Stellar @ 1-Altitude (Raffles Place)

Get high on food – literally – with Stellar @1-Altitude, perched right on top of the OUB Centre – the restaurant, at the height of 282 metres, is officially the highest in Singapore. Helmed by the executive chef for 1-Altitude, Christopher Millar, the latest venture by the group is equipped with the full works including an impressive sushi bar, an oyster bar, and a wood-fired grill and rotisserie.

THE FOOD:

We went for the communal dinner set, which goes at $120++ per pax, for a minimum of 10 persons. The set includes an appetiser to share, a pantry taster, a selection of contemporary sushi, a charcuterie taster, your own main course and a variety of desserts – made specially for Stellar from its sweet sister restaurant 1-Caramel just a stone's throw away.

There are just too many dishes for me to review them all, so here are some highlights of my evening there. The first few dishes of foie gras croustades, which was silky and smooth, and the sashimi selection with freshly-grinded wasabi sure met my expectations but it was the sushi selection – unagi roll with avocado and unagi sauce, spicy tuna roll with katsuo furikake and spring onion, and swordfish roll with fresh crab meat, prawns, aka miso and aonori – which took my companions and my breath away. The ingredients were fresh and succulent, and the rice moist with the perfect tinge of vinegar; this definitely supports the restaurant's claim of making it a la minute. And judging by how fast the spicy tuna roll went, you could tell that it was definitely one of the most popular dishes of the night.

Now for the mains, the truffle risotto with Maine lobster was my favourite out of the main courses. The risotto is cooked in shellfish stock, doused in generous amounts of truffle judging from its sweet potent smell, and served with poached Maine lobster imported from the States. Observe the silence as you savour the dish all the way to the last spoonful. The wood-fired Wagyu rib eye with deliciously creamy Paris mashed potatoes and Porcini pear sauce came a close second.

And finally, to complete the perfect meal on a sweet note, we had the patisserie platter – pistachio fraise, velvety lemon pecan mousseline, azure, muscovado macadamia creme brulee and sticky date pudding. My favourite? Definitely Azure made up of layers of crisp, crunchy hazelnut biscuit, peach sanguine jelly and griotte cherries. The cherries make a surprisingly nice twist to the dessert.  

THE MOOD:

Stellar at 1-Altitude eludes a relaxed yet sophisticated ambience but what makes it a must-go is really the view at the rooftop, where the world's tallest alfresco bar may be found. Chill out up at the roof bar for the breath-taking paranomic views of MBS, Suntec City, Esplanade, Marina Bay float, and the Singapore Flyer. Perfect for a romantic date or as an impressive business dinner.

For pictures and more reviews, go here!

Fine dining. The dishes are nicely presented and very well cooked. Service staff are attentive. Come here if you feel like dressing up and looking good and a good fine dining atmosphere. 

Proceeded to the bar, One Altitude for drinks and personally I like the view and crowd more than Kudeta at MBS. 

Stellar - After numerous visit to the both the indoor and alfresco bar, I've finally had the chance to dine in the restaurant. 

On a Sunday evening, the crowd was comfortable. 40% occupied,. the settings were intimate and was very pleasant, apart from an on-going renovation, which is somewhat a spoiler. 

Erdinger on the tap is always welcomed. Apart from that, we had the Festive Menu @ $95++. It comes with an Amuse Bouche which I didn't get, Starter, Entree and Dessert (2 diners get 3 dessert, while 3 diners get 4. Love that idea) (Menu available at this link: http://www.1-altitude.com/content/StellarSpecialMenu.pdf) Compliments with a bottle of Yarra Yering Underhill Shiraz for the Tomahawk Ribeye (800g @ $140)

In general, there really isn't anything to WOW about my food; it was okay. 

Service wise, I liked it as they really try to please. Of course my dining partners made a difference, however, I feel that they are better than expected. Good job.

PS: I thought they would have 'Live' Band on Sunday night - It wasn't present when we were there, left a little disappointed.

1-Altitude is the latest venture by the One Rochester Group, which also operates its flagship gastrobar One Rochester, Coast @ 1-TwentySix and patisserie 1 Caramel. Perched on level 62 of OUB Centre, be astounded by the panoramic and breathtaking 360 degree view of the Singapore CBD/Marina Bay skyline.

