The Dunearn

We wanted to celebrate a friend's birthday today so we headed down The Dunearn. We sat outside and there was plenty of greenery (Botanic Gardens), which is really a beautiful sight, provided that there's some wind. Otherwise, all that will be running through your mind during your meal is when it can end so that you can escape indoors. 

Before our dishes came, we were served some foccacia bread. Can't emphasise enough how much I love foccacia. It was served hot and it was crispy on the outside, soft in the inside. However, my friend who loves butter stopped eating butter after a while because apparently it tasted weird. 

Anyway, I ordered the Mediterranean Chicken and Crab Meat Gumbo. New word learnt today- Gumbo! Yes, I've been living under a stone, but I just realised that gumbo is a stew or soup that originates from southern Louisiana. Anyway, it was a pretty good soup with moderate flavours, with a few chunks of chicken and minute shreds of crab meat. 

I also had the Baked Marinated Prawns on Bed of Balsamic Tomato Salsa served with Roasted Asparagus. The prawns were chewy and fresh, and the balsamic tomato salsa was served on a pie crust.

Overall, the food here is not bad. BUT, and here's a huge BUT for you, unless you can enter into the restaurant looking like you earn a five k figure a month, you might probably get served the same way as us. Served the same way? Yes, served like second class citizens just because we looked like we would run away after the meal was over. Admittedly, one friend was wearing slippers and that infringes the smart casual dress code. So, that resulted in two waitresses in the restaurant, huddling close together, and pointing at her slippers. Very polite, I see.

In the first place, we didn't even step foot into the restaurant and were seated outside instead. Secondly, even if you had politely walked out of the indoor restaurant to tell us that such footwear is not allowed, we would have accepted that it's our friend's failure to adhere to the dress code and went somewhere else instead. But, why do you point repeatedly at the slippers when it just looks so rude?

The waiter who served us told us initially that there was only finger food. We told him, we wanted lunch. And he was like "yeah, but our last order is at 245 pm". Okay, and it was 210pm when we entered the restaurant... so why couldn't you have just allowed us to order our lunch? After getting our way with the lunch (deservedly so), when we were eating, my friend signalled for him to refill her glass of water. So, he came, and walked away, without refilling the other empty glasses. Lots of initiative indeed.

In all, dress up like you're worth a million dollars if you want to enjoy good service. I won't want to go back again because I don't like being judged and treated like a second class citizen.

The Dunearn 
Bukit Timah Guild House (NUSS Graduate Club)

1F Cluny Road,

Tel: +65 6586 3260