The Place Another new restaurant opened in town just weeks ago, Match at Pan Pacific Hotel beside Marina Square. Match occupies the former hip club Royal Room and is the Prive’s Group latest dining concept, which is a one-stop spot for diners to eat and chill till late. And we meant that food is served till 3am, at least for the bar snacks. An adjacent club will soon open, also managed by Prive, which clubbers can really look forward to for a convenient location to have a late dinner cum pre-drinks then hit straight to the dance floor.

The restaurant is chic and classy, yet feels casual and not overly imposing. I would say the ambience and décor suits the theme of Match.
The Food One big selling concept of Match is literally giving diners the option of customising their mains, by matching your own mains, sauce and side dishes. Other than the main dining menu, we tried from the bar snacks menu as well for a start.

We were first served the complimentary warm home-made Bread with walnut and raisin.

From the Bar Snacks menu, the Soft Pretzel ($6) was served with Grain Mustard, Cheddar & Beef Fondue sauces, which was perfect to go with the pretzel. It was a pretty big serving, which was good for sharing with a group of people for a start.

For sausage lovers, do not miss the Mini Beer & Sausage Corn Dogs ($10) with Dijon Mustard sauce. This was one of our favourite bar snacks. We love the idea of fried sausage coated with flour and this was so addictive and crispy.

What’s bar snacks without more fried food? The Crispy Skins ($8) was made up of three flavours – Chicharrón, Fish and Chicken. It tasted like Keropok in a more atas fashion, except that we found it a little too oily.

The dining menu is broadly designed under the starters, mains and side dishes. I would say there is a very diverse mix of choices in the menu, from the starters such as the Freshly Shucked Oysters (market price) to Crispy Confit Pork Belly ($16) and Brick-Flattened ½ Chicken ($28) to the 48-Hour Braised Beef Short Rib ($34) for the mains.

From the starters, we tried the Crispy Confit Pork Belly ($16) with Cauliflower Custard and Fine Onion Tart. I especially liked the cauliflower custard, which was so fine and creamy that I thought it was mashed potato initially. The pork belly was quite well done as well.

For the health conscious, try the Duck Bresaola ($18) which comes with Warm Baby Spinach, Pecorino, Figs, Spiced Cracker. It might be the difficulty of preparing this dish but we thought it was overpriced for what we considered a salad dish. This was not our favourite dish of the night.

The Ham Hock Croquette ($16) with Garden Pea Purée, Jamón Ibérico and Poached Quail’s Egg was another dish for ham croquette lovers. It was great to see how the chef injects creativity into an otherwise predictable dish such as garnishing the ham croquette with Jamón Ibérico (cured ham).

From the sides menu, we had the Mac & Cheese ($10) which was really filling. It was a little too much carbo overload after so much food so far. We wished that the portion was smaller given the high potato content, though we liked the dish for the fact that it was not too cheesy.

The other sinful sides we had was the Duck Fat Potatoes ($10) which was cooked in duck fat oil. The potatoes was tastier than usual though it was much more greasy as well, which we would definitely recommend sharing the calories with a few folks.

For the mains, we tried the Poached King Salmon ($28) for a healthier option, served with Grilled Fennel Wedge and Basil Fondue. The dish did not surprise us much, given that poached salmon is a rather predictable dish. But to add on, the salmon was fresh and we loved the sauce.

We decided something from the mix and match section and chose the 300-Day Grain-Fed Striploin ($45) from Rangers Valley in Australia. We matched our striploin with the Morel Mushroom & Merlot sauce, accessorised with the Roasted Bone Marrow and the Sautéed Seasonal Mushrooms. Our medium-rare steak was quite tender and at 250g, the serving was just right. The mushrooms were also our favourite match here, well seasoned and tasty. The only disappointment was the bone marrow which was a little bland in taste despite the fatty content.

And you would wonder if we still have space for desserts? We always do. We were first surprised by this huge cloud of complimentary cotton candy which would be served to every table.

We were highly recommended by the friendly staff to try the Match Ultimate Sundae ($21), which would be served in a big bang fashion. Indeed, we were treated to a visual feast of 30 seconds mini fireworks display as our sundae was served to our table. Full marks for the presentation and effort. And this would not be a special effect for someone’s birthday or marriage proposal, it would be served this way for every Match Ultimate Sundae order.

There were three ice-cream flavours, Vanilla bean, Raspberry and Chocolate. The portion was so huge that we would advise to share between 2-4 people, as evident by the big bowl serving. We were also game to try the Warm Pear and Pecan Brioche & Butter Pudding ($12). I love the whole combination of the pudding, pecan and the Salted Caramel and Pecan Ice-cream. So yummy.
Rants While the price at Match is on the higher end, we still found it to be a rather refreshing dining concept, especially with the club opening every soon. The best way is probably to gather as many friends to share the food, and bill of course.

Will I return again? The menu is innovative and I love the concept of matching my own dish. From the candyfloss to the fireworks display of the Match Ultimate Sundae, we admire restaurants which put in every effort to stand out from the rest and we would remember Match for that.

Special thanks to Sarissa and Claudine for the kind invitation.

TheRantingPanda says:
Taste bud: 3.5/5
Hole in the pocket: 3.5/5
Ambience: 3/5
Overall Experience: 3/5

Match
7 Raffles Boulevard, Pan Pacific Singapore, Marina Square
Tel: +65 6337 0800

Opening Hours (Dinner)
Tuesday: 6pm to 1am;
Wednesday & Thursday: 6pm to 3am;
Friday & Saturday: 6pm to 4am;
Closed on Sunday & Monday

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