A Romantic Dinner at the Singapore Botanic Gardens

Where should we go for a romantic dinner in Singapore? Is a common question that we are often asked. “It depends” is our usual answer. It is not that we cop out of answering the question, but because what is “romantic” varies with each person. For some it is a candle light dinner in a dark French restaurant, for some it is a top notch sushi dinner. I had a chance to be invited for dinner recently to a romantic dinner in Singapore – at the Corner House restaurant in the Botanic Gardens.

We have already written a couple of stories on the Corner House and you can see a description of the place and better photographs at our earlier posts on brunch and dinner at the Corner House.

Setting for a romantic dinner in Singapore Botanic Gardens

The Corner House is a beautiful place at all times of the day. But is probably more romantic in the evening. We had an early reservation, at 7pm which I think was the most sensible as it gave us the chance to have a short stroll to the restaurant from the carpark in the coolness of the evening and before it got too dark. It had rained earlier and the rainforest smell of the leaves and the glistening foliage along the path added to the sense of occasion. It was getting romantic even before stepping foot into the restaurant.

Corner House serves only fixed course meals. The most affordable being the lunch courses that start from $62. Dinner courses start from around $150. The restaurant is not romantic in the usual way. It is brightly lit and feels more like someone’s big house rather than a fancy restaurant. As a fine dining location, is not as glitzy as a Joel Robuchon (before it closed) or as smooth as Les Amis but it has its own type of charm.

The Wines

Good food deserves some wine go with it. Corner House has a “one-for-one” corkage policy – i.e. buy a bottle from their wine list and you can BYO a bottle. We selected a bottle of 2016 white wine ($140) from Pouilly Fume, Loire Valley of France. It was one of the lowest priced wine on the wine list but good enough to go with the early part of the meal. We brought along our own bottle of red Burgundy – a 2011 Latricières-Chambertin, Grand Cru, Domaine Rossignol-Trapet. Wine merchant Berry Bros & Rudd has this description for the wine – “…this has a real intensity of rich fruit sweetness and a huge amount of Grand Cru finesse in each glass. Perfumed and full of promise, the tannin, texture, structure and acidity are perfectly balanced right through the long finish”. Sounds about right.

The Food

The dinner kicked off with the amuse bouche items. There were four bite-sized items. I can’t remember their descriptions, just that they were cute and delightful.

I shall not describe all the food items in detail as the menu regularly changes (and I can’t recall most of the details that were described to us). What I can say is that the food has remained at a high level during all our visits. We like the creativity as well. There is an element of surprise as each dish was unveiled. Plating was elegant but not over-the-top, except for the oyster dish which had lots of decorative seaweed which they warned us not to eat.

Oyster Royale – after the smoke has cleared

Each dish looks small but we were quite full by the time the kaya toast dessert was served. I think we may have overdosed on the nice bread which they kept replenishing. It was a nice romantic dinner in Singapore Botanic Gardens with good food and wine, most important of all, great company. The service that day was not as spontaneous as on previous occasions. Glasses were not refilled. Descriptions of the food were rattled off at great speed.

But the pretty petits fours ensured that we left on a sweet note. A parting gift (a box of cookies) ensured that we had Corner House on our minds even after we had left the restaurant.