May | 2020 | Truly Scrumptious

It Just Has To Be Delicious

Archive for May, 2020

Long Chim, Perth CBD

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This is not a restaurant for the faint hearted. Owned by Aussie Thaiophile chef David Thompson, it is a fun place to go – loud, brash and unashamedly like a street style cafe. The food is authentic in looks, flavour and spice – it is HOT, you know, Silom Road hot, so if you can’t take spicy food, then maybe this is not the best choice for you.
On the Saturday night that we visited, the crowd of diners were mainly groups of young ladies, meeting up for dinner before a night out at the clubs. There is a lively bar area, and it’s okay to meet up just for drinks if you don’t want to eat here. The waitress was really friendly and explained the menu to us, starters at the top, noodles in the middle, and family style sharing dishes around the edges. There is no real uniform here, so it’s a bit difficult to tell the wait staff from everybody else, but all of the staff are lovely once you work out who’s who.
We chose to go for traditional dishes and selected fish cakes to share for a starter.

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They were plentiful, nice small-ish irregular shapes with a lovely dressing of chilli, onion, thai basil, lime and sweet fish sauce dressing. All the elements of sweet, sour, fragrant and hot that you expect from an authentic Thai dish. It did leave a tingle on my tongue though – I am used to hot food, but I couldn’t help thinking that there would be many of my friends who would find it challenging to finish the dish.

One of our mains was thai green curry. Again, very authentic, I remembered the same flavours from a cafe along the Chao Phraya river in Bangkok, very tasty, but also very hot again. Even without eating the whole chillies on top, there was a strong spicy warmth in every mouthful.

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Jasmine rice was plentiful and slightly sticky – just like you get in Thailand.

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We also chose crunchy pork – which was not hot at all. It came with a lovely sweet dipping sauce (no picture), and most pieces were delicious with the soft roast pork and the crunchy crackling. However, I did find some pieces overly fatty and I couldn’t eat the fatty part. It was nice to have this dish as a relief from the spiciness of the rest.

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We also chose a glass noodle salad. Lovely slippery thin glass noodles topped with ground pork, squid, prawns, dried shrimp, onions, coriander and herbs, and of course…. a plentiful supply of chilli.

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Everything that we ate at Long Chim was authentic, delicious, and fragrant – definitely the place to come if you are hankering after that real Bangkok flavour with the real Bangkok spice. I loved it, but some will find it challenging and may need to ask for the chillies to be toned down a bit. It wasn’t cheap at approx $130 with just two soft drinks, but it was delightful. I loved the atmosphere, and will be making a return visit.

Visit Date – June 2017

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Restaurant review

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Leapfrogs Sunday Roast, Wanneroo

Leapfrogs is a cafe at Wanneroo Botanic Golf which in the evening transforms to a twinkly fun venue with a wood fired pizza oven. They recently started to advertise roast dinners and we decided to try a Sunday roast there.

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At first we were not sure if the roast was on the menu. The menu that we were presented with did not mention it, but after asking the waitress she said yes, today’s roast was beef.
We ordered this and sipped on some drinks while we waited. Even though a winter’s evening, the heaters and blinds kept the venue toasty warm.
When the roast arrived, we had a little ramekin of horseradish sauce, two yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes, carrots, squash and three generous slices of beef.

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The beef was great quality, melt in the mouth and really tasty. All of the vegetables were well cooked and the yorkies were crispy on the outside with a little stodge in the middle, and well flavoured.
Minor criticisms – I would have liked some green vegetables in amongst the plate – beans, peas or brussels would have been nice, and I would have liked a little more gravy. All in all though, it was great value and we left with clean plates and full tummies.

Visit Date – July 2018

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Restaurant review

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Fee Fi Pho Fum, Subiaco

I found myself in Subiaco one lunchtime with an hour to kill and chanced upon Fee Fi Pho Fum, a Vietnamese cafe on the main Rokeby Road strip.

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The lady at the till greeted me warmly and gave me a menu which contained all of the vietnamese favourites – rice paper rolls, stuffed chicken wings, pho, bun, stir fries, fried rice, noodles and salads. There’s also jelly tea, coffee, and complimentary vietnamese highland tea at lunchtime.
I chose the vietnamese chicken salad, and I wasn’t disappointed. Lovely fresh tender chicken strips, coriander, mint, cabbage, carrot, and nuts along with a home made dressing. It was bright, zingy and thoroughly delicious.

