Review: Salt & Soul reminds us that European dining can be big on taste, light on cost

The backstory

Salt & Soul launched just this August, making the newest addition to Frasers Tower’s growing roster of F&B outlets. Its menu takes inspiration from European comfort classics, though it’s clear to me that these dishes have been refined by a team with excellent culinary chops.

Its relatively small menu strikes a balance between approachability and sophistication — more than your usual cafe, but a step below a fine-dining outfit. Lunch sets start from just S$17, with a la carte pasta hovering around the S$15 mark and mains just above S$20.

The drinks programme is pretty impressive too: PPP Coffee handles the coffee side of things, alongside an alcohol programme that includes creative cocktail concoctions such as a signature S&S espresso martini, beers, and a curated wine list that doesn’t lose out to classier European establishments in Singapore.

A special mention to the restaurant’s design: It’s contemporary and welcoming with lots of wooden accents and natural light flooding in through the floor-to-ceiling windows during the day.

Our verdict

Salt & Soul is the kind of place where you’d expect the food to be expensive, given the sophisticated ambience, but it’s a pleasant surprise to find such great value. In an economy where every dollar counts, this approach feels almost revolutionary. 

The dishes are familiar enough, but executed with enough finesse to satisfy discerning diners. More importantly, the pricing makes it accessible for office workers looking for a comfy lunch experience (the lunch sets are extraordinary value!) and couples seeking a decent date night meal. 

Plus, the staff are knowledgeable, polite, and attentive without being intrusive, and the food comes swiftly.

If there’s one glaring thing that’s missing from Salt & Soul, it’s any type of dessert whatsoever. Add a few good sweet plates in, and this will really be a restaurant that’ll be talked about for a long time.

What it’s good for

The savoury chicken beignets (S$11 for three) is a prime example of the culinary innovation that elevates Salt & Soul beyond typical cafe fare. These black pastries, colored with charcoal, see a crusty exterior and a spongy interior filled with an umami-rich mix of chicken, mushroom, and salty pancetta that enhances the overall flavour. It’s a bit reminiscent of a flavorful chicken pot pie, but you know, classy.

You’ve probably guessed by now that edible flowers are a thing here, which just makes everything so much more appealing. But even if there were no flowers, the pickled tomato salad (S$15) holds its own with juicy grapes, yuzu-pickled tomatoes and a floral chrysanthemum gastrique (a type of caramelised vinegar sauce). Bright, delicately sweet, and refreshing — what an iconic dish this is.

A crowd-favourite on the table is the cauliflower (S$13), which sounds so normal on paper but genuinely surprised. A staff member tells us that the cauliflower is first slow-poached in stock, before being roasted till golden, which accounts for the remarkable flavour. 

It’s crowned with toasted quinoa for a nice crunch and finished with aioli, spring onions, and some furikake. It’s technically a starter, but I can see this being a solid main dish for a vegetarian diner.

Another star of the meal is the slow-cooked chicken thigh confit (S$22), which is really comfort food at its finest. Duck fat-poached until tender, the chicken leg is finished with crispy skin and accompanied by buttery crisp fingerling potatoes, kale for textural contrast, and a rich chicken jus that ties everything together. It’s a simple dish that’s executed so well.

The barramundi au beurre blanc (S$22) is a bit lighter, but no less satisfying. A hefty fillet of barramundi is perfectly fried till the skin is barely crisp, then served over an orangey-yellow beurre blanc. What’s interesting is that the sauce uses a bit of pickled mustard greens, its tanginess substituting the usual white wine acidity of beurre blanc. It’s not quite grandma’s fried fish, but it’s delicious anyhow.

Ah, beef bourguignon (S$22) — or classic French comfort cooking at its most satisfying. Salt & Soul braises the usually tough chuck roll in red wine till it achieves a pleasant tenderness. I reckon some pieces could benefit from an additional 30 minutes of braising to reach true melt-in-your-mouth texture, but most arrive properly soft and well-seasoned. 

Pearl onions, carrots, and mushrooms add a deep earthy flavour, and the accompanying potato mash provides the perfect creamy canvas for the rich jus. This is the kind of soul-warming dish that justifies the restaurant’s name.

Salt & Soul has a splendid drinks menu, but since we were there for lunch, we opted for non-alcoholic drinks instead. The passion fruit earl grey tea (S$6) is a perfect balance between tart sweetness and the aromatic bergamot fragrance of earl grey. It’s both caffeinated and refreshing, and feels so ideal for a hot afternoon.

Many places serve lattes like a flat white, which is to say there’s not enough foam, but the latte (S$5) here has a much better ratio with a creamy texture. The chocolatey and nutty profile is quite characteristic of PPP Coffee, and there’s nothing to complain about here.

What it could improve on

Salt & Soul succeeds admirably in most areas, but there are some dishes that could be refined. 

The spaghetti allo scoglio (S$18), despite featuring fresh and plump prawns, mussels, and squid, has a bland and underseasoned sauce that feels less complex (where are the briny and garlicky flavours at?) than what I’d expect of a solid seafood pasta. 

Perhaps a bit more starchy pasta water could have helped the sauce emulsify and cling onto the spaghetti better.

The prawn fritto (S$8 for three) presents beautifully as a starter, with a savoury prawn-carrot mixture wrapped in feuille de brick and fried to an appealing golden crisp. The filling is firm and succulent enough, but the pastry retains too much oil from the frying process, creating a greasy feel on my lips that’s not quite desirable from a light appetiser as elegant as this.

Our quick takes

Is it conducive to conversation? Great atmosphere, but the place can get loud when it’s almost full house. Sit outside on the verandah if you want a nice slow chit chat.

Is a reservation necessary? Highly recommended for lunch service and weekend dinners.

How to get there? Salt & Soul is located on the first floor of Frasers Tower, a 2-minute walk from Tanjong Pagar MRT Exit G.

HungryGoWhere paid for its meal at this restaurant for this review.