Review: The Bugis Singapore Restaurant at the Bailey’s Hotel

For anyone who has been to Singapore, you may have visited Bugis Street, an area famous for its street food and flavours. The Bugis Singapore Restaurant takes its name from the area and specialises in authentic Singaporean, Malaysian and Chinese cuisines.

Found on the ground floor of the Bailey’s Hotel in South Kensington, it’s a plush spot and offers a luxury dining experience.

The Bugis originally opened in 1995 on the corner street near Gloucester Road Tube station but reopened inside the Bailey’s Hotel this summer.

On a rainy “summer’s”evening in August, I was more than thrilled to enjoy some Asian fine dining and glamour.

Before dinner my friend and I enjoyed some cocktails at the newly renovated Bailey’s bar, from the cocktail menu inspired by Lord Bailey’s travels in the Far East.

The restaurant was packed with international hotel guests and Londoners enjoying the ambience and beauty of the new space.

For our meal, my dining companion and I opted for the Taste of Bugis menu to get an idea of what the restaurant has to offer.

For starters we were treated to a tasty trio of crispy fried salt and pepper squid, sesame prawn toast with a lime coriander dip and a corn-fed chicken satay skewer with peanut sauce. Not the healthiest of options but still delicious.

Next up was the fresh crab meat sweet corn soup, which had the silkiest texture and had generous servings of melt in the mouth crab meat.

We were then presented with a steamed giant diver scallop in black bean sauce, served in the prettiest shell.

The scallop was meaty, which my beautiful turquoise and gold chopsticks were too flimsy to tackle, so I opted for a spoon to pull apart the delicious white flesh.

The highlight of the meal for me was the main course, which consisted of Malaysian style grilled fish Ikan Bakar, sizzling Scottish Angus Beef in black pepper sauce and vegetable fried rice.

The fish was wrapped in a banana leaf and was dressed with a pleasing amount of coriander, lime and spices, which gave it that distinct flavour signature to southeast Asia.

I am already planning to attempt to recreate this dish at home as it was healthy, delicious and made me nostalgic for my travelling days in Asia.

For dessert we had fresh mango coconut cream with tapioca pearl. This was the perfect sweet dish to end the meal as it was light, tart and signature to southeast Asian cuisine.

The service was quick and friendly and the staff were committed to ensure guests had a good time.

The Bugis Singapore Restaurant is a fancy affair and a perfect spot to celebrate a special occasion or for international hotel guests it offers a taste from home.

We drank

One Dirty Martini (£12) and one Mai Tai (£12)

One bottle of Quita do Vallado Douro Tinto £34

We ate

Taste of Bugis menu (£58 per person)

Total for two: £174

The Bugis Singapore Restaurant, 140 Gloucester Rd, South Kensington, London SW7 4QH