sopra cucina, tanglin

hidden away by the pan pacific at cuscaden road, this nook of a restaurant serves up decent food. it has an authentic steakhouse feel, in that it is dark enough for dates, and full of wood and metal.

when we visited, there was a pretty large group that had booked out the alcove area for an event – and the atmosphere was both vibrant and convivial, which made this place a pleasure to visit. one can only hope that you experience the same.

although: the walk in from orchard road brings you past the more unsavory part of the shopping stretch, where you can either leer like some of the older men there, or stand and gawk like a prudish miss (I mean, you could just walk by, but let’s not lie).

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a basket of crusty bread takes some time to arrive, but it’s warm and accompanied by butter – so that’s not too bad. I suppose it’s good for my hips that much of the baguettes served in restaurants here are so mild in flavor as to be rather tasteless – but I still yearn for the kind of bread you’d get in france.

I was very taken with the our appetizer though, which had slices of cooked octopus tossed with olives, toasted pine nuts, fennel and halved tomatoes. I HATE OLIVES am not a big fan of olives, but it added to the bright, citrusy vinaigrette, and I loved the perky, fragrant slices of fennel (which are not at all common in Singapore).

the octopus salad is also likely more crowd-pleasing than our salad of rucola, pecorino, pear and walnuts, with the bitterness of the leaves best tempered through eating with your main courses. but I liked this –

I was less impressed by the mains, which were quite ordinary. first, a lobster pasta came with a small-ish crustacean atop al dente noodles, in a sauce that could do with a lot more shellfish flavour.

our second main was better, a well-seared steak with a pink inside, served rustic on a wooden block. flavorful and well-seasoned beef, but the accompanying grilled zucchini in its cute little pot was just a little too oily.

I’m not sure if all the appetisers are more interesting than all the mains, but the at-least-decent standard here warrants a visit regardless (even if you’re just here for the octopus and a glass of wine).

Sopra Cucina & Bar
10 Claymore Road #01-02
Singapore 229540
tel +65 6737 3253
$$$: 50-60 per person