Aline Sullivan
05/03/2004
When in Singapore, feed at Raffles. That is what young writer Rudyard Kipling advised travelers back in 1892. It remains good advice today. The landmark hotel, which houses a culinary academy, now boasts 18 bars and restaurants, including the elegant Grill Room. But the oldest, the Tiffin Room, is arguably still the most appealing.
Certainly, the Tiffin Room is the most atmospheric
of the top dining rooms in a city that has lost much of its colonial charm, but
has retained, in its sophisticated cuisine, its legacy as a regional melting
pot. There are few better places to experience the city’s cuisine than in this
northern Indian restaurant in Raffle’s historic main building. The private dining room, which seats eight very comfortably and 12 in a pinch, is tucked away on the south side of the restaurant. It can be accessed either through the large and elegant lobby or, if privacy is an issue, directly from the doors on the side (ask for the doors to the main restaurant to be obscured with screens). A simple place, with hardwood floors and white walls relieved only by the room’s original cornicing, a few antique prints and French windows overlooking the Palm Garden, the Tiffin Room will disappoint if you are looking for a really lavish venue. Most guests, however, will find it a welcome oasis from the heat and bustle of this busy city.
If the room is plain, the food is not.
Dinner is ordered from Thali sets—menus. There are about 10 different menus,
each with about 10 items, from which the host can order. Choose the Tiffin curry
and you will be presented with an enormous silver platter containing a colorful
arrangement of flavorful dishes, much the same as it has been served in this
room since the hotel was founded in 1887. Today, Chef Yogesh Arora starts most
meals with mulligatawny soup, a peppery chicken classic. Tandoori salmon is the
usual next course, followed by at least five curries. Highlights include gosht
roganjosh, a Kashiri lamb stew with cardamom and mace; baghare baingan, eggplant
in sesame, peanut and tamarind sauce; and murg tikka masala, a chicken, onion
and tomato stew.
At least two of the dishes will be vegetable based (or, if
you wish, the entire meal; vegetarianism is a common and delicious option in
Indian cooking). Diners will be pleasantly surprised at just how light and
appealing this cuisine really is, especially served with plenty of water and
wine or even a Singapore Sling—which was invented at the hotel.
The Tiffin
Room counted Somerset Maugham among its guests. Legend has it that Maugham, who
first visited in 1921, worked all morning under a frangipani tree in the Palm
Court, turning the bits of gossip overheard at dinner parties into his famous
stories. Other guests included Charlie Chaplin, Noel Coward, Ava Gardner and
Elizabeth Taylor. Even today, at least half the diners in the Tiffin Room will
be British expatriates who live and work in Singapore.
The service is
impeccable, but occasionally oversolicitous. Your plate will be whisked away
even as you lower your fork from the last bite, and, if you should stir from
your seat for even a second, you will find your napkin elaborately draped over
the arm of your chair. If it is obtrusive, just say so. English is the first
language for most Singaporeans.
While your dinner at Tiffin may not be the
most elegant affair you have ever hosted, it just may be the most authentic, and
certainly the most flavorsome.
The Thali set is available for lunch or
dinner and cost about $35 a person, exclusive of drinks and service.
The Tiffin Room
Raffles Hotel, Singapore,
+65.6337.1886
www.raffleshotel.com