at the cliff.

The Cliff
The Sentosa Resort & Spa
2 Bukit Manis Road
Sentosa
Tel: 6275 0331
Website: http://www.beaufort.com.sg/res_cliff.html

















I'm glad I finally got some rest I deserved last weekend. CNY celebrations have been hectic and work has been terrible. To get away from the hustle and bustle, D & I made a little trip to Sentosa and found a new gem at The Cliff.

Located at The Sentosa Resort & Spa, the al fresco restaurant's surroundings is serene, natural and beautiful. Perched literally on a cliff, diners can get a lovely view of the South China Sea if you're seated at the right table. D & I had specifically reserved a table with the sea view and thoroughly loved it although it would have been better if there were no tanker ships in the sea and if it wasn't raining just a while before we arrived. If it had not rained, we could have witnessed the sun setting. That would have been perfect.

Not only was the ambience right, The Cliff's service was spot on. The lady who served us for the evening was very warm and articulate. She spoke very clearly and was on hand to answer any questions we had. When we asked for recommendations, we would tell us what was popular and end by telling us what her personal favourites were. The rest of the service staff were also very quick and organised so I was very impressed since good service like this rarely comes by these days. So for that, they deserve 5 and a half stars.

Dinner was excellent. After we made our order and was served our bread, we were presented with an amuse bouche; Cream of Tomato with Saffron, compliments from the chef. I thought it was a delicious start although D thought it was nothing to shout about. I liked the tinge of sourness from the tomatoes although I would have preferred it better if it was served a tad warmer.














Our first course was the one that got D raving til today. We ordered 2 types of fresh oysters to try; the Prat-Ar-Coum from France and the Kumamoto from USA. The Prat-Ar-Coum was a bit saltier and had sort of a briny finish. The Kumamoto, on the other hand, was sweet and creamy. D preferred the French oyster because he felt that it tasted like the sea and he enjoyed the slight metallic taste at the end. However, I preferred the Kumamoto because it was sweeter. Whichever we preferred, both were excellent and fresh.










Our second course was an appetiser of Caramelized Hokkaido Scallops. This was accompanied by a morel mushroom custard which D couldn't get enough of. It was yummy but I couldn't get my attention off the scallops. Again, the scallops were fresh, slightly undercooked on the inside but nicely caramelized on the outside. Too bad I had to share it with D cos I would have cleaned the plate easily on my own.














This was my favourite course of the evening; Char-grilled Yellow Fin Tuna. The medium-rare tuna which I had requested for turned out excellent. I loved that it was just nicely grilled on the outside but fleshy red in the middle.










D loved his choice of the "3" Clam Risotto as well. He's always been a big fan of shellfish, especially clams so this pretty much caught his attention when he opened the menu. The risotto was al-dente and had a lot of bite which I think was what D loved so much about it. Plus the delicious clams of course.















D and I would usually order different courses so that we can get to try different things but we both refused to budge on our choices and ended up having the same dessert; Sticky Date Pudding Soufle. I have a huge penchant for sticky date puddings from uni days in Perth so usually if I see sticky date puddings on the menus like at Marmalade Pantry, I wouldn't give it a miss. Before you get confused, a pudding soufle is merely a pudding within a soufle. It was a pretty nice ending but I think we were too ambitious in order 2 servings cos the dessert didn't just come on its own but accompanied with a scoop of sorbet to cleanse the palate, some dates soaked in liquor and a fried apple fritter which reminded D of hum chin peng.









The experience we had at The Cliff is something that D and I will remember for some time to come. We'd probably save our 2nd visit for a special occasion. All in all, the location's a little out of the way but if you're looking for some place nice and special, this is it.