Pay Only True Cost for your Meal at this Rooftop Restaurant
CONTENT: Michelle Ng
IMAGE: True Cost Singapore
A good night out with delicious food and drinks can set you back, especially if you’re dining in the middle of town. Add in a glass of wine or a cocktail, and you’re looking at three digits in your bill. But True Cost is here to change that.
True Cost might be off-putting at first, charging you an entrance fee for every diner on top of your dishes. Set in Suntec City, the dining concept only charges the true cost of your food by removing the high markups of the typical Singapore restaurant business model that’s offset with the entrance fee.
The entrance fee is S$5 during lunch from 12 – 3pm, and S$10 during dinner from 5 – 9pm. Kids from 5 to 12 dine for S$5, while kids below 5 eat for free. And if you’re stopping by for drinks (which are also very affordable), there won’t be an entrance fee.
Glancing at the menu, there is a wide range of appetisers and main courses that whetted our appetite just by reading the descriptions. I liked how there was a wide variety of dishes and cuisines, both traditional dishes and fusion creations that includes seafood, cold starters, and even meat dishes.
We started with the Hummus with Kimchi Cucumber, a refreshingly addicting cold starter where the spicy kimchi adding a spicy crunch to every bite of hummus. Cheese lovers will be be delighted with the Burrata with Dried Grapes and Mint Leaves. Normally paired with savoury items, the burrata surprisingly suited the sweet flavours from the dried grapes, with a bit of cooling notes with mint garnish, opening up our appetites and getting us excited for the next dishes.
Popular with seafood lovers, Fresh Oysters are also on the menu at $16.50 for 6, and $31.50 for a dozen. The creamy oysters are a great way to start a night of feasting, or you can also try the Salmon Crudo with Truffle and Horseradish, which has thick luscious slices of fresh salmon drenched in truffle sauce.
The Grilled Eggplant with Miso is also a great appetiser to start, with a generous portion of eggplant chunks in miso. I’m not a huge eggplant fan, but I still enjoyed the juicy eggplant where I could taste the grilled smokiness, and the miso added a layer of much-needed familiarity and umami.
As you move onto the mains, be prepared for more exciting and adventurous flavours. The Boston Lobster with Creamy Curry Sauce was a lovely Asian twist on the usually steamed butter lobster. The lobster was fresh and juicy, and is served half peeled, and you get the pleasure of scraping the fresh meat out of the pincers. Served with pita bread, we wiped up all the mild creamy curry sauce out of the bowl.
The Beef Cheek with Pea Puree is another favourite, with the Australian beef cheek slow cooked for hours and just fell apart with a gentle prod from our forks and knives. The meaty beef was full of flavour and paired really well with a glass of red wine – and sure to satisfy any meat cravings. The team recommended us to try the Tussock Jumper Wine from the restaurant’s comprehensive selection of wines, which starts from $5.70 a glass.
Over at the bar, the cocktails are also true to their cost and very affordable if you fancy a nightcap to end the night. Classic cocktails like Whisky Sour, Sex on the Beach, and Espresso Martinis start from S$6.20, or give their signature cocktail Ram’s Jizz a go. The cocktail is a bourbon and ginger ale concoction, mixed with lime and honey for a sweet finish.
At the end of the meal, I realised that even with the entrance fee, True Cost delivered on the premium dishes and drinks whilst still keeping the prices low. It goes without saying that you should make that entrance fee worth it by trying as many dishes as possible! The portions are also great to share, so gather a few more friends and head down.
True Cost
3 Temasek Boulevard 302, Sky Garden, #03-302/303, Suntec City
Operating Hours: Open daily from 12pm to 11pm
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