Formerly a really old SHAW Theatre... The Shine Auditorium is refurbished with new plush seats, LED lighting, cameras, fantastic sound system and a good stage with all that is needed for drama & dance, a play, music events or even movie screenings. Being previously one of Singapore's best movie theatres has its perks. The layout and the interior architecture is created for the good sound portraying and sound proofing with plenty of space for people to move around.
I love this old theatre... though refurbished with better fixtures and more eco-friendly equipments, this place still bears the good old memories of my younger days. The entry to this theatre is mainly through the 2 service lifts whom bears a courteous sign " to patiently wait and hold the door for incoming passengers" which is one that I have not seen for a long time. Another entry or escape is by the carpark which i find a little dangerous as its round a bend and slope.
There is a toilet in the theatre itself and I find it nice, clean and there is around 10 cubicles to avoid queues. There is also speakers in the restroom in the theatre that allows you to know whats going on outside even when you are pampering yourself in the loo.
The ambiance and air-conditioning of the place is great, i find insufficient leg room for the seats however I love the railings along the seats that is both safe and helpful as a additional support. The location is pretty good... situated near to suntec city and the other end of Liang Seah street, food is easy to find, though you can always patronise the outlets at level 1, they have cafes, restaurants and even starbucks. Though the toilets at the other parts of the Shaw Building is old, they are clean and pretty well maintained, most importantly they have toilet paper in almost every cubicle though i'm shocked to find that only about 10-25% of the cubicles are seating ones.. the rest.. you have to squat...
Plenty of good food around the SHAW Centre.. My personal favourite for lunch will be the Roast Duck rice opposite the other side of the road near to Liang Seah Street... Its succulent yummy and juicy with a crispy skin.. Mmmmmm
The Star Theatre @ the Star PAC is a sophisticated theater unique in architecture and extremely environmentally friendly. With its 5000 sitting capacity and extensive high tech equipment in audio, video and production lighting systems, it is a performance venue that is both luxurious and extremely functional in bringing the best sound, audio and overall experience for any performance.
I was there on a few occasions and even for Adam Lambert's concert here in march 2013 and I love the long escalators with its patent handrails. The overall experience in entering the theater is a pleasant one. I was spoilt for choices as there are various restaurants available for dinner in this non-air-conditioned mall however upon entering the restaurant of my choice, it was well cooled with ai-con... Very green and energy saving for not cooling the corridors. After dinner we took the escalator up to the ticket sales office and up to the entrance to the theater.. i love the frosted white gates that looked so mechanical and futuristic. The carpets are new and fluffy and toilets with so many cubicles to choose from is clean and spacious. They even have some small booths that sells quick bites and drinks along the way. Spotting our seat is easy and the theater is magnificently big with airy. Seats are springy and comfortable with leg space ample. I realized that there are some round tubular things under the seats.. with close inspection, i found out that there is where the aircon comes from.. right under that seat... COOL....
The concert started without much delay and the lightings were spectacular not to mention the sound. There are lasers everywhere illuminating the whole area. Love the huge screens at the back as the projection did help me in seeing my artist perform. The sound is fantastic with clarity from the band and the concert was earth moving. The stage is huge with plenty of space for the dancers and stage deco.
While the concert ends, there are plenty of exits to avoid human jam. Leaving the hall is easy and fast and you could still get a late night snack at the F&B outlets below. Overall, its a great experience and I would love to visit this place for other shows. Great location and extremely convenient with the Buona Vista MRT East/West and Circle line just 5 minutes away.
This is where i spend all my boring evenings munching pop-corns, getting high on Diet-Coke and trashing my ears with overly loud sound effects. This theater is by the way one of the not so good GV theaters...
The seats though plushy are somewhat not very clean and i can always find pop-corns leftovers on my seat...The cup holder is almost always sticky and the floor sometimes damp. The air temperature is always colder.. well i pretty enjoy that frankly so that i can bring out my WINTER WEAR... However while i watched one movie in the afternoon, i think its the first movie screening of the day, they actually forgotten to turn on the air-conditioning... and I entered pretty late into a half filled WARM theater with sweaty patrons... after perhaps 5 mins then i can hear the humming of the air vents.
Well.. the theater is fitted with a pretty good screen though some of the movies i watch are not digital so you do still have a projector. I once watched a movie and the screen was blurred throughout the advertisements and i can actually see the shadow of the operator cleaning the lens.
