Gullible Travels

Salt Tapas & Bar

POSTED ON Sunday, June 22, 2014 AT 12:08 PM \ leave a comment (0)

** Disclaimer : This posting discusses only the executive lunch set menu for the month of May 2014. It makes no other references to the tapas and drink offerings that the restaurant is famous for. **

we were looking for executive set lunches of good value and came across an interesting proposition from Salt Tapas & Bar. the restaurant is part of the dining establishments of Australian celebrity chef Luke Mangan and is known for its Aussie-styled tapas done with an Asian twist. hence, we jumped at the opportunity to enjoy 1 tapas entree, 1 main course, a side dish and dessert all for $40++

located within the upmarket Raffles City shopping centre, Luke Mangan has brought the global brand of bite-sized offerings from the Salt franchise to this part of the world and blended it to serve the local palette, fusion-style. in his book, it says that the philosophy of his cooking is to source for the freshest ingredients, marry his French experiences with Asian tastes and to accentuate the natural taste of the ingredients. Something that the Singapore team kinda needs a little work on..

we started on the entree, served together with flat roasted garlic bread. each one of them had that fusion element, for example, the salmon sashimi had a dash of ginger shallot dressing together with feta cheese. there was the Taco of tempura prawn which was essentially tempura wrapped into a taco with pineapple salsa. we'd give A+ for creativity and presentation, alas, the cold-cuts weren't the freshest that we could have had.

those who've tried their tapas before had many good things to say about Salt, hence, we were looking forward to the mains with relish. we enjoyed the Sumac spiced veal & pork meatballs, that was served in a hotplate of fontina mash. the more adventurous ones tried the roasted barramundi, this was served with warm potatoes, crab meat, cucumber pickle and a unique vegetable sauce. the fish certainly wasn't today's catch, and somehow, the mix of ingredients couldn't bring out its flavour.

BBQ pork ribs served with mash and pickle can't go wrong, and it was another popular choice on the day. similar to the barramundi, they went easy on the marinate and BBQ sauce for the ribs, in line with the philosophy of "accentuating the natural taste". the texture of the ribs was a little tough, and this certainly isn't Tony Romas.

once again, it was the freshness that was a little let-down. saving grace were certainly the desserts (as well as the earlier entree). the brew of coffee was excellent, aromatic and strong. the ice-cream and sorbet is an acquired taste, some find the sorbet a tad too sour, we thought it was just right. the panna cotta wasn't too bad, till today though, we are still somewhat puzzled at why it doesn't hold and falls apart the moment our spoons went into it.

in all, Salt Tapas & Bar brings a chic fit-out and an excellent ambience for groups to meet and gather. there are enough reviews out there to suggest their Tapas can hold their own against the Spanish big-boys. we had glimpses of that with their entree and their meatballs, and although they slacked off a little in May, we wouldn't mind coming back to try their next fusion creations.

Salt Tapas & Bar
252 North Bridge Road, #01-22A
Raffles City Shopping Centre
Singapore 179103

Opening Hours
Mondays to Thursdays: Tapas 11.30 am to 10 pm; drinks till 11.30 pm
Fridays: Tapas 11.30 am to 11 pm; drinks till 11.30 pm
Saturdays: Tapas 11.30 am to 10.30 pm; drinks till 11.30 pm
Sundays & Public Holidays: Tapas 11.30 am to 9.30 pm; drinks till 11.30 pm

Unpretentious cuisine at affordable prices..