The Place Located in Six Senses Maxwell, Cook & Tras Social Library is the all-day dining concept at the luxury wellness property in town. The hotel opened last year along with Cook & Tras, though the restaurant welcomed a new executive chef and revamped its menu and concept recently. Helmed by Ian Mancais who is also the Executive Chef at Six Senses Singapore, the concept of Cook & Tras Social Library treads along the lines of European and local heritage fare with an extensive cocktail list. The space, as its name suggests, is like stepping into a luxurious library.

The Food As with Yellowpot at Six Senses Duxton, there is a focus on wellness and sustainable ingredients on the menu at Cook & Tras. I started with some healthy greens, like the Vine Tomatoes & Mixed Melon (S$22). This is the kind of dish to start to wake your senses up, or simply put, to whet your appetite. It is a citrusy mix of citrus granite, burrata and lemon balm vinaigrette, which is overall quite sour.

The Lean Green (S$18) is a super food mix of kale, baby spinach and grilled asparagus. Let’s just say I am glad to have this dish to balance the meaty dishes thereafter.

Moving to main, the Baked Barramundi (S$28) uses locally farmed fish, and the fish is really fresh. I like the combination of the fish with yogurt, pickled pineapple achar, shredded ice leek and lemon olive oil, which makes it more flavourful yet not overly creamy as a sauce.

The Steak Chimicchurri (S$55 for Ribeye) is another delicious platter to share. The portion is about 300g of your selected cut, served along with roast garlic purée, house-made chimichurri sauce and asparagus. The medium rare steak is beautifully done, succulent and flavourful.

Alternatively, there is also the Tenderloin (S$65), which is less flavoruful for me as compared to the ribeye.

There are a couple of locally inspired dishes on the menu as well, and the Iberico Pork Sate (S$9) is one to try. Served with achar and turmeric rub, this dish is only available during lunch hours. The sate is extremely tender, and each stick is plump which makes it extremely satisfying to bite into.

Desserts are not to be neglected as well in my opinion. The Camp Fire S’mores (S$20) for one, is quite theatrical for its presentation. Smoked prior to serving, the lid is then lifted to reveal the torched marshmallow wrapped with smoke, vanilla ice cream and nuts. The flavour is unsurprisingly smoky, yet it balances out the sweetness of the S’mores well. I like this.

For chocolate lovers, the Black on Black (S$22) is a must try. Using 72% single origin Araguni, the rich and intense chocolate here is paired with bamboo charcoal cherry, mascarpone, classic Black Forest and edible gold. Visually, while it is all black, the bits of gold makes it striking, and all the more tempting to dig into this. It is not too sweet, and satisfying even for a dark chocolate lover like myself.

Rants Cook & Tras Social Library began as a bar when it first opened last year, do expect some loud music.

Will I Return Again? On the whole, I enjoyed the food at Cook & Tras Social Library. The restaurant is still relatively under the radar for now, as the hotel’s entrance is quite inconspicuous.

This was an invited tasting, though all opinions expressed are our own.

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

Cook & Tras Social Library
2 Cook Street
Six Senses Maxwell
Singapore 078857
Tel: +65 6914 1421

Opening Hours
Monday to Sunday: 10:30am to 10:30pm

Ranted by The Ranter