SIN: The Halia
Gingery dishes galore with beautiful edible ginger garden for dessert!
Happy new year, everyone! Have you started thinking about any goals to achieve this year? Anyway, today's review is on a restaurant located within the Singapore Botanic Gardens. Not surprisingly, The Halia (lit. ginger) is nested in the one-hectar Ginger Garden, serving a repertoire of food and beverages containing the said spice and its family.
Happy new year, everyone! Have you started thinking about any goals to achieve this year? Anyway, today's review is on a restaurant located within the Singapore Botanic Gardens. Not surprisingly, The Halia (lit. ginger) is nested in the one-hectar Ginger Garden, serving a repertoire of food and beverages containing the said spice and its family.
Wagyu Beef Carpaccio S$18.00
Taste: 9/10
To start the meal, my uncle and I had the delicious thinly sliced raw beef with pickled ginger, radish slices and greens. The tangy soy ketchup bound everything nicely. The menu says the inclusion of wasabi (Japanese horseradish) in this particular appetiser, but honestly I could barely taste it.
Paperbag Oven-Baked Halibut Fillet S$40.00
Taste: 7.5/10
The halibut was fleshy, even though it could be juicier for sure, swimming in a broth of mirin (a kind of Japanese sweet rice wine) and ginger. Included inside the paperbag were broccoli and mushrooms. While the truffle mayonnaise went pretty well with the fish, the Japanese rice was disappointingly non-sticky.
Spice Islands Marinated Lamb Loin S$44.00
Taste: 7/10
With quite a strong infusion of spices commonly used in Indian cooking, the lamb loin was tender enough, but it still had a bit of the gamey smell. Wild rice was mixed with green peas, curry and coconut milk. I couldn't really taste the pickled ginger though, as the overall flavour of the curry was pretty strong.
The Ginger Garden S$12.00
Taste: 8/10
A beautiful dish inspired by the nature, The Ginger Garden was fun to consume, comprising interesting items like ginger flower sorbet, freeze-dried banana, vanilla-infused banana and young root ginger crumble. Overall, it was mildly sweet with quite a nice fragrant from the banana and ginger.
Ginger Jive S$12.00
Taste: 8/10
I guess I'm more into mocktails than cocktails recently. The ice-blended fruit punch, honey and ginger was pleasant to the mouth and throat. It had quite a smooth texture that gave a nice fruity sensation on the tongue.
Melon's Rating
Taste: 8/10
Ambience: 8.5/10
Service: 8/10
Overall: 8/10
I was surrounded by mostly Westerners. There were hardly any Asians dining there. Pika's advice: If you don't like ginger, there are items that do not include ginger and its family for you to enjoy.
The Halia
1 Cluny Road
Ginger Garden, Singapore Botanic Gardens
Singapore
(Mon-Fri: 12 noon - 9.30pm; Sat-Sun: 10.00am - 9.30pm)
*Prices quoted are subject to 10% service charge and 7% GST.
Have a nice meal,
Cliff(y)
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