A Taste of KU DE TA

Again, this is the result of watching Food Network Asia channel too much.

The making of KU DE TA (KDT) was featured in the Food Network channel and that sort of piqued my interest. It became a part of our To Do List while in the Red Dot. Hubby and I took the long weekend holiday as an opportunity to have a dinner date!

KU DE TA is located the Sky Park of the illustrious Marina Bay Sands Hotel. The KU DE TA circuit includes a Fine Dining Restaurant, a Club Lounge (I suppose, for the young, the young once and the feeling young) and the Sky Bar perched just on the Sky Park observation deck where you can enjoy the panoramic view of the Singapore cityscape.

The KU DE TA Restaurant boasts of Asian Fusion dishes set in modern Asian interiors. They also have an outdoor setting if you want to dine al-fresco. The restaurant by nightfall is predominantly candlelit for a relaxing and private dining experience.

We arrived at 7:30 pm and the dining hall is already quite busy by then. The staff were very friendly and attentive. Most of them are fellow kababayans. We decided to try their best seller appetizer which is the Crispy-Sticky Baby Squid, paired with Smoked Eggplant with Marinated Salmon Caviar. The baby squid is an elegant version of the hawker-favorite sans the tons of onions and pepper fill-ins. The KDT's version of baby squid has the same crispiness but with a tinge of what I thought was caramel. The smoked eggplant reminds me of my dad's invention from many years ago, on this time the Salmon caviar sits on top of the veggie for that gourmet effect.

For the mains we went for the Bamboo Roasted Pacific Black Cod with Whipped Red Miso and Berkshire Pork Belly Steamed with Shaoxing Wine. The fish was really divine! I can tell that the cod was steamed, the flesh was so soft but the skin and sides were seared. The red miso did I'd say the pork belly was just ok but not exactly unforgettable. I did fear for our cholesterol level so we decided to skip the lobster. We had a carafe of white Sangria to complete the dinner.

I was very full and satisfied by the end of dinner but I sure have some space for dessert: Green Tea and Pistachio Slice. Its a basic cake topped with green tea flavored cream frosting dotted with pistachio nuts, smothered with jam and caramel slivers.

Overall I'd say it was an enjoyable dinner. We would love to come back to KU DE TA to celebrate. I saw a family with kids and I thought that we could bring the kids next time. Though meant to be a fine dining experience, the ambience is relaxed, chatty and exuberant!