Shangri-la Hotel and Resorts launch The Table -- Eat. Indulge. Earn Points. Repeat.

How often do you eat out? If you're like us who goes out every weekend, that would mean that we visit an average of 4 restaurants a week or 12 restaurants a month. Don't you wish that with every time you dine out, you get rewarded too? Well, Shangri-la Hotel and Resorts heard our wish and they're finally making it come true.

A month ago, I was invited to attend the media launch of The Table -- a food and beverage loyalty program that's applicable across all Shangri-la Hotels in the region (or maybe in the world). What sets this loyalty program apart from all others is the fact that every member can earn points regardless if they dine at any F&B outlet in Shangri-la, Hotel Jen, Traders or Kerry Hotels in the world. That gives you so much flexibility especially if you're the type who loves to travel and eat. As you earn points, you can easily redeem rewards too without having to wait for any vouchers to be sent to you. This was one thing that I love as I'm a member of quite a lot of dining membership clubs and my main gripe is having to redeem and wait for weeks before I can finally make my next purchase. Also, The Table is part of Shangri-la's Golden Circle so members will receive Golden Circle points on all qualifying transactions be it when you book a room, do room service or dine in any restaurants. Again, very very flexible.



No two diners are alike and while we may agree on certain things, there will be other dishes that we will definitely disagree on. Likewise, our tastes and lifestyles are all different from one another so Shangri-la addresses our own individuality and uniqueness by having a variety of hotels with its own personality and vibe. To give us a taste of what The Table can offer, we were treated to a 5-course dinner featuring a signature dish coming from all 4 Shangri-la Hotels here in Singapore.

Our meal began with Chill by Executive Chef Jena Friedl of Shangri-la Rasa Sentosa Resort & Spa. It's a colorful and healthy platter of pickle radish, beetroot, green pea and mint puree, olive oil foam and tomato jelly. For picky eaters like me, this was definitely a surefire way to get me to eat all my veggies. It's a very refreshing platter further teasing your palate for greater dishes to come.


Up next was Adventurous by Chef Frederick Kho of Hotel Jen Tanglin. Not sure about trying uni (sea urchin)? Well, it's time to be bold and take that first bite. This was a delicate creation of sea urchin crab chawanmushi and chili crab toast. It's a perfect marriage of local Singaporean flavour and a touch of Japanese feel. I love the contrasting texture of the silky smooth chawanmushi and the crunchy toast. So yummy!

Well, it seems like the chefs are busy out doing each other. Lucky for us though, we get to enjoy one dish after another. Following the winning chawanmushi, we had Upbeat by Chef de Cuisine Lee Hoong Wan of Hotel Jen Orchardgateway. I was so privileged to sit with the Hotel Jen Orchardgateway team so I got a bit of a background story about this dish. Chef Lee prepared a special Laksa Fried Rice with River Prawns which, as I was told, is the hotel's signature dish. One bite and I instantly can see why. The laksa has a nice flavor profile where you still get a good spicy kick yet you can also taste the herbs and spices that went into it. The river prawns were huge and this was definitely a very comforting dish. One cup of rice is not enough, if you ask me. It's so good, you'll wish you can have more.

Just when I thought the last two dishes were just so amazing that our meal can end there, out came Elegance by Executive Chef Franco Brodini of Shangri-la Hotel Singapore. It's every meat-lover's dream to have a juicy cut of wagyu steak paired with a thick slice of foie gras (be still my heart!), spinach and crushed potatoes. I enjoyed every single bite as I would have a small piece of foie gras with wagyu and potatoes. The meat was grilled to perfection retaining the juice while keeping it well-charred outside. The foie gras..well..how can pan-fried foie gras go wrong, right? This definitely embodies elegance and was truly deserving to be the star of our 5-course meal.

Lastly, we were presented with Shangri-la cake box and while I thought this was to be brought home, we were asked to open it up. Inside was a garden-like display of greens, buckwheat, lime caviar and white peach sorbet. It was really interesting and I love how the sorbet stayed frozen all throughout. Well, can you imagine if we brought this home? We would have made a huge sweet mess! This was the Intimate creation of Executive Pastry Chef Herve Potus.

Hats off to the Chefs for putting together an amazing dinner repertoire!

I forgot to mention that as each dish were served, we also noticed how the lighting of the entire room and the background music would change too. Talk about great attention to detail in perfect precision.

Want to know more about The Table? Visit: http://www.golden-circle.com/thetable/ today!