Had a task to look for a nice yet inexpensive place to celebrate a friend’s birthday. Luck must be on my side as I was recommended to this very nice place which was having a great set lunch promotion. Getting to Il Lido may be a little problem as there is only one bus (yellow line) in Sentosa that goes to the golf club. My suggestion would be to take a cab or better still, drive in. Parking is free and there are ample lots when we went on a weekday though I cannot say the same for the weekend when more golfers go there for golf.
Stepping into Sentosa on a weekday simply transports you into a different world, away from the bustling city life. The place seems to have its own heartbeat. Birds chirping, peacocks and parrots roaming freely around and plenty flowers in all varieties sprouting everywhere. Beautiful and relax. :)
We took a little while to find the restaurant and actually walked in via the back entrance! Hahaha..The place was quite empty, with only a few tables occupied. The service staff were attentive and yet not intrusive. The owners of the place even provided stools for ladies to place their bags on instead on the floor. A very sweet gesture! :)
After running through the menu, we ordered the set lunch. It consists of an appetizer or soup, choice of daily pasta, fish or meat main course, daily dessert and coffee or Tea. As there were 2 of us, we settled for different items to share.
We were served a big basket of thinly sliced garlic biscuits while our food was being prepared. The portion is very generous considering that we did not have to wait too long for our food.
For antipasto, we had one soup and one appetizer. The soup of the day was Pumpkin soup and appetizer for the day was Pan Seared Scallops.
The pumpkin soup was rich and savoury and very smooth. There seems to be some fish or chicken stock added to it but you can still taste the sweetness of the pumpkin.
The pan seared scallops were served on a bed of mashed and whole chick peas and topped with rocket salad. The scallops were lightly pan seared, keeping the inside still little raw. You can taste the freshness of the scallops and eating it together with chick peas and rocket salad, you get an explosion of textures and flavours in your mouth. Nice.
Next up was our main course. As both of us were not too hungry, we settled for a fish and Pasta.
When the pasta was served, I was chuckling inside. The portion is really fine dining portion and I was a little thankful that we were not too hungry. However, the dish proved me wrong as the pasta did fill me up. The pasta was baked till it was lightly crispy on the outside but still soft on the inside and when you put it into your mouth, it seems to melt away.
We were trying to figure out what the filling inside was. After much debate, we decide to check with the waiter and he told us that it was actually minced mushroom and cheese. How very wrong the two of us were. LOL.
The other main course was the fish – Sea Bass. The Sea Bass was placed on top of blanched spinach and sprinkled with some crispy stuff that we could not really make out, together with a stalk of rosemary. I guess it could be made up of some olives, sea salt and crushed ikan bilis??
There was some tomato puree alongside the plate which makes the presentation interesting and gave an additional flavour to the fish. I get an additional “prawn” on my plate made out of the puree. :) If only the fish was cod fish instead of sea bass, it would have been so much smoother and nicer.
As it was meant to be a birthday lunch celebration, I tried to arrange for a cake but was told that my request was a little last minute and they will have to check with the chef if it was possible to make one. If not, they will probably put a candle on my dessert. I was hoping that the cake would be made but when dessert was served, it did not materialise. The candle came on top of a strawberry together with the desserts instead.
There were 2 parts to the dessert. Cream Brulee and Cheese with some berries sauce.
The cheese was served in a shot glass drizzled with some berries sauce and a stick of chocolate. I like the combination of the cream cheese and tartness of the berry sauce. They balanced each other out and makes you dip in for more. It was finished unknowingly.. hahaha
The dollop of cream brulee looks so cute with a leave inserted. The sugar on top was nicely caramelised and added the crunch to the otherwise soft, milky and smooth dessert. This is the best cream brulee I have eaten. How I wish they had given us a bigger portion!
Time passes quickly when you have good company. A bonus was the good food and nice view of the place. From where we sat, we got a really nice view of both the interior and exterior of the restaurant.
Overall, this is a good place for special occasions and business over lunch as the seats are nicely spaced to give you the privacy you need.
IL Lido @Sentosa Golf Club
http://www.il-lido.com/
Tel: (65) 6866-1977
Opening Hours: Lunch: 11.30am - 3pm
Dinner: 6.30pm - 11pm
BAR Time: 11am – 12am (Sun - Thu) / 11am – 1am (Fri/Sat and Eves of Public Holidays)
Reservations required. Dress code: smart casual.
