This could only be blessings showered by God because we went from ‘no plans for New Year’s Eve’ to a bustling night of activities for that memorable night.
I didn’t like the crowd so I would rather stay at home and just rest in my bed while the rest of the world counts down to 2017 than to get bustled around in the countdown crowd and reach home late. But my boyfriend prefers otherwise. And who knows that God would have intervened and came up with great NYE idea to end our 2016 with a bang!
It started with me being a lucky winner of 1-UNA’s facebook contest where I won myself a NYE dinner for two. This is followed by an invitation from my friend, Xue Ying who had tickets to one of Singapore’s biggest countdown at Marina Bay! It is the Rock On concert by IMC Live where we get to watch one of the grammy award-winning singer, ALICIA KEYS!
It just so happened that I’ve always wanted to check out 1-UNA, a Spanish restaurant which is located right behind Rochester Mall. The garden-themed dining setting is very alluring to me especially with the fairy lights that hangs down from the ceiling. One word – romantic!
We were one of the early diners there as we have to rush off for the concert later at The Float. I also prefer an early dinner so that I could take photos while there’s still some daylight streaming in.
There’s our menu for NYE dinner which comes with a complimentary glass of champagne. Ambience-wise is pretty fantastic as for late in the evening, they have invited a band to perform some songs. We were well-entertained. Food-wise, it was not too bad. Some dishes were good but some were slightly above average. But price-wise, I would say that it is pretty affordable for a 4-course meal and we were pretty full by the end of the meal.
We had a basket of warm Spanish bread served with some olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
For aperitives, we had Iberico ham and manchego cheese croquettes. It is a 36-months cured Spanish ham sitting on toasted bread with tomato and olive oil. It was lovely because the toast was crispy and it pairs really well with the creamy Manchego cheese croquettes.
As for starters, we had two dishes to indulge in! Firstly, we had pan-seared foie gras in sweet sherry sauce and caramelized apples. It was Sam’s favorite dish for that evening because he just can’t stop talking about how delicious the foie gras was. It was delicious and very fatty indeed. And if you are a fan of foie gras, you will love the way they present it.
They called this Arroz Negro which is squid ink rice with fresh cuttlefish tagliatelle and aioli. I am a little confused with this starters because I find the seafood taste is too heavy for me when they paired cuttlefish with squid ink rice. It would have been more balanced if they paired it with something else. The rice is also heavily coated with squid ink so the fishy taste is rather strong.
For our mains, I had the Truffle Risotto which is truffle creamy rice with wild mushrooms, green asparagus, and parmesan. But nothing can beat the Truffle Rissotto which I had at Dazzling Cafe. It was made to perfection. But over here, the Truffle risotto didn’t fair as well because the truffle taste is rather mild and I find the risotto a little overcooked so it seems very mushy.
On the other side of the table, we had Cochinillo Asado which is crispy roasted suckling pig served with celeriac puree and fresh citrus salad. The dish was pretty alright too – nothing very stellar about it. But the celeriac puree was interesting as I came discover that it is actually a turnip-rooted celery. It tasted very much like potato actually.
As for the desserts, we have Mousse de Turron which is Spanish Almond nougat mousse with chocolate sponge and raspberry sorbet. The presentation of the dessert was stunning. Although each dollop of goodness is delicious, we aren’t quite sure why these 3 totally different flavors are paired together. The raspberry sorbet has a sourish aftertaste while the chocolate sponge is very creamy and rich in chocolate. Then you have the nougat mousse which is very creamy but had this neutral mild flavor. We were confused as well. It would have been much better if they have cheesecake with chocolate mousse with raspberry sorbet. There’s nothing wrong with being conventional.
When the sky darkens, the whole restaurant looks even more beautiful.
We made a mad rush to The Float at Marina to catch the concert which featured mostly international acts from Taiwan and USA. The most highly anticipated stars were Rainie Yang, Hoobastank and Alicia Keys.
Alicia Keys totally had blasted off the rooftop with her beautiful and soulful R&B songs. She’s one true talented artiste who can belt out her soulful voice while running her fingers on the piano keys.
The evening ended with a bang and the best of all, I get to celebrate New Year’s Eve with my two favorite people on Earth who supported me through thick and thin. I hope you have a blessed year ahead with your loved ones! This is the year of Jubilee and I am excited as something beautiful is about to happen this year.
Thank you for all the support you’ve given me. Whether it is by reading my blog posts, posting comments or emailing your queries, I am truly grateful that I’ve been able to render help or inspire you in one way or another.
