Posted on Mon, 11 Apr 2011

Brunch Tickled Pink

The beauty about waking up on Sunday is that it’s Sunday – still a day of the weekend left. The bad thing about waking up on Sunday is that it’s Sunday – just one more day before Monday hits you like a fat ex-boyfriend. Either way you see it, you might as well start Sunday on a high and happy note – with one of Singapore’s best Sunday brunches. And there’s really no meal in town as high, cheerful and pink as the PINK Brunch at the Equinox Complex, 70 floors up in the clouds at Swissotel The Stamford Singapore. Let me state from the start that this takes place only on the last Sunday of every month.

There’s so much going for it, as I discovered two Sundays ago as a guest of the hotel. At $148++, this is one of the best brunch buffet deals in town. Way up in the sky, you don’t just get to drink in a great view of the city, there’s also lots of great drinks to quaff down on a free-flow basis - Moet & Chandon Rose champers, and five kinds of cocktails specially concocted for the brunch, draft beer, spirits and mixes and all other non-alcoholic drinks and juices. How not to be happy?

What more, its overwhelmingly pink theme hits you the moment the express lift door opens – wholesome looking waitresses in sugar-pink shift dresses and hair bands, pink balloons floating at every corner, and pink food which stretches from end to end of the restaurant. (Look out for the pink dessert buffet.) There’s live music too – nice soothing acoustic sounds by a soulful soloist.

Make reservations for a window seat, then sit back and enjoy the feast. First up is a little amuse buche – like you needed any! – with a flute of bubbly for an initial rinse. Then it’s a shivering mound of Eggs Benedict cooked a la minute with three choices of classic toppings – smoked salmon with roe, back bacon with bell pepper and spinach with truffle hollandaise – and foie gras. The buffet line is a good and substantial spread – three kinds of freshly shucked oysters, prawns, plenty of sashimi at a Japanese counter sliced only as you order, sushi galore, sweet plum soba and all manner of cold seafood for a refreshing start. For the hot items, the lamb and beef at the carvery were good, not Christmas but there was turkey too, plump scallops fried on order, and a pretty impressive cheese table. The standard issue line-up of international dishes on chafing dishes – duck confit, baked salmon, prawns, etc – were nice, but clearly played second fiddle to the ‘action stations’.

When mains are over, potter to the far end of the restaurant where an equally pink dessert spread is laid out in whimsical prettiness. Pick out chocolate mousse cakes, panna cotta shots, glasses of deconstructed cheese cake, financiers topped with pink marshmallows, cakes, ice cream and crepes. See the pretty pictures? I managed to snap these until I got stopped by a suited staff who said dourly, “Madam, no pictures of buffet table.” What to do? ‘Tis for the sake of a story!

By the way, did I mention that if you are heaving your kiddies along, it’s a pretty kid-friendly do as well? The restaurant offers a separate room – and a rather large one – for the tots to frolic and play, with their own buffet spread and some child minders, too. I popped my head in and saw some activities going on, but it was a little quiet because there weren’t many kids, and maybe that’s why it looked a little less than fun at that time. But if you sent your kids in there with their own friends, I’m sure you can rest assured they’ll keep each other company and be entertained. There was a balloon sculptor there as well.

Anyway, reservations are essential as this takes place only on the last Sunday of the month, and because it’s such a good deal – I haven’t seen a more generous menu of the variety of free-flow drinks on a brunch menu – tables fill up fast. Happily, it is still a one-seating affair, unlike many other successful restaurants these days which cram in two shifts and limit you to a definite deadline for finishing your meal!