My wife and I attented the NYE party at One26. It was great party. The crowd was wonderful - not too many people yet still very cosy with the right amount of people. I dislike the super-crowded places where you have to stand up the whole night and ordering drinks were nearly impossible. Worst of all, with perspiration on face and under-arm. Yikes.......

At One26, there were plenty of seats around, staff were attentive (to the point where they pro-actively place mosquito coil to get rid of those blood-suckers), cool breeze blowing at your face, plenty of food and desserts...etc.

The band was great and they were playing music that the crowd can relate to. DJ Kenneth (aka Botak) was spinning fantastic songs for the night.

The food was spectacular with the "BBQ sotong (squid) with stuffings" and the BBQ lamb was "the BEST". Cook to perfection. Soft on the outside and juicy on the inside......Shiok !

The other compliment is the supper that was served after the countdown. How many places have you been where they serve supper after a heavy night of drinking? Food included hot traditional porridge with condiments, French Onion soup, Kambing (mutton) soup and many more......These people know how to take care of their guest.

Wonderful Party ! I will be back for more.

It's been a long time since I've written a review on here. But because the dinner and service at 1TwentySix last night were both outstandingly excellent, this is how I'm making my comeback.

We arrived as a party of five without reservations -- for some reason, we didn't expect it to be crowded. But it was and there would be no place for us to be seated for 45 minutes. As it was already 8pm, it was wait or leave... or have the general manager Christian suggest they set up a table for us to dine in the outdoor drinks patio. Actually, come January 1TwentySix's outdoor terrace which is now exclusivly for drinks will be transformed into dining space as well, so we were ahead of our time, and the very first outdoor diners. While waiting for this to be set up, we were given menus to browse -- this sounds simple enough, but not enough restaurants here think ahead this way.

We started with half a dozen fresh oysters, refreshingly capped with two types of salsa that were a very fine complement to succulent, plump shellfish. The goat cheese tart was light and tasty as well -- both servings were just right for our party. The main attractions were the fresh live half shell Maine lobster (linguine was perfectly al dente and tossed nicely in a spicy chilli padi-accented tomato concasse), Osso Bucco (oxtail braised in Asian spices -- my only complaint is that I wish I had a better description of what this would be when I asked instead of simply "beef"), oven-baked Chilean codfish (the consistency was just right, not too cooked, not too undercooked), oven baked Angus lamb rack (as tasty as lamb comes) and homemade spiced duck leg confit (I would be raving about this if not for the fact that I just had a lovely grilled duck with forest berries in Paris that I still dream of, that no other duck will come quack close to). In fact, the texture of everything was so well done that it made eating enjoyable not just from flavor, but the joy of masticulation.

Dessert was the cassis creme brulee (a little tart and the custard could be much better), Reif lava (one of the prettiest dessert platters I've ever seen, chocolate that flowed lasciviously when the crust was broken) and coupe cheesecake (what an inventive way to serve cheescake and you KNEW it was cheesecake -- no sponging on the aged stuff). The drinks list mirrors that of One Rochester's -- speaking of One Rochester, I was shocked to learn that 1TwentySix was part of the same group, as I had an extremely unsatisfactory experience there. There were more nice touches to come here: because my brother had dined before, one of the hosts immediately recognized him and came over to chat with us about beer and choosing a good beef for 15 minutes, after we were done with dessert. Christian also stopped by a few times to make sure we were OK out there.

We live in the East Coast and are passionately in love with the neighborhood in which we grew up. Places like 1TwentySix continue to show why there's so little need to travel out of the area for fine dining and great service.

service -- above average, slightly short staffed
food -- tastes good and well presented
quantity -- meduim
food selection -- above average
ambiance -- great
decor -- polished

was intentional to make it a stags night for my buddy of more than a decade, but since we arent really the womanizing sort, we decided not to add vice to the spice.

arrived shortly before midnight to keep vigil to our buddy's final moments of bachelorhood, for his manhood would be kept on a leash in a matter of hours... hahaha. (not as if he's the philandering sort, apart from biz necessary entertainment.... heheheh)

the kitchen was already closed, hence no munchies to go with booze. we had bloody mary for starters, but i reckon it was a dash too spicy while going down, and the celery was too limb to my liking. to wash down the spice, we had several rounds of tiger, sad to say wasn't cold enough to my liking too.

the consolation to the night out, i give credit for its ambience & a live performance on the side. kudos to the big greatest mac above, the weather was kind as the salty breeze kept us going for a solid 3hrs.

Went to 1 TwentySix with my boyfriend for lunch after I won a $100 dining voucher from this place. The place was quiet and peaceful during lunch hours probably because there weren't much people.

Anyway, I think the price of the set lunch is quite reasonable ($35 for a three course lunch including a cup of coffee or tea).

I have blogged and posted several photos of the food that we ordered
here: http://mushrooom.blogspot.com/2008/09/fine-dining-by-sea-at-1-twentysix.html

Hope this helps!