Lunch at Via Mar : Una Desilusión

21st August 2012. Written by Xin Li.

I have always wanted to try Via Mar at the Art Museum. After finding out that they actually offer rather reasonably priced set lunches, I make it a point to visit this “Spanish” restaurant located at the Singapore Art Museum. The place was empty (and dark) when I came, if you didn’t attempt to push the door, you might just thought it was closed. The interior was dim and the uniforms of the staff were black too, it was so gloomy, the colourful décor in one corner of the restaurant did little to lift the atmosphere.

The Set Lunch was priced at 18.00++ SGD and seemed to change from time to time. Both options were extremely boring on the day of my visit, Oven Baked Paprika Chicken and Grilled Dory Fillet with Lemon Butter hardly excites me at all.

The best dish of the day is probably the Soup of the Day which I figured out to be a Cream of Potato soup. The bread was surprisingly tasty. It was warm and soft in the inside with a crispy toasted side. One of the best bread for soup so far, but strangely soft.

Next up was the main course, the chicken garnished with a sprinkle of parsley flakes around the plate, it looked miserable and pathetic and the sadly, tasted just as bad as it looks, the mash while flavorful was slightly dry and the chicken’s skin was a little burnt while the fish was sadly dry. The result tasted like what I could get for 5 SGD somewhere else.

The dessert, a Bread and Butter Pudding served with Fruits failed to at any attempts of redemption. The dessert was lukewarm and the fruits were at room temperature, taste wise, it was awkward like a banana cake with a creamy part and the fruits would have worked had they been served chilled.

Personally, I think while set lunches may not do justice to the restaurant’s true quality and cuisine, I felt set lunches are a perfect opportunity to showcase a restaurant’s cuisine, character and philosophy at a reasonable price (not sacrificing on the quality or producing what a food court could do better) A lunch dish would show the flexibility of a restaurant’s menu and the chef’s/owners’ creativity. If a set lunch is good, I will be tempted to splurge more. Sadly, this is not the case for Via Mar this time round.

The service was decent here, not intrusive but attentive.

Via Mar
71 Bras Basah Road
#01-03 Singapore Art Museum