Is it worth the money, calories and time?
I share with you my experience and let you be the judge.
Let's settle the question of cost right off the bat.
Patron pay $5 cover for lunch and $10 cover for dinner. No cover charge for 3pm - 5pm (off peak lah). No cover for drinks 9pm - 10pm.
Scan the QR code and browse the menu. The prices are noticeably lower than similar restaurants in the city.
Price checked 👌 The cover charge can be "recovered" with just a drink and a main course. But, really, most of us don't count our nickels like that lah.
True Cost is located in the Sky Garden of rooftop Suntec City. The restaurant's garden themed decor blends in well with the Sky Garden. From the restaurant, we can get a panoramic view of the city through the full length windows. I forgot to take a picture 🤔 Ben said it is stunning at night with the city lights.
(Suntec City is a labyrinth and I took some time to locate the Sky Garden. It is near Suntec's Japan Food Street. Ask for directions to save you time and going merry go round.)
We sat right beside the bar and watched the mixologist in action. There's a good selection of wines and spirits (you can check them out in the menu).
After sunset, many people prefer to wine and dine in the rooftop garden themed al fresco section.
Environment, ambiance, atmosphere checked 👌 Good Great 👍 (Okay... there was some renovation going in the building next door when we were there... .)
The most important question. Is the food worth the calories?
Hmm.... it's like spotting gems in a bargain sale 😬
We got off to a good start with Salmon Crudo with Truffle Oil ($10.95++). Needless to say, it was not real truffle but it does taste and smell good and make the salmon delicious by masking most of its signature flavour. I am not a fan of salmon as I don't like its signature taste but the truffle oil made it work for me.
This Hokkaido scallops ($10.55++) was buddy Brandon's favourite. I like the taste of the unique zesty gently savoury tangy sweet spicy blended flavours of the sauce, the soft crunch of the pickled cucumber and taste of the scallops in the pool of sauce. It's not among my top three favourites today though as I don't quite like the scallop's softness.
Bone Marrow ($14.85++).
In the mouth, the marrow felt lighter than water and had a subtle marrow sweetness. The shank was slathered with oily chili sauce before grilling. I'll prefer it to have a bit more savoury seasoning.
Served with flatbread which I felt was a little soft and spongy.
Japanese style beef tartare ($9.95++).
We folded all the wasabi into the raw beef, so all we tasted was mildly sweet spiciness. Don't be like us 😬
I love the assorted cheese platter ($10.55++).......
... because I ate all the creamy umami pungent pieces 😬 Goat cheese I believe 😋
This crab meat salad ($14.56++) was a winner with all three of us. There was just enough crab meat and the best thing in this dish was the Thai inspired (we think) refreshing tangy sweet spicy sauce over the fresh crunchy leafy vegetables.
Hummus with kimchi cucumber slices and bread ($6.55++). The hummus has milder nutty flavour than I like. Truth be told, this "fusion" seemed a bit odd to me.
Ribeye steak 300 grams ($29.55++).
We ordered medium rare doneness. The meat was tender, slightly juicy, a bit chewy. Not very beefy and could do with a bit more seasoning for my preference.
This grouper fish with cherry tomatoes ($25.45++) was a winner with all three of us.
The slab of fish was tender, flaky, tastes sweet and had a subtle earthiness. The marvellous savoury tangy sweet sauce masked the earthiness completely and transformed the dish into a star at True Cost. We also love that crisp skin drenched with sweet savoury sauce.
Take your time to appreciate the cherry tomatoes. They were skinless, so it was all soft and each was saturated with savoury sweet sauce with slightly tangy zest and sweetness from the tomato. There were about a dozen of these flavour bombs in the dish but never enough.
Salted caramel cheesecake ($9.25++). I love that classic cheesecake and would even more if it came sans the sweet savoury sauce and the crumbly crust topping 😬
Very atas (high class) looking cocoa brownie covered with the largest piece of gold foil I have ever seen in a dish, all for a grand $10.55++. It was all sweet and all that glittering gold actually got no taste 😬 But, I am still very impressed with how it looked 😄
Doctor say I should abstain from coffee, so here's a martini...., espresso martini 😬 At $6.79++, you can't even get a latte at Starbucks!
Putting on my best behaviour, I opted for an orange juice for $1.30++. At that price, I can't even get a kopi (coffee) in some coffee shop or hawker centre stall nowadays 🙄
So how's the food? SCSC or some can, some cannot as they say in the Singapore army. You'll have to find your own gems in the menu. My own favs are the salmon crudo with truffle oil, crab salad, cheese platter, and grouper fish with cheery tomatoes.
Will I be back?
For sure!
I feel the beautiful setting, convenient location, and competitive pricing make it very attractive as a place to gather friends or come with a buddy for chilling out. Next time when I am asked to suggest a place for a get together, True Cost would be among the top of my mind. If you just need a nice but not too expensive place to meet, this is it.
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