Serenity Spanish Bar & Restaurant

I went there with a friend on Friday for dinner. I didn't make a reservation and so we had to sit at the al fresco area. The view was good as it overlooked RWS and we could see fireworks at 9+pm (coming from USS). There's an area with sofa which looks very comfortable. A good place to chill out with friends after work. 
As the paellas would take more than half an hour to come, we decided to order tapas to fill our stomach first. The place was dimly lit and we had difficulty reading the menu. We ordered Grilled Beef with Onion $15. The medium rare beef came in 2 cubes just nice for my friend and I. Thumb up for this tapas. It was really tender. 
For the main dish, we ordered Paellas Squid Ink (for 2 pax) $43. The portion was insufficient for 2 people. The seafood was good but the top layer of the rice was quite dry. It can be better. Generally I would say that the paellas is good.
The staffs were attentive but I think they were shorthanded. Two staffs came to ask if our food is good. 

This is our second time here although our first experience was not great. In fact, I waited so long for my dish (Scott had already long finished his food) that I had lost my appetite, gave the manager a piece of my mind about how food should be served at the same time for customers at the same table, paid the bill and left rather hungry.

Here’s what we had on our first visit back in April 2010 - Photos we took of the place and food at http://joyloh.com/blog/?p=1560.

Starter: Pimientos del Piquillo rellenos de Atun Gambas ($10) - Spanish pepper filled with tuna and tiger prawn salad. I was a little disappointed when the dish came as it was tiny and it tasted exactly like peppers stuffed with canned mayo-tuna.

Main: Especia Pato con Peras ($25) – spiced duck with pears, spinach and garlic mash. The duck was nicely seasoned and very tender. The spinach and mashed potatoes were really good as well. However, I thought that the each flavour on the plate were a little strong to be served together. Potion size is just right and overall an enjoyable dish.

I ordered the Lubina a la Sal ($20) – baked Seabass fish cooked in salt crust. But I never got it – So I spent the hour or so sipping my Sangria ($15 per glass), watching Scott eat, steal a little of his food, and listened to the band play.

The Bar & Restaurant claims to serve authentic Spanish fare and their menu has a wide range of tapas, salads, mains and other Spanish delicacies.  So this time round we decided to go for drinks, have tapas, and listen to some Spanish live entertainment.

Tapas: Empanadillas y Croquetas ($12) – home made Spanish Tuna Puff, home made Spanish Chicken Croqueta and home made Spanish Tiger Prawn Croqueta. My favourite of the three was the chicken croquette which I thought was quite unique and special. The prawn croquette was tasty as well and the flavours complemented each other nicely. The tuna puff stuffing tasted a little like canned tuna.

Tapas: Rollito de bacon y espárrago ($12) – baked baby asparagus wrapped in bacon. Veggies were fantastic – natural and not overdone. The bacon was slightly dry and not fatty enough for my liking, but overall it was an enjoyable dish.

Tapas: Albondigas ($12) – beef meatballs in tomato sauce. The minced beef was superbly marinated and flavourful. The bolognese sauce was nicely done and the thinly sliced onions added a nice texture to the sauce. This was my favourite tapas of the night.

Main: Paella Valenciana ($40) – saffron, chicken, Spanish chorizo, tiger prawns, squid, half shell mussels, rice. the restaurant claims to have the best tasting paella in Singapore, and so far, I have to agree. The rice was perfect and tasty, prawns were cooked just right, fresh, and slightly crunchy, squid was nice and not rubbery, mussels were alright but slightly overdone, and the chorizo was simply delightful. Portion size is meant for two but it’s ideal to share between three with other side dishes.

Desert: Pastel de Chocolate ($7) – cashew nut brownie with caramel candied orange and ice cream. Although no typically Spanish, we felt like some chocolate after our meal and decided to go with a brownie. The desert was delicious although we didn’t get to select our choice of ice cream. It was a great dish to end a wonderful evening.

The ambiance was alright and could be worked on. When we look up, we could see a mesh of dark blue vents running all accross the celing, giving us the feeling of dining in an factory lot. Lighting was a little mixed up and the stage was right in the middle of the bar and kitchen – the service crew had to walk past the band every couple of minutes or so which was rather annoying.

Pastel de Chocolate

The melted chocolate is on top of the brownie. Unlike many which is inside.


La piña gazpacho

Has many thin slices of pineapple covered with sweet wine sauce.

