Had the restaurant week dinner on 18/03/13. Ambience wise was nothing to shout about having seated indoors. Lukewarm assorted breads were served together with its first of three course dinner, peach gazpacho. Cold and slightly sour soup which I thought could have prepared way advanced.
The main dish was a slow cooked chicken breast with asparagus risotto. While the risotto was undercooked, the flavor was somehow detached. In my opinion, a simple dish that could be done much better by most restaurants. Last of the dish, mediocre and very common dessert, Raspberry Tart with Red Fruit Sorbet. Off the shelf raspberry sorbet , and you guessed it, fresh raspberry. The pastry was so hard that I gave up trying after one attempt in breaking it down. Service wise was good if only you want a very quiet dinner, as our water was only refilled once after several attempts in finding the staff. The bill? At $48++ plus $20++ (is it me or is it only this restaurant that charges more than the usual $35++ plus $20++ for restaurant week). Totally not worthy for 3 below average dishes. Now I can also understand why is it so empty. I had not wanted to go through the hassle of creating an account and just be only reading and finding good places to eat. But after tonight's encounter, I felt deeply that I have the responsibility to at least inform and let the rest of the hgw community know what to expect.

Michelin Starred and olive oil expert Carles Tejedor was in town recently and spent a weekend cooking at The Knolls. As I was in the area, I took the opportunity to try his olive oil inspired menu. I booked for a seat and was quite disappointed that they decided to seat me outside despite wanting to seat inside. Perhaps if I was a blond haired hotel customer I might have had a better chance. Was ready to walk away but decided to stay on as my family had already arrived.

Down to the food, the meal opened with the White Asparagus, Iberian Ham, and Caviar Olive Oil. Generally a light opener with a salty finish from the ham.

Next was a strong Salt Baked Fish and Sea Urchin Rice. The firmness of the fish was nice with a good crispy finish.

After the pre dessert lemon tea which apparently won a "best dessert award", the meal finished with the Chocolate Tejedor Collection Summer 2012 - consisting of chocolates of three kinds. Sounds serious but it was a rather light way of ending a generally balanced meal.

For a fine dining restaurant, service was rather slow. However, they made up for it with free churros to make up for it - at least there was some level of service recovery.

The restaurant also serves a variety of local food like char kway teow and chicken rice. Above average quality but be prepared to pay fine dining prices.

For pictures and more reviews, visit my blog at www.ms-skinnyfat.com





The Capella at Sentosa has got to be one of the prettiest hotels in Singapore. I've previously had tea at The Knolls and even though the food wasn't fantastic, i truly enjoyed the view of the South China Sea as well as the luxurious air to the place. Thus, I was excited to hear about their special offer for May! British2 Michelin Starred Celebrity ChefTom Kerridge of The Hand & Flowers was invited to helm the Knolls' kitchen for 5 days, bringing to the table a modern spin on British pub food. The Hand and Flowers is the first pub to have been awarded 2 Michelin Stars! If you read on, you wouldn't even think that's pub food at all.

I managed to get ourselves a booking for lunch which is a 4 course meal (S$98++). A 5 Course dinner (S$178++ without wine) and a Sunday Champagne Brunch was also available.

S was smart enough to ask for a seat by the windows so that we can get a good view. Coincidentally, it was the same seats that Z and i took the last time! :)

The bread basket which our servers happily refilled. S requested to have more of the cheese filo pastry (i'm not sure what's the proper name for it) and they came back with an entire basket of it! I thought it's more like a biscuit due to the thickness of the base.

Our first dish- Moules Mariniere with Brown Bread. This is done in a soup style while traditionally it's just mussels cooked in white wine and parsley. As you can tell, all the shells has been removed (yay!) and that actually allows the white wine base to be fully soaked up by the fresh mussels. Diced carrots and turnips have been added to this dish and there is a tangy citrus taste which i can't figure out but it works perfectly with the sweetness of the seafood.

The Pan Seared Scallops, White Asparagus Foam and Bleak Roe with Spinach Puree was a delight as well. The scallop is actually sitting on a blended cod puree which gives the dish an additional grainy texture and slightly creamy taste. The taste is very light and subtle and you can see how the chef has brought out the individual flavors without using too much seasoning.

Onto the main course. Breast of Organic British Chicken, Pistachio Crumble, Lovage Poached Turnips, Soft Polenta and Truffle. The organic chicken was a delight, it's so tender and moist. I'm not a fan of the Pistachio Crumble though because the bread crumbs felt kinda stale and hard. The polenta mash was starchy and buttery and i love the strong truffle taste in it. There was also a citrus undertone which i thought was an interesting touch. The little black bits are black truffle shavings and they were oh so delightful of course. The sauce for the chicken is worth a mention here because i think Tom has splashed some Chinese wine in with the chicken stock (i see what you've done there Tom). ;)

The Mango Pavlova Ivoire Chantilly and Passion Fruit Coulis was not really my cup of tea. I don't quite fancy pavlova. Why would i want to eat beaten egg whites that are overly sweet? Anyhow, i thought this was quite the extremes because the pavlova could send one into a diabetic shock (i exaggerate) and the mango and passion fruit were quite acidic. Definitely my least fav dish.