Just a small change in my grading system. From now onwards, there is no grading system! I think my writing should be suffice in fully describing what I liked and disliked about the restaurants. If I add the grades, it would seem like I am unnecessarily harsh! Or am contradicting myself. So just a foot note, I have changed my grading system.
P.s. If ever so there is a need to bring my old grading system which was both contradictory and harsh back, I would gladly do so.
Rang Mahal & Delhi
My love for Indian food knows no bounds except my tongue which might get scorched occasionally by the heat of the curry. When the misses is around, I hardly eat Indian food even though she doesn't discourage it, but she does make a face. So when she was not around, I decided to try some expensive Indian food at the Pan Pac and my experience can best summed up by a buddy of mine that said," Bro, whenever an Indian restaurant has the name RANG in it, its gonna be expensive."
As I walked out of the restaurant, I felt a tinge of disappointment. The place was nice, it was sexy. Very beautiful decor and relatively good service. For paying $40 over dollars per person on this Sunday buffet, I felt it needed more. It was not suffice that they had countless amount of naan bread or that they served interesting soup. For a buffet, there sure wasn't a lot of choices. It was more like a non-buffet with several choices of curry and some dishes and that was it. Maybe I can't count but there surely in my mind wasn't enough choices to be called a buffet. There isn't a word opposite of buffet, trust me, I checked. The Indian food was good. It was. But not worth $40 a person.
On the other hand, I went to Delhi on RaceCourse Road. I have to say, having already been to Muthus and Banana Leaf many other times, I was not very impressed with the restaurant. I mean the deco. Its a small dimly litted restaurant, and what catches your eye is all those awards they have won for excellence and best restaurant. That, I was impressed. When I sat down, I looked at the menu and went through it. I ordered my new favorite Gobi Aloo, my spinach in goat cheese, 4 different types of naan, chicken tikka masala, my mum wanted to try their mutton biryani, all you can eat pampadam, tandori chicken for 4 people and tomato soup for the misses, (like I said, she doesn't really like Indian food), topped up with some masala tea and home made mango ice cream for my parents, and mango lassi and lime juice for everyone else. Even the lady who was helping us was telling us to stop ordering so much!
Talking about the lady, she was very nice in explaining to us what was good and what we needed to order. She even advised us the combination of the food! Fantastic I thought! When I left Delhi, and I mean the restaurant and not the city, I was full and happy. The food was fantastic. I told my parents that sometimes after eating curry, everything tasted the same. But for Delhi, that wasn't the case. Each dish had its own distinct flavor and it was complementary on so many levels. And to top it all off, I only paid $22 bucks a person and I was full to the brim. Best of all, my wife probably just had the best Indian food experience in her life.
Sometimes, looks can be deceiving. And a good restaurant doesn't need to have "Rang," in it.
Hope this helps.
As I walked out of the restaurant, I felt a tinge of disappointment. The place was nice, it was sexy. Very beautiful decor and relatively good service. For paying $40 over dollars per person on this Sunday buffet, I felt it needed more. It was not suffice that they had countless amount of naan bread or that they served interesting soup. For a buffet, there sure wasn't a lot of choices. It was more like a non-buffet with several choices of curry and some dishes and that was it. Maybe I can't count but there surely in my mind wasn't enough choices to be called a buffet. There isn't a word opposite of buffet, trust me, I checked. The Indian food was good. It was. But not worth $40 a person.
On the other hand, I went to Delhi on RaceCourse Road. I have to say, having already been to Muthus and Banana Leaf many other times, I was not very impressed with the restaurant. I mean the deco. Its a small dimly litted restaurant, and what catches your eye is all those awards they have won for excellence and best restaurant. That, I was impressed. When I sat down, I looked at the menu and went through it. I ordered my new favorite Gobi Aloo, my spinach in goat cheese, 4 different types of naan, chicken tikka masala, my mum wanted to try their mutton biryani, all you can eat pampadam, tandori chicken for 4 people and tomato soup for the misses, (like I said, she doesn't really like Indian food), topped up with some masala tea and home made mango ice cream for my parents, and mango lassi and lime juice for everyone else. Even the lady who was helping us was telling us to stop ordering so much!
Talking about the lady, she was very nice in explaining to us what was good and what we needed to order. She even advised us the combination of the food! Fantastic I thought! When I left Delhi, and I mean the restaurant and not the city, I was full and happy. The food was fantastic. I told my parents that sometimes after eating curry, everything tasted the same. But for Delhi, that wasn't the case. Each dish had its own distinct flavor and it was complementary on so many levels. And to top it all off, I only paid $22 bucks a person and I was full to the brim. Best of all, my wife probably just had the best Indian food experience in her life.
Sometimes, looks can be deceiving. And a good restaurant doesn't need to have "Rang," in it.
Hope this helps.
The Dichotomy of Fast Food
First thing's first, my wife is back! So more restaurant reviews to come!
Second thing is, not all fast food chains are created equally. Not even intra fast food restaurants. So I went to the airport Burger King and the Tampines KFC. And I have to say those are 2 of the worst food chain restaurants I have had in awhile. Why is it that the Kallang or Bedok KFC taste better than the Tampines KFC? Weird isn't it? Its still the colonel's 11 secret herb and spices right? And the BK at the airport, which their chicken fingers I swear bounce off the floor like a rubber ball. It was that bad.
Footnote to self: Only go to Kallang and Bedok KFC. Approach Burger King with caution.
I used to love the McDonalds at Far East Plaza. It was the best McDonald's ever. Now, I would actually say the one a the East Coast is pretty good. Now, if the iron chefs actually opened a fast food chain, I would so eat there.
British Chefs
Just a thought. I never have been to the UK and the idea of eating English food is just eating fish and chips or some kidney pies. So why in the world does the England in particular produce so many cooking shows cooking other country's dishes? There has been Floyd, Julia Child to the new chefs like Jaime Oliver and the lass of my life Nigella. What gives?
I think its the British accent. Its cool. I have to say Jaime Oliver is one of the best chefs on TV. On TV is the emphasis. He makes cooking an experience and he is genuine and fun to watch. I don't have some man crush on him but I do think that he is the only person that I have tried copying in terms of cooking style. Maybe he relates better to people my age? No matter what the case, I am just happy that I get to see Jaime Oliver on Singaporean TV.
Man I wish there was a food channel.
Superfluous Cacophony II
I like this term. I think I shall use it.
I like eating good food. And I like eating. And I like. Cooking. Truth is sometimes stranger than fiction. I can cook. And I think for a guy who has no previous training other than the food channel, I think I'm pretty damn good too. I want to take this time and talk about the people that have taught me the most about cooking.
Due to my love for Italian food. Lydia Bastianich is one of the biggest influences. I love watching her cook because if I was Italian, I wish she would be my grandma! She cooks simple Italian food and her food philosophy is simple. Love cooking and cook for the people you love. The show I believe is taped from her home and I wish that my kitchen was like hers! Her son is also partners in the restaurant business with Mario Batali (see Superfluous Cacophony). Someone should buy her book! What better way to learn Italian cooking than from an Italian!
Emeril Lagasse: Sure he had a failed TV show, who doesn't? But he makes cooking fun. He adds pizzazz to cooking. I was so influenced that I even bought his Emeril Spices which works wonders with meat as well as bought all his pasta sauces. They are all good. Sometimes he does go off on a far far away tangent on food, but I think most of the time he is sane. His cajun cooking is brilliant and it is because of him that I started trying cajun and creole food. And I love it.
