Rachel AJ Lee’s palate is taken on a culinary voyage of Singapore’s local food in a five-star location

Taking over the space formerly occupied by the Greenhouse restaurant in the swanky Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore is Colony. The name of the restaurant pays homage to the treacherous sea voyage that the British once undertook when travelling to the South-east Asian region for trade in the 18^th century.

The atmosphere is warm and casual, yet opulent and streamlined at the same time. Vintage maps and postcards adorn the walls behind brown banquettes and armchairs, attempting to take the diner back in time to a bygone era.

MICE application

In addition to The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore’s more than 3,250m² of boardrooms, meeting rooms and pillarless grand ballroom, private functions can also be held at the 260-seat Colony. Small residential meeting groups have the option of enjoying lunch at Colony as part of the hotel’s meeting package. Advanced notice is required.

Meeting planners looking for a venue within the hotel to organise social events can hire the entire restaurant. A minimum spend of S$20,000 (US$14,412) for lunch or S$25,000 for dinner is required. Should there be budget constraints or the need for smaller spaces, the restaurant can be partitioned into three: left wing (114 pax), centre (32 pax) and right wing (114 pax).

The buffet menu at Colony rotates on a daily basis and can be tweaked and customised upon clients’ requirements.

F&B concept

There are eight different open concept kitchens with “live” culinary showmanship. For example, there was a chef searing foie gras (which is a must-try by the way) while another was shucking briny oysters from Normandy.

Colony is split into two sections, the “cold” area – where the desserts, cold cuts, cheeses, salad and variety of crustaceans can be found. The “hot” area is tucked at the back of the restaurant, and that’s where I spent most of my time trawling through the grilled and stewed Western meats, local wok-fried delicacies, Asian noodle dishes, steaming baskets of dumplings, and spiced meats and Indian breads from a traditional Tandoor oven.

I ended the sumptuous buffet on a high note at The Patisserie, where an array of local and international sweet treats is seductively displayed. Alas, I had to wave the white flag after my first round. I did try two flavours of ice cream – both the chendol and gula Melaka were delicious – and two squares of handmade dark chocolates.

Colony serves breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner daily, and vintage Champagne brunch on Sundays. In the evenings, there is also a roving mixologist who will push a cart around to craft tableside speciality cocktails such as Bengal Brew and Governer’s Invitation.

Service

Impeccable. I was milling about in the lobby as I was early for Colony’s launch and within five minutes two of the hotel staff approached me to ask me if I was already being taken care of.

Within Colony, there was no shortage of chefs behind the various culinary stations and they were quick to refill empty woks or whip something up for me. The service staff made sure my water glass was constantly refilled.

Contacts

Colony at The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia
7 Raffles Avenue, Singapore 039799
Tel: (65) 6434 5288
Email: rc.sinrz.restaurantreservations@ritzcarlton.com
Website: www.colony.com.sg

Opening hours

Daily from 06.30 to 22.30

Quezon City in the Philippines welcomed the Novotel Manila Araneta Centre last month.

The 24-storey hotel, located 15km away from Ninoy Aquino International Airport and sited within the Araneta Centre lifestyle complex, features 401 rooms and suites, the largest number in a single property in Quezon City.

The hotel boasts six meeting rooms, a boardroom and a state-of-the-art pillarless grand ballroom, which can accommodate up to 1,200 guests. A 2,500m² landscaped outdoor garden area is also available for cocktail events, soirees and fashion shows.

Amenities include the In Balance Wellness Centre, which houses a gym, spa and swimming pool; the Gymboree Kids Area, which caters to young guests; and the executive sky-lounge, which offers a 360-degree view of the city.

For dining options, there is the Food Exchange Manila, a 208-seat restaurant serving an array of international cuisine at live cooking stations, and the Gourmet Bar, which serves signature drinks and freshly-brewed coffee, with a focus on using organic produce grown and harvested from a farm in San Mateo, Rizal.

