Fordham & Grand

[This restaurant has closed as of November 2015.]

So the Tanjong Pagar area is revitalized when leases run out, and new shops moved in. Another new kid on the block is Fordham & Grand. Drinks with decent chow, even at a late hour. Always good. Note, it's a cool bar first, restaurant second. It's narrow, so don't bring large bags or expect quiet. It's a noisy happy place.

We were really there for a light bite, more concerned with the alcohol than anything else. The friends weren't impressed with the meat-items. The non-meat items were quite all right. The lobster linguine, done aglio e olio, while overly enthusiastic on the oil, was quite delicious. The food tried, while not mindblowing, is dependable, exactly what I hope for when dining out, instead of having to pay for sub-par quality.

What I wanted to try, was the gin. Gin and tonic, nothing very difficult, but one would need to know the flavor profile of each gin, to match with the ratio of whichever tonic water chosen. I was keen to taste the available bottles, and of course I couldn't do anymore than two glasses, shared. Tried The Botanist (because it's from Bruichladdich on Islay) and Germany's Monkey 47. This bar uses the curerntly mod Fever Tree tonic water. Expected more from The Botanist, but it was ahhh...too floral for me. Monkey 47 was the better one tonight. Still. Not quite keen on either bottle's preference of botanicals. After a while, I waved the white flag at gin, ordered a familiar Lagavulin 16 y.o and gratefully sipped it. Nothing beats the peat of an Islay single malt.