I always thought this restaurant was called Serendipity due to a movie of the same that came out the same year it was opened. It was a pretty expensive Spanish tapas bar and restaurant back then as there were so few of them around. You can only get the whole Suckling Pig by special order. The tapas were sharing portions and not single plates in an authentic tapas bar. They were quite inflexible on certain things. Then the dining scene changed in Singapore. With fierce competition, they have to change or risk being changed. At one period, they were the only restaurant in Vivocity that you can walkup without a reservation on a Saturday night. No longer the case.
Serenity underwent a bit of mindset change and decided that you should allow the staples in the menu to be available all the time. Sangria is now available by the glass. Suckling Pig is available all the time and in smaller portions. The tapas are now available in smaller sharing portions. And now they have a live band on the weekend instead of the flamenco dancer. The food remains the key survival criteria for a restaurant to last and luckily in that department, Serenity does not suck at all.
We started with a glass of Sangria. Cannot figure out the wine used, but it didn’t matter. It was well-balanced with the zesty fruit mix. It was a hot evening, and we finished the glass in a quick gulp.
Pulpo a la Gallega
Grilled Spanish octopus (directly imported) garnished with paprika, flake salt and extra virgin olive oil on bed of potato is a classic tapas dish. The octopus was not overdone and therefore was not chewy, and retained the flavourful briny taste of octopus.
Gambas al Ajillo
Sauteed tiger prawns with garlic and extra virgin olive oil. Cooked in a liberal amount of olive oil and sundried tomato with deep friend garlic, the prawn was done al dente and the olive oil was so good that we could left it to bare.
Salteado de Coles de Bruselas con Jamon Serrano
Sauteed Brussels sprout with serrano ham. The girls loved this so much that I have to memorise the ingredients used and came back to experiment and recreate the dish.
Crema de Mariscos
Seafood cream soup with mussel, prawn, dory and squid rings
The sauces that were left in the tapas were so good that we ordered a portion of garlic bread to soak up the goodness. We wanted plain bread, but they only have the garlic version ($2 per piece, wow!)
Arroz Negro (Black squid ink paella)
Squid ink, squid, tiger prawns, capsicum, rice. The only disappointment of the evening, the paella was dry and under-salted. Didn’t understand what the peas were for, they were bland and hard. Obviously the seafood was added after rice was cooked as the rice had none of the seafood taste save for the black ink of the squid. But then we could not really taste the squid as well.
Cochinillo Asado
Whole roasted suckling pig. It used be you have to order in advance, but now you can get this crispy tasty suckling pig any time.
Flan de Leche
Creamy custard topped with a net of brittle sugar. Spanish styled creme brûlée with vanilla ice cream. Nothing to shout for, a sweet ending to some good food.
Still not the cheapest restaurant on the block, but the service and good eats make up the price. Be prepared to spend at least $50 per persons. Come with a group of friends as Spanish food is meant to be shared.
Serenity Spanish Bar & Restaurant
1 HarbourFront Walk
#01-98/99 VivoCity
Singapore 098585
Tel : 63768185
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