Hidden Gem in Lavender: Lighthouse Bistro

Just a couple of weeks ago, I was frantically googling “suitable restaurants in Singapore for birthday celebrations”. Only then did I realise that it is an uphill task to find a satisfactory restaurant which serves good food at a wallet-friendly price, in an environment with classic ambience.

By some stroke of luck, I came across a restaurant along Jellicoe Road that fulfilled all three critical requirements of a satisfactory restaurant. To add icing to the cake, the service by the staff were so professional that my dining experience was made all the more positive and worthy of sharing.

We started off with Salmon’s Milk Bath (S$10), a pairing of gently poached oceanic salmon in a milk and light cream broth, heightened with some chilli, ginger and bak choy. If you’re looking for a harmonious blend of western and asian flavours, I’d say that this broth would score well. However if you’re a fan of thick broth, I’d advise against ordering this dish because the texture is not as dense as you might expect a mainstream creamy soup to be.

Salmon’s Milk Bath.

Next up, we had North American Scallops (S$15) rested on a bed of Tom Yum and cauliflower pureé, accompanied by grilled squid, cherry tomatoes and garden salad. The playful mixture of ingredients in the pureé scored bonus points with me because it enhanced the taste of scallops to a whole new level.

Northern American Scallops.

We also shared Fisherman’s Board (S$18), the restaurant’s signature seafood platter for two. If I had to choose one starter out of the others, I would definitely go for Fisherman’s Board. There was so much to choose from a single platter: Atlantic Tiger Prawns, Squid, Black Mussels and Crumbed Dory; that makes this dish value-for-money.

Fisherman’s Board.

For the mains, we had the East Atlantic Sea Perch (S$23), with garlic mashed potatoes, French beans, and capsicum sauce. Personally, I am not a fan of fish scale so I try to avoid it as much as I can. This time round, however, the Sea Perch blended so well with the mashed potatoes and Capsicum sauce (which was a secret recipe as I was told) that I just took an entire mouthful, without removing the fish scale. If you’re in for a guilt-free main course, I’d definitely recommend this.

East Atlantic Sea Perch.

The next dish we had was Tiger Fish and Fries (S$19). Of all dishes under the mains, this was my favourite. This Tiger Beer-battered sea bass was deep fried to a perfect level of crisp. At the risk of sounding clichéd, I have to say that this dish is an epitome of “crispy on the outside and soft on the inside”. Served with a generous portion of Nori straight-cut fries and garden salad, this dish would definitely satisfy the palette of a hearty eater.

Tiger Fish and Fries.

While the two mains were enough to keep us satiated, we couldn’t wait to try the star of the meal – Malaysian Angel Hair (S$17). I was really curious as to the taste of this dish, given its courageous blend of Italian and Peranakan flavours. To my surprise, the Italian pasta was a perfect match to the Spicy Sambal, together with the tiger prawns, squid and black mussels. A word of advice though: avoid this dish if you can’t take spiciness!

Malaysian Angel Hair.

As a closure to our mains, we had Rangers Valley Black Onyx Angus (S$39), a pan-seared striploin cut paired with a potato risotto, turkey bacon crisp, a 40g Foie Gras and red wine sauce. Just by the description of ingredients alone, anyone would label this dish as exquisite. We had our beef done medium rare and we couldn’t fault the meat in anyway – it was tender, juicy, balanced and full-flavoured.

Rangers Valley Black Onyx Angus.

As foodies, we all abide by the axiom “There’s always room for desserts”. To end off our hearty meal, we had two desserts – Salted Chocolate and Caramel (S$13) and PP Lighthouse Cake (S$10).

If you’re a die-hard chocolate fan, the Salted Chocolate & Caramel is a must-try. The biscuit base of french chocolate maintained its crispiness despite being topped with cocoa chocolate mousse and creamy caramel.

Salted Chocolate & Caramel.

My personal favourite, however, was the PP Lighthouse Cake, a banana cake accompanied by a generous scoop of coconut ice cream, garnished with cookie crumble and garden berries.