Punjabi Grill by Jiggs Kalra, The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, B1-01A Galleria Level, Singapore

In the address above I have spelt the word 'shops' in accordance with how it is on all the signs to, from and in the Marina Bay Sands. I don't know why it has an extra 'p' and an unnecessary 'e'. Maybe the extra letters relate to the extra random things inside the shopping mall. Like a rain catcher upside down fountain thing-a-majig, or a mini canal with gondolas...or, fine dining restaurants inside a mall.  

It felt weird to dress up and stroll through a mall to get to the restaurant. But, the mall is so glossy and everyone is wearing extremely expensive clothes, so you don't feel overdressed. It still doesn't change the fact that the view you get if seated near the front of the restaurant will be of some high end shop. Maybe that's the plan: look at pretty, expensive things while you eat delicious food and maybe when you leave the restaurant you'll be so high on good food that you'll buy things that you can't afford! Luckily for me, we were seated nowhere near a view of any shop - phew! 

Once you enter Punjabi Grill, it doesn't feel like you're in a mall. It is, by all accounts, a bona fide restaurant (I had had visions of food courts). Like everything in Singapore, the restaurant felt spacious and very glossy. 

Like all the food I'd eaten so far in Singapore, the food was amazing. This was a little more amazing than the other food, so much so that I went there twice: once on the way to Australia, once on the way back. 

Whether you go for a dry curry, or a grill or even the raita, the food is rich and flavourful with very generous portions. Oh man, I'm getting so hungry just thinking about it. 

We ordered the vegetarian grill selection. It was huge! After the amuse bouche which was a fancy little vadai (lentil cake), and too much poppodam with the best chutnies in the world, I knew that I probably shouldn't eat too much of the starter...but it was too tasty, so I ate like I hadn't seen food before. 

Then came a creamy panner curry, a tadka daal, some stir fry asparagus, boondi raita, mango lassis, rice and a bread selection (naan, roti, paratha - yuuummmmm). It was so freaking tasty I forced myself to eat way more than my belly was willing to allow. Who cares, I probably won't go there again for years unless I find myself in Singapore anytime soon, and if that happened I'd do the same thing again. I'd eat, and eat, and eat, and eat, eat, eat, eat, eat, eat, etc. 

When food is that delicious, I don't really care about anything else. Yet, despite that, I couldn't help but notice how wonderful the service was! 

I only have one thing left to say. In the vain hope that Jiggs Kalra will ever read this blog: Please open a Punjabi Grill in London. 

Price: Approx. 160.00 SGD (84 GBP) for 3 x soft drink, 1 x veg starter sharing platter, 3 x vegetarian curries, 1 x vegetarian side, 1 x bread basket selection, 1 x rice and service charge. 

Veggie Friendly: 5/5

Food: 5/5

Service: 5/5

Atmosphere: 4/5  

Giant Robot, 45 - 47 Clerkenwell Road, London, EC1M 5RS

Wouldn't it be grand if the Giant Robot had robots manning (ho ho) the kitchen or waiting on tables? Or, maybe if it had GIANT ROBOT bouncers at the door? I realise this would require leaps in science and technology that as yet National Geographic, New Scientist and MIT don't know about, but at least it would make sense...and be awesome.  

As it stands, I don't know why the Giant Robot is named as it is. There seems to be no reference to giants or robots anywhere else but the name. 

It also carries a very different vibe to its sister venue, Milk & Honey. Perhaps that's the point. 

Milk & Honey is more 1920s - 1930s (or maybe even 1940s - whenever it was that men wore braces) exclusivity, whereas Giant Robot holds onto those American roots with an American diner style menu, with a relaxed East London vibe. Most of this vibe has been lifted directly from the days that the Giant Robot was Match bar (cocktails and mocktails and the like, oh my - I miss it). 

In an attempt to resist the urge to reminisce, let's focus on the food. 

My dear cousin Senorita of the Glen and her husband: The Man Who Survived Ciudad Juarez or TMWS Ciudad Juarez for short, thought the food was fine. The Husband shared the same sentiment. 

Senorita of the Glen ordered a salad and a slider, and while the food was tasty it was unnecessarily unhealthy...I mean, more unhealthy than you would already expect American diner style food to be. For example, her salad was swimming in over-salted dressing and the side of green beans that we all shared was smothered in butter and garlic. Seriously, I think I heard a bean cry out for air...'please nice lady, save me from this hell...they have emptied the entire tub of butter into this bowl and my family have all perished and wilted under the weight....save me...'

If you are a raging Veggiesaurus, things will be a bit more dire. Let's face it, the reviews above weren't glowing, so the next paragraph isn't going to be good. 

There were two options, which isn't awful considering the menu as a whole is small. They also take the trouble to point out which desserts are vegetarian. This is handy considering that many a good dessert has a sneaky pinch of gelatin...though sometimes ignorance can be sugary bliss. 

The two options for mains are cannelloni or cauliflower cheese arancini (what?!). I had to order the latter as I was so intrigued. Conclusion: bleurgh. 

Remember those cauliflower cheese ready meals you got in the early 90s. I don't mean the M&S posh nosh version you get these days, I mean that really heavy, crunchy, cheese and fat heavy yet low on taste on stuff. 

Now imagine that rolled in bread crumbs and deep fried. There you have it! 

Dessert was a more pleasant affair - big portions, big flavour. 

I'll give you another plus point to end on: the cocktail list is pretty darn good and the cocktails are yummy. They even have a page of old favourites from the days of Match. 
Now, it's time to reminisce. 

Price: Approximately 108.00 GBP for 2 x cocktails, 1 x beer, 1 x ginger beer, 2 x burgers, 1 x slider, 1 x salad, 1 x veggie main, 3 x sides, 4 x dessert and service charge. 

Veggie Friendly: 2.5/5 - if we were going solely on savoury the score would be lower, but because they told us which desserts were veggie friendly they get an average

Food: 2/5

Service: 4/5

Atmosphere: 3/5