Back to the Basque-sics: What to expect at Sugarra, a Spanish fine-dining restaurant in Resorts World Sentosa

A slice of the fine-dining action is returning to Sentosa. After the demise of Michelin-starred restaurants such as table65, Forest, and Joël Robuchon over the years, Resorts World Sentosa has opened another fine-dining restaurant, in hopes of reeling in high-end gourmands.

Occupying the space where contemporary European restaurant table65 used to be is Sugarra, a Spanish fine-dining restaurant, which opened in Hotel Michael in January. The 68-seater restaurant is fronted by chef Aitor Jeronimo Orive, who helmed one-starred Basque Kitchen by Aitor and has worked at Iggy’s, The Fat Duck, and Mugaritz. 

Besides Basque food influences, Orive has widened the culinary coverage to around Spain at Sugarra, which means flame in the Basque language. True to that spirit, there is a Josper grill in the kitchen, where the meat, seafood, and vegetables are beautifully rendered.

Nestled in a garden-like plater are tapas from different parts of Spain, from the iconic pintxo, gilda, and txuleta (chargrilled steaks from cows) in the Basque region to bomba rice in Valencia.

While the Melbourne-based Orive is the consulting chef who will visit the restaurant regularly, he has brought in an executive chef, who is coincidentally named Aitor. Chef Aitor Gonzalez has worked in fine-dining restaurants in Europe and South America before his debut stint in Asia at Sugarra. He and Orive, who is half-Australian and half-Spanish, had worked together at haute vegetable-centric restaurant Rodrigo de la Calle in Madrid.

The food 

True to what you would expect from a chef who helmed a one-starred restaurant, Orive delivers: Dainty canapes on a garden-themed platter, precisely cooked dishes that reveal multiple layers of flavours, floral garnishes and a dessert that involves a local fruit. It is a menu that runs like clockwork. 

My lunch starts with Tapitas, a garden platter of eight types of tapas. My favourites are Gilda, or Spanish Lollipop, which delivers a tantalising mix of sourness and smokiness on the skewer of green olives, smoked olives and peppers and the sweet-savoury sandwich cube of foie gras, unagi and apple and onion confit.

Unexpectedly, the vegetarian dish of Remolacha, or beetroot tartare, left the strongest impression. The deep purple tartare, which is topped with a beetroot sorbet, isn’t overtly earthy as the root vegetable can be as it is diced and mixed with the chopped green and red apples. A toothsome pick-me-up.

A flourish of dill and edible flowers brightens up the flavours of this dish, which is paired beautifully with the tropical and citrus notes from the Anselmo Mendes Alvarinho Contacto 2023.

I remembered swooning over Orive’s oxtail bomba rice at Basque Kitchen a few years ago, and it seemed that time stood still when I dug into the dish again. The gyudon-inspired dish is a velvety dream with starchy bomba rice in braised oxtail gravy with bits of the meat meat and duxelles mushrooms. Mix them up with confit quail yolk and black truffle and you get a hit dish. It is one of those dishes that you wish for a second serving. 

The Catalan seafood stew is presented in a contemporary way with a square slab of golden grilled Alfonsino fish, or kinmedai served with mussels, potato and a small pool of rich sauce made from cooking down part of the fish. The amount of sauce is just right so that the sweetness of the fish isn’t overshadowed.

The other main course, Tuxuleta, features a 45-day-aged Spanish beef that is a crossbred of Arizonian and Galician cattle, prized for its deep, meaty flavours. It is cooked to medium-rare perfection here with a dark red centre. The meat falls apart elegantly to be dabbed into three other spots: smoked garlic mousseline and piquillo gel that breaks out the robust meatiness of each bite.

Giving a half-time break from the meatiness is a pretty flower-encrusted baby gem lettuce dotted with zesty ponzu gel that adds some acidity and sweetness to the dish.

The white-on-white Coco dessert is all about coconut, one of Orive’s favourite fruits, which can be found here. The dairy-free dessert has different textures and forms of coconut in each spoonful — a fanciful Mr Coconut-upgrade dessert. 

The space

The first thing that grabs my attention upon entering the 68-seater restaurant is the feature wall decked out with vials of olive oil. Imagine the Department of Mysteries in the Harry Potter films, but replace prophecies with olive oil. 

The space looks brighter and more spacious than when table65 was here. Sugarra’s green, gold and brown colour scheme adds a touch of comfy cosiness. A highlight of the interiors is the sepia-toned glass screen that separates the kitchen from the dining zone, which evokes a feeling of watching the chefs cook in a vintage film.

Sugarra is one of the three fine-dining restaurants at Resorts World Sentosa. The integrated resort is revamping its F&B concepts, which include grill restaurant Ka-Mon and Syun, both by celebrity chef Hal Yamashita. Later this year, a new beverage concept will be launched alongside more casual and fine-dining restaurants.

The menu at Sugarra ranges from $148++ to $288++ for a four- to nine-course menu.