Onion Restaurant and Bar

Once every quarter or so, our watch collecting group gets together for some serious merry making, good food, great fellowship and to gawk at watches. This quarter, we held it at Onion...an eatery just by Bukit Timah...

Nicely appointed, and very pleasant interior...we had the private loft upstairs...two tables of 10. Nice space...

We started with a sparkling wine...from France, no less, but not from the region of Champagne

A little bland, one dimensional. A nice refreshing aperetif, but not champagne...no real nose to speak of, no complexity, no development in the palate.

The starter was a seafood soup

Rather nice. A bit laid back on taste...I can see some of my friends not liking this subtle tasting food...indeed, the rest of the dishes were served in a similarly subtle taste style...some may say its bland, though not me. I liked the way the meal presented itself with fresh ingredients being allowed to shine, and not be overpowered by salt, spices or other accoutrements.

The soup was loaded with seafood...the prawns were plump and fresh, but sadly a bit lacking in characteristic sweetness and crunchiness which usually accompany. The soup was nice.

Some of the group ordered the salmon...I did have a small slice as a sample

Beautifully marinated...again, in the subtle character which allowed the fish to shine. But for me, the salmon was a tad overcooked...I prefer to see a bit of pink within...but the fish was cooked through...a bit flaky, though it tasted very nice. The bed of whipped potato it sat on was wonderfully creamy. Very nice.

I had the Iberico pork

Beautiful piece of meat. Very tender, no porky smell. Nicely done. Though there was some inconsistency amongst the diners. One of my friends sitting across the table from me, cut open the pork, and blood splattered out...it was undercooked.

My piece was nicely done...cooked through, and again, like the fish, I would have preferred to see a slight pink within.

Accompaning the meal was a vin pays...not top notch, but rather pleasant.

Very mellow tannins, especially for a Cabernet Sauvignon. Eminently drinkable.

For desserts, an ice cream cake

I found the pastry on top of the ice cream to be very sweet, as did many of my friends. The ice cream was de rigeur. I had a decaf espresso, which tasted like burnt coal...not good.

Service was excellent throughout the meal. Very attentive.

And to cap the evening, some whisky...Taiwan's single malt whisky...Ka Va Lan...my first taste of this interesting stuff...

Floral notes on the nose. A lite bite from the alcohol, but very smooth and pleasant. Taiwan's single malts are made from Irish malt, but the entire process is done in Taiwan using their own beautiful spring water. The bottle bears no designation of age, unlike their Scottish counterparts. Interesting drink.

Overall, Onion was quite a reasonable place to dine. Nice environment, good service, Reasonably good food.

Onion Restaurant & Bar
#01-01, 791 Bukit Timah Road
67630398
Mon - Thu: 17:30 - 22:30
Fri: 17:30 - 23:00
Sat - Sun: 10:30 - 15:00, 17:30 - 23:00
Sun: 17:30 - 22:30