My soup is too salty (wanna pick a fight?)

I have been meaning to try Emmanuel Stroobant's new eatery for some months now, but sadly, I did not have a clue where The Sail was (but I can draw you a map to the newest entrant on the restaurant block in Shanghai or San Francisco any day). Fortunately, I was driving around Singapore's downtown marina district with my iPhone's Google Maps turned on, and was able to locate The Sail along Marina Boulevard within minutes.

Reservations were made for 8PM, but from the looks of the place as we entered, I shouldn't have bothered. While Rocks has garnered a reputation among the locals as the place to dine for lunch, dinner seemed like a far cry from the scene of a very packed and noisy eating establishment. Nonetheless, this would mean a pleasant, quiet meal and company for me.

Scanning the menu, it looked like Rocks prided itself on keeping things simple and fresh, which is a refreshing change from the sometimes over-the-top meal preparations that quite a few restaurants are mimicking these days in the hopes of bringing in more customers eager for something new or different.

First up, caesar salad for two. Delicious, a little dry, but well done and super generous serving portions. I decided I had to have the twice cooked Kurobuta pork cutlet for my main, and also ordered sauteed wild mushrooms and french fries on the side. The pork cutlet was extremely tender, with an almost melt-in-your-mouth quality and yet full of flavor. Unfortunately, it was a little too salty. When I sampled the mushrooms, they were also very tasty, and very salty. The fries were the saltiest, and I couldn't finish more than a few pieces. We let the waiters know about the salt problem, but they didn't seem too apologetic. In fact, service did not seem as polished as I what I would have expected from such a popular restaurant.

Despite the saltiness, the food quality was very good. Preparation was another problem, though. Our medium rare steak came out well done and had to be sent back. When they brought out a replacement, it was perfectly done, but for a restaurant calling itself a grill, this should not have happened in the first place. Maybe we went on an off-night and the staff were not at their best, but my overall impression hasn't been all that positive, so maybe I'll hold off for a few months before I come round again for their popular set lunches.


Rocks Urban Grill + Bar is located at:
2 Marina Boulevard, The Sail, # 02 – 01/02, Singapore 018987
Tel: +65-6438-4404