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| Colony, The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore |
Colony – A Culinary Journey Through Singapore’s Heritage Cuisines
Recently unveiled after a five month metamorphosis, The Ritz-Carlton, Millienia Singapore’s all day dining restaurant, Colony, promises to transport diners on a culinary voyage to the city’s rich colonial past. Malaysian, Indonesian, Indian, Chinese and Western recipes showcase Singapore’s cultural heritage, while vintage décor supports the time travel to a romanticized era.
Tony Chi, an award winning New York based designer, instantly carries guests on an expedition to a bygone time with neutral hues framed by dark wooden frames, while keeping their feet firmly in the present through seamless composition of sleek lines and contemporary construction materials. Period pieces such as maps, photos and postcards allude to the seafaring travels undertaken by the “Colony” for trade and commerce in the East Indies.
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| Dining Booth |
Kitchens too mirror the country’s rich gastronomic history with eight live cooking stations each featuring a different preparation technique. Where to begin? We follow the crowd…
Singaporeans, it seems, love seafood just as much as Malaysians do as evidenced by the line up at The Ice Bar. King crab legs, half shell scallops, black mussels and poached prawns are quickly plucked from the display. What are causing the queue however are the oysters opened on the spot – so much so that three oyster shuckers work without pause to keep up with demand.
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| Fresh Seafood |
Like the tunes from the Pied Piper, the aromas of the Grill lure us to our next plate. We take the GM’s recommendation and try the lamb with mint sauce, but too can’t resist the decadent lobster hot out the pan. Beef Wellington, Iberico suckling pig and beer battered cod fillets all make the cut. While here we check out the Roastkitchen too – roast duck, roast chicken, roast pork, and ooh, a must order, chicken rice.
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| The Grill |
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| Chicken Rice and Braised Meats |
This area is where all the action is happening, and after polishing off our grilled and roasted tastings we quickly return to The Wok. Bright red claws of Singaporean chilli crab call to us, as does the seafood fried rice with XO sauce.
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| Hot from The Wok |
The neighbouring Steam Basket station presents a fog of attraction with vapour rising from pots and bamboo baskets. A rather luxurious version of laksa made with lobster instead of fish balls puts us clearly in the hands of The Ritz-Carlton. On a return visit, I’d want to try their hand-pulled noodles and scallop dumplings, but space must be saved for The Tandoor.
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| The Steam Basket |
From behind a glass divider, we admire chefs pulling orange tinted meats from the tandoor oven and just baked naan. A selection of vegetarian dishes balance out our protein polarity as we feast on palak paneer, dal and aloo gobi.
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| The Tandoor |
On a healthier day we might have taken some fresh pressed juices from The Fruit Stall, but it is Friday night so we delight in the mobile cocktail trolley instead. The traveling barman has five Colony cocktails designed to lubricate the journey from Great Britain to Singapore. More on the mixology and our personally recommended‘must tries’ via this link.
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| The Fruit Stall |
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| Mobile Cocktail Station |
A mouth-watering blend from West to East has me popping over to The Patisserie on repeat visits. Crepes made a la minute, house made ice cream (surprisingly mildly sweet just to my liking) and assorted Nonya kueh have us smiling and finding previously undiscovered pockets in our stomachs to taste ‘just a little more.’
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| Crepes Made A La Minute |
The dinner buffet is very reasonably priced for the location, quality of food and service. Sunday to Thursday diners pay SGD78 for the experience, and SGD88 on Friday and Saturday evenings.
Reasons to visit: stylish vintage atmosphere, high quality cuisine with eight different cooking stations preparing dishes a la minute, Colony cocktails.
Colony
The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore
7 Raffles Avenue
Singapore 039799
+65 6434 5288