Street 50 Restaurant and Bar at Bay Hotel Singapore may suffer from an identity crisis. The pro is you get a diverse range of food from Italian, French, American, Vietnamese, Indonesian and Singaporean to hot pots in the evening, but the con is, it may become a master of none.
Located at Bay Hotel which appeals to urban traveller, Street 50 is so named because it is on 50 Telok Blangah Road. It faces a tough competitor in the name of the mammoth Vivocity. But that could also mean the working people from Mapletree, Harbourfront and Pasir Panjang can consider making their way down for a quiet environment and quite reasonably priced three-course lunch sets at $18++ onwards.
Converted from the now-defunct Rumah Rasa which had some positive reviews, Street 50 remains strong in its Indonesian-style dishes as its chef Chef Sharifah Zaharah is still around, along with head Chef Ricky who is classically trained in French cuisine. Some of its highlights include flambéed Hazelnut Escargot ($14 for half dozen), Roulade of Porkloin ($20), Lamb Veronique ($32) and Steak Bordelaise ($24). And you still get your Asian Pad Thai ($14) and Beef Horfun ($16).
The cuisine is all about east-meets-west, which could reflect the diverse cultures of Singapore. One of my favourite dish is the Lamb Rendang ($24), and that is considering I am never a big fan of lamb. For the price, you get a whole huge lamb shank, laced with rich Indonesian-style rendang gravy topped with peas and dried coconut flakes.
The slow-braised shank is so tender that the meat come off almost immediately with a spoon, and the rendang gravy so luscious sedap-licious and can be best relished with fragrant white rice.
Street 50’s other signature, the Duck Pot Pie ($22), contains slow braised duck cooked in wine sauce with vegetables and spices, contained under a baked shell. If food in a pastry puff is your kind of thing, you would appreciate its size and flaky crust. Two can share one pie.
This dish is best eaten by ripping off the pastry cover part by part, dipping it in to gooey sauce, and licking it off your fingers. The duck within felt a bit tough for me though.
Its Tom Yam Flair ($18), a spaghetti dish cooked in seafood like crayfish, mussels and squids, seems to be swimming in a creamy oily sauce. If cream is your friend, and carbs & calories not your enemies, you could love its heaviness and richness, though I was wondering if the tom yam flavours went MIA.
Some dishes could come off deliciously-right, while the rest ordinary. I suspect Street 50 probably still need some time to refine the dishes, to decide which should stay, and which to take away.
Street 50 at Bay Hotel Singapore
50 Telok Blangah Road, Singapore 098828, Tel: +65 6818 6681 (MRT Habourfront. Taxis arriving at hotel lobby can gain access via Temenggong Road. Entry to underground carpark via Telok Blangah Road.)
Opening Hours: 6am – 4am
Other Related Entries
Bayang (Clarke Quay)
The Moluccas Rooms (Marina Bay Sands)
The Academy Bistro (Supreme Court)
Yantra (Tanglin Mall)
Kopi Tiam (Swisstel The Stamford)
