One On The Bund

Why name your restaurant after another one?
The ambiance is not bad, and maybe an experience, but really not that would make you want to return. Most people probably come to see the place, because the food definitely does not fit the price. Makes me wonder if they really are running a restaurant with some respect for food.
Definitely not going back.

Oh, please don't order wine there. Hopeless, no expertise, and unbelievable rip off.

George, my husband and I dined at the restaurant this weekend. We were more than pleasantly surprised with our discovery. Despite varied reviews we had read prior to making a reservation (no real need to reserve as there was ample seating available - only one tenth capacity filled), we found the overall experience a thoroughly enjoyable one.

We sat al fresco. Integrated resort works dotted the Singapore river skyline so we opted for the end table. The Esplanade, Singapore Flyer and Marina hotels loomed in the distance, quite a stunning view.

The restaurant is in very grand Chinese style, decked out with antiques such as old leather luggage paraphernalia and mini mock terracotta warriors. Thankfully, the interior has been preserved and it is possible to make out the old ferry terminal that was Clifford Pier, including the high vaulted ceiling and original beamwork. All very breath-taking quite frankly. And quite nostalgic for those who boarded a ferry or bumboat of sorts here in days of yore..

So how did the cuisine fare? George had a beer and I went for a cocktail which was quite delicious and strong, they did not hold back on the alcohol.. hic!

The menu itself was a work of art and in keeping with the Chinese style - clunky hard wood covers. We perused the relatively extensive menu from start to end. Plenty of pig organs we decided, must be their specialty!

So we opted for pork cheeks in chilli broth, lotus root with chilli oil sprinkling, lemongrass prawns and bamboo shots in dark soya. All i can say is yummmmmmeeeee!

The selection proved a good one and portions were large if not decent for 2 average size portions diners. The pork cheek was surprisingly good altho a tad on the hot and spicy size but I'm surer that can be lessened on request. It was accompanied by mushrooms and other condiments in a tasty broth. Bamboo shoots were delicious although on salty side but due to the dark soya which was plentiful. Still it was very much to my liking. George enjoyed the lotus roots which covered a bed of tang hoon-like vermicelli. Al dente with a slight crunch, perfect really. The prawns were a treat for us both. Sauteed in a lemongrass reduction and speared with portions of lemongrass for fuller flavour.

Of course we could not look at the desert menu and even said no to coffee as we were sated.

Staff were attentive and polite, unsurprising as there were plenty of them in comparison to the number of occupied tables. The bill came to $140, reasonable we thought as the cuisine was unique and felt authentic as far as our limited knowledge of fine Chinese cuisine goes. Each dish was unlike any other we had eaten and we have eaten a lot, ha! ha!

One weekend...I was cluelss where to makan...so drove around aimlessly till I passed by OOTB....decided to check out this place as I was aware it's a new joint after some heavy renovation work !

Scrolled thru their menu which IMHO looked DIY....but still managed to decipher what's on offer...

The waitress suggested several dishes and I ordered the following :

1) pan fried prawns with egg yolk...Passable...but not good enuf..

2) Toufu chicken : very crispy skin and tasty....though not cheap at S$68.00 a pop !

3) Long beans with minced meat : quite good

4) Fried rice : very simple without the jerlakness

I think I'll only return just for item no 2.....but it's not available all the time....better call to confirm to avoid disappointment...

The ambience is nice and romantic so much that the light bulb has blown off. Pretty staff who cannot speak english. Nice presentation of food but staff do not clean the table. Expensive prices which does not compromise with good service.

Never ever go there unless you cant find a place to eat around esplande.

did not try anything here, cos the moment i went in, no customers at all. it was totally a mood spoiler. not becos there wasnt any customers dining there, but i was oso there to take some reference fotos for my sch project. n the lady said, sorry u cant. n i was like wat? jus only the architectural infrastructure thats all? again the same ans, sorry u cant. i mean tis was supposed to b a historical site rite? n the infrastructure has been there like way b4 i was born, so jus bcos, a restaurant is opened there, they can jus deny of other ppl's rights to admire and research on the its long history and spectacular infrastructure?! no wonder its got bad reviews.

For those who expect the typical definition of Chinese food, this place will definitely not 'live up' to one's expectations

But if you go in with an open mind for a completely new experience in Chinese cuisine, this restaurant will certainly blow you away

I've been patronizing this restaurant in Hong Kong (Water Margin and Shui Hu Ju) for a few years and am thrilled that it's opened in Singapore. Especially since the standard and menu are consistent as in Hong Kong

Quality of the food is exceptional, and so are the presentation and ambience

I have taken out of towners and a few friends to the restaurant - and everyone loved it

Bottom line - it is not the run-of-mill Chinese - Quantity, Big group dining, Value for money (bang for the buck), Big chain - type of place that's found easily in Singapore

It is instead a brilliant experience that tantalizes your overall senses and truly raises the bar in dining here

Bravo

I was expecting to be seriously underwhelmed given all the lukewarm/lousy reviews so far; but am pleased to report that One on the Bund really isn’t that bad after all. Let’s get straight to it :

Drinks

Truly outstanding! The bartender recommended me a pear and gingerbeer concoction with rocket leaves on the side, when I asked for a sweet cocktail. It was super! Light, refreshing, sweet and really surprisingly strong. The next drink I had was the cucumber sake one which was a combination of cucumber, gin, sake and (I think) ginger beer. Again this came with the bar’s recommendation and it didn’t disappoint one bit. Top marks also to the barkeep’ for outstanding service – our free flow of very tasty potato chips was constantly replenished with a ready smile (as opposed to the usual revulsion that greets us when we overload on freebies!).

