It wasn't planned that the pictures of my dinner at Line would all come out looking like they'd spent hours under the sun. It just so happened that I'd forgotten to adjust the settings on my camera, and so everything now looks this way.
Wonderful it is, then, that these pictures are not reflective of the delicious dinner where I had a most lovely time.
It had been a somewhat impromptu decision where, having not had a buffet meal for some time, we decided that this night made a great occasion for such a dinner, so a reservation we made, and up the hill we climbed.
Line is one of those places where you have to make a deliberate, special effort to go. Not just because it sits in the heart of the Shangri La Hotel on Orange Grove Road, but because it has an ambience that successfully balances the casual, the fun, the classy, and the down-to-earth.
Despite the grandeur of the hotel and the hotel lobby, entering Line doesn't give you the high-handed, hoity-toity elegance that some places say they offer. It is classy, no doubt- it is the Shang after all- and sure, you'll feel it whilst walking through the lobby, but that feeling dissipates once you get down the escalator and into the restaurant itself.
Maybe it is the atmosphere.
Maybe it is the seating arrangement.
And maybe it is the sight of gorgeously arrayed cooked dishes arranged strategically all around the room.
On one side you have the fresh seafood. This particular evening there were prawns, freshly shucked oysters, mussels, some sort of crayfish, and these little creatures that looked like lobsters but were smaller in size, of a different color, and seemed pretty difficult to eat.
So despite them looking very exotic, I skipped them and had the oysters and the prawns.
Over at the Japanese selections, it were the little bowls of soba that I bypassed and instead got a bit of sushi- couldn't resist the Californian maki- I dont' know why- as well as a pretty good portion of salmon belly sashimi.
I like salmon belly lah.
A decision I made to not have any salad, even though there was a pretty good selection, where, besides the usual variety of vegetables, there were salads of the prepared kind with feta cheese, waldorf, roasted pumpkin and pasta.
Funny thing is, I was just about to take the roasted pumpkin salad and the waldorf, but somehow the huge pan of paella caught my eye and distracted me wandered over to the cooked food side.
It's an odd thing, and it is probably something you won't realize when you're looking at it, but a gigantic pan filled with rice, mussels, prawns, calamari, red peppers and green peppers provides a charming sight that makes you feel pleasantly full.
Same goes when you sight the large pan of char kuay teow.
Yes, it might be the South East Asian blood in me, but it is very homely, I tell you, and because I love kuay teow and I like char kuay teow done Penang style, I took two portions.
The rest of the meal was more varied after that.
There was ketupat and satay (hot from the grill) from the Malay/Indonesian side that had an array of very spicy-looking dishes and sayur lodeh, and which sat right next to the chutney, naan, kebabs and tandoori from the Indian cuisine side.
On one side there's the Indian and the Malay/Indonesian with the offerings of chutney, naan, kebabs and tandoori alongside the offerings of sayur lodeh, a couple of very spicy-looking dishes, ketupat and satay.
And even though there were stewed vegetables (with really large leaves), stewed chicken, mantous with chilli crab sauce and steamed dim sum for the taking, I went for a couple of thickly-sliced steamed fish done Chinese-style because it came served with citrus sauce that I like.
My dining companion was more strategic with the meal.
One big bowl of clear soup (I had a few spoons!) and a fair portion of roasted meats- very hard to resist the roast pork because the skin is so crispy, I was told. Then there were platefuls of oysters and salmon sashimi. And then there was another portion of roast beef that was eaten with mustard and some sort of specially self-concocted sauce. One of my satay sticks got stolen off my plate, and there was a slight attempt to share the fish- sans sauce.
It was dessert time after that, because it doesn't matter how great the buffet spread is or how hungry you are, one must, and has to leave room for the Sweets of Life.
So whilst I picked out several little cakes amongst which was a slice of earl grey mousse cheesecake and a slice of kueh lapis, then one twirl of frozen yogurt and one scoop of salted caramel gelato, my dining companion went chocolate overload on everything with little chocolate cakes, chocolate mousse in little plastic cups, one piece of chocolate picked off one of the larger cakes, and one scoop of dark chocolate gelato.