Tyler Florence is the last guy on the right in the black sweater. Initially, I always thought the guy was a poser. A little bit like Rachel Ray. Looks cute, can't really cook. On the tele for some eye candy for the home makers. But after watching some of the "Tyler goes to ... " (this is the name that I remember the show by, not neccsarily the name of the show), I became a convert. I have always believed that the true essence of cooking is making something simple tasty. It sounds simple enough but I think when it comes to cooking, less is more. The flavor of the meat should be the center of the dish and not the garnish or the spices. We only add the marinate and spices to accentuate the taste of the meat or dishes. Watching him cook makes cooking interesting. And it makes me want to cook.
If ever someone from the Travel Channel or Art Central ever reads this blog, televise their shows. Their good and fun to watch. You learn so much more from them than many other chefs.
Superfluous Cacophony
I have always wanted to use those words in a sentence! Superfluous, for those whose vocabulary is as good as mine and a cunning linguists that I am. Superfluous in German means uber-fluous. Used in a sentence: That was superfluous!
Cacophony on the other hand is more of a literary term. Its a mixture of cocoa and some music. Hence, cacophony. Used in a sentence: You Cacophony! Or : That Cacophony was delicious!
The reason I am writing this is because I realized that I have not been writing for a week. As explained in my previous post, I have not been eating in restaurants recently because my wife has not been in town. So I have been eating nothing but the good old hawker food. But going beyond what is required to review the local restaurants and since my wife is in New York, I thought what better way to write on this blog but to tell people the few of the best restaurants I have been to in the world and I hope more Singaporean restaurants follow suit.
My favorite Italian restaurant in the world is Babbo. Located in the Village in New York, and a rumored waiting list of 3 months, this is I think one of the last bastions of truly authentic Italian cooking. Living in the United States for awhile, I realized that the Italian food scene there was much more "Americanize", than Singapore. I still remember eating at the first ever Pasta Fresca in Boat Quay even before there was a Boat Quay and Pregos when it was on the 3rd floor of Raffles City. They were fantastic and it left a great impression on me of what Italian food really is. Even though as time progressed, both their food standards went down the drain, I have personally thought that the Singaporean Italian food scene was much more dare I say authentic? But my trip to the United States last Christmas changed my mind. I was in New York for a week and after seeing so much of Mario Batali(pic above), the chef of Babbo(pic above) on the tele, I thought I had to try his food.
It was as if it was written in the stars. My wife called the restaurant and she was told that there was no space left. It was only a week before! Our choices were only the bar, which thank goodness we did not pick because it was just too darn packed! In the same phone call, the server told us to wait and someone on that very same minute cancelled their dinner appointment and we had a table! Yay!!!!!!
The restaurant is small. That's the way I like it. It was dimly litted and the tables were small but functional. The service was exquisite. Okay, there was this really annoying man that was bitching to the waiter (who would later serve us) about the food. Our table was right infront of the bathroom which could probably fit about one person, and I had a hard time turning 180 degrees in the toilet. It was that small. Our server was a bespectacled balding man with a very pleasant and sincere disposition. He was cool. He told us what to order and what was good. The restaurant even served quarter bottle of wines! Great! Why doesn't Singapore Italian restaurants do that? So we ordered our lobster pasta, a guinea fowl, some antipasto, a quarter bottle of red wine and the free flow of bread. It was heaven. The food was exquisite. The taste scrumptious and delightful. My mouth was bursting with flavor and awe of Italian cooking. I don't know what that annoying British man was bitching about his food but I thought it was fantastic! My wife who never liked wine loved the Italian wine and the food matching was superb. Great date! Drunk with Italian fervor and drowning from the rain that was pouring outside on that Winters day, I was consumed and renewed. I love Italian food again! Not that I stopped loving it before. But it was a renewal of love!
I think I should go buy the cook book. How cool is it for an Italian chef to have a pony tail and wears clogs.....
A Long Walk by the River
As I was saying, myself and tasty bites took a walk around town and we were wanting to eat some good food after picking Mrs. Tasty Bites up from Daimaru. I didn't want to go to Clarke Quay because I'm not a tourist. Instead, we headed out to one of most favorite noodle places in Singapore at the Gallery Hotel. Its a Japanese restaurant called Miharu Japanese Noodles.
Placed in an understated corner of the hotel. One would think that it would be hidden away from the public blocked by all the alcoholic bars around the place. But thank goodness for all of us, it is not. It has an understated and casual manner about the restaurant that I really like. It's small. Which means I like it even more! I remember the first time I came here with Tasty Bits (before he was Mr.Tasty Bites) the night before his wedding. It was a quick dinner and we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. Fortunately this time, it was still pretty early in the evening and there wasn't a lot of people.
There aren't many choices like one would expect but that's a good thing. I have always been told that the noodles in this restaurant have to be eaten in 10 minutes because that's how the noodles were meant to be or it might get too soft after soaking in the soup for too long. Whoever told me this was correct. And especially for this store. It made even more sense. We ordered 3 different ramen noodles and they came back with the food in 8 - 10 minutes. Service was brisk and fast. Polite too actually. We were sitting down and contemplating life, but before we could get too far with finding out the meaning of life, the noodles came. Humans are so easily distracted! I tried my best to emulate the feat of 10 mins. Me and Tasty Bites finished in like 8 minutes flat. Mrs Tasty Bites was still having a go at it and trying to tame the noodles. It was good. It was delicious. The noodles were excellent and safe a few slurping noises, I actually thought that the noodles were from Japan! Which I think they are from Japan!
The total bill was $47. I thought it was reasonable. Mrs Tasty Bites wanted to eat her dessert now and she suggested that we go to Canele Patisserie. I have never been there. So I thought why not?
Walking between Gallery Hotel to Robertson Walk was a short 10 mins walk. We could digest the food in due time and we could catch the sights along the drain, I mean the river. While discussing the idea of buying the apartments along the river, we passed several other Japanese restaurants that looked Japanese, which made me want to go back and try the food, and bars that made me want to puke. Before long and without puking, we were at Canele.
The place was empty. So I thought this must be a pretty bad place. Tasty Bites reading my mind told me that it was still early, that was why it was still pretty empty. Earlier in the day, I already went to a pretty "she she," place in Menottis for a business lunch. The ladies outnumbered the men. I wasn't bemused as much as terrified at the amount of unattractive ladies in Singapore. The place was empty. We had the choice of any seating. Service was bad because there was only one person serving and there would be a lot of people walking into the place later. Mrs. Tasty Bites and myself were scanning through the layout of cakes and pastries and chocolates they had on the counter. As we investigated each item, they all looked sexy. The desserts called out to me, wanting to be eaten.
Dying from symbolism and praying for my lack of imaginative writing, I decided that we try a sample platter that contain 8 miniature pastries and desserts. We sat down, ran through the menu and ordered 3 more things. All with ice cream because allegedly, they only serve ice cream on Friday and Saturday. By the time all our desserts came. I could tell that Mrs. Tasty Bites was about to have a sugar high (lucky Mr. Tasty Bites!) and I have to say they were great! Borderline fantastic. I for one never really have a sweet tooth and I can live my life without eating too much sweets, but this was just a bombardment of flavor. It wasn't just the sweetness. It was a constant attack, in a good way of the complementing flavors that accompanied the sweetness of sugar. Be it the sourness of mango and the richness and texture of melted dark chocolate, or the frosted sugar shaped like a marsh mellow around a decadent rum and raisin ice cream with strawberry sauce. This place wreaks of nothing but a pre sex meal. The owners might as well would have named it Aphrodisiac restaurant. If you were to die there, you would die only after having an erection. A gastronomic erection that is. Don't let your mind wonder too far.
