Dining boredom

I never thought I would say this of Singapore...dining here is boring.

It's gotten so expensive that a "nice" meal at a restaurant would set you back at least $80 per person with a glass of wine. I wouldn't mind it so much if it was $80 well spent. But more often then not, it's NOT! Even a dinner out at a mid range restaurant sets you back $20 per person. 

What annoys me most is if the meal doesn't have any character or hint of authenticity. I am not a fan of the funky Japanese meals that have popped up all over Singapore. It's good value but not my cup of tea. Give me a good ole bowl of ramen, sushi made with fresh ingredients or chicken skin yakitori. No weird stuff with cheese and mayo all over please. 

It pains me to admit that eating here is boring especially when I have these really high expectations of eating in Singapore. These expectations are the result of having had to eat oily, msg-laden Northern Chinese food for lunch, for 5 years in Beijing. I guess the deprivation of a lot of familiar foods  made me think very nostalgically of eating in Singapore, when I wasn't in Singapore.

I have to admit now that there was a lot more international variety in Beijing. Whether the food's good is debateable. At the initial opening, a lot of these restaurants put in effort to create an authentic meal - whether from Morocco, India, Japan or Korea - after a while, they either train local chefs to recreate the dishes perfectly or it starts going downhill. There was always a new affordable restaurant to try out each month, so when the "flavour of the month" starts serving crappy food, there's always a new place to replace the old.

Sadly, that's not the case in Singapore. Well, at least, "affordable" is not necessarily the case. Or should I say value for money? I guess the best value and best food are the local favourites - the Ba-chor Mee ( Minced meat noodles), Roti Pratas, Nasi Padang etc... I love eating these. Afterall, I grew up on them.

But once in a while, I like to have something NOT local. If it comes at a high price, so be it. But it darn well better be a good meal. Not one that leaves me 1. annoyed  2. still hungry 3. sick!!!