Has it come to this? That every unblemished, untattered issue of the Paris Review that I receive in the mail is tantamount to a minor miracle, ranked slightly below the Wedding at Cana? Living in Southeast Asia is THE PITS. Anyway I recall saying that the only redeeming thing about Singapore is the food. This is subject to constant revision, and sometimes while queuing up in the impossibly claustrophobic Junction 8 McDonalds for insipid chicken, one feels that there is nothing that can redeem Singapore, not even the Gongcha a floor above (and jaded looking staff whose combined ages would not exceed that of ageing rocker Mick Jagger), not even the weird "fast casual Italian" eatery next door.
However, a meal at Saveur last evening behooved me to reconsider my harsh and uncharitable judgement against an entire culture — it still sucks, just not as badly as I thought. The portions were on the small side, but pleasingly so: the pork belly on a bed of al-dente (this term is getting annoying BTW) lentils was the right size for its fattiness, as were the other dishes that my compatriots in gluttony ordered. The best part of the experience was paying about 20 (notice how I'm not using the dollar sign? it's something that hip menus don't use anymore because typographically, it's distracting) for a meal complete with starters and dessert. I'm getting the duck confit on the bed of mash the next time I visit. The only grouse I had was that the mains were all kind of... beige-white-flesh coloured. Of course, this was probably because I didn't get the boeuf bourguignon, or that gargouillou wasn't on the menu. I want to make a meal a Saveur a weekly event.
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