[Singapore] The Green Oven at Alley on 25, Andaz

[klyeoh (Peter)]

The newly-opened Andaz Singapore (the luxury boutique brand by the Hyatt Hotels Corp.) offers an oddly interesting selection of eateries on its 25th floor - they are classified according to their cooking/preparation method. So, there’s Auntie’s Wok & Steam, where the menu items are all wok-fried, wok-braised or else steamed; Plancha’Lah which cooks its international selection of meat and vegetable dishes on hot plates; Smoke & Pepper offers Modern-Asian dishes cooked over an open-fire charcoal grill; Icehaus which serves cold meats, salads and chilled desserts; and our choice for lunch today: The Green Oven.

Take the elevators up to the 25th floor where the hotel’s infinity pool is also located, overlooking 37-storey twin towers of the Gateway across Beach Road.

As its name suggests, all the items on the menu at The Green Oven are cooked in one single beech oven which formed the centrepiece of the restaurant.

1. Oxtail pie, wirh red wine, topped with garlic mash

2. Barramundi fillet en papillote, with Pernod Anise, globe artichokes, capers, green olives and Tuscan olive oil

3. Baked violet eggplant with plum tomatoes, Boursin cheese and chopped basil

4. Baby gem salad, with fennel, radish, shallot & chervil with a lemon vinaigrette dressing
   
   

Overall, a very pleasant spot for a casual meal. The “one-method-of-cooking” approach tends to bore me somewhat. I can’t imagine going to one eatery there where everything’s steamed, or else pop into another one where everything’s baked. or else opt for chilled items at yet another spot.

The Green Oven’s menu is simple and straightforward and, given a choice, this place is my choice on Alley @ 25.

Address
The Green Oven @ Alley On 25
25th Floor, the Andaz Singapore, 5 Fraser Street, Singapore 189354
Tel: +65 6408 1288
Opening hours: 12 noon-2.30pm, 6pm-10pm daily

[BoneAppetite]

We take it that Alley on 25 is meant to suggest a hawker centre. If the party is more than one, can guests sharing a table order from any of the four different menus? Thanks.

[klyeoh (Peter)]

@BoneAppetite

We take it that Alley on 25 is meant to suggest a hawker centre. If the party is more than one, can guests sharing a table order from any of the four different menus? Thanks.

No, sadly, Alley on 25 doesn’t work that way - i.e. you can’t order menu items from different outlets and have them delivered to your table. It would have been a much better idea.

[BoneAppetite]

If the four restaurants share ownership, the setup benefits neither diners nor hotel food operations by limiting diners to one menu. If the four are separate businesses, they’d probably do better replicating the hawker centre model – each table’s diners order what they like from whomever’s order station and the meal is delivered to the table in a central seating area.

[klyeoh (Peter)]

@BoneAppetite

If the four are separate businesses, they’d probably do better replicating the hawker centre model – each table’s diners order what they like from whomever’s order station and the meal is delivered to the table in a central seating area.

Agreed. In fact, that concept is already implemented in other Hyatt Hotel F&B set-ups, e.g. Grand Hyatt Singapore’s Mezza9 and Grand Hyatt Beijing’s Made in China more than a decade ago. Since Andaz is part of the Hyatt Hotel group, I wonder what brought about this restrictive approach at the 5-month-old Alley on 25. It unnecessarily compelled us to decide which type of concept for our dinner, and that all our dining companions share the same choice.

Anyway, it’s relatively new, so the concept probably bodes some tweaking in due time.