You see it around, you think it's good. I think it's bad. I'll see it around, but I'll never go there again.
I was in the area twice and had to find somewhere to sit for a few hours. I thought the place looked good, and so I decided I'll sit there for the few hours and get a drink too. Sounds perfect. But it sure was disappointing.
I got myself a Iced Chocolate. It was actually hot chocolate with ice. The taste was normal.. like any hot chocolate. But the drink was very powder-y. And it didn't look any professional either, when the waiter came with my drink (after quite awhile) with the foam overflowing.
I was hungry, so I looked for something to eat. I thought the Mango Danish looked nice (it looked like a sunny-side up egg actually) and it was one of the cheaper pastries there going at $2 (their sandwich is 6 bucks!). But I was utterly disappointed to know that the mango thing in the middle wasn't exactly fresh mango. Rather, it tasted like cheap mango ice cream that you get from NTUC in tubs.
I know the place was bad; I had no choice but sat there again. I decided this time I'll get something with a bit of coffee. After all they are supposed to have good coffee right. So I got a Mocha Spin (apparently it's just ice-blended mocha). I don't know about you, but I couldn't quite believe that I paid, more than a mocha ice blend at coffee bean, for a cup of ice blended mocha that had "sand" in it. What I mean by "sand" is actually the coffee beans! It's weird and I really can't believe it, but why do you blend coffee beans?! It really ruined my whole drink. You just feel like spitting out every sand-bit with every mouth you take.
Horrible.. Really. Maybe their hot coffee drinks are good, but for me, I definitely won't be there again.
Had eaten at this place a couple of times with colleagues during lunch time. Bscially this eatery is more of a family makan place, whereby you can alway see families with young kids having their meals here. This place is a open concept with no walls other than this wooden partition in the middle, so be prepared to be within view of other shoppers. But still, the seats are comfy and shouldn't pose a problem to most people.
There is no service charge here cos it's pretty much self service. It can be liken to that of MOS Burger whereby you order and the food will be brought to you. And although the name suggests it is selling Japanese food, they do have pasta, pizzas and western food too. All of which are of a fairly decent standard. The Bentos can come with up to 3 sides and a miso soup. Personally I quite like their Teriyaki set with salmon sashimi set.
The prices are quite reasonable ranging abt $12 bucks or so for a set and if u are there before 12 pm( if I rem correct), you are entitled to like 10-15% discount on ur order!! So if you can make it before the stipulated timing, you are really gettg a very good deal for ur money!!
And the food is served quite promptly and is definitely up to the mark. So do drop by there and have a go at the bentos and perhaps a pizza. To me, this is really a place worth eating at for the quantity, quality and pricing.
The tour of trying out far flung food places continues with a visit to Villa Seafood Galleria. As with Made In China and Pier Eleven, Villa Seafood Galleria is owned and operated by the Singapore Explorer group, which has a knack for sourcing out isolated places to set up restaurants. I mean that as a compliment by the way.
Sitting pretty at the top of Labrador nature reserve overlooking the sea, Villa Seafood Galleria is a little paradise all by itself, shrouded in greenery. The private dining room was set amongst a pool and oozed pure class through its fall to ceiling windows. The air conditioned common dining room, however, didn't impress that much but was spacious and comfortable with yes, floor to ceiling windows as well.
less than interesting name, a less than interesting dish. The Crispy Almond Chicken was essentially chicken coated with almond on the skin and baked. The skin was nice and crunchy from all the almonds but the meat was a little on the dry side. Ironically, for a name like Almond Chicken, there wasn't the faintest taste of almond at all, at least not that I could detect. However, the biggest gripe about this dish was that some pieces of chicken had a slight oil residue, which is a big no no.
Fish noodles usually come in soup so this variation of Fried Noodle with Seafood came as something new to me. Not that I'm complaining though. The noodles were slimmer and more springy, with the extra bite evident. However, I did find it a little too oily though, which made it almost unpalatable when cold. On a positive note, the toppings of prawns and scallops were plentiful, making the dish all the more enjoyable.
You can't really go wrong with vegetables and the Kailan with Scallops and Crab Meat was well, simple yet tasty. Fresh and crunchy, the vegetables were topped with generous servings of crab meat and gravy.
Huge prawns which were a little crisp along the edges yet succulent and full of bite topped with a thin layer of wasabi and mayonnaise. Now who wouldn't like that? The wasabi sauce honestly didn't look like much but it got really strong after a while. The small slices of cut fruit, though nothing fantastic, were a nice complement to the prawns.
Another first for me, the pumpkin sago was smooth yet not too starchy. Coming across as sweet and refreshing with the fruits and grass jelly in it, it was a little small for the price though. It helped that the sago was served really chilled as well.
