I have just come back from five days in Singapore. This was a work trip, and pretty intensive.

But it was a time of good eating.

The delegates dined at some pretty nice venues. The Peramakan Restaurant, for example, which is a lovely Nonya place set in the hallowed spaces of the Keppel Club. Excellent flavours. Nothing I hadn't eaten before (except for the delicate lemon grass jelly I had for pudding), but all exquisitely done.

Even more swanky was the Crystal Jade Golden Palace in the Paragon. None of your old dig-in buffet style here. A series of dainty, delicate dishes is personally and expertly set in front of you, in what can only be described as a gourmet parade:

-- a Teochew-style appetizer with tofu, goose, and what I think was belly pork
-- a delicious chicken soup with melt in the mouth chicken
-- steamed fish (a relative of the grouper)
-- sea cucumber
-- prawns with macadamias (one prawn tried to kill me -- seriously, that's the closest I've ever come to thinking I might choke to death)
-- crispy chicken

I passed on the noodles and the dessert...

But, come the weekend, Prudence and partner also did pretty well in hunting up good things.

My Art Space will serve you a nice salmon sandwich and an affogato. Did I ever know that affogato is an espresso served with a portion of ice cream on the side? Well, I do now.

The Coffee Club does delectable rose tea, which complements their bright little macaroons really nicely. Or you can push the boat out, and have Gooey Chocolate Monkey Tart.



Paradise Dynasty in Vivocity proved a fun place to eat with friends. The signature dish is a basket of bright dumplings (naturally coloured, they are keen to point out...). To me fell the original and the garlic, but there were also foie gras, crab roe, ginseng, cheese, Szechuan, and black truffle on offer. We also sampled Shanghai fried rice, crispy battered fish, fiery Szechuan chicken, glutinous rice dumplings with sesame, and a kind of crispy pancake enclosing red bean paste.



This place is pleasantly flamboyant, with wait staff in classic silks, and a circulating tea-topper-upper who wields an immensely long-spouted pot.

A fabulous find for Sunday lunch was Quentin's. This is situated in the Eurasian Heritage Centre, which is a mine of information about a very fascinating people group.



To accompany our watermelon and cucumber juice (a cool and lovely combo), they brought us a big basket of nicely fishy kerupuk and a dish of sambal. For the main course, we chose porku tambreyno (pork with chilies, candlenut, and tamarind), and sambal nanas cung pipineo (pineapple, cucumber, onions, and chilies). We rounded this off with sugee cake (pronounced sujee). Made of butter, almonds, and semolina, with marzipan and fondant icing, this was the classic celebration cake. All in all, a very refreshing set of tastes, guaranteed to get me longing for the Portuguese trail again.

Ahhh, Singapore, I will love you for ever...