Ku Dé Ta

Perched on the rooftop of Marina Bay Sands, Ku Dé Ta consists of a restaurant serving modern Asian cuisine and a club lounge with live entertainment. A place to people-watch and be seen, it has both indoor and outdoor seating. My dining companion and I were there for an early dinner on a weekday before catching Phantom of the Opera at MasterCard Theatres – Grand Theatre. Sat at a table in the multi-tiered restaurant and could feel the heat from the alfresco area as the place was not enclosed. All portions are created for sharing, unless otherwise specified, so diners can try more items from the menu. Prices range from $9 for White Miso Soup "Individually Portioned" to $56 for Roasted Black Cod or 150-day Grain-fed Beef Tenderloin. For dinner, minimum spending of $80 per person (we were told the amount was half of the average bill) is required. So we started with Fruit Punch and Hassaku Umeshu, a Japanese plum wine with citrus note similar to grapefruit.

From the raw and rolls menu, we had Yutaka Roll. Raw scallop wrapped around sushi roll with crunchy cucumber, seaweed and a mix of probably foie gras and salmon skin in it. And from the salad and smaller dishes menu, we ordered Black Tiger Prawn Salad. Fresh but a-tad-hard-for-my-liking Black Qwehli prawns were specially sourced from the mouth of Zambezi River in Mozambique as these were bred without pesticides, antibiotics or colouring. Cucumber and daikon shreds, topped with capsicum and shallots, were drenched in passion fruit ponzu so sour I cringed with every bite. The only thing I liked about this dish was the black sesame seeds on top. Pan Seared Hokkaido Scallops from the fish and seafood menu were fresh, succulent and thick but nothing to rave about or fault. Came with garden pea of a mayo-like consistency, topped with fresh ohba and foamy laksa essence that I had to close my eyes and imagine real hard to even vaguely taste the coconut and spice in it.

Both the Roast Kurobuta Pork Belly and Roast Duck Breast were from the poultry and meat menu. Reminiscent of roast pork at our local stalls, the former had crisp skin and tender meat with little fats. Good enough on its own, the taste was accentuated when dipped in the accompanying miso mustard. I did not like the limp and greasy hakusai greens, which looked stir-fried though it tasted smoked, by the side of Roast Duck Breast. Again, the meat was tender with just a thin layer of fats beneath the skin. Though toppings of greens and petals were the same as previous dishes, the seasoning used in this was different – aged balsamic and mirin, a Japanese sweet cooking wine. We had no choice but to pack the leftovers, a result of us over-ordering just to meet the minimum spending. Not a fine-dining place like Sky on 57 at the other end of Sands Skypark, the casual dining place had mediocre service and food was at best decent.

Update: The restaurant has been renamed as Cé La Vi.