Saturday, November 30, 2013

Pre-show dinner at Salt Tapas & Bar by Luke Mangan

Our long awaited ballet performance, Swan Lake by the world renowned Bolshoi Ballet Company has finally arrived in SG. We paid a hefty $203 per pax for this show and it was worth every penny. We were wowed by the opulent stage design, glamorous costumes and most important of all, the dancers' immaculate technique and beautiful lines. The performance was accompanied by a live orchestra by Singapore Lyric Opera orchestra (seldom happens in smaller scale shows). It was 2 hours plus of our time well spent!


Prior to the show, we girls met up at City Hall MRT to get dinner. Salt Tapas & Bar was our choice for the night. The restaurant is located just outside the Raffles City Shopping Center's main building. For a moment, we  felt that we had stepped into a quaint little alley at a quite corner of England. The red brick building looks every bit European. Check out the rounded corner building design, the red brick arches around the glass window panes and those nostalgic street lamps on the brick walls. 



                This place has a garden style Al Fresco dining area, a cooled indoor dining area and an extensive bar counter.



The restaurant is designed to exude a Spanish vibe with a laid-back Aussie ambiance. Plenty of custom designed industrial-chic antique lightings, raw brick walls, dark wood furnishing, imported authentic Spanish tiles are used to create a welcoming dining atmosphere. The gigantic bar counter is adorned with a good ol' classic marble bartop.






At one corner of the bar counter, a display of an upscale Fermin's jamón ibérico de bellota cured ham, one of the finest Spanish ham makers in the world.


Clean and modern table settings...




The drinks menu, a thick book of extensive wine list, spirits, beer, cocktails and some non-alcoholic beverages. On the contrary, the food menu is a laminated one page list of dishes prepared from premium fresh produce imported from around the world.




There's a limited selection of items in every category. Although not extensive, there is enough variety of dishes for diners to choose from. Their menu do change from time to time to keep the food selections attractive.

We each ordered a main course and a drink for dinner. I didn't realize that the serving portion for Nibbles category is very tiny. I had initially picked a Pork belly sliders $13++ for mains and had to order another dish to add on to that.



These bite size mini burgers were very delish. The roasted pork belly has a good crispy bite and pairs well with the crunchy pickled cucumber, onions and chili.

Pork belly w/ cauliflower puree, pickle & mustard leaf $29++, 5 chunky slices of roasted pork belly with thick crackling skin, served with chopped pickles and mustard leaves. The pork belly was fabulously done with juicy lean meat and not-too-oily fatty layer and superbly crispy skin. The plating is also aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Thumbs up.


My friend's Paella of prawns, mussels, chorizo & chicken $38++. Topped with thin slices of beautifully cured ham. She was raving about how the rice is wonderfully soft and fully infused with flavors of the fresh seafood and saffron. I had a bite of it and was impressed too!


For drinks, I had the non alcoholic Apple sling $11++. Apple, pineapple & strawberry puree topped with soda. It was sweet and fruity, like a nice fruit punch...slurp.


My friends had the Strawberry virgin mojito $11++ and House pour white wine $8++, both of them were satisfied with their choices.



We certainly had a great time enjoying good food and the lovely ambiance here. We all agreed that they served exceptional food that are reasonably priced. Service was decent, waiting staffs knew what they are doing most of the time. The laid back Aussie ambiance has crept into our good books and we will definitely visit again!


Salt Tapas & Bar
#01-22A, Raffles City Shopping Centre
252 North Bridge Road S179103
Tel: (65) 6837 0995

Opening Hours
Mon - Thu: tapas 11.30 – 22.00, drinks til 23.30
Fri: tapas 11.30 – 23.00, drinks til 23.30
Sat: tapas 11.30 – 22.30, drinks til 23.30
Sun & PH: tapas 11.30 – 21.30, drinks til 22.00


One last shot of the X'mas tree before we go...









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