Bottomless Brunch in Singapore: Mandarin Oriental’s Dolce Vita Has A New Italian Sunday Brunch
PUBLISHED September 10th, 2019 05:00 am | UPDATED July 25th, 2024 01:59 pm
One of our main gripes about living in Singapore is that we can’t lounge over the riviera with freshly-caught grouper and a glistening glass of cuvée to end off the week. The next best thing then, is the new Italian Brunch at Mandarin Oriental. In the area this Sunday? Head up to the hotel’s fifth floor for an afternoon of free-flow Prosecco and affettati, along with Chef de Cuisine Giorgio Maggioni’s authentic Italian cooking.
Dolce Vita is located next to the hotel’s lush pool area, so you’ll be able to look out at the tranquil greenery from the restaurant’s floor to-ceiling windows. Or you could dine poolside if you like the whole Italian summer thing. Start with the affettati buffet of everything from sun-dried tomatoes to tomatoes stuffed with mozzarella mortadella, salami, and bowls of olives. There’s also a wheel of grana padano that’s nutty, gritty, and very, very savoury.
As you devour all that goodness, take your pick of three options available for brunch: S$68++ inclusive of the affettati buffet, and one dish and dessert, and S$78++ for the same thing with two dishes. If you’re anything like us, you’ll want to add S$48 for an unlimited flow of Nino Franco Prosecco for three hours.
In the kitchen, Maggioni has worked magic on the finest ingredients of the season. From the antipasti category comes things like burrata with oven-baked heirloom beetroot and cured Angus beef carpaccio with aged parmesan.
The Primo course, which is typically rice or pasta, sees a housemade Spaghetti with fava beans, leek coulis, and guanciale. The creamy leek sauce adds plenty of spunk, balanced out by hefty shavings of pecorino. But it’s the brilliantly-cooked Risotto that has our hearts. With herb butter, parsley oil, and black summer truffles, we bet you can already imagine the concentrated fragrance and richness.
For the Secondo, you can choose from three standouts: a safe but very well-executed Pan-seared Cod with baby spinach and basil, a Lobster Eggs Benedict with Boston lobsters and avocado citrus hollandaise, and our favourite, Beef Cheek with broccolini and pan-seared potatoes. The latter in particular is braised overnight for a marvellously tender texture and served with a tasty wine jus to complement.
We’re completely stuffed by now, but we round off with Dolce Vita’s signature deconstructed Tiramisu: an attractive mound of mascarpone with espresso crumbs and varying textures of chocolate — dig in deep. For the ever-refreshing fruity Sorbetto of the day, we get a massive scoop of citrusy ice surrounded by assorted berries, nuts, and crumbs. Petit fours are obligatory of course, along with a spritz of a spicy edible scent exclusive to the hotel. It smells like an Italian pastry shop on an early Sunday morning.
Dolce Vita‘s weekend brunch is available Sat-Sun, 12pm – 3pm at L5 Mandarin Oriental, Singapore, 5 Raffles Ave, Singapore 039797, p. +65 6885 3500.
