Taste the flavours of the Orient

BARBARA HARRIS chews over some ideas for eating out in Singapore.

As a kid I was a picky eater but I've spent most of my adult life making up for it, so Singapore is a joy. Any food that you want you can get and it's a good chance to be adventurous ... although how I was talked into that scorpion I'm not sure.

At the Imperial Herbal Restaurant, the doctor rules the kitchen. A traditional Chinese herbalist prepares herb powders, root slivers and tonics, and advises the chefs how to add these to dishes to keep flavours in balance.

It's somewhat of a magical mystery tour for the uninitiated; waiters will steer you through the menu, which includes crocodile soup.

We started with hawthorn juice, a cooling, almost plum-tasting drink to help digestion. Next came one of the house specialties, quick fried egg white with dried scallop and two herbs (polygonatum and ladybell root) served in a shredded potato nest - light, and a lovely mix of taste and textures.

When you order tonic soup with black chicken, the poultry really is this colour - it's not a coating. It's delicious though.

Then, somewhere in between the fried jasmine flower prawns and quick-fried diced chicken with ginko nuts, my host snuck in a scorpion (of the non-poisonous variety). The verdict: it was crunchy but didn't have much bite.

We finished with a novelty dish - pieces of candied sweet potato, which you dip in cold water so the strands harden something like toffee. The better the chef's skill in preparing it, the longer you'll be able to pull a sugar strand.

All of this was washed down with copious amounts of green tea, and, if you want, the doctor is always in so you can have a check up at the same time.

Cost: About $S40 ($51) a head. Imperial Herbal Restaurant, 3rd Floor, Metropole Hotel, 41 Seah St.

In a cosy, restored shophouse, the Blue Ginger Restaurant specialises in Peranakan cuisine (Nonya cooking).

Peranakan is a blend of Chinese and Malay food and perhaps the best-known dish is laksa, a spicy, coconut-based soup.

Chilli paste is a common ingredient but don't be put off - this doesn't mean burn baby, burn - often it's just a subtle flavouring. After all, coconut milk is also a staple ingredient.

If you're new to Nonya cooking, try ngo heong - crispy fried rolls of spiced minced pork and prawns, a little like samosas but much better.

Or go for the deboned chicken thigh, which is grilled, or dishes such as mackerel in a spicy tamarind gravy flavoured with lemongrass, or fishcakes with turmeric and lime leaves with chilli. For those who like it hotter, add a dollop of sambal belachan (prawn paste chilli).

Round it all off with the house favourite, durian chendol. A colourful concoction of red beans, green jelly in coconut milk with durian puree on the side.

Cost: $S30-35 each. The Blue Ginger Restaurant, 97 Tanjong Pagar Rd.

Walking through the ornate dragon gate to the Asian restaurant, you can't help but be impressed by the grandeur of the place. Once a medical institute, the building is now a listed monument. It has been used as a hospital and even a nightclub.

Now it's a sister restaurant to Asian on Paris' Champs Elysees - with wine bar, bistro and brasserie, which serves everything from Vietnamese spring rolls to sushi.

Dim sum costs from $S3.50 to $S4.50 a piece and Asian tapas start from $S8. But the six-course set lunch, which does vary, is well worth the $S38 each. That includes a consomme, a trio of dim sum and a pudding, as well as dishes like sauteed chicken with chilli and dark soy vinaigrette in a filo basket or steamed fish with sauteed spinach, and a gloriously refreshing lime drink called kalamansi intermezzo.

Cost: Set lunch ($S38). Asian, New Market Rd (50 Eu Tong Sen St).