Grissini, Food Capital, Tempo Tasting Session 2020
392 Havelock Road
Level 1 Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel
Opening Hours:
Mon - Sat: 12pm - 2:30pm (Lunch), 6:30pm - 11pm (Dinner)
Sunday: 12:30pm - 3:30pm (Brunch), 6:30pm - 11pm (Dinner)
https://www.millenniumhotels.com/en/singapore/grand-copthorne-waterfront/grissini/
This was an invited media review. I did not pay for the meal during the free hosted tasting session.
Attended with representatives from Yahoo Singapore, Purple Taste, Where To Eat Singapore, and Ms Hannah Chia.
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| High Tea Set (SGD $49++) |
High Tea By The Riverside
(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 8
Ambience & Setting: 8
Food & Beverage: 7
Service: 8
Value for Money: 9
Budget about SGD $68++ (Lunch) / $88++ (Dinner) / $24++ (High Tea) per person.
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Always a pleasure to visit Grissini, Food Capital, Tempo again, having done so many times over the last few years. We returned this time to sample their new High Tea By The Riverside, and were pleased with how good it was.
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| Christmas Tree |
Ambience at Grissini, Food Capital, Tempo is open-concept, yet cozy and inviting, with modern contemporary decor around the place. Food Capital has the largest floor area, cleverly making use of decor, partitions, and the curvature of the building to section off areas, making it seem more intimate. Ample natural lighting and a high ceiling lend a sense of space, while light wooden furnishings with comfortable cushions are contrasted by vibrant blue backed booths. Over at Grissini, the atmosphere takes on a more sophisticated class, warm lighting with dark wooden furnishings on plush carpets, with heavy curtains against the windows. Tempo bar benefits from being in the center of both restaurants, functioning as a sort of divider. There is also al-fresco outdoor seating, though it's not suitable on warm or wet days.
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| Work From Hotel |
Service at Grissini, Food Capital, Tempo is good, befitting of a restaurant. Staff are professional, engaging, and efficient. They offer greetings upon entry, and are quick to seat guests. Staff will brief you on the various sections, and helpfully make recommendations if asked. While they're able to broadly describe what is available, their product knowledge does not have depth. With existing covid-19 hygiene and safe distancing measures in place, servicing has been stepped up, as staff need to accord more attention to each table, and ensure guests perform SafeEntry and get their temperatures taken. They also politely remind diners to keep masks on unless actually eating or drinking.
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| Pouring Bubbly |
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| Pouring Bubbly |
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| Pouring Bubbly |
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| Pouring Bubbly |
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| Glasses At The Ready |
Food at Grissini, Food Capital, Tempo is International cuisine, and includes American, British, Italian, Chinese, Indian, Japanese, with a range of rotisserie / grilled meats, fresh seafood, salads, main courses, stir-frys, desserts, cold cuts, and more. The highlight here would be the josper grilled meats and seafood. Generally, I would say the dishes here are executed to an above average standard, made with fresh ingredients, and are tasty. They've switched to ala-carte buffet, where individual portions of dishes are served to your table. Prices are comparable to other hotel buffets, and is good value for money because of the quality, budget about SGD $68++ per person for lunch, or SGD $88++ per person for dinner here.
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| High Tea By The Riverside Menu |
This December 2020, the new High Tea By The Riverside arrives as one of the most affordable high teas in Singapore. Indulge in gourmet bites and dainty desserts by the scenic Singapore River with their High Tea Set (SGD $49++), with each set sized for 2 persons. Compared to other high teas elsewhere, they offer a greater range of savoury treats, with less sweet dessert options. The pricing is also among the most value for money around.
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| High Tea Set (SGD $49++) |
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| High Tea Set |
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| High Tea Set |
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| High Tea Set |
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| Plate Of Treats |
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| Plate Of Treats |
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| Tower Of Treats |
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| Tower Of Treats |
A straightforward Earl Grey Tea, with medium strength of body and decent earthy bitter floral flavour.
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| Earl Grey Tea |
A nostalgic pressed toast. The Pressed Toast With Tuna Mayonnaise, Onion, Cucumber has crisp edges, and is filled with crunchy white onions, juicy cucumbers, and creamy tuna mayonnaise. With a bready vegetal savoury sweet salty buttery flavour, this was familiar and old-school in taste.
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| Pressed Toast With Tuna Mayonnaise, Onion, Cucumber |
With the Mini Croissant With Egg Mayonnaise & Mentaiko, the mentaiko was somewhat lost, as I tasted primarily the eggy sweet notes of the creamy egg mayonnaise, the vegetal sweet flavour of the crisp lettuce, and the buttery bready sweet flavour of the crisp croissant instead.
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| Mini Croissant With Egg Mayonnaise & Mentaiko |
The Spicy Salami, Arugula, Cherry Tomato On Focaccia was rather forgettable.
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| Spicy Salami, Arugula, Cherry Tomato On Focaccia |
The Prosciutto Di Parma With Rock Melon On Baguette has a crisp but dry baguette bread slice with bready sweet flavour, over which is placed a juicy fruity sweet rock melon slice, wrapped in a thin chewy piece of prosciutto di parma / parma ham which holds bold salty savoury flavour. Among the better treats here.
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| Prosciutto Di Parma With Rock Melon On Baguette |
I skipped the Mini Chicken Pie, because I was too full.
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| Mini Chicken Pie |
The Spinach Quiche was good, with a buttery crumbly pastry tart crust, holding a soft wobbly spinach and egg quiche filling, which has deep vegetal savoury salty eggy sweet flavour.
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| Spinach Quiche |
Also enjoyed the Deep-Fried Calamari, with its crisp light batter and bouncy calamari squid rings, having sweet savoury salty flavour. Great with tomato ketchup or tartar sauce.
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| Deep-Fried Calamari |
The Raisin Scone was dry and crumbly, but has decent bready fruity sweet flavour. Works better with some marmalade or jam.
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| Raisin Scone |
Skipped the Vanilla Panna Cotta With Berries Compote because I was too full.
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| Vanilla Panna Cotta With Berries Compote |
The Vanilla Cream Rolls was our favourite sweet treat here. The soft spongy buttery sponge cake rolls contain a swirl of light cream infused with vanilla, giving this a beautiful floral sweet milky flavour. Yum.
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| Vanilla Cream Rolls |
The Chocolate Tart has a buttery crumbly pastry tart crust, filled with creamy smooth milk chocolate ganache, and garnished with a chocolate leaf. Has mild chocolatey milky sweet flavour, quite nice.
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| Chocolate Tart |
Always great to return to visit Grissini, Food Capital, Tempo again. Love the new High Tea By The Riverside, and it seems it's popular with folks as well, as there was a small crowd at the time of our visit. Do make advance reservations at https://www.millenniumhotels.com/en/offers/asia/grand-copthorne-waterfront/dining/tempo/high-tea-by-the-riverside/.
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CONVERSATION