I would say that the food at Villa Seafood Galleria tends towards the finer side as compared to its sister restaurant, Made In China, but of course prices are steeper and portions are smaller as well. $113 for 2 pax does seem a little on the high side but the ambience and service more than makes up for it. If you have a big group (10-20pax), you must go for the private dining room by the poolside.
I went there for lunch the other and it was AWESOME.. Though the ambience is just so so, but i love the food they dish out.
I had seafood for one and my friend had Fish and Chips. We shared the food and i simply love the rice. Well flavoured yellow rice with bits or raisin all over. It was simply delectable and very appetizing. I love the hints of spices invading my tastebuds as i chew on the rice slowly in my mouth. The fries were great also, especially sizzled with spicy powders, it sure did ZEST things up. Prawns and fish is ok, fresh with no seafood stench and the fried calemari was FAB.... I love it with extra tar tar sauce.... whom which the waiter gladly provided us.
You must also try the passion fruit soda. I love the funcky popping taste with the glamourous passion fruit. It was indeed a fabulous lunch, perhaps too heavy for lunch but i'm sure its good for dinner.
The ambience is so so, not glam but casual. They have the alfresco sits as well, but it faces the road and fumes from the industrial park in tuas makes it not so nice.... The waiters gave us pretty good attention, though as it happens to most waiters and waitresses, We really wonder if they are overly concerned over lizards on the ceiling or zealous with their own shoes. They seemed to look up into the ceiling or look down to their shoes but never to the custiomers asking for bill, more water or to order........
Its indeed a pretty nice place to bring your family along though this outlet is not too huge, you could call first to reserve a table. Also avoid sitting near to the side railings unless you wanna pissed the shoppers using the escalators with your OH SO DELECTABLE food and throw them a prawn head or two.. heh heh!
While making payment, they gave us some candy.... and GOODNESS GRACIOUS ME... the candy was so so so so sooo........ YUMMY....... and so watching me go all ecstatic over the small white candy the waitress kindly mentioned that they do sell it if i want. AND i went home happily with ONE KG of that delectable CANDY.... AND ITS made in AFRICA....
Passed by this place one day sometime back while doing some shopping at Suntec City. As it was near meal time and seeing that there wasn't a queue, my gf and I decided to give it a try.
The restaurant itself was quite spacious and the seats were quite comfy. We were given seats near the entrance and we then proceeded to take a look at the menu.
As the name implies, their main specialities are the seafood and steak. Here, diners can enjoy the best of both worlds with their fantastic Surf & Turf Combos- featuring nine scrumptious combinations of steaks, chicken, salmon, prawns, and crayfish. We were quite impressed by the number of combinations made available to the patrons indeed.
Premium tenderloin steaks are prepared in a choice of 3 different styles – the classic New York, Fillet Mignon wrapped with bacon or Carpetbagger stuffed with oysters. All are served with grilled corn, steamed vegetables and your choice of baked potato or fries. The sirloin steaks are equally impressive, have it in “Bordeaux” red wine style or “Bourbon” marinated.
As for the seafood , there is the garlic or grilled Jumbo Prawns, which you can try. As for the soups, besides traditional Clam Chowder, another house specialty is the Oyster Chowder – a delicious, creamy broth cooked with fresh oysters. Other highly recommended starters include Prawn Quesadillas and the original Surf ‘n’ Turf Salad.
As my gf and I are not really fans of prawns or oysters, we didn't order the Jumbo prawns or oyster chowder. So we decided to order a classic New York tenderloin steak, as well as the Clam Chowder and a half seafood platter for starters.
I must say that the steak was quite succulent and very tender. The chowder soup was nice and thick and not diluted like some places, whereby they used Campbell's soup and the clams were quite chewy too. As for the seafood platter, the quanity was just nice for two ppl and the variety was quite good too (Sorry I can't rememebr thou what the exact spread was).
However, one thing that was slightly disappointing was the service there. You had to call a couple of times before the waiter would come over to check out ur requests.
As for the pricing, I guess it was reasonable enough. So do give it a try if you happen to be in Suntec and can't decide what to eat.
Was at this outlet of Soup Restaurant a couple of months back after my graduation ceremony in NTU. Reached there close to 8.30pm, with my parents, gf and one of our good gal friend.
We ordered a number of dishes including the famous Samsui Ginger Chicken where the chicken comes fully deboned, placed around a huge round platter with a bowl of the ginger dip in the middle. A stack of nicely trimmed lettuce leaves accompanies it. You simply pick, dip, wrap and eat. The taste is simply awesome I must say. You must really try this dish if you are dining at Soup Restaurant.
