The Cradle of Flavour

If you are feeling a bit of a jaded palette with the dining scene and food that are created ostensibly for the Instagram battalions, it’s time you made tracks to Origin Grill & Bar at the Shangri-La Hotel Singapore.

True to its name, the restaurant is about respecting the original flavours of the best ingredients. It highlights fresh, authentic flavours from curated, unique and quality-driven produce. You will find charcoal-grilled crafted courses from land and sea, including line-caught sustainable seafood from marine-certified coasts in New Zealand and the Philippines. Beef lovers can rejoice over a bespoke beef selection featuring grass- and grain-fed, pure-, cross- and full-blooded Angus and Wagyu cattle from Australia, Ireland and Japan.

Some must-tries are the pan-seared Hokkaido scallops with fragrant chilli jam, the slow-roasted crispy pork belly (above), and the John Stone grass-fed ribeye on the bone that is dry-aged for 35 days (below).

At the helm of the restaurant that deserves all the good reviews you’ve probably read about is Sydney-born chef Heidi Flanagan, who has previously worked in key positions in luxury-boutique properties in Europe, Southeast Asia and the Caribbean. Her philosophy on dining may seem basic, but honestly, it’s what we all need: a return to original goodness.

“The inspiring thing about food is that you don’t just eat it. It has the power to bring people together. It warms spirits and enhances memories. My cuisine at Origin is an extension of that philosophy – to gather friends and family together with dishes that nourish the soul and are prepared with full respect of the ingredients’ origins,” she believes.

The decor of both the restaurant and bar areas reflect this purity too, with clean lines and soothing colours that invite you to relax and be in the moment with company that you enjoy, whether for pre-dinner or post-prandial drinks, or just to hang out to celebrate a day well-spent with some of the mixologist’s delicious signature cocktails.