I stepped out of my comfort zone to eat alone for a whole week. Here’s how it went. - Mothership.SG

I prefer not to dine alone when I’m eating out because it makes me self-conscious.

I’m not quite sure where this paranoia came from, but for as long as I can remember, if I find myself without a lunch or dinner pal, I’ll tabao a meal home instead.

This hang-up came to a head during my internship days; I was new, hadn’t made any friends and had no one to have lunch with.

I dreaded eating alone, so I spent the hour walking around Plaza Singapura, right by the office, just to let time pass.

And no, I didn’t eat anything until the office day ended.

Seems pretty ridiculous, right?

Well, now I’m 25 and working full-time, we mostly eat lunch together at work, so I figured my days of wandering during lunch hour were over.

Wrong.

I was assigned to work with Citi Gourmet Pleasures for a week and visit some of the restaurants its Citi Credit Card have special promotions at.

The thing is, I was tasked to eat alone that week.

I thought that this was my best chance to face my fears and made myself enjoy a meal out for an entire week.

Here’s how it went.

Monday

Image taken by Alfie Kwa.

I was very nervous en route to my first solo lunch.

And apparently, it showed on my face, according to a colleague.

I arrived at Hanare by Takayama at Takashimaya Shopping Centre at noon before the lunch crowd poured in.

I was seated in the corner of the Japanese restaurant, facing a couple of empty tables.

Image taken by Alfie Kwa.

As I ordered my food, a pretty rowdy group of middle-aged office men and ladies came in talking to each other; they sat opposite me.

To drown out the noise, I put on my headphones and looked at the to-do list I had to get through after lunch.

When my food arrived, I thought I shouldn’t try so hard to distract myself from the lack of company that afternoon, so I put away my headphones.

I was eating my appetisers when I realised the restaurant was pretty packed at this point.

I ordered their lunch set with braised pork belly kamameshi.

It came with a refreshing appetiser: a plate of sashimi, edamame and pickled pumpkin.

Image taken by Alfie Kwa.

I especially liked the sweet and sour taste of the pickled pumpkin.

Then the main dish, the braised pork belly kamameshi, arrived.

Kamameshi is a slow-cooked mixed rice dish cooked in a “kama” which is a traditional iron pot.

Image courtesy of Hanare by Takayama.

The server broke the soft-boiled egg placed on top of rice and slices of pork belly. The yellow yolk oozed all over my rice and then it was mixed evenly into the dish.

I scooped some into a small bowl and had a taste.

It was packed with flavour, sweetness from the pork belly that was marinated with a dark sweet sauce and savoury from the seasoning in the rice.

And the pork belly, wow, it was tender and juicy.

Unfortunately, the good meal was disrupted by my paranoia that people were looking at me eating alone.

I kept looking up at groups of people getting seated by the staff, ordering their food, and having their lunch served.

I made eye contact with a few people who walked in, making me even more nervous.

“Are they judging me for eating alone?” I thought to myself.

At one point, I was so distracted that I fed myself an empty spoon with no food and bit hard into the spoon.

How silly of me.

The first lesson learnt, I should pay attention to what I’m eating.

This experience was the first step out of my comfort zone – as I hardly eat alone outside – Nonetheless, it was a good experience.

I’ll be sure to come by again, with my friends, knowing that Citi Card members can enjoy a 10 per cent off their bill with S$100 minimum spend.

Tuesday

Day two came, and I decided to watch an episode of the Netflix series “The Sandman” during my lunch break at Ichiban Boshi at Great World City.

I got a free bowl of Fried Mala Pork Crisp (S$6.90) as an appetiser that I quickly ate it up.

Image taken by Alfie Kwa.

At that moment, I realised, I was gobbling up these crispy treats way too fast because before I knew it, the plate was empty.

Had someone been with me over lunch, I would have been more aware of this sooner.

Looking at the empty plate, I started craving for more. Thankfully, with my Citibank card, I can get this crispy treat for free with a minimum spend of S$80.

But I’ll save that for next time.

I had Sashimi and Sushi Gozen gozen for my main meal.

It had slices of fresh (sashimi) and sushi, with a side of warm chawanmushi. This was much less oily and healthier than my starter, a good balance to my meal.

Image taken by Alfie Kwa.

The portion was huge. On a regular day, half the serving would have sufficed.

But all that nervous energy makes one hungry, and on that day, as I watched my show, I gobbled it all up, just as I did with my appetiser.

I was enjoying my show from my phone, which was leaning against my cup of hot Ocha.

A staff member noticed this, whipped out a phone stand from the pocket on his apron and said: “I got you.”

Image taken by Alfie Kwa.

It seemed this was not the first time he’s offered the stand to a customer eating alone, which was a good reminder that eating alone is not something weird or unusual.

I finished my second meal of the week with Warabi Mochi Matcha Anmitsu – matcha ice cream, topped with red bean paste, fruits and Japanese mochi. Once again, facing fears = treating yourself.

Image taken by Alfie Kwa.

It was so yummy, but I was too full after all that sushi.

Wednesday

I arrived at Baba Chews Bar and Eatery, which sits on the former Joo Chiat Police Station site, on my third attempt to be comfortable eating alone.

By Wednesday, I felt less anxious as I entered the restaurant alone.

This time, I decided not to bring my earphones or any work to distract myself.

