HYDERABAD: While spending a weekend in Singapore recently, I had two outstandingly delightful meals whose flavour, mingled with the fragrance of the flowers around, still lingers on. Food and flowers? Yes, the food was served in such a pretty floral ambience, it was tough to choose which to admire, the artisanal presentation of gastronomic delights or the beautifully laid out gardens all around.
Pollen - Gardens by the Bay
My epicurean journey to the “Pollen” started with a fun ride (courtesy: the restaurant’s buggy service from Gardens by the Bay’s arrival plaza). Pollen offers a stunning view of the Marina Bay waterfront and skyline with modern Mediterranean cuisine. The curving majesty of the glass dome looming over, I found myself surrounded by colourful flora. The restaurant grows their own herbs in the dome; I stopped to take a deep breath and noticed the tantalising scents of lavender and rosemary competing with the strangely unique flavours of my dessert - Pumpkin ice cream with yogurt, white chocolate, and blueberry.
The restaurant is surrounded by olive and fig trees, lavender and thyme, all in a temperature-controlled 20-degree Celsius climate. I sat inside an olive grove, surrounded by Amalfi lemon trees and lavender plants. After the meal, I wandered into the cool Mediterranean garden replete with exotic flowers and plants.
The Halia - Singapore Botanic Gardens
The 158-year-old Singapore Botanic Gardens is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Here, the Ginger Garden with romantic night lighting and a pool adorned with giant Amazon water lilies, makes a lovely setting. Tucked away in the lush foliage of this Ginger Garden, is the beautiful restaurant “Halia” (Malay for ginger), surrounded by over 250 species of gingers with their stunning foliage and colourful flowers. The unobtrusive dining room with full height glass windows gives a feeling of sitting in a garden while still ensconced in the air-conditioned comfort.
Our elaborate meal was called, “Communal Feasting”, a fancy name given by the restaurant, where food is shared by all sitting around the table. In fact, that is how we in India always feast by sharing, be it in a restaurant or at a dinner party: be it with family or friends or relatives.
As the majestic palm trees swayed gently, the freshly baked sweet and savoury breads, Halia’s signature condiments, and the fresh fruit salad arrived: muesli, passion fruit, and Greek yogurt. The familiar taste of “dalia” and “raitha” put me at ease. What followed was Lemongrass & Ginger Prawn Salad, one of their signature dishes.
The fresh, juicy and flavourful prawns were treated with spices, coconut and a hint of ginger and dressed in fresh mango and tomato salsa, glass noodle and ginger flower dressing. After all, we were sitting in the midst of a ginger garden! Heirloom Tomato Salad had smoked capsicum hummus, spiced hazelnuts, pickled ginger, and feta cheese with a breakfast radish thrown in. My taste buds responded well to the nuts, cheese, and the pickled ginger.
Full Blood Blackmore Wagyu Striploin - I gave a miss to this tongue twister. The ingredients didn’t appeal to me either. Here’s the description if you want to know: 230 gram, MBS 9+ (Australia) pearl couscous salad of celeriac puree, puffed grains, chilli & herbs, mash potato, mushroom jus. Does it sound like a provision list gone awry with a suggestion of medical prescription and baby food?
Paper bag Oven-baked Halibut Fillet was quite interesting to look at, as it came in an impressive “potli”.
I was quite curious to open the “potli” to find a piece of fish sitting in soy and ginger broth. Being a rice eater, the accompanying sesame Japanese rice was welcome, with or without wakame & wasabi aioli. Halia’s Singapore-style Chilli Crab Spaghettini in spicy, sweet & tangy sauce boasted an impressive historical background, having been created 13 years ago: Halia certainly deserves credit for this. The perfectly cooked pasta’s sauce was too sweet for my Indian palate, belying the “spicy & tangy” description.
Fresh Boston Bay Mussels had South Australian mussels dunked in coconut and ginger flower broth, chilli, lime and grilled focaccia: needless to say that I enjoyed the focaccia which didn’t call for much effort. You know, with mussels, it’s much hard work for a tiny reward.
Then there were desserts galore. Not one or two, but three! It’s true that I die for desserts, but soon I realised that one of them named “Die Die Must Have Chocolate” had a hidden meaning! Luckily it had chocolate to save me from the deadly sweet and reddish raspberry something, which almost killed me with its sweetness: I choked. Ginger Spice, All Things Nice was my true saviour: with ginger (not to forget that we were in the Ginger Garden!) and almond nougatine parfait, coconut mousse, compressed pineapple, and dehydrated coconut flesh. The “dehydrated coconut flesh” may sound a bit sickly but it is the harmless, finely sliced “copra”!
When I was almost giddy with the super size food fiesta, came the Pain Perdu: moist hazelnut brioche, caramelised banana, fresh berries, chocolate ice cream, caramelised hazelnut, praline sauce. Coffee or tea? Sorry, no space left - neither in the tummy nor in the head!
(IThe author is a documentary filmmaker and travel writer; she blogs at vijayaprataptravelandbeyond.com)