I love the toilet though.. spacious and near the cinema with ample cubicles however squeaky doors which may be scary when you are watching a scary movie.
There is not much service to even talk about.. Buying tickets are quick and beverages are pretty standard stuffs... There are mostly smaller theaters and perhaps 2 larger ones and thats about it... cleanliness got to improve and patron comfort have got to be better..
i enjoyed shopping at SASA... they do carry almost everything you need on skincare, fragrances, beauty tools and accessories of many brands. Do expect the prices to be pretty similar to what you will find in the departmental stores however, they do carry some brands exclusively available to them only.
Love the neatly arranged merchandises though i think there should be more space in between racks for easy browsing however, I could always find what i wanted. There are signs and brand names stated clearly on back illuminated boards that is obvious and visually appealing. My favorite item to buy here will be the fragrances. I've got quite a few good deals here when they had some promotions, the fragrances are usually at approximately 20-30% cheaper then elsewhere. You are also allowed to taste the fragrance of your choice on tester papers.. Personally i prefer to be tested on my wrist as its a better gauge of the smell on me mixed with the fragrance of my choice. The staffs are always helpful and cheery. Generous with their skincare and fragrance testers, you could trial on anything you wish...
You can also find a good range of colours for nail polishes as well as make-up accessories and palettes which is hardly available in the malls. Great place to shop, Helpful staff though I like to be left alone to browse.. There are just so many of them and extreme helpfulness can be quite a pain sometimes...
Overall its a good retail shop that provides good service and quality range of products.
I think its a great idea to have a library that houses most of the library resources on ARTs & Music. The location is also extremely convenient with more than 10 buses available and a train station the is named the ESPLANADE as well as underground shopping tunnel malls that could lead to Marina Square, Suntec City and Raffles Place.
Located at level 3 with ceiling to floor glass facade which allowed natural sunlight and a fabulous view with a good airconditioning system to cool the hot summer afternoons, this is a great place to lounge around in search of your favourite artist or jazz singer. I love these little booths i call them which contain a player and headphones where you could listen to some of the selected titles which are featured or you could check one out at the counter. There is also screening booths for you to watch your selected articles. I was pretty surprised at the range of collection of the arts resources our National Library Group has and indeed they are all snapshots of our culture. Though we are a young country, but the multicultural art scene sure does bring colours to our artistic heritage.
I find that the librarians are also artistically inclined, as such non arty etiquette is very much abhorred. Do not be surprised if you are asked to exit the library if your mobile phone ringed or you are talking on your mobile phones. No chatting loudly and seating on the floors. Walk and quiet gestures are very much appreciated with the comfort of other library users. I like it this way... It makes my browsing experience very nice.
So if you have not been to this outlet of the National Library, its a must to visit. Just put on your artistic hat and go for a walk... Remember to silent your mobile phones and enjoy pretending to be Mozart...
Love the location of this place. The esplanade concert halls is situated iconic-ally in the esplanade building which is the heart of the ART SCENE in Singapore. Love the extravaganza feel of the place, laced with medium height red carpet and simple state of the art acoustically perfectly designed walls. The natural acoustics of the concert hall is designed to amplify the appropriate tones to allow almost perfect acoustics at every performance, while you will not get any sharp echos or feedbacks. With its start of the art sound and video equipment, we could expect fantastic visual and sound at every performance and optimum sound at almost every location of this 1000 seater with 2 levels of circle seats.
Love the spacious stage and the well designed seats that is both comfortable and has ample leg room. Air-conditioning quiet and the noise at the Foyer is well insulated.... Its indeed a very grand place and the Orchestral concert I went to is a superb test of the acoutics of the place. I could hear almost every instrument performed with the very low bass to the extremely high ting-ing of the triangle.
The foyer is also pretty grandly decorated and for a performance here, everybody is beautifully dressed in their gowns and glam wear... One of the reasons I love to come to this place for a performance or concert is to be able to spend a glam night and to scratch that arty-farty spot of mine :)
Everyone should go to a performance at the esplanade concert hall at least once and enjoy the CROWN JEWEL Seats and feel arty-farty-ly glam... Its for good fun and memorable experience. Get a few friends and dress up old english, just don't snore so loudly... it would be fine :)
Sorry no pictures allowed and watch the bag check, no cameras and even mobile phones looking cameras.... I am saddened by this.... :)
Concert Etiquette Applicable, so behave yourself :)
I had tried Hot Tomato at NEX before and I didnt remember it being better But sadly my visit on 31 March turned out to worse than what my memory serves.
