This is a place where we certainly won't visit again. We decided to enter this restaurant as we have never tried it before and all the other restaurants had long queue at the door. Food focusing on fig & olives is of course not common.
We ordered Crisscut fries, Grilled Dory with Mushroom sauce, Figo Grilled Seafood (or seafood platter for 1). the mushroom sauce (note: the sauce only) and the crisscut fries were at least decent to taste though we have some reservations on the taste of the rice. Even though this place was called fig&olives, the olive rice was nothing much but spiced/buttered rice with a few pickled olives on top with not much of a taste too. The fish were cooked too oily though the texture was tender and well done.
The seafood platter for 1 cost a whopping $21.30 and contained only 4 prawns and 3 mussels with a whole heap of rice. Certainly not worth the price. Not to mention that the waiters there took the wrong order, failed to respond to our calls and proceeded to bill us for the wrong order. They were certainly in a hurry and is only able to refill the plain water for whichever cup we gestured to even though all the rest of the cups beside it were empty too.
I repeat again, definitely not worth a visit again. At least not this branch.
After our disappointing dim sum session at The Dining Room, it was decided that we would give Resorts World another chance by patronising their specialty dessert cafe, Boulangerie, located level two of Festive Hotel.
Boulangerie turned out to be a disaster as well. I will not say much except that the macarons were Bakerzin quality and retailed for $2.30 instead of a dollar. The shells weren't crisp and tasted very stale. The other desserts purportedly had an Asian "twist" to them but some of them just turned out plain weird. Case in point, the Satin, a coconut cream dessert topped with pineapple. It tasted like Thai salad to me, which was just unnerving considering that its dessert. The raspberry tarte had a base that reminded me of compressed Danish cookies which would have been fine until you consider how hard it was. It was literally steel against rock as I tried to spear a piece of the tart with my fork. Only consolation of this place? They serve complimentary sky juice.
It all began with a simple phone call. The phone call that got us a reservation at The Dining Room at Resorts World Sentosa, which opened to much fanfare less than 2 weeks ago.
Billed a fine dining Chinese restaurant, The Dining Room is located on the second floor of the invite only Crockford Towers. Reservations are highly recommended as entry into the hotel is restricted and only if your name appears on the security list will you be allowed in. Apparently the restaurant doesn't take walk in customers. The dim sum menu is very limited (think less then 10 items) and while the ala carte menu offers slightly more choices, it is still limited by any standards.
Charcoal Roasted Pork - The would be highlight of the meal (or so I thought), was the charcoal roasted pork. In reality, it was nothing but a joke. It didn't carry any smokiness stemming from cooking with charcoal nor was the skin crisp or salty enough. I would expect such standards from the roast pork stall in the wet markets, but at an upclass Chinese restaurant? I really don't think so. It definitely didn't help that portions weren't exactly generous.
Steamed Siew Mai - A tad too soft and salty was what I thought of the siew mai, dashing any hopes of redemption for the roast pork. Disappointing!
Steamed Har Kow - The prawns were overly salty while the skin was so thick that it tasted gross after the har kow had cooled down. Which leads me to wonder why the copious amounts of salt in both the siew mai and har kow. An accident or a masking technique?
Steamed Scallop Dumpling - As with the har kow, the prawns in this dish were overly salty as well. I could see the scallop but couldn't make out any taste as everything was just overwhelmed by salt. At least the skin was reasonably thin though.
Steamed Xiao Long Bao - If you like the XLBs from Ding Tai Fung, you might like the ones here as both taste similar. The quality control on the XLBs were suspect though, as some had fluids gushing out while others were barren. Depending on your luck, the XLBs may prove to be quite decent.
Wagyu Beef Cheek - Served with carrots and vegetables, the wagyu beef cheek was nothing fantastic - overly soft without any bite. The gravy tasted like any run off the mill beef dish gravy. Palatable but not something I'll order again even though I love my beef.
Baked Char Siew Puff - With such a dismal repertoire of dishes prior to the char siew puff, I had lost all hope of unearthing any gems in this restaurant. And I'm glad I didn't place any hope on this. Sure, the pastry was flaky with a ever so slight hint of buttery goodness, but there was an inordinate amount of fat meat in the puff, which made it nausea inducing and definitely didn't do my health any good.
It was a unanimous decision. $155 for 5 pax for such hawker centre quality food was totally absurd. And to top it off, we weren't exactly full after the lacklustre dim sum session. Service was good but waiting time for our food could have been shorter. In conclusion, all the hype was for naught and I will not be back in a hurry unless the restaurant bucks up on its food quality.
althought it is a small Hawker Centre but it reflected our Singaporean life.
After a long walk, i have a sugar cane drink at Cheng liang sugar cane drink..
the taste is OIISHI !
the drink do not have those leftover...as in if the stall owner keep on repeating squashing the sugar cane there will be a lot of substances in the drinks..
But for this stall, they will do filtering ....so it ensure that what u drink is only the WATER and not with the stalks of the sugar cane.
I have no idea how we ended up at Ivins, especially for someone like me whose tolerance level for spiciness is severely inadequate. Which of course made my exposure to Peranakan food pretty limited. Anyway I digress.
Situated in sleepy Jalan Leban, just off Sembawang Hills Road, Ivins' main outlet is at Binjai Park in the Bukit Timah area. I didn't know what to make of the decor except that it had hints of peranakan influences, as per what I had observed from my lunch trips to the Joo Chiat area. And for a restaurant located in such a secluded area, it was impressively packed with people even at 8pm on a weekday night.
