Octopus and ice cream... a VERY diplomatic menu

EAST didn’t just meet West over the conference table yesterday – it also collided across the dining table.

In an effort to be as diplomatic as possible, lunch at Singapore’s Capella Hotel consisted of a rather odd melange of national cuisines.

One starter was a ‘traditional prawn cocktail’ with avocado salad. There was also green mango kerabu, a Malaysian salad with honey lime dressing and fresh octopus – a food that Donald Trump, a famously plain eater, would be unlikely to tuck into.

A third choice was oiseon, cucumbers stuffed with beef, egg and carrot, a traditional and somewhat obscure Korean dish. Main courses included beef short rib confit, as well as Chinese sweet and sour crispy pork and Yangzhou fried rice. A third option was daegu jorim, a Korean dish of soy braised cod and Asian vegetables.

For dessert, the chef appeared to have given up with trying to please all regional palates and simply gave a choice between three western puddings – dark chocolate tartlet, vanilla ice cream with cherry coulis or a tropezienne, a filled brioche pastry.

While many of his people live in near starvation, Kim Jong-un has a reputation as a foodie who loves foreign delicacies, especially cheese.