I mean I know it is really supposed to be casual western fare and I dont expect it to light a lighbulb on my palette but I didnt think it was unreasonable for me to ask that the food was averge. A below average meal costing us $140 for 7pax is not acceptable to me.
I wont review in details but generally we ordered their pasta, grilled chicken, mixed grill, grilled salmon, and an extremely sad looking fried platter which consists of fries, sausages, calamari, and chicken wings.
While they were not revolting they were not nice either. What a bad choice I made. SIGH.
I discovered this spot because of the UOB promotion where you pay for only 2 when dining for 3 - their weekend high tea at $38 per pax.
For a buffet high tea, one cant expect the variety to be big but it has to be appetiziing enough at the same time especially for hotel standards. And it has to be a place cosy enough for people to feel that they are happy chilling their time away there and not being hungry at the same time.
Lobby Lounge at Pan Pac Orchard meets the mark for me. It is in Orchard but you get to avoid the mad crowds on weekends. And there's a decent spread of bites to boot (but do note they are average and not wow) - plus the unlimited ala carte orders of char kway teow, prawn noodles, and assamn laksa makes this deal abut more substaintial. You get the unlimited ala carte thingy at their buffet at 10 at Claymore too (Ive just written a review about it).
The spread - assorted pastries (cold though), breadsticks, cheesese, assorted mini desserts, snowcrab bruschetta, buckwheat soba with tako, marinated octopus, hummus bread, scones, asparagus beef.
Specials only for weekends - two live stations featuring Swiss Cottage Melting Raclette and Spanish-Bred Iberian-Cured Ham. But the chef frequently goes missing at the station.
The service was almost non-existent though - it was painful trying to get their attention when we were only the 3rd table occupied.
I probably wont return without any promotions though. At $38 there's alot more places you can go to, but at $25 with the deal, this is a nice option.
Located at Pan Pacific Orchard, this new find of mine suffers from its location although it is still in Orchard Road. Still not many people know of and even if they do, see this as a potential dining destination - such a pity as their buffet lunch is actually quite good!
I went for a weekday buffet lunch promotion which allows 3pax to dine for the price of 2pax using UOB cards and we were plesantly surprised by the value of the meal, both variety and quality.
Cold dishes - DIY salad station, appetizers like spicy pasta salad (nice) and achar (good), cold soba noodles, cold cuts, and smoked salmon. I missed fresh salmon sashimi though.
Soups - there were 2 selections that day - Tomato and Tom Yam. We all did try the tomato but the tom yam was the best I have ever tasted, seriously. It was chockful of flavour but not too spicy - a wonderful pipping hot concoction of lemongrass, tomotoes, and thai spices. And this coming from a non-tom yam lover.
Bread - the selection looked great but honestly, I try to stay away from bread at buffets in general.
Cheeses - I was overwhelmed by the cheese selection and they were all very nice! Wensleydale cranberry, Port wine cheddar, Pakari smoked cheddar, Long Clawson chilli & lime and black pepper. All super good and goes extremely well with the condiments and crackers provided.
Hot dishes - am reviewing this based on my limited meat intake here. There were thai olive rice (nice but oddly cold sitting on top of a steamer), chilli steam sea bass (delicious), roasted veg (my favourite), mussels in soya sauce (good), teriyaki chicken (very good). The things I didnt eat was lamb shank, braised beef, braised ginger chicken, stir fried kailan which looked competently attractive.
Live station - Not really 'live' live but there was a chef slicing bbq ribs and grilled pineapple for you if you like.
Ala carte food - The highlight was no doubt the unlimited ala carte order of 3 local fav - char kway teow (good), spicy prawn noodle broth (good), and assam laksa (average). I liked that they really kept it to smallish portions but even so, most people wont be able to get through to seconds as they are so carb heavy.
Desserts - A big assortment but me being me, I only tried a few - the chocolate truffle (like rocher in cake form), mango pudding (good) and swiss roll (nah). The same chef slicing the ribs at the station is also in charge of making crepes with your choice of fillings, including durian which seems to make my table very happy indeed. There's also cookies and ice creams available which I didnt have the space for.
