First Look: What To Expect At Cavern, S’pore’s First Cave-Themed Restaurant At Mandai Wildlife Reserve
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8days.sg gets a sneak peek ahead of the restaurant's opening.
What to expect
Cavern is operated by the Tunglok Group, which runs other restaurants like TungLok Signatures and TungLok Seafood. Helming the kitchen is head chef Sheng Lim, who had previously worked at restaurants like Jaan, Cure and Cé La Vi.
The ambience
There’s no admission fee required for dining at the restaurant, but you need a ticket to explore the rest of the cave attraction. Cavern’s entrance looks like a rather chic hipster restaurant, but once you step through the doors, you are whisked away to a very realistic cavernous cave setting dimly-lit by a subtle hanging chandelier and several small lamps.
We are pretty impressed by the intricate workmanship of the cave, which even comes with accurate-to-life details like stalactites. The massive project took several months to construct.
Despite a lack of windows, it doesn’t feel very claustrophobic in the ‘cave’. It’s spacious, with an uncannily cool temperature (air-con lah) that adds to the verisimilitude of being in an ancient cave. We almost expect to see Indiana Jones running through the exit, but we suppose you will have to feedback to the wildlife reserve for that kind of experience.
But the venue, which is stocked with a wine chiller and cocktail bar counter, is also open for bookings as a funky wedding destination.
The menu
The menu here offers mainly Western fare for sharing for lunch and dinner, with rustic meat dishes that are inspired by caveman food.
Prices here are closer to an upscale cafe than exorbitant tourist attraction, starting from $6 for a Pandan Bombolini with oozy pandan kaya, to $68 for a Hunter’s Board that comes with pork ribs, tenderloin steak, a whole grilled chicken, roasted veggies and five tiger prawns.
Ironstrike Knuckle, $28 (8 Days Pick!)
A succulent 500g pork knuckle, braised Chinese-style for some 12 hours in a spice blend with dark soy sauce. The meaty dish reminded us of the kind you’d order at a bak kut teh stall, but served in a pool of tangy mustard jus. Pretty good.
Smouldering Core, $20
Cheesy name aside, this vegetarian-friendly dish comes with a head of cauliflower grilled whole and basted with barbeque sauce. It’s served with garlic aioli and a side of cucumber pickles. We found the cauliflower’s cumin seasoning too heavy-handed, but it was fun to play caveman and tear into this.
Emerald Canopy, $12
Skip the insipid Pulled Pork Taco, pricey at $22 for three tiny pieces. The meatless romaine lettuce salad fancily named Emerald Canopy is better, served open-faced and drizzled with a refreshing green goddess dressing (a herbaceous mayo-and-sour cream concoction).
Caveman’s Meat Skewer, $38
We ironically prefer the non-meat options here; the Caveman’s Meat Skewer comes with 200g of competently grilled beef tenderloin, button mushrooms, shallots, and capsicums draped in a chimichurri sauce. Decent, but at $38, we suggest saving your coins for other dishes.
Pandan Bombolini, $6
There is some Singaporean influence in the menu, like this Pandan Bombolini. The doughnut shell was unfortunately a tad over-fried during our visit (which was also the kitchen’s first day of operations), but the oozy pandan kaya-in-a-doughnut is a promising pairing.
Cavern Restaurant is at #02-32, Rainforest Wild ASIA, 20 Mandai Lake Rd, S729825. Open daily 11am-3pm, 4pm-9pm (last order at 8.30pm). Reservations available. Facebook, Instagram
Photos: Yip Jieying
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