Birthday Celebration at Pollen, Gardens by the Bay, 4 July 2014

POLLEN
Address: Flower Dome, Gardens By The Bay, 18 Marina Gardens Drive #01-09 Singapore 018953
Opening Hours: Lunch 12.00-2.30pm; Dinner 6.00-10.00pm (Closed on Tue); Pollen Terrace 12-9pm (Daily)
Buggy Service: Exclusively for Pollen's guests, the service runs every five minutes during lunch and dinner hours, from the arrival plaza to the restaurant
Contact: +65 6604 9988
Email: info@pollen.com.sg
Website: http://www.pollen.com.sg/

I would recommend you to take the buggy as it was a 10min walk from the arrival plaza, especially if you are wearing heels. As we missed the entrance of the carpark, he parked at Marina Barrage (free parking) and we actually walked over to the Flower Dome from Barrage. It was nearly a 20 minutes walk in heels. I don't wear heels often and thus it was really quite tiring! T.T

Upon entering the restaurant, we were warmly served and ushered to our seat, with a brief view of the Singapore Flyer. Then, a waiter came to us in a trolley full of different wines to ask us if we want any. He picked Champagne and I stick to my white wine.

POLLEN Restaurant

Our Wines - Champagne Mansard (S$25++) and Albariño White Wine (S$21++)

They have an Anniversary Tasting Menu with an 8-course meal, S$190++ or S$330++ with wine pairing. The menu seems too extensive and expensive =x so we just ordered 1 starter and 2 mains from the ala carte menu.

POLLEN Anniversary Tasting Menu

Our complimentary pre-appetizers

I love the presentation of the pre-appetizers! The dish full of stones looked huge but there was just these 2 small bites of snacks. Lol. The bread was very fragrant, upon the topping up of the butter, it tasted even better.

Our favorite!

Every pre-appetizer dishes were finished within seconds except for the bread as it's tough at the sides. We waited a short while before our starter arrived.

Carpaccio of Hokkaido scallops, guava, frozen apple and wasabi, dill yoghurt, seaweed oil (S$38++)

Close up of the appetizer

He loved this appetizer to bits. The scallops were real fresh and sweet. There were 5 pieces of scallops, 2 of them looked more orange than white and they actually tasted better than the white ones. I wasn't very satisfied with the scallop though. I'm more of a salmon-sashimi lover.

Beef short rib, confit portobello mushroom, charred onions, smoked bone marrow, timut pepper gel (S$70++)

Beef short rib, confit portobello mushroom, charred onions, smoked bone marrow, timut pepper gel (S$70++)

Oh god, save me!!! My main dish was AMAZING!! The beef was so tender, sweet and YUMMY! Confit portobello mushroom was just so good. Ahhhh~ Perfect. This dish brings "foodgasm" up to a whole new level. The satisfaction derived worth every penny invested! Highly recommended!! <3

Jasmine tea cured Norwegian salmon, artichoke barigoule, mandarin, Ikura cavier, soft shell crab (S$60++)

I bet you must be thinking that the Norwegian salmon was raw. It was briefly cooked and we were stunned by how evenly the two whole huge pieces of salmons were cooked! The salmon was so fresh and soft. Soft shell crab was super crispy! Funny thing was, he was enjoying his salmon, looking proud and all, giving the "my main dish was nicer than yours" look, until he tried a piece of my beef. Then he realized he was wrong. HAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Dessert Menu

We were so full from all the food we had and did not order any dessert even though the names of the desserts looked really deliciously tempting.

Happy Birthday to me!

My birthday cake was prearranged to be delivered after our main dishes. Thank you so much! The cake was very special and it's one of a few times that it wasn't a chocolate cake for my birthday.

Complimentary Desserts

Look closer to the different layers within my birthday cake

Bill came in a wooden box! How cute!

The time spent at Pollen Restaurant was marvellous. Dinner was very relaxing, the ambience was just right and their service was very genuine & excellent. I think that it's a great place to spend time with your favorite people, enjoying good food and celebrating special occasions. However, be prepared to spend as the prices of the dishes are pretty steep.

We took the buggy ride out from the restaurant to the arrival plaza of Gardens by the Bay. Knowing that I would "die" from walking back to the carpark at Marina Barrage with my heels on, he made me wait under the pretty supertree in Gardens by the Bay while he went to shift his car over. Thank you.

He came back to me with my sandals that I left in his car, as well as my birthday present! It's a good luck charm from Tiffany & Co.! I've been down on my luck lately and he got the necklace for me to wish me better luck. Thank you for the night! I really love it. Also, a very heartfelt thank-you to everyone who wished me personally, via Whatsapp, Facebook, Instagram and other mediums. 谢谢!!


Another post on Lunch at Pollen 2015: http://lynnechua.blogspot.com/2015/04/boyfriends-birthday-pollen-tulipmania.html