We also ordered the Ribs in a Beggar's Bowl, which was a bit too sweet for us, though the meat itself was juicy and nice.
On top of that we ordered a soup of the day, which was 老黄瓜炖排骨。 The soup was served piping hot and extremely delicious, makes me wonder if it had been boiled for hours ( or just MSG at work??). But in any case, the soup was definitely shiok and the quantity was more than enough to let every one have at least 3 servings, which made it quite worthwhile. Lastly, we had sambal potato leaves that went down very well with just white rice.
And the service of the staff were pretty good too, being there promptly when you needed them, thou partly it was also near to cloing time and there weren't many customers already. LOL.
All in all, I would say that the food there was nice and the prices being reasonable. For a couple, I guess if you had ordered a couple of dishes and a soup, it would likely set you back by approximately $40 bucks or so, depending on ur orders. Would definitely go back and try the other specialities like the Black Olive Rice & Braised Doufu.
Happened to be at Bugis Junction with my gf and chanced upon this Nanxiang Steamed Bun Restaurant. Actually it was the only restaurant that didn't have a queue at 730pm on a weekday evening. They are supposedly a very well known outfit in Shanghai, so expectations were rather high.
The interior was rather cramp, evidently with the restaurant trying to squeeze as many tables as possible in the relatively small room, resulting in a less than comfortable boxy looking dining area. I could easily overhear the adjourning table's conversation, not that I wanted to though. I guess that gives you an idea how close the tables were.
Have you ever tried pork rib noodles that were sweet? I for one, have not. Thats why Nanxiang's rendition came as quite a surprise (or was it shock?). The broth was sweet, not the MSG kind of sweet but literally sugar sweet. The pork ribs were sweet as well, which was rather weird, considering that I had expected the entire dish to be salty. The noodles were rather springy though and appeared to be the only thing that was "normal". Sorry but sweet broth and pork ribs just don't cut it for me.
For $8.50, I had expected better. The Yang Zhou Fried Rice was a joke and I'm not kidding. Served in a rounded symmetrical form, the rice looked like it had been pre-prepared and scooped from a container using a bowl (I'm just guessing). The de facto Char Siew was replaced by luncheon meat which is a poor substitute in my humble opinion. The rice lacked taste and came across as rather bland. Probably the only thing that I liked about this dish was the homogeneity of colours.
The Fried Prawns with Salted Egg came piping hot, with the gravy still bubbling and frothing. The relatively fresh prawns were of average size and overall tasted decent with the gravy buttery and a little coarse, probably due to the bits of egg yolk. However, this dish is best eaten hot as the gravy tends to harden as it cools and things get really gross from there.
The baked mini puffs looked like your normal curry puff, but break it open to find pork, mushroom and bamboo. Supposedly of course. Truth is, I only found pathetic bits of mushroom in it with what seemed to be scrap morsels of minced meat. It was like eating the pastry more than anything else. Not that it tasted good by the way.
Steamed Soup Bun with Crab Roe and Pork Filling - Purportedly Nanxiang's signature dish - the Xiao Long Bao (XLB). I honestly wasn't the least bit impressed. The skin was way too thick and I had to literally tear it apart before I could take a snapshot of the filling. And there is something about the QC of their XLB. Some had loads of fluids contained within, some had minimal. Talk about consistency.
I have never tried Pan Fried Pumpkin Cake before and I don't think I ever want to try it again, at least not at Nanxiang. The cake was soaking in oil but tasted decent though, a little sweet and crispy on the outside.
$59 for such mediocre quality food is plain absurd. The only redeeming factor was the reasonably good service but I don't think thats enough to make me go back.
Had tried this place a couple of times before and ytd I went there again for my dinner before going for the Kumar show at the Esplanade.
Had noticed that they had now combined the once famous roti prata seats with that of the steamboat buffet. So I guess the roti prata outlet is now defunct. Likely due to the new Food Republic opening just at the other end of the same location at the Convention Centre.
Over there, each person has their own mini steamboat instead of the conventional one big pot of soup for everyone. They have 3 soup bases, namely tom yam, spicy herbs and chicken with herbs to choose from. And normally, I go for the tom yam and chicken with herbs.
Anyway, I think that the food variety there is just so so. Nthg very fantastic, except that perhaps they offer chicken rice, rojak and some fried vegetables and deserts and ice-cream, which you may not get at those normal 重庆火锅 stalls. Other than that, everything else would be the same and also this place does not come with unlimited free drinks. They only offer plain iced water. So you have to pay for the can drinks and such, which will add on to your bill.
I had tried once their taiwanese porridge buffet and the varityof food was quite similar to that of the steamboat buffet,except that all the food were already cooked.haha..
