Category: Food

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Blog Food

Satay by the Bay

Satay by the Bay is one of Singapore’s many hawker centres – places where a variety of independent food and drink outlets congregate around a central area with tables and chairs. The idea is that you buy as much or as little as you wish from any of the stalls, then take a seat to eat it.

Access is through Gardens by the Bay, a beautiful and lush green park built on reclaimed land between the Marina Bay area and the waterside. It has two vast domed greenhouses, each of which maintains a bespoke climate to suit plant life that would not thrive here otherwise. It’s a bit like Cornwall’s Eden Project, but set in 30C year round temperatures.

The vast pipe outlets that help maintain the indoor climate of the domes have been dressed up as Supertrees. A 22m high walkway connects them, and gives terrific views over the Gardens with a backdrop of the glass and steel of the CBD.

Some of the many walks allow views of Marina Bay Sands, the vast triple-towered Hotel with a viewing deck across the top. Its design reminded me of my visit to Stonehenge a few months back. It also looks like a huge cricket wicket. Howzat.

In the evening, the Gardens are the venue for an impressive sound and light show, with the Supertrees choreographed to light up to the rhythm of classical music.

All of which makes a pretty good after dinner show for the diners at the hawker centre.

We chose plates of chicken and beef satay, that are cooked to order over hot coals.

The skewers are then served with a spicy peanut dipping sauce, as shown in my photo at the top of the post.

Now, sat here in Singapore’s Changi Airport, our flight is being called, so it’s time to stow my laptop and get to the departure gate.

We have had fun and eaten well in Singapore, but it is time to move on to our next stop. To find out where in the world that will be, check back here this weekend.

Keeping up the current international theme on the ADK Playlist,  here’s Transglobal Underground with the catchy Temple Head.

Categories
Blog Food

Kampong Gelam

Here in Singapore, the district of Kampong Gelam (also spelt Glam) is the traditional heartland of the city state’s Malaysian community. Our visit there, in search of some traditional Malay food, coincided with the start of Ramadan, the period where people of Muslim faith fast during the hours between sunrise and sunset.

We hadn’t been in this part of town during the daytime – that was spent in Chinatown and the Botanic Gardens. Due to the fasting though, I’m guessing that daylight business might have been a little slow for the local catering sector.

However, as Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys once (nearly) said, it changes round here when the sun goes down 🙂 .

As we arrived, the wailing sound of the call to prayers was all pervading, booming out across the network of tightly packed streets from the local Mosque.

The religious service inside was being broadcast live on a large screen, and very well-attended it seemed to be. After a day of fasting, it’s no surprise that the hungry worshippers were ready for some great food, as they spilled out on to the streets afterwards.

And how well served they were! There was traditional Malaysian food, like Satay…

…alongside a range of Turkish, Lebanese and Middle-eastern outlets.

The already numerous restaurants and takeaways were supplemented by the Gemilang (meaning Glorious) Festival, bringing even more food options through abundant market stalls.

I was keen to try a Malay dish I had read about called Nasi Lemak. We found it in a small restaurant that has made it their signature dish, and earned themselves a Michelin star, no less, in the process. For the record, the place is called Nasi Lemak Ayam Taliwang, and you can look them up in the Michelin Guide.

The food arrived as shown in my main photo at the top of the post. The undoubted star of the show was the mysterious green parcel to the side of the plate.

The wrapping is a pandan leaf, used in south-east Asian cuisine to add fragrance to food. It is secured at either end by bamboo skewers. These are unpinned, and the parcel unfurled to reveal steamed, soft, fluffy jasmine-scented and coconut-flavoured rice.

The rice is served with tender chicken that falls off the bone and a spicy peanut sauce. There is a side of crispy peanuts and anchovies, and soft roasted aubergine.

An interesting and satisfying meal was rounded off with a glass of fresh, chilled coconut juice, that complemented the food well.

There’ll be another post from Singapore in a few days. In the meantime, let’s have some more suitably themed music for the ADK playlist. Here’s the mighty Asian Dub Foundation with Fortress Europe.

Categories
Blog Food

Hello Singapore

I’m off on my travels again, and hoping to post about some excellent world cuisine over the next little while. First stop is the city state of Singapore, home of the Merlion I snapped in my main photo above.

After a 13 hour flight from London, my wife and I were hungry and ready to explore the local neighbourhood where our hotel is located, in the city’s district known as Little India. It is so-called because, since the 19th century, workers and their families travelling here from India have made this district their home.

Consequently, a walk around the local streets is an experience to behold. They teem with garish gold jewellery shops and the lingering scent of incense. There are spangly market stalls packed with colourful saris and dress shirts, at which industrious tailors sit by their sewing machines, ready to customise a garment to your precise fit.

The lanes are sided by canopies and known as five-foot ways. Originally designed to afford residents fresh air with shade from the hot sun, they now provide alfresco seating for hungry diners at the many restaurants and food stalls selling authentic Indian food.

We settled at a corner establishment and ordered the selection below: chicken and vegetable birianis, which came with a raita and selection of dipping sauces.

The side of vegetable samosas was unlike any I have had before. I am used to a filling wrapped up in a deep fried, triangular parcel of filo pastry, but these were pear-shaped, in a crispy pastry that had the sweet, coconut flavour of peshwari naan bread.

It was authentic, no-nonsense fare, cooked and served with cheer (check out these guys, and their cool t-shirts, below).

I’ve read that this is generally an expensive city, but this food came at reasonable prices (less than S$20 per head, which is about £10/US$20, and that included the Tiger beers).

There’ll be more to come from Singapore, so watch this space. If anyone wishes to send me recommendations on local places to eat, or food to try, please post in the comments below.

I’m keeping the Indian vibe going with this track from Monsoon added to the ADK Playlist: Ever So Lonely.