Raffles Hotel, Singapore

When I wrote 16 place to visit to my daughter this was one of those. She's traveling with low budget, but I promised to balance the accounts, so she had a possibility to have a Sling here. It's expensive but that's the way, when something comes popular, the prices climb up, but if you travel from other part of the world, don't count last pennies.

Whole hotel is beautiful and you might get your drink in the bar served with really peculiar glass. Don't miss The Drink, I drank my first one after 20y ago and still I tell that to all who are going here.

This place is really popular, especially among tourists, so you definitely need to make reservations. Not very much variety here though - the spread consisted of the usual high-tea items and some local favourites - finger sandwiches, scone with jam and cream, chicken pie etc. The finger sandwiches were pretty good. Just something about sandwiches cut into little pieces that makes it taste better than usual :) The scone was quite good too. Nothing quite like a simple scone with fresh cream and jam...

They also had a varieyt of dim sum - siew mai, egg tart, char siew pao, char siew so, and otah. Everything was pretty decent, but nothing was exceptionally good. For desserts there were kuehs like onde onde... but what was horrible was the waffle! It was rock hard and totally inedible.

Hmm, I guess the main reason why people come here is not so much the food but more the atmosphere... All the decor here definitely adds to the colonial atmosphere - from the iron gate right in the middle of the restaurant (so pretty I just had to take a picture of it), the elegant paintings, the little potted plants on each table... and the harp player definitely helps to transport you back to the days of Sir Stamford Raffles.

I do have to mention though, that I was a bit disturbed to find that the plates and cutlery were old in a scratched-up way (as opposed to being old in an antique way) and the napkins had little holes in them. Maybe the grand dame is due for a makeover....

For $37+++, this is not the best place to come for high tea if you're looking for a good spread. But definitely worth coming at least once, just for the experience...

Sheepishly, feeling like the obvious tourists we were, we went up to the Long Bar in midafternoon. It is a beautiful place - lazy wooden ceiling fans, rich spiral staircases, bamboo-backed menus, dark gleaming (long!) mirrored bar, gorgeous paintings around. The waitstaff was attentive and not at all condescending to us Americans ordering a couple of Singapore Slings and a calamari appetizer. The Slings were tasty enough (seemed a bit weak and pricey) and the calamari was fine (again, overpriced for the portion and nothing-spectacular flavor). The real joy is in relaxing in a comfortable place with so much history and being able to say you had the famous Sling where it was created.

Bar and Billiard Room 1 Beach Road Singapore 189673 (65) 6337 1886 fax (65) 6339 7650 bar&billiardsroom@raffles.com this bar is an amazing place. The ambience just oozes history and you can almost feel yourself taken back in time. It is the place to frock up a bit and have a Singapore Sling. However beware of the price. The price is high, a Singapore sling will cost $16 SGD and a local tiger beer cost $11 SGD. A diet coke can cost $7 SGD so beware non alcoholic drinks are a bit rich as well. This is not a place for a budget traveller to spend the whole night but some times a splurge is worth it.

Although staying at Raffles may be beyond your budget it is not too expensive to eat there. The Tiffin Room serves a wonderful Indian and Asian hot buffet. The surroundings are elegant and refined while service is impeccable. Each time I went to the buffet to get more food I would return to my table to find my napkin had been neatly folded by one of the attentive staff!
It is truly a very special dining experience.