Just hanging out with Mr and Mrs. Tasty Bites was already great. The dessert made it better. And tasty bites was right, the restaurant did get very crowded. And it was filled with a lot of women. Something interesting to note, they now not only serve desserts and pastries and chocolates, they now are trying to bake bread. I think it makes sense. Its the post sex meal right? How can they have pre without the post? Anyways, I am definitely bringing my wife here for dessert sometime. DEFINITELY. I think you should bring your wife, girlfriend, date there also. They'll love you more after it.
Miharu Japanese Restaurant - a great place for a quickie lunch.
Food: 7/10
Service: 6/10
Value: 7/10
Canele Patisserie Chocolaterie
Food: 8/10
Service: 4/10
Value: 7/10
Hope this helps.
Placed in an understated corner of the hotel. One would think that it would be hidden away from the public blocked by all the alcoholic bars around the place. But thank goodness for all of us, it is not. It has an understated and casual manner about the restaurant that I really like. It's small. Which means I like it even more! I remember the first time I came here with Tasty Bits (before he was Mr.Tasty Bites) the night before his wedding. It was a quick dinner and we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. Fortunately this time, it was still pretty early in the evening and there wasn't a lot of people.
There aren't many choices like one would expect but that's a good thing. I have always been told that the noodles in this restaurant have to be eaten in 10 minutes because that's how the noodles were meant to be or it might get too soft after soaking in the soup for too long. Whoever told me this was correct. And especially for this store. It made even more sense. We ordered 3 different ramen noodles and they came back with the food in 8 - 10 minutes. Service was brisk and fast. Polite too actually. We were sitting down and contemplating life, but before we could get too far with finding out the meaning of life, the noodles came. Humans are so easily distracted! I tried my best to emulate the feat of 10 mins. Me and Tasty Bites finished in like 8 minutes flat. Mrs Tasty Bites was still having a go at it and trying to tame the noodles. It was good. It was delicious. The noodles were excellent and safe a few slurping noises, I actually thought that the noodles were from Japan! Which I think they are from Japan!
The total bill was $47. I thought it was reasonable. Mrs Tasty Bites wanted to eat her dessert now and she suggested that we go to Canele Patisserie. I have never been there. So I thought why not?
Walking between Gallery Hotel to Robertson Walk was a short 10 mins walk. We could digest the food in due time and we could catch the sights along the drain, I mean the river. While discussing the idea of buying the apartments along the river, we passed several other Japanese restaurants that looked Japanese, which made me want to go back and try the food, and bars that made me want to puke. Before long and without puking, we were at Canele.
The place was empty. So I thought this must be a pretty bad place. Tasty Bites reading my mind told me that it was still early, that was why it was still pretty empty. Earlier in the day, I already went to a pretty "she she," place in Menottis for a business lunch. The ladies outnumbered the men. I wasn't bemused as much as terrified at the amount of unattractive ladies in Singapore. The place was empty. We had the choice of any seating. Service was bad because there was only one person serving and there would be a lot of people walking into the place later. Mrs. Tasty Bites and myself were scanning through the layout of cakes and pastries and chocolates they had on the counter. As we investigated each item, they all looked sexy. The desserts called out to me, wanting to be eaten.
Dying from symbolism and praying for my lack of imaginative writing, I decided that we try a sample platter that contain 8 miniature pastries and desserts. We sat down, ran through the menu and ordered 3 more things. All with ice cream because allegedly, they only serve ice cream on Friday and Saturday. By the time all our desserts came. I could tell that Mrs. Tasty Bites was about to have a sugar high (lucky Mr. Tasty Bites!) and I have to say they were great! Borderline fantastic. I for one never really have a sweet tooth and I can live my life without eating too much sweets, but this was just a bombardment of flavor. It wasn't just the sweetness. It was a constant attack, in a good way of the complementing flavors that accompanied the sweetness of sugar. Be it the sourness of mango and the richness and texture of melted dark chocolate, or the frosted sugar shaped like a marsh mellow around a decadent rum and raisin ice cream with strawberry sauce. This place wreaks of nothing but a pre sex meal. The owners might as well would have named it Aphrodisiac restaurant. If you were to die there, you would die only after having an erection. A gastronomic erection that is. Don't let your mind wonder too far.
Just hanging out with Mr and Mrs. Tasty Bites was already great. The dessert made it better. And tasty bites was right, the restaurant did get very crowded. And it was filled with a lot of women. Something interesting to note, they now not only serve desserts and pastries and chocolates, they now are trying to bake bread. I think it makes sense. Its the post sex meal right? How can they have pre without the post? Anyways, I am definitely bringing my wife here for dessert sometime. DEFINITELY. I think you should bring your wife, girlfriend, date there also. They'll love you more after it.
Miharu Japanese Restaurant - a great place for a quickie lunch.
Food: 7/10
Service: 6/10
Value: 7/10
Canele Patisserie Chocolaterie
Food: 8/10
Service: 4/10
Value: 7/10
Hope this helps.
Excuse me ....
Excuse me, I know not many people read this blog (thank goodness!) but the reason why I haven't been writing is because I haven't been eating at restaurants the last week. The reason being since my dear wife is not in town, I will be saving lots of money and eating hawker food! My first love! And of course, I will be trying the Pan Pac Indian Buffet! More details to follow about that!
I always cotradict myself. Some of my friends consider me a big contradiction. But I consider myself a walking oxymoron, just without the oxy. I will be meeting tasty bites in the afternoon to convince him to contribute to this page!!! He needs to work!!!
Some food for thought: Nigella is hot!
Swiss Baeckerei at Frankel Ave
This review is about one week late. So forgive me.
I wanted to go somewhere new with my wife for breakfast. We thought of somewhere in the east and during my reservists, a guy told me that Frankel Ave had a few nice places to try. And so we did. The after my reservists ended, we went to Frankel Ave to have breakfast.
We walked in to the cafe, it maybe had 8 tables maximum, the smell of fresh bread permeated the place. I liked it. My wife ordered the eggs and sausage, I ordered the special veal sandwich with melted cheese on the top. Let me just say that I am not a cheese person but I thought that my sandwich was fairly good. My wife liked the eggs and sausage as well. They have this gargantuan $23 sandwich that my reservist mate told me about. I actually wanted to try and order that, but decided I didn't want to kill myself so early in the day.
Service was slightly disorganized but still okay for a small restaurant. We even ordered some sausages and ham which were excellent and bread to go. The total bill was about $45? But I thought it was alright considering all the food we bought for the next few days. It was a good experience. To our surprise, there was even a Cedele's there on the stretch and a seafood restaurant transplanted from Clarke Quay called Blue Lobster. I should be going back pretty soon.
Food: 6/10
Service: 5/10
Value: 6/10
Bring your wife there for a quiet breakfast or the after sex meal in the morning....
Hope this helps.
I wanted to go somewhere new with my wife for breakfast. We thought of somewhere in the east and during my reservists, a guy told me that Frankel Ave had a few nice places to try. And so we did. The after my reservists ended, we went to Frankel Ave to have breakfast.
We walked in to the cafe, it maybe had 8 tables maximum, the smell of fresh bread permeated the place. I liked it. My wife ordered the eggs and sausage, I ordered the special veal sandwich with melted cheese on the top. Let me just say that I am not a cheese person but I thought that my sandwich was fairly good. My wife liked the eggs and sausage as well. They have this gargantuan $23 sandwich that my reservist mate told me about. I actually wanted to try and order that, but decided I didn't want to kill myself so early in the day.
Service was slightly disorganized but still okay for a small restaurant. We even ordered some sausages and ham which were excellent and bread to go. The total bill was about $45? But I thought it was alright considering all the food we bought for the next few days. It was a good experience. To our surprise, there was even a Cedele's there on the stretch and a seafood restaurant transplanted from Clarke Quay called Blue Lobster. I should be going back pretty soon.