The Seafood Paella was excellent and the Tapas portions were quite big. I like the pork skewer and the cheese platter. Price was reasonable and the Service was attentive and friendly too.

We had our Sunday family dinner at this Spanish Restaurant and we had a wonderful dinner.

We ordered marinated Pork Skewer, Grilled Octopus, Tomato Bread and Grilled Squid for starter. Our main course was Valencian rice and Seafood Fideua. We ordered few bottles of Spanish red wine to go with the food. Dessert was memorable and enough to drag me into this Spanish Restaurant again. I love the wine poached pear with ice cream.

The staff were well mannered and attentive. We spend about $600 for 8 of us including 3 bottles of wine. It was Sunday and there was not live band. The manager asked us to come back on a week day for Spanish Music Dinner. My sister has hear that the live band here is quite good.

We will go back again for the nice Spanish Food. If the band is nice, it will be a bonus.

Friend picked this place as it looked nice and a good enough spot to catch up; plus he said he has dined there before. So of the 4 of us went, and took the last couch seat available. The couch seats number around 8, with plenty of other proper dining tables scattered in the main dining hall. Each couch seat sits 4 comfortable, although 6 is possible with a tiny squeeze.

The place has a good view and location of looking out towards the sea towards Sentosa, but it also means you get a lot of the ongoing construcion view too. Its semi-alfresco as they open up a few panels of its sliding glass to create the alfresco feel for the entire place, but this means the seats closer to the opened doors are abit warm despite the aircon and the meek few fans whirling above. But beware of which couch you choose as some have the aircon vents directly above which was leaking when we went, and luckily another couch seat was vacated soon after.

With 3 if us dining there for the 1st time, we asked for recommendations and went ahead half excited about trying out Spanish food for a change:

Calamares a la plancha ($13) - "the natural taste of freshly grilled squid" - we picked this against the fried squid as we thought the wedges were already fried. The portion was small and the chunks of squid too big; it was also deliberately done slightly undercooked which I did not take to. It was served with 2 dry pieces of bread which I guess is supposed to help mop up the sauce it came in, which tasted like a marriage of squid ink and vinegrette. Not my cup of tea.

Wedges with home-made curry sauce ($10) - This was one of the 2 best dishes of the evening unfortunately. The wedges were piping hot and came with their home-made curry sauce which was very good. Tasted a bit like McDonald's curry sauce but more tasty and less 'chemical'.

Ensalada de Pescado ($12) in sherry vinnegrette or olive oil vinegrette - "grilled dory fish in the nest of vegetable salad, potatoes, eggs and parmesan cheesese" - Didnt try this but it looked under-portioned for the price.

Salmon Papillote ($30) - "baked salmon with julienne vegetable and fresh herb serv with mashed potato and cherry confit" - the disappointment of the night. The mashed potato was bland, the fish was bland, the vegetables were bland.

Paella Valenciana ($40 for 2pax) - "saffron, chicken, Spanish chorizo, tiger prawns, squid, half shell mussels, rice" - The other best dish of the evening. Although I think the portion can be larger, the saffron infused rice was really good, with the seafood very fresh and in good numbers. Orders take 30mins to arrive as it is apparently cooked only when ordered, which I appreicated.

House red ($56) - Dont know too much about wine but I have always thought Spanish wines are good, and this was not too bad.

Service was quite good, with more than sufficient staff hovring around and water refilled quite quickly. They also had the same 'still or sparkling?' reply when I asked for some water. The staff who took our order also took the trouble to come over and ask how was the food.

I feel the dishes esp the salmon and paella was overpriced, resulting in a hefty bill of $176 for 4pax. With only the paella being good and wedges memorable (but I can get good wedges elsewhere too), I will probably not return. Too expensive for me for a normal dinner without any special occassion.

The interior of the restaurant has a light blue theme that resembles the typical seaside, with peach-white chairs and sofas to add a soft tone to the surroundings. Serenity doubles as both a bar and a restaurant, with live music on most evenings (Monday to Saturday) to accompany your dinner. If you're thinking what I'm thinking, it could be a good way to surprise your date with a song dedication or two ;)

Crema de Mariscos
seafood cream soup with mussel, prawn, dory and squid rings: While full of ingredients with a hearty feel to it, I did find the soup a bit too "starchy" for my liking. Would have been better if it was smoother.

Paella con Mariscos
seafood paella: tiger prawns, squids, mussels, scallops and saffron rice: This was what we were here for and I can say that while it was not exceedingly impressive, it did manage to satisfy that paella craving. Aesthetically, it does look pretty and pleasing. 

