Why do we stay members of the Tanglin club? e keep getting enticing offcers. When you can't think what else to do for a birthday, Chirstmas, New Year, or an anniversary, or just to swim or lunch with a friend, you have lots of options, different places in one venue, sports and food, seasonal decor. This year, the latest idea was a tree lighting - and a goody bag from Santa. What could be in it?
The red carpet at the entrance is welcoming. Seasonal for Christmas. The Chinese favourite colour. Traditional.
The welcoming red carpet entrance to the Tanglin Club, Singapore. Photo by Angela Lansbury.
If you or anybody in your group cannot manage the club's entry stairs, look for the nearby lift.
We went to the tree lighting of the giant Christmas tree in the entrance hall of the Tanglin Club. I took several photos. The tree alone. Myself and the tree. We had taken the precaution of arriving early. While we waited for the lighting, we went to the bar in the Tavern for a drink.
The Tavern Bar Drinks, Nosh & Decor
I am not keep on drinking alcohol on an empty stomach. but was able to order a juice. We were provided with a jar of salted nuts.
Although we were not eating in the Tavern, we were able to enjoy the cozy atmosphere, and the Xmas theme decorations.
The Tavern was fully booked, for this special event day, although normally for ordinary days you cannot book lunch and dinner in the Tavern, which is a fancy name for a pub, with traditional brown or black beams and brasses and beaming people in photos of the old days.
The Tavern menu, which we were able to look at, has regular British style items such as fish and chips, and three or four Chinese items - plus a seasonal day or week special. My eyes lit up when I noticed crepes Suzette, the dessert which I had specially liked in the more expensive Churchill room, was also available at the Tavern.
Staff Costumes
The club staff were dressed in red tee-shirts. To add to the festive effect, marshalls wore white masks printed with snowman pictures.
Santa
Santa arrived. People took turns having seasonal photos with Santa.
Barriers
The staff started by positioning people in their family groups, distanced apart. However, as the place grew more crowded, children were running around willy-nilly. The floor markings were in front of the reception desk, not at intervals in the lounge. The put up barriers at the entrances and for Santra to make an entrance. But they did not have enough. We should have had spaced single seats and numbered tickets, called to stand, one at a time, like at the Covid-19 vaccination centres.
We saw the lights switched on, then raced downstairs to the Wheelhouse restaurant. Not a moment too soon. There was already a queue. Having a drink and some nuts first in the Tavern bar had been a good idea.
The Wheelhouse
Why is it called the Wheelhouse? It has a wheel on the wall outside.
If you like eating outdoors, it has an outside area. The outdoor tables are under a roof' with open sides, looking out at the swimming pool.
We joined the queue for a table in the larger, and recently redecorated indoor area. I loved the new decor. Colourful paintings. Well-lit.
The open cooking area is great. That always inspires confidence. I feel that cooks cannot be doing the wrong things to your food, when they know they are being watched.
Because I had recently tried a Thali (tray) in an Indian restaurant, I thought it would be interesting to try that again at another venue and compare the two. A thali also offers several mini-dishes, ideal for the indecisive, fussy or greedy. I reckoned if I did not like one dish, I would probably like another.
The food looked good. Nice rice. Surounded by varied colours. Fish, chunky white. Burgundry brown meat - chicken tandoori, bbq? Solid chunks of yellowy mango in the mango chutney. Mystery green. Plenty of food.
Taste? Good - but not special. Not as good as the distinctive flavours in the Indian restaurant (Ballaji Bhaawan, 103 Syed Alwi Road, opposite Mustafa's department store Gate no 2) which I reviewed earlier.
However, the Wheelhouse thali was good enough for that evening.
Food Temperature
My food was luke-warm. I wondered whether it had been left standing. I watched. No. The waiting staff seemed to be collecting cooked dishes fast from the collection point.
My husband commented that one of his ex-pat friends, a New Zealander married to an Indonesian, had once said, "Asian restaurants and customers don't set the same standards of serving food hot which we expect in the West."
Why is that? Does it matter? I like to know that my food was cooked thoroughly to kill off germs. I also want to know that it has not been sitting around so long in the heat that it can be breeding more germs.
Dessert
The wheelhouse offered a large choice of desserts, but not the crepes Suzette, which required a member of staff to devote time to cooking at up at your table.
Staffing Level
The restaurant seemed short staffed. They had empty tables, whilst people queued for a table all evening. A couple with children, the mother in the queue ahead of me, decided to go off to the nearby American Club instead. That was good for us, because it moved us one place further forward in the queue. (Which Americans call line-up.)
It is not like London, where the restaurants would have pre-Christmas menus of turkey, Christmas pudding, and crackers.
However, it is a suprise to see mock-snow in the tropics.
Tips
1 If you want Crepes Suzette, go to the Tavern or the Churchill Room.
2 You can book restaurants online.
3 The Tanglin club has reciprocal arrangements with clubs all over the world, including London, England. (For example, the Cavalry & Guards Club, which I have reviewed and pictured in an earlier post).
Useful Websites
Tanglin Club
https://www.tanglinclub.org.sg/
Cavalry & Guards Club
Angela's review of the Churchill Room
https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-tanglin-clubs-churchill-room.html
I have other reviews of the Churchill room.
Angela's review of the Cavalry & Guards Club
https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2021/08/londons-cavalry-and-guards-club-with.html
I have other reviews of the Cavalry & Guards Club.
About the Author of this blog, Author Angela Lansbury
BIOGRAPHY
Angela Lansbury B A Hons ACG ALB PM5 EH5 DL5 VC5
The Author of several books, including: Etiquette For Every Occasion. Wedding Speeches & Toasts. How to be the Best Man. Quick Quotations. Who Said What When.
Blogs travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com
dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com
Braddell Heights Advanced Toastmasters Speakers Club Vice President Public Relations (VPPR), Previous President
Join BHA 1st Wednesday 7pm and 3rd Saturday 2 pm Singapore time
Vice President Public Relations (VP PR) of Tampines Changkat Advanced;
Secretary of weekly online Singapore International Dynamic Toastmasters Speakers’ Club;
Member and past president of Harrovians toastmasters club, UK; Past member of HOD Toastmasters, London. Past member in Singapore of: Toastmasters Club of Singapore (TCS); Tiarel; and Senja Cashew.
More details from Toastmasters International find a club.
Regular attendee at annual Swanwick Writers’ School, England.
Regular attendee at annual Writers’ Holiday, Wales.
Contributor to poetry readings, and after tea courses on: Speaking On Radio To Promote Books; and Plots And Character.
Winner of many club and area speaking contests in the UK and Singapore.
Language advisor to Empire Toastmasters club in Indonesia.
Language and speech workshops in Singapore.
Speaker on radio and TV in England, Scotland, the USA, and Australia.
Compiler of a school course on public speaking for teachers to prepare pupils for school open days with attending ceremonies before government ministers, Singapore.
Former member of Harrow Writers’ Circle, London, and two writing groups in Singapore.
Angela is on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter. She would be delighted to link up with new friends.
I also have a blog on comic poems.
Please share links to your favourite posts.
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