Overall, I would say that the food is okie but the pricing is a bit high thou. The pricing for the steamboat is set at $25.80 for adults. Cant really remember the prices for kids as I nvr had brot kids there to eat.haha. You can also call up to chk out the prices.
Had a leisurely set lunch with LSD at Jaan, one of the few well known French restaurants in Singapore. Perched at the peak of Raffles City Tower on the 70th floor, it is one level above the much talked about, but totally undeserving Equinox Restaurant. Reservations were a breeze, but the person on the other line sounded rather fake with her inclination to vary her voice pitch.
Take the ear popping but rather cheaply finished lift up to the 69th floor and walk the remaining flight of steps up to the 70th floor where you are ushered into a small dining area aka Jaan. And here you are in for a big surprise. The pictures of Jaan in food magazines show grandeur and finesse. What greets you is a tiny room which seats probably about 30 pax and done up with cheap looking wavy lights that scream bad taste. Well to be fair, the lights do look a lot better at night, almost mysterious. But in the day, they are better left off. View wise, its better I leave the talking to the photos. This is definitely Jaan's trump card and words just do not do any justification.
I had gotten this starter because I was sick of eating the scallops which I usually have when I go to Jaan. I guess bad choice sums it all up. The Crabmeat and Shrimps Ceviche was pretty normal but the Bloody Mary Granite was a total disaster. When was the last time you tried a tomato which was extremely salty yet cold? I'm sorry, but I just can't accept ice which tastes like tomato and yet be so salty. I was literally grimacing in my futile attempts to finish it.
The Red Port Jus was a recommended sauce for my medium rare steak and kudos to the waitress for the great recommendation. It hinted subtly of red wine without being artificially sweet. The steak came almost medium well, but still packed in a punch with its tenderness, juiciness and sweetness. A pity about the size of it though. It can hardly feed a 12 year old kid, much less a greedy slob like me. Probably a comparison is in order between this and Buko Nero's offering. No prizes for guessing which was the better of the two.
Jivara Mille-Feuille - Poached Rhubarb In Sangria, Chestnut Ice Cream - Now with such an interesting name, one would expect an equally interesting dish to go along with it. Sadly, that wasn't the case. The Chestnut Ice Cream didn't quite taste like Chestnut. I can't really put a finger to what it actually tastes like, but it wasn't very sweet and left a pleasant aftertaste. Not bad actually. What can I say about poached rhubarb except that it tastes like soft apple? The tiered chocolate piece by the side (I don't think it appears in the name of the dish) was chocolate mousse and the only good thing about it that I can think of is its light and not too sweet. Again, portions are smaller than small. Oh and one interesting thing to note. Sangria is a Spanish recipe, so whats it doing in a French dessert?
We went to Jaan hungry and left hungry(at least for myself). And it didn't come cheap at about $82 for 2 pax. I had to resort to eating MacDonalds after that, so imagine that. The only draw of this place, to me at least, is the respectable mains and panoramic view. Service, though reasonably good, seems rather biased towards Caucasians and well dressed customers and serving time is slow. I might probably do lunch again, but only lunch. Dinner is criminally expensive and I would be better off eating elsewhere.
This is the fast food place that I will go, as it serves only the freshest sandwich around.
Below are the steps when ordering your sandwhich:
1. First you got to choose your bread. They got lots of bread to choose from! I loved Hearty Italian bread! So much so that if they ran out of the bread, I will move off tot he next branch. Of cos there are still others like Italian, Wheat, Parmesan Oregano, Honey Oat.
2. Next you got to choose, you wanna 6 inch or a foot long sandwich!
3. Choose which sub you wanna to go for. There are sandwiches which only have 6 gram of fats or the normal tuna, steak, chicken etc. Tons of choices to choose from. My fav will be Turkey Breast, Ham and Subway Melt.
4. Choose if you wanna to toast ur bread. (Toast it! Melted chesse taste nicer. Hee....)
5. Choose what veges you wanna. They are very generous with their vege. So much so that in the end, you will not see the meat but only vege in the sandwich. I like! Hee....
6. Dressing. Again a few dressing to choose from. Even they match certain dressing to certain sandwich. My fav is always Sweet onion sauce for all sandwiches.
7. Choose if you wanna to upgrade a meal, means to complete your subway sandwich with a drink and either cookies / chips. Go for the cookies. My fav will be white chocolate mac nut cookie!
8. Lastly, enjoy ur sandwich!
For service wise most of the sandwich artists (Yes they are called sandwich artist! Nice right!) are very friendly also. They are also fast with their hands as well
They also got membership card where you can get it from the website FOC! They got promotions and discounts from time to time!
1=SGD 0.0587
You see it around, you think it's good. I think it's bad. I'll see it around, but I'll never go there again.
