Raffles Hotel

I hadn’t seen Suzy for three weeks but chanced upon her in Singapore; she going one way, me the other.  So, when in Singapore where should one seek a cleansing ale and convivial entertainment, why Raffles of course!

Located within an easy walk of our Hotel (thanks Qantas) Raffles requires no explanation, suffice to say that the thirties are alive and well within its walls and even some of the patrons appear to have been there for just as long.  No doubt musing about life over a Singapore Sling or three.

We loved the motorized Punkawallah in the Long Bar (at least I assumed it was motorized; I didn’t see any Wallahs); every home should have one.

The astute reader will note that absence of glassware on our table; that’s because we are still budget travellers and drinks are half the price across the road in the food court!  Still, it was let’s pretend for a while.  Should we ever have an expansive budget, then a week or two at Raffles would be a delight.  Raffles is not a Hotel it is an institution and we wouldn’t mind being institutionalized there at all.

The (Royal) George

This Public House is located about as far away as you can get from Bourne End.  In fact, if you keep going in the same direction as you did to get to “The George” from Bourne End, you would get back to where you started from and it would be the same distance (almost).  Yes, “The George” is located in the Antipodes and on a recent trip home, we could not help but stop by for a cleansing ale or three.

“The George”, or The Royal George if you want to stand on ceremony, purports an eclectic mix of Australian colonial architecture, urban gastronomy & country hospitality; R.M.Williams meets Jamie Oliver.  However, according to “Your Restaurant Guide” – The Royal George Hotel, a remnant from Ballarat’s Gold Rush era, was little more than a dank drinking hole until two years ago”.  We have taken umbrage to that statement as we have enjoyed ourselves at this establishment for many years on visits to Kyneton and didn’t find it dank at all; a drinking hole it might have been but that was part of it’s charm.

However, it has recently undergone a second refurbished and it is now under new ownership.  Nevertheless, we looked forward to revelling in the 30 degrees heat, drinking ice cold beer and eating the local food.

We arrived and had a round of pricey drinks and considered the menu.  Unfortunately, there was more Ritz than Jamie Oliver in the food and drink prices and we decided to search elsewhere in Kyneton for that country hospitality; there is a wide choice.  The fact that Mike’s arm rest came away from his chair (still broken 3 months later - ed) and the dining room hung with assorted electrical wiring yet to be affixed, must have meant that the food would be outstanding, as way of compensation; we had no burning desire to find out.  No tap beer, just bottles which we thought was an unnecessary piece of pomp & circumstance.  Looks can be deceiving; this is not a country pub anymore but a venue for visiting gourmands from the City and good luck to them.  The lone diners in the restaurant and their shiny Bentley out the front said it all. 

12000 miles is a long way to travel for the pleasure of dining at the newly refurbished “George” and we are yet to do so; we will when they fix the chairs & the wiring and return some of that country hospitality.  However, I did like the AGA in the back bar; a touch of English country kitchen, Jamie Oliver style.