Hyatt Regency Kinabalu has launched a stylish multifunctional event venue centred around a show kitchen, called The Residence. It can accommodate up to 160 guests, is furnished with state-of-the-art audio-visual technology, and complements the renovated Tanjung Ria Kitchen, The Lounge and The Poolside Bar.

The multipurpose layout of The Residence enables event organisers to use the facility for various purposes, ranging from small parties to VIP dinners. The venue can also be combined with Tanjung Ria Kitchen for larger gatherings of up to 300 people.

Bennett Peter, director of sales and marketing, said the new offering was necessary because “the hotel customer of today needs, demands and expects flexibility and versatility in experiences and service”.

Arifin Darmawan, general manager of the Hyatt Regency Kinabalu, said: “The new facility exudes an aura of elegance and relaxation with its contemporary yet classic décor, complemented by natural daylight window panels. With show kitchens and multiple rooms, the focus is on one-on-one guest engagement and personalising the entire hotel experience.”

The five-star Keio Plaza Hotel Tokyo has unveiled its new event facilities on the 47^th floor, following a month-long renovation that cost 300 million yen (US$2.5 million).

The five banquet rooms on the level were updated with new interiors, while Akane room was expanded from 45m² to 65m² and Aozora room was fitted with improved lighting systems. Works were also done to the foyer, karaoke room entrance and restrooms on the 47^th floor, as well as the banquet rooms on the lower levels which now offers wireless and local area network facilities.

Beside function rooms on the the top floor, the hotel has multipurpose venues on the fourth and fifth floors.

Hotel spokesperson, Sunaho Nakatani, told TTGmice that the renovations were made to improve the hotel’s product for events and maintain the high quality of venues and experiences the hotel is known for.

“Our banquet and event facilities are very popular and our largest venue, the Concord Ballroom, enjoys a high occupancy of 90 per cent throughout the year,” added Junko Saito, deputy director of marketing and PR.

The hotel hosts some 80 academic and international conventions a year and is regarded as either the first or second top hotel venue for events in Japan, with its closest rival being a property in Kansai, according to Saito.

Saito said: “Our hotel is among the best in Shinjuku and Tokyo, and despite our room rates rising every year, we’ve been able to enjoy a healthy average occupancy rate of 89 to 90 per cent. Our rooms aren’t cheap, so we work hard to make sure experiences and service standards are excellent. Our marketing efforts now are aimed at strengthening the hotel’s branding.” – Karen Yue

Keen on improving the way banquet services are offered to event planners, Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre is rolling out today an extensive collection of customisable dinner menus that offer clients 168 dishes to choose from.

Twenty-one eight-course Chinese menus across seven series have been created, with the cheapest priced at S$788⁺⁺ (US$554⁺⁺) per table. Each series will offer two Halal menu options, while one will cater for vegetarians.

Event planners are able to swap dishes from menus in the same series at no extra cost, while changes made between menus from different series will come with “a little bit more money”, said Suntec Singapore’s CEO, Arun Madhok.

Describing the new banquet programme as a revolutionary one in the MICE business, Madhok said: “Venues in the market today typically offer only two or three set menus with fixed items. We see the opportunity to do things differently and better by giving price-sensitive clients who appreciate good food the chance to provide their delegates with a great dining experience at Suntec Singapore, but without breaking the bank.”

“Industry colleagues have told me that my new banquet programme is suicidal for business; how could the kitchen manage so many dining options for multiple large-scale events, they asked.

“But this is not an issue for us, as our kitchen operations have been computerised and optimised with new processes,” he said.

He elaborated: “Take for instance our new induction ovens which can cook many dishes at once but are safe and use less heat, which also brings down electricity usage as our air cooling system will no longer need to work as hard. We have also reduced the number of suppliers, keeping only the top quality ones and employing a Just In Time delivery system to keep produce fresh and use less storage space.”

To spread demand away from the popular Friday and Saturday evenings, Suntec Singapore is offering a discount of S$50⁺⁺ per table for banquets hosted on Sundays to Thursdays.

All menus come with free-flow soft drinks and Chinese tea, fresh flower centrepieces, one VIP table service per 50 tables booked, and other perks. Terms apply. – Karen Yue