[1200hrs] I headed out to Raffles today, thinking I would have lunch at the Equinox restaurant at the Stamford Swissotel. I think it’s on the same floor as the New Asia bar we went to last week. When I got to the concierge on the ground floor, I was told apologetically that they were fully booked. No surprise there.
Not wanting to go far, I thought what better opportunity than this to go try the Japanese restaurant I’d read about online before coming to Singapore. I’d been looking up a few fine dining restaurants a few weeks before my holiday in order to try to do some research and narrow down my options for the occasions I would have time to myself to go and “wine & dine”.
I was greeted by the staff politely when I arrived, and even though I didn’t have a reservation, they were able to accommodate me for lunch. *phew*
I was asked if sitting by the seafood bar was alright. Now usually, when I’m travelling and dining on my own, I have no problem sitting at the bar to have my meal. However, when I approached the area they wanted me to sit at, I could see that they had real raw fish on display on a bed of ice on the bar. I suppose it was still quiet and when they got busy there would be chefs at the bar preparing sashimi and the like. This would have been fantastic to see, but I got a whiff of the raw fish and asked if I could sit elsewhere.
I was led further into the restaurant. It was dimly lit, with only several tables occupied at this ‘early’ hour. I find that Singaporeans tend to have a late lunch. Anyhoo, I was shown to a table against the wall, facing the teppenyaki station that was set against the glass window behind. Much better!
They had a great menu, with a great choice of set lunches. I finally decided on the Business Lunch Set for SD$70. This consisted of assorted sashimi, grilled eel, miso flavoured simmered pork in pot, steamed rice, miso soup, pickle and dessert. Sounds good!
I also ordered a half bottle of wine (375mL). I selected a 2005 Chateau Favray, Pouilly Fumé Sauvignon Blanc from France - SD$58. The waiter brought out my wine but I noticed that it said ‘2007’ on the bottle. I inquired about the different vintage and he explained to me that they no longer have the 2005 vintage, that the 2007 vintage has replaced it. Hmm…they should update their wine menu.
Not part of the set menu, the waiter brought me an appetiser. It was some sort of steamed egg custard. It was sooo smooth and delicious! I found a piece of prawn, chicken and shitake in the egg – they must have sunk to the bottom of the mixture when being cooked,
After my appetiser, they brought me my set lunch on a tray.
I already ate the white fleshed fish slices before taking this photo
I managed to eat the salmon roe one by one with my chopsticks. I love squishing the roe against the roof of my mouth and tasting the juicy saltiness. The second last one I popped in my mouth wouldn’t squish! I tried to bite down on it but it was like rubber…I took it out of my mouth, dropped it and it bounced off my lap into the unknown.
This dish was absolutely fantastic!! The pork pieces were firm yet tender. I think the vegetable in there was either turnip or parsnip…some sort of root vegetable. They were so soft and full of flavour after absorbing all the soup. There were also a few cubes of some gelatinous jelly. I really don’t know what they were, but they were firm and I love the texture! You had the meat, the almost mushy vegetables, and the gelatinous cubes. Might have to google a recipe to try to make this at home.
Otherwise known as ‘unagi’ and still my favourite Japanese dish.
I know this was just a bowl of fruit. You can’t get any simpler than this, but the fruit was sooo fresh and of perfect ripeness. I even ate the papaya and rockmelon even though I usually leave these and eat the other fruits.
A waitress came around and promptly refilled my green tea throughout my meal. My waiter, Christopher, was extremely attentive and made sure my wine glass was never empty. Extremely professional, polite, friendly, non-obtrusive service. I even had time at the end of my meal to sip green tea and read the newspaper they had brought for me at the start of my meal.
These complimentary chocolates were brought to me while I was reading the paper. These gorgeous little round green balls – they melted in your mouth and had the distinct yet subtle taste of green tea.
I wonder if the restaurant staff suspected I was a food critic when they saw me taking photos of my food. Or perhaps they thought I was the girlfriend of a wealthy businessman out for lunch while he’s busy at work. Or just a wealthy globetrotter. The manager even came to ask me if I was happy with my lunch and the service. I felt like a VIP!
[1500hrs]
I caught up with Jocelyn and we took the MRT to Chinatown. We walked down through the markets despite it being so unbearably hot today. At the other side of the markets, we came across a shopping complex and had a look through most of the jewellery stores we could find. Jocelyn helped haggle the price of a ring for me – SD$78 down to SD$60. Not bad!
After we could walk no more, and could not bear to lay our eyes on another piece of jewellery, we went in search of a taxi stand. Jocelyn spotted an ice cream vendor on the street and wanted one but as we got near, we saw it was unattended. We looked around to see if perhaps the owner was nearby having a break, but there were not that many people around. I told her to quickly stand behind it so I could take a photo.
About twenty metres down the road was a taxi stand so we went to stand in line. I’m loving my new camera that I bought a few days ago, so I’ve been taking every opportunity to snap photos to test it out. I love the look of these older buildings that you find around Singapore. Very colonial. I love the windows.
[1900hrs] After a short rest at Aunty’s place, I went in search of dinner. Yep, you guessed it.
1 x bunch enoki
1 x bunch Chinese vegetables
1 x okra
4 x chillies stuffed with fish paste
[2330hrs] Midnight snack!
shark fin soup from the basement of Lot 1 - SD$2.80
I was so disappointed with the shark fin. It tasted like they had put too much vinegar in it. Usually when you have shark fin soup, you add some black vinegar and pepper to taste. All I could taste was vinegar. Yuck!
While I was snacking, I noticed the tissue box infront of me on the table.
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