Food Review: Mezza9 (Grand Hyatt)

Cuisine: Western, Asian 

Price: $90+ per person

Location: Grand Hyatt Singapore, 10 Scotts Road, 228211 
Website: http://www.singapore.grand.hyattrestaurants.com/mezza9/

Recently I was lucky enough to grace Mezza9 for dinner. Situated inside the Grand Hyatt, it certainly fits in with the rest of this prestigious hotel. The spacious restaurant has a lovely décor, with several open air kitchen stations were you can watch the chefs at work. Upon sitting we were presented with a surprisingly large menu. There was a lot of choice with Japanese, South East Asia and European food. Burgers, sushi, curries and roasts were all on the menu, we were certainly spoiled for choice. The drink selection was also comprehensive with fresh juices, cocktails and milkshakes. I settled on the $97 set meal which included starter, main, dessert and tea or coffee. The set menu features at least half a dozen dishes per course, all of which sounded fantastic. I eventually settled on the Thai pomelo salad with chicken (yam som o), steamed sea bass fillet with ginger paste, orange peel and steamed rice and farm cheese with fruit bread. I also ordered some cheese cake to take home.

The Thai pomelo salad came in what I felt was a small portion. Naturally it tasted pretty good. Simple, refreshing flavours. The chilli's on top added some nice heat, though while I had dried chili I noticed my grandma had pickled chilli. Not sure why there was a difference. The pomelo salad was tasty, but nothing out of the ordinary.

The next course was the sea bass fillet. Again I felt the serving size was too small for me, generous portions they were not. The baby choi sum was a bit over cooked, it lacked any kind of crispness. The fish was very soft. Not knowing what type of fish this was (various fish can be called sea bass), I'm not sure whether it was over cooked. Personally I did not like the texture, it felt far too soft and mushy. The ginger and orange paste provided a nice subtle lift to the fish. Like the starter, this course was reasonable but not great.

I choose the cheese selection, curious as to what they would offer. 3 varieties of cheese came, a blue cheese, a brie like cheese and a harder cheese. I believe all of them were of French origin and of cows milk. The brie and blue were delicious and perfectly aged.The fruit bread was fantastic with a nutty texture and complimented the richness of the cheeses perfectly. The grapes were crisp and ripe. I didn't think much of the relish, it was a bit dull. This was easily the stand out moment of the meal at Mezza9, I was utterly happy.

I'm also a massive fan of cheese cake so I ordered a slice to take home, which the staff packaged in a lovely box and placed in a bag. I was also quite impressed with the cheese cake. The strawberries were fresh and sweet, though they were covered in a sugary gelatinous layer which I didn't feel added to the dessert. The cheese was rich and moist without being overly sweet or dry. The base was nice and crumbly.

Overall the meal at Mezza9 was one marked mostly by mediocrity and a couple of highlights. None of the savoury food I tasted (including portions from others plates like a prawn and rice dish) was better than average, yet came at a steep premium. The only courses I truly enjoyed was the excellent cheese cake and dessert. Additionally I didn't feel satisfied by the end of the meal, the portion sizes felt too small.

For me Mezza9 encapsulates how I feel about many restaurants; they have good service, décor, location and ambience, but mediocre food with a large price tag. If you are into style over substance then hit the Mezza9.

6/10