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Shortly after I arrived, the cafe filled up with local workers and is obviously a popular spot. They also serve dinner.
I was quite impressed with the serve yourself counter where you can get beansprouts, mint, chilli, and all of the other accompaniments for the soups. It’s nice to be able to take just what you need.

I’d like to go back to Fee Fi Pho Fum and try some of the other dishes. It was authentic and yummy – definitely worth a try.

Visit Date – September 2018

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Restaurant review

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Galangal, Mount Hawthorn

I had heard nice things about Galangal, and after visiting some other establishments in Mount Hawthorn, decided to give it a try. Mount Hawthorn is a nice area with lots of good eateries, and some bars, but without the hustle and bustle of Leederville and Mount Lawley. There are plenty of side streets to park, and even some spaces right outside Galangal.

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It’s a big restaurant with a large bar area, and it was pleasing to see that it was at least 75% full on a Saturday evening.
We chose a semillon sauvignon blanc from the wine list which was nice and crisp without being too acidic. Many of the wines available were WA options.

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The menu has a great variety of Thai food but it does not try to be all things to all men. It has all of the regular options available in a menu that is not hugely extensive, but has enough variety to make for a well balanced meal.
We dithered over starters and considered having the fish cakes, spring rolls or the golden wraps (chicken and corn parcels), but after seeing the portion sizes of some main courses going past, we decided to skip starters and concentrate on a variety of mains. We chose classic green chicken curry. This was very authentic with holy basil and eggplant, and was enjoyable from the first mouthful to the last.

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We also chose the fried barramundi fillet with garlic, chilli and tamarind hot sauce. The amount of barramundi was outstanding, it was fresh and tasty, but the sauce was much sweeter than I expected and tasted more like sweet chilli sauce than tamarind. I didn’t really get the sour tamarind hit.

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We also had pad thai with prawns which was very good and fairly authentic. I would have liked more prawns though – 4 prawns seemed a bit mean for a $22 pad thai.

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All in all I enjoyed the meal and the dishes that we ordered left us very full – the amount could easily have fed three of us. I will return to Galangal – it is a nice glam atmosphere, the staff are lovely, and the food is very tasty and authentic. Besides, I need to try the pork belly dish !

There is also a good selection of vegetarian dishes.

Visit Date – January 2018

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Category:

Restaurant review, Vegan/Vegetarian

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Grab A Yabby (Grabs), Mount Lawley

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Grab A Yabby is a hip and happening seafood bar on Beaufort Street, just at the back of block of shops near the IGA. Bright and airy, the menu consists of mainly seafood, but also some steak and ribs options. Our waitress, Rory was a delight – she made us feel welcome and explained the menu in detail to us.
When you sit you are presented with various helpful options for your meal, which can be a messy affair (not advisable to wear your best frock or a white shirt!). You get a plastic bib, napkins, and disposable gloves. Seafood comes with a mallet to crack open the shells and a knife to dig out the flesh, and of course a bowl for the waste shells etc.
We chose a Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc to drink – a very nice drop indeed, with great fruit on the nose and very reasonably priced.

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To start we chose the signature soft shell crab sliders, and to be honest, I could have eaten a whole plate of them – they were outstanding. Crispy soft shell crab, mayo, lettuce all in a cute brioche bun. Yum.

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For mains we selected a combo – the freshwater crayfish combo – 1lb (about half a kilo) of crawfish and yabbies in our chosen sauce which was XO – a classic Asian sauce of shallots, lemongrass, dried shrimps and scallops. This was served in a bag which was a great idea for ensuring that the shellfish were coated in the sauce, and the bag contained potato and sweetcorn. We also received a pot of rice which was lovely with the sauce drizzled over the top. It was messy fun peeling and extracting the fish meat from the crustaceans, and the staff were readily on hand to give yabby peeling lessons. Once we got into using the mallet, a few pieces of shellfish did go flying, but it was all good delicious fun. Everything was wonderfully fresh and tasty. I really would have loved some bread to soak up the rest of that lovely sauce.