Stellar is helmed by Group Executive Chef Christopher Miller, who in addition to being Stellar’s head chef, also runs his own Thai eatery Sweet Salty Spicy around the Bukit Timah area. He tells us that while Stellar’s modern cuisine carries with it a high level of sophistication, Stellar aims at providing diners with a fun dining experience rather than evoking stifling and rigid fine dining rules.

While Chef Miller specializes in Modern European cuisine, Stellar’s menu isn’t limited as such. There’s food here that caters to most palates, from Japanese, fresh seafood like Sashimi and Oysters, Grilled meats, and even a Charcuterie section (cured meats) but Chef Miller made it clear that Stellar doesn’t serve fusion food.

Our tasting session started off with Stellar’s Twice Baked Gruyere Souffle. For traditionalists who believe that souffles should only be left for dessert, I bid them to try this rendition. The gruyere souffle is served alongside additional servings of 2 different melted cheese sauces (gruyere and blue cheese), meant for those who want an extra cheesy kick. The cheese sauces complemented the souffle as much, if not more, than the typical vanilla sauce to a chocolate souffle. I believe that I would have no qualms eating this for breakfast, brunch, lunch, high tea, dinner or supper

The Sashimi: Omakase Taster is an assorted tray of fresh Tuna Belly, Salmon, Tai, Hamachi, Swordfish, Scallops, Ikura, Caviar, and Surf Clams. Typically, “omakase” means entrusting your meal in the chef’s hands such that he would normally bring out the freshest or seasonal ingredients to whip up your meal. Therefore, its probable that one might not get the same types of sashimi everytime, but that’s just my guess. I found the quality and freshness of the seafood laudable given that Stellar isn’t a full fledged Japanese restaurant.

Transiting to Mains, I harboured ambivalent feelings towards the Truffled Risotto with Poached Maine Lobster. While I liked the texture of the risotto and fresh sweetness of the lobster, I found the use of Truffle oil excessive which threatened to overwhelm the dish’s naturally mild flavours.

The Grain Fed ‘Tomahawk’ Rib Eye served with Bone Marrow is sourced from Australian cattle, which according to Chef Miller is what Australian cattle are good for (US cattle are better for their sirloin according to him). If I recall correctly, this Rib Eye was dry aged for 120 days, which is quite long.

Utterly seduced by the Chocoloate Seduction, I loved every aspect of this creation, from the velvety chocolate ganache to the crunchy praline base, not to mention the Moist Chocolate Cake (much like a chocolate lava cake) at the background. I just think that while 1 chocolate cake is good, 2 is always better.

Whenever I used to visit 1-Caramel, I never fail to order the Strawberry Shortcake which is airy and not too cloying. I was simply beaming when I saw it present among the Trio Fraise, which also comprised of Champagne Jelly and Chocolate Dipped Strawberries.

While there was a mix of hits and misses, I generally enjoyed my dining experience at Stellar. After dinner, we took a short stroll up to the rooftop bar and gallery. Having been to a few rooftop bars in Singapore like Helipad, Orgo and New Asia Bar, I believe that 1-Altitude’s ambience and view is the best of these few.

Bon Appetit!

For the full review/pics, do visit http://yumyumformytumtum.wordpress.com/2011/08/29/stellar-1-altitude-a-new-star/

As part of the theme of sky dining, I decided to check out Stellar by the One Rochester Group, which is located on the 62nd floor of One Raffles Place.

A pleasant setting, the place could be set up for an even more fine dining experience by lowering the lights just a little.

Having been following Chef Chris Millar for awhile, I was excited about this meal as he has been known to do a good job of blending various flavours together to form wonderful dishes. However, I was to learn that the true value in the meal I was about to have was not in any "foo-fa" form of cooking, but just the use of good quality ingredients that speak for itself.

I started with the Serrano Grande ($30 for 50g) which is a really good quality piece of cured jamon ham. I liked that it was not as salty as that which I have tried in other establishments.

I then tried the Omakase Taster ($55), which was billed as a mixture of sashimi, but lo and behold, I must admit I was a little surprise that it consisted of a roll, two pieces of tuna and salmon sashimi, and foie gras. Interesting mix of elements but I was actually looking for more of the fresh fish in the platter.

