After a quick cab ride into town, we arrived at the hotel and went straight to our room for a shower. We had organised for early access (around 7.30am) as we had been caught out before and I am not a fan of hanging around for 6 hours waiting for the room to be available when I am tired and cranky. Both the gentleman and I were jetlagged and spent the next few hours trying to sleep as the time zone changes were catching up with us.
We were staying at Wanderlust hotel in Little India, a small and slightly unconventionally styled hotel. We have stayed there before, like the location and it's a good price (as I find that hotels are quite expensive in Singapore).
The main reason for the stop over, other than to break up the flights, was to visit one of our favourite restaurants, Waku Ghin. Waku Ghin is at the Marina Bay Sands and is Tetsuya's outpost in Singapore. We have eaten there twice before and were blown away both times with the food. Mainly seafood based, a 10 course degustation menu, small dining rooms (8 people max) and a lot of it is cooked at a teppanyaki style grill in front of you. High end ingredients, cooked seemingly simply - the gentleman and I really love it. When we were there last, which was almost exactly one year ago, I had original made the booking for the gentleman's birthday (and had advised the staff there that it was a birthday dinner). When then ended up going on holiday with some friends, who are also foodies and who came along to Waku Ghin with us. They too were blown away and we had an amazingly fun and delicious time with them. There were in Singapore in mid-December and unfortunately we couldn't time meeting up with them to have another dinner together (they are based in UAE).
The gentleman and I got all dressed up and ready to go, all excited about our awaiting dinner. We went down to reception and got them to order a taxi for us. It was a typical Singaporean early evening, absolutely pouring with rain! And so we waited for our cab....and waited.....(recognising a theme here?) Once the rain subsided a bit, we were able to get a cab and arrived about 20 minutes late for our dinner reservation. We were sharing our dining room with a family from Swan Hill, who kindly weren't too grumpy with our delayed arrival.
We settled in to start our meal with some sparkling water at the ready and awaiting the wine list to order some champagne. The sommlier comes out with a bottle of champagne in hand (Larmandier Bernier for those who are interested - it is very nice) and a card. It was a card from our friends in the UAE. It was a most lovely card. I mentioned early on in this trip report, that this was our honeymoon. And our friends in UAE, as a wedding gift to us, had paid for our dinner at Waku Ghin! Both the gentleman and I were completely gobsmacked! Very surprised and thankful to our lovely friends, we spent the next 10 minutes in shock. It was a wonderful wonderful surprise.
The dinner was delightful, as expected, and I will post some photos if I can ever get it working! The menu went as follows:
1) Gillardeau Oyster with Ginger and Rice Vinegar
2) Marinated Botan Shrimp with Sea Urchin and Oscietra Caviar
3) Slow cooked Petuna Ocean Trout with Witlof and Yuzu
4) Australian Abalone with Fregola and Tomato
5) Grilled New Zealand Scampi and Vanilla Oil
6) Braised Canadian Lobster with Couscous and Tajine Spice
7) Japanese Ohmi Wagyu with wasabi and citrus soy
8) Consomme with Rice and Snapper
They then served the gyokuro - which is a japanese green tea that is served at room temperature. A palate cleanser before you are escorted to a larger room with tables to have dessert and after dinner drinks.
The dessert menu consisted of:
1) Cold soup of strawberry with lychee and coconut
2) Montblanc
3) Chocolate mousse cake with vanilla and macadamia
4) Coffee, tea and petit fours
We went with the champagne for much of the menu and then followed up with a few glasses of burgundy (Volnay-Robardelle 2009 - Domaine Rossignol-Cornu et Fils). Highlight dishes were the sea urchin and the wagyu (both signature dishes). It was all wonderful though. Including the fact that the restaurant had remembered from last year that it was the gentleman's birthday around this time and sent one of the dessert plates out with a lovely chocolated enscription of 'happy birthday' on it. The service here is exceptional - very muted but fully attentive. Your glass is always being filled, cutlery reset, napkin refolded but you barely notice they are there, it is not at all intrusive. And extra credits for remembering the birthday too
We had a magnificent evening - really fabulous - and even managed to get a taxi back to the hotel in less than two hours!