Drinks / juices - there are 4 prepared juices - pineapple, grapefruit, guava, orange which were not too bad. The buffet also comes with coffee / tea which came with hot milk - nice.
Service was mostly good save for a young girl who was almost too enthusiatic about clearing our plates - she would swoop down on us when we were at our last month but still holding on to the spoon / fork.
I'm always walking pass "Boston Seafood Shack" and telling myself that I must visit it someday... And today is the day...
With my 38 girlfriend firmly hooked arm to arm, we stepped into this interestingly furnished restaurant for some underwater delicacies. The furnishing is interesting.. really look like a shack on the beach... Wooden benches, rope boundaries marking the perimeter and interesting underwater ornaments on the wall and matching menu that looked resembles wooden sign boards cut out of pieces of drift wooden planks.
As we are being showed in by the friendly staff, we are given a pretty spacious seat for 4 though the restaurant is not exactly crowded, I'm glad they didn't stow us at some crappy corner for a seat for 2. The menu did not offer much dishes however a few interesting stuffs did catch my eye... They do offer the regular seafood based soup like clam chowder (which looked really yummy), pasta, seafood sandwich (i find interesting) and fingerfood such as deep fried calamari and fish & chips.
We ordered a Cheesy Crab Nachos.... which is heavenly... Picture this... nacho cheese generously drizzled on a bed of crispy nachos, topped with luxuriously littered salsa and a huge dollop of sour cream sprinkled with delicious crab meat... its really good... and the best i've ever had... The taste is extremely balanced with the crispiness of the nachos and savoury cheese topped with refreshing salsa balanced by a hint of the sea (crabby)... Every mouthful is a delight and i'm definitely going back for this again.
The serving size is great for sharing though its a pretty casual dining place whereby you will be paged to collect your food when its done and cutlery as well as other sauces are made available to be collected via self service. I kinda like this arrangement as I could get whatever i want by myself and I always love more serviettes as well as some dark balsamic vinegar to tingle the tongue...
Its a refreshing place with wonderful food at a really affordable price, I will definitely come again and the next time bring more friends so that I can try the other dishes.
1=SGD 0.0587
Formerly a really old SHAW Theatre... The Shine Auditorium is refurbished with new plush seats, LED lighting, cameras, fantastic sound system and a good stage with all that is needed for drama & dance, a play, music events or even movie screenings. Being previously one of Singapore's best movie theatres has its perks. The layout and the interior architecture is created for the good sound portraying and sound proofing with plenty of space for people to move around.
I love this old theatre... though refurbished with better fixtures and more eco-friendly equipments, this place still bears the good old memories of my younger days. The entry to this theatre is mainly through the 2 service lifts whom bears a courteous sign " to patiently wait and hold the door for incoming passengers" which is one that I have not seen for a long time. Another entry or escape is by the carpark which i find a little dangerous as its round a bend and slope.
There is a toilet in the theatre itself and I find it nice, clean and there is around 10 cubicles to avoid queues. There is also speakers in the restroom in the theatre that allows you to know whats going on outside even when you are pampering yourself in the loo.
The ambiance and air-conditioning of the place is great, i find insufficient leg room for the seats however I love the railings along the seats that is both safe and helpful as a additional support. The location is pretty good... situated near to suntec city and the other end of Liang Seah street, food is easy to find, though you can always patronise the outlets at level 1, they have cafes, restaurants and even starbucks. Though the toilets at the other parts of the Shaw Building is old, they are clean and pretty well maintained, most importantly they have toilet paper in almost every cubicle though i'm shocked to find that only about 10-25% of the cubicles are seating ones.. the rest.. you have to squat...
Plenty of good food around the SHAW Centre.. My personal favourite for lunch will be the Roast Duck rice opposite the other side of the road near to Liang Seah Street... Its succulent yummy and juicy with a crispy skin.. Mmmmmm
Rating given:
The Star Theatre @ the Star PAC is a sophisticated theater unique in architecture and extremely environmentally friendly. With its 5000 sitting capacity and extensive high tech equipment in audio, video and production lighting systems, it is a performance venue that is both luxurious and extremely functional in bringing the best sound, audio and overall experience for any performance.
