Tong Le Private Dining

Having dinner at Tong Le private table had opened my view of up scale Chinese food. Dinner was served like in an up scale French restaurant but well, not as perfect but at least they’ve tried. Food was served like a fusion Chinese food individually and in small portion. Not really gastronomic but looks like one. At $ 80 a head on a Heavenly Dinner set menu, it was a bargain if compared to other up scale restaurant. Services could be better, the knowledge of the waiters could be upgraded. Ambience was good, it was located at a revolving top OUE building. As part of Tung Lok group of restaurants, they also offers their famous moon cakes.

It is a 3.5 stars review. Since Nik gave it a 3, I shall average it to a 3.5.
Good:
— revolving restaurant that provides a really good view of the entire Marina Bay and CBD.
— private dining set menu which takes the stress off ordering and you know what you are in for.
Hit and miss menu items. Some dishes are really interesting with a modern take. Some dishes just don’t quite work.
Lunch menu ranges from $ 80 per pax to $ 250. You can see the menu on their website.
Parking is confusing as there isn’t actually a carpark at OUE tower. Park at OUE building and walk to the tower. It is right by One Fulllerton hotel and Customs House.

for some obscure reason, i kept thinking i was going to be treated to ME@OUE.
but hey, if i’m not paying i’m not dictating.
this building is a piece of history.
i am glad they preserved this landmark revolving tower at clifford pier.
they used to house the red lantern restaurant which i did not have the chance of patronizing back then as i was too young!
the best place for you to park is at OUE bayfront.
the entrance is at the base of the tower facing OUE centre.
once inside, the lovely ladies will show you up their fancy elevators to the dining room.
a great view of the bayfront area awaits you.
you wouldn’t even feel the rotation if you don’t look out or down.
but the changing panoramic view is a good tell?:)
one complete revolution takes about 2 hours.
service is patchy at best.
sometimes they are there when you don’t need them but not there when you do.
and for some reason they were all pushing their mooncakes?!
right after we sat down in fact.
then again after we placed our set menu orders.
and i hate it when my piping hot towel, which is a good thing, has an old stale smell to it.
so the set menu that was chosen is $ 180++ per person.
they recommend both partaking in the same set for better pacing of the meal.
normally, this set includes an appetizer and a sashimi plate by shinji.
yes, shinji has an outpost here!
but alas due to tsukiji market being closed 14,15,16 and 18aug shinji was closed too!:(
so our substitute dish was stir fried cave bird’s nest with egg white.
and that is how we began.
a delicate start executed well with well balanced taste.
next up was my favourite dish of the set.
Braised Superlative Shark’s Fin with Crab Roe and Crab Meat.
superlative was an interesting word to describe the fin but apt it was.
a superior broth lends credible taste to the blandest of produce.
as we all know, the fin by itself is superlatively bland.
so the natural umami enhancers came in the form of the broth, crab roe and meat.
next up is your token vegetables dish.
actually, it’s a fish dish, to replace the regular sashimi course, that has veggies in it.
a wild ocean fish stir fried with vegetables to be not so precise.
i’ll vote sashimi from shinji any day but this will do for now and it was simple but delicious.
by now the view is bordering on boring, or botheringly boring.
we have OUE bayfront, busy roads and clifford centre!
another failure of the staff is the pacing of the dishes.
since we ordered the same set menu there should be no excuse, right?
wrong!
unfortunately, men are made unequal and so the speed at which we consume food differs.
i eat super fast but my companion takes forever!
they should have paced the meal according to her and not me.
at one stage, the next dish came out for me before she finished her last???
of course i get the blame for eating too fast!
anyways, the Braised Kagoshima Wagyu Ribs with Trio Sauce was next.
doesn’t look but is very tender indeed.
just do away with the trio sauce.
if you must, the truffle sauce is the most complementing.
Poached Canadian Geo Duck Clam with Rice Vermicelli in Seafood Broth.
we both like geo duck clam but this dish was flat.
fresh but felt like eating instant noodles with pieces of geo duck clam added.
dessert for this set was supposed to be a lava cake, which both of us did not want.
to their credit they allowed us to switch to another and we chose the Double-​boiled Hashima, Gingko Nut, Lotus, Red Dates, Dried Logan and Lily Bulbs served in Young Coconut.
this was from the cheaper set menu.
so cheekily my companion asked if we could choose the one from the more expensive set?
yes, we can but at a supplement!
nonetheless, i loved the combination of ingredients and the young coconut was scrapingly soft.
unlike mine, my companion’s young coconut was too old!
i.e. she could not scrape anything from it.
she asked for it to be changed and after discussion with the kitchen they offered to dish the contents in a bowl and serve the cut up coconut on a plate for her.
at the end, they once again asked if we wanted to buy their mooncakes?!
their desperation!
our exasperation!
if they did offer us some free sampling then perhaps one might be more inclined to buy?
maybe, just maybe better to wait for the mooncake festival to be over before coming here again?