Moving on, I had the Swordfish Roll ($20). This was wonderful as it the crab meat blended really well with the chopped swordfish, a must try here.

I then had the New Zealand and Irish Osyters ($35 for half dozen). Unfortunately, this was probably the only downside of the meal as the oysters were not as fresh as I would have hoped.

Next was the Seared Hokkaido Scallops and Octopus ($24). Another well executed dish, I liked the way the thick tentacles of the octopus were chopped up into juicy bite size pieces.

Finally, the first main course for me was the US Prime Tenderloin ($48 for 220g). The quality of the meat was really good. That's enough said.

I also tried the Spatch C*** Grilled Quail ($36). This has to be one of the best quails that I have had (since the one I tried at Guy Savoy). The meat was really tender and meaty - must be a pretty large quail they caught :)

With such a heavy meal, I ended it with a Geisha Blossom ($10), a nice hot green tea to end the meal. Ah, what decadence.

Service was good, as one would get in nice fine dining restaurant.

Im not good with heights so as the escalator climbed to the 62nd storey of One Raffles Place I was slowly freaking out at the thought of being so far up from the ground.  However after witnessing the view from the 62nd floor, all my fears went away.  The breathtaking unobstructed view is definitely a good reason to dine at Stellar @ 1-Altitude and as the night went on, I found many other reasons to dine here as well.

we started off with the

Croustades of foie gras and TWG Chamomile -  $28Im not a fan of Foie Gras mousse due to the fact that some places use frozen foie gras resulting in a soggy texture but the Foie Gras terrine actually had a silky texture and it went very well with the slightly crispy pastry.  I did however love the pan fried Foie Gras, the mixture of the crispy exterior and the soft and sinful interior compliments each other very well and I savoured every small bite of that.

To satisfy my "healthy" criteria, we ordered a salad, theTiger prawn and boneless marinated quail -  $38that is tossed together with blood or ange, couscous, pomegr anate and almond. I liked how the dressing had a tangy/ sweet taste to it, but not overpoweringly so,  passed my healthy criteria with flying colours.

For mains, we ordered the Fresh crab meat ravioli - $35U can rarely find something so unique anywhere else so we had to give it a try.  I liked that the ravioli pasta was light and didnt have that chewy feeling. It was perfectly cooked and the crabmeat filling was generous and flavoured well.  Accompanied by the grilled leeks and shell fish sauce which was creamy and flavourful yet did not overshadow the flavours of the crabmeat, I enjoyed every bite of this dish.

Second main was the Slow roasted suckling pig with a Kurobuta pork - $48This has a Iberico jamon and fig stuffing and is accompanied by apple & pear jelly and cr ackles When I first tasted the dish, I was slightly taken aback by the flavours, It was slightly strong and I felt it was a bit too salty, however,  accompanied by the apple and pear jelly,  the two go together hand in hand and the meat does melt in your mouth.  It helps that there was fats which as sinful as it is does taste nice.  And since I've fulfilled the health metre by having a salad, a little bit of fats wont hurt right.  And my favourite part of the dish was the Paris Mash.  It was so light and fluffly and unlike some mashes which are thick and have an overdose of salt, this was the total opposite.  I love how the milk, cream and butter mixture do not outshine each other. Furthermore, Im a sucker for buttery/ creamy things.

No dinner is complete without dessert, ladies especially have a special compartment in our stomachs saved for dessert. And being the lady, I chose theChocolate Seduction $16 I understand why the Hazlenut Praline Cake is a 1-Caramel signature cake, I enjoyed the varying layers of hazlenut chocolate  mousse and praline feulletine,  The crispy praline and sillky soft mousse when eaten together, heaven.  Plus the chocolate mousse is not smooth, light, sweetness level is just nice to make me crave for more after I finished the entire cake. Think my dining partner only managed a few measly bites(sorry)

I was however disappointed by the Warm Chocolate Almond Lava cake.  The cake was a tad too dense and there was no lava whatsoever.  The Hazlenut Praline cake would be the best option.  

