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Before heading to Singapore last week, I had dinner at Red, a restaurant in the Makati Shangri-La hotel. I've eaten at Red twice now, and both times it's been excellent. What impresses me most about Red is the artistry with which they prepare their food. I have been served some of the most creatively plated dishes I've had.

Since I never got around to blogging about my first meal at Red, I'm going to combine my two visits into a single review, but I'll mainly be talking about my most recent visit.

On both visits, a loaf of freshly baked bread with two butters was brought to the table almost immediately. The bread was still hot which made the accompanying sun-dried tomato and herbed butters spread easily. The crust was nice and crisp, without getting crumby and making a big mess when cut. The inside of the bread was dense enough that it wasn't spongy, yet not to heavy. I liked it a lot.

The first time I was at Red, I tried the Red Appetizer Three Ways. The three ways consisted of seared fois gras with caramelized mango, crabcake with mustard aioli, and a "salad of buffalo mozzarella and tomato. All three of the appetizers were excellent. The tomato salad was particularly interesting. I've made this type of salad tons of times before, but Red's presentation made theirs more interesting. Basically, they sliced a peeled tomato in half and inserted layers of mozzarella and basil in between each piece, then reassembled the tomato. This wasn't overly fancy, but it really looked (and tasted) nice.

On my current visit, I was really tempted to get the Red Appetizer three ways again, but I went with the Scallop with Eggplant Timbale instead, in the interest of variety. The eggplant had a nice char to it that gave it good flavor that complimented the scallop nicely. Of the two appetizers, the Red Appetizer Three ways wins.

After the appetizer, my waiter brought out a nice berry sorbet as a palate cleanser. This is a nice touch that I always appreciate, but most restaurants just don't do anymore.

For my entree, I went with the saddle of pork with Gorgonzola. It was accompanied by roasted potato discs and mixed blanched vegetables. The saddle turned out to be a huge chop with a nice big bone curving up. This may have been the thickest cut of pork I've ever seen. It was perfectly cooked, and completely juicy throughout. It's easy to overcook pork, so I was glad to see that this piece had come out so well. With the Gorgonzola, it was fantastic.

On my previous visit, I had the grilled duck breast with gigs, pomelo chutney and smashed sweet potato and rice paper. I ordered my duck rare, but I was a little disappointed when it arrived. The meat itself was rare, but the skin on each piece of breast was very chewy and a bit too fatty. I prefer it when the skin's a little crispier, but this can be tough to do while still keeping the meat rare. The pomelo chutney was a nice accompaniment to the duck. You don't often see pomelo (similar to grapefruit) in the US, so I was appreciative at the opportunity to have the ingredient as part of my meal.

Red has several desserts that look worth trying. On my first visit, I saw they had a frozen blood orange souffle and knew I just had to give it a try. I ended up thinking it was ok, but not nearly as good as I had imagined it would be. I love blood oranges, but the souffle just didn't have enough orange flavor to make me say "wow!"

Since I didn't need to try the souffle twice, I decided to give their bento box dessert a try. I figured it would afford me the opportunity to try small bites of a couple different desserts on the menu. Was I wrong. When the bento box came out, it was a huge square lacquered box containing what looked to me like four full sized desserts. There was vanilla ice cream over some sort of cookie, which was ok, but nothing special. There was also Red's famous chocolate verona cake. The cake was moist and very chocolaty. It was served over cherries, which made it a little too sweet for me, but it was still nice to have a few bites. The next dessert was a piece of cheesecake with mango. I liked the cheesecake, but it didn't stand out from most others I've had. What was most impressive to me was the last dessert, which was a small plate of fresh fruit with a spun sugar basket full of sorbet sitting on top. At first look, I thought the sorbet was probably lemon. It was close, but something tasted different. I couldn't place what it was, so I asked the waiter if he knew. He didn't, but went back to the kitchen to ask the chef. When he returned, he informed me that it was an olive oil sorbet. As it turns out, it was a combination of olive oil and calamansi, a small lime popular in the Philippines which is what I originally thought was the lemon I tasted. I told the waiter that I absolutely loved the sorbet and that it was one of the best that I had ever had. He went back to the kitchen and gave the chef my compliment. When he returned, he had another dish of the sorbet, compliments of the chef. Even though I was completely full, I somehow found room to finish off the second dish of sorbet.

I have two regrets about the two meals I've now had at Red. The first is that both times I've eaten there, I've dined alone. I much prefer to share meals with people as when I have dining experiences like the ones at Red, I love to share them. The second regret is that both times I didn't have my camera with me. As I mentioned, the plating at Red can be quite impressive, and it's a shame I don't have any pictures to show off. Oh well, perhaps on my next visit.