Ritz Carlton Singapore’s One Michelin Star Restaurant: Summer Pavilion
This dinner is 5 years in the making - from choosing another wedding venue over this place in 2020, to never getting a reservation whenever we were looking over the years. I finally managed to get a table last weekend without fuss, so I guess it depends on luck! We were there at 7pm and by 8pm, the floor was filled.
First impressions
I have to say, other than the entrance, the restaurant's interior is only so-so. Other restaurants with equally high quality foods that I've tried is Mott 32 at MBS, Jade at Fullerton Hotel and Cassia at Capella. These spots do not have any Michelin stars, but they are stellar in my books.
However, if you're planning a small wedding, their private venue at another corner is amazing and is a completely different vibe to the common dining space:) It was love at first sight for me when I saw the private space, it is so perfect for an intimate gathering!
On the table
The fine china on the table definitely made up for the lack of decor & ambience. While we were browsing the menu, we were served Summer Pavilion's welcome drink, together with candied assorted nuts.
The welcome drink is a citrus and plum concoction that is perfectly sweet & sour! It was definitely made to open your appetite. I am a fan of sour anything so this was up my alley.
We chose the restaurant's signature lychee oolong tea to go with our dinner and the tea did not disappoint at all. It was extremely fragrant with a hint of sweetness at the end - it's closely similar to what you can find in some bubble tea shops, but this is the exquisite version served hot.
These were the dishes we ordered, ranked according to preference/must-order:
Marinated smoked duck
Fried rice with crab, scallops & egg white
Steamed soon hock
Stir fried seasonal vegetable: Qing long cai
3 roasts: Duck, soy sauce chicken, char siew (comes with a side of jellyfish)
Sweet & sour pork (no picture, oops)
The marinated roast duck was awesome and ordered off of the chef recommended menu. On hindsight, we should have ordered more dishes from that menu instead because I would highly discourage anyone from ordering the last 2 dishes on the list above. The list might be a 100% hit if we switched the 2 dishes for something else on the chef's recommended menu.
The fried rice was cooked with a lot of skill and was not oily at all. I personally find chinese fried rice to be quite oily and heavy, even in top restaurants, but this was cooked different. Our entire table was plenty impressed and I highly recommend this as a carb on the table!
The reason I'll discourage the 三拼 (Roasted duck, soy sauce chicken & char siew) is because the chicken & pork were quite mid. The flavours were ordinary, though the chicken came with a silky texture and char siew slices had a good balance of meat & fat. The flavours of both just did not stand out or make an impression. As for the roast duck, after having the marinated smoked version, the roast duck also paled in comparison.
Our table decided that all the sauces that came with our 三拼 were not great accompaniment as well🥹
To end,
I’m very satisfied that I finally ate at this restaurant! The top 4 dishes were strong and made the experience worth while, so I'll still sing some praises:)
We were quite stuffed so we did without dessert, but were still served something small - pineapple tart and osmanthus jelly. It was also a nice touch for the servers to replace all our tea cups with hot lychee oolong tea again.
Final thoughts
Definitely go for Summer Pavilion if you manage to get a table:) But I won't go as far to say that this is the best chinese restaurant in Singapore! For now, the top place on my personal list is Mott 32:)