Ayam Buah Keluak - As spicy as it looked, it was actually a stroll in the woods, even for me. The chicken pieces were chunky but I did think that the meat seemed a little dry while the gravy had a tad too much water. Still, nice when eaten with rice.
Bakwan Kepeting - This crab and meatball soup was reminiscent of a light yet flavourful Teochew styled soup with tong cai that I personally like. The meatballs were huge but had a little too much bounce in them whereas the soup suffered from an overdose of oil. Barring which, made for a very decent soup.
Nyonya Chap Chye - I've never had a good impression of chap chye (mixed vegetables) simply because most of the time, they turn out soft and all mashed up. This one was no exception. Well except it wasn't as mashed up as I expected it to be. And yes, the prawns added colour (not much taste though).
Honey Pork - Thinly sliced, the honey pork was as the name suggests, pork coated with a thick layer of not too sweet honey. Palatable but nothing too fancy in my humble opinion.
I wasn't too stuffed after dinner and I certainly didn't expect to be, considering we paid about $36 for 3 pax. Food quality hovers around a decent cze char stall's standard and prices are similar. Service was a little lacking but no complaints though as there is no service charge or GST levied.
One of America's most loved fast food outlets, Wendy's, has opened in Singapore and credit goes to the Kopitiam group, which aims to open up 35 Wendy's outlets in our tiny nation in the next 10 years. The first outlet is located in the central business district - Lau Pa Sat and seats in the air conditioned area are limited so you will probably have to sit al fresco or within the premises of Lau Pa Sat. Honestly, that isn't a bad idea given that the interior of the eatery was smokey from the cooking and I could make out flies buzzing around. Talk about hygiene.
Triple Cheese - Wendy's beef burger patties come in square cuts, which is nothing more then a gimmick in my humble opinion. I had the largest burger on the menu - the 3/4lb triple cheese and honestly it wasn't as huge as I expected it to be. Think a cheeseburger from MacDonalds with 3 slices of beef. In case you balk at the comparison, please let me assure you that even the taste is similar, stemming from machine processed beef patties. Only the buns differ. Give me Carl's Junior anytime.
Spicy Chicken - This honestly tasted like a poor rendition of KFC's Zinger burger. For starters, the piece of chicken was smaller then that of the Zinger. And there wasn't much spiciness to speak of. The chicken essentially tasted limp and cold. Most disappointing!
We queued for 10 mins just to get our meals from the very cramp eatery, only to be disappointed with the food quality, which is miles apart from the Wendy's I tried in America. And prices are definitely more expensive then your usual MacDonalds or Burger King here in Singapore. Will I be back? Without a doubt, no.
Yet another new shopping centre, yet another burger joint. With it's wildly successful outlet at Raffles City Shopping Centre, The Hand Burger has decided to open up a branch at the new 313 @ Somerset, which is the latest addition to Orchard Road's lineup of shopping malls.
The eatery is located at B2 of the shopping mall with its decor revolving around the extensive use of wood and of course mirrors to make the interior seem much bigger then it really is. Tables and seats are reminiscent of school canteens' long communal dining tables and benches. The menu isn't extensive, offering just over 10 different burgers. That's specialisation for you.
The Works Burger - As the name implies, this has all the bells and whistles thrown into it. Think "The Handburger Original" with onion rings, bacon strips and mushrooms. Absolutely terrific sounding if I may say. But hype/expectation usually precedes reality. First and foremost, the bacon strips were a little too hard and dry for my liking while the buns were blackened on the flat surface and probably had a little sweet onion jam on it but I would have preferred it lightly crisp along the edges. As for the beef patty, I appreciated the bits of fats present, which lended a nice chewy texture. However, the patty was overcooked, a little too dry and lacked the inherent beefy sweetness (It's supposed to be a sirloin cut!).
Side of Fries - Thumbs up for the skin that came along, which I personally like. But the fries were too soggy and didn't seem particularly fresh.
Service was decent but that could also be due in part to the lack of crowd on a Saturday afternoon. The burgers are not worth the premium in my humble opinion as they are neither big or particularly great. In short, I am not impressed and I won't be going back in a hurry. One thing I don't quite understand is the fact that they charge 10% service yet I am suppose to go to the counter to make payment after my meal? Is it merely a gimmick to increase the bottomline of the restaurant?
Had the opportunity to dine here by invitation to review the place by SWW. 2 hungry ladies with a huge appetite :)
Spider Tempura ($14) – The soft shell crab was thankfully not oily but the batter was a little bland. The miso sauce was too sweet though, although unique. The side of salad was very well tossed with balsamic vinaigrette.
Baked stuffed Paris Mushroom with escargots ($14) – I do not take escargots but the mushrooms were very fresh and breadcrumbed very nicely. It was a big portion too, with 5 well-sized mushrooms and side of salad too.
Steak au Poivre ($30) – The order of medium rare was done quite well, with the crust nicely charred. No heavy ‘beef smell’ too. The accompanying side of petit vegetables (diced carrots, celery and zucchini) were well sautéed. The mashed truffle potatoes taste quite bland actually, with no hint of truffles at all.
Pan seared seabass ($26) – The seabass was very fresh and it came with the skin very nicely crisp. There were the sautéed vegetables too, and came with 3 potatoes medallions; simple but good. The accompanying apple cider sauce didn’t quite taste like apples although the apple bits in it helped with the identity.
Mahalo Sorbet