Lobby Court @ The Swissotel The Stamford Singaore

After lunch at the Raffles Courtyard (Please see also review.) and shopping at Raffles City, we were thirsty and We looked for refreshments at the Lobby Court of the Swissotel The Stamford.

The Stamford was the highest hotel in the world, when it opened its doors for the first time. It still looks magnificent and fits in perfectly well with the cityscape of Singapore. The hotel incl. the Raffles City complex which also incl. the Fairmont Singapore was designed by architect I.M. Pei.

Having visited previously the hotel we knew already the New Asia and Intro Bar, so we thought it was time to try a new outlet.

The Lobby Court is located on the ground floor and is a place to see and be seen. The entrance and check-in are located on the same level.

The atmosphere was moody with dark furniture and low lightning. To give it a more cosy feeling there were shelves with books and vases and a bar area.

The seating was lounge style. We were brought to one of the sofas by a nice waitress.

We chose a bottle of still water and two mocktails, the melon cooler and the devil mango. Our drinks were memorable and we felt refreshed.

The waitress was attentive and must have overheard we discussed Singapore celebrating 50 years of independence, because she showed us a special glass, that commemorated it and was on sale. It was shaped like the Merlion. There was no visible opening to fill it, so the waitress showed us how you could do it (removing the Merlion's head) and after the head was put on again, a straw could be entered through the Merlion's nostril. It was a novelty and cute. We liked it very much.

Our bill was delivered promptly and was 35.31 SGD (ca. 23.45 Euro or 24.95 USD).

When at Raffles City and looking for some high quality refreshments we would visit again the Lobby Court.

©2015  

Revisit to Milano Dawson Street, Dublin, Ireland

In mid-November we took part in the 2nd Dublin Arabic Film Festival, which was coordinated by Jim Sheridan, the famous Irish director.

Between "I am Nojoom, age 10 and divorced" and "The Idol" we had time for late lunch and had reserved a table for two at Milano Dawson Street.

We were glad we did, because when we arrived it was quite full. There were a lot of families with small children. It was a bit loud, but overall the atmosphere was good.

It was our third visit to this outlet of the chain.

Like last time the tables were very close together. In fact it was too tight in our case. When he tried to get to the bench, he managed to swipe down the wine glass from the neighboring unoccupied table and it smashed to the ground. The staff accepted our apologies graciously and within a few minutes no signs of the accident were visible.

Our waiter was with us shortly after we had taken our seats and asked us if we wanted any drinks. We ordered a 1l bottle of Acqua Panna, two Leggera Pollo ad Astra pizzas, one broccolini as a side dish and two Leggera Tartufo Limoncello.

The Leggara pizzas had no center, but were filled with green salad, so they had under 500 kcal. The desserts were under 210 kcal.

All was delicious.

The service was quick, friendly and precise.

Our bill came in at 49.20 Euro (ca. 52.45 USD).

We like Milano, especially the one in Dawson Street, here service was always spot on, as was the food. We would look forward to eat here again in our future, especially pizza and other Italian specialities from their Leggera offerings.

©2015 

Rustic Stone by Dylan McGrath, Dublin, Ireland

Having passed Rustic Stone a lot of times we were aware that the restaurant is run by Dylan McGrath, a former Michelin Star winning chef of Mint Restaurant fame, existed, but didn’t think it would be suitable for us.

Since we are more health conscious it suddenly made sense. We were actively discussing for months, if this should be our next restaurant we were going to test. It also came highly recommended by the Maitre d’ of Glynn Purnell’s – a 1* Michelin stared restaurant in Birmingham, UK -, where we had lunch in October 2015, so we took the plunge. A review is going to follow about Glynn Purnell’s, but it might take some time.

Rustic Stone by Dylan McGrath is located on South Georges Street, not too far from Fallon & Byrne.

It is housed in a classic building (Georges Street Arcade) and contains one of the most expensive kitchens in Ireland. It is Chef McGrath’s experimental kitchen.

The cuisine is fresh, seasonal and healthy. Any dietary requirements can be accommodated and all dishes state if they are wheat, gluten, dairy and/or sugar free, if they are low in saturated fat or vegetarian/vegan. It makes it easier for allergy sufferers, diabetics, persons with high cholesterol or blood pressure or generally health conscious guests to choose.

We arrived on a rainy November day. Our reservation was in the system and we were brought to our table with a smile. The restaurant is rustic in design with lots of wood and mirrors. It is small and the tables are somewhat too tight arranged together.

