Attended a corporate lunch - 3 courses; 1 starter, 1 main and 1 dessert.
Had the lemongrass and ginger prawn salad which has mango, tomato, glass noodles and ginger flower dressing which was refreshing. The serving was generous.
Had the salmon fillet with asparagus, pearl cous cous, Yuzu, coconut, soft herbs. Salmon cooked to the right doneness and the coconut taste was different in a good way.
Didn’t include in my photo is the dessert which is a seasonal scoop of ice cream.
Will be back to try their full menu.
Not your typical honeydew sago for sure. The compressed honeydew cubes were a tad more translucent than the honeydew cubes that I usually have at home - absolutely fragrant and sweet. This was a erved with blueberries, strawberries and freeze dried raspberry flakes which were tangy and crunchy. It was a pleasant twist which elevated the traditional honeydew sago dessert. Absolutely love this fusion dessert!
Al-dente spaghettini with crab meat and pasta sauce infused with lemongrass! We liked how there’s a refreshing spin to the traditional tomato pasta. Our only gripe was the slightly small-ish portion size and pasta sauce - would have been way more delectable with way more gravy!
There wasn’t any mistake. This is indeed braised beef curry from Halia’s brunch menu. I was slightly puzzled when my brunch item was served; totally expecting a bowl of beef curry and sourdough toasts on the side for dipping. Well, in a way, this was a pleasant surprise. I guess I could do with less mess in a beautiful brunch setting. The presentation of this brunch item very much resembled pulled pork benny/ pulled pork on sourdough. This was served with herb yoghurt sauce - which in my view, could have been more generously drizzled. Unfortunately due to the meagre portion, I couldn’t quite taste any herb-y yoghurt. Braised beef was well done - no chewy, overcooked strings of protein (phew!) There weren’t much curry notes and the braised beef curry pretty much tasted like beef rendang instead. The Asian-fusion brunch was topped with pickles and delightful pink bulbs which were tangy and refreshing, cutting through the more heavily flavoured meat in a nice way. Also, a shoutout to the well toasted sough dough which weren’t overly doughy and stretchy! `love it when the knife cuts through the sourdough so easily!
Tbh, I was expecting more for their brunch but it really turned out to be just alright.
We had the Halia’s breakfast which was like a platter of sourdough, egg, sausage, turkey bacon, mushroom, tomato and bean sprouts - this was a first bc who eats bean sprouts on a breakfast platter??? Anw the sourdough was a little too hard.
We enjoyed the grilled beef burger (and fries, yumz!) the most - apparently Halia’s beef patty’s are cooked medium and this was quite nice and juicy, just felt it could be done just a little bit more and buns toasted slightly longer. Still a good burger tho!
Oysters were also fresh and the flavours just blended nicely together. But idk about you, but didn’t felt like it was a good idea to have fresh oysters at 10 in the morning ✌🏻
For something refreshing especially after a long walk around the gardens, I would recommend you to go for thisz A mixed of fresh ginger, mint, lime, blueberry & sprite.
Take my day off to stay away from laptop today and enjoy the nature at Botanic Gardens.
The Halia is not stranger to everyone who been to the garden, an outdoor & indoor restaurant serving Halal foods.
This week they are celebrating Gardens Heritage Festival by introduced an exclusive set menu for their signature chilli crab spaghetti and a drink, for only $30++.
While it seems pretty simply, but the chilli crab gravy was generous and you could taste it in every bites. Not too spicy but definitely tasty.
Set in verdant Botanic Gardens, Halia's perfect for relaxing dates amidst lush greenery. Their Charred Fremantle Octopus ($26) is sublime — juicy and doused in delicious Wagyu Chorizo oil and ginger flower hot sauce, or go for their stalwart Singapore-Style Chilli Crab Spaghettini ($26). Be warned though, it packs quite a punch with its sweet, tangy and spicy combo.
Photo by Burppler Cecil Dulam
*Halal-certified
⭐️⭐️⭐️
📍The Halia
🍝: Chilli crab spaghettini
Had this a while back with my girls 🥰 dining here was a great experience with alfresco seating at Botanic Gardens.
The chilli crab spaghettini is a sweet & tangy tomato-based pasta that’s generously loaded with crab meat. I think it’s worth a try, the dish exceeded my expectations 😊
We ordered a couple of appetisers as well including the truffle fries and lemongrass & ginger prawn salad. The truffle fries was served in a HUGE basket and we devoured it so quickly, definitely order this! The salad was delicious as well for how refreshing it was.
Tomato Soup was concentrated but it lacked a zest
Oil was added to the soup which was unnecessary because it didn’t add flavour nor change the texture
The baguette was hard and not toasted to a warm temperature
Price inclusive of GST and Service Charge: $7.06
Truffle fries were crispy and thin!
Truffle taste could be enhanced
Price inclusive of GST and Service Charge: $21.19
Spaghetti was cooked in spicy, tangy chilli crab sauce
Chilli crab sauce would be better if it were more spicy and the dish would be more satisfying with more crab meat
Service was good
Price inclusive of GST and Service Charge: $30.60
Pretty presentation and refreshing taste. Garden tea with lychee juice, raspberries and thyme infusion ($8). Also really liked their take on local favorite kaya and toast. The honey butter was so good! They also had pineapple ginger jam which was good as well. Will be back!
Set amidst the Ginger Garden , this is an infusion of cumin and cinnamon water , with self grated fresh ginger tumbshoot & honey
Set in the midst of lush greenery, this romantic hideaway is perfect for date night. Go for their Singapore-Style Chilli Crab Spaghettini ($26) that is sweet, spicy and tangy all at once with chunks of fresh crab meat. Another crowd favourite is the Paper Baked Halibut ($33) soaked in a soy and ginger broth and is served with sesame Japanese rice, wakame, wasabi aioli and ginger. Alternatively, have the hearty Ikana Fresh Greenshell Mussel ($25) with creamy sambal coconut broth that is great for dipping your sourdough bread into.
Photo by Burppler Aloysius Ng
*Halal-certified
(Apologies for the unfocused photo but didn’t really bother because of the poor lighting outdoors at night)
Still, would recommend to dine alfresco as it’s prettier outside :-) We made reservations in advance as the restaurant’s usually fully booked.
For starters, we had the soup of the day (tomato & basil) and truffle mash potato. Highlight of our meal would be the Halia’s Singapore-Style Chilli Crab Spaghettini. The portions of pasta and crab meat were so generous, and their rendition of the chilli crab sauce was amazing as well. Our other main was another popular dish, the Paperbag Oven-baked Halibut Fillet. Although it was good, the halibut fillet wasn’t as impressive. I personally enjoyed the soy and ginger broth. Finished off with the toffee pudding for desserts, which we read was a “must order”, but didn’t think it was anything to shout about.
Overall, thumbs up for the service and atmosphere. Would consider returning again!
Sambal coconut broth was good, really creamy and complements the sourdough bread well. Portions were good for the price. Halia never fails to impress👌🏽
