Hilton Singapore Orchard Road
With myriad dining options, there’s something for every culinary craving at Hilton Singapore Orchard Road.
Deliciously fragrant tea is being poured at Ginger.Lily, a botanical-inspired cafe off the fifth-floor lobby of Hilton Singapore Orchard Road. Named for the plant also known as butterfly ginger, it’s an elegant space with attentive wait-staff and a pale silvery-grey scheme enlivened by tall vases of flowers and made to feel cosy by fluted glass privacy dividers.
There’s much to love about a venue that features a Tea Journey menu with a selection of cha as original as poached pear and ginger or Singapore glory with tiny carnation bouquets. My three-year-old granddaughter, her chair plumped up with cushions, is nibbling tiny biscuits while her mother and I are getting stuck into the contents of five little shelves aboard a storybook-style stand.
There are dainty sandwiches, mini lobster rolls with chives, warm savouries, vanilla scones studded with golden raisins and served with lashings of house-made fruit jam and clotted cream, and cakes and cookies “inspired by spices and flora”.
As we progress to tutti frutti tea cake and almond fig tarts, head bartender Michael Mendoza drops by and explains the botanical ingredients of his fruit and floral tinctures and signature ginger lily cocktail, which also comes in a fermented kombucha version.
Ginger.Lily doubles as a cocktail bar from noon to 10.30pm and all its guises have proved smash hits, as it were, since the hotel’s February launch.
A tiny confection is pressed into our hands on departure and this spirit of conviviality and generosity is being played out at the food and beverage outlets across the 1080-room hotel, the largest in the Asia-Pacific for the Hilton brand. The property is not a new-build but has undergone a full transformation from the former Meritus Mandarin Orchard and sits amid the mid-city belt of department stores, high-end boutiques and malls.
Its links to the Mandarin Gallery on lower levels makes it a magnet for Singapore residents as a destination at which to drink and dine. So there’s a palpable buzz in its myriad dining zones, including a 120-seat branch (with covered terrace and Tuscan farmhouse-inspired decor) of the acclaimed Californian “Cal-Ital” Michelin-starred Osteria Mozza, on the brink of opening (dinners only) during my stay in May, complete with mozzarella bar and triple-aged parmigiano reggiano. I spy its award-winning chef and the brand’s co-founder Nancy Silverton (who practically invented artisanal baking in the US and spearheaded the sourdough revolution) stepping out of the elevator and no doubt speeding off for final checks and tweaks. Or maybe she’ll be detouring via Ginger.Lily for a reviving takeaway lemongrass mango macaron.
Latest reports from Osteria Mozza suggest the 10 dishes featuring house-made pasta and the almond wood-fired pizzas, crisp-based with puffy and airy cornicione are in top demand. As for a local touch, rambutan gelato, anyone?
This is a hotel that sure knows how to feed people. Instantly attracting attention with guests and locals alike is Estate, an all-day diner divided by lattice-trimmed archways, each space filled with specialised buffet selections, from seafood, grill and wok kitchens, and a noodle bar to stations piled high with salads, wraps, bread and desserts. A terrific fresh juice counter offers seemingly unlimited varieties of fruit ready to squeeze and pulp. Estate’s large scale is cleverly contained by the separation of tables into smaller, almost residential-style rooms that flow seamlessly, are furnished with banquettes, sofas and rugs, and offer a reasonable level of privacy.
Other options on site are a branch of Japan’s popular Shisen Hanten chain helmed by Chen Kentaro, and teahouse-style Chatterbox, a spin-off from the original where the national obsession of Hainanese chicken rice, made here according to a treasured 50-year-old recipe, claims top ranking on the menu.
My guestroom is on level 25, one of eight executive floors with access to a dedicated lounge that serves a light breakfast and other refreshments and offers business facilities. The pale grey and charcoal accommodation design is consistent across the inventory, transcending corporate to something more intimate and inviting, although there’s a preponderance of black-on-black switches in non-intuitive locations (I have to call the operator to ask how to plug in the kettle, which is a first), near-inaccessibility to the HDMI port, and different lights on each side of the bed, which creates an odd imbalance.
Inspiration for the design fit-out, I am told, has come from the immediate retail neighbourhood, which means hanging racks and shelves for suitcases angled behind the TV cabinet instead of a wardrobe (tokenistic but not quite as odd as it sounds) and illuminated full-length mirror, supposedly referencing a clothing store changing-room.
The bathroom is well configured and includes a tub and on-trend dark tiles. Blackout blinds and substantial curtains keep out the light. The bed is super-comfy, but there’s nothing particularly memorable, although I do love the continuous decor thread of plants and edibles in artworks and motifs across the property that subtly references Orchard Road’s long-ago farming, orchard and spice plantation heritage.
It’s in the realms of consumption that the hotel shines. Guests can dine exceedingly well, and virtually around the clock, and slumber deeply above the night lights of Singapore. Who could ask for more?
Susan Kurosawa was a guest of Hilton Singapore Orchard Road.