Unfortunately, we didn't find the meat marinade that superb (tasted a little like curry), and the bits of pork fat lacked the requisite juicy crispness and slightly burnt aroma for satay nirvana. It was a pretty interesting and unique experience to have innards as part of the satay selection though.
In my books, Chuan Kee satay at Old Airport Road is a lot better than this.
Service was absolutely beyond reproach - everyone from the duty manager, front desk receptionists, porter, maintenance workers - were exceedingly warm and friendly without veering into obsequiousness. A wonderful experience and the highlight of our little trip.
Way up high in the sky, at Salt Grill and Sky Bar, the view is simply astounding.
Getting to the restaurant is an experience in itself. Head to Level 4, where there is a dedicated Salt concierge, who will show you to the lift lobby located within an art gallery. Dim lights, soft meditation-type music, projections of swirling clouds add to the feeling of exclusivity. One continues to float on clouds as you step out into the bright expanse of the high-ceilinged restaurant and savour the view that stretches out before you.
No surprises though when it came to the food, which has a casual Australian vibe.
Lunch ended with teeny tiny petit fours. While the food itself is only passable enough to merit a "can consider if in the vicinity", the view alone makes the journey worthwhile.
Salt Grill and Sky Bar
Level 55/56 Ion Orchard
This month has been rather more exhausting than usual. Ethan likes his solids a little too much (in retrospect, I should have seen this coming!) and has been kicking up a huge fuss at milk time and cutting down on his milk intake drastically. This has been going on for the past three weeks and I'm tired out from the histronics and tantrums!
Why not let him be and eat all the solids he wants? Well, at this age, milk is still by far the most important and complete food source for babies - solids are meant for supplementation and experimentation. Also, when Ethan takes less milk he then suffers from constipation and gets all cranky and grumpy. No fun I assure you.
I have to crack my brains to get him to take more milk - including persuasion (delay his feed by half an hour), bluffing (cook or mix milk into his solids), stealth (feed him while he is asleep). PHEW!!
On the bright side, while it's a lot of work feeding the pampered prince, it can actually be exciting and fun too.
Fruit puree, served as part of breakfast and lunch: pear, apple, prune, cherry, peach, papaya....
I steam and puree the fruits, then dollop them into ice cube trays for easy portioning. At each meal, he gets two hearts of assorted fruits.
While not the most memorable bowl of chirashi that I've ever had (that honour goes to Aoki, followed by Inagiku), but certainly very decent for the price (SGD25) - thickly sliced, fresh assorted sashimi, sitting on top of well seasoned sushi rice. E's order of the grilled tai lunch set (SGD20) was amazingly value-for-money, comprising a tasty fillet of the fish, a heap of thick salmon sashimi slices, a tasty cup of chawanmushi that was chock-a-block with nameko mushrooms, and the obligatory rice/pickles/miso soup.
Indeed one could do a lot worse than Chikuwa Tei if you're thinking about where to go for a good, honest and wallet-friendly Japanese meal.