Food: 6/10
Service: 5/10
Value: 6/10
Bring your wife there for a quiet breakfast or the after sex meal in the morning....
Hope this helps.
PS Cafe, somewhere in Singapore
PS Cafe is neither the post script cafe nor the poser synonymous cafe. (Thankfully at least). A long time friend of mine was finally having her birthday and she wanted to share this special day with her friends. Another friend of mine, who was also a friend of the birthday girl, and a good friend might I add, so good that their boyfriend's name sound almost too similar if you ask me in more ways than one, anyways, she decided that PS Cafe would be a great place to go to for her birthday dinner for 13!
So after leaving my wife at the airport with a broken heart, I rushed down and managed to catch a ride with my great and also long time friends at their home in the east, strategically placed near the airport, and together we left for the dinner in eager anticipation of where this place was. I have to say that when we got there, we were impressed. I was not so impressed by the fact that I had a SMS a day before being told that I had to abandon my berms and t-shirt; things I do for friends. I was impressed by the setting. It was like a restaurant in midst of a forest. The glassed exterior and the yellow lights made the restaurant shine in the darkest of places. Immediately, I thought this place was classy! And I should bring my wife here the next time.....
Only God knows why the long time friend who suggested this place wanted to sit outside, at the huge varendar of the restaurant. As you walk through the sexily lited wooden walkway of the restaurant, I was thinking and so did my buddy's wife, a free meal for mosquitoes! When we entered the restaurant, it wasn't as sexy as I thought. Sure they had low couch like sofas and short tables for those who want drinks and nice dark wooden tables with nice chairs, inside of the restaurant. One wall of the entire restaurant was filled with chalked writings to the day's menu, specials and wine list. I was impressed again. Chalked writings on the walls is a sign of a great restaurant is it not?
Fortunately, there was no Lord of Flies. There was no mosquitoes! We sat outside and it was nice. The ambiance was fantastic and company lovely. Once everybody got in. We ordered. I skimmed through the menu hoping that I wouldn't order the same thing as my buddy and his wife. True enough, we thought of the same thing. He wanted to order the steak sandwich, and his wife the flamed prawn pasta. I had no choice but to order one of the specials of the day, one chicken wrapped risotto with a shrimp scampi. Wait, my chicken wrapped risotto is also wrapped with bacon. So its double wrapped. People around me ordered similar things. The mousakka, or what I call the Greek lasagna, the steak sandwiches and beef ragout, which some members of the party pronounced it as rag-out. But I digress.
I ordered my drink of crushed mint and lime soda which tasted like soda water and some lime with lots of leaves inside. We even ordered dips to share. They offered the humus, some chilli padi thing, and some bean like humus thing. Imagine red beans, but mushed. Anyway, the pita bread that came along with it was lovely while it was warm, and no one touched the chilli thing.
So my special came. Okay, not that special. Sexy looking though. We tried a little bit of each others dishes. The steak sandwich was pretty good, the pasta was average, my special wasn't very special but okay, the ragout was somewhat dry, but that was just me. People started talking about this blog and I felt uncomfortable. I guess because some were wondering what I would write about the restaurant. Then all of a sudden, I was thinking, tonight isn't really a night for reviews. It was for friends.
We ordered desserts, the mango and apple crumble and orange cake to share. The birthday girl had a nice chocolate cake and ice cream. The service was pretty good even though it was hard to manage a 13 person table. They even made the birthday girl do a stunt, as vaguely as possible, imagine a bench with the husband at the end and his zipper down. Insert shot glass half filled with baileys in pants, where zipper is open. The bench is lined with whip cream from where the husband sits till the end, and the girl has to lick the whip cream from one end to the other and finishing this entire stunt by drinking the drink in the husband's pants without the use of her hands. My wife would so do this but not because she loves me. But because I think she might love whip cream more!
It was a fun night of catching up with old friends. It was a night that I realized that time was catching up with me. I do over senitmantalize things but I do think that as I get older, I love my friends more. And sometimes going to a restaurant is not really about what you eat, it is more often who you are with. And this night was one of those nights.
Value: worth the $50 bucks per person for this kind of friends.
Service: things I do for friends: not wear berms on their birthday
Food: nothing to crow about food does taste better around great company.
Bring your friends there.
So after leaving my wife at the airport with a broken heart, I rushed down and managed to catch a ride with my great and also long time friends at their home in the east, strategically placed near the airport, and together we left for the dinner in eager anticipation of where this place was. I have to say that when we got there, we were impressed. I was not so impressed by the fact that I had a SMS a day before being told that I had to abandon my berms and t-shirt; things I do for friends. I was impressed by the setting. It was like a restaurant in midst of a forest. The glassed exterior and the yellow lights made the restaurant shine in the darkest of places. Immediately, I thought this place was classy! And I should bring my wife here the next time.....
Only God knows why the long time friend who suggested this place wanted to sit outside, at the huge varendar of the restaurant. As you walk through the sexily lited wooden walkway of the restaurant, I was thinking and so did my buddy's wife, a free meal for mosquitoes! When we entered the restaurant, it wasn't as sexy as I thought. Sure they had low couch like sofas and short tables for those who want drinks and nice dark wooden tables with nice chairs, inside of the restaurant. One wall of the entire restaurant was filled with chalked writings to the day's menu, specials and wine list. I was impressed again. Chalked writings on the walls is a sign of a great restaurant is it not?
Fortunately, there was no Lord of Flies. There was no mosquitoes! We sat outside and it was nice. The ambiance was fantastic and company lovely. Once everybody got in. We ordered. I skimmed through the menu hoping that I wouldn't order the same thing as my buddy and his wife. True enough, we thought of the same thing. He wanted to order the steak sandwich, and his wife the flamed prawn pasta. I had no choice but to order one of the specials of the day, one chicken wrapped risotto with a shrimp scampi. Wait, my chicken wrapped risotto is also wrapped with bacon. So its double wrapped. People around me ordered similar things. The mousakka, or what I call the Greek lasagna, the steak sandwiches and beef ragout, which some members of the party pronounced it as rag-out. But I digress.
I ordered my drink of crushed mint and lime soda which tasted like soda water and some lime with lots of leaves inside. We even ordered dips to share. They offered the humus, some chilli padi thing, and some bean like humus thing. Imagine red beans, but mushed. Anyway, the pita bread that came along with it was lovely while it was warm, and no one touched the chilli thing.
So my special came. Okay, not that special. Sexy looking though. We tried a little bit of each others dishes. The steak sandwich was pretty good, the pasta was average, my special wasn't very special but okay, the ragout was somewhat dry, but that was just me. People started talking about this blog and I felt uncomfortable. I guess because some were wondering what I would write about the restaurant. Then all of a sudden, I was thinking, tonight isn't really a night for reviews. It was for friends.
We ordered desserts, the mango and apple crumble and orange cake to share. The birthday girl had a nice chocolate cake and ice cream. The service was pretty good even though it was hard to manage a 13 person table. They even made the birthday girl do a stunt, as vaguely as possible, imagine a bench with the husband at the end and his zipper down. Insert shot glass half filled with baileys in pants, where zipper is open. The bench is lined with whip cream from where the husband sits till the end, and the girl has to lick the whip cream from one end to the other and finishing this entire stunt by drinking the drink in the husband's pants without the use of her hands. My wife would so do this but not because she loves me. But because I think she might love whip cream more!
It was a fun night of catching up with old friends. It was a night that I realized that time was catching up with me. I do over senitmantalize things but I do think that as I get older, I love my friends more. And sometimes going to a restaurant is not really about what you eat, it is more often who you are with. And this night was one of those nights.
Value: worth the $50 bucks per person for this kind of friends.
