What do y’all lovebirds have planned for Valentine’s Day this year? If you are thinking of a romantic dinner, thought I’d share the special menu Sear has designed for 14 February, which I sampled last week.
I’m declining majority of invited tastings these days as I haven’t been/not planning to be in town much, been laying low while working on my own design projects, and also not updating my blog as frequently as before due to lack of time. Thanks if you’ve been sticking around though. I’m much more active on my Instagram as I can post bite-sized updates quicker there in between whatever else it is that I’m sposed to be doing.
Speaking of Sear, tis a modern American steakhouse and being a red-meat fan, I almost went there for dinner several weeks back on my own but the place was closed for a private event on the evening I was planning to go. It’s a happy coincidence that I received an invitation to check out Sear’s Valentine’s Day menu.
I don’t go to Raffles Place often as I have no bizniz there so I found myself lost in a skyscraper jungle the evening I went. Yes, I looked it up on Google Map but it wasn’t accurate. I was running late so I randomly stopped two yuppy expats to ask for directions. Bad idea, they pointed me to the wrong building – aiyah! After finally finding the Singapore Land Tower (Sear is located on the 45th floor in this building), I then encountered an Indian security guard standing in the middle of two roped off areas in the elevator lobby so I asked him which elevator to take (right or left). He didn’t hear me at first – he was spacing out and didn’t pay any attention to me so I asked again in a louder voice. He silently pointed right, I skipped into the elevator, punched 45, and a recorded announcement told me “Floor not served by this elevator does not light up”. Huh?????????? Went back down to the lobby, space cadet security guard had disappeared, I picked the left elevator this time and holy hallelujah, made it finally to the 45th floor – goodnesslawdmeeeee what an obstacle course this turned out to be. That was one very strange and creepy episode.
Anyway, the first vibe I felt walking into Sear was it reminded me to the rooftop bars I love in Bangkok (the al fresco area I mean). The view of Marina Bay and CBD from the 45th floor is nice and readily enjoyed for pre or post-dinner drinks. Indoors it’s romantically-lit, ie. pretty dim, so pardon the quality of the photos in this article.
The special Valentine’s Day dinner menu has been specially created by Executive Chef Claudio Sandri and available only on the evening of 14 February.
For first seating at 6PM, you get three courses priced at S$108/pax.
For second seating at 830PM, you get the same three courses but with an additional amuse bouche/starter included, at S$138/pax.
Kapish? Good.
Amuse Bouche
CRISPY PORK BELLY
with clementine sorbet and hoi sin sauce
Starter, choice of:
SEASONAL OYSTERS
with ibérico chorizo and tomato cloud
OR
GRILLED HOKKAIDO SCALLOP & FOIE GRAS
with mango and grape chutney
OR
SWEET CORN SOUP
pearl corn and cream
Main, choice of:
PIRA GRILLED CANADIAN TENDERLOIN
basil potato gnocchi, baby carrots and red wine sauce
OR
SPANISH RICE STEW
with Canadian lobster and chorizo
Desserts, choice of:
RASPBERRY SOUFFLÉ
with chocolate sauce, crispy raspberries
OR
MARSHMALLOW AND DOUBLE CHOCOLATE MUD CAKE
served with vanilla ice cream
Additionally, there’s also wine pairing at S$35/person.
My thoughts:
Pork crackling with clementine sorbet! Now that’s an exciting combo. Sweet-tangy-savory with a contrast of textures. Yes to this.
I find the roasted corn soup to be lovely. It tastes clean and light, not too creamy and I love the charred smokiness from the roasted baby corn that accompanies the soup.
Main entree wise, I thoroughly enjoyed the steak. It’s superb! Perfect execution and very tender (medium rare, of course!), flavorful by itself yet deliciously accompanied by the pillowy basil gnocchi. IMO a better choice compared to the rice. Not that the rice wasn’t good, I like the crispy chorizo – nice touch, and the lobster leg is succulent; I’m just not big into rice dishes in general and this one doesn’t wow me.
The only course which underwhelmed me was the dessert as neither the mud cake nor soufflé did much for me. I’m hardly a chocolate gal to begin with but objectively speaking, the mud cake is way too dense. My tongue was glued to the roof of my mouth from the richness. Meanwhile the soufflé is indeed much lighter in comparison. Execution-wise, the fluffy texture is as expected but flavor-wise, it is lackluster and missing oomph.
For those who are considering Sear for your Valentine’s Day dinner, the steak is a clear winner and definitely please order that. I honestly look forward to returning to Sear again for the steak. I didn’t get to check out the full menu or wine list, and I’d like to find out what else Chef Sandri is offering too.
I was delighted to see familiar faces the evening I went to Sear. Unfortunately, didn’t get to socialize much as everyone left in a hurry as soon as dinner concluded. Lemme insert a shoutout here to @dashtaz who was super sweet, he stayed behind for a quick hello and we got to catch up for a few minutes before he, well, dashed off. He also has much better food pix of this menu, so y’all go on over and check them out. :)
Sear
Singapore Land Tower
50 Raffles Place #45-01/02
Singapore 048623
Tel: +65 62219555
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/searsteakhouse.sg
BTW, since we are on the subject of Valentine’s Day and by association, romance – lemme ask you, when a guy tells a girl “I’m not a romantic person”, what’s that supposed to mean?!? Wouldn’t you say that it’s a lame cop-out? (Coz that’s what I think.) #truestory
HVD,
MB.
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