Since we’d booked a staycation at Festive Hotel, and we had some dining vouchers from signing up with RWS Invites, we decided to have lunch at Ocean by Cat Cora™ (Serious stuff, got ™ some more, don’t play play).
The restaurant was a little smaller than I’d imagined, and was rather busy on a school holiday Tuesday. In fact they had almost 3-4 seatings for lunch, and there were many kids, so it was rather bustling, and if you have noisy kids like I do, you prefer a noisy environment!
We decided on set menus for the adults and kids meals for the kids. The restaurant serves sustainably sourced seafood, meaning if it’s endangered of course you won’t find it on the menu, and they won’t buy fish that’s been caught by dynamite fishing, etc.
There is no denying that everything is fresh and very good quality, but the Kids meals, at S$22+++ each, are a little pricey for the amount of food you get. But you pay for the view, and the view you certainly get, and I guess since you get to sit and savour the Open Ocean aquarium (which will impressed even the most seasoned divers), the prices aren’t too unreasonable. Especially when you compare it to mid-priced eateries which charge $15++ for a Kids meal which isn’t sustainable seafood and it’s so bad the kids aren’t even interested to touch it.
The food isn’t mind-blowing, but it is very good, and I wouldn’t mind going again especially for the view. I do wish they had some kind of promotion where you could pay 50% of the aquarium admission charges or something to go in after your meal at Ocean.
Practicalities: Getting there is a little tricky if you’re not coming from inside the aquarium, but since we’re familiar with the Hard Rock Hotel car park, it’s pretty easy, and the car park near Ocean Restaurant is always super empty. But I can imagine lots of people could get lost. I wonder about the feng shui since I’m sure there must be some no-nos about an entrance being from the basement car park, but maybe the water elements (and boy are there lots of it) makes up for it.
Also, it might be a celebrity restaurant, but apparently there is no dress code because I saw a lady wearing shorts. I’m not sure if it will get more formal during the dinner service, but anywhere that isn’t stuffy is so much better for kids anyway.
Bon Appetite! :)~
P.S. We also quite enjoyed Palio, which would definitely be suitable for kids too!
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Mummy Ed 
We went there for an early Valentine’s meal in Feb this year and I’ve to agree that the view’s worth paying for. Food wise, we felt it was a tad too pricey so it won’t be a restaurant we would go often, only on occasion when it justifies some splurging 🙂
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Some restaurants are pricey because they come with a view (like Equinox), but I think the aquarium view beats that and everything else!
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