Rustic Stone was humming with activity.

Our waiter was friendly and brought all relevant menus. We were asked if we wanted still or sparkling water, which arrived promptly in a non branded glass bottle with a flip top opening. A wonderful touch for an earlier era.

We also had the raw warm cinnamon and apple shake and the carrot, orange, sweet ginger shake. They were memorable, tasty and healthy, so we had them twice.

Making up our mind what to order wasn’t easy, because there were so many interesting items on the Raw Menu, which means the food is cooked on lower temperature than usual to keep as many nutrient as possible.

We had the tuna and sweet pickled peppers, seasonal melon cubes with ginger, basil and cucumber, citrus cured salmon, duck with celery orange and green olives and thin slices of heirloom tomato with crunchy courgette and black olive oil. We ordered small plates of those. Another starter was the beetroot broth infused with orange and dill, which didn’t belong to the raw food, but it was outstandingly good.

The raw appetizers were all served together on an understated marble plate. It reminded us of Japan. The broth came in a laboratory bottle, which we could serve ourselves in a bowl, filled with grated beetroot. The flavors were amazing and worked well together.

The melon cubes, heirloom tomatoes and the citrus cured salmon were our favorites.

Our main courses were Penne Pesto and Fish in a Bag. He had chosen the small portion of penne, but seeing how big it was it left us wonder what a large plate would look like. The basil pesto was delicious and the plate looked like a work of art.

My Mackerel was rustic and came with quinoa, carrots and saffron. Our main courses were very well balanced and so good, we could have ordered more, but dessert was waiting.

We ordered a chocolate soup with chocolate mousse and a Catalan Cassanade with toasted brioche. The Cassanade was Catalan Curd served with orange sorbet. The textures were interesting and the flavors good.

The soup, roasted and grated hazelnut and mousse went very well together and wasn’t bland at all, a fear I had, it was moreish.

A Kahlua for him rounded up the meal.

The bill came in at 113.95 Euro or ca. 120.80 USD.

The staff was extremely busy, because the restaurant was fully booked. Sometimes it was difficult to grab their attention, but they were friendly and helpful.

Fellow diners changed the later in the afternoon it was. At first there were many young couples under thirty there, then the clientele was suddenly over fifty.

The atmosphere was good, sometimes a bit loud. Conversations were possible, though.

Other guests favored the value menu. The chicken wings and steak or tuna grilled on a hot stone were the bestsellers.

We would return, because the cuisine is very rare and nowhere else to be found in Dublin or Ireland. It combines healthy components with being tasty and allowing to “graze” and try many different dishes.

We also hope that Chef McGrath tries his hand again in the future on Michelin stared fine dining possibilities with another new restaurant. At least we hope so.

©2015

Raffles Courtyard @ The Raffles Hotel, Singapore

When planning our full day in Singapore we wanted to go to one of our favorite places in the whole of the city.

We love the Raffles Hotel and surrounding areas.

We reserved a few months ahead a table at the Raffles Courtyard.

When we arrived it was very quiet and only another family with adult/teenaged children was there.

We were greeted warmly and brought to our table.

The setting was romantic with lush foliage, wicker furniture, the Bras Basah Wing on one side and the rest of the hotel encircling the courtyard.  Birds were singing in the background and we could hear a nearby fountain tinkling.

Singapore was celebrating 50 years of Independence and there were a lot of special offers available.

At the Raffles Courtyard it was a 3 course meal for 50 SGD++.

All items marked on the menu were included. We decided to have it, since it was good value and included many of the dishes we wanted to have anyway.

We started off with a bottle of Surgiva still water from Italy, a Singapore Sling, which celebrates 100 years in 2015, and a Raffles Indonesia cocktail. Each Raffles around the world has a signature cocktail and they appear on the menu of other properties as well. The drinks were beautifully presented and we enjoyed every sip.

We were looking forward for our meal to arrive, which was delivered freshly from the show kitchen at the back.

By the time our starters arrived the restaurant was filling up.

Our appetizers Gazpacho and Vitello Tonnato. Both were very enjoyable.

Our main courses were Orecchiette pasta with Burratina cheese, cherry tomatoes and basil and a Chorizo Pizza. We both loved our dishes. They were very sumptuous and full of flavor, but light enough to fit the climate.

As dessert we had both the same - a scoop of chocolate and hazelnut ice cream, in-house made, from the classic trolley. The ice cream was rich and just the right size.

