Honestly, initially I did feel that Sentosa is quite a captive market. I did bear a bit of grudge when I noticed the hotel buses usually skip the lunch/ dinner rides. (The thought dissipated when I realised how close we were to the monorail.) I thought they wanted to strand us within their compound for a meal, which was terrible. I naturally assumed the hotel food was overpriced and disgusting. With me having dietary restrictions, this sounded quite a bit of a nightmare.
In terms of food option, the Mess Hall had quite a bit of variety. It was like the next buidling to Village Hotel Sentosa, making it a very convenient choice. On the first day, we enjoyed Le Faubourg, which serves very affordable French brunch. We were attracted to it because it had a cute seating area in the outdoors for the kids. My son pretty much sat there (with occassional visits to ours) throughout the meal.
My parents chose to sit indoors to enjoy their brunch platter (Sorry, forgot to take photos!) Overall, I would describe it as Cafe food (a bit more unique because of the French twist to it). If you are a points person, you can accmulate points on both your Far East app and Sentosa Islander Membership. :)
As we were so close to the monorail, we ventured out already on the first night to VivoCity. Do try to go out early because some of the restaurants were full/ not accepting more diners by the time we reach there. Fortunately, I was a high-rolling spending member with Elemen and they made an exception for me. By the way, Elemen serve delicious and exquisite Vegetarian food in the format of courses. You will definitely be wowed on your first visit.
If you ever step into VivoCity, you should check out my favorite soya milk place too - Chinese Tofu Magician. Every time I am there, I never fail to buy a cup to enjoy! I think it is really good but my family is not particularly keen in it.
If you don't want to travel out of the island, there is also quite a decent food selection near USS area (near the monorail station). We had our first taste of Duckland, and dang the food was really good. The ribs were really tender and the duck was super yummy! I saw most diners ordering the fried rice as well, but that too much for us 2. Too bad the nearest outlet to me is the one at Resort World Sentosa. :'(
The good thing about dining at USS is the shops around it. The price has been adjusted to be more local-friendly and I ended up shopping at Lego and Candylicious. We also took some silly tourist shots because for a while I forgot I wasa just in Singapore. Haha!
If you are not into shopping, you can also check out the manmade beaches at Sentosa. The beach is still as clean as ever and is not as crowded as pre-Covid times. I am no beach person but we decided to bring our LO there to re-introduce him to the beach. We also found some of our old beach tools so that he can build some structures in the sand.
Despite the effort, he still hates the sand, but hey we found a seashell! Hope this post helps you guys if you plan to visit Sentosa (even as a parent) Hehe.