Iggy’s
581 Orchard Road, The Hilton Hotel, Singapore 238883
+65 67322234
Operating hours: Mon- Fri 12:00 - 14:00
19:00 - 22:00
Sat-Sun 19:00 - 22:00
- - Since 2009, it has been awarded the World’s 50
Best Restaurants in Asia by several publications and ranked 26 in the S.
Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurant list, 2012.
- - In 2013, Iggy’s ranked 4th in Miele
Guide
Two options were available for dinner-
Dinner menu – 8 courses ($195++) - Gastronomic Menu – 10 courses ($275++)
Two
options were available for dinner-
Dinner
menu – 8 courses ($195++) - Gastronomic Menu – 10 courses ($275++)
Snacks (Snow crab, banana, Somen, Caviar, Iggy’s Sushi & Edible
stone)
Kinmedai (Star fruit, Basil)
Chlorophyll (Sea and Soil)
Egg (Mushroom, Alba Black truffle)
Foie gras (Iwate rice, Yuzu, Sherry)
Waguy (Nanohana, Nasu)
Vacherin Mont D’or (Yam, Lamb’s lettuce)
Forest Berries (Campari, Blood orange, mascarpone)
Araguani Chocolate (Banana, Espresso, Hazelnut)
Honoki Chocolate Box (Selection of bhome-made chocolates and macaroons)
*offering the best seasonal ingredients- pricey but worthwhile to try.
Jack: Iggy’s is a powerhouse of a restaurant – voted top restaurant by the Miele’s guide four years running – but this year in 2013 it dropped to fourth. Both of us had high expectations.. Jill’s been here for both lunch and dinner. For me it was my first time. Getting there was easy – directly inside the Hilton hotel on a main road of Orchard. Making the reservation was straightforward although we ate on a Monday night, I would have imagined getting a prime time dinner reservation for the weekend difficult. Given the high prices and scarcity and rarity of seats, they expect you to make a reservation using your credit card. A nice little sms reminder was sent on Monday too – although I wouldn’t forget it…I sent a sms letting them know we’d arrive 30minutes later and they promptly responded letting us know it was fine – I actually arrived 45 minutes later…let’s see if Iggy’s really lives up to it’s Gastronomic experience.
Jill: It has been a while to visit Iggy’s for dinner, even though I’ve been there a couple of times for lunch meetings with clients. Iggy’s has always been one of my favorite places in Singapore when I think of fine dining. It was originally located at Regent Hotel in Orchard, which I felt had a much homelier feel. It moved to Hilton about a year ago giving a totally new concept of interior design- a more Japanese Zen stylistic look. The previous location had more modern & impressionist artworks but the current location has updated the artworks with more Contemporary style works. I’m wondering if Iggy’s is trying to target a younger audience with the updated look? Since I am in art industry, I tend to observe the whole interior & décor of a locale.. So far, this new Iggy’s has a classy, minimalist décor- a sort of East meets West type of feeling-
Jack: I don’t want to get bogged down by the ambiance and environment but I do think it’s key to any eating experience. The place is almost too minimalist. It kind of reminded me of an office setting – low ceilings, minimal light while the whole restaurant was on the borderline of feeling tight and compact. The restaurant was full, which made it even seem more compact. I was trying to understand, why one of the world’s top restaurants would have such a grey and average setting. The artwork did look expensive. Perhaps the point is to let the food do all the talking and not get distracted by the external surroundings? Iggy’s does have a private area dining for more “privacy”…to put it facetiously, you can actually transplant the restaurant to any commercial office…. hopefully the food does more to surprise.
We both ordered the Gastronomic menu to get the full experience – that said, Iggy’s makes your whole table order the same exact menu – again, perhaps this is to ensure you participate in the same eating experience. Also, their menu is a set dinner menu which changes on a seasonal basis – so don’t bother going to dinner there twice in the same month if you plan to try something different..
Jill: Our first dish was a spoonful of seafood; white crab meat & Japanese somen with caviar- both bites were tastefully done and could feel the freshness of the white snow crab meat- Iggy’s known for using seasonal ingredients imported from different countries to present the best quality of dishes.. saying this.. each dish has a unique serving ware complimented the dishes well. For me, the attraction of the visual sensory is as important as the taste.. the first course of the menu was a combination of seafood, including a chunky, juicy slice of saba & toro. I was fairly neutral on the crab meat & somen spoon dish, it didn’t really “grab” me.
Jack: The first course or dish says a lot to me in the gastronomic experience - it tells me what possibly to expect in the later courses, it also gives an idea of how the preparation, the skill and preciseness of preparation of the menu – it’s almost like getting a good “first” impression on someone –and we all know how important the first impression is…I thought the spoonful crab meat and somen dish, was to put it simply “delightful” – it was bite sized, I didn’t bother savoring it and just ate it by the spoonful. There was no “seafood” taste, nor crabby taste. The noodles were light and the caviar portion was just enough so that one could just taste it despite it’s small portion – the little eggs crunched in my mouth and it had the right balance between seafood and somen.