I was there on a few occasions and even for Adam Lambert's concert here in march 2013 and I love the long escalators with its patent handrails. The overall experience in entering the theater is a pleasant one. I was spoilt for choices as there are various restaurants available for dinner in this non-air-conditioned mall however upon entering the restaurant of my choice, it was well cooled with ai-con... Very green and energy saving for not cooling the corridors. After dinner we took the escalator up to the ticket sales office and up to the entrance to the theater.. i love the frosted white gates that looked so mechanical and futuristic. The carpets are new and fluffy and toilets with so many cubicles to choose from is clean and spacious. They even have some small booths that sells quick bites and drinks along the way. Spotting our seat is easy and the theater is magnificently big with airy. Seats are springy and comfortable with leg space ample. I realized that there are some round tubular things under the seats.. with close inspection, i found out that there is where the aircon comes from.. right under that seat... COOL....
The concert started without much delay and the lightings were spectacular not to mention the sound. There are lasers everywhere illuminating the whole area. Love the huge screens at the back as the projection did help me in seeing my artist perform. The sound is fantastic with clarity from the band and the concert was earth moving. The stage is huge with plenty of space for the dancers and stage deco.
While the concert ends, there are plenty of exits to avoid human jam. Leaving the hall is easy and fast and you could still get a late night snack at the F&B outlets below. Overall, its a great experience and I would love to visit this place for other shows. Great location and extremely convenient with the Buona Vista MRT East/West and Circle line just 5 minutes away.
Rating given:
This is where i spend all my boring evenings munching pop-corns, getting high on Diet-Coke and trashing my ears with overly loud sound effects. This theater is by the way one of the not so good GV theaters...
The seats though plushy are somewhat not very clean and i can always find pop-corns leftovers on my seat...The cup holder is almost always sticky and the floor sometimes damp. The air temperature is always colder.. well i pretty enjoy that frankly so that i can bring out my WINTER WEAR... However while i watched one movie in the afternoon, i think its the first movie screening of the day, they actually forgotten to turn on the air-conditioning... and I entered pretty late into a half filled WARM theater with sweaty patrons... after perhaps 5 mins then i can hear the humming of the air vents.
Well.. the theater is fitted with a pretty good screen though some of the movies i watch are not digital so you do still have a projector. I once watched a movie and the screen was blurred throughout the advertisements and i can actually see the shadow of the operator cleaning the lens.
I love the toilet though.. spacious and near the cinema with ample cubicles however squeaky doors which may be scary when you are watching a scary movie.
There is not much service to even talk about.. Buying tickets are quick and beverages are pretty standard stuffs... There are mostly smaller theaters and perhaps 2 larger ones and thats about it... cleanliness got to improve and patron comfort have got to be better..
Rating given:
i enjoyed shopping at SASA... they do carry almost everything you need on skincare, fragrances, beauty tools and accessories of many brands. Do expect the prices to be pretty similar to what you will find in the departmental stores however, they do carry some brands exclusively available to them only.
Love the neatly arranged merchandises though i think there should be more space in between racks for easy browsing however, I could always find what i wanted. There are signs and brand names stated clearly on back illuminated boards that is obvious and visually appealing. My favorite item to buy here will be the fragrances. I've got quite a few good deals here when they had some promotions, the fragrances are usually at approximately 20-30% cheaper then elsewhere. You are also allowed to taste the fragrance of your choice on tester papers.. Personally i prefer to be tested on my wrist as its a better gauge of the smell on me mixed with the fragrance of my choice. The staffs are always helpful and cheery. Generous with their skincare and fragrance testers, you could trial on anything you wish...
You can also find a good range of colours for nail polishes as well as make-up accessories and palettes which is hardly available in the malls. Great place to shop, Helpful staff though I like to be left alone to browse.. There are just so many of them and extreme helpfulness can be quite a pain sometimes...
Overall its a good retail shop that provides good service and quality range of products.
Rating given:
I think its a great idea to have a library that houses most of the library resources on ARTs & Music. The location is also extremely convenient with more than 10 buses available and a train station the is named the ESPLANADE as well as underground shopping tunnel malls that could lead to Marina Square, Suntec City and Raffles Place.
Located at level 3 with ceiling to floor glass facade which allowed natural sunlight and a fabulous view with a good airconditioning system to cool the hot summer afternoons, this is a great place to lounge around in search of your favourite artist or jazz singer. I love these little booths i call them which contain a player and headphones where you could listen to some of the selected titles which are featured or you could check one out at the counter. There is also screening booths for you to watch your selected articles. I was pretty surprised at the range of collection of the arts resources our National Library Group has and indeed they are all snapshots of our culture. Though we are a young country, but the multicultural art scene sure does bring colours to our artistic heritage.
