The Coastal Settlement - Great Hangout/Chillout place in the East

When one mentions hanging out or chilling out over food in Singapore, the areas that usually spring to mind are the prime suspects like Holland V, Dempsey, et al. For those of us in the East - or those of us looking for something a little more casual - there's a lovely place near Changi Village called The Coastal Settlement over on Netheravon Rd.


The restaurant/cafe is huge, with what seems like tables for over 200 guests sprawled over air-conditioned indoor and al-fresco outdoor areas. The decor is generally retro while also being quite hip at the same time. A side note that when we visited for dinner, the outdoor areas are very dimly lit - we saw more than one table needing to whip out their cellphone LED's to illuminate the menus. The indoor area also tends to get a little noisy thanks to the lack of noise absorbing materials. Buyer beware!


The menu is predominantly Western casual fare - things like burgers, pizzas, fries and ribs with some Asian staples mixed in. We start off with an order of Portobello Fries ($15, served with white truffle mayo dip), which is thick chunky cuts of mushrooms battered and deep fried. It's pretty good, although the portion is a little too big for two non-mushroom lovers.


For mains, we decide on the Wagyu Beef & Mushrooms Thin Crust Pizza ($23). We're thrilled that the pizza comes absolutely loaded with ingredients. The choice of sauce base - a caramelized onions and white wine reduction cream sauce - goes great with the beef and mushrooms, but also soaks its' way through the entire crust, so this is a pizza that you really need to eat with a fork or knife.


Continuing the beef theme, we also try the Cheeseburger ($26, add $3 for a fried egg on the side) - 180 gm of Wagyu Beef Patty medium rare with onions, sweet bacon, salad and thick-cut fries. Personally I'm not a fan of excessively thick burgers - this one is too thick to take bites out so I had to resort to using a fork and knife. No fun lah! Taste-wise the burger was pretty competent, though, and the sweetened bacon (maple?) was an interesting touch.


We're stuffed at this point so we decide for just one dessert to share - the Blackforest in a Jar ($9). It's basically a chocolate brownie sitting at the bottom of a jar with chocolate crunchies, cream, cherries and other assorted ingredients lathered on top and served cold. It's an interesting combination and one that I wouldn't mind having again.


All in all, food's above average and ambience is nice - this is a good place to come and chill out and take your time with your meal. The bill came in at $100 for two people which does feel a little on the pricey side, and service perhaps is a bit lacking (it's hard to get a waiter's attention at times).

The Coastal Settlement is at 200 Netheravon Road. It's perhaps a bit inconvenient to get here via public transport. Open Tuesdays to Sundays 10.30am till Midnight; Closed on Mondays.