The serving for two was huge, even for two growing boys, and it was a good thing we were not that trigger-happy to order platters of appetisers, as much as we had the urge to. The best thing about the paella was the rice, because it was nicely moist and sticky without slipping into the wrong ends of being overly wet or dry. The slightly charred parts on the side were especially good because it actually gave a wok hei flavour to this dish. 

The ingedients were plentiful enough, with abundant squids in the rice and with four tiger prawns, mussels and scallops to share. I have to point out however that these seafood ingredients either need to be fresher or less overdone, because most were too chewy (rubbery, even) that it turned out to be quite a jaw exercise after a while. Maybe some softer crabmeat would be good.

For pictures, head on here.

Strategically located at a corner facing the yet-to-be opened Genting Integrated Resort over at Sentosa, the Serenity Spanish Bar & Restaurant is an oasis of ‘cool’ in bustling VivoCity. A place for yuppies and families to wine and dine in air-conditioned comfort or alfresco, facing the Sentosa harbour, we are the only outlet in VivoCity to have a full bar with loads of house and international cocktails at affordable pricing. Other than great food and drinks, there is a live band playing from 7pm to 11pm daily & a flamenco dance performance every thursday night 8pm to 10 pm – a sure way to enliven any weary soul. Cuisine Serenity Spanish Bar & Restaurant serves authentic Spanish fare.The menu has a wide range of tapas, salads, mains and other Spanish delicacies. Their specialty is paella and they dare say that they have the most authentic and best tasting paella in Singapore because they use the best and freshest of ingredients, and their chef prepares each dish to exacting standard. I was given a sofa seat by the Window facing the Resort World. Actually I am not particular about seating but the staff kindlt offered me a wondeful seat to enjoy the ambience. I must admit that the view would be spectacular at night and when the Resort World is officially built. There is a live stage where live bands & performances would be held. Spanish music is played. Although I do not understand, I actually felt quite relaxed. I guess those it would be great when eating spanish tapas and watching the live performances at night! I decided to take the SET LUNCH priced at $11.90++ which I felt that it was pretty reasonable for a 3 course meal. There is a choice of salad/ soup of the day, pasta( penne/ spaghetti), type of sauce and ingredients (mixed vegetables and mushrooms, beef bolognese, etc), a choice of ice-cream and a free drink. Fresh Green Salad Some salad leaves mixed with olive oil vingrette, simple and light. It serves as a great appetitizer. Fusilli with mixture vegetables and mushrooms tomato sauce I had the fusilli with the choice of mixed vegetables and mushrooms in tomato sauce. They are quite generous with the serving and there were quite a few types of vegetables in the pasta.( Zucchini, Carrots, yellow squash and mushrooms) all tossed in tomato sauce. I love any pasta that goes with tomato sauce as cream sauce tends to be a little heavy. There were bits of fragrant garlic bits in the pasta and I sprinkled some black peppercorns to spice it up. It was not too bad. Strawberry ice-cream There was a choice of Chocolate/ vanilla/ Strawberry flavour. I had the strawberry flavour and it was served ina cup with some nice buttery digestive biscuits sprinkled at the top. The ice-cream is just ordinary, not much strawberry flavour. The service here is quite friendly but a little slow. I love teh ambience here and would definately come back for the paella and probably have some tapas while watching the live performances at night!

We headed to Serenity for lunch since we are Bored with  the usual places....
Serenity offers great value executive set lunch which is both tasty and great for the wallets....
Order the set meals with an extra order of Paella for a great lunch....menu is changing monthly for executive set lunch and is a good place for change from the usual fares.
Weekday parking at Vivocity is plentiful and Serenity never seems to be crowded despite the great ambience and great waterfront view....simply delightful.
In the evening, you can also sit Alfresco for drinks and be entertained by live emsemble of musicians.
Place is also divided into live Music area and quieter side without the loud music....thoughtful

We came here because of the good rating at 7.3. There was a high-tea set, so each of us ordered two tapas. The options are bad. 80% of the listed items are deep-fried. We got a salad, potato omelette, chicken casadia and something fried breaded chicken balls. The omelette and the casadia are okay, but the other two are bad. Their names on the menu sound very fancy, but the food was just bad and small. For example, the salad is just a bunch of shredded lettuce. The cost is S$38 for this high tea meal. Not worth it at all!