial grandeur fills the open expanse of the restaurant, its high ceilings, mammoth chandeliers and full-length windows amplifying the space. The setting is certainly luxurious, with marble tables and solid wooden chairs, but muted tones of grey and brown keep the vibe cosy and not at all stiff. And it’s impossible to miss the magnificent view of the iconic Marina Bay Sands across the bay.
THE FOOD
There’s a smattering of Western bites like burgers and steak, but the menu comprises mostly local classics “upgraded” with premium ingredients – think wagyu beef rendang and laksa with lobster.
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The most impressive dish is the Uni Glass Noodle ($28), which ironically, is hardly Singaporean save for the bits of grainy salted egg yolk peeking out from a translucent nest of thick, chewy glass noodles. Together with salty baubles of salmon roe, creamy sea urchin, and a fragrant lime truffle sauce the texture of whipped cream, the chilled noodles provide a combination of textures and flavours that we just want more and more of.
Of the local dishes, the Wagyu Beef Rendang ($28) shone. The sweetish jasmine rice served alongside the tender braised meat is the perfect foil for the spicy, punchy rempah, and we thoroughly enjoyed every scrumptious bit.
A bowl of yellow Hokkien noodles in pork broth and a plate of house-made ban mian with stewed pork make up the reinvented Rickshaw Noodles ($18). The soupy component is fairly ordinary, but we lapped up the dry, fettucine-like noodles moistened with a runny, soft-boiled egg and flavoured with toothsome pieces of spicy stewed pork.
The Pandan Ice Cream ($9), sandwiched between rainbow bread a la roadside ice cream carts, is a refined presentation with a whipped cream-filled pandan love letter, coconut agar-agar and pandan biscuit crumble – a little bit of an overkill on one plate. But the fragrance of the velvety ice cream is truly addictive.
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Pretty as a picture, The Pier Lobster Roll ($29) looked promising, but the chunks of crustacean were raw in the middle and had an unappetising sashimi-like texture.
The Fried Carrot Cake ($16) features house-made turnip cake, generous chunks of egg and big, meaty prawns. But delicious as its sweet and spicy soya sauce dressing was, the cake lacked the quintessential wok hei that makes hawker food so enticing.
VERDICT
The generations-old hawker stalls may still have a leg up on their fine-dining competitors, but it’s not just atas ingredients you’re paying for at Clifford Pier – it’s familiar flavours presented in new ways in a swanky (but not pretentious) environment that make up a unique dining experience.
The Clifford Pier restaurant is at The Fullerton Bay Hotel, 80 Collyer Quay, tel: 6597-5266.