We began Day 2 with breakfast at the Tiffin Room! Established in 1892 and previously going by the name of ‘Currylicious’, this restaurant is said to be one of the oldest North Indian restaurants in Singapore known for presenting their dishes in tiffin boxes.
Breakfast was served in an a la carte fashion with unlimited ordering, where we could access the menu via a QR code and then place our orders with the wait staff. Everything was generally quite tasty and I especially liked the muffins and croissants. Unfortunately, the French toast was hard and a little too dense with extremely sweet berry coulis. When I gave this feedback to one of the staff, he apologized and immediately offered to get it redone or put in an order for an alternative if I so preferred. I didn’t go through with either option since we were full already, plus we were going to have breakfast the next day anyway to try other dishes. Regardless, I’d give two thumbs up for the service we received here (:
With the $50 Raffles Boutique credit in hand and a stackable 20% discount for staying guests, we had a mini shopping spree at Raffles Boutique. Well, actually it was mostly window shopping since the prices here are insanely marked up ($30 plus for a regular coffee mug, no way). But credit had to be utilized, so I spent a good deal of time wandering around the shop trying to maximize my spend. Ultimately, we ended up with a box of pandan kaya tarts, a 2-set coaster and said coffee mug HAHA. The deck of cards was from a prior reserved purchase using a discount code we won for solving an interactive mystery play filmed at Raffles Hotel.
Besides the restaurants we dined at, the hotel also has many other F&B establishments to choose from. Long Bar, home of the Singapore Sling located on level 2 of Raffles Arcade, was named as such because at that time, it boasted one of the longest bar counters in Singapore (very literal indeed). It is probably one of the few places left in Singapore where customers are encouraged to litter (ie. throw their peanut shells on the floor) without earning themselves a fine – a way to recreate and capture the olden days in which such occurrences were “normal”. Another hotel bar housed within the Main Building is Writers Bar, a cosy nook to catch up on some drinks. Finally, the only hotel restaurant we didn’t dine at was La Dame de Pic, given that their set menus cost an upwards of $128++ per guest, but the ambience there feels absolutely lovely and quaint.
After whiling away the rest of our afternoon reading in the parlour (me) and searching for gifts at Raffles City Shopping Centre (husband), we made our way to Yi by Jereme Leung for dinner. As the staff opened the door to welcome us, I was blown away by the enchanting set-up of a beautiful white forest passageway that led into the restaurant, very Alice-In-Wonderland-esque. Once we were seated, my husband’s inner architect remarked that the design of this restaurant was one of the nicest he’s seen so far.
I actually wanted to try the dim sum here but didn’t realize it was only available during lunch, so we settled for a simple meal of Taiwanese-style beef brisket noodles and Dan Dan noodles with minced Iberico pork, along with pu-erh tea. We were a little taken aback when the Dan Dan noodles arrived in a bowl of soup as we were expecting it to be served dry. The food was yummy and flavourful, no doubt, but maybe because we didn’t order the signatures, we felt it paled in comparison to what we had at Butcher’s Block and Osteria BBR yesterday.
On to Day 3, our last and final day here at Raffles Hotel (‘: I thought to have a change of scenery at breakfast so I requested for a seat in The Grand Lobby space just outside the Tiffin Room. This time round, we ordered the dishes that we didn’t try yesterday. Similar to our verdict on yesterday’s breakfast, most dishes were done pretty well (like the eggs and the fish congee, which was fragrant and seasoned nicely) but the desserts were a letdown once again. The waffles had an unusual scratchy sponge-like texture while the pancakes were chalky and thick instead of being light and fluffy, definitely not worth the extra calories. In short, you’re likely better off skipping dessert and sticking to the hot mains.
I was feeling a tad peckish at midday and since we didn’t get to try any dim sum from Yi restaurant last night, I considered ordering something small just to have a taste. Amanda, our butler, was very helpful in arranging for the house specialty black gold egg custard buns to be delivered to our suite. I mentioned this request to her and she saw to it straightaway, ensuring that the food was promptly hand-delivered to our doorstep. Truly amazing service ❤ The buns weren’t too bad, but I suspect they’d taste much better eaten fresh and hot at the restaurant itself.
In a bid to minimize contact amidst the ongoing pandemic, the front desk has discontinued check-out proceedings at the reception area. Instead, a front desk staff will call to assist with settling charges and answering queries, if any. Jiyeon was the one who called to walk us through the check-out process and informed us that we had been accorded a late check-out at 4pm as part of service recovery for the miscommunication on the first day. We were very appreciative of the gesture and so incredibly impressed with their level of hospitality.
My overall rating of the experience: 5 out of 5 stars. I especially love their emphasis on staying true to their roots both in terms of the physical hardware and the implicit traditions that they hold onto even till this day, which makes for a really rich historical narrative that left me with a larger-than-life experience. Even so, you won’t feel as if you’ve stepped back in time to outdatedness because the hotel very cleverly keeps itself contemporary and relevant, as seen from its technologically-equipped suites, its recent “less sugar” modification to the Singapore Sling recipe, as well as its brewing idea of updating their Personality Suites to more current luminaries (BTS suite, anyone?). Another major plus was the unparalleled excellent service we received, huge shout-out to Jiyeon and Amanda for taking such good care of us! The lengths they went to to make our stay a pleasant and memorable one just blew my mind. Also, we truly enjoyed our incredibly spacious and well-maintained suite – what I’d give for another afternoon of reading in that gorgeous sun-drenched parlour. Lastly, most of the food we had was pretty good, save for the desserts at breakfast (though the impact of this was honestly minuscule in the grand scheme of our entire experience here). In conclusion, my husband and I unanimously agree that this is the best stay we’ve ever had and even now, we occasionally dreamily reminisce the wonderful memories we had here at the Grand Dame, which never fails to bring a smile to our faces ❤
Dania Experiences 