The Place Rochester Park never fails to give me the vibe that I am not in Singapore, and that is a simple reason why I like to check out the restaurants here. After visiting Graze @ Rochester Park for Brunch last year, I decided to check out Roast, which is one of the restaurants under the belt of the 1-Rochester Group.

The alfresco dining area at Roast is really inviting the moment I stepped into its compound, and it is a plus that the whole place is almost entirely covered by the trees, which is the reason why it is surprisingly quite cooling even in our humid weather.

Reservations are highly recommended, as the alfresco seats are almost full on the weekend I was there.
The Food Roast communal menu encourages people to gather to have a meal and this is evident from the way the menu is designed. There are dinner sets which revolve around platters, where you can choose from the various mains and sides at $70++/person (minimum 2 to order). I would define the cuisine at Roast as European, mainly French cuisine with a tinge of Italian.

I did not go for the platter set as I wanted to try the à la carte menu instead. As per every French/Italian restaurant, complimentary bread is served to whet our appetite. For starters, we had the Potato skins ($6.50) with sour cream and ocean trout caviar. The sole description of the dish is sufficient to intrigue my imagination for the dish. True enough, I was surprised by the way the potato skin is done as I have not seen this presentation before. The skin is crispy and the sour cream is a perfect sauce to compliment the skin.
Our second starter was the Pan fried foie gras ($22) with poached William pear, toast brioche and sourcherry sauce. I am a self-professed foie gras fanatic and I simply have to try it at Roast. The foie gras was well within my expectations, with its rich and buttery taste. For mains, I had the Grain fed beef tenderloin ($48) served with bone marrow and French fries. I like the way the steak is served on a board instead of the conventional plate. The beef tenderloin is tender and succulent, not to mention that the serving is quite generous as well.
The other mains we tried was the Dry aged Angus rib eye steak ($48), which has similar sides to the beef tenderloin. Comparatively, the rib eye steak has a stronger flavour due to its higher fat content. I personally prefer rib eye to tenderloin as I find it to be tastier. That comes at a fat price of course.
Finally, no meal is complete without desserts. We ordered the Chocolate Souffle with Vanilla ice-cream ($14) and it was so satisfying after our meaty meal. The souffle simply melts in the ice-cream and I am glad the ice-cream is home made instead of ready-made.
Rants The indoor design and ambience could be improved, as it feels overly casual. 

Will I return again? As a Palate Dining card member, I am definitely tempted to visit Roast again, not to mention the above average quality food.

TheRantingPanda says:
Taste bud: 4/5
Hole in the pocket: 4/5
Ambience: 3.5/5
Overall Experience: 4/5

Roast – One Rochester
Rochester Park
Tel: +65 6773 0070