The advantage of having been to Singapore a dozen or so times before is that I know some decent eating places. Being a fan of Italian cuisine, Italian restaurants are prominent among them. I went to my third favourite, on Clarke Quay, because I fancied a stroll to get my bearings (and get some idea of how much the city has changed since I was last here) (well, not last here — I had a short stopover when I flew to Australia in 2004, but I never left the airport). The restaurant was much as I remembered it, but the menu was more fish-and-chicken than it used to be, which is annoying as I like neither. It didn't matter, though, as they still did the fettucine Alfredo and the oddly fluffy crème brulée I remember of yore.
My second-favourite Italian restaurant in Singapore is in CHIJMES. This is an old convent or something that was converted into a collection of restaurants in the 1990s. Assuming they haven't gone out of business for being too damned expensive, there's an Italian restaurant there that I really like, with a much wider range. It was there that I first found out that you're supposed to mix balsamic vinegar and olive oil together to dunk your bread in, if it's available.
My favourite Italian restaurant isn't there any more. This is where it was:
They knocked the restaurant down to build it. I knew it was going when I went to it last, because of all the construction work around it, and the person who ran it told me they were moving somewhere else. I've no idea where they went, though.
Yes, I came all the way to Singapore and ate Italian. Perhaps if I get round to it I'll explain some of the other dining experiences I've had here and you might understand why (the fish head curry, the Korean steamboat, the sea slug, the food court at the bottom of the Funan centre, the mince at the one-night hotel, the fish-flavoured eggs, breakfast with the Archbishop of Canterbury, ...).
Hmm, I seem to recall their being an Italian restaurant in Suntec City, which is right across from the hotel I'm in. I never got a chance to eat there before, so maybe I'll check it out...
PS: JEEZ what's that noise outside?