Dempsey Road craziness

After a fruitless search for a new restaurant around the Dempsey Road cluster a few weeks ago, I ended at a familiar place, sitting alone at the counter of the Wine Company for a glass of wine and some finger food.

This was refreshing ... an unpretentious place with a selection of good wines and tasty and simple food, served without any unnecessary flourish. The tables are arranged on an unadorned concrete floor. The place was busy on that Friday night, and there was room only at the counter, which gave me an unobstructed view of this funny line-up of wine decanters drying upside down on their stands.



A good ending to an evening that started badly. The parking for the Dempsey Road restaurants lining Napier Road (perhaps it is already Holland Road at that level) was full. I finally managed to park my car in a spot that was not really a parking spot ... but I figured it would not matter in this crowded parking lot: nobody would notice or care.

I wanted to try a place called "Fondue" which I had discovered on the internet, but, as I was climbing the stairs leading to it, I could hear a loudspeaker touting some prizes ... I thought 'this is not for me', as eating a meal in such a crowded and noisy place where what sounded like a lottery was taking place was decidedly not my idea of fun.

After looking at a couple of big restaurants nearby that did not appeal to me at all, I walked back to my car and tried to find my way to 'Au Petit Salut', which I had noticed on my way over. This required going in circles a couple of time, due to the irritating and confusing Singapore traffic flows. That restaurant was extremely crowded and I was given the only (small) table left, sandwiched between another table and a huge column. I looked at the menu, which displayed, I suppose, the Singaporeans' idea of French food: very traditional and heavy dishes were on offer, at prices that seemed quite inflated for such pedestrian cuisine. I stood up and walked out, after having sat there ten minutes without anyone paying any attention to me, as the staff was busy serving the numerous tables in the dining room, occupied mostly by Chinese families.

Back to the cluster of restaurants and shops of Dempsey Road, I gave my car to valet parking, and walked around to explore. No restaurant really appealed to me and all were very busy.

In the end, after a frustrating chase that lasted one hour, this familiar wine bar was just the place for me. But Singapore is getting overcrowded. And the Government wants to increase the population from its current 4.5 million to 6 million in thirty years or so ... Where are they going to put all these people?