Stellar at 1-Altitude, One Raffles Place

I've been nursing a really bad ear infection the past few days. I think it's gotten better and I hope so as I've gone to the doctor twice the past few days since the pain didn't seem to go away. So to all my 10 readers (or is it 12 now? haha) out there, dispose throw your cotton buds and do not ever use them to dig or poke your ears. Use a towel or tissue paper or those oversized cotton buds - which I have been using the past few years actually. I just ran out recently. I may have scratched my ear, went for a jog (sweaty earphones) and a swim thus all that bacteria could have caused the infection. I know it feels like an orgasm using those cotton buds but look at what happened to me - and this is not the 1st time I've had this. #stubborn

Anyway, looking at the bright side I've had time to catch up on posts since I've been at home these past few days...

In early December, Alfian had his birthday so we decided to splurge just a little bit (hehe) and try out Stellar Restaurant at 1-Altitude in One Raffles Place. Reservation was done around a week via email and the staff who responded was very efficient (who I believe was Filipina). I had the option to pre-order Alf's birthday cake (from their own cake shop "1-Caramel") which made it really convenient. Tip: insist (nicely) on the window seat. You'll see from the photos below that most of the seats are non-window seats. It helps though to book early plus I mentioned it was a friend's birthday and it was our first time.

We got there a wee bit early so we had to wait at City Golf bar on the 61st floor. They describe the bar as an interactive sports lifestyle hub with the indoor golf simulator (picture below). Not bad huh.

We just took the stairs going up to the 62nd floor where Stellar is located. Note that when you make reservations, they have 2 seating slots - 6:30-8:30pm and 9pm to late. We chose the former so that we could enjoy the view while the sun is still out plus get to see the lights of the city skyline after sunset.

No free "ice water" here haha

The menu was simple. We chose to order the stellar experience, where you could design your own 4, 5 or 6 course tasting menu. We chose the 4 course and of course selected 3 of the most expensive items plus a dessert item.

Restaurant Interior

Vanity shots while waiting for the food hehe

I wasn't sure actually if they were going to give free bread as I rarely (or never) eat fine dining so I was glad we got freshly baked bread along with butter and olive oil with balsamic vinegar.

If my memory serves me right, this salmon-ish pate was compliments from the chef. Lucky we. It was great with the bread. To be honest I had no clue how to eat it haha.

First course: Braised Chilean sea bass with marcona almond puree, blood orange and pinot noir sauce. It was light and refreshing. Yum.

Second course: Roasted baby chicken with festive fruit stuffing and lingonberry compote.
Not bad. I have no clue in the world what lingonberry is and I hate the fact it was a baby chicken. Or is "baby" supposed to be a metaphor for small chicken? Minus points.

Third Course: Poached saddle of victorian lamb with Jerusalem artichoke puree, Imam Bayeldi and Egyptian dukka.
This was my favorite. According to google, Imam bayeldi is a turkish eggplant dish while Egyptian dukka is a side dish consisting of a mixture of herbs, nuts (usually hazelnut) and spices. That was a mouthful description for such a tiny dish haha.

We ordered an extra course of Sashimi Moriwase - assorted daily selection of 5 types of sashimi. This was overpriced at $55 but duh, what were we expecting haha.

The city skyline with all the lights was awesome. The rain and the traffic below added to the drama of the view and ultimately made for a beautiful photo haha. Note that all shots were taken using an iPhone5 - not bad eh!

The happy birthday boy :-)

The cake was gigantic. No kidding. We were eating this for a week I think along with my flatmates haha. This was definitely worth the $50 pricetag plus the convenience of pre-ordering it made it really worthwhile. AND, it was the best damn carrot cake I have ever tasted!

Alf was a little embarrassed the staff sang him a birthday song haha. I was also a bit surprised actually as I wasn't expecting a fine dining restaurant to do such service, but who cares right? :-)

Forth Course: Caramel creme brulee with dulce de leche ice cream.
Yum, yum and yum.

Again, these macarons (one for each of us) were compliments from the chef. What a really nice gesture.

The staff also helped us box the cake and even ribbon it. Excellent service all throughout. The filipina waitress who waited our table was friendly and helpful with the menu. To top it all off, we got a 15% discount on our total bill as I paid using my Standard Chartered credit card - luckily I used that out of my other cards haha as I didn't expect (and wash shy to ask) that any cards had discounts.

We paid S$208.60 for everything that you see above (after the discount and including taxes). Seriously, it was worth it. Of course it was wayyyy more than what I would pay for a normal restaurant meal but the experience, plus the quality and quantity of food we ate, and the exceptional service really made it worthwhile.

Stellar at 1-Altitude

1 Raffles Place

#62-01 One Raffles Place

Tel: 64380410

• Emailinfo@1-altitude.com
• Operating Hours
  Mon - Fri: 11:30 - 14:30
  Mon - Fri: 18:30 - 00:00
  Sat, Sun & PH: 18:00 - 00:00
• NeighbourhoodRaffles Place / Boat Quay
• Nearest MRTRaffles Place