Service was attentive without being too suffocating, our water was contantly being topped up without being asked and the service staff were friendly and prompt during the entire meal.  Our waiter, Hidayat was patient in explaining to us the dishes we were having and accepted feedback well.

I loved the views and was happy I managed to to have a birds eye view of Marina Bay Sands at night.  Overall, I enjoyed the dinner.  Mostly hits instead of misses and I will definitely return.

i have to admit that i came here with rather low expectations. after all one wouldnt expect too much from a place boasting of a view 282 meters up in the sky (and the previous reviews didn't help this place much)

BUT (and i have to use a big "BUT"), it turned out really well, and we had a really enjoyable dinner there!

for appetisers, we had a twice baked gruyere souffle. i was expecting the souffle to be presented in a prettier way given that the whole set up of this place... but upon the first bite, you know that looks doesnt matter at all! being a cheese fan, i totally loved this dish. the texture was nicely moist and soft, with the richness of the cheese. it was a melt in your mouth decadence. to me, this was the perfect start to the meal. (warning however, this needs to be shared, or it will become too "jelat" after a while)

then came our main course of a sashimi and sushi boat. the good thing about this place was that they can "customise" your sashimi / sushi selection according to your budget and number of people. we ordered a selection of sashimi & sushi that costs $200 (it came as two boats, one sashimi and one sushi).

for the sashimi, it was a selection of roe, scallop covered with ebiko (i think it's ebiko, or maybe tobiko, i'm not sure of this), octopus, swordfish, tuna and salmon (they introduced the orange one as trout but it totally tasted like salmon to me - 3 possibilities: 1) they made a mistake, 2) i am hard of hearing which is not uncommon, 3) trout tastes the same as salmon. haha). i would prefer it if the scallop was just served as a sashimi in slices rather than cut into small pieces and covered with the roe... but generally we still enjoyed this... it was not out of the world kind of wow, but definitely good to be enjoyed.

then came the sushi boat, which totally outdid the sashimi. the selection included tempura futomaki, swordfish roll, unagi roll, spicy tuna roll and tuna sushi. i started with the tempura futomaki and immediately i was impressed. i have to say that my skepticism of how well a restaurant can do multi-cuisine has diminished after a bite into the roll. generally i feel that a restaurant shouldnt be over ambitious and serve too many different types of cuisine, but i think they juggled the japanese part pretty well here.

the swordfish roll took my respect for the jap food here a step higher. it was almost an out of the world with the delicate taste of swordfish, crabmeat and prawns merging together to give this dish a character of its own. i like how the combination of the ingredients subtly compliment each other in this roll. you do not taste the individual ingredients here but taste the roll as a whole. this was a hit for us, though we were told that the spicy tuna roll was the most popular.

i was slightly disappointed with the rest of the sushi, after having a higher expectation from the swordfish roll.... i guess if i had them before the swordfish roll then they would all be a score. the unagi roll was nice though nothing comparable to the swordfish roll. it came as a tad too sweet for me, especially when the swordfish roll boasted of the balance in natural sweetness of the ingredients. the spicy tuna roll became just a so-so rating coz i had overly high expectation of it since it was the most popular dish. i liked the tuna sushi, somehow i think they didn't put the normal wasabi under the fish, but something nice and fragrant, maybe it was ginger or something like that.... dont get me wrong, i'm not saying that the other sushi is not nice... they are! just that the swordfish roll is so good that it discredits its partners.... so if you were to order a boat like we did, eat the swordfish roll last then you'd enjoy the rest much more!

after the japanese part, we shared a "tenderloin 120 days grain fed" - i actually bothered to record the name of the dish in my phone after i took the first bite. usually i'll just call it the tenderloin, but i felt that i needed to name it's fanciful name coz it was really well done (in a nice way, not in the totally cooked way. haha). the beef was... well.. tender, and cooked to perfection... not overcooked but not bloody at all.. nicely red inside... hmmm... i find it pretty hard to describe a nicely cooked piece of meat, but in short it was so good that you didn't even need to rely on the red wine sauce that came with it. the only downside was the fries that came with it could do with lesser salt. but you wont bother with the fries when the meat is that good! oh yah, it came with a piece of bone marrow too, which we lovingly called it tulang round our table... never ever tried a bone marrow before, so i took a very very small bite of it. in short, i just couldn't appreciate it (tasted like fat to me!) but i thought it might be interesting for people who loves their tulang, or just to try it....

