Tóng Lè Private Dining (同樂) – revolving restaurant at Clifford Pier

Tóng Lè Private Dining 同樂 is the leading restaurant in the Tung Lok group. It is perched at the top of the OUE Tower which was formerly known as the Change Alley Aerial Tower. The revolving restaurant structure had been there as long as I remember. In the eighties, it was occupied by a Chinese restaurant known as Red Lantern Revolving Restaurant. I think that name might have been inspired by the Chinese name for Clifford Pier :  红灯码头. Anyway, that area has changed a lot in recent times and Tóng Lè Private Dining took over the revolving restaurant in 2012.

Tóng Lè Private Dining takes up two levels – 8 and 10 of OUE Tower. According to their website, dining at Tóng Lè is by reservations only. We arrived at the reception on the ground level. The receptionist informed us that a private room had been prepared for us on level 10. She announced our arrival to her colleagues via walkie-talkie and we were warmly received upstairs.

This being our first visit, we did a walk around before our lunch started. Most of the space on the 10th level was taken up by private rooms of various sizes (photos below). There were some open dining areas (photos above) .

It takes about 2 hours for the restaurant to complete one revolution. The movement was initially not perceptible, but when we sat down and looked at the wall and floor, the movement was noticeable (see video below). But once the food arrived we were too distracted to take notice of the movement.

 

Tóng Lè Private Dining 同樂 Splendiferous menu.

Several lunch time menus were available, ranging from $60 to $180  ++ per person. We selected the $80 “Splendiferous” menu. Cards are displayed on the table each time the course changes to provide more information about the dishes.  At dinner time, the menus range from the $80 Splendiferous menu to the “Eternal Happiness” menu ($250++).

The meal started soon after we placed our orders with the arrival of a pretty amuse bouche.

The first dish was salted egg yolk soft shell crab. The deep-fried pieces of crab were fresh and light. The salted egg yolk taste was quite subtle, which was a good thing for us.

The double boiled soup of king fish maw, black garlic and sea whelk had a nice smooth taste but was a tad too salty.

The steamed wild fish was very good.  They did not tell us what sort of fish it was and we did not ask.  Possibly a type of grouper.

The honey glazed Iberico de Ballota pork was very beautifully presented. The pork was also of a good quality in that it was not very fatty yet was also juicy. The honey sauce was possibly too strong and masked the distinctive taste that such kinds of pork are known for.  It reminded us of the Snake River Farm Kurobuta Char Siew served at Morsels.

The final savoury dish was a bowl of humble noodle soup. The menu refers to it as braised vermicelli but it seems like a bowl of mee sua to us. This was a simple but delicious bowl of noodles.

Finally, after about 80 minutes of eating dessert was served.  We had not yet made a full revolution in the revolving restaurant.  Double boiled yuba barley and tang yuan dumpling. A simple dessert beautifully presented.  We like its clean simple taste of the barley. The strong taste of the black sesame inside the tang yuan provided some contrast.

Dining at Tóng Lè Private Dining is a unique experience. It is one of two revolving restaurants in Singapore. The other one is the Prima Tower Revolving Restaurant near Vivo City. With the many private rooms available, it certainly lives up to its “private dining” label. We had expected the place to be grander, but it was quite  simply furnished, which might be a smart thing to do as the guests would be distracted by the views anyway.

Ratings:
Food: 4
Service: 3
Value: 3
Atmosphere: 4
Overall Rating: 4 TOPs 

 

Tóng Lè Private Dining
OUE Tower, Level 8 & 10
60 Collyer Quay
Singapore 049322

Tel: +65 6634 3233

Opening Hours (Mondays – Saturdays)
Lunch: 11.30am – 3.00pm
Dinner: 6.00pm – 11.00pm
Closed on Sundays

Nearby MRT Station : Raffles Place, Telok Ayer

 

The Ordinary Patrons
a Singapore food blog by ordinary people looking for places to eat