WanderBellies

Before L departed for her year-long placement in Poland, we decided to complement her final days in Singapore by spending some quality time together. Some of you may recall that we previously had a staycation at the Fairmont Hotel in Singapore, which we had a great time owing to impeccable service.

True to that, there were a couple more days to spare and hence L decided to book a night at the Fairmont Hotel again. This time round, she managed to use her free room upgrades in conjunction with the complimentary stay - funny because we were not allowed to utilise this the last time round, but we got the free upgrade regardless and the room was an absolute treat! However, this time the upgrade entitled us to a suite and we held great anticipation.

Unfortunately, the room was not yet available but we nonetheless managed to leave our belongings with the concierge, and L was pleasantly surprised with a rose stalk from the friendly counter staff. Always nice to receive personalised service wherever we go! After which, we took a short stroll across the road to the new South Beach Quarters, a spanking new office tower which houses the likes of Facebook (for now) and McKinsey, built around a number of conserved military buildings, where Vatos Urban Tacos was located. Not before a scoop each of an ice cream and sorbet from Tom's Palette in Shaw Tower, being the greedy souls that we are.

Tucked away in the historical ground level of the historic armoury building, Vatos Urban Tacos is a Korean chain that really heated up the scene in Seoul with its Korean take on Mexican street cuisine. Restaurant was moderately packed for a Saturday afternoon but what struck me was the casual vibes that were being given off, although the place was rather dimly lit. That said, we very quickly decided on having tacos that afternoon and with the help of the friendly staff got right into things.


We started off with portions of the Korean Pork Belly tacos and the Baja Fish tacos. The pork bellies were where the Korean influences really came through – akin to having a bbq’ed marinated pork belly and paired with an onion / ginger garnish, this dish went down a treat! I was expecting the fish tacos to made up of grilled / pan-fried fish, so as to allow the fresh flavours to come through, however they came with a beer-battered crust instead. Despite that, I thought the dish held together relatively nicely flavor-wise, although I would defer to Superloco’s take on its Taco Pescado Snapper anyday.


Mid-way through the above two sets of tacos, our hungry tummies craved for more and we called for an extra serving of the Galbi Short Rib tacos which wasn't all that bad.

L posing with our Vatos Ritas - Margarita with an upturned bottle of craft beer.

However, the highlight of lunch, in my opinion, was the signature Vatos Ritas, outsized margaritas served with an upturned bottle of craft beer. The simple contraption used to hold the upturned beer bottle set the scene for a revisit to physics lesson for L. I enjoyed testing out various physics theories as well - a throwback to engineering days. More importantly, the margarita was fantastic, with a great balance of sweetness and the flavours of the craft beer - definitely something worth going back for!


We then proceeded back to Fairmont to check into our room and were pleasantly surprised by the multiple room upgrades applied - I guess we hit the ceiling of upgrades because the room assigned was the Penthouse Suite, the highest tier in the entire hotel! A full equipped room with a living and dining area, kitchen, bedroom, and an oversized bathroom with an in-built sauna. The icing on the cake was the grand piano in the corner of our living room which added that extra touch of classiness!

I had planned for an evening of bar hopping to surprise L during our staycation, with the first port of call being a nearby rooftop bar which I used to frequent whenever I returned to Singapore for holidays - the Loof at Odeon Towers, given L's love for rooftop bars. However, due to the inclement weather, we decided to head for Fairmont's Executive lounge instead, where they were hosting a drinks and cocktail reception. The area was surprisingly crowded and the required dress code meant that everyone was relatively well dressed and looking dapper! We were welcomed by the friendly staff and took a corner seat with a view of the Marina Bay area, before proceeding to raid the spread of nibbles.


I liked the scallops and prawn fritters that were served while L tried out the various cheeses on offer. We had a great time sipping on champagne while trying out an IOS game recommended by L - which saw us making a little fool of ourselves that evening. This meant that we were relatively boozed up by the time dinner came knocking.

Stay tuned tuned for a second post around our staycation.

To be continued...
D