Food Review: Manhattan | Regent Singapore weekend cocktail brunch

Posted on September 14, 2014 by theRantingPanda in Food

The Place If champagne brunch is too yesterday for you, then you would be delighted to know about Manhattan’s Weekend Cocktail Brunch at Regent Hotel Singapore. theRantingPanda team was very excited to check it our, especially knowing that it is the first ever adults-only cocktail brunch in town.

Given that Manhattan at Regent Hotel is also a bar, the setting and ambience is really classy chic, especially with the cushy sofas, dim lighting and private rooms.
There are three cosy private rooms, which can be reserved wholly at a minimum spend. Isn’t it dreamy to have a Sunday brunch in such a setting?

The Food New York style food and selection. This is the concept of the Manhattan brunch, which is helmed by US chef Nicholas Trosien. There are four distinct categories in the brunch selection: Breakfast, Food Stations, Hot Plates and Desserts.We were recommended to have the Breakfast items from the menu first, the Silver Dollar Pancake and Bacon & Egg before moving on to the food stations and hot plates.

But what is a cocktail brunch without first trying the signature Bloody Mary from Manhattan? We watched in awe as Manhattan top bartender Ricky display his “Teh Tarik” skills.

There is a room set aside just for a DIY Bloody Mary cart to add any form of condiments to spice up your Bloody Mary.

There was even Bak Kwa and Celery to add to the drink!

Other than Bloody Mary, there are also a range of cocktails to try from the menu such as Ward Eight (Redemption Rye, fresh orange, fresh lemon, house-made grenadine), the Market-Fresh Bellini (Champagne, fresh-pressed seasonal juice) and the house-made The Flowing Bowl punch.

We started with the Silver Dollar Pancakes, topped with caramelised apples and bourbon maple syrup. It was ideal that the serving is petite, given that there was so much food to try. This pancake version tasted like a mix of sweet and savoury, very ideal for a start.

The Bacon & Egg comes with smoky bacon and it was ingenious how the egg was masked in the crispy crust.
We could not wait to have our hands on the Hot Plates next, which was served to us upon request. There was the BBQ Pulled Pork Slider (pork cheek, coleslaw and butter pickles), Smoked Foie Gras and the NY Strip. All orders are unlimited. Shoiks!

I love the NY Strip, succulent, nicely sliced and the peppercorn-crusted garnish.

The Smoked Foie Gras is a must try for foie gras lover. The melt-in-the-mouth foie gras texture, coupled with the foie gras topped with tobacco onion rings had us ordering plate after plate.

We rarely heard of pork slider with pork cheek, so here we are, with the BBQ Pulled Pork Slider. We found the pork to be a little dry but the bun was the redeeming factor of the dish. Still worth a try for the BBQ pork cheek.
We were excited to tour the various food stations, below were some of the highlights captured!
The seafood selection focus was on American seafood, so expect fresh scallops, Boston Lobsters and crabs!
The Oyster Bar was not missed by us, even though we are not oyster lovers. I tried the North Bay Oyster, which was very fresh. There were some funky sauces to go with, such as the Manhatten Bloody Mary sauce if you are feeling adventurous.

There is a dedicated Bagel station for bagel lovers to select and customise their own bagel. I love the fact that the Boston Lobster was replenished quite frequently, given that it was quite a popular choice from the food station. Check out the huge lobster portion!

Clockwise from top left: Seabass, Tuna, Boston Lobster, Scallop
And the most anticipated desserts station! We spotted some really interesting creations, such as the Chocolate Bacon Lollipop below!
Other interesting desserts we tried included the whisky infused crème brulee, caramelised popcorns and oreo cheesecake in the design of an oreo cookie. The milk with cookies had a funky concept, you were supposed to squeeze the milk into the cookie yourself.

Clockwise from top left: Milk with cookies, snickers chocolate, chocolate bacon lollipop, butter cupcake, crème brulee, caramelised popcorns, oreo cheesecake.
Rants Frankly, it is expensive at $150++ (inclusive of free-flow of Manhattan Bar’s craft cocktails, beers and wines) or at $195++ (adding in free-flow of Billecart-Salmon Brut Reserve Champagne) . But question is, is it all worth it? Well, they do serve quality food, you get to enjoy speciality crafted cocktails as well and more importantly, you get to enjoy all these in a splendid environment. Spoil yourself sometimes, and if you do, do spoil yourself in style!