Food

I didn’t do any of the ordering so please forgive my inability to actually name any of the dishes I ate. Everything we ordered was based on the restaurant’s recommendations. We started with a salted egg coated fish dish. It was very tasty, with each individual piece of fish surrounded in a yummy cocoon of salted egg. Talk about an umami rush! The string beans in chilli with minced pork was also outstanding. It was all crunchy beans, spicy sauce and chewy mince...a very nice combination of textures and flavours. I didn’t care too much for a braised beef dish we had (it came in a bamboo steamer basket) – it bordered on slightly tasteless, although the pieces of meat were nice and chunky. And the baby bok choi with ikan billis got mixed reviews; some people in our party liked it but others were not too fussed. What was pretty amazing however was the roasted duck. It took an hour to roast but my goodness, the product was worth the wait. First the chef sliced off the skin for us to eat. Next, the flesh was used to make peking duck. And finally, the remaining bones and meat were used to make a duck soup. I wasn’t insanely keen on the peking duck as the sauce was quite savoury (and I like a sweeter sauce) – but the rest of our party thought it was very nice. The soup was pretty delicate tasting and came with sheets of noodle in it. It was just the thing to wash down all the heavy duck meat and skin.

But Oh My Goodness. That Duck Skin. It deserves a paragraph all on its own. It was paper thin and roasted to a crackling crispiness, with a tiny layer of fat underneath . You dip it in sugar and then put the whole thing on your tongue; where it proceeds to melt (yes MELT) into a salty-sweet-crispy mush of goodness. It was tremendous! Admittedly, it felt like the duck fat was shooting through my body and attaching itself to my arteries with every bite (I imagine a bit like peter parker when the magic spider venom bonded itself to his cells). But it was well worth it!

Dessert was another revelation. We had pre-ordered a chestnut mousse and pear birthday cake. It wasn’t cheap ($60 for a tiny wee thing) but came beautifully presented on a tray scattered with rose petals and things. It tasted delicious too. The mousse was light but the chestnut flavour came through beautifully. The cake had a cold, dense pear centre and the flavours were really excellent together.

Cost

Unbelievably, it wasn’t that prohibitive. The total bill came up to $440 (for 6) - with major expenses being the duck ($88 – but it was really 3 dishes) , fish ($52) and cake ($60). Certainly more expensive than your usual zi char place, but not that bad considering that the food was pretty nice and the atmosphere was lovely. I didn’t feel as cheated as I usually do when dining at such establishments (True Blue anyone? )

Service

Somewhat patchy, but decent overall. As said, the bar staff were good. However, we had to wait for what felt like hours for spoons and one or two of the dishes to be brought to the table. Our main waiter was great though. Very polite and efficient and executed the presentation of the birthday cake as per our instructions – even suggesting to me that he set the table for dessert after the presentation was made so that the birthday boy would not be alerted to the surprise.

Ambience

Enough has been said about this so I won’t comment further except to say that it really is a very trendy establishment. You can see the roasted ducks being cooked from the bar so that was super cool – they certainly interested me more than the lights from the IR construction site, which is the other thing you can possibly look at. I didn’t like the way the tables were big and rectangular and the fact that the food was not served individually. It meant that whoever had the plate of food in front of them had to dish it out and pass it along, conveyor-belt style, to the rest of the table. Admittedly though, it’s a small gripe.

So yea -I'm going to risk the wrath of everyone here who hates One On the Bund, and go so far as to say that I had a good dinner all in all, and would come back. (*flees to take cover*)

Headed there for a drink with the girls after giving up the Q for Butter Factory. It was the BEST move for the evening (in my opinion)! the ambience was great - immediately made me think of Shanghai... there were some live music where there was a lady playing the er-hu with a modern twist while being accompanied on the electric keyboard. WONDERFUL music... even the piped music after the performance ended was great!

besides the pretty facade of the place, the drinks were also decent! we ordered a lychee mojito, asian mojito & cucumber sake sling! all 3 were extremely yummy and potent too. the girls got a bit red after finishing half a drink... thought the highlight was the asian mojito - it was very refreshing and yet addictive!

loved this place and would definitely be back for more

I read alot of bad reviews of this place before going. I thought I'd go for the unique ambience as a friend was in town & not have much expectations on the food.

Alas, all I can say is that the food was really bad. The waitress did not highlight to us that the soup we ordered was a huge pot too much for 2 pax! We each only had a bowl & were done. The garlic-fried vegetables, xiao long bao, tofu with salted eggs were so-so.

During the dinner, we were constantly interrupted by the noodle-making "sound effect". The first time we heard it, we thought there was construction going on inside the venue! It became quite irritating after a while. Then when it stopped (peace at last...), the live band started. Well, not exactly a band - just a guitar player & singer. She belted out some Chinese & Jazz classics but she sounded like she was one of the guests at a Karaoke pub! Her singing was terrible, & made those lovely classics sound so bad.

The bar area was disappointedly small but thank goodness the outdoor was not too bad (the singing was still ringing in the background). The view will be better when the Marina Sands IR is completed.