Rain and showers are no problem, because every table is covered with a large umbrella. They not only protect from the rain, but also the sun.

The staff was attentive and friendly. We felt extremely well here at this gorgeous venue.

The meal took ca. 1.5 hours.

We paid 202.45 SGD (ca. 132.30 Euro or 142.30 USD).

Afterwards we felt rested and ready to explore the hotel and Raffles City.

We enjoyed the atmosphere, meal and surroundings very much, so we would return when we're in Singapore again in our future.

©2015

The Shangri-La Valley Wing Singapore

During my birthday trip we also wanted to revisit Singapore.

Making the decision where to stay was difficult, because there are so many great hotels, but the Shangri-La had been on our bucket list for a longer time. We visited many hotel websites, watched Youtube videos and read Trip Advisor reviews.

After all this we decided to have our second Shangri-La and booked the Valley Wing to make it very special. It was also a good chance to compare a Shangri-La Resort (See the review of the Shangri-La Rasa Sayang, Penang.) with a city property.

The Shangri-La Singapore was the first hotel of the group, opened in 1971, and it is also the flagship. Previously the grounds were an orange grove.

We took a limousine from Singapore Changi Airport, arriving from Kuala Lumpur (Please see also the review of the Sama Sama Hotel.) It cost 55 SGD (ca. 35 Euro or ca. 39.65 USD). The journey took around twenty minutes.

Since there are two different entrances for the Valley Wing and the Tower Wing/Garden Wing combined, we told the driver where we wanted to be dropped off.

We were greeted warmly by the door man Krishna, who was wearing a colonial uniform. It was opulent and included a helmet.

Opposite to the Shangri-La Rasa Sayang there was no list and we were invited inside immediately.

There was a large painting of Shangri-La from the famous book Lost Horizon, after which the hotel chain is named.

The reception was right in front of the entrance. The check in formalities were done quickly, but there was still time to ask for the reason of our stay and to hand over a Dendrobium Orchid, which was created for the 35th anniversary of the Shangri-La Singapore, as a welcome gift.

When the receptionist heard it had been my birthday the week before he looked for a special room for us.

It was a smoking room on the 17th floor (the highest) with a balcony. He told us we could have a look, since we had originally stated in our booking we wanted a non-smoking room, and if the smell did disturb us we could always change again, but it should be beautiful and the smell no bother at all.

Another colleague accompanied us to the room. On the way she explained our privileges and pointed out things we might be interested in.

When entering the room there was no smell at all. If we hadn’t been told it was a smoking room we wouldn’t have believed it. We were very happy and kept it.

The room was very large and was a good mix between classic, Chinese and modern design elements.

There was a small hallway. To the left was the walk in closet, leading to the fully marbled bathroom. The walk in closet could be closed with richly decorated Chinese double doors.

There was a vanity table, large writing desk, a seating area with coffee table and Time, Robb Report, Epicure and Prestige Magazines.

The writing desk had a complete set of office supplies and a guest directory.

There was also a credenza with a flat screen TV and DVD-Player. All necessary international channels were available as well as regional ones.

The color scheme was green, gold, white and brown.

We liked the chandelier, the Nespresso coffee machine and Dilmah Tea selection.

The minibar was stocked with Sunrasia juices, other soft drinks (all non-alcoholic beverages were free of charge and replenished daily), liquors, Champagne, beer and Whiskey. The 375 ml bottle Veuve Cliquot was for example 72 SGD (ca. 46.60 Euro or ca. 51.30 USD) and the 50 ml Johnny Walker Black Label was 52 SGD (ca. 33.65 Euro or ca. 37 USD).

The fresh orchid plant, the fruit basket and nightly turndown service with free bottles of water, bookmarks with an excerpt from the Lost Horizon and a golden flower print and mint chocolates, packaged neatly in small Valley Wing branded boxes, were appreciated.

The king-sized bed was large and extremely comfortable.

We loved sitting on the balcony, which was fully furnished with wooden chairs and a marble topped table. We had views over the other wings, the garden, swimming pool and the city.

We saw one magnificent sunset.

The bathroom was large with double sinks and a separate bath tub and shower. The toilet and bidet were in their own room.

The bathroom amenities were by L’Occitaine Jasmin & Bergamot. We enjoyed it so much we bought a large hand soap at the L’Occitaine Raffles City store in Singapore.

