Ocean Restaurant by Cat Cora

Ocean Restaurant by Cat Cora is one of the most special restaurants I’ve been to in recent memory. With the restaurant located inside the S.E.A. Aquarium, we had a truly memorable dining experience! The view of the Open Ocean habitat was spectacular – more than 100,000 marine animals of over 800 species. Magnificent view aside, Ocean Restaurant is definitely far from style over substance as Cat Cora is a renowned celebrity chef and the first female Iron Chef.

Several new additions to the set lunch ($60++ for 4 course), set dinner ($138++ for 4 course) and a la carte menus have been unveiled this month, including our amuse bouche – a pair of fresh oysters, the underwater aphrodisiac!

Oysters on Ice
soy reduction with purple shiso ice

Characterised by light and healthy dishes using the freshest produce from around the region, one of Cat Cora’s signatures is the 42°C sous vide salmon. The “minestrone” is actually a mixture of orange juice, champagne and pomelo, hence it was sour but so refreshing. As for the tartare, imagine soft salmon “sashimi” layered with creamy salmon mousse, wrapped with seaweed, and topped with crispy salmon skin. So many different textures, wonderful!

42°C Sous Vide Salmon
salmon tartare, citrus minestrone, ikura, fennel

Similar to the previous dish, the smoked eel also has a great combination of flavours and textures. I love anything eel and this was an unexpectedly lovely match with the smooth sunchoke (i.e. artichoke) jelly and brittle sunchoke chip.

Smoked Eel
sunchoke jelly, duck liver terrine

Vegetarians can look forward to the wholesome butternut soup which is part of the 4 course vegetarian menu ($98++). I was there during a rainy day so this was another winning dish for me as the thick and hearty-goodness of this soup warmed my system up right away.

Multi-Grain & Butternut Soup
pumpkin seed chantilly, pumpkin seed oil

We were surprised by how generous the portion was for K’s perfectly medium rare premium wagyu ribeye steak. Topped with a big slab of foie gras, this was a tad too heavy for K and such a huge contrast with the lighter dishes we had.

Beef Wagyu Ribeye ‘Rossini’
seared duck foie gras, sauteed wild mushroom, confit potato with truffle

My main course of chilean seabass fared much better (fish is usually no-fail #perksofbeingapescetarian haha)! Also known as toothfish, the chilean seabass is simply paired with lettuce puree and tangy vinegar reduction. Moist, (naturally) buttery, silky… Everything I want in a fish!

Pan Seared Toothfish
grilled marinated lettuce, passion fruit vinegar reduction

Desserts were the weakest link for this meal, I think. We tried three and none of them made a lasting impression – black forest had an overdose of cream (to be fair, I’m not a fan of black forest cake to start with); mont blanc was too sweet; and pandan blancmanger was rather bland (disappointed as the description on paper sounds like something I’d enjoy)…

Black Forest
valrhona chocolate sponge, kirsh, caramel ice cream, cherry compote

Mont Blanc
hazelnut meringue, chestnut puree, vanilla ice cream

Pandan Blancmanger
kudzu, kinako ice cream

If you are planning for a romantic meal at Ocean Restaurant, you MUST request for a table by the window! Unobstructed killer view guaranteed!

Many thanks to Charmaine and Zhi Juan for arranging dinner!

Ocean Restaurant by Cat Cora
8 Sentosa Gateway
S.E.A. Aquarium, Level B1M
6577 6688

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