I was in the area twice and had to find somewhere to sit for a few hours. I thought the place looked good, and so I decided I'll sit there for the few hours and get a drink too. Sounds perfect. But it sure was disappointing.
I got myself a Iced Chocolate. It was actually hot chocolate with ice. The taste was normal.. like any hot chocolate. But the drink was very powder-y. And it didn't look any professional either, when the waiter came with my drink (after quite awhile) with the foam overflowing.
I was hungry, so I looked for something to eat. I thought the Mango Danish looked nice (it looked like a sunny-side up egg actually) and it was one of the cheaper pastries there going at $2 (their sandwich is 6 bucks!). But I was utterly disappointed to know that the mango thing in the middle wasn't exactly fresh mango. Rather, it tasted like cheap mango ice cream that you get from NTUC in tubs.
I know the place was bad; I had no choice but sat there again. I decided this time I'll get something with a bit of coffee. After all they are supposed to have good coffee right. So I got a Mocha Spin (apparently it's just ice-blended mocha). I don't know about you, but I couldn't quite believe that I paid, more than a mocha ice blend at coffee bean, for a cup of ice blended mocha that had "sand" in it. What I mean by "sand" is actually the coffee beans! It's weird and I really can't believe it, but why do you blend coffee beans?! It really ruined my whole drink. You just feel like spitting out every sand-bit with every mouth you take.
Horrible.. Really. Maybe their hot coffee drinks are good, but for me, I definitely won't be there again.
Rating given:
Had eaten at this place a couple of times with colleagues during lunch time. Bscially this eatery is more of a family makan place, whereby you can alway see families with young kids having their meals here. This place is a open concept with no walls other than this wooden partition in the middle, so be prepared to be within view of other shoppers. But still, the seats are comfy and shouldn't pose a problem to most people.
There is no service charge here cos it's pretty much self service. It can be liken to that of MOS Burger whereby you order and the food will be brought to you. And although the name suggests it is selling Japanese food, they do have pasta, pizzas and western food too. All of which are of a fairly decent standard. The Bentos can come with up to 3 sides and a miso soup. Personally I quite like their Teriyaki set with salmon sashimi set.
The prices are quite reasonable ranging abt $12 bucks or so for a set and if u are there before 12 pm( if I rem correct), you are entitled to like 10-15% discount on ur order!! So if you can make it before the stipulated timing, you are really gettg a very good deal for ur money!!
And the food is served quite promptly and is definitely up to the mark. So do drop by there and have a go at the bentos and perhaps a pizza. To me, this is really a place worth eating at for the quantity, quality and pricing.
Rating given:
The tour of trying out far flung food places continues with a visit to Villa Seafood Galleria. As with Made In China and Pier Eleven, Villa Seafood Galleria is owned and operated by the Singapore Explorer group, which has a knack for sourcing out isolated places to set up restaurants. I mean that as a compliment by the way.
Sitting pretty at the top of Labrador nature reserve overlooking the sea, Villa Seafood Galleria is a little paradise all by itself, shrouded in greenery. The private dining room was set amongst a pool and oozed pure class through its fall to ceiling windows. The air conditioned common dining room, however, didn't impress that much but was spacious and comfortable with yes, floor to ceiling windows as well.
less than interesting name, a less than interesting dish. The Crispy Almond Chicken was essentially chicken coated with almond on the skin and baked. The skin was nice and crunchy from all the almonds but the meat was a little on the dry side. Ironically, for a name like Almond Chicken, there wasn't the faintest taste of almond at all, at least not that I could detect. However, the biggest gripe about this dish was that some pieces of chicken had a slight oil residue, which is a big no no.
Fish noodles usually come in soup so this variation of Fried Noodle with Seafood came as something new to me. Not that I'm complaining though. The noodles were slimmer and more springy, with the extra bite evident. However, I did find it a little too oily though, which made it almost unpalatable when cold. On a positive note, the toppings of prawns and scallops were plentiful, making the dish all the more enjoyable.
You can't really go wrong with vegetables and the Kailan with Scallops and Crab Meat was well, simple yet tasty. Fresh and crunchy, the vegetables were topped with generous servings of crab meat and gravy.
Huge prawns which were a little crisp along the edges yet succulent and full of bite topped with a thin layer of wasabi and mayonnaise. Now who wouldn't like that? The wasabi sauce honestly didn't look like much but it got really strong after a while. The small slices of cut fruit, though nothing fantastic, were a nice complement to the prawns.
Another first for me, the pumpkin sago was smooth yet not too starchy. Coming across as sweet and refreshing with the fruits and grass jelly in it, it was a little small for the price though. It helped that the sago was served really chilled as well.
