NOW that the term 'spa food' has a vaguely negative connotation attached to it, conjuring up (unfairly, perhaps) images of impossibly lean, yoga-obsessed diners nibbling on buckets of raw vegetables, any restaurant that caters to the health-conscious crowd - especially one that is located next to the top-end Spa Botanica - is faced with the delicate question of how to define itself.
The culinary experience at The Garden, a month-old establishment in a restored colonial building a short distance from the main hotel, is referred to as 'conscious dining'. Apparently, this means being aware that you are eating wholesome contemporary cuisine that has a strong emphasis on nutrition and your overall well-being. The concept was created by Michael Leibl, executive chef at The Sentosa Resort & Spa, together with chefs from the hotel's fine-dining flagship The Cliff.
Putting aside concerns of how to best define its style of food, The Garden is a casually seductive concept restaurant that just happens to feature ingredients with organic or bio-dynamic origins. Yes, the menu items focus on fresh, healthy produce, but there's certainly nothing wrong with composing your own salad from a choice of 40 different ingredients.
'The concept of spa food was boring,' says chef Leibl. 'We just wanted to do a primarily positive dining experience and we want people to be conscious of the ingredients, the effect the food has on you and how it may be good for your health. The most important part is that it has to be tasty and be a good dining experience.'
There is certainly nothing wrong with having a food philosophy of using good quality ingredients, combining it with the idea of personal well-being and doing so in a bright and pleasant environment. The Garden does so with purpose, precision, and not a little style. This is not the place to go to if you want a greasy plate of noodles, but whether you call it 'spa cuisine' or any other name, there is a certain appeal to what The Garden offers.
A recent tasting yielded some interesting and generally happy results. A daikon roll - watermelon, snapper sashimi and shredded cucumber wrapped in organic daikon and dipped in a ponzu sauce ($22) was refreshingly tasty. A Salad - leaves tossed with mung beans, shiitake mushrooms, snow peas and red date slices, with an orange vinaigrette dressing - was notable for the dressing that arrived in a test tube before being served and the lemongrass mist that was sprayed on. It was a little gimmicky, perhaps, but also had an element of fun ($18).
This was followed by a modern chicken noodle soup ($16), featuring organic buckwheat crepe 'noodles', baby garden vegetables and a cube of corn custard. A dish of seared scallops on a bed of wheat tabbouleh ($26) was nicely presented, as was the grilled portobello mushrooms on a bed of warm organic wild rice ($28).
A chicken rice dish ($32) comprised a piece of breast meat, marinated in a ginger-soya sauce and served with a lontong-like rice cake. Finally, a dish of red snapper on a carrot puree, baked in a see-through wrapper and served with a coconut foam ($36). Day or night, diners can sit poolside or eat indoors - either way, this classy twist to healthy dining seems somehow appropriate on Sentosa.
The Garden Sentosa Resort & Spa
2 Bukit Manis Road.
Tel: 6275-0331
www.thesentosa.com
