Shutters

Our experience at Shutter was a pleasant one, with pleasant surprises and with privacy.

It was a Sunday evening and Shutters was the only restaurant with the ambience we wanted so off we went there having heard of the "unique" open kitchen and the excellent service some others have received. We walked into the restaurant about 4pm...albeit too early for dinner and even though the place was not quite yet ready for dinner, the waitress approached us and handed us the menu explaining to us some of the specialties they have there. We were specifically looking for beef and they had one there on the menu.

We returned about 8pm that evening and had the luxury of choosing a place to sit. It was a 50-60 pax restaurant but it was empty (except for the 5-6 staffs). Perhaps it was a Sunday and being in Sentosa, that might account for the "lack" of diners. But we were not complaining as we had the whole restaurant and 6 staff all to ourselves....that accounts for the privacy. We could literally hear our cultery and only ours. :)

We ordered the Beef Tenderloin with Foie Gras and the the only Grilled Chicken dish on the menu. The waiter explained that there was a set menu available for the weekend at S$45 . The 2 options available were the Grilled Chicken and the Cod fish. We opted for one set as I really wanted the Beef Tenderloin with Foie Gras.

The set comes with Soup, Mains, Dessert and Tea/Coffee.

First to be served was an assortment of bread served and tastefully presented. The bread was still warm and crispy and together with the olive butter, was a great start to the meal. Too bad there was only 3 pieces of it. But it was sufficient for starters.

While we were enjoying the bread, the soup was served. We were surprised when they served us 2 bowls of soup. We mentioned that we only ordered one set, so how comes they were serving us two? The waiter replied that he requested the chef to split the one bowl of soup into 2 bowls for us so that it would be easier for us to share it. How thoughtful of him, knowing that we could not order 2 sets as there was no Beef in the set and we really wanted the beef....! This was the pleasant surprise and set the right tone for the mains to arrive.

The mushroom soup was just awesome. It was thick, creamy and chunks of mushroom minutely sliced could be seen and tasted without much effort to see if they exist. Really rich in texture, flavour and yet not monotonous.

The Beef tenderloin with Foie Gras was delectable tender and seasoned proportionately well. Slicing the beef was effortless and savoring the taste of it was priceless. The Foie Gras literally melts in the mouth and was perfectly done.

Savoring the Grilled Chicken,we could tell that the marinating was not done haphazardly. There was an overall consistency in the taste, flavour and the ozzing out of the juices while cutting the chicken just added to this culinary experience.

The only setback was that the portion was too small. Wish there was more....but maybe that is asking for too much.

Next came the dessert, which was a Chempedak Pudding. This was also nicely executed, not too sweet, yet smelling and tasting of fresh chempedak. It was supposed to be a sweet dessert, yet, we never got tired of it.

Over the course of the 1.5 hours we spent in the restaurant, we had the luxury of 6 staffs serving us...taking about privacy and exclusiveness. The mood was right, the food was excellent and the service impeccable...what more could we ask for...a free meal? haha. No this meal set us back by $96 for 2 persons. Reasonable by any standards and recommended for any who appreciates a quiet and reflective dinner with all the above.