FESTIVE NOSTALGIA
.... ” The familiar tune dances in the air, emanating from Malaysia’s renowned musical family, the Solianos, who take centre stage under the chandeliered golden dome. Festivities are incomplete without the appropriate seasonal music and the smooth jazzy sounds definitely add to the mood along with the soft glowing lights and elegant festive decor adorning the white-clothed tables.
With such sumptuous surroundings, one expects the same of its festive dinner menus and indeed Colonial Cafe presents a multiple-course dinner on three days: Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve. My sampling of the Christmas Eve dinner begins with a glass of Smoking Bishop mulled wine, a popular Christmas beverage during the era of Victorian England. If you can, try not to skip this prelude as its warm orange-infused flavour will deliver a heartwarming comfort. An alternative is a refreshing mocktail.
One of the menu surprises is the soup course. Instead of being served something more traditional like pumpkin, it is cream of watercress soup that arrives, garnished with a piece of succulent lobster meat. Not the cute 2.5cm-high watercress that you might find in British egg sarnies, but the long-stemmed leafy type commonly used for making Chinese broth. Anyone who has grown up with this typically home-made broth will recognise the flavour in this creamy yet light version.
All the items on the festive menus are fixed, save for the main course of which there are two options. One of them, the baked honey glazed cod fish, doesn’t disappoint and even the accompanying crunchy asparagus batons make pleasing partners.
Although roast turkey is part of the Christmas Eve dinner menu, only a couple of slices are served just prior to the main course. It’s enough for a tasting that should not be lingered on, due in part to lacklustre trimmings that could have been uplifted with a helping of gravy.
Once the main course plates have been cleared, even if belts or waistbands have been loosened, try to make extra room for dessert, especially if dark chocolate is one of your guilty pleasures.
For a further classic touch to the whole dining experience at Colonial Cafe this festive season, The Solianos will also be paying tribute to legendary performers Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr, Dean Martin, Joey Bishop and Peter Lawford, better known as The Rat Pack.
By the time the evening draws to a close, I find myself happily tapping away to and it’s not the aroma or coffee or tea that swirls before me, but the scent of happy nostalgia and timeless elegance.