After a very filling high tea, we decided we couldn’t visit Raffles and not go up to the Long Bar, home of the Singapore Sling. A friend who’d studied in Singapore had recommended going if only for the novelty of the peanuts. The peanuts? Yep, it’s all about the peanuts. At every table there’s a big wooden box full of peanuts still in their shells, and the Long Bar allows you to experience the imperiousness of the colonial days, when servants would pick up the shells that the British cast on the floor. That’s right, you can, and indeed are expected to, throw your peanut shells on the floor for someone else to clean up afterwards. It’s actually pretty fun. You are also fanned by the modern equivalent of slaves with palm fronds – mechanised palm fans on the ceiling. The Singapore Sling itself is the other draw card, having been famously invented here. I’d never had one before, so it seemed like a good place to start. In the tropical temperatures, the sweet and fruity drink was refreshing and didn’t taste overly alcoholic, which could be dangerous, but was simply delicious.
Long Bar, Raffles Hotel, 1 Beach Road Singapore http://www.raffles.com/singapore/dining/long-bar/