lastly, it was dessert, that was about the only real disappointment in this meal. we ordered a trio fraise. the roundish strawberry cakish thing (i dont even know what was the proper name) was like the star of the trio, was nothing to boast off. the individual layers of the cake was nice, like the strawberry was nicely fragrant without being excessively sweet, the cakish layer was nice and soft... but somehow they didn't gel together to give the cake any character... plus the layer of "golden puff pastry flakes" did not contribution to the cake at all... you would think that adding pastry flakes out the outside is to give it a twist in the texture with the crispiness, but instead it did none of that... it was soft and the only purpose it did was to "decorate" it i guess. my friend used a word to aptly describe it - flat. the other 2 parts of the trio was a wine jelly which was normal and down to earth, and 2 chocolate dipped strawberries which cant go quite wrong.

though the dessert didn't do its trick to end the meal nicely, the service here did. i felt that the managers were very sincere too when we gave the feedback about the mediocre dessert... in fact the service throughout was superb, we didnt have any problems with our reservation and had the window seats where we could have a good view of the cbd, mbs etc... the wait staff was attentive and pleasant... plates and cutlery was changed after each course and our wine/water was constantly refilled without being asked.

有人曾经告诉我，好的美食不管躲在哪一个新加坡的角落，只要你爱吃，一定会把它找出来。设在1 Raffles Place, 62城楼 的Stellar @ 1-Altitude，少了一分喧闹，多了一分清静。 

Stellar @ 1-Altitude的菜色采用3种食物题材的概念，有Sushi + Sashimi ，Roast + Braises和Over the Coals。

 

用餐的当儿，还可以观赏到新加坡夜晚美丽的夜景，那是何等的浪漫。 

本是日本料理的发烧友，我和太太选择了Sushi + Sashimi所有的日本料理.

Unagi Roll ($22), Spicy Tuna Roll ($18), Swordfish Roll ($20), Salmon Oyako Roll ($20), Ebi Tempura Roll ($20), Crab Roll ($22), Tempura Futo maki ($20), Lobster Roll ($28), Avocado Roll ($18), Octopus Roll ($20), Nigiri Sushi Moriawase ($20), Uni and Ikura Kungan Sushi ($14) 和Sashimi Moriawase 7 Type ($75).

Crab Roll给我得的印象。内里汁液倾透，切一块入口，甜滋滋博人好感。而那肉带劲，嚼来有口感，可说是色香味俱全。 

Sashimi Moriawase 7 Type令我留下最深刻的印象。它新鲜，可口，创新和富有美丽的摆设。让人食指大动，不由自主的一块一块的把它给吃了，再配上上等的白酒， 可说是物有所值。赞！

It was my girlfriend's birthday and I decided to take her to Stellar for a dinner celebration. The view is known to be breath-taking and possibly the best unobstructed horizon one can get in Singapore. Funny how much I have heard about their lacklustre service, because I personally found the staff to be extremely polite, and my waiter being very attentive. 

For starters, we had a Sushi platter and a Charcuterie platter (Italian cured meats), sort of an East meets West appetiser challenge.  We were able to choose the type of sushi we wanted, and I must highly recommend the Swordfish Roll. This is THE BEST sushi I have ever tasted - Crabmeat, prawns, and aka miso topped with a slightly torched swordfish that melts in your mouth. The tataki technique is excellent to me because it gets rid of the fishy taste of sashimi, but yet retains the sweetness of the raw fish within. We were actually being rather adventurous with the cured meats, and having the Charcuterie platter reaffirmed that this particular type of European delicacy does not sit well with us. We felt that the flavours were too extreme. The meats were either too salty or too bland. We were ok with the Parma Ham, but would rather much prefer it paired with the usual sweet melons. 

