Hot Tomato @ Plaza Singapura

Hot Tomato is a Western casual dining restaurant that was established in 2006; the era of the boom in Western cuisine in and around Singapore. I was quite excited to try out this place as I was shocked by the meter-long queues outside an outlet of Hot Tomato at Nex. This time, rather than going to Nex, we went a few stops down the line to Plaza Singapura at Dhoby Ghaut. The outlet at Plaza Sing was an express outlet but included everything in the main menu, however with limited seating and faster service.

Since 2006, Hot Tomato has rapidly expanded to feature seven outlets around the island as of now, with a few being at 313@Somerset, Nex, Bedok Mall etc. To avoid the possibility of a long queue, we stepped in on a Friday afternoon. Despite the timing, the place was close to full with people both from work, and people like us who wanted to give this place a try. Hot Tomato's philosophy was to give everybody a slice of the good life at friendly prices, and I was hoping I would have such an experience. 

Caesar Salad with Grilled Salmon

The Caesar Salad with Grilled Salmon ($6.50 + $4) was our first appetizer of the lunch. Although I'm not a big fan of salads I had decided to give it a go. However, this salad certainly didn't change my initial opinion of salads. Evidently, by the photograph, there is an overload of the caesar dressing causing an imbalance in the flavours. Due to this, the whole salad was acidic in taste. Also, the overload of the dressing caused the crutons to become bland and soggy in nature, which spoilt the classic contrast of the leafy from the salad leaves and the crunchiness from the crutons.

Although the grilled salmon was perfectly cooked, the balance in flavours of this dish was not up to the mark in my opinion.

Rating- 2.5/5

Mushroom Soup

The Mushroom Soup (4.50) was the second of our three appetizers we ordered. This mushroom soup was actually extremely delicious as the flavours were balanced beautifully. The soup had this robust creaminess that really elevated the soup and added a wonderful consistency to the soup. The soup was rich and thick but not too filling as the mushroom flavours were light, yet delicious. The soup was also flavoured with onions and olive oil, therefore elevating its flavours, making this soup from a mundane mushroom soup to one I would come back to slurp. 

Rating- 4.5/5

Calamari with Fries

The Calamari with Fries ($6.90) was a side dish I was keen on ordering. This classic side didn't fail to impress me at all. The calamari was incredibly crispy therefore making it a joy to eat, and so were the fries; although they lacked some vital seasoning. The sauce you see in the small red container in the picture was a lemon tartare sauce. This sauce proved to be an amazing complement to the calamari and fries. The classic rich tartare sauce was elevated by the infusion of the lemon adding a citrus kick to the sauce that made this classic side dish delicious.

However, I was not too pleased with the doneness of the calamari as it was overcooked and rubbery, making it difficult to chew on. Overall though, this was a wonderful dish. 

Rating- 4.2/5

Lobster Linguine

The Lobster Linguine ($14.90) was the only entree we had ordered for our lunch. Picking out an entree took me quite a while as I had a conflict between several dishes on the menu, and this dish certainly didn't meet my expectations. From the photo itself, you can tell that the presentation was extremely clumsy, and so was the proportion of the pasta to its ingredients. Although the lobster was perfectly cooked, other ingredients such as the cherry tomatoes overfilled the plate; so much so that there were 15 cherry tomatoes on that small plate after counting! 

The pasta itself was rather bland and lacked basic seasoning. The flavours of chilli, olive oil and garlic were non-evident in this dish. Overall, I felt that this dish was clumsily made and could be greatly improved upon. 

Rating- 2.8/5

In general, the experience at Hot Tomato was not up to the mark as I felt some dishes didn't deliver in terms of flavour and presentation, and was made in a hurried manner. However I feel that this particular outlet being an 'express' outlet wouldn't serve food to the potential that the non-express outlets would serve, and therefore I would definitely come back to Hot Tomato probably at its outlet at Nex to taste the difference in quality between the two outlets. Also, with meter-long queues at the Nex outlet, the food should certainly live up to its potential.

Overall Rating- 7/10

Hot Tomato (Express)

68 Orchard Road

#B2-40, Plaza Singapura

Singapore- 238839

Opening Hours

11 am - 10 pm

Daily

Tel(Plaza Sing)- 6341 9162

Web: http://www.hottomato.com.sg/

Nearest MRT- Dhoby Ghaut (NS24, NE6, CC1)