A SINGAPORE FLING
A Singapore Fling - Luxury Travel Magazine
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A Singapore Fling | |||||
| By: Kellie Fuller, Issue 16 – Spring 2003 | |||||
| (Singapore, Lion City, French-Cambodian, Island Of Sentosa) | |||||
| FOOD IS THE MANE EVENT IN THE LION CITY, AND A PLETHORA OF DAZZLING NEW RESTAURANTS OFFERS DINERS THE WORLD ON A PLATE. | |||||
| Hello, have you eaten? Every culture has its standard greeting, and this is it in Singapore, where alongside shopping, eating would have to be the national pastime. Run this hypothesis by any local and they’ll surely agree, before going on to describe a particularly fine meal they’ve recently enjoyed. In Singapore, they don’t just take their food seriously. Add joyously, passionately, and (very) regularly to the list, and you’re beginning to describe the love affair with eating that exists in the Lion City. “Singaporeans are absolutely passionate about food,” says Laotian-Australian Michael Ma, the owner of nine bars and restaurants in Singapore. “People here will go far and wide for good food, and if it’s on special, they’ll go even further.” Ma knows. Almost four years ago, he gave up his job as a commodities trader to focus on his love of entertaining and design. His first restaurant, IndoChine, on hip entertainment strip Club Street, soon became well-known for its stylish dining and high-quality Indo-Chinese cuisine, and is still a popular choice today. Ma has since expanded his stable of outlets and opened an IndoChine in Hamburg. “We have Asian food pretty well wrapped up in Singapore, as you’d expect,” says Ma, of the quality Chinese, Indo-Chinese, Indian and Japanese food available in the city. “But because diners here are very sophisticated in their tastes and expectations, we also have excellent Western cuisine in plenty of high-end restaurants. I never eat at home because here, you don’t have to.” Towering 70 floors above Singapore’s CBD, in the Equinox entertainment complex at Raffles City, is French-Cambodian fusion fine dining restaurant, Jaan (pictured left). Pass the Khmer antiques and fresh lotus arrangement flown in weekly as you enter the dining room and let your eyes settle on a breathtaking view of city and sea. The food is as fine as the view, with modern French cooking gracefully fused with the delicate flavours and exotic scents of local ingredients. The menu changes with the seasons, and fine wines are paired by the glass with each dish. French cuisine is dearly loved in Singapore, and this is reflected in the range of dining options in the city. For a classic experience, head to the famous Raffles Grill, where French chef David Mollicone offers a classic Gallic menu in the opulent surrounds of Raffles’ renowned dining room. Or go for pure romance. Au Jardin is the sister restaurant of long-time favourite Les Amis, and serves up contemporary haute French cuisine at just 12 tables in its elegant dining room. It is housed in a beautifully restored 1920s colonial bungalow hidden amid the lush greenery of the Botanic Gardens, and diners have a choice of an à la carte meal by day, or the six-course Menu Degustation and eight-course Menu Gastronomique for dinner. A very different atmosphere is found at the ultra-elegant 36-seat restaurant The Lighthouse, named for the former purpose of the tiny tower it occupies on the ninth floor of the grand hotel, The Fullerton. Here, superb French cuisine is combined with equally enticing views of Singapore’s busy harbour. Belgian chef Gunther Hubrechson, veteran of several Michelin-starred restaurants in Europe, prefers diners to enjoy the view rather than puzzle too much over the menu, so he has created a simple selection that shuns heavy stocks and sauces in favour of the fresh flavours of each ingredient. Downstairs on the ground floor of The Fullerton is contemporary Chinese restaurant Jade. Here an innovative and adventurous menu includes cocoa pork ribs with spinach in raspberry vinaigrette, a solid offering of shark fin soups (Malaysian-born chef Sam Leong began his training under his father, the so-called Shark Fin King) and delicious palate-cleansing desserts served in shot glasses. My Humble House, named in an act of unashamed irony, lies within The Esplanade, Singapore’s newest arts complex that hugs the harbour. Ten-foot-high chair-backs, huge red double thrones with slide-in tables, reams of iridescent fabric draped from the ceiling and individual cow-hide lounges are all completely re-arranged every few months by head chef, artist and musician, Zhang Jin Jie, creator of Beijing’s famous Green Tea House. The 60-page poetic menu features progressive Chinese food, with names like Whisper of Spring Rain (scallops with fresh lily bulbs and crispy bean crumbs) and Drifting Clouds of the Autumn Sky, fried green tea dumplings. For traditional Cantonese fare, Jiang-Nan Chun, in the Four Seasons Hotel, is an elegant and authentic choice popular with the local Chinese community and visiting businesspeople. Club Street, close to the Chinatown district in Singapore’s south, is the perfect place to stroll and take your pick from several quality restaurants and stylish bars. Just off the strip is newly-opened Ikukan, serving up ultra-creative Japanese cuisine and an array of yakitori. Allowing his young chef the run of a kitchen of his own after being second chef at one of the city’s finer Japanese restaurants was “like letting a bird out of its cage,” proudly beams director, Deguchi-san. A range of premium sakes is served traditionally warm (or chilled if you want to keep up with current trends), and an Art Deco bench outside is great for people-watching. If there is a place to revel in simply being seen, IndoChine Waterfront is it. On the Singapore River, opposite bar and eatery-packed Boat Quay, Michael Ma’s super-chic restaurant and luxe vodka and prosecco bar, Opiume, are hung with vast crystal chandeliers and graced with Sukothai Buddha statues and rare Shan antiques. Tables here command a spectacular view of the CBD, and are the best seats in town at sunset. The menu is a blend of Indo-Chinese and New Australian cuisines, and has attracted high profile diners like Chinese actress Gong Li, who had two successive meals at the restaurant, and Tom and Penelope Cruise/Cruz, who raved about their meal. Indian food is also a large part of Singapore’s food culture. Established in 1971, Rang Mahal has long been known as the finest Indian restaurant in Singapore. Recently re-decorated with fine art pieces and a series of water fountains, its chic design is the backdrop for a menu which, this season, features antique recipes rescued from tiny villages throughout India by head chef Milind Sovani. In contrast, at ultra-smooth sibling restaurant and bar Vansh, there’s not a curry in sight. The focus here is on light food which, like the traditional Puni Puri (round cups of crispy deep-fried pastry and fresh fillings) seem anything but Indian. The resort Island Of Sentosa, just 30 minutes from central Singapore, is a tropical hideaway where you can sit and watch the sunset over the South China Sea while inquisitive monkeys peer down at you from the trees above. At The Sentosa, a spectacular resort in both design and atmosphere, The Cliff Restaurant would have to be every chef’s dream. The pavilion restaurant is perched on a cliff-edge and features a long water-curtain wall as you enter, vast pools of twinkling water, and columns of glass gently lit by candles. The specialty here is seafood, prepared in a style that Belgian chef Jean-Francois Brouk describes as a ‘re-interpretation’ of his French training with inspiration from Asia and the feeling of the moment. So where does the chef go for his Asian inspiration? “Actually, I really like going to hawker centres and trying my luck,” he says, as he chars a fat langoustine on the outdoor grill. “Between you and me, you’d be surprised how many other chefs do exactly the same thing in Singapore.” | |||||
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