SPAGO DINING ROOM
Level 57 Sands SkyPark Tower 2 Marina Bay Sands Singapore, S(018956) T 6688-9955
Sitting inside Spago, guests are cocooned from the activity centred around the famous Marina Bay Sands Skypark infinity pool. From the get-go, our waiter welcomes us warmly – definitely an improvement compared to the hostess – and when asked for recommendations, gives us a lively run-through of the menu. After hearing us out regarding all the dishes we are interested to try, he suggests a sequence of dishes which we accept happily.
Our choice of the Weiser Farm’s Baby Beet Salad – we could never pass on beets when they’re on the menu – is a prettily composed plate of pickled and roasted beets, accompanied by goat cheese, hazelnuts for texture and a citrus-shallot dressing. The French royal oysters that follow come with saikyo miso (a sweet miso from Kyoto), yuzu kosho (a citrus-chilli condiment), and are gratinated and topped with salmon pearls – flavour bombs that are gone all too soon. One of the signature dishes at Spago is the “chirashi” sushi, where the sushi of big eye tuna, hamachi, ebi and Hokkaido scallop lie prettily around a “pool” of Tosa soya sauce (soya sauce that has been boosted with bonito and kelp).
The Grilled USDA Prime New York Sirloin Steak is highly recommended; rest assured that Cut by Wolfgang Puck does not have a monopoly on steak cooking prowess. The steak is beautifully cooked – juicy and tender. The accompaniments of roasted fingerling potato, celeriac puree and pickled mustard seeds may be classics but they go so well with the sirloin.
We are perfectly happy with our dessert orders of Salted Caramel Souffle – this requires a waiting time of around 20 minutes – and the Passion Fruit-Chocolate “Dobos” Torte, but it is the discussion with the sommelier of the comparative merits of the dessert wines available that we really enjoy.
All in all, it is a dining experience that we won’t mind repeating, despite having to take the lift with bathrobe-clad guests heading for that all-important selfie in the pool.