Missus & i tried to order the sea urchin & swimmer crab appetizers. Only the swimmer crab was available - not off to a good start. Then both the Robert Mondavi Oakville & Taylor St Andrew cab sauv I tried to order were not available. Huh? I settled for Lagavulin 16 double on the rocks & ordered the Auchentoshan Triple Wood for the Missus instead.

The crab appetizer was not bad but it lacked the fizz. I think perhaps a squeeze of lemon would bring it out more. We both had the signature prime rib roast which we came for. Lady IronChef said it is the best Prime Rib in town. I beg to defer. The prime rib was overly sinewy, meat was quite dry and, where was the typical sweetness of prime ribs? For the sides, the Yorkshire Pudding was subpar. The mashed potato was overly fine without the mouth-feel of potato. I did like the buttered peas & creamed corn though. We decided to skip the desserts altogether.

More reviews at http://DanielFoodDiary.com

Feeling English? The Royal Mail Restaurant & Bar has officially opened at The Ascott Serviced Apartment, and provides classic British favourites and lunchtime sets to attract the (higher paid) corporate crowd at Raffles Place.

The 3 course set lunch is at $38+, or $55+ for the USDA Prime Roast set, likely to appeal to those who need a quiet place for corporate lunches. The starter, a warm spinach salad with slow poached egg, earns a high score.

The Roast Prime Rib, is served in three variations of thickness – The English Cut (200g), Our Classic Cut (280g) and The Royal Mail Cut (340g), recommended to be eaten medium-rare. Served with yorkshire pudding, creamed pea, corn and garlic potato mousseline, our ribs has a high percentage of fat, and if you can get past that, the meat is pretty tender succulent.

http://danielfooddiary.com/2012/07/17/the-royal-mail/

Pompous palate had a table for four on a saturday night, here are my experiences, pros and cons:

First the pros:

I booked over the phone, the reservation was seemless & the staff member was very helpful in terms of their signature dishes and location. But he could of been a bit more passionate about his subject.

Can exit the taxi right outside the venue so no hassles.

Nice bar at entry with draft Kirin on tap, v. Refreshing.

We then went upstairs to the restaurant & were greeted by the server and sat by the window overlooking buzzing Raffles quay.

The warm cheese bread was a nice touch.

I asked for the most tender cut of beef and was directed towards the prime roast beef classic cut. Presentation of the food and wine was good & the menu quite innovative with some decent vegey options too. My swimmer crab starter was good & my beef cut was flavourful and the yorkshire pudding was a good touch.

The best part was the dessert, the banoffie tart was tasty!

Nice building and setting featuring the original mail chute from 1890.

Now the Cons:

The place was empty..due to the long wkend? Or the fact that it is in Raffles place, which is void of CBD workers at the wkend? So more promotion needs to be done to get the place busy at the weekends.

Do I really want to head back into the CBD for a wkend dinner? If the food is good yes.

Had some confusion over wholegrain mustard...which they dont have & in my opinion is mandatory when eating beef.

We were a table of four and the mains did not arrive all at the same time resulting in an akward 7mins whilst we waited for the final main to arrive so we could all start together.

I asked for all the fat to be removed from my cut and it wasnt.

The yorkshire pudding was a little undercooked and should of been more crispy.

As we were the only table the service was good, if a little too intense...leave your diners in peace pls.

To summarise, Royal mail is a fine place to go if you are craving a good quality sunday roast in a fine dining setting, but need to get more of a crowd in to create a weekend buzzzzz.