Service: things I do for friends: not wear berms on their birthday
Food: nothing to crow about food does taste better around great company.
Bring your friends there.
Sunset Bar and Grill
Legend goes that there is a need for a place that not many Singaporeans know. And this is the place that we should sup. I believe this place is Sunset bar and grill.
Probably well known among pilot cadets or Seletar East Camp NS men, Sunset Bar and Grill is a rustic and quiet. My table seated at the platform facing the run way was way cool. I loved the ambiance. It was nothing fantastic but it was just something about the place that I liked, that casual be yourself type atmosphere is both endearing and engaging. My friends ordered the fried chicken wings which were pretty good, and the level 2 buffalo wings which were already very spicy. For those Jessica Simpsons out there, buffalo wings are not from buffalos. Its chicken wings , which is shaped liked a buffalo. Don't ask me why, but this is what I have heard. And by the way, chicken of the sea, isn't really chicken either, its tuna.
As I was saying, we ordered also the hamburger with bacon which was just okay, a BLT sandwich which my wife liked, Nachoes and cheese and fried Calamari. Yeah, we ordered quite abit of finger food. But it was all good. I would have preferred sitting inside to escape the mosquitoes but outside was fine. The boys downed some beers and the ladies adhered to the soft drinks.
I left the place reminiscing my flying days. The days when I was care free and dumb .... Even though I have never flown a plane before, or flown like Superman before, what struck me was that food goes well with flying .... Just a thought.
I wouldn't mind going back again. Even though we did pay $13o for finger food and drinks. I thought it was worth it. This is a place to DEFINITELY bring your girlfriend. Lots of makeout corners in the camp.
food: 6/10
service: 7/10
value: 5/10
Hope this helps.
Probably well known among pilot cadets or Seletar East Camp NS men, Sunset Bar and Grill is a rustic and quiet. My table seated at the platform facing the run way was way cool. I loved the ambiance. It was nothing fantastic but it was just something about the place that I liked, that casual be yourself type atmosphere is both endearing and engaging. My friends ordered the fried chicken wings which were pretty good, and the level 2 buffalo wings which were already very spicy. For those Jessica Simpsons out there, buffalo wings are not from buffalos. Its chicken wings , which is shaped liked a buffalo. Don't ask me why, but this is what I have heard. And by the way, chicken of the sea, isn't really chicken either, its tuna.
As I was saying, we ordered also the hamburger with bacon which was just okay, a BLT sandwich which my wife liked, Nachoes and cheese and fried Calamari. Yeah, we ordered quite abit of finger food. But it was all good. I would have preferred sitting inside to escape the mosquitoes but outside was fine. The boys downed some beers and the ladies adhered to the soft drinks.
I left the place reminiscing my flying days. The days when I was care free and dumb .... Even though I have never flown a plane before, or flown like Superman before, what struck me was that food goes well with flying .... Just a thought.
I wouldn't mind going back again. Even though we did pay $13o for finger food and drinks. I thought it was worth it. This is a place to DEFINITELY bring your girlfriend. Lots of makeout corners in the camp.
food: 6/10
service: 7/10
value: 5/10
Hope this helps.
Hanabi at Odeon Towers
It was Father's Day some time ago, and since I wanted to celebrate Father's day, I decided to bring myself, my wife, my mum, and last but not least my father for a meal. I decided on Hanabi because I read quite a few things about it, rather inexpensive, and the week after I decided on the restaurant, the Straits Times did a review about it.
One of the things that I have learnt since I have been back in Singapore is never trust their sports news and the other thing is their food review. Their reviewers either have dead taste buds on their tongues or they just think that if the food looks good and if they are served well, damn it. The food IS good. I have been to many Japanese Buffets before and this one was no different. I called earlier in the day and managed to make a reservation for the family.
When we got there. I liked what I saw. The place was pretty with darkwood furniture and pretty lanterns. My parents were as usual late and when they got there, we started the ordering. We ordered a lot. A lot of food. Sashimi, sushi, their grilled items, tempura and all that good stuff. The food was average at best.
Their service, the thing about Singapore ala carte buffets is the fact that the management tries to manage the customer TOO much. What I mean when I say this is that if I were to order the second round of Sashimi, there will be a marked decrease in the number of slice fish. In fact, it was a marked decrease and an incessant effort to "forget," what we ordered. That bothered me quite abit. And to a point, I felt that I was talking to the server's hand then to the server because when ever I would want to order something, they give the hand. I swear its the registered response in this restaurant. Not only did it bother me that the server that took our orders was sniffing away and using his hands to block the mucus from running down his nose, oh wait, the same hand that I believe served us the food, but the hand,that bothered me.
I mean the restaurant isn't very big and it was crowded, but the server to customer ratio was pretty good I thought. But the servers at some times were no where to be seen. hmmmm ...
Food: 5/10 same old same old Japanese buffet
Service: 3/10, the hand thing drove me nuts ...
value: 5/10, can't complain about average mediocre Japanese food not meant to offend
Maybe I shouldn't be bringing my parents out for meals after this 2 horrific mother's and father's day experience? ahahahahhahaha ....
Hope this helps.
One of the things that I have learnt since I have been back in Singapore is never trust their sports news and the other thing is their food review. Their reviewers either have dead taste buds on their tongues or they just think that if the food looks good and if they are served well, damn it. The food IS good. I have been to many Japanese Buffets before and this one was no different. I called earlier in the day and managed to make a reservation for the family.
When we got there. I liked what I saw. The place was pretty with darkwood furniture and pretty lanterns. My parents were as usual late and when they got there, we started the ordering. We ordered a lot. A lot of food. Sashimi, sushi, their grilled items, tempura and all that good stuff. The food was average at best.
Their service, the thing about Singapore ala carte buffets is the fact that the management tries to manage the customer TOO much. What I mean when I say this is that if I were to order the second round of Sashimi, there will be a marked decrease in the number of slice fish. In fact, it was a marked decrease and an incessant effort to "forget," what we ordered. That bothered me quite abit. And to a point, I felt that I was talking to the server's hand then to the server because when ever I would want to order something, they give the hand. I swear its the registered response in this restaurant. Not only did it bother me that the server that took our orders was sniffing away and using his hands to block the mucus from running down his nose, oh wait, the same hand that I believe served us the food, but the hand,that bothered me.
I mean the restaurant isn't very big and it was crowded, but the server to customer ratio was pretty good I thought. But the servers at some times were no where to be seen. hmmmm ...
Food: 5/10 same old same old Japanese buffet
Service: 3/10, the hand thing drove me nuts ...
value: 5/10, can't complain about average mediocre Japanese food not meant to offend
Maybe I shouldn't be bringing my parents out for meals after this 2 horrific mother's and father's day experience? ahahahahhahaha ....
Hope this helps.
Pizza Walker at Wisma
Pizza is something I enjoy every once in awhile. When I was in the United States, the every once in awhile meant every week. So when I say once in a while in Singapore, its about once every 2 - 3 weeks. Some days, I get so desperate that I even settle for the not so good Canadian Pizza and the plastic tasting Pizza Hut. We were out walking around shopping in Orchard when I felt like Pizza again. So we went out to Wisma, as we were at Taka to try this Pizza Walker.
I like the location. You can be seen. So advice for young couples if you want to look cool. You will be seen here. If you are like me, one who enjoys the quieter life, then I say don't even think about it. We ordered 2 small, I mean 6 inch pizzas. One was the all mushroom pizza and the other is the parma ham pizza. The service was pretty good. Being as annoying like I usually am, I wanted to test the service because they had this $6 continuous iced-tea refill when one glass was $3.50. I had like 3 glasses of that within the first 5 minutes. And each time, the server came and was nice about it and kept refilling my drink without complaints. I was fairly impressed. I had a total of like 7 glasses in the 30 minute dinner.