I find that the librarians are also artistically inclined, as such non arty etiquette is very much abhorred. Do not be surprised if you are asked to exit the library if your mobile phone ringed or you are talking on your mobile phones. No chatting loudly and seating on the floors. Walk and quiet gestures are very much appreciated with the comfort of other library users. I like it this way... It makes my browsing experience very nice.
So if you have not been to this outlet of the National Library, its a must to visit. Just put on your artistic hat and go for a walk... Remember to silent your mobile phones and enjoy pretending to be Mozart...
BTW... Its free :)
Rating given:
Love the location of this place. The esplanade concert halls is situated iconic-ally in the esplanade building which is the heart of the ART SCENE in Singapore. Love the extravaganza feel of the place, laced with medium height red carpet and simple state of the art acoustically perfectly designed walls. The natural acoustics of the concert hall is designed to amplify the appropriate tones to allow almost perfect acoustics at every performance, while you will not get any sharp echos or feedbacks. With its start of the art sound and video equipment, we could expect fantastic visual and sound at every performance and optimum sound at almost every location of this 1000 seater with 2 levels of circle seats.
Love the spacious stage and the well designed seats that is both comfortable and has ample leg room. Air-conditioning quiet and the noise at the Foyer is well insulated.... Its indeed a very grand place and the Orchestral concert I went to is a superb test of the acoutics of the place. I could hear almost every instrument performed with the very low bass to the extremely high ting-ing of the triangle.
The foyer is also pretty grandly decorated and for a performance here, everybody is beautifully dressed in their gowns and glam wear... One of the reasons I love to come to this place for a performance or concert is to be able to spend a glam night and to scratch that arty-farty spot of mine :)
Everyone should go to a performance at the esplanade concert hall at least once and enjoy the CROWN JEWEL Seats and feel arty-farty-ly glam... Its for good fun and memorable experience. Get a few friends and dress up old english, just don't snore so loudly... it would be fine :)
Sorry no pictures allowed and watch the bag check, no cameras and even mobile phones looking cameras.... I am saddened by this.... :)
Concert Etiquette Applicable, so behave yourself :)
Rating given:
I had tried Hot Tomato at NEX before and I didnt remember it being better But sadly my visit on 31 March turned out to worse than what my memory serves.
I mean I know it is really supposed to be casual western fare and I dont expect it to light a lighbulb on my palette but I didnt think it was unreasonable for me to ask that the food was averge. A below average meal costing us $140 for 7pax is not acceptable to me.
I wont review in details but generally we ordered their pasta, grilled chicken, mixed grill, grilled salmon, and an extremely sad looking fried platter which consists of fries, sausages, calamari, and chicken wings.
While they were not revolting they were not nice either. What a bad choice I made. SIGH.
Rating given:
I discovered this spot because of the UOB promotion where you pay for only 2 when dining for 3 - their weekend high tea at $38 per pax.
For a buffet high tea, one cant expect the variety to be big but it has to be appetiziing enough at the same time especially for hotel standards. And it has to be a place cosy enough for people to feel that they are happy chilling their time away there and not being hungry at the same time.
Lobby Lounge at Pan Pac Orchard meets the mark for me. It is in Orchard but you get to avoid the mad crowds on weekends. And there's a decent spread of bites to boot (but do note they are average and not wow) - plus the unlimited ala carte orders of char kway teow, prawn noodles, and assamn laksa makes this deal abut more substaintial. You get the unlimited ala carte thingy at their buffet at 10 at Claymore too (Ive just written a review about it).
The spread - assorted pastries (cold though), breadsticks, cheesese, assorted mini desserts, snowcrab bruschetta, buckwheat soba with tako, marinated octopus, hummus bread, scones, asparagus beef.
Specials only for weekends - two live stations featuring Swiss Cottage Melting Raclette and Spanish-Bred Iberian-Cured Ham. But the chef frequently goes missing at the station.
The service was almost non-existent though - it was painful trying to get their attention when we were only the 3rd table occupied.
I probably wont return without any promotions though. At $38 there's alot more places you can go to, but at $25 with the deal, this is a nice option.
