Romantic Dinner - The Cliff @ The Sentosa

Away from the bustle and hustle of the city, the Cliff restaurant is at a quiet corner of Beaufort Hotel at Sentosa.

Beaufort Hotel

The alfresco dining area is at a balcony platform which overlooks South China Sea, supposed to boast a nice sunset view in the evening while romantic illuminations from the ships during the night. It was cloudy that evening and we only managed to catch a glimpse of sunset skies.  As the dining area is besides a lush forest with tall trees, a large portion of the sea view was kind of being blocked.

Scenery from Restaurant

Nonetheless, still liked the casual yet comfortable settings - long wooden tables and benches with back and comfortable cushions, modern rustic settings with ceiling fans ventilating the area. The relaxing settings at the balcony is very different from the formal impression from the posh impressive passage over water at the entrance.

Dining Area

Table Setting

Contemporary European cuisine is served here. Before the meal start, there were some small sized offerings being served. Understand that these are known as amuse-bouche, French term which literally means "mouth amuser". These are complimentary greetings from good restaurant, aimed at exciting dinners' palette and also to showcase chief's creativity. There were some kind of thick creamy soup in the small cups, small toast with paste-like chopped tuna decorated with some rosemary and a jelly.

Amuse-Bouche

Bread is being served as usual. Had always loved bread from western restaurants and always need to constraint myself not to eat too much. There are a variety of bread offered here, however couldn't really appreciate the few we had selected nor the curry powder that is supposed to go with the bread.

Saw lots of fresh oysters in their glass kitchen when we pass by the entrance.  Decided to get their Tasting of Oyster with 5 different preparations.

• Umami - dashi pearl, oba granite and seaweed
• Sour - lapsang souchong vinaigrette and citrus fruits
• Bitter - Sorrel juice and salted sago
• Salt - smoked ham and shrimp floss
• Sweet - Strawberry espuma, coriander and balsamic jelly

Oysters
Rating: 4/5

Each of them was unique in taste.  The bitter and sour preparation were quite nice. Have a bit of reservation for the sweet taste initially, but the strawberry foam combined with coriander actually goes well with the oyster. Had high expectation for the salty preparation but it was quite disappointing as the shrimp floss just seems weird with the oyster.

Main course is Tajima Wagyu Beef @$125. Tajima are black cattle originating from the Hyogo prefecture and was described as one of the highest quality beef in the world.  The chef recommend medium rare for the steak, slightly charred on the outside and very tender and juicy inside. Usually when beef is a bit rare, it can also get slightly chewy. But this medium rare wagyu beef was very moist and tender. For the first time, I enjoyed the fresh meaty taste of the inner beef  more than the strong seared charred taste on the outside.

There were few small pieces of foie gras, soft, creamy texture with rich flavour. But its soft and too small in size that the first few slices just slipped down my throat before I can savour it. The sides were good too, crispy-fired fragrant truffled potato, asparagus, zucchini and carrot.

Tajima Wagyu Beef
Rating: 4.5 / 5

My dining partner ordered a Ibérico Pork @ $62, strip loin, rib roll, apple-sauerkraut purée, potato dumpling and cabbage roll. Black Ibérico pig origin from Iberian Peninsula (Portugal and Spain), usually known as Spanish pig, supposed to be special for its marbled fat like Kobe beef. It wasn't really that amazing but we do like the rib roll. The apple-sauerkraut purée was quite special too. Sauerkraut is pickling process similar to how kimchi are made, the puree is quite refreshing with a tinge of sourness.

Ibérico Pork
Rating: 3.75 / 5

The Cliff Lemon Tart @$20 - textures of lemon, gin and tonic jelly, tonka bean ice cream and yuzu sorbet. The ice cream and yuzu sorbet was nice.  The others was quite new to us - meringue, small tiny gin and tonic jelly with gold pieces - interesting but couldn't really appreciate them especially at such a price.

The Cliff Lemon Tart
Rating: 3.5 / 5

It was very kind of them to offer a complimentary cake for our birthday celebration. We wouldn't have ordered the lemon tart if we had know of the complimentary cake earlier.

There is also complimentary shuttle service from the hotel to HabourFront/Vivo, you can just check the timing at the concierge.

The Cliff at The Sentosa,
A Beaufort Hotel
2 Bukit Manis, Sentosa,
Singapore 099891
Tel: (65) 6371 1425
Opening Hours: 6.30pm – 12.00am (last orders at 10pm)
Reservation Recommended: Yes
Dress Code: Smart Casual