Slotted in between deadlines, I managed to steal away for 24 hours to the little red dot down south aka Singapore.
The occasion was my twin nephews' birthday celebration, which we honoured with a visit up in the sky....or more precisely, the Sky on 57, Justin Quek's outpost in his homeland.
Located on the 57th floor of the busy Marina Bay Sands (I swear the lobby for the resort reminds me of Grand Central Station as you wait for the valet) and across from the famous Ku De Ta, the lounge offers sweeping views of the harbour area - a mix of buildings such as the Fullerton Hotel, the Formula One track, the Merlion, Louis Vuitton's little isle, and even Sentosa Island.
It was rather nice to catch the last of the sun's rays just before it set for the day as we sat down for Justin Quek's modern Asian cuisine.
It was my first time dining on his food even though I've read tons of literature on the man including his cookbook. This is one of his many restaurants amongst the other places he has in Taiwan and Hong Kong.
The six-course meal starts off with a little demi-tasse of mushroom cappuccino, light on the tongue yet packed with the earthy flavours from the mushrooms.
Just before we start the meal, we admire the hand painted starter plates depicting Asian children and couples. I love the one where a serene girl is doing a yoga posture.
The first course was Nordic salmon trout slow cooked to a flaky buttery texture topped with Oscietra caviar that you savour with the smoked potato mousseline painted on the piece of slate. I love the slight smoky taste of the smooth potatoes that I shamefully scraped it clean.
Truffle season seem to have hit us with a double whammy. I've been eating the autumn ones in almost every meal these past month.
I love Justin Quek's rendition of capellini with ham and Alba white truffle. It reminds me a little of Sage and Cilantro's food since they also love using the thin pasta but this version was lovely coated with this almost invisible sauce that made the whole course so light yet rich with flavours from the wafer thin truffles and the slivers of ham.
We had a double whammy of truffles, this time it was braised abalone topped with autumn truffles. This again reminds me a little of a Modern Chinese dish since abalone is always a must for Chinese banquets and it is paired with white rice. Except this dish was very well refined one with muted restrained flavours with a thin slice of tender abalone and served with asparagus spear.
One of Justin's specialties is his signature suckling pig with the roasted crackling skin. From what I have read, it is the same one also served in Whisk, Hong Kong. Unlike the atypical suckling pig skin that has a rough texture, this one is smooth and crisp like a Peking duck. This was served with a yuzu pepper sauce, tomato and a zucchini blossom.
Another specialty is the Nordic crab served in a light ginger broth and vermicelli. Whisky is added to the crustacean rich soup to give the rich broth a more mellow well rounded taste.
We end the long meal with dessert and a little sparkler action for the boys.
Poor chaps, they huffed and puffed the sparklers thinking they were candles. The cake was rather ordinary, a rich chocolate mousse but I loved JQ's Signature Apple Tart. The wafer thin baked apple tart had just the perfect balance - crispy thin puff pastry with a bit of apples and almonds - complementing the vanilla ice cream on the side.
In terms of the whole dining experience, I would rate the skyline views tops versus the dinner. While the food was well prepared with beautiful ingredients, it felt a bit lack-lustre and didn't inspire me to return quickly for their other mod-Asian offerings like chicken rice, bak kut teh and even chilli crab served during lunch.
Sky on 57
Sands Skypark Tower 1
Marina Bay Sands
Tel: 02-6688 8857
(Non Halal. For more details including its menus, see this link. More pictures are in the Flickr set.)
*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. This review is time sensitive; changes may occur to the place later on that can affect this opinion. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from this place for writing the review.
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