I would say that the food at Villa Seafood Galleria tends towards the finer side as compared to its sister restaurant, Made In China, but of course prices are steeper and portions are smaller as well. $113 for 2 pax does seem a little on the high side but the ambience and service more than makes up for it. If you have a big group (10-20pax), you must go for the private dining room by the poolside.
See all my pictures here
Rating given:
I went there for lunch the other and it was AWESOME.. Though the ambience is just so so, but i love the food they dish out.
I had seafood for one and my friend had Fish and Chips. We shared the food and i simply love the rice. Well flavoured yellow rice with bits or raisin all over. It was simply delectable and very appetizing. I love the hints of spices invading my tastebuds as i chew on the rice slowly in my mouth. The fries were great also, especially sizzled with spicy powders, it sure did ZEST things up. Prawns and fish is ok, fresh with no seafood stench and the fried calemari was FAB.... I love it with extra tar tar sauce.... whom which the waiter gladly provided us.
You must also try the passion fruit soda. I love the funcky popping taste with the glamourous passion fruit. It was indeed a fabulous lunch, perhaps too heavy for lunch but i'm sure its good for dinner.
The ambience is so so, not glam but casual. They have the alfresco sits as well, but it faces the road and fumes from the industrial park in tuas makes it not so nice.... The waiters gave us pretty good attention, though as it happens to most waiters and waitresses, We really wonder if they are overly concerned over lizards on the ceiling or zealous with their own shoes. They seemed to look up into the ceiling or look down to their shoes but never to the custiomers asking for bill, more water or to order........
Its indeed a pretty nice place to bring your family along though this outlet is not too huge, you could call first to reserve a table. Also avoid sitting near to the side railings unless you wanna pissed the shoppers using the escalators with your OH SO DELECTABLE food and throw them a prawn head or two.. heh heh!
While making payment, they gave us some candy.... and GOODNESS GRACIOUS ME... the candy was so so so so sooo........ YUMMY....... and so watching me go all ecstatic over the small white candy the waitress kindly mentioned that they do sell it if i want. AND i went home happily with ONE KG of that delectable CANDY.... AND ITS made in AFRICA....
Why is it white candy? Hm............
Rating given:
Passed by this place one day sometime back while doing some shopping at Suntec City. As it was near meal time and seeing that there wasn't a queue, my gf and I decided to give it a try.
The restaurant itself was quite spacious and the seats were quite comfy. We were given seats near the entrance and we then proceeded to take a look at the menu.
As the name implies, their main specialities are the seafood and steak. Here, diners can enjoy the best of both worlds with their fantastic Surf & Turf Combos- featuring nine scrumptious combinations of steaks, chicken, salmon, prawns, and crayfish. We were quite impressed by the number of combinations made available to the patrons indeed.
Premium tenderloin steaks are prepared in a choice of 3 different styles – the classic New York, Fillet Mignon wrapped with bacon or Carpetbagger stuffed with oysters. All are served with grilled corn, steamed vegetables and your choice of baked potato or fries. The sirloin steaks are equally impressive, have it in “Bordeaux” red wine style or “Bourbon” marinated.
As for the seafood , there is the garlic or grilled Jumbo Prawns, which you can try. As for the soups, besides traditional Clam Chowder, another house specialty is the Oyster Chowder – a delicious, creamy broth cooked with fresh oysters. Other highly recommended starters include Prawn Quesadillas and the original Surf ‘n’ Turf Salad.
As my gf and I are not really fans of prawns or oysters, we didn't order the Jumbo prawns or oyster chowder. So we decided to order a classic New York tenderloin steak, as well as the Clam Chowder and a half seafood platter for starters.
I must say that the steak was quite succulent and very tender. The chowder soup was nice and thick and not diluted like some places, whereby they used Campbell's soup and the clams were quite chewy too. As for the seafood platter, the quanity was just nice for two ppl and the variety was quite good too (Sorry I can't rememebr thou what the exact spread was).
However, one thing that was slightly disappointing was the service there. You had to call a couple of times before the waiter would come over to check out ur requests.
As for the pricing, I guess it was reasonable enough. So do give it a try if you happen to be in Suntec and can't decide what to eat.
Rating given:
Was at this outlet of Soup Restaurant a couple of months back after my graduation ceremony in NTU. Reached there close to 8.30pm, with my parents, gf and one of our good gal friend.
We ordered a number of dishes including the famous Samsui Ginger Chicken where the chicken comes fully deboned, placed around a huge round platter with a bowl of the ginger dip in the middle. A stack of nicely trimmed lettuce leaves accompanies it. You simply pick, dip, wrap and eat. The taste is simply awesome I must say. You must really try this dish if you are dining at Soup Restaurant.