That was it, but next time we'll make room to coat the marshmellows with the chocolate fountain.
The white chocolate fountain.
Wonderful it is, then, that these pictures are not reflective of the delicious dinner where I had a most lovely time.
It had been a somewhat impromptu decision where, having not had a buffet meal for some time, we decided that this night made a great occasion for such a dinner, so a reservation we made, and up the hill we climbed.
Line is one of those places where you have to make a deliberate, special effort to go. Not just because it sits in the heart of the Shangri La Hotel on Orange Grove Road, but because it has an ambience that successfully balances the casual, the fun, the classy, and the down-to-earth.
Despite the grandeur of the hotel and the hotel lobby, entering Line doesn't give you the high-handed, hoity-toity elegance that some places say they offer. It is classy, no doubt- it is the Shang after all- and sure, you'll feel it whilst walking through the lobby, but that feeling dissipates once you get down the escalator and into the restaurant itself.
Maybe it is the atmosphere.
Maybe it is the seating arrangement.
And maybe it is the sight of gorgeously arrayed cooked dishes arranged strategically all around the room.
On one side you have the fresh seafood. This particular evening there were prawns, freshly shucked oysters, mussels, some sort of crayfish, and these little creatures that looked like lobsters but were smaller in size, of a different color, and seemed pretty difficult to eat.
So despite them looking very exotic, I skipped them and had the oysters and the prawns.
Over at the Japanese selections, it were the little bowls of soba that I bypassed and instead got a bit of sushi- couldn't resist the Californian maki- I dont' know why- as well as a pretty good portion of salmon belly sashimi.
I like salmon belly lah.
A decision I made to not have any salad, even though there was a pretty good selection, where, besides the usual variety of vegetables, there were salads of the prepared kind with feta cheese, waldorf, roasted pumpkin and pasta.
Funny thing is, I was just about to take the roasted pumpkin salad and the waldorf, but somehow the huge pan of paella caught my eye and distracted me wandered over to the cooked food side.
It's an odd thing, and it is probably something you won't realize when you're looking at it, but a gigantic pan filled with rice, mussels, prawns, calamari, red peppers and green peppers provides a charming sight that makes you feel pleasantly full.
Same goes when you sight the large pan of char kuay teow.
Yes, it might be the South East Asian blood in me, but it is very homely, I tell you, and because I love kuay teow and I like char kuay teow done Penang style, I took two portions.
The rest of the meal was more varied after that.
There was ketupat and satay (hot from the grill) from the Malay/Indonesian side that had an array of very spicy-looking dishes and sayur lodeh, and which sat right next to the chutney, naan, kebabs and tandoori from the Indian cuisine side.
On one side there's the Indian and the Malay/Indonesian with the offerings of chutney, naan, kebabs and tandoori alongside the offerings of sayur lodeh, a couple of very spicy-looking dishes, ketupat and satay.
And even though there were stewed vegetables (with really large leaves), stewed chicken, mantous with chilli crab sauce and steamed dim sum for the taking, I went for a couple of thickly-sliced steamed fish done Chinese-style because it came served with citrus sauce that I like.
My dining companion was more strategic with the meal.
One big bowl of clear soup (I had a few spoons!) and a fair portion of roasted meats- very hard to resist the roast pork because the skin is so crispy, I was told. Then there were platefuls of oysters and salmon sashimi. And then there was another portion of roast beef that was eaten with mustard and some sort of specially self-concocted sauce. One of my satay sticks got stolen off my plate, and there was a slight attempt to share the fish- sans sauce.
It was dessert time after that, because it doesn't matter how great the buffet spread is or how hungry you are, one must, and has to leave room for the Sweets of Life.
So whilst I picked out several little cakes amongst which was a slice of earl grey mousse cheesecake and a slice of kueh lapis, then one twirl of frozen yogurt and one scoop of salted caramel gelato, my dining companion went chocolate overload on everything with little chocolate cakes, chocolate mousse in little plastic cups, one piece of chocolate picked off one of the larger cakes, and one scoop of dark chocolate gelato.
That was it, but next time we'll make room to coat the marshmellows with the chocolate fountain.
The white chocolate fountain.