Fire @Atico

I was organising my blog and realised I had a tonne of posts from 2021 which has not been posted as I was really caught up at work. I visited Fire @ Atico in December 2021 as I have always wanted to visit Salt Grill and Sky Bar which have since been replaced by Fire@ Atico. As part of my birthday celebration, I booked an early dinner slot so that I can view the change from daylight to night

To get to Fire, you can access ION Sky on the 4th floor of the building. Just behind the concierge area, you will immediately see a huge lightbox for Atico

You can continue walking until you reach a private lift lobby which only serves 1- Atico at level 55 housing Flint |Nikkei Restaurant & Bar, Fire and 1-Atico lounge

The lift is a fully LED panel and you can see the changes in cloud animations while the lift travel to level 55. Due to the height, there is some air pressure and I have to pop my ears for a bit

At level 55, you will be greeted by Flint restaurant as well as the lounge area which is popular for its views and high tea

You will walk through the lounge and Flint restaurant before coming to a dedicated stairway leading up to Fire restaurant. It is pretty dark around this area due to the side walls so do be careful climbing the steps

The Fire restaurant is at the top level of ION and has a panoramic view of the entire Orchard area. For bookings of tables next to the floor-length windows, prior bookings need to be made with a guaranteed minimum spent. As my booking was at 6.30pm, the sky is still bright so you can see the surrounding area pretty well. The overall atmosphere of the restaurant is quite lush and private as there are limited tables

This is the view from the top of the stairs where you can see the lounge and Flint restaurant. To the right. The bar is on the top right area of this picture which you can access from Fire once you climb the stairs

The menu was bounded in leather with a premium feel you get from expensive steakhouses

After we placed our order, we were served bread and butter. The bread was warm and shaped in this cute cone Smurf-like shape. The bread texture was more like a croissant with crisp layers of dough but a moist and soft inside. The butter was smooth and lightly salted but personally, I feel it was not fragrant enough

For starters, we ordered the Parrilla-grilled Patagonian red prawns with northern Criollita sauce. The grilled prawns were topped with chopped tomatoes, onions, parsley and white corn niblets with a light acidic sauce. I could taste the smokey flavours from the grill and the acidity of the topping and sauce helped to balance out the charred flavours. My only complaint is that I could not taste as much of the prawn due to the generous toppings

For our mains, we ordered the Amelia park lamb saddle on the bone which came in this hot plate. The lamb is also served with eggplant escabeche, broad beans and a hot Palermo pepper sauce. The lamb itself had a strong gamey flavour and quite a bit of vein and made cutting or chewing a little difficult. Generally, I found it tough to eat

We also ordered the slow-cooked sherry and orange marinated Iberico pork ribs which were very juicy with a nice citrusy due to the orange marinate. There was a light sweetness to the pork which was quite delightful

What really surprised me what how well done the 2 hot side dishes we ordered were. The smoked asparagus has tartara sauce, homemade ricotta and fried garlic which was the perfect combination of flavours exploding in your mouth. The charred flavours were enhanced by the fried garlic without any bitterness and the cheese and sauce just made it creamy and delectable

The other hot dish was the roasted and smoked heirloom carrots with honey which totally blew off my mind. The carrots were soft while still maintaining a light crunch with a natural sweetness both from the carrots and the honey. The charred flavours were very light and not affecting the sweetness at all. I would have ordered many helpings if we still had stomach space for it

By the time we finished our mains, it was dark and the surrounding area is lighted up with candles and cosy downlights making the atmosphere different from when we first entered. The entire Orchard area is also now fully lighted up and is very picturesque

We ordered 2 mocktails and to finish off the meal and they surprised me with a birthday cake as a nice gesture. We were quite full at this point but managed to try some of the cake which is quite sweet for me but the mocktails were quite bad as they tasted like children’s cough syrup

As we were leaving, the atmosphere at Flint restaurant is also different compared to when the skies were still bright. There is a nice cosy ambience which is really suitable for hanging out and chilling

Overall, I am not that impressed with their mains as my expectations of an Argentian restaurant with their meat are rather high but I feel they fell short. The sides were surprisingly good and the service is also attentive and friendly. The biggest selling point of the restaurant is definitely the 360 view of Orchard road from sunset to night. The price of the meal is on the higher side but if you are looking for a restaurant with a romantic atmosphere, you can consider Fire

Address: 2 Orchard Turn, #55-01 ION Orchard, Singapore 238801

Opening hours: 12 to 3 pm and 6 to 10.30 pm