It is almost Christmas and those looking for a private and special experience can try booking a place at The Summerhouse. Tucked away in the idyllic Seletar countryside, The Summerhouse is made up of Summerhouse Dining room, which is a farm-to-table concept restaurant on the upper floors as well as Wildseed which is a cafe, and bistro on the lower floor
We decided to splurge and booked a private dome at the garden dome area which is part of the Summerhouse dining house. Set within the lush edible garden, there are only 3 private domes available for booking. Each dome also comes decorated in different concepts; Bohemian, Scandinavian and Lounge and are fully air-conditioned with their own blue tooth speaker and fairy lights
We were led to our dome by the manager who introduced the server who will be in charge of serving the customers in the private domes. This server is always hanging around the garden area to make sure you have your privacy but they can attend to you fast enough
Each dome can sit up to 8 customers and is lit by warm atmosphere lighting which is just enough for your to enjoy your dinner under the stars. There are 2 seatings for the garden domes from 6pm to 8pm and 8.30 to 10.30 pm. A deposit of $200 is needed as a guarantee and changes to dates need to be made 2 days in advance. The air conditioning in the domes is quite cold so it is great on a hot night and you instantly feel that you have been transported to the other side of the world
The detailed decorations and knick-knacks placed in the dome also make us feel like we are in the Nordic space. There are 2 menus for selection which need to be decided at the point of booking; the garden dining menu at SGD 380 per couple and SGD 125 for 3rd to 8th guests. The Prestige menu is SGD 499 per couple and SGD 168 per additional guest.
There was some miscommunication with the server as they asked if all of us took wine, for those who don’t take wine, they have non-alcoholic options. So we gave them the orders for non-alcoholic drinks and he came back to inform us it is payable. I was very confused and debated that since we don’t take wine, we should get it replaced with a non-alcoholic version. After much exchange, they brought their manager and we figured out that the menu came with the entire bottle of wine and was not served per person which is why any other drinks order is payable. It is so frustrating they could not articulate this for a good 15mins and I gave them feedback that the menu is not clear an entire bottle was included in the cost of the menu. When we also asked them for non-drinkers, they did not tell us it was payable until later. Maybe I am not a wine drinker so I get confused by the menu but I just wanted to flag out so others will not make the same mistake as me
After finally settling all the miscommunication, they started to serve the meal. First up was bread and butter, the bread served was baguette style with a nice crusty crust served with semi-melted butter on the side. Personally, I don’t like this style of bread as it is slightly dry and you need to have it with butter or olive oil
We were served an extra starter which is some sort of tartlet pastry served with creamed crab or mushroom filling. I don’t recall what this was made of as we were chatting when the server brought the food but I find the tartlets quite nice as the shells were buttery without being too crumbly
The Entre dishes served were the freshly shucked Bretagne oyster topped with Sturia Caviar, pan-seared Foie Gras served with grape salsa and apple puree and lastly the potato leek soup with chestnut and tarragon emulsion. The oyster was fresh and plump but smaller in size and the caviar added a layer of umami flavours which merged with the oyster well. The foie gras ok only as I personally enjoy my foie gras with a nice crust and melt-in-the-mouth middle. The leek soup was quite light with strong leek flavours and was creamy and smooth
For mains, there was a selection between pan-seared black cod and home-Smoked Angus Tenderloin. The cod came served with barley risotto and crustacean herb foam which has concentrated seafood umami flavours. The fish was fresh and had a slightly smokey flavour from the seared surface. The flavouring of the fish itself is light so it is best to pair it with the foam. The beef was served with marinated red chicory seasonal black truffle and morel poivrade which is a kind of mushroom. My friend commented that the beef was tender with a pink inside but not the best they have tasted
Finally, the last course was the dessert which is the smoke chocolate parfait served with chocolate soil and parsley and mint Sponge, brownie and gooseberry. I have to say that this is totally not suited to my tastebuds. The parsley and mint sponge were extremely weird with the brownie and the chocolate soil was too sweet. I had one mouth full and stopped eating it
Overall, the domes were pretty nice and fun as it is private to your dining party. The atmosphere is also somewhat unique although there were some misunderstandings in the beginning, the service standards are pretty acceptable although their new service staff were quite clueless, he was still very helpful and friendly. In terms of food wise, the standards are above mediocre but also not good enough for fine dining so the price you pay is really for the experience only
Address: 3 Park Ln, Singapore 798387
Opening hours: 6 to 10 pm ( closed on Tues) 11.30 am to 3 pm and 6 to 10 pm ( Sat and Sun)
Bear Travels . Bear Eats . Bear Cooks 