Traditional Spanish Flavours at UNA
UNA at The Alkaff Mansion - Restaurant Review
Location: The Alkaff Mansion
Price: £££
Value for Money: 5/5
Overall: 4/5
Perfect for: Fine Dining, Special Occasions, Spanish Cuisine
If there's one thing I’ve missed whilst I’ve been in Singapore, it’s been good Spanish food. Despite the sea of cuisines you can try in this city, there seems to be a shortage of good Spanish fare. So I was excited to hear that housed on the second floor of the beautiful Alkaff manner is UNA, specialising in traditionalSpanish gastronomy, from tapas, paellas to grills and local wine.
The Location:
The Alkaff Mansion is a historic and distinctive European-style mansion perched elegant on top of Telok Blangah Hill. This iconic building made quite a visual entrance as we made our way up the stairs that perfectly framed the entrance to the building.
The Alkaff Mansion is a multi-concept lifestyle and dining destination which houses a number of restaurants including UNA. The grounds house a cafe, bar and private dining space, making it ideal for hosting events and, in particular, weddings.
UNA is located on the top floor of the mansion. It is an expansive space with high ceilings, dark wooden beams, and an impressive chandelier hanging in the middle of the restaurant which actually reached down to the ground floor.
The spaced out tables and low level lighting make this ideal for romantic and intimate nights out.
The Food:
UNA’s menu pays homage to Spanish gastronomy whilst marrying it with a contemporary and local twist.
As there were a host of appealing tapas dishes on the menu, we asked for recommendations for our waiter to help us whittle down our choices.
In the end we selected a handful of dishes to start with including, Gambas Al Ajillo, tiger prawns sauteed in olive oil and white wine and Pulpo A La Parrilla Con Papas Arrugadas Y Mojo, smoky grilled octopus with baby potatoes.
The tiger prawns were served in a delectable garlic concoction and were divine. The grilled octopus was one of my favourite dishes as it was well-presented and featured an array of textures and flavours which complimented the octopus perfectly.
As salad/side dishes we also tried the Ensalada De Verano, heirloom tomatoes with shallots and Idiazabal cheese foam, which was reminiscent of a classic burrata dish. As well as Pimento Del Padron Con Sal, fried padron pepper which is a traditional Spanish dish that I love.
As well as tapas dishes, the menu at UNA also includes Paellas and Mains/Grills. On our waiter's recommendation we opted for Fideua De Calamares, squid ink Spanish noodle paella served with crispy calamari. This dish was oozing delicious umami flavour with every mouthful, making it super moreish. It was also well presented in a traditional paella serving plate.
We also shared the Pluma Iberica, a grilled dish made up of Pluma Ibérico Pork, padron peppers and potato foam. The pork was delicious and well cooked, but overall the dish seemed more like a tapas dish rather than a main course serving.
After having our fill of tapas we moved onto the classic Spanish desserts which I was very excited about. We, of course, opted for the Classic Churros, as well as Torrija, caramelised brioche with smoked vanilla ice cream.
The churros were warm, sweet and crunchy and paired well with the dark chocolate dip. This was the first time I was trying a Torrija and it was a delight. Both desserts were the ideal way to finish our meal.
The Drinks:
No Spanish restaurant is complete without good wine and UNA has a great collection on hand. The recommended wines come from both Spain and Chile but there is also an range of wines from other regions to choose from.
There is a cocktail menu too and we started our meal with their signature Sangria cocktail made with red wine and rum. This was a particularly refreshing drink and evoked memories of past meals in Southern Spain.
There are also mocktails, beers and soft drinks on the menu too.
Overall?
UNA is a modern and romantic Spanish restaurant filled with traditional culinary delights.
We were quite overwhelmed with the amount of variety on the menu that we mostly followed our waiter’s expert recommendations, and we were not disappointed. Each of the dishes we tried were robust and full of succulent flavour and left us wanting more. As such there were more dishes on the menu that we’d like to try on our next visit.
The staff were also friendly and chatty, even though they were rushed off their feet with the Friday night service.
Address: 10 Telok Blangah Green, Level 2, Singapore 109178
Phone: 8126 8844
Closest MRT: Telok Blangah (still quite a walk away so it’s worth getting a taxi)
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