Gathering around the Table @ One Rochester

12th March 2012. Written by Xin Li.
Once again we are back at One Rochester for a taste of their highly featured communal dining at ROAST. Housed Black and White style bungalow, One Rochester offers a relaxing lounge like setting surrounded by exuberant greenery.



The dinner started off with a serving of warm, fragrant walnut bread paired with a flavourful olive oil and balsamic vinegar dip. If you find olive oil a little boring, One Rochester also offers other kinds of dips and spreads for your bread such as:

A mild tomato-based, Bolognese spread. The Eggplant tapenade in comparison has a sharper flavour and the Roast Garlic was particularly addictive, it was surprisingly mild and sweet and it has a pleasant smoky aftertaste.

If you are still feeling peckish after the bread, there is the Nibble Platter (28.00++ SGD) featuring really toothsome Herb Crumbed Stuff Olives.

There are also Potato Skins with Sour Cream and Ocean Trout Caviar which are like mini-baked potatoes.

Tapenades such as the sharp and strong tasting, herbal Black Olive Tapenade, a sweet, mayonnaise-like Aioli and a Smoked Ocean Trout Rillette also served as excellent bread spreads and dips for the nicely cut vegetable bites.

There is also a Kurobuta Pork Terrine and finely cut Jamon slices on the Nibble Platter.

Next up was a Classic Mushroom Soup (18.00++ SGD), another signature of Roast at One Rochester. The creamy soup packed with generous portions of minced mushrooms was rich in flavourful but not overbearing. However I do find it slightly sour. The Gruyere Toast and Mushroom Puff Pastry were excellent complements to the soup.

Another signature at Roast @ One Rochester is the Twice-baked Gruyere Soufflé (24.00++ SGD), complemented with two bowls of salads: the mushroom and bacon, apple and pecan. The soufflé was appetizing with a lingering aroma of the gruyere cheese. You could also find this at Stellar but unlike Stellar, it is not being served with the Blue Cheese Sauce.

If you would like to have some salad, why not try the Tiger Prawn Salad (18.00++ SGD) with cous cous, pomegranate, mint and Persian feta?

The addition of juicy sweet pomegranate bits as well as the nice, crunchy toasted walnuts set this salad apart from the usual prawn salad.

The pampering continued with the mains such as the indulgent Baby Chicken wrapped in Proscuitto with pine nuts, raisins and truffle stuffing served with quince and pear compote (38.00++ SGD). Another signature dish of Roast @ One Rochester, and one that I a hardly come by in Singapore. The chicken was rather tender and packed full of flavours with the stuffing. The saccharine quince and pear compote reminded me of pineapple sauce for Honey Baked Hams in Christmas. It was an enjoyable dish but quite a heavy one.

The Braised Angus Short Rib with creamy Paris Mash Potato and Buttered Baby Carrots (38.00++ SGD) were as good as I remembered when I tried them at the Epicurean Soiree in 2010. I love the tender (an understatement) texture of the beef. The beef was very tasty and juicy and I like that the velvety Paris mash potato complements it in texture. It is good on its own even without the accompanying blue cheese sauce.

But the mains also extend to the sea, such as the Roasted Cod Fillet, a much lighter dish with rather succulent meat.

The mains were served with sides such as a Herbed Leaf Salad, Cauliflower Cheese Gratin and ‘Roast’ rosemary potatoes.

Lastly, there is the ‘Grand Assiette’ a selection of petite sized desserts to share. The desserts were prepared by One Caramel. Some of the more popular items on the Grand Assiette is Japanese-style cheesecake with azuki beans and a matcha base served with yuzu ice cream. Then there was the Raspberry Lychee Rose Pannacotta with lychee-lemon compote, a fruity, pudding like dessert.

Like the communal dining in Cocotte, ROAST @ One Rochester also offers a communal dining experience with the relaxing lounge-like atmosphere. Priced at 70++ SGD per person (minimum of 2 persons). You could view the menu here.

Thank You Audrey from the 1-Rochester Group for the invitation!

One Rochester
No 1 Rochester Park
Singapore 139212

Tel: 6773 0070
Fax: 6775 9477

Email: info@onerochester.com