Baba Chews serves modern Asian dishes, and I decided to try three of them: Satay Ikan Laksa, Wagyu beef buns and Prawn Oil Kombu.

Image taken by Alfie Kwa.

There was a generous amount of laksa-flavoured sauce on top of a skewer of grilled salmon and vegetables.

Image courtesy of Baba Chews Bar and Eatery.

The time alone allowed me to dive into the dish’s nuances.

Instead of occupying myself with conversations, I was forced to concentrate on the textures and flavours that came with each bite.

The salmon chunks on the skewers were succulent, paired perfectly with the crunchy fried tau pok.

As I slurped my pasta, it reminded me of a typical Asian dish, which was something I was not expecting.

Unlike a typical base, the pasta was served with a tomato-based sauce with butter, sambal belachan, a housemade prawn oil and umami-rice shio kombu, topped with plumped prawns and fresh clams.

I also got to try their chendol which strangely came with a pair of chopsticks.

The waitress explained that their green jelly is a little different. They were in the shape of noodles and she encouraged me to slurp them up.

Image courtesy of Baba Chews Bar and Eatery.

The crushed ice also came in a ball which made me reminisce of old-school ice kacang vendors who used to serve the sweet treat with balled-up crushed ice.

Even after a week, I can still remember the dish’s flavours and what I enjoyed most, something I wouldn’t appreciate as much if I was chatting with an acquaintance over lunch.

I’ll be back again after finding out that I can get 15 per cent off my food bill with my Citi Credit Card.

Thursday

Okay, I have to admit, I was pretty excited to eat at Lao Huo Tang on Thursday.

It was raining heavily that afternoon, and the restaurant’s range of zichar dishes and specialised Chinese soups were just the perfect fit for the weather.

I ordered three dishes – crispy tofu with minced meat, pig trotters with black vinegar and a lotus root soup.

Image courtesy of Lao Huo Tang.

I scooped the crispy tofu and doused my bowl of steaming white rice with the savoury, gooey sauce that had bits of pork and carrots.

Then I took a bite of pig trotters which were both juicy and tender.

And there’s nothing quite like a hot bowl of lotus root soup to warm the belly on a cold, rainy day.

With these three dishes, I could have fed my family of four, and gotten S$6 off every S$60 spent – a promotion the restaurant has with Citi Credit Card.

But even though no one else was seated at my table, I took up a large round table with a lazy susan.

Of course, I had no use for it.

But it did make me appreciate dining alone for two reasons:

Firstly, as the youngest child in my family, tradition dictates that I must always wait till everyone else has taken their fill before I take mine.

Eating alone, I didn’t need to.

And secondly, I didn’t need to be “paiseh” for taking the last piece of the dish.

Friday

I finally reached the last day of my little experiment.

As I headed to Fufu Pot, I realised it was located at Plaza Singapura, the mall where I’d refused to eat alone a couple of years back.

I can safely say I viewed dining alone quite differently now.

I ordered my food and, while waiting, took out my laptop to finish some work before the weekend.

But as my food arrived, I put my work away; I wanted to focus on enjoying my meal.

Fufu Pot is known for its individual pots of broth and stinky tofu (which I was initially sceptical of).

But since I’m on the journey of keeping an open mind, I thought I’d give it a try.

I ordered crispy prawn twisters, fried stinky tofu and an individual portion of stinky tofu pot.

Image taken by Alfie Kwa.

The prawn twisters were delicious and crispy.

I took a bite into the fried stinky tofu, which wasn’t as unbearable as I thought it’d be.

I assumed it would be hard to swallow, but it tasted good when paired with Fufu Pot’s savoury in-house sauce.

Same for the stinky tofu pot — which featured a soup with a spicy kick.

By day five, the idea of eating alone became less unusual to me and I think if I had to in the future, I wouldn’t be that averse to having some time to myself and enjoying a meal.

There is one major drawback to eating alone, though.

I visited five different restaurants throughout the week and got a nice sampling of what each had to offer.

Yet, there were so many dishes on the menus that I couldn’t try — one woman can only eat so much.

Like if I could have ordered more, and hit a minimum spend of S$50 at Fufu Pot, I could have gotten S$5 off with a Citi Credit Card.

I guess I’ll just have to visit the restaurants again with my friends and family.

Thankfully Citi Gourmet Pleasures has great deals and promotions at these restaurants to make the trips worthwhile when you pay with a Citi Credit Card:

Hanare by Takayama

  • 10 per cent off food bill with a minimum spend of S$100 from now to Dec. 30, 2022.

Ichiban Boshi

  • Free Fried Mala PorkCrisp with a minimum spend of S$80 from now to Oct. 31, 2022.

Baba Chews Bar and Eatery

  • 15 per cent off food bill from now to Dec. 31, 2023.

Lao Huo Tang

  • S$6 off every S$60 spent from now to Aug. 31, 2023.

Fufu Pot

  • S$5 off with a minimum spend of S$50 spend from now to Dec. 30, 2022.

Check out other Citi Gourmet Pleasures deals with Citi Credit Cards here.

Don’t have a Citi Credit Card yet? Get S$300 cash back when you successfully apply for a Citi Credit Card. Apply now here.

Terms and conditions apply. Welcome offer is valid till Oct. 31, 2022. Applicable for new Citi Credit Cardmembers only.

This sponsored article by Citi Gourmet Pleasures helped the writer overcome her fear of eating alone.

Top images by Alfie Kwa.

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