Red hot in the red dot

On Wednesday, I had one of the most entertaining nights of my life. I'm not sure how many of you have heard of the Red Hot Chili Pipers - have a look for them on youtube - but if they come to a venue near you, buy a ticket and you're in for a treat. I've always found that the sound of bagpipes brings out intense feelings of Scottishness in me and by the end of Wednesday evening I was ready to buy a timeshare in Inverness and book in at the nearest tattoo parlour to have a thistle emblazoned (ever so tastefully) over my left bosom. Normally, of course, bagpipes play traditional music, but there's very little traditional about the RHCPs, apart from their musical skills. They are, in fact, damn good musicians. Their snare drummer is a world champion, and several band members are graduates of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. They call what they do "bagrock", but however you characterise it, it's a damn good time.

So why the "red dot" of the title, I hear my faithful readers ask? Well, it's like this. Singapore is affectionately known as the "little red dot" on the map of the world - in part a reference to its ability to seriously punch above its weight. There are may red dot references in Singapore - from brew houses to museums (see picture). The Red Dot Museum is Singapore's design museum, and it is housed in an old colonial style building that used to be the headquarters of the traffic police. It's a big space and the first time we went we were amazed by how empty it seemed. Actually, we felt pretty much the same when we went back again, so now we've decided to think of it as minimalist rather than appear rude and superior!

I mentioned the Red Dot Brewhouse a moment ago, which reminded me that I don't believe I've written much about Dempsey in my posts. Dempsey Hill used to be the site of the British army barracks, and is now what is known as a "lifestyle destination". It is a lush green paradise close to the centre of Singapore, and home to a variety of rather nice shops and restaurants, of which the Red Dot Brewhouse is one - not that I've ever been there. I have been to Samy's, however (curry served on banana leaves), The Karma Kettle - Indian restaurant with Scottish bar (and the site of the Red Hot Chili Pipers show as it happens) and Au Petit Salut, which is a wonderful French restaurant, better than many I've been to in France. Singapore has many fine eateries, as I've mentioned before. Last Saturday we went to 53, a new place, at 53 Armenian Street, which is home to a chef who used to work at the Fat Duck, and which bases some of its methodology on Heston Blumenthal's approach. There is no a la carte menu, so when you phone up to book, they ask if there is anything you don't like. Now, as you know, there are lots of things I don't like, but since Chris has no such foibles, I figured that he would eat whatever I didn't, so we'd be OK. And so it proved.

The restaurant was as minimalist as the Red Dot Museum, with probably only 20 covers in the downstairs (main) dining room. Scrubbed wood tables with no tablecloths, which I found it a bit iffy in a fine dining setup, but I'm a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to napery. The food was a bit minimalist as well, so it was just as well that the bread was fabulous and kept coming. It came in a little sack with heated pebbles in the bottom which promised to keep the bread warm for 20 minutes, but it was so good that there was no way it was going to last for 20 minutes, quite frankly. So, what did we think? Here's a haiku restaurant review:

6 out of 10 for

the experience but we

wouldn't go again