The Knolls

With rooms starting at an eyewatering $750 per night, you clearly need deep pockets to stay at Capella, Sentosa’s latest luxury hotel. Potential diners should note: you also need deep pockets simply to eat at Capella.

Open for only two months, the resort was hardly buzzing when we visited. Apart from a few people lounging poolside and another two couples seated at tables on the terrace, it felt a little like a modernist ghost town. The restaurant space is appealing with its double-height ceilings, glass doors, dark timbers and heavy chairs. Instead of one long open space, the room has been subdivided by frosted glass panels, creating cosy private dining areas. But it was a sunny day, so we asked to eat lunch on the terrace under an umbrella and enjoy the view of the cascading pools overlooking the South China Sea.

Dying for a glass of sauvignon blanc to help abate the heat (I’m nothing if not a drama queen when it comes to the sun’s rays), I was disappointed to see a limited wine list with glasses of white starting at $21, and red at $27. I know this is an expensive resort, but the bar tariffs are just a turn-off. Thankfully, the food is priced a tad more reasonably. The Thai beef salad and the salad of iced green-tea soba noodles with tuna tataki were refreshing and beautifully presented, although the portions are small. We skipped the selection of Singaporean dishes; I figured these are for out-of-town hotel guests more interested in paying a premium for convenience than trawling hawker centres for the good stuff.

We tried two of the four Western mains on offer instead, with mixed results. The char-grilled King Island fillet ($34) was perfectly cooked, accompanied by a delicious mustard mash and braised French shallots with a wonderfully caramelised flavour. The other main was a total puzzle. On the menu, it sounds interesting: grilled Chilean sea bass fillet with an olive-, black lime- and chilli-spiced crust, served with grilled artichoke, baby romaine salad and citrus aioli. However, what arrived at the table was completely different. The fish may have been perfectly cooked, but was drowning in lettuce leaves that dripped with grated parmesan, grilled asparagus, cherry tomatoes and Ortiz anchovies. Huh? I was tempted to double-check the menu to see if I was going crazy, but decided to give it a go.

I made it halfway through before concluding that none of the ingredients worked together at all, and abandoned ship. I mentioned my dissatisfaction to the earnest waiter; he simply smiled and said he’d tell the chef. Returning for dinner a week later, we opted for one of six themed three-course tasting ‘experiences’. Although the Balinese, Indian, Italian and ‘Land and Sea’ experiences tempted my palate, we plumped for the Mediterranean offering. At $130 for two people, it was pretty good value. The platter of dips, olives, Mojito tuna, feta-filled peppers and vine leaves was super-fresh and perfect for sharing.

The mains were even better: served in mini-tajines, the waiter humorously lifted the lid for each dish as if revealing the contents of a lucky dip. An asparagus and mushroom risotto with porcini was a creamy delight; a fillet of baked salmon with mustard mash was good, but not as delicious as the hearty pancetta-wrapped lamb medallions with vincotta-braised shallots and mushrooms. The portions are a touch on the small side, but with dessert to come, it’s not a bad thing. Although you’d hardly call it Mediterranean, the dessert berry sundae with a croissant pudding is a rather old-fashioned surprise.

It’s early days for The Knolls. The service is warm and friendly, the decor slick and the menu offerings solid. However, I’m not sure it has enough appeal for mere mortals not staying in the hotel. Maybe if I was staying in a $750-a-night suite, a $27 glass of red would be small change. Alas, for most punters, it’s not. But if they can get the pricing and portions sorted out, this modernist ghost town could become a regular haunt.