El Toro Resto Bar Lunch Special – Singapore

In the March 29th issue of the Sunday Times the newspaper laid out Singapore lunch-set specials coming in under 15$. Joanna and I thought we’d pick a different location each week and try it out and do a little write up about here for you guys. The first lunch spot we visited was El Toro.

El Toro, on Penang Rd, is a quaint Spanish inspired restaurant above the dark and broody Dubliner Pub. The decor features multicolored walls and bullfighting posters contrasted with simple wooden tables and benches. The atmosphere for lunch is open and sunny (remarkable considering the dank Dubliner below).

The set lunch special here features a free-flow soup and salad bar. The soup featured the day we dined was tomato basil. I’m not normally a huge fan of tomato basil soup, but it was really good (probably loads of cream). They had a cold potato type salad and fresh greens on offer with a mixture of sauces. So far so good.

The mains start at 8 SGD for an Asian menu item of the day. There’s a salsa burger (I’ll have to go back and try this) for 10 SGD. Joanna opted for the healthy choice – Caribbean Catch of the Day (12 SGD). It was listed as “freshest grilled fish served on a bed of seasonal vegetables & Mexican tortilla with a spicy Caribbean sauce”. Neither of us would have classified the fish as “freshest” of the day. The fish was over salted and “fishy” tasting.

I went the opposite route and indulged with the Spaghetti with Chorizo in Cream Sauce (16 SGD). The cream sauce was rich and tasty, but definitely not for dieters.The Chorizo was good, but like Epicurious lacked a bit of extra punch that I look for… but maybe I need to ease up on my expectations when it comes to Asian Chorizo.

All in all the salad, soup, and my main were definitely a good value. The fish was questionable, but supposedly is changed out daily so maybe others will have better luck with a different fish. I know Joanna will be back since it’s a short walk from the office and I’ll have to get back to test out the Salsa Burger.

El Toro

Address: 165 Penang Rd (2nd Floor)

Lunch Served: 11:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

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