Rating given:
Located at Pan Pacific Orchard, this new find of mine suffers from its location although it is still in Orchard Road. Still not many people know of and even if they do, see this as a potential dining destination - such a pity as their buffet lunch is actually quite good!
I went for a weekday buffet lunch promotion which allows 3pax to dine for the price of 2pax using UOB cards and we were plesantly surprised by the value of the meal, both variety and quality.
Cold dishes - DIY salad station, appetizers like spicy pasta salad (nice) and achar (good), cold soba noodles, cold cuts, and smoked salmon. I missed fresh salmon sashimi though.
Soups - there were 2 selections that day - Tomato and Tom Yam. We all did try the tomato but the tom yam was the best I have ever tasted, seriously. It was chockful of flavour but not too spicy - a wonderful pipping hot concoction of lemongrass, tomotoes, and thai spices. And this coming from a non-tom yam lover.
Bread - the selection looked great but honestly, I try to stay away from bread at buffets in general.
Cheeses - I was overwhelmed by the cheese selection and they were all very nice! Wensleydale cranberry, Port wine cheddar, Pakari smoked cheddar, Long Clawson chilli & lime and black pepper. All super good and goes extremely well with the condiments and crackers provided.
Hot dishes - am reviewing this based on my limited meat intake here. There were thai olive rice (nice but oddly cold sitting on top of a steamer), chilli steam sea bass (delicious), roasted veg (my favourite), mussels in soya sauce (good), teriyaki chicken (very good). The things I didnt eat was lamb shank, braised beef, braised ginger chicken, stir fried kailan which looked competently attractive.
Live station - Not really 'live' live but there was a chef slicing bbq ribs and grilled pineapple for you if you like.
Ala carte food - The highlight was no doubt the unlimited ala carte order of 3 local fav - char kway teow (good), spicy prawn noodle broth (good), and assam laksa (average). I liked that they really kept it to smallish portions but even so, most people wont be able to get through to seconds as they are so carb heavy.
Desserts - A big assortment but me being me, I only tried a few - the chocolate truffle (like rocher in cake form), mango pudding (good) and swiss roll (nah). The same chef slicing the ribs at the station is also in charge of making crepes with your choice of fillings, including durian which seems to make my table very happy indeed. There's also cookies and ice creams available which I didnt have the space for.
Drinks / juices - there are 4 prepared juices - pineapple, grapefruit, guava, orange which were not too bad. The buffet also comes with coffee / tea which came with hot milk - nice.
Service was mostly good save for a young girl who was almost too enthusiatic about clearing our plates - she would swoop down on us when we were at our last month but still holding on to the spoon / fork.
Will do a return visit!
Rating given:
I'm always walking pass "Boston Seafood Shack" and telling myself that I must visit it someday... And today is the day...
With my 38 girlfriend firmly hooked arm to arm, we stepped into this interestingly furnished restaurant for some underwater delicacies. The furnishing is interesting.. really look like a shack on the beach... Wooden benches, rope boundaries marking the perimeter and interesting underwater ornaments on the wall and matching menu that looked resembles wooden sign boards cut out of pieces of drift wooden planks.
As we are being showed in by the friendly staff, we are given a pretty spacious seat for 4 though the restaurant is not exactly crowded, I'm glad they didn't stow us at some crappy corner for a seat for 2. The menu did not offer much dishes however a few interesting stuffs did catch my eye... They do offer the regular seafood based soup like clam chowder (which looked really yummy), pasta, seafood sandwich (i find interesting) and fingerfood such as deep fried calamari and fish & chips.
We ordered a Cheesy Crab Nachos.... which is heavenly... Picture this... nacho cheese generously drizzled on a bed of crispy nachos, topped with luxuriously littered salsa and a huge dollop of sour cream sprinkled with delicious crab meat... its really good... and the best i've ever had... The taste is extremely balanced with the crispiness of the nachos and savoury cheese topped with refreshing salsa balanced by a hint of the sea (crabby)... Every mouthful is a delight and i'm definitely going back for this again.
The serving size is great for sharing though its a pretty casual dining place whereby you will be paged to collect your food when its done and cutlery as well as other sauces are made available to be collected via self service. I kinda like this arrangement as I could get whatever i want by myself and I always love more serviettes as well as some dark balsamic vinegar to tingle the tongue...
Its a refreshing place with wonderful food at a really affordable price, I will definitely come again and the next time bring more friends so that I can try the other dishes.
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