Salt Grill & Sky Bar by Luke Mangan

When I was still living in Australian I have heard of Luke Mangan and have seen his face on TV numerous times. But Salt Grill in Singapore was the first of his restaurants which I visited. 

Getting to the restaurant itself was quite an experience. We were greeted by the receptionist on 4th floor of ION Orchard, from where a lift exclusively reserved for the restaurant guests took us all the way to 56th floor in less than a minute. After arriving the attentive waiting staff showed us to a table by the window with an unobstructed view of the city.

To start off the dinner, we were offered some complementary bread served with olive oil and some Dukkah, both produced by Luke Mangan and available for purchase. Being the first thing that you taste a restaurant's bread is an indicator of the standard of their food and I was not disappointed. It had a crispy crust and aroma of wheat. Adding both texture and flavour, the coarsely crushed Dukkah spice was a perfect dipping.

Our starter, pan seared scallops, cauliflower purée with dried Serrano ham was delicately presented. The scallops were sweet and succulent and the ham was crispy and salty. This was my favourite dish of the night!

A small cup of cold tomato soup was served as the next course. The vegetable-based soup was a bit thick, sour and bitter. It certainly was not delicious but worked to cleanse the palate. 
My main dish was barramuni with capers, tomato and green beans. The skin of the fish was nicely crisped up and the buttery sauce gave the dish some much-needed acidity. The fish was nice but did not impress me as much as the appetiser. 

At first glance, the ribeye with truffled butter and green beans might not seem much. But the steak was cooked perfectly to medium rare and cameralised on both sides. It was juicy, tender and flavourful even without the butter. It was possibly the best steak I have tried in Singapore. 

The name of our dessert was almost poetic: crème brûlée, a taste of apple. The crème brûlée, filled with vanilla seeds, was surrounded by tiny jewels of green apples and topped with apple sorbet and a thin slice of dried apple. The crème brûlée was soft and creamy and the sorbet was contrastingly sour and icy. It was a refreshing and delicious combination. 

Salt Grill & Sky Bar definitely scores full mark in terms on ambience and service. For me, modern Australian cuisine is all about fresh, good quality (Austrlalian) produce. Here at Salt the traditional cooking technique and simple seasoning have allowed the fresh ingredients to speak for themselves. It is a perfect place for a special occasion or a romantic dinner. 

Salt Grill & Sky Bar
#55-01 & #56-01, ION Orchard
2 Orchard Turn