Jill: The Kimmedai dish came out which is a starfruit, basil mixed with jelly which looked intriguing and appetizing. I liked it because it was refreshing and a minty flavor while it helped to cleanse my mouth of the “fishy” seafood courses we just had…it was a unique mixture of fruit and vegetables. I thought it was a smart way to almost cleanse out the previous seafood experience in order to properly evaluate and taste the following dishes.
Jack: Another dish that stood out was the “chlorophyll sea and soil dish” – which was hamachi, basil leaves and sea grapes with edible “iced cheese” – this dish was meant to impress…Jill actually thought the cheese was not edible and I tasted it and found out it was…it was almost a fun dish – playing with the food in one’s mouth, the little cheese soil and in combination of the fresh fish, had a light sensation. The little sea grapes were also had a small crunchy feeling when eating the morsels –although I couldn’t extract any taste while eating them. The following sea and soil salad with mashed potatoes, Iggy’s style of course with light salad leaves complemented this dish uniquely. I liked eating every single “cheese” soil and each piece of “soil” melted nicely in my mouth.
Jill: I liked the egg Alba black truffle that came out in a small pot and poached eggs and mashed potatoes on the bottom. Shredded on top with lots of delectable black truffles on top. I thought the dish itself was warm, creamy and mouth watering. I thought the presentation of the dish was creative and unique…I’m sure this dish is high in cholesterol so portion wise it was presented just right.
Another dish I wanted to comment was on the Foie Gras. – it’s hard to resist the temptation of crispy seared Foie Gras for me, but this time around the Foie Gras was quite disappointing. Iggy’s used to have a nicely browned seared, delicious Foie Gras – I don’t know what happened to this dish? The one we had was pinkish raw like a pate texture than crispy brown-colored, pan-seared one.
Jack: The wagyu was tasty – any meat prepared correctly definitely wins points in my sensory taste buds and Iggy’s did not disappoint here. It was prepared medium rare and although it wasn’t a “melt” in my mouth type of dish – it complemented well with the previous seafood gastronomic experiences and rounded off my palate. The juices of the wagyu while chewing did not overwhelm. Wagyu eaten post the previous dishes seemed to complement the tasting experience.
Jill: My favorite dish was actually dessert -… the Araguani Chocolate dessert, looked beautifully presented – almost sculpture-like and artistic. It contained a caramelized banana, syrup expresso, hazlenut and a couple of slices of fig, ice cream and candy. It was an interesting colorfully presented mixture – an artistic culinary presentation at its finest. It looked like a lady’s ornament – a broche. I don’t like sweet dishes and prefer bitter-sweet dishes, this dish had a mixture taste of lavendar, rock-candy and expresso ice cream – and in combination made the tasting experience right. We both had a expresso macchiato which capped off the dinner and culinary sensation.
Overview of Iggy’s
Jack: Iggy’s gastronomic sensation and expectations were high but met. Maybe it’s because I’m a new to the eating experience but some of the things that seemed cliché, like foam, and creative presentation did not bother me. Iggy’s did not seem to try too hard while every dish was uniquely presented as well as the taste of each dish having a unique tasting experience. The overall experience and expectations were met. I still don’t understand why the setting and the environment was so minimalist – sterile, office like and border line cramped quarters – not cozy at all. I like the fact that we could see the kitchen and peak inside whenever the door opened but I know some patrons would not like it given it can be distracting. Kudos on creativity, presentation, order and overall eating experience..The place is not cheap at all and expensive. I especially liked the little chilli dark chocolates they give out at the end in the chocolate tray..To me it’s a 1 ½ - closer to two – almost want to give it a two thumbs up but….it had an expensive price, and its sterile atmosphere brought the score down for me..
Jill: The timing on serving dishes was fantastic - there was no lull in between dishes. Though I agree, I also felt the tables were cramped too – I could listen to other people’s conversation which was slightly distracting. The service was poised and had a subtle demeanor and each dish was explained thoroughly and clearly with a smile. I think the food quality was high but my feeling is why they dropped to fourth on the Miele’s list is because of the sterile ambiance and environment. It’s a nice place for business meetings or people that place an emphasis on food but not necessarily a place for a “romantic” dinner. I do think though the lunch is value for money and highly recommended. Given the great lunch deal and menu, I would rate the place a 2 thumbs up for its lunch but for dinner will give it 1 ½ given it’s pricey and cramped.
Jack: I’ll need to go back for lunch then too bad they only have lunch specials during the weekdays –
Rating: Jack: 1 ½ Jill: 1 ½
Visited on Mon 04 Feb 2013
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