Cafe Brio, Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel, Singapore

Had my 2005 Christmas Eve dinner with family at Cafe Brio (Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel, Singapore). This is the first time in many years that my family did not have Christmas Eve Dinner at the Shangri-La Hotel. There are two main reasons for this: the first being that the price for Christmas Eve dinner at The Line has gone up to S$178, more than double of previous year's price, and the second being that the Christmas Even dinner at the function hall of Shangri-La, though at a less pricey S$88, has its food placed along corridors, which makes walking very difficult, and experience we had in 2004.

So we decided to give Cafe Brio a try this year, which costs S$88 with free flow of Champaign. We did not expect much, and was pleasantly surprised. The spread was of quality, with lobsters, foie gras, beef Wellington, sashimi, turkey, ham, BBQ, rotiprata, murtabak, and much more, including a sumptious dessert. The service level is also very good. I think we have just found ourselves a good alternative to Shangri-La for our futuer Christmas Eve dinners.