Opened by the same folks behind Flutes at the Fort, The Tanglin Tree is located near Tanglin Mall. When we dropped by for dinner, the place was empty. The next thing we noticed was that it was rather kid‑friendly—there was a playground outside and the shelf which displayed magazines and books had kids’ story books too. And the restaurant looked refreshing with a white interior, green accents and lovely paintings by Italian artist Michele Righetti. The staff who initially served us were a little bit clueless (they didn’t know the two menus well, one for brunch and one for dinner, with certain items unavailable in each), but vaguely well‑meaning. After some confusion, we ordered from the rather limited menu. The staff asked if they could substitute the bread in our starter of sautéed mushrooms and feta on toast with sourdough. Didn’t matter—because the dish was a lackluster affair comprising OK mushrooms, large random globs of feta cheese and cold bread. Disheartened, we proceeded to the mains: Spaghetti marinara, fillet of Tasmanian salmon, garlic dip and date molasses and a blueberry and raspberry smoothie. The spaghetti was good—chockfull of mussels and prawns; al dente and not too tomatoey. The salmon, while fresh, was let down by the super sour fruit (it tasted like grapefruit) it came with and the too‑vinegary sauce which ruined what would have been a good dish. The smoothie was tasteless and watery. The bright spot in our experience was a member of the wait staff. Smiley and likeable, he showed great initiative and sincerity. We followed his dessert recommendation and ordered a pavlova with fruit and vanilla crème and it was very good. This restaurant has much room for improvement food‑wise, and all the service staff should emulate their colleague who made our experience way better with his enthusiasm.
