Sunday Brunch at Raffles -- The Raj's Ghost

Singapore, October 16, 2011 (Sunday), 4:00pm local time -- In residence at The Fullerton Hotel

Since the first time E&J came to Singapore in 1978, we have either stayed at the Raffles Hotel or since 1991 had Sunday Brunch in the Billiard Room.  It has always been a magnificent affair with countless dishes to select and the attentive staff one expects east of Suez.

Today, we took a taxi over from the Fullerton about 10:00 am so Eloise could pick up some cartridges for her Mont Blanc pen and Jerry could investigate Jim Thompson for some shirts.  Also, this gave time for a few shots of the courtyards in old sections of the Raffles Hotel, and a visit to the Hotel Museum.

Regretfully, Jerry wasn't allowed to photograph inside the Museum, so you are stuck with the plaque on the wall by the entrance.  Like the Royal Hawaiian in Honolulu, Raffles has hosted both famous and infamous of the last century and has became an icon of the exotic Orient.   All of that is gone now, and Raffles plays host to affluent tourists from all over the world plus Singapore's new monied classes.  Some guests are trying to recapture the essence of the Empire that never recovered from the Japanese capture of Singapore in 1941.  Our impression is that Raffles is exploiting its history to overcharge the gullible affluent.  One of the original rooms will now cost in excess of SN$1,000/night, and you don't even get a tiger in the billiard room to shoot.

All this said, the brunch is still magnificent, if extremely expensive.  It combines dishes from Asia, the Pacific, Europe, and America.  Anyone for Omaha Beef sirlion tip or Australian prime rib?  Well, E&J made their best effort, but we are not up to eating at the scale that would be required to do justice to this buffet.   Some of the food stations of the cross are illustrated here.

Appetizers anyone?

Fresh pasta for Jerry

Dead sea life in large amounts

Jerry and Eloise's FAVORITE!

This was a great remembrance of the numerous times we have been in Singapore, but if we attended the buffet very often, it would be deadly.  Anyway, we put forth our best effort, and waddled out after an hour and a half.  Still, we probably only sampled 10 percent of the dishes, with the exception of the desserts.  In that case, we may have made 20%.

Back at The Fullerton, we are trying to recover and seriously think of fasting.  However, that may be difficult as we join the M/V Silver Shadow tomorrow afternoon.