Rocks Urban Bar & Grill, The Sail, Singapore

My search for high-quality set lunches around our fair little city-state continued with my visit to Rocks Urban Bar & Grill. Started by Emmanuel Stroobant and Roxan Villareal, Rocks has a nice and different location with what will be a good view of the new Sands resort. Currently, we were treated to mounds of brown earth where grass will be in the future.

The set lunch seemed to be a good deal at $38++ and the warm bread that they served us while we surveyed the menu made us feel very optimistic about the quality of food we were about to partake in. Of course, we had champagne to accompany our meal.

For starters, one MUST try the Kingfish Ceviche with fleur de sal, chili, lime and shallot. Tasting this took me back to the best ceviche I ever enjoyed on Isla Espiritu Santo, Mexico, where the ceviche was chilled and fresh while the beach I was on was warm and beautiful. Of course, this was served on a plate while the other one I had was served on a tostada shell out of a cooler box. Their other signature dish is the Sizzling Beef Maki served on a hot rock which the waiter assured us did not come from the wall decoration. I usually hesitate ordering oysters from new restaurants as there is very little margin for error and perhaps insufficient turnover for freshness. However, these coffin bay oysters were lovely. Even the one amongst us who usually avoids oysters, declared them the tastiest that she's ever had.

The mains did not disappoint. I had the Rocks Cheeseburger which was extremely filling and I found myself with leftovers. It did not help that it was accompanied by french fries which actually tasted very good despite my food portion exceeding my stomach space. The Seafood Skewers were grilled to perfection. Fragrant from the grill, even the squid was not rendered chewy. Wonderful. Of course, one must try the Wagyu Tenderloin, it was very well flavoured but not overwhelmingly so. The Cod Papillote Provencale with tapanade was also very nice. The flavours were subtle and blended very well with the fish.

The set lunch is an extremely good deal for the amount and quality of food that you get. The service was impeccable and they hosted our birthday celebration with efficiency and graciousness. They even offered to sing a birthday song, which we opted to do ourselves in the end. I would definitely put this place on my "Friday lunch with Friends" list.

Rocks Urban Bar & Grill
2 Marina Boulevard
The Sail . # 02 – 01/02
SINGAPORE 018987
Phone: 64384404