The Hungry Bunny

Much has been raved of Magic Square , the incubator at Portsdown Road for promising young chefs. But I would beg to defer: in the same way I would prefer not to have my hair cut by a trainee hairdresser, I have to confess I wasn't crazy about Magic Square . It's not to say that the food was bad, but it very much feels like I'm an experiment for said chefs to hone their skills. Also, perhaps the chef was having a bad day, but his sullen demeanor and lifeless intonation didn't exactly inspire enthusiasm for his food. He seemed, at best, reluctant, and at worst, irritably testy, to present his menu. That irritation was most obvious when he stopped, mid-sentence, to glare with pursed lips, at a few diners who failed to pay rapt attention to his dead, monotonous description of some dish. I don't blame that group of talkative diners, the chef appeared so uninterested about his own food, how could he reasonably expect that anyone would be excited by that? And really, thi...

One-Ninety is the long-timer in-house continental restaurant of the Four Seasons in Singapore. It may be a trite dining concept, but it's an old-reliable that can be counted on for a simple, low-fuss meal amidst elegant digs. The Mezze Dinner Buffet ($64+ per pax) is a semi-buffet spread of curated appetizers and desserts, and supplemented with an ala carte main course. It's not the most extensive or outstanding of buffets, but where the selection is kept purposefully small, the quality is maintained pretty highly. My main was a Pan-fried Mediterranean Seabass , cooked beautifully, and simply adorned by a broccolini caponata, lemon, ketchup, and a lemon cream sauce. The Hubs had the Black Angus Prime Tenderloin ($32 supplement) juicy, imbued with a wonderful char, and served with a red wine jus and blistered baby peppers. Nice if a little overpriced for the quality. DIY Salad Station, nice crisp greens and a lovely selection of evoo Poached Baby Kailan; Feta ...

Food tours are de rigueur on my travels. I've found that joining a food tour is the most authentic way to get to know a country, as guides bring you around to their favourite food haunts, away from tourist traps, all the while providing an unadulterated insight of a local.  I've never done one in Singapore (why would I ever need to anyway??), so when the FoodNews PR people invited me on a Gourmet Greens Week 2015 Food Trail around our little island, I thought, why not? It'd be fun to do one of my little island, and I may discover new foodie gems! Besides, I'd been toying with the idea of implementing a vegetarian diet once a week, so the food trail's spotlight on vegetarian fare was perfectly opportune. For the week of 23 - 29 November, participating restaurants will offer a 4-course set lunch at $30, and 4-course set dinner at $45, with a complimentary bottle of FIJI Water (I mean, if you were going to eat clean, you may as well go all the way and avoid Newa...

I remember when the Westin hotel chain sold the iconic Stamford Road hotel to the Swissotel group back in the early 2000's and exited entirely from Singapore. I spent a large part of that decade referring to the hotel as the Westin, confounding taxi drivers and bungling up many a meetup with friends. Even now, I sometimes catch myself thinking of the Swissotel as Westin. The Westin has now returned to our sunny shores, occupying the top floors of Asia Square Tower 2 in the Marina Bay downtown financial sector of the CBD. In spite of its prime grade A locale, the hotel doesn't quite afford the expansive view of the bay or the sea beyond because it's flanked all round by equally towering office blocks. Very unfortunate, methinks, because the lack of a seaview in most rooms would likely work against the hotel because staycationers would naturally look for a seaview to wake up to. Seasonal Tastes , Westin's in-house all-day buffet restaurant, recently launched their th...