Raffles Hotel - Bar and Billiard Room

Date: 2 August 2007 19:00 (Thursday)

This is starting to look like a really good week. So much good food over the past week I'm actually starting to feel really decadent.

Tuesdays and Thursdays are generally my gym days (need to run off all those ridiculous amounts of calories i put on every other day) but i had to make an exception for this one. Received a call earlier in the week from Felix who started out as my Financial Planner but has grown to become a good friend of mine. He wanted to give me a treat and as a foodie and a true blooded Singaporean, you just don't say no to an offer like that!

A word about Felix before i talk about the wonderful meal we had. Felix, is about the best Financial Planner that anyone can meet. His knowledge is inexhaustible, he is a walking encyclopedia when it comes to Financial Planning, he is highly motivated in giving his clients the best advice possible... I'm not the easiest customer to have. If you knew my wife, she would bitch non stop to you about how i constantly stress salespeople out with my incessant questions. I don't do this intentionally, it's really just how my thoughts are processed. And Felix has always had a ready answer for me no matter how ridiculous and far fetched my questions are. Sometimes he bombards me with so much knowledge i actually suffer from a brain freeze... Oh and Felix loves to talk too.... i don't ever remember having dinner with him and not been the last ones out of the restaurant. He is about the most entertaining person to have dinner with simply because of his wealth of knowledge and his passion for life and work is just so infectious you can sit and listen to him all night. Actually i exaggerate a bit here.... i can probably listen to him all day and night... But in all honesty, he is really good with what he does, ever since getting him to plan the financial aspects of my life, i have never had to worry one single bit. If you have just started thinking about planning your financial health and you want Felix's contact, drop me a mail and i will have him contact you :)

Ok, back to the meal....

The last time i went to Bar and Billiard room was in 1995. It was my first job and my boss (aptly named Mr. Smart!) then took the whole department to the Bar and Billiard room for a lunch buffet. Looking back, that was actually the very first fine dinning i have ever had (i came from a very poor family...) I remembered being amazed at the luxurious spread then....

I continue to remain amazed at the luxurious spread now....

If you are a seafood person, then you would love the Bar and Billiard Room's Buffet. It's got endless rows of Prawns, Lobsters, Oysters, Scampis, Mussels, Sashimi... They emphasize a lot on the Lobsters though. You can get Lobster Bisque, Lobster Pancake, Lobster as it is..... This is Lobster HEAVEN!!!

And what is good seafood without a bottle of white right? Thank goodness Felix was in a very generous mood and he got us a bottle of Hardys Colombard, Verdelho, Chenin Blanc 2006 from Australia. Yup, yes.... yet another 2006 bottle of white for me... 4th bottle this week! Life is Good!


Now, in a setting like the Bar and Billiard room which isn't overtly stuffy, one is still reminded to put on their good manners, you just don't go around taking pictures of their food spread. And unfortunately, i have just restarted my gym routine which makes me highly calculative with my food intake so.... only pictures of what i ate... which, believe me, is a mere fraction of what is available...

My Starters 2x Fresh Prawns,3 x Fresh Oysters, 5 x Salmon Sashimi, 2 x Tuna Sashimi (Hmm, I'm actually more disciplined then i think i am....)

The good stuff... 2nd round... 1 x Lobster Pancake, 5 x Smoked Salmon, 3 x Baby Lobsters... oh and 1 x Lobster Bisque which i forgot to take a picture of...

Mains! Butter Rice (AWEEEESOMEEEEE!!!), Mixed Vegetables, Roasted Potatoes, 1 slice of Beef and some seafood....

Desserts.... Dunno what the heck those were but they are nice!

Ok, any Health Fanatic out there that can calculate just how many calories i consumed?

As i mentioned, those pics above do no justice to the amazing spread that the Bar and Billiard room offers. There is a bread section, cheese platter counter, roasted meat section, cold cuts section, ice cream section... all of which i skipped.

Oh, i did have a cup of espresso after all that. Mind you.... when i said a cup, i meant a cup... a full one... at least 6 shots of espresso in there. Not that i needed that to keep me awake... i had Felix as company :)

Raffles Hotel - Bar and Billiard Room
1 Beach Road
Singapore 189673
Tel: 6337 1886