for all of you considering one of the classic singapore experiences, namely having a singapore sling cocktail at the raffles hotel long bar, i wanted to share with you my own experience.
the hotel itself was beautiful, a classic restored colonial edifice. despite the tacky "drink specials" board outside written up in day-glo markers, i headed up to the long bar for my drink. inside, the bar itself was beautiful. elaborate palm fans made attempts at sending cooling breezes from the ceiling, the interior was dark and atmospheric, and it was generally a beautiful classic bar.
when i ordered my singapore sling, the immaculately attired bartender headed down to the other end of the bar to make my drink. that was when i saw the batch of other glasses ready, and then i saw this: the bartender poured a large pitcher of pre-prepared red mixture into a blender filled with ice, ran the blender briefly, then poured the resulting mixture into the glasses. i was then presented with one of the drinks, followed with a bill for about S$20 (around $12 USD). they didn't even bother to prepare the drinks individually!
if i'm paying those kind of prices (esp. in perspective of the usual cost of alcohol in singapore), i would normally expect the drink to be prepared from scratch when it's ordered. there seemed to be a slight medicinal tinge to the drink, and i wasn't too impressed by it overal. if you're looking for an alternative (and one that doesn't involve thousands of miles of travel from your home), i recommend the singapore sling at trader vic's much more highly than the singapore sling at the raffles' long bar.
the long bar is a world-class bar with a world-class reputation, so i'm hoping i just caught them on an off night. but after this, i'm definitely looknig forward to spending some time at the bangkok trader vic's in a few weeks!