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We also chose a rack of pork ribs which was beautifully presented and served with chips and a lovely little watermelon salad. After finishing the seafood and washing our hands (there is a convenient wash station with soap and paper towels), we disrobed our bibs and moved across the table to the less messy side to eat the ribs.

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The meat on the ribs was succulent and they were well flavoured. The chips were top quality too. If I had one criticism it was that the rib meat didn’t fall apart from the bone and another 30-60 minutes cooking would have made all of the difference, the coating was also a bit on the salty side for me, but not unpleasantly so. At the end of the meal there was no room for dessert, and we went home with very full tummies.
I will definitely return and try some of the other seafood on offer. Grab A Yabby is ideal for groups, it’s fun and it’s good. Give it a try.

Last Visit Date – March 2018

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Fun thing to do, Restaurant review

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DuoTone, East Perth

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Near Perth Mint, DuoTone is one of a group of small cafes, and this is the one that seems to draw the crowds. I popped in the other day for coffee and a snack to see what the fuss is about.
Everything in the cabinets looks nice and the cafe oozes care and consideration. Pastries, rolls, sandwiches – all look great.
I chose a coffee and a raspberry and coconut loaf. The coffee (soy cappuccino) was lovely, rich, but not too bold, and smooth. They certainly know their coffee.

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The raspberry loaf was delicious, maybe a little sweet, but it definitely tasted good, and the staff serving were lovely.

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Based on this visit, I will definitely come back to try more of the goodies on offer.

Last Visit – November 2019

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Category:

Coffee shop review, Restaurant review

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Duende, Leederville

It had been more than two years since my last visit to Duende – always a nice spot for tapas, a lively atmosphere and an extensive drinks menu. It is on the junction of Carr Place and Newcastle Street, just off the main Oxford Street strip, but still in a lively position.
Our waitress was very knowledgeable, and gave good advice on wine, drinks and the food and portion sizes.
Our first dish to arrive was a sharing plate of longaniza, chorizo, jamon Serrano, caperberries and pickled chillis with bread and olive oil. Everything on the plate was tasty and good quality – the caperberries added a wonderful savoury piquancy.

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Next we chose a ceviche of white fish with orange and grapefruit jelly with ribbons of cucumber, radish and aioli. Again very good quality and a plate of nice fresh flavours.

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Then we had a salad of baby cos lettuce with roasted cauliflower, manchego and chorizo crumb. An unusual dish but a nice combination of flavours that went well together.

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Finally we chose whitebait and patatas bravas. Both simple plates but extremely well executed. The whitebait were plentiful, crispy and served with a chipotle aioli.

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The patatas were cooked traditionally with paprika and smoked tomato aioli. Absolutely delicious, perfectly crispy with just the right amount of spice.

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This visit to Duende proved that the standard has got better and better. Always a favourite, it is now one of Perth’s finest tapas eateries, producing quality food cooked with thought and precision. I can’t wait for the next visit.

Last Visit Date – June 2018

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Here are some pictures from previous visits:

Sloe Gin Fizz:
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Anchovies and Tapenade (pureed olives, capers and anchovies):
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Mushrooms, walnuts, and gorgonzola:
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Roast pork belly, grapes, pine nuts, pomegranate:
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Jamon Serrano:
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Restaurant review

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Duck Duck Bruce, Fremantle

Tucked away in Collie Street, Fremantle, this is one of the best cafes in Perth. It’s quirky, the food is amazingly good, the staff are lovely, and everything is prepared with love and care.

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When we arrived slightly early, our table wasn’t quite ready, but the staff were really friendly and helpful and did their best to get us seated as soon as possible. The menu is funny – dishes have very amusing names like Orange is the New Stack – a pancake stack with burnt orange curd and toasted almonds or The Dating Game – a cauliflower dish with dates, cavolo nero, kale, maple miso dressing, pomegranate, pine nut and parsley crumble.
I chose a hot chocolate to drink, made with coconut milk. It tasted superb, and came with marshmallows and a little duck shaped white chocolate speckle.

The coffee being served on the day was Five Senses Crompton Road blend – it’s always a winner when Five Senses coffee is in the grinder.
I chose a kind of eggs benny style dish with beetroot cured smoked salmon and potato bhajee hash browns – called We’re all Going on a Summer Hollandaise. It tasted divine – perfectly cooked eggs, crispy hash browns, carefully prepared salmon, spinach, cress and greens.

