Normally, one wouldn't expect a concept like 1 Twenty Six existing at the ECP because you're so used to those open air seafood restaurants selling their chilli and pepper crabs. But it does exist, opened by the 1 Rochester Group near the old Big Splash area. It is a mostly open-air concept restaurant, a great place to chill out and relax to the cool sea breeze.

A bunch of us were kindly invited by OpenRice to partake in their weekly ORTU at 1 Twenty Six and it began with a showcase of their original cocktails, aptly named the 7 Desirable Sins. Each of them is based on a particular type of alcohol and they all use freshly squeezed fruit juice. The 7 cocktails are Pride: Antoinette's Vanity (vodka), Greed: Alexander's Well (gin), Despair: The Screaming Banshee (tequila), Wrath: Dragon's Breath (rum), Envy: The Younger Man (brandy), Sloth: Slow Rush (champagne), Lust: Adam & Eve (whiskey).

The communal platter was ordered for us, with some changes to the menu. It started with 2 huge platters, the Nibble Platter and the Coast Platter. Being a seafood lover, I preferred the Coast Platter because it is a heap of delicious and fresh seafood. There are tiger prawns, a large crab, oysters, clams, mussels, and even sashimi. It was all fresh and succulent, making me very happy indeed.

Next we had the smoked sea urchin risotto with seared king scallops. This dish was quite delicious but I felt the taste of the smoked sea urchins didn't come through strongly enough. The seared king scallops were juicy to the bite and excellent though!

The classic fish pie with ocean trout and snapper was probably my favourite dish of the night because it was so rich in flavour, pleasantly creamy with the chunks of tasty fish.

We also had the roast baby chicken wrapped in prosciutto with truffle, raisin and pine nut stuffing served with rosemary potatoes and quince compote. While the chicken thighs and wings were tenderly wonderful, the breast meat was rather dry and hence not forgiving to the bite. I also felt that this was a bit too sweet and overpowering the natural taste of the chicken.

There was also an additional dish of the grilled tiger prawns with goat cheese tortellini. While the grilled tiger prawns were charred well giving that edge to their meat, I felt that there was too much goat cheese in the tortellini, making the taste too sour and pungent for most people.

The desserts were great, a deconstructed strawberry shortcake - sweet and clean. There was Valrhona dark and white chocolate fondant with coconut and peanut praline ice cream - the fondant was excellent, oozing thick luscious chocolate, but I felt the coconut and peanut ice-cream had too much of this Chinese New Year taste which put off the dessert. The classic vanilla ice-cream might have served better. And finally there was the Grande Assiette - a selection of 5 petits sized desserts to share, comprising of panna cotta, lime souffle, Devil’s flourless chocolate, marscapone and raspberry ripple cake, and a coffee crème brulee.

Overall I feel that 1 Twenty Six is a great place to chill out with your friends and enjoy a good meal with a wide selection of unique cocktails. The location and view are certainly unique, and the staff are impeccable in their attention and service. However the prices can be steep so those on the budget would be wary to come.

SGD 50(Dinner)