Features

Taste: Singapore

30 May 2013 by GrahamSmith

Reggie Ho dines out in the Lion City

OLD

Shashlik

“That place has been there forever!” is what you’ll hear from almost every local when you bring up Shashlik. In fact, it’s only about 25 years old but it’s a spin-off of Troika, which opened in 1943 before folding in the eighties. Tucked away on the sixth floor of an old shopping arcade, its décor can only be described as vintage, but it is worth coming to experience how Singaporeans used to view Western dining before all the Michelin action stormed the city. A sixth-generation chef cooks up the Russian borsch (beetroot soup), and loyalists swear by the steak. Finish with the baked Alaska. The signature beef fillet costs S$30 (£16).

Open daily 12pm-3pm, 6.30pm-10.30pm
545 Orchard Road, 6-19 Far East Shopping Centre
tel +65 6732 6401

NEW

Pollen

Part of the vast new Gardens by the Bay complex, Pollen opened last June. The experience is like eating in a greenhouse, as it is located in the giant Flower Dome. A herb garden in the second-floor tea lounge grows fragrant plants used in the restaurant’s dishes. The refined menu includes signatures such as “Trip to Japan 2012” – chef Jason Atherton’s own take on sashimi, with giant scallops stacked on pieces of white radish and topped with slices of sea urchin, with “radish snow” sprinkled on the side. The “English breakfast” – an egg slow-cooked for an hour at 57?C and served with Iberico ham, bacon and tomato sauce – is also superb. Pastry chef Andrew Lara produces inventive molecular desserts. Starters are from S$29 (£15), mains from S$65 (£34).

Open daily 12pm-2.30pm, 6pm-10pm
Gardens by the Bay, 18 Marina Gardens Drive 1-9
tel +65 6604 9988
pollen.com.sg

BORROWED

Gunther’s

The best place to sample French cuisine in Singapore is Gunther’s. Serving “simple, honest” dishes prepared “from the heart” by award-winning chef Gunther Hubrechsen, it’s located on swanky Purvis Street. The cold angel hair pasta with Oscietra caviar, kombu (seaweed) and truffle oil is the talk of the town – after that, choose a selection of fresh ingredients from the tray – many of which are still alive. My Alaskan king crab leg “Belle Vue” was sensational, while the grilled Japanese squid with Parmesan foam and tomato rice, and the roasted Pyrenees milk-fed lamb with gratin potato and green chilli fritters were divine. There are more than 350 wines to choose from. Appetisers are from S$18 (£9), mains from S$38 (£20).

Open Mon-Sat 12.30pm-2.30pm, 6.30pm-10.30pm
36 Purvis Street 1-3
tel +65 6338 8955
gunthers.com.sg

VIEW

1-Altitude

The way to get to this sky-high venue is convoluted – you have to queue, pass a velvet rope for the lift to the 62nd floor, where a flight of stairs takes you to the pinnacle – but it’s worth it. You can circle around the venue and see the whole of Singapore – as well as a bit of Indonesia. This is more a casual place to drink and snack than a restaurant, but the thin-crust pizzas,homemade otah (mackerel cake) on toast, spicy wings and Thai chicken with prawn sauce can easily make a meal. The cocktails are what people come for, though. Bear in mind that to sit at a table, there is a minimum spend of S$100 (£52) per person. Pizzas are from S$20 (£10), cocktails from S$16 (£8). The Rochester Group also operates a restaurant, Stellar, on the floor below, serving continental food and sushi.