We also ordered the Ribs in a Beggar's Bowl, which was a bit too sweet for us, though the meat itself was juicy and nice.
On top of that we ordered a soup of the day, which was 老黄瓜炖排骨。 The soup was served piping hot and extremely delicious, makes me wonder if it had been boiled for hours ( or just MSG at work??). But in any case, the soup was definitely shiok and the quantity was more than enough to let every one have at least 3 servings, which made it quite worthwhile. Lastly, we had sambal potato leaves that went down very well with just white rice.
And the service of the staff were pretty good too, being there promptly when you needed them, thou partly it was also near to cloing time and there weren't many customers already. LOL.
All in all, I would say that the food there was nice and the prices being reasonable. For a couple, I guess if you had ordered a couple of dishes and a soup, it would likely set you back by approximately $40 bucks or so, depending on ur orders. Would definitely go back and try the other specialities like the Black Olive Rice & Braised Doufu.
Rating given:
Happened to be at Bugis Junction with my gf and chanced upon this Nanxiang Steamed Bun Restaurant. Actually it was the only restaurant that didn't have a queue at 730pm on a weekday evening. They are supposedly a very well known outfit in Shanghai, so expectations were rather high.
The interior was rather cramp, evidently with the restaurant trying to squeeze as many tables as possible in the relatively small room, resulting in a less than comfortable boxy looking dining area. I could easily overhear the adjourning table's conversation, not that I wanted to though. I guess that gives you an idea how close the tables were.
Have you ever tried pork rib noodles that were sweet? I for one, have not. Thats why Nanxiang's rendition came as quite a surprise (or was it shock?). The broth was sweet, not the MSG kind of sweet but literally sugar sweet. The pork ribs were sweet as well, which was rather weird, considering that I had expected the entire dish to be salty. The noodles were rather springy though and appeared to be the only thing that was "normal". Sorry but sweet broth and pork ribs just don't cut it for me.
For $8.50, I had expected better. The Yang Zhou Fried Rice was a joke and I'm not kidding. Served in a rounded symmetrical form, the rice looked like it had been pre-prepared and scooped from a container using a bowl (I'm just guessing). The de facto Char Siew was replaced by luncheon meat which is a poor substitute in my humble opinion. The rice lacked taste and came across as rather bland. Probably the only thing that I liked about this dish was the homogeneity of colours.
The Fried Prawns with Salted Egg came piping hot, with the gravy still bubbling and frothing. The relatively fresh prawns were of average size and overall tasted decent with the gravy buttery and a little coarse, probably due to the bits of egg yolk. However, this dish is best eaten hot as the gravy tends to harden as it cools and things get really gross from there.
The baked mini puffs looked like your normal curry puff, but break it open to find pork, mushroom and bamboo. Supposedly of course. Truth is, I only found pathetic bits of mushroom in it with what seemed to be scrap morsels of minced meat. It was like eating the pastry more than anything else. Not that it tasted good by the way.
Steamed Soup Bun with Crab Roe and Pork Filling - Purportedly Nanxiang's signature dish - the Xiao Long Bao (XLB). I honestly wasn't the least bit impressed. The skin was way too thick and I had to literally tear it apart before I could take a snapshot of the filling. And there is something about the QC of their XLB. Some had loads of fluids contained within, some had minimal. Talk about consistency.
I have never tried Pan Fried Pumpkin Cake before and I don't think I ever want to try it again, at least not at Nanxiang. The cake was soaking in oil but tasted decent though, a little sweet and crispy on the outside.
$59 for such mediocre quality food is plain absurd. The only redeeming factor was the reasonably good service but I don't think thats enough to make me go back.
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Had tried this place a couple of times before and ytd I went there again for my dinner before going for the Kumar show at the Esplanade.
Had noticed that they had now combined the once famous roti prata seats with that of the steamboat buffet. So I guess the roti prata outlet is now defunct. Likely due to the new Food Republic opening just at the other end of the same location at the Convention Centre.
Over there, each person has their own mini steamboat instead of the conventional one big pot of soup for everyone. They have 3 soup bases, namely tom yam, spicy herbs and chicken with herbs to choose from. And normally, I go for the tom yam and chicken with herbs.
Anyway, I think that the food variety there is just so so. Nthg very fantastic, except that perhaps they offer chicken rice, rojak and some fried vegetables and deserts and ice-cream, which you may not get at those normal 重庆火锅 stalls. Other than that, everything else would be the same and also this place does not come with unlimited free drinks. They only offer plain iced water. So you have to pay for the can drinks and such, which will add on to your bill.
I had tried once their taiwanese porridge buffet and the varityof food was quite similar to that of the steamboat buffet,except that all the food were already cooked.haha..