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My companion chose Beans Beans Good for the Heart – smoky beans, poached eggs, plenty of toast, a lovely cheesy bechamel sauce, a touch of sweetness from the bacon jam and a nice crunch to the cheese crisp. All in all a wonderful dish.

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Every mouthful was a joy and I can’t wait to return to Duck Duck Bruce. They do lots of good work in the local community and help to support stray animal homes. You can tell that the staff really enjoy working there. I’ll be back very soon and I might just try the pancakes next time.

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Last Visit Date – January 2019

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Coffee shop review, Restaurant review

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Malaysia Airlines Business Class

This is a bit of an unusual post. I decided to review my experience of Malaysia Airlines Business Class, after all any business class travel is quite pricey, so the food should be a feature rather than something ordinary.
Firstly a note on the seating – you get masses of space. The seat was much wider than me, I felt very comfortable – there was more space on the long haul A380 from Kuala Lumpur to London, and the Perth to Kuala Lumpur flight was still quite roomy – the seat reclined to an ‘almost’ flat bed at a bit of an angle. On the long haul the seat went completely flat and was very comfortable, I had room to lay on my side as well as my back and I got more than 6 hours sleep on a 12 hour flight, which was very good.

Legroom Perth to KL:

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Legroom KL to London:

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Before the flight we were invited to select our meals via the ‘chef on call’ service. Unfortunately, this wasn’t easy to do – the email gave me a link to the website where I selected all of my dishes for each flight, but then I was unable to select Pete’s dishes or get back into the booking to amend it in any way. He had to go through the menu and choose all of his selections by reference number and then call Malaysia Airlines to book the meals.
If I were to book this again, I probably wouldn’t have booked via chef on call anyway because you do forget what you have ordered, and when it comes to it, you may not fancy that dish at that particular time, so it’s better to choose from the in-flight menu in my opinion.
Having said that, most of the dishes that I ordered were delicious – some better than others, but compared with general airline food they were very good quality.
This process could have been made easier.

Ruby Passion:
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Included in the drinks on board was a Ruby Passion, the Malaysia Airlines signature mocktail of calamansi, tea and spices. The airline lounges were quite variable. Perth Golden lounge was fairly small, clean and functional with comfy chairs. There wasn’t a huge choice of food available, but there was plenty to drink. The lounge at Kuala Lumpur was as expected, really busy but quite large
and a little tired looking. I think it is in need of some renovation. Having said that there were a multitude of food choices and I tried the Nasi Lemak which was divine. The Heathrow Terminal 4 lounge was lovely, really clean, fresh and stylish, excellent selection of food and drink and lovely helpful staff.

KL Lounge nasi lemak:
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Here is a selection of some of the dishes we had on board the aircraft:

Hot cakes with orange ragout, lemon curd and vanilla sauce:
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The pancakes were absolutely delicious – a huge portion of loveliness. The flavours complemented each other perfectly.

Braised chicken curry:
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The chicken curry was tasty and tender with a nice selection of vegetables.

Signature Satay:
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Satay is served as an appetiser on the long haul flights – you get a choice of beef or chicken or a mixture. It is very authentic, with a lovely sauce and accompanying onion and rice cubes.

Starter of fish sashimi and salad:
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The first time I have ever had sashimi on board a plane – it was tasty and good quality.

Nasi Lemak:
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The Nasi Lemak is served with a very spicy prawn sambal. It was quite delicious and very filling, although I did prefer the Nasi Lemak in the KL lounge.

Chocolate torte:
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Yum – chocolate torte with berry compote – this cake was as good as any dessert that you would get in a top class restaurant.

Prawn and gnocchi starter:
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This starter was okay but not as tasty as promised.

Garoupa fish curry:
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A lovely fish curry with a thick authentic sauce. The portion was huge and I couldn’t eat it all. I would like to have seen a more traditional Malay vegetable accompaniment.

Champagne:
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The champagne was nice – quite dry and biscuit coloured. It certainly helped me to sleep.

Salmon starter:
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A nice sized portion of smoked salmon and roe.

Beef Wellington:
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This was the one dish that I found really disappointing. The beef was very tough and the pink beetroot sauce did not look very appetising although it tasted okay. I left most of this dish.