During our two night’s stay we used in room dining, though there are plenty of restaurants and bars to choose from, including Nadaman for Japanese, Shang Palace (Chinese), The Line & Shop, which was designed by Adam Tihany, the Waterfall, the Lobby Court, the Rose Veranda and the BLU Bar. Since we were very busy throughout our days we enjoyed to have dinner in the privacy and peaceful atmosphere of our large and beautiful room.

One meal included two carrot juice, one hot chocolate, one Milo, Singaporean Chicken Rice, which was fragrant and delicate flavored and very beautifully presented, Rigatoni Carbonara and a cherry banana crumble to share. Both were very light and flavorful. We would have this dinner again. It cost 124.75 SGD or ca. 81.50 Euro / 89.35 USD.

The other evening we weren’t very hungry and shared a Malaysian Chicken Curry with rice, which was messy to eat, but very delicious and spicy as we like it. Even though we didn’t order anything to drink the curry came with a glass of water, no charge, which was a nice touch. I had the dish before, but it was a first for him. We both enjoyed it. The curry cost 29.45 SGD (ca. 19.25 Euro or ca. 21.10 USD).

The ladies and gentlemen from In Room Dining were an asset to the hotel, discreet, friendly and generally interested in us.

During our stay we also used the shoe shine service, which was reliable and the shoes returned as good as new in a special box the next morning.

We decided to use the laundry service. Of course it wasn’t cheap, but worth the money paid for (103.60 SGD / ca. 67.70 Euro / ca. 74.20 USD). Each individual shirt was washed, ironed, starched and wrapped in paper. They looked as if we had just bought them.

Now to the benefits that come with the Valley Wing. It includes access to the Valley Wing Lounge and breakfast at the famous and lavish Summit Room which is gorgeous and memorable at the same time.

The lounge has snacks throughout the day, afternoon tea, canapés in the evening and free flowing Perrier-Jouet Champagne, cocktails or any other beverage one could wish for.

On the one evening we took part hot and cold canapés were served. They were watermelon and Feta cheese, Foie Gras on toast and decorated with a blueberry, tofu with soya sauce and green pesto, BBQ Chicken drum, Polenta, cod and prawn, which was brought to the table by the waiter, wearing white gloves.

At the bar was also a buffet with an excellent international cheese selection, crudités, salads, dressings and a very delectable cherry pistachio cake.

The quality was outstanding.

Breakfast was as high caliber and offered a huge choice of hot a la carte dishes. Guests can requests items, that aren’t on the menu or order as many dishes from the a la carte menu as they want.

The Continental buffet was large and included many cereals, fruits, berries, fruit salad, smoked salmon, cold cuts, cheese, bread, nuts, seeds and so much more.

The members of staff were the same as at the Valley Wing Lounge. Overall they were efficient, understated and friendly. They were happy to see us, but not so pleased when there was a small hiccup with our order on the last day. Many guests were ordering at the same and there was a confusion who should get what, so I received instead of an omelet fried eggs and baked beans. The mistake didn’t worry us too much and was quickly rectified.

We enjoyed a variety of egg dishes and French Toast.

Interesting enough every morning the table was set with different porcelain, which was a first for us.

We loved the elegant and lavish décor, the floor to ceiling windows and being able to catch a glimpse of the squirrels living in the garden.

The lounge was very large and had different seating arrangements from a bar/lounge to a restaurant setup.

It had a classic feel and beautiful design.

Besides spending time at the Valley Wing, we explored the hotel grounds, the Tower Wing and a bit of the Garden Wing.

When we needed transportation we went to Krishna, who organized taxis for us. Waiting time was minimal.

He was extremely friendly and showed us the VIP entrance/exit to the Valley Wing, allowing famous persons to avoid the lobby and go straight to their floor. There is also a secret door connecting the public spaces with the VIP entrance. Krishna was so kind to and let us use it, which garnered a few surprised stares and some disappointment by fellow guests, because we weren’t VIPs.

Krishna and we also chatted about other Shangri-La properties we had been to, not that many in our case. He had been at the Golden Sands, the sister property of the Rasa Sayang. We talked about our jobs and Krishna proudly explained he was working for the Shangri-La for over twenty years and loved it. You could see he was very proud and happy. Krishna told us which presidents of the US and other politicians he had met. We realized his brother and I were working for the same global company on different continents.

Then it was unfortunately time to pack, check out and leave. It was hard, because the setting is very romantic, the comfort great, the cuisine outstanding and the staff attentive and can’t do enough for you.

We would love to stay here again, should we be in Singapore.

©2015