Dinner at Prive Restaurant @ Keppel Bay

I visited Prive Restaurant a few years back, so we thought it was due another visit finally. The romantic Prive Grill Restaurant is nestled at a beautiful spot named 2 Keppel Bay Vista, Singapore 098382 and the number to dial is 6776 0777.

The restaurant looked very different.from what I remember a few years back, with enclosed pale wood walls and a more regal ambience. Prive looks very modern chic now, with full glass exterior so that even indoor diners get a share of the spectacular views overlooking the waters and yachts. It is a haven of quiet sophiscation exuding warmth and intimacy.

We debated whether to sit indoors and enjoy the cool-airconditioning, or to indulge in the exquisite alfresco dining here, allowing the breezes to cool our skin instead. The outdoors are tastefully furnished and each table is endorsed by Flos lamps to create a romantic ambience admist views of the sweeping marina and lush greenery.

Upon placing our orders, we were served some Sweet Potato Chips - crispy, sweet and light, these made for rather nice snacks while waiting for our orders to be prepared and served.

Then they served us the Bread Basket - focaccia, raisin roll, sour dough. The focaccia was soft and fluffy, and went well with the light olive oil served together with the sweet potato chips earlier on. No, butter was not served and we did not request for it.

Next, they brought on another complimentary bite-sized appetizer - some tiny tartlet containing scallops or crab meat and filled with a delicious mayo cream sauce. I have called the restaurant to check on its exact contents / name and am awaiting for them to get back to me. This item was delicious though, succulent and the crust was fluffy but solid in its texture.

Our Appetizer came aboard finally - something that was not in the menu, a special for the night - Soft Shell Crab with Wasabi Mayo (SGD$16.00). It was rather crispy, and the crab meat was freshly-sweet. The wasabi-mayo was a tad too sweet though, and there was no hint of wasabi's stinging piquance at all. Also, don't be fooled by the seemingly thick crab as shown in this photo - there was a rather thick layer of flour encrusting this delicacy.

My main course was the Seared Scallop Risoni - which came with smokey, springy scallops of sapid sumptuousness, tomatoes, basil, lobster broth and soft Orzo grains (barley-like texture). The lobster broth added the rich touch of seafood to the dish, and the entire pasta dish was rather good, though I still prefer risotto dishes.

I paired my pasta with a Wild Rocket and Spinach salad - tossed with aged Balsamic and shaved Parmesan flakes. This refreshing plate of veggies had its lush green flavors heightened by the sapid cheese flakes - always a favorite combination of mine.

The Beau's Main Course was the Pan-Roasted Duck Breast - served with Caramelized Endive and Butternut Pumpkin. The duck breast was very rather tender, and rather ambrosial in its taste. There was also a certain chewy-ness to certain parts that appeared somewhat raw / uncooked. We didnt know if it was a deliberate effort, but as ducks could be eaten with medium doneness, we continued eating. The sweet butternut pumpkin chunks were a sweet contrast to the savoury delicacy.

Prive cooks its meat on their special Spanish-imported Josper grill that leaves meat succulent yet not greasy nor dry, so this notion was much appreciated.

After dinner, we shared a Dessert - the Chocolate Fondant - with salted caramel centre and served with a scoop of vanilla bean ice-cream. While the cake was moist and evocative of chocolate's unique taste, we were somewhat disappointed with the "caramel centre" - it was dark in color looking no different from chocolate sauce. In fact, it tasted more like chocolate-caramel cream than salted caramel as there was no hint of saltiness at all. The vanilla bean ice-cream was very lovely though.

Their overall service was not bad, in fact we appreciated the "Happy Birthday" word art, slice of Prive banana-walnut cake and Polaroid shot they did for us, in lieu of just a birthday dessert. Only thing was that it may be rather hard to capture their attention if one dined alfresco. Other than that, the scrumptious meal and magnificent marina views pretty much made up for everything else. We spent a total of SGD$128.00 each on dinner.