The pizza was average I thought. Nothing to write to mum about. But the great thing about this place was that you can people watch and comment about what they are wearing, this was something Kelly and I did to our fullest, which was fun. The total bill came up to only about $35 which I thought was reasonable.
service: 7/10
food: 5/10 - its pizza, you can't go THAT wrong.
value: 6/10 - quite okay for something in the middle of town.
Hope this helps.
I like the location. You can be seen. So advice for young couples if you want to look cool. You will be seen here. If you are like me, one who enjoys the quieter life, then I say don't even think about it. We ordered 2 small, I mean 6 inch pizzas. One was the all mushroom pizza and the other is the parma ham pizza. The service was pretty good. Being as annoying like I usually am, I wanted to test the service because they had this $6 continuous iced-tea refill when one glass was $3.50. I had like 3 glasses of that within the first 5 minutes. And each time, the server came and was nice about it and kept refilling my drink without complaints. I was fairly impressed. I had a total of like 7 glasses in the 30 minute dinner.
The pizza was average I thought. Nothing to write to mum about. But the great thing about this place was that you can people watch and comment about what they are wearing, this was something Kelly and I did to our fullest, which was fun. The total bill came up to only about $35 which I thought was reasonable.
service: 7/10
food: 5/10 - its pizza, you can't go THAT wrong.
value: 6/10 - quite okay for something in the middle of town.
Hope this helps.
Oscar's at Conrad International
The missus wanted to have some buffet breakfast on Sunday morning. I did a brief research on the internet and thought that maybe we should give Oscar's at Conrad a try. When I say brief I mean go through 2 web sites and look through for 10 mins.
When we got there, we were surprised. It wasn't EXACTLY a breakfast buffet. In fact, it was a Sunday brunch buffet. Which means they didn't have the bacon and eggs and waffles and the breakfast stuff. What they had was the lobster, the sashimi the works. My wife asked if we should go to another place for breakfast food but I was too lazy and the weather was getting dark. She knows that I get grumpy when we go to a buffet like this and she doesn't eat the expensive stuff, I get mad. Seriously, if I am paying $70 for her for a buffet, she better eat the money's worth! Sure, call me stingy but what about the kids in AFRICA?
So as per every other buffet, I hit the expensive stuff first. I went for the lobsters and oysters. Kelly went for the breakfast stuff first i.e. the egg station, Danish, and some juice. The oysters and lobsters were fresh. By the way, when we arrived at the hotel, we even got a brief introduction of where everything was; which was nice. Kelly loved the breakfasty stuff. She loves breakfast. Our usual Sunday breakfast is MacDonald but today was different. It was breakfast with an edge. It was highly entertaining personally that my breakfast on this day was lobster and sashimi. Unlike the many other buffets that I have been to, this place had quite abit of sashimi. Besides the regular salmon, tuna, squid, there was the 2 other meats whose names that briefly escape me, they were fresh, tender and scrumptious.
My wife then decided to make my day by taking half of a Boston lobster. I couldn't help but have a smile on my face. She was so sweet. Anyways, back to the assault! Even though this was a buffet, I was thoroughly surrounded by foreigners and I have to say that the service was excellent. They cleared our plates promptly, continuously refilled our water, and even advised on what was the best thing to eat at the buffet. I was actually impressed with their service!
I have learnt from my many buffet tour of duties that one should never take food from the section where nobody ever goes. The pre-cooked section. However, this time I was a little curious. They had some curry there and I felt like curry that morning. The chicken curry was average but somehow the pampadam was fantastic. I just didn't know why. Kelly took a slice of roasted ham which she thought tasted a tad bid dry, it looked dry, thats why I never took it, some tim sum which was pretty average. Later, she attacked the fresh unadulterated cheese, which she loved and bread, which a basket of these fine babies were placed on the table. Ahhh, how clever I thought. Trying to carbo load the customers so that they can't eat too much! I wasn't fooled! Actually, I was. Kelly and I finished all the bread because we loved the bread.
Anyways, to top off everything, I tried foie gras for the first time. Foie gras is something that I have always seen on cooking shows like Iron Chef but never thought about trying. Tasty Bites loves foie gras and lives each day to eat it. I am exaggerating here but I say this with love and compassion in my heart. The lady at the egg station was also responsible for the foie gras. I have to say. It was fantastic. How can something so bad like duck liver taste so good? I sms'ed Tasty Bites and he told me to remember the taste because I will be wanting more in the future. The foie gras was smooth, tender, sweet and dare I say melts in your mouth. I expected liver to be like those we eat at the coffee shop chicken rice store. Alas, how wrong I was!
The dessert was very good. Kelly and I hit the crepes, the ice cream, the brownies, the sherberts, the special conrad chocolates, and the waffles. Advice: don't try any other ice cream but the vanilla because it was heavenly, and save space for dessert at Oscar's.
Before I forget, I even had time to try a brief bowl of bak kut teh which I thought was very well done. The soup was eu naturel, no msg, it was herbal and delicious but not overly pungent but the pork ribs were slightly overcooked in my opinion. There was even some musical entertainment that I could barely make out. This is because the singer had a pretty bad enunciation problem singing hits from jobim. She wasn't bad. Its just that was she sang girl from Ipanema, all I could hear was wah wah wah, like those Charlie Brown cartoons. But I have to say that the guitarist was excellent.
This a place that I would recommend for people wanting to impress your clients or future in laws. Future because once you seal the deal, just bring them to the coffee shop for some local breakfast. Go there in the late morning and stay to 3. You'll have a good meal, great ambiance and you can impress the people you need to impress at the right time. The total damage was about $150. It is expensive for a brunch but I don't eat like that so often: having lobsters for breakfast.
Food: 7/10
Service:8/10
Value:6/10
I would say one of the best expensive hotel buffets around.
When we got there, we were surprised. It wasn't EXACTLY a breakfast buffet. In fact, it was a Sunday brunch buffet. Which means they didn't have the bacon and eggs and waffles and the breakfast stuff. What they had was the lobster, the sashimi the works. My wife asked if we should go to another place for breakfast food but I was too lazy and the weather was getting dark. She knows that I get grumpy when we go to a buffet like this and she doesn't eat the expensive stuff, I get mad. Seriously, if I am paying $70 for her for a buffet, she better eat the money's worth! Sure, call me stingy but what about the kids in AFRICA?
So as per every other buffet, I hit the expensive stuff first. I went for the lobsters and oysters. Kelly went for the breakfast stuff first i.e. the egg station, Danish, and some juice. The oysters and lobsters were fresh. By the way, when we arrived at the hotel, we even got a brief introduction of where everything was; which was nice. Kelly loved the breakfasty stuff. She loves breakfast. Our usual Sunday breakfast is MacDonald but today was different. It was breakfast with an edge. It was highly entertaining personally that my breakfast on this day was lobster and sashimi. Unlike the many other buffets that I have been to, this place had quite abit of sashimi. Besides the regular salmon, tuna, squid, there was the 2 other meats whose names that briefly escape me, they were fresh, tender and scrumptious.
My wife then decided to make my day by taking half of a Boston lobster. I couldn't help but have a smile on my face. She was so sweet. Anyways, back to the assault! Even though this was a buffet, I was thoroughly surrounded by foreigners and I have to say that the service was excellent. They cleared our plates promptly, continuously refilled our water, and even advised on what was the best thing to eat at the buffet. I was actually impressed with their service!