Overall, I would say that the food is okie but the pricing is a bit high thou. The pricing for the steamboat is set at $25.80 for adults. Cant really remember the prices for kids as I nvr had brot kids there to eat.haha. You can also call up to chk out the prices.
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Had a leisurely set lunch with LSD at Jaan, one of the few well known French restaurants in Singapore. Perched at the peak of Raffles City Tower on the 70th floor, it is one level above the much talked about, but totally undeserving Equinox Restaurant. Reservations were a breeze, but the person on the other line sounded rather fake with her inclination to vary her voice pitch.
Take the ear popping but rather cheaply finished lift up to the 69th floor and walk the remaining flight of steps up to the 70th floor where you are ushered into a small dining area aka Jaan. And here you are in for a big surprise. The pictures of Jaan in food magazines show grandeur and finesse. What greets you is a tiny room which seats probably about 30 pax and done up with cheap looking wavy lights that scream bad taste. Well to be fair, the lights do look a lot better at night, almost mysterious. But in the day, they are better left off. View wise, its better I leave the talking to the photos. This is definitely Jaan's trump card and words just do not do any justification.
I had gotten this starter because I was sick of eating the scallops which I usually have when I go to Jaan. I guess bad choice sums it all up. The Crabmeat and Shrimps Ceviche was pretty normal but the Bloody Mary Granite was a total disaster. When was the last time you tried a tomato which was extremely salty yet cold? I'm sorry, but I just can't accept ice which tastes like tomato and yet be so salty. I was literally grimacing in my futile attempts to finish it.
The Red Port Jus was a recommended sauce for my medium rare steak and kudos to the waitress for the great recommendation. It hinted subtly of red wine without being artificially sweet. The steak came almost medium well, but still packed in a punch with its tenderness, juiciness and sweetness. A pity about the size of it though. It can hardly feed a 12 year old kid, much less a greedy slob like me. Probably a comparison is in order between this and Buko Nero's offering. No prizes for guessing which was the better of the two.
Jivara Mille-Feuille - Poached Rhubarb In Sangria, Chestnut Ice Cream - Now with such an interesting name, one would expect an equally interesting dish to go along with it. Sadly, that wasn't the case. The Chestnut Ice Cream didn't quite taste like Chestnut. I can't really put a finger to what it actually tastes like, but it wasn't very sweet and left a pleasant aftertaste. Not bad actually. What can I say about poached rhubarb except that it tastes like soft apple? The tiered chocolate piece by the side (I don't think it appears in the name of the dish) was chocolate mousse and the only good thing about it that I can think of is its light and not too sweet. Again, portions are smaller than small. Oh and one interesting thing to note. Sangria is a Spanish recipe, so whats it doing in a French dessert?
We went to Jaan hungry and left hungry(at least for myself). And it didn't come cheap at about $82 for 2 pax. I had to resort to eating MacDonalds after that, so imagine that. The only draw of this place, to me at least, is the respectable mains and panoramic view. Service, though reasonably good, seems rather biased towards Caucasians and well dressed customers and serving time is slow. I might probably do lunch again, but only lunch. Dinner is criminally expensive and I would be better off eating elsewhere.
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This is the fast food place that I will go, as it serves only the freshest sandwich around.
Below are the steps when ordering your sandwhich:
1. First you got to choose your bread. They got lots of bread to choose from! I loved Hearty Italian bread! So much so that if they ran out of the bread, I will move off tot he next branch. Of cos there are still others like Italian, Wheat, Parmesan Oregano, Honey Oat.
2. Next you got to choose, you wanna 6 inch or a foot long sandwich!
3. Choose which sub you wanna to go for. There are sandwiches which only have 6 gram of fats or the normal tuna, steak, chicken etc. Tons of choices to choose from. My fav will be Turkey Breast, Ham and Subway Melt.
4. Choose if you wanna to toast ur bread. (Toast it! Melted chesse taste nicer. Hee....)
5. Choose what veges you wanna. They are very generous with their vege. So much so that in the end, you will not see the meat but only vege in the sandwich. I like! Hee....
6. Dressing. Again a few dressing to choose from. Even they match certain dressing to certain sandwich. My fav is always Sweet onion sauce for all sandwiches.
7. Choose if you wanna to upgrade a meal, means to complete your subway sandwich with a drink and either cookies / chips. Go for the cookies. My fav will be white chocolate mac nut cookie!
8. Lastly, enjoy ur sandwich!
For service wise most of the sandwich artists (Yes they are called sandwich artist! Nice right!) are very friendly also. They are also fast with their hands as well
They also got membership card where you can get it from the website FOC! They got promotions and discounts from time to time!
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