We made the reservation for Bread Street Kitchen (BSK) over a month in advance because there wasn’t any slots left. We went about 2-3 months into their opening at Marina Bay Sands (MBS). 5 of the 7 dishes we had were outstanding. For a celebrity restaurant, that’s very good actually. Seeing how the food in many celebrity restaurants deteriorate, we were afraid that it’d apply to BSK as well. Thankfully, when we went, the food was still impeccable. I’ve never had food cooked by Gordon Ramsay himself in any of his restaurants over the world (I’ll do that one day) so I can’t tell you how it compares. We missed his timing so when we went, Gordon Ramsay had already left a week ago. But I still have to say, most dishes were outstanding and when it comes to be critical and honest, I still will be.
The scallops, was one of the many dishes that people were talking about so we decided to give it a go. I have had better scallops but this was pretty close to amazing, thanks to the carrot puree, bacon, apple and celery cress. Why you might ask? It was either the lack of freshness of the scallops or that the heat penetrated into the scallops for too long, the scallops itself were sadly underwhelming and a bit too chewy. Thankfully, the sweetness of the carrot puree, the saltiness of the bacon, and the crunchy texture of the apple and celery cress completed the dish as a whole. There were various taste and textures and that was the dish’s saving grace.
I love carpaccio so no matter where I go to, I’ll always order one if they’ve it on the menu. My favourite sea bass carpaccio is in Rome, Italy, in one of those locals-populated restaurant which most tourists do not know of. This sea bass carpaccio, is of course, not comparable to the one I had in Rome. Although the sea bass itself was still alright, sliced a little thicker than I like it(this is just personal preference), I felt that a carpaccio should be refreshing and with minimum garnishing and seasoning (just enough to enhance whatever fish carpaccio is served, but not too much as to overwhelm the natural sweetness of the fish). I get why each ingredient was used in this dish, but I felt that there was too much of a variety of taste going on (don’t get me wrong, everything worked quite well together): ginger helps to take away the fishy smell of the fish, the shavings of horseradish gave it a little bit of a crunch (for textural purposes) and the avocado puree contributed some sweetness to it. Each ingredient on its own or together with something else might have worked wonderfully, but for me, it took away the star of the dish, which in this case, was the sea bass. I barely tasted the sea bass, all I knew I tasted were the garnishes and the texture of the sea bass (not how it tasted, but how it felt in my mouth).
This was a good surprise. I was a little worried in the beginning that it might be a little too aglio olio-based (something I’m not fond of), but it being served as an appetizer was the perfect choice. The portion was perfect, I shared it with my friend so it was better. The crab meat was sweet and tender, which matched well with the spiciness of chilli. This was a delight to eat. Although it was a little on the heavy side as an appetizer, but because the portion was small, it worked.
This surf and turf choice was a mistake on our part. No one recommended this (we didn’t read about it anywhere since we couldn’t find any reviews), but we wanted to have some seafood and meat as our main. The chicken, although tasted good (seasoned well and the sauce was a pretty good match), was a little overcooked. The meat, especially the breast, was tough and dry. The half lobster had so much herbs and oil in it that we couldn’t taste the natural sweetness of the lobster at all, which was very disappointing since that was the reason why we got surf and turf in the first place. Thereafter, we vowed never to order this dish ever again.
This was another highly recommended dish which exceeded our expectations. The crunchiness and mild saltiness of the skin on the pork belly was an amazing contrast with the tender, moist and soft flesh of the pork: it melts in your mouth! The spiced apple puree was another ingenious idea! It packed a punch with its sweetness and spiciness, which further enhanced the taste of the pork belly.
Initially, our server told us this was sold out so we had to order another dessert. As we were lamenting the fact that this was what we were looking forward to, the server came back a few minutes later to tell us, in actuality, they still have some left but we’d have to wait 15 mins or so. Obviously, we gleefully agreed to wait. Even if it took 30 mins or so, we’d have waited patiently since this was yet another recommended dish. This dessert was a little heavy and thick, but lots of chocolate fondants are like that. If dark chocolate was used, it’d have been better so the dish wouldn’t be so sweet (we chucked a few glasses of water each just for this dish). However, I still loved it. The pipping hot chocolate sauce oozing out of the fondant when you break it open, with the chill of the minty ice cream, was a perfect harmony. Although my friend has never been a fan of mint ice cream, he at least liked the chocolate fondant and salted caramel part of the ice cream.
Unfortunately, this dessert is no longer served in BSK. From what we were told when we went the 2nd time, it didn’t garner much response from customers so they stopped making it and took it off the menu. It was saddening because we (more I actually) loved it. The subtle sourness from the blackcurrants, sweetness from the sauces and the texture of the creamy ‘cake’ striked a balance. Now, we’ll never have this dish again, but at least it’s in my memory.
Cuisine: British European Location: The shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, Bay level L1-81 Operating Hours: (Restaurant – Mon-Wed 11.30am-10pm, Thur & Fri 11.30am-12am, Sat 11am-12am, Sun 11am-10pm) (Brunch – Sat & Sun 11am-3pm) (Bar – Sun-Thur 11.30am-1am, Fri 11.30am-2am, Sat 11am-2am) Dress Code: Smart Casual Tel: +65 6688 5665 Web: http://www.marinabaysands.com/restaurants/celebrity-chefs/bread-street-kitchen.html Reservations: Highly recommended
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