Experiencing the Finest Greek Cuisine with Estiatorio Milos at Marina Bay Sands

CONTENT: Michelle Ng
IMAGE: Marina Bay Sands

When you think of Greece, immediately scenes of alfresco dining, fresh seafood, and refreshing drinks come to mind. While the latest Greek restaurant to opens its doors in Singapore sits in the basement of Marina Bay Sands, founder Costas Spiliadis brings the best of Mediterranean cuisine in his latest outpost for Estiatorio Milos.

The Greeks rarely drink of dine alone, and Estiatorio Milos is definitely not a solo dining place. While you might make an exception for celebrating a special moment between couples, gather your friends and family to dine out as the dishes at Estiatorio Milos are made to share. The Estiatorio Milos experience is all inspired by Spiliadis’ childhood and culture, from the design of the restaurant that’s meant to bring Greece to diners down to to the carefully curated menu.

Stepping past the towering Pendelikon marble pillars, I was drawn to the sights and sounds of the market display and open kitchen. Emulating the experience of the grocery shopping, the fish market-inspired display of fresh catch like fish and lobsters lay ripe for picking on a mountain of ice, while the colorful vegetables air flown from Greek islands call out to you. I had to admit that I saw the reddest tomatoes and vivid jalapenos that already had me salivating before I had even peeked at the menu.

If we could only recommend one dish, it would be the Milos Special. A stack of paper-thin slices of zucchinis and eggplants lightly fried hides a tszatziki spread, which also well with the platter of The Greek Spreads, a trio of Taramosalata, tszatziki and htpiti that is good for grazing while waiting for the mains to be fired up.

Another unanimous favourite from the table is the Tomato Salad, a simple yet humbling salad made with slices of juicy tomatoes and barrel aged feta cheese tossed in olive oil. The olive oil – just like almost everything served at the restaurant – comes from Greece, made from Koroneiki trees and cold-pressed to bring out the flavours. As we soon came to find out, almost all the dishes here were lightly seasoned so that the freshness and quality taste of the ingredients were given the spotlight.

Over at the fish market, the daily catch of about 15 varieties of wild-caught fish is laid out on heaps of ice. Some are seasonal catch, while others like the lavraki (seabass), fagri (red sea bream) and alfoniso (the emperor) are usually available. The seafood and fish can also be brought to your tablet too, while you select how you would like it to be prepared. The fish can be prepared as sashimi, grilled or baked in sea salt, with the captain always ready to recommend the preparation style based on your fish of choice. We had the fish baked in sea salt, which takes about 25 minutes as its cooked to order. The fish arrived steaming, and is carefully broken out of its salt casing, smelling heavenly. Lightly seasoned with lemon, olive oil, and capers, the fresh fish was flaky and absolutely delicious. Other selections from the raw bar includes seasonal oysters, caviar, and ceviche.

The Astakomakaronada is a hearty pasta dish with lobster, cooked Athenian-style. The lobster is steamed before being sliced into huge chunks where you can actually see the lobster and cooked with linguine pasta in a savoury lobster bisque and tomato sauce. Or if you like grilled seafood, make sure you try the Octopus. The sashimi grade quality octopus air-flown from the Mediterranean Sea is broiled and then grilled to give it just a slight tinge of smokiness, again bringing out the lovely texture and flavours in every bite.
Pair your mains with a side of grilled vegetables, depending on the season you’ll get a selection of bright slices of vegetables with a slight charr, or the Yukon Gold Potato Salad.

The only thing we’re missing from a true Greek experience is the sounds and sights of the Aegean Sea, but Estiatorio Milos delivers on everything else on the menu with top-level service.

Estiatorio Milos is located at 2 Bayfront Avenue, B1-48 The Shoppes, Singapore 018972