My friend and I shared the Truffled Risotto with Maine Lobster, and the French squab Pigeon with orange and wild honey glaze. The truffle was strong but not over-powering, and a good risotto is one that is not too sickeningly dense till you feel like gagging after five mouthfuls. This was a wonderfully done risotto. The trick is to finish it within 15 mins before it turns cold because no matter how well it is prepared, a cold risotto expands and tastes horrible. I always feel that restaurants could serve smaller portions so that the diner can leave with a good experience. What surprised me was also the restaurant's generosity; it was copiously ladden with large chunks of fresh lobster meat.  Decadence at its best!

The pigeon is an accquired taste as it is generally a gamey type of meat. So unless you fancy this type of meat, chances are you would be like my friend who gave me a "you can finish the rest" face. But I liked it for its distinctive, irony and meaty taste.  To me, the meat has 'character'. The accompanying sauce was a perfect condiment to the tender and moist meat.  What we agreed on was the luscious mashed potatoes. It was creamy and smooth, and more towards the buttery side. 

The dessert we had were the Tropical Vodka Trifle (thick pineapple jelly mash with pineapple sponge cubes topped with coconut ice-cream) and Strawberry Shortcake.  The birthday girl loved the Trifle, but I have a beef with coconut flavoured food. The combination was just too weird for me. However, it didn't spoil my lovely dinner because the amazing appetisers and mains more than made up for the mediocre desserts.  I would definitely bring my family back here for any celebration dinners!

I was so elated when I heard the rare corporate dinner going to be held at a classy restaurant, and from an altitude.

1-Altitude bar and Stellar restaurant occupies 2 floors at the tip of 1 Raffles Place.

Located right in the middle of CBD (Central Business District) of Singapore, housed in one of the tallest buildings on this island.

Before this pastry platter (shared among 3 persons over the table), complimentary bread slices were served too.

From this platter, I preferred the Foie Gras mousse pastry the most (of course!) which was airy, smooth and fragranced well.

My choice of main course was the truffle risotto with seafood. Portion was quite small, it was alright. Creamy risotto with some prawn bits and bouncy scallops.

Could you imagine how excited I was to find out 5 types of desserts (by 1-Caramel) served on a plate?

Of course, it was to be shared among three of us. But hello?! 5 desserts!

Love them all, favourite was the triangular tart strawberry based cake and chocolate praline mousse cake.

The chocolate tart was not good actually, we thought the tart base wasn’t baked properly and tasted strong flour. What  a pity.

Overall, enjoyed this wonderful dinner. Afterwards,  we went up to roof top bar for drinks.

for the delicious pictures and scenes on the night, please click on the following link

http://sofood.wordpress.com/2011/06/12/stellar-restaurant-at-1-altitude-sg/ 

The good things about dining at Stellar is that you get to beat the long queue to 1-Altitude (the bar) as you get priority getting up the lift, and you get to enter the bar for free without paying any cover charges!

The other good bits about this restaurant is the sommelier, who made a good recommendation (I had a glass of Argentinian red - hmm!), polite, attentive, and was generous with the portions of the alcohol.

I had dinner with my partner during Restaurant Week. The food was mediocre - I don't even remember it, except that in addition to the set dinner menu, we ordered half a dozen of oysters, which weren't too bad but somewhat pricey.

The decor of the restaurant was.. not that sleek, to be honest. The floor was not polished (i.e. rather grim).

The service was generally good. However, when we were paying the bill, the waitress handed us a rating/feedback card, and then asked us politely to fill it in, ending it with, 'my name is xxx'. I was like...??? she did not even attend to our table exclusively - many other waiters and waitresses served us. Did she want us to add her name to the 'Any staff you would like to recommend' category?!

I vaguely recall I had the sashimi starter, which was OK. The amuse bouche was sooooo small. oh, such tiny portions. I know they're supposed to be small, but this was ridiculous. I believe I had monkfish.. which was done OK, if somewhat dry, but alright. My partner's beef was better, but not take-a-bite-close-eyes-with-emotion-type of experience. It was decent, not out of this world delicious.

Desert was also, very very average.

What I didn't like was the bread they served - it was cold, and very crusty white bread. I always like restaurants that put in effort in the bread they serve - it shows the creativity of the chef and the care and attention placed on the food. This was just plain, white, crusty bread! And cold! Not even warmed for us!

I'd never return to this restaurant - ever. It wasn't bad, but it was far from the category it places itself (i.e. fine dining).