Great places to eat in Singapore

Before I got back to Denmark, Andy and I spent 4 days in Singapore, dealing with the Indonesian embassy, getting Andy’s research permit ready to go. Maybe I haven’t said before, but Andy is still in Indonesia now, doing ornithological fieldwork in the jungles of Flores for the next two months. So before we parted, we enjoyed ourselves with lots of good food in Singapore. I had done quite a bit of research on restaurants beforehand, because of some major food cravings while in Indonesia, after eating rice every day for over a month. I am sorry for the lack of pictures, but I decided to dress up for most of the meals bringing only a small purse with me which wouldn’t fit my camera.

Au Petit Salut

We went to Au Petit Salut for lunch because it was supposed to have a very good, and relatively cheap lunch menu priced at 32 S$. Andy and I ordered different things, and I was definitely the one who lucked out. Andy’s niçoise salad and braised beef cheeks were good, but not great, whereas my snails were the best I ever had, and my pork in mustard on polenta equally amazing. Both the strawberry shortcake and the choux buns were delicious desserts. I would definitely go back! It is a popular spot so call ahead.

40C Harding Road

Tel: 6475 1976

Pizzeria Mozza

Pizzeria Mozza is owned by the pretty famous Mario Batali (in the US anyway) and is attached to the fancier Osteria Mozza right next door. I went to Pizzeria Mozza alone before my flight out of Singapore for a quick dinner. I had  a nice glass of Valpolicella and the pizza with burrata (a home made cheese, sort of like mozzarella but with double the fat), slow roasted tomato and oregano. It was absolutely divine! It was one of the best pizzas I have ever had, and I will go to great lengths to try to replicate it. There is a picture of it above, and here is a picture of the restaurant:

I went to Mozza on a random Sunday evening at 6pm and they were fully booked, so it is a good idea to call ahead if you don’t want to dine at the bar (as I did, and it was fine).

2 Bayfront Avenue (inside the Marina Bay Sands shopping centre)

6688 8522

Iggy’s

I went to Iggy’s all by my lonesome and pretty impulsively right after Andy had left for Jakarta. Iggy’s is currently 27th on the S. Pellegrino 50 Best Restaurants list. I was amazed that they had a table available on very short notice, and I went power shopping for something decent to wear half an hour before my reservation.

I got the set 4 course lunch menu for 85S$. First I got an amuse bouche of smoked eel parfait with caviar and a citrus gel. It was amazing, and definitely the best dish I had at Iggy’s. As my first real course I had their version of the classic niçoise salad. It was very good, and especially the truffle mayo and olive sphere made it amazing. Second dish was spaghettini with smoked mullet roe and zucchini. This dish I actualy disliked. I had four bites, trying all I could to see the genius in the dish, but I did not succeed. I left the rest, and considered it as a blessing in disguise because it meant that I could eat more of the delicious bread and smoked butter with parmesan. Third dish was confit of duck with mashed potatoes. It was good, but I could have made it just as delicious in my own kitchen. I expected more of one of the best restaurants in the world! For dessert I had caramel, brown butter ice cream, grapefruit, miso and pecan. It was very delicious!

So all in all I was pretty disappointed by Iggy’s. Two of the four dishes were nothing special and one of them I actually disliked. I had a glass of 2006 Meursault Les Meix Chavaux Blanc to drink though, and it was probably the best wine I ever had! If anyone knows where to find this wine, please give me a hint as I haven’t been able to find it on the internet. Service was good at Iggy’s, but the staff seemed to find it weird that I was there all by myself. I guess my conclusion is that I would not go back to Iggy’s for lunch. I am not sorry I went, but I would not do it again. Maybe dinner is better though.

581 Orchard Road, 3rd floor @ The Hilton

6732 2234

Royal China

Andy and I had our sunday lunch at Royal China. I had done some research and it sounded like Royal China was the best bet for stand out dim sum in Singapore. We had some excellent dim sum when we traveled around Hong Kong and China some years ago, and I was eager to have some again. Royal China is located at the Raffles hotel, and looks pretty fancy, but we had (lots of) dim sum, and I thought it was a very good deal as the were about 3S$ each. We had a pot of jasmine tea and 7 different dim sum and got very full. The best were the scallop dumplings and the crispy shrimp rolls. The other dishes were great as well though. I love dim sum and Royal China did not disappoint! Again, call ahead for reservations.

1 Beach Road @ The Raffles hotel arcade

6338 3363

Maxwell Road Food Centre

Singapore has tons of wonderful food courts, and Maxwell road food centre was my favorite one. It is famous for the stall called Tian Tian which connoisseurs say makes the best Hainan chicken rice in all of Singapore. Just look for the long line, and you will find Tian Tian. The chicken rice was wonderful, but I think the real gem is this one:

It is the stall with the writing fried sweet potato dumpling on the bright yellow sign. I still dream of the coconut dumpling, which had the most amazing texture and sweetness. So good!

Well, the centre is packed full of  cheap and interesting food, and it is pretty much a paradise for a food lover like myself.

Where Maxwell Road meets South Bridge Road

New Asia Bar

The New Asia Bar is located on the 71st floor, high above Singapore with an amazing view of the city. Andy and I had cocktails there, and despite the expensive drinks, it was worth it for the view. We just sat there for hours with our cocktails, holding hands, and had a great time. The food looked pretty bad though (from what other people were having).

2 Stamford Road 

71st floor of the Swissôtel The Stamford

Cocotte

After drinks at the New Asia Bar we went to a late dinner at Cocotte in the middle of Little India. I had read that their whole roast chicken which was supposed to be out of this world tender and delicious. And it really was! I think Andy said it best: It’s like it is not even chicken. It is like if a chicken and a pack of butter had a baby. It really was like no chicken I ever tasted before, and I would go back in a heartbeat for it. We also shared a crème brûlée for dessert, which was also perfect.

2 Dickson Road

6298 1188