I have learnt from my many buffet tour of duties that one should never take food from the section where nobody ever goes. The pre-cooked section. However, this time I was a little curious. They had some curry there and I felt like curry that morning. The chicken curry was average but somehow the pampadam was fantastic. I just didn't know why. Kelly took a slice of roasted ham which she thought tasted a tad bid dry, it looked dry, thats why I never took it, some tim sum which was pretty average. Later, she attacked the fresh unadulterated cheese, which she loved and bread, which a basket of these fine babies were placed on the table. Ahhh, how clever I thought. Trying to carbo load the customers so that they can't eat too much! I wasn't fooled! Actually, I was. Kelly and I finished all the bread because we loved the bread.
Anyways, to top off everything, I tried foie gras for the first time. Foie gras is something that I have always seen on cooking shows like Iron Chef but never thought about trying. Tasty Bites loves foie gras and lives each day to eat it. I am exaggerating here but I say this with love and compassion in my heart. The lady at the egg station was also responsible for the foie gras. I have to say. It was fantastic. How can something so bad like duck liver taste so good? I sms'ed Tasty Bites and he told me to remember the taste because I will be wanting more in the future. The foie gras was smooth, tender, sweet and dare I say melts in your mouth. I expected liver to be like those we eat at the coffee shop chicken rice store. Alas, how wrong I was!
The dessert was very good. Kelly and I hit the crepes, the ice cream, the brownies, the sherberts, the special conrad chocolates, and the waffles. Advice: don't try any other ice cream but the vanilla because it was heavenly, and save space for dessert at Oscar's.
Before I forget, I even had time to try a brief bowl of bak kut teh which I thought was very well done. The soup was eu naturel, no msg, it was herbal and delicious but not overly pungent but the pork ribs were slightly overcooked in my opinion. There was even some musical entertainment that I could barely make out. This is because the singer had a pretty bad enunciation problem singing hits from jobim. She wasn't bad. Its just that was she sang girl from Ipanema, all I could hear was wah wah wah, like those Charlie Brown cartoons. But I have to say that the guitarist was excellent.
This a place that I would recommend for people wanting to impress your clients or future in laws. Future because once you seal the deal, just bring them to the coffee shop for some local breakfast. Go there in the late morning and stay to 3. You'll have a good meal, great ambiance and you can impress the people you need to impress at the right time. The total damage was about $150. It is expensive for a brunch but I don't eat like that so often: having lobsters for breakfast.
Food: 7/10
Service:8/10
Value:6/10
I would say one of the best expensive hotel buffets around.
Billy Bomber's at Century Square
My wife wanted some burgers for the day so instead of sticking to Mickey D's, we went to Billy Bombers. What I have always liked about the place is that it is trying to be an American burger joint. That's cool. Their burgers are above average and reasonable and service is reasonable as well. I love their MALTs. One of the best Malts in Singapore. I can't deny that. But this time, I was bothered by something else.
2 annoying racists and vulgar young Singaporean Chinese men were sitting behind the wife and I. They were going on and on about America and how they were going to say the N word that ends with digger but without the d when they were in the south. I am not American. My wife is. But being educated there, I have to say that those 2 were an embarrassment to Singapore and I was thoroughly ashamed. My wife gave them a look and they knew it, and they still carried on talking about it. At this point in time, I wanted to ask the kind servers to change our seats but my wife didn't want to. She is kind of confrontational like that. But that's the way I like her.
When our food came, the cowards promptly left. And while I was eating my semi-delicious burger, those 2 annoying young men were walking in front of the restaurant peering in to look at me. They looked not even 21 and those idiots were acting like the biggest pricks in the world. Sorry, didn't mean pricks. I meant dick heads. Wait, didn't mean that too. So sorry. I mean mother f***********************************************sonof a************************. Well, you know what I mean.
Even the great tasting malts could not take away how irritated and ashamed I felt for those ugly Singaporean men. The portions were as usual huge and food was above average. I think that sometimes food can be affected by the ambiance around you. I think so even more after this.
food: 5/10
service: 6/10
value: 6/10
2 annoying racists and vulgar young Singaporean Chinese men were sitting behind the wife and I. They were going on and on about America and how they were going to say the N word that ends with digger but without the d when they were in the south. I am not American. My wife is. But being educated there, I have to say that those 2 were an embarrassment to Singapore and I was thoroughly ashamed. My wife gave them a look and they knew it, and they still carried on talking about it. At this point in time, I wanted to ask the kind servers to change our seats but my wife didn't want to. She is kind of confrontational like that. But that's the way I like her.
When our food came, the cowards promptly left. And while I was eating my semi-delicious burger, those 2 annoying young men were walking in front of the restaurant peering in to look at me. They looked not even 21 and those idiots were acting like the biggest pricks in the world. Sorry, didn't mean pricks. I meant dick heads. Wait, didn't mean that too. So sorry. I mean mother f***********************************************sonof a************************. Well, you know what I mean.
Even the great tasting malts could not take away how irritated and ashamed I felt for those ugly Singaporean men. The portions were as usual huge and food was above average. I think that sometimes food can be affected by the ambiance around you. I think so even more after this.
food: 5/10
service: 6/10
value: 6/10
Chippy's at Raffles City Basement
Brief post: I was there yesterday with my wife. I thought I wanted some good British fish and chips after I walked by the store a couple of times. The server got my order wrong. That's okay. But they charged a small plastic container worth of ketchup and what I believe to be Mayo for $1. I think its ludicrous since the fish and chips cost $4.15? By the way, I also ordered the fried mars bars.
Bad service and it left a bad feeling in the tummy the whole night. The food didn't sit well. I think the owner of the store wanted to test the stranglehold those other little Taiwanese stores have around Singapore. But I do hope that their quality of food and service improves. I like the place and its in a great location but something just doesn't feel right. Oh wait, that's my stomach.
Food: 4/10
Service: 4/10
Value: 6/10
Hope this helps.
Bad service and it left a bad feeling in the tummy the whole night. The food didn't sit well. I think the owner of the store wanted to test the stranglehold those other little Taiwanese stores have around Singapore. But I do hope that their quality of food and service improves. I like the place and its in a great location but something just doesn't feel right. Oh wait, that's my stomach.
Food: 4/10
Service: 4/10
Value: 6/10
Hope this helps.
Menottis at Raffles City Inside Esprit
I was bored and I wanted to bring my wife some where new to eat some pseudo western food. I have always liked the deco for Menottis. I have been there once with Tasty Bites, but it wasn't memorable. So I wanted to see if things might have changed.
Service was average. I can't complain too much. My wife ordered the eggs benedict and I had the warm parma ham sandwich. I downed my food with some hot earl grey tea and and my wife ordered a latte and later the classic chocolate drink. I have to say it was average. The egg serving was huge and my sandwich was actually warm! Which I liked of course. It was an unfortunately ho hum meal. There was nothing wrong with the food, absolutely nothing. Maybe I was expecting abit more but I personally think I left Menottis the same way I went in. The place isn't memorable.
Sometimes in life I wonder if we already have pre concieved notions and we just do things to re-affirm those values or do we have no pre-concieved notions and we just live life finding out what they are .... just some thought. I personally think its abit of both but thats just me.
This is the place where you can bring your date. For sure. Great place to bring your date. If your date doesn't mind average food and just want to be seen, even better. But just keep in mind that your date is most probably a show off or just don't know much about food.
Service: 5/10
Food: 5/10
Value: 5/10
Hope this helps.
Service was average. I can't complain too much. My wife ordered the eggs benedict and I had the warm parma ham sandwich. I downed my food with some hot earl grey tea and and my wife ordered a latte and later the classic chocolate drink. I have to say it was average. The egg serving was huge and my sandwich was actually warm! Which I liked of course. It was an unfortunately ho hum meal. There was nothing wrong with the food, absolutely nothing. Maybe I was expecting abit more but I personally think I left Menottis the same way I went in. The place isn't memorable.
