The White Rabbit

Saturday evening was special in that we went out to a very nice restaurant for dinner.  It was actually slightly more special than I initially realised.  I knew my fiance had booked it as a treat for my return but what I did not know was that he'd also arranged for some of our friends to come too.  So it was a proper welcome back for me.  In addition we also both met a new friend who we've come to know through Twitter and the common grounds of us both being relatively new expats to Singapore.  She is absolutely lovely and it was so nice to finally meet properly and wonderful that she could come too.

We went to a place called The White Rabbit in an area of Singapore known as Dempsey.  Here originally was where the British army were stationed and I've written previously about a visit which you can read about here.  As I mentioned in this post by Singapore's standards it is a bit of a trek to get to and I've actually only been here a handful of times.  I also failed again to get any good photos so next time we visit I must make sure I do!

The White Rabbit itself is actually housed in a former church.  It has fantastic arch shaped windows, an incredibly high ceiling and although obviously laid out as a restaurant now you can see where the altar and other features of the church once were.  This together with subtle lighting makes for a very pleasurable dining experience.  The restaurant's website has an Alice in Wonderland theme to it and of course the restaurant is named after one of the main characters.  However when there I did not personally pick up on this theme in the restaurant but maybe I was too engrossed in the good company and good food!

View towards the bar area

The restaurant also has an area where you can sit outside to enjoy pre-dinner drinks.  This again is subtly lit and you are surrounded by trees and vegetation making for a very pleasant atmosphere.  As it is a little off the well beaten track there is nothing much to disturb you other than the noise of frogs and cicadas.  It has a colonial feel to it and if you shut your eyes you could almost imagine yourself in Singapore a hundred or so years ago.

The food was wonderful, there are a lot of fish based dishes and, as you'll know, I'm not the biggest seafood fan but there were plenty of non-fish dishes to choose from too.  I had tomato soup to start, perhaps not very exciting but not something you see much of in Singapore and it was a good choice.  Followed by a vegetable pasta dish, again absolutely wonderful.  The others I was with chose a variety of dishes including lobster and lamb and no one had any complaints.  Service in Singapore can on occasion be a bit hit and miss but we could not fault it here, even down to the drinks waiter over hearing a conversation about drinking tea and advising us that, should we want it, they have an extensive tea menu.

After a thoroughly lovely evening and meal we headed back into the city for a few drinks with a friend who was out celebrating her birthday.  We went to a bar I'd not been to and I felt I had to share with you as again the views from the roof top bar were fantastic.  The place is called Orgo and is on the river by the Marina Bay Theatres on the Bay (the buildings that locals say look like the durian fruit) on the Esplanade.  The views from here look across to the Central Business District (CBD) and along the river.  At night with all the buildings lit up this looks stunning.  I enjoyed an amazing frozen margarita cocktail, mango with rosemary salt which was really refreshing.  It was far bigger than the glass and, of course, very quickly began to melt so it was a feat drinking it.  The other feature I liked was that it also has little glass pods you can sit in with friends with comfy sofas and cushions which are air conditioned - very clever and very pleasant!  I'd definitely like to come back here and return to the White Rabbit again.

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