Do you get the feeling that you are not in Singapore when you go to a some places in Singapore? Well, I recently just had that experience. And I honestly did not know that this place exist. (OK, I am such a mountain tortoise)
Tucked within the lush greenery around Bukit Timah and just beside the Bukit Timah Saddle Club, there is a really lovely restaurant, a second restaurant of The Marmalade Pantry and aptly named, Pantry at the Stables. And Foodnews has recently invited me together with some others for a food tasting session for their Father's Day Menu. As you know, I am really SUPER busy now with rushing up and completing my studies now and I had wanted to tell them that I could not make it and I am glad I didn't! The location of the restaurant is really good, but that depends on what you define as good. For me, it is just near the city and has free parking! However, I am not seeing myself walking into this place as it is really quite a long walk from the outside. But I think once you have been there, even without ease of means of public transport, you will want to get a cab in here again for the next time. Or if you are the adventurous and active kind (not me), take a walk. After you enter the gate from the outside, it really does not look and feel like Singapore. It is like a different time zone in here.
There is greenery everywhere and I think I will bring Hazel and Jayden along for brunch sometime soon to explore the surroundings. I think Jayden will be delighted to see horses running around here. (I didn't see horses that evening but I did see a big pile of something.) Armed with my new Olympus OMD EM5 with only a 20mm Panasonic Lens + a 7.5mm Samyang Fisheye Lens, I was set to test this camera to its limits with low light food photography and fill my stomach with good food.
The interior of the restaurant looks classy with its open layout and high ceilings. Tall french windows also surround both sides of the place. One problem though was that it was a little warm that night, not sure if it is the air conditioning or something, but it was not cool enough for me.
And this is the Father's Day promo, going at $49++ per pax. And we did manage to sample two of the dishes. But before that, we ordered drinks for ourselves and the smoothies and shakes are strongly recommended.
It was Berries Smoothie ($9) for me. It was really quite good and not your neighbourhood type smoothie that is made from syrup + ice. Andy @ SengkangBabies had the Cookies & Cream Shake and it looked really nice too!
The Starter for the Father's Day Menu is this - Crab cake on celeriac remoulade, topped with wild rocket and shaved fennel salad. This crab cake is 100% made from crabmeat and nothing else. The only other crab cake that I have tasted which is comparable is the one over at Morton's but that is at another price range and size. I love crabs and the first dish really got me going.
For the mains, there is two choice. One is the Pan seared steak (with Swiss brown mushrooms and charred asparagus, served with a grain mustard sauce), the other which we had was the Linguine Alio Olio with crispy pork belly , mushroom and parsley parmesan chilli crumbs. When this dish was served, I exclaimed I could smell the fat. Not in a bad way though. The smell of nice pork belly is really wonderful and normally, you will only be able to smell it at a Chinese restaurant, not in this setting. The crispy pork belly is as good as it smells, crispy and the favor just bursts in your mouth and with Alio Olio, this dish is really something different but tasty.
We did not try the dessert for the Fathers Day Menu which would be Bitter sweet chocolate torte with poached figs and vanilla bean ice cream but had the chance to savor the other signature dishes.
I am not a super fan of cream pastas as personally, too much of cream feels too yucky for me. We tried the Spaghetti Carbonara ($24). It has crispy bits of bacon inside and topped with a poached egg. Again, not my type of pastas but if you love cream pastas, this should do it.
The next dish was the Mexican Chicken Salad ($22). This dish is really delicious. With small bits of chicken, peppers, chick peas and crispy tortillas stacked like Jenga, it tasted well balanced and refreshing. I would think that even Hazel who is not a fan of salads would really like this dish.
I love steak and I was glad that Steak and Eggs ($38) was also ordered for us to try. It came with smashed peas, two sunny side ups and gravy by the side. You have the choice of whether you prefer the natural taste of the beef without the gravy or pour the gravy over it. I tried the beef by itself and also with the sauce. I would recommend not pouring the gravy on it. The beef is well marinated enough that it is tasty on its own and the gravy might just overpower it.
Enough with desserts, it's time for desserts. The signature here is the Sticky Date and Toffee Pudding with vanilla ice cream ($12) and their assortment of cupcakes. We had the Red Velvet and Elvis cupcakes ($4.50 each) and the Cupcake of the Month, Banana and Passion Fruit ($4.80). I tried the sticky date while it was hot and moist inside and it was delicious. I couldn't really taste the date, but it was sticky though and I secretly wished the portion was BIGGER. As for the cupcakes, I never really like decadent types. I prefer my cupcakes more "normal" and my choice was the Red Velvet. It is the best of the three we had and the cupcake is topped with coconut shavings (favorite!) which made it even better. A pity I didn't take a photo of it.
It was a great experience at the Marmalade Pantry at the Stables and I am looking forward to coming here again during the day time. And thanks to Janice from Foodnews for hosting and inviting me to the tasting session.
Pantry at the Stables
55 Fairways Drive, Singapore 286846
Tue to Fri: 3pm – 11pm
Sat to Sun: 10am – 11pm
For reservations, call (65) 6467 7748, or email enquiry.stables@themarmaladepantry.com.sg for more information