Banoffee Pie:
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Excellent – nice balance of sweetness without being overly sickly or too strongly bananaish (is that a word?). Yes I thoroughly enjoyed this.

French toast with pear and berry compote:
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This was very pleasant – a lovely choice for breakfast.

Pan fried seabass and salmon:
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I am not quite sure how they managed to cook the fish so perfectly in an aeroplane, but they did. The accompanying vinaigrette salad was a little acidic and I would have preferred some vegetables or ratatouille. The fish was very tasty, and again – huge portions.

As well as the standard meals, snacks and drinks were available throughout the flights. The service was impeccable, all of the cabin crew knew my name and they stopped to chat and make sure that we were okay. I have flown business class before on other airlines – Thai, Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines and also previously on Malaysia but many years ago.
Malaysia Airlines business class is among the top ten in Asia and the catering as among the top ten in the world. I would definitely fly with Malaysia again, I would probably not preorder the dishes, but the majority of the food was lovely, the facilities were all that you could need and the service was excellent.

Travel Date – May 2014

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Fun thing to do

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Malaysia Airlines

Pan Pacific Club, Singapore SG

This post is not really a recipe or a restaurant recommendation – it’s a suggestion of something brilliant to do.
If like me, you want to do something different for Christmas, or something special for a birthday, go to Singapore – don’t just stay in any hotel, stay in a nice hotel like the Pan Pacific, and then don’t just stay in a regular room, stay in a Pacific Room. Now before you gasp and say ‘too extravagant’, here are some reasons of how it can turn out to be both special and affordable.
1. Book in advance – you get the best flight deals this way, and join the airline loyalty scheme so that you can get some free flights or benefits later (even if you fly only once with a particular airline, you can sometimes reap the benefits – I flew once with Emirates and ended up with a $50 gift voucher). Join every free airline loyalty scheme going.
2. Join the hotel loyalty scheme too – in this case GHA Discovery. I joined the hotel scheme before booking – it was free – and then managed to get a special deal of 4 nights for the price of 3 – an immediate saving of hundreds of dollars.
3. With the money that you save by getting a free night – upgrade to a Pacific room. It’s well worth it. You get champagne breakfast included every day, either in the main restaurant, your room, or on the Pacific Club Floor. The Pacific Club Floor is circular – you get 360 degree views of Singapore, the staff know your name, and they can not do enough to help you. You can choose from the breakfast buffet or order anything you like. The breakfast buffet includes breads, pastries, dumplings, Japanese fish and noodles, hams, cheeses,
yoghurts, cereals, freshly squeezed juices, and you can order cooked breakfast to your liking. The club rooms also include afternoon tea with sandwiches and cakes between 3pm and 5pm, and canapes and cocktails between 6pm and 8pm. Basically, you can fill up on the 3 complementary Pacific Club sessions, and then you don’t need to spend much on eating out – just some hawker food will usually suffice. The evening canapes are particularly nice and very cheffy, and usually include 4-6 different savouries with another 4 dessert options.
The wait staff keep your glass topped up too, and it is quite easy to drink a whole bottle of champagne (Mumm Cordon Rouge) and a few Singapore Slings.
4. In addition to the complementary Pacific Floor dining options, all soft drinks in your room are included, as well as 2 laundry items per day, you get a Nespresso machine in the room, free wi-fi internet access, secretarial services, and a depending on your deal, a 24 hour butler service. Like me, you may be a little embarrassed to call on the butler, but they are perfectly happy to make
restaurant reservations, unpack your case, run you a bath etc. The room will be serviced several times per day – so after your morning shower, you will be given fresh towels for the evening. The bath toiletries are Elemis, and the shower has a ‘side shower’ option as well as the normal ‘shower from above’ version. It really is very luxurious.
5. So by upgrading to a Pacific Room, you save lots of money on food and drinks. Marina Bay is fairly central to a lot of attractions like the Marina Bay Sands, Gardens by the Bay, Esplanade, The Flyer, Orchard Road, and is walking distance to an MRT station.
6. If you like to travel around and do lots of sightseeing on Singapore public transport, but a Singapore Tourist Pass. It is such great value and saves you having to queue for the machines at the MRT. Click here to find out about the pass.

Coffee machine in the room:
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