Bino

Shang Palace at Shangri-la Singapore has launched its The Chef’s Table, a monthly affair where fans of the restaurant and of Cantonese cuisine can come check out one-of-a-kind culinary creations by Chef Mok Kit Keung who has helmed Michelin-starred restaurants in Hong Kong in the past. I recently attended the very first The Chef’s Table event held on the 15th of August. As is the intention of all The Chef’s Table events, the dinner was held in Shang’s Palace private dining room. The meal consists of six-courses – with each session comprising different dishes based on seasonal produce.

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Botanico which is located at the upper storey of The Garage – a colonial building in the middle of the Singapore Botanic Gardens – is as much a feast for the eyes as it is a feast for the taste buds. With the alfresco area draped in vines and electric lights and with a view of the shrubbery of the Botanic Gardens, the ambiance is quite unlike any other restaurant in Singapore.

I was there in the evening but imagine the whole scene would work just as well, if not even better during the day. This is a place where I could imagine people would spend lazy afternoons watching the world go by. Other than the beautiful space, the cuisine here has been getting quite a bit of buzz as well. The new head chef, Sujatha Asokan, has come onboard to showcase her flavors – western with a distinct local sensibility. Recently, I dropped by Botanico to check out the new menu.

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Labyrinth is not the restaurant you go to if all you’re after is to have reliable and tasty Singaporean food. You’d be better off in a hawker center if that was your sole intention.  The type of local cuisine presented in this venue helmed by Chef Han Li Guang is so carefully deconstructed that dining here is very much an experience that defies the traditional concept of eating. It is probably no wonder then that Labyrinth has won a number of awards, the most prominent being the Michelin Star it has had for a few years. Truly, this is a place for the thinking and discerning gourmand.

I was recently invited to check out the revamped menu at Labyrinth. Chef Han Li Guang himself attributes his cuisine as a constant work in development that mirrors where he is in his personal and professional life. Similarly, the new menu has evolved from one that showcases fancier versions of local favorites to one that shows off the bounties of local produce. For a country that is just over 700 square kilometers, it is probably hard to picture farms and fisheries where one can get local produce but Labyrinth’s new menu shows exactly that – through postcards that tell stories and inspirations behind each dish. The new “Homage to My Singapore” menu comes in three versions – lunch, pre-theater (the restaurant is located in Esplanade after all) and dinner. My visit to Labyrinth coincided with dinner which is offered at S$178++ per person.

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