The Tavern Restaurant in the Tanglin Club, Singapore

 

Espresso coffee in Nespresso cup.

Edging to the bar so you can rest your elbow or forearms. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Fish and chips. in the Tavern, restaurant, Tanglin Club, Singapore.  Photo by Angela Lansbury.

See previous posts about Tanglin club restaurants.

I entertained my good friend, 'Swan' for short.  She told me her views on the health benefits and disadvantages of various types of fish. Farmed fish which were at first being promoted as healthy filtered water. She believed that they were sometimes kept crowded in dirty water, so that nowadays wild salmon would be safer, and be better.

What was the fish in fish and chips. We checked. It passed her scrutiny. I was pleasantly surprised.

The buffet bar at the Tanglin seemed to have a smaller choice than in the old days, and no smoked salmon or any tempting surprises. So I opted for the main menu. 

Meat Pie

My choice was a pie. The pie crust was on the top only, not down the sides and underneath like a bought pie. It was okay. Not a thrill. 

Dessert

I was now looking forward to dessert. We had two desserts which we shared. 

Chocolate Dessert

At her prompting, my order was the chocolate pudding with the oozing hot centre. Yes, good.

Bread Pudding

Her order was bread pudding. Solid all the way through. Not as good as the old ones which had distinctive layers and a crispy topping.

It came with vanilla ice cream. We weren't offered custard. Bread pudding goes with custard.

Next time I must remember to pass on the bread pudding, and stick to the chocolate dessert.

The Tavern is not the delight which it used to be.

Coffee and Cookie

However, the coffee with the tiny chocolate biscuit was a good finish. 

A For Atmosphere

And the atmosphere can't be beaten. Just right for a friendly tete a tete.

Useful Websites

https://www.tanglinclub.org.sg/

https://www.tanglinclub.org.sg/dining.html

Tanglin Club Treats At The Tavern, Restaurant - British Pub decor in Singapore - and an edible flower?

If you are a member of the Tanglin Club or have a chance to visit - are doing business with people in Singapore or belong to a Toastmasters club, or belong to any club worldwide, you may have a chance to visit the Tanglin Club. If not, read on anyway to learn about the new dish I tried.

I spend a day at the Tanglin Club with a long-term friend whose mother is a club member. I love the Tavern Club's decor. And the private booths.

We met for lunch and we went to the Tavern for privacy in one of the two booths.

 Overall, both the food and service were good.

I started by ordering a pint sized watermelon juice. I can't get that in the UK. Pink, Refrehsing. Pure fruit juice. 

Watermelon juice. The Tavern. Tanglin Club. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

We started with drinks and both of us selected watermelon juice, the larger size, one pint.

The Salad Bar

I chose the salad bar. Not as good as it used to be. The soup was prawns and I am allergic to shellfish. 

So I took just the bread roll. Only white bread. I seem to remember a variety of breads including brown or black or seed. Still, never mind. I had plenty more to choose from. I moved on to the two main counters. 

The far right has a mixture of desserts and main course or snack meats. 

The meat was chicken, thinly sliced beef and pork/ham. The latter seemed to me, a clearly processed meat, minced up and mixed and pressed meat, which I ignored.

 No smoked salmon. The far right counter's far left plate holder was empty. Time to move on and reconsider the main course options. So far so good.

Tanglin Club, Tavern restaurant, beef with almond. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

The little white flower looked cute. I presumed you could eat it. I had asked once before at the Tanglin Club in the Churchill room restaurant. (But in a restaurant in London I was served food with a flower which was only decorative.)

I did not detect any flavour from the flower. You would have to eat it separately to be sure. I thought it was merely decoration. Slight disapointed. Never mind. Very cute.

Service

The service was very good. We were asked if we wanted warm or cold tap water. Usually the British like cold water, and iced water. Singaporeans and Indians like warm water. They think that cold water chills you, shocks the system. And warm water makes you perspire which cools you down.

Later the woman who was serving came to our table to tell me that the chef had put out another dish to replace the empty one. Beef with almonds.  I smiled. But I was sitting on the inside of the table against the wall and would have to shift my guest, make her stand up to let me out, and again when I returned. Also we were in mid conversation.

The server could see from my expression that I was interested, as I glanced over at the food and smiled. But then looked around my table and frowned.

She offered to fetch me the food. Beef and almonds. Minced beef. With flakes of almonds. It has crunch. The beef rather drowns out the almond flavour. Full marks to the chef for introducing a new food to me.

At the end of the lunch time she warned me that the food was being cleared away, if I wanted any more. She offered to bring me another beef and almonds.

What about value?

You get soup, vegetables, chopped potato in what looks like mayonnaise or couscous, and for protein, nut at the back, or three types of meat.  Also boiled egg. On the left. By the time we arrived at 12.30 pm the stocks were running low. I grabbed the last boiled egg.

Dessert?

 If you were smart you would have selected the chopped fruit and nuts for dessert. Put them on one side of the plate. That saves going back. It prevents you from taking a second plate and filling it.

Besides, I had other plans for dessert. Crepes Suzette. 

Unfortunately, the Tavern is not open all day. By the time I was ready to order dessert and coffee they had laid the tables for dinner, presented the bill for me to sign and suggested, "You can move on the tea lounge." 

Later we did just that. You will be able to read about the lounge food and drink in my later post.

You can check out reciprocal clubs worldwide, opening hours of each restaurant, last order times, and dress code, on the Tanglin Club website pages.

After my day at the Tanglin, eating at three different outlets, My weight went up!

Useful Websites

https://www.tanglinclub.org.sg

https://www.tanglinclub.org.sg/images/Content/Dining/Dining/The_Tavern_Fireplace/Tavern-Menu.pdf

https://www.tanglinclub.org.sg/dining/terrace-bistro-bar.html

Rainbow Cake in Singapore, Rainbow Cocktails in London, or make your own cake and juices

Rainbow cake, Singapore.
More details of restaurant and recipe later. It's in the HillV2 complex ground floor.

This is a great treat for a holiday, birthday or special occasion. Also a centrepiece for a party.

I forgot the name of the restaurant where I saw this cake. Fortunately, as usual I had taken the photo of the food with a copy of the menu (or name card) as a reminder. Dean and Deluca, in HillV2, 4 Hillview Rise, Singapore.

Here's a guide to rainbow cakes all over Singapore, with the warning that some places sell out early in the day. (Don't they have a chef on site who makes another when the cake is three quarters sold out? Don't they have a second cake in the freezer which can be brought out?)

http://www.ladyironchef.com/2014/01/rainbow-cake-cafe-singapore/

Want to make it yourself?
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3028705/rainbow-cake

I am keen on natural colours and different flavours. Why would anybody recommend food colouring? The BBC's trouble-shooting or FAQ site warns cooks that natural colours might fade during cooking. But too much food colouring can give an unpleasant flavour. Back to natural ingredients. In summer with fresh fruits abundant and cheap, a good time to make juices and flavoured cakes.

English Summer Pudding - red fruit
In England in summer many restaurants will be offering summer pudding, encased in a simple white bread outside, contrasting with the most, succulent strongly flavoured centre filling of red summer fruits such as red currants, raspberries, strawberries and blackcurrants. You could make a two or three decker summer pudding with two or three contrasting colours, red fruits, green kiwi, and another.

Australian and New Zealand Pavlova - Rainbow effect
Australia and New Zealand have as their national dish the Pavlova, a meringue with a high bowl ending and mixed fruits in the centre. At home or for a party you could create a rainbow effect in the middle simply with contrasting colours of fruits, cut into circles or semicircles, laid in lines. If you want a hotel or catering company to do a summer dessert for a party or wedding, you could ask them to create a rainbow effect Pavlova.

Another version would have concentric circles, perhaps with strawberries around the outside of the meringue. At home, or for a charity event, even a small child could create the pattern, if an adult washed and cut the fruit, and ensured the child washed their hands!

Rainbow Cake
Singapore's rainbow cake is dense, not light like a Victoria sponge, because you want the layers to hold their shape.
Good. I've always been disappointed by sponge cakes which disappear in the mouth like Candy Floss (one of the great culinary disappointments of my childhood. I must admit to liking solid foods such as suet pudding).
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/how-make-our-rainbow-cake-frequently-asked-questions

Contrasting Colour Cocktails
In London you can get rainbow cocktails at a Chinese restaurant in Harrow. The price of the cocktail was as much as or more than our main dish, but the highlight of the meal.

I first saw these made at a French wedding (our au pair girl Caroline nee Jouy, married name Mention. I've hunted for her all over the net). The colours settle due to the different density but you simply have to pour them in the correct order.

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Rainbow-Shots/

One recipe suggests 1/4 oz of each of
Creme de Cacao,
Creme de Violette,
Yellow Chartreuse,
Maraschino,
Benedictine,
Green Chartreuse and finally
Brandy.

Seven ingredients. If you have a well-stocked cabinet you probably have two or three already. If you don't have all the ingredients, you could make yourself a Christmas list and ask each member of the family to buy you one of the ingredients (or all buy a bottle for each other).

A simple sandwich drink of three contrasting colours could be equally amusing. (Nobody actually wants to drink all these different flavours. In my experience it's just a muddle and too much alcohol. You just want to see it.)

There's some simple scientific way of finding out which order to use the drinks you already have by looking up the number. Anybody in your family with a scientific or methodical mind could do it.
An alternative version

Rainbow Juices in Contrasting Colours
You don't like alcohol? You are driving? You want non-alcoholic drinks for health freaks or a children's party, or drivers early in the day?

You also find a mixed fruit juice will separate out into contrasting colours. This happened to my juices at The Tanglin club Tavern restaurant in Singapore.

Or just make a selection of teeny tumblers or throwaway plastic cups with juices of three different colours different colours. I saw this done at the Grove Hotel north of Watford for a Jaguar car test drive organised by Spire. Orange from oranges and carrots. Green from kiwi fruit. Red from watermelon or mixed red fruits.

Can't be bothered to make your own juices? Want a detox? Health food shops and internet suppliers can provide bottled juices. Here's just one of several I found on the net, from the USA.
http://www.rainbowjuices.com

If you are in Singapore, one of the delights is that most shopping malls in buildings with multi-storey shops have a food court in the basement or on the top storey, or both, with at least one juice bar serving juices.

Kiosks serving juices is also becoming a trend in shopping malls in London, England. You will find them in suburbs such as Harrow and Watford, as well as the big, famous malls. If you are planning a shopping trip, most shopping malls have websites so you can check the names of the restaurants and juice bars. Then check the outlet websites for their food, drinks and prices.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author, speaker.