Day 5: Whale Watching Tour --> Nangoku Shokudo (Lunch) --> Okinawa World --> Peace Memorial Park

The whale watching tour was a solid 3-hour affair and essentially claimed the entire morning. By the time we were done, it was the perfect time for lunch. 

I've got to caveat this.

For some reason, when I google the name and address, it no longer corresponds to where I actually went in Okinawa. Perhaps things have changed. Or by some weird stroke of fortunate, our driver actually knew where we wanted to go based on the (wrong) address I gave him. 

Whichever it was, I am glad we got to where we were, a tiny family-run restaurant out of an actual residence. It was just 4 counter seats and 4 cozy table-for-4 settings. And a tiny corner for kitschy souvenirs. 

What drew to this place, was that we could get simple home-cooked Okinawan bento sets. I remembered reading reviews from locals that the food was homely and delicious. (Have no idea where those reviews disappeared to now).

Menu was definitely limited (since its a tiny family run thing). We ended up getting the chicken bento sets, since none of us wanted seafood. As advertised, simple and homely goodness. Another plus, it was cheap too. Our lunch came up to less than $10 SGD per person (even with the cup of coffee I was desperate enough to order).

 

Once Upon a Time on the Orient Express: Orient Express Restaurant High Tea

 

So a couple of weeks back, my group of foodie friends and I were fortunate enough to snag a table at the Orient Express Restaurant, a train carriage themed restaurant under the Orient Express exhibition at Gardens by the Bay.

Fortunate because by the time we agreed to go, a lot of the tables/dates were already snapped up. In fact, tables of 2 and 4 were already sold out. But on that same note, because we were a bigger group of 6, we got ourselves a pseudo-private carriage all to ourselves.

I didn't manage to get a picture of our "private" carriage but here's what a cozy table for 4 would have looked like. 

The Orient Express restaurant is basically a dining experience that's supposed to replicate what you might experience on the actual Orient Express. Lunch, brunch, high tea and dinner menu are available with options for vegetarians. Menus were curated by 3 Michelin star French chef Yannick Alléno.

Here's a screenshot taken off the website of our high tea menu. While I loved the idea that coffee or tea (and chocolate too!) is free-flow, we realised that the baristas making the drinks were not consistent. My friends got iced teas that were either too sweet or too bland, even when they ordered the same teas. I just stuck to my iced latte since its hard to go wrong with Nespresso.

Food (as seen in the menu) is a mixture of sweet and savory. My personal favourites include the Goodwich roasted mushrooms and spinach, foie gras and mimosa egg. I'm more of a savory person than sweets, so I'm less keen on the sweet items. However the au café pastry really sang to my tummy while my friends commented that they enjoyed the profiteroles.

Service was in general, decent. There was a really lovely waitress who took time to explain the items served and was really accommodating. But perhaps we were a table on our own right at the end, it was sometimes hard to get our drink orders. 

Goodwich roasted mushrooms and spinach. The cheese on this was an absolute heavenly kicker.

Overall, an interesting experience but what was truly enjoyable was having spent the afternoon with good company, having fun and laughter in a private carriage space. We've also sort of decided that once travel is back to normal (although that would seem like eons away), we wouldn't mind doing an actual Orient Express train trip.

Tourist Information

Once Upon a Time on the Orient Express exhibition and restaurant

Website: https://www.orientexpressexhibition.com/