Sometimes in life I wonder if we already have pre concieved notions and we just do things to re-affirm those values or do we have no pre-concieved notions and we just live life finding out what they are .... just some thought. I personally think its abit of both but thats just me.
This is the place where you can bring your date. For sure. Great place to bring your date. If your date doesn't mind average food and just want to be seen, even better. But just keep in mind that your date is most probably a show off or just don't know much about food.
Service: 5/10
Food: 5/10
Value: 5/10
Hope this helps.
A Brief Thought About Starbucks Coffee
I have never been a real big coffee drinker. So one day, I decided to try the single shot espresso at my favorite Starbucks at City Hall. It was actually pretty good. Oh wait, I had my first expresso at Tampines Starbucks but now the espresso is my most favorite coffee drinkso. It helps cleans the palette and it leaves a good taste in the mouth. My wife thinks it stinks of coffee but I beg to differ. Its a thick cup of cuppa and I can't wait ....
I am an addict ....
I am an addict ....
Morton's at Oriental
I LOVE BEEF! So every year, I tell myself that I shall have beef once a year and it has to be good. So for this year, I thought I should go try Morton's at Oriental Hotel. This beautiful trip was suggested by Tasty Bites and Mrs. Tasty Bites. Before I continue, I lied. I already had steak when I was in Vegas but in my defense, it was free because somebody paid for it, so you can't count that. The attire for the restaurant is smart casual and I wanted to wear a hat with my shorts and t-shirt. Thank goodness Tasty Bites reminded me of the dress code!
The service is EXCELLENT. No wonder you are paying so much for the food. I think they are probably the most engaging and friendly servers I have met in Singapore. They are prompt. Water is always refilled. They are informative, and they give you good relevant advice for the food to order. I really wish that WDA go pay them a visit to ask them to conduct customer service courses. We ordered the double porter house, a bone in prime rib. Sides of mashed potatoes and friend spinach and mushrooms. The wives ordered their cocktail drinks, and all was good in the world.
The ambiance is fantastic. I didn't think I was in Singapore at all. Well, being surrounded by Ang Moh helps. I was thinking that the restaurant had probably the most ang moh per square foot in a restaurant that I have ever seen! Not that any restaurant should have this kind of a statistic, but I thought it was interesting. The lights were dim and yellow, the dark wood furniture made the surrounding comfortable for fine dining.
The warm bread was delicious. It was big enough to feed the 4 of us without even ordering starters which I was actually quite tempted to do. We chatted and laughed about everything under the sun, then the food came! Stunned Silence! The friggin thing was huge! The double porter house could have fed 3 lions. Instead, it was a lot for 4 people. All the meats we ordered were all medium done. My advice is that because the double porter house is so big and thick, order it medium well. It might take a little longer but because it is SO thick, it might actually come out medium. I didn't particularly like the double porter house. I guess because there wasn't much beefy flavor in the beef. It tasted great mind you. It just didn't feel that it was aged enough .... That's just my feel. The boned in prime rib on the other hand was flavorful and tender. The fat and juice was succulent, and I scoff at vegans when I was chewing that piece of steak because they sure don't know what they were missing. The prime rib was done very well. We even had the server cut the meat for us!
The desserts had to be pre ordered 40 mins before because they were freshly made. They weren't fantastic. But they were good. We got the hot chocolate cake as well as the apple pie, the pie was without the crust but it was good. Both came with a side serving of vanilla ice cream. I didn't really concentrate on the dessert because I think the wives were. I was already too full from the beef and Tasty Bites was gnawing everything off the bone. HE THE MAN!
The total bill came up to be about $433. I thought that the amount was just about right. It is worth it if you have steak once a year, or twice, wait, I think this is the third time I had steak this year! Anyways, my point is that if you love steak, and only try a once in your life in Singapore. Have it at Mortons. Its the BEST STEAK IN SINGAPORE. NO DOUBT ABOUT IT.
If you want to go to the United States to eat steak, then give me a call and I'll tell you where to go.
Service: 10/10
Value: 7/10
Food: 7/10
P.S. This review sounds like Hammy from Over the Hedge talking .... My mind is all over the place today.
The service is EXCELLENT. No wonder you are paying so much for the food. I think they are probably the most engaging and friendly servers I have met in Singapore. They are prompt. Water is always refilled. They are informative, and they give you good relevant advice for the food to order. I really wish that WDA go pay them a visit to ask them to conduct customer service courses. We ordered the double porter house, a bone in prime rib. Sides of mashed potatoes and friend spinach and mushrooms. The wives ordered their cocktail drinks, and all was good in the world.
The ambiance is fantastic. I didn't think I was in Singapore at all. Well, being surrounded by Ang Moh helps. I was thinking that the restaurant had probably the most ang moh per square foot in a restaurant that I have ever seen! Not that any restaurant should have this kind of a statistic, but I thought it was interesting. The lights were dim and yellow, the dark wood furniture made the surrounding comfortable for fine dining.
The warm bread was delicious. It was big enough to feed the 4 of us without even ordering starters which I was actually quite tempted to do. We chatted and laughed about everything under the sun, then the food came! Stunned Silence! The friggin thing was huge! The double porter house could have fed 3 lions. Instead, it was a lot for 4 people. All the meats we ordered were all medium done. My advice is that because the double porter house is so big and thick, order it medium well. It might take a little longer but because it is SO thick, it might actually come out medium. I didn't particularly like the double porter house. I guess because there wasn't much beefy flavor in the beef. It tasted great mind you. It just didn't feel that it was aged enough .... That's just my feel. The boned in prime rib on the other hand was flavorful and tender. The fat and juice was succulent, and I scoff at vegans when I was chewing that piece of steak because they sure don't know what they were missing. The prime rib was done very well. We even had the server cut the meat for us!
The desserts had to be pre ordered 40 mins before because they were freshly made. They weren't fantastic. But they were good. We got the hot chocolate cake as well as the apple pie, the pie was without the crust but it was good. Both came with a side serving of vanilla ice cream. I didn't really concentrate on the dessert because I think the wives were. I was already too full from the beef and Tasty Bites was gnawing everything off the bone. HE THE MAN!
The total bill came up to be about $433. I thought that the amount was just about right. It is worth it if you have steak once a year, or twice, wait, I think this is the third time I had steak this year! Anyways, my point is that if you love steak, and only try a once in your life in Singapore. Have it at Mortons. Its the BEST STEAK IN SINGAPORE. NO DOUBT ABOUT IT.
If you want to go to the United States to eat steak, then give me a call and I'll tell you where to go.
Service: 10/10
Value: 7/10
Food: 7/10
P.S. This review sounds like Hammy from Over the Hedge talking .... My mind is all over the place today.
TCC at Raffles Place MRT
I don't like this place at all. Okay? I like the finger foods, I like my tea that I ordered and I like the furniture at the place, love the ambiance, hate the Art. What I don't like is being told that I can't sit at a table with 3 chairs instead of 2 because they are afraid that they might lose some customers. Love the customer service when the place measures cost effectiveness over customer preference in a freaking half filled place. What is this world coming to?
Instead, I had to be put together with ladies around me sipping their tea and listening to them complain about their husbands or work to one another. Why? Why? Why?
Service: 6/10
Food: 6/10
Value: 6/10
Don't go to the place because it has the sign of the devil. But it was actually pretty nice.
Instead, I had to be put together with ladies around me sipping their tea and listening to them complain about their husbands or work to one another. Why? Why? Why?
Service: 6/10
Food: 6/10
Value: 6/10
Don't go to the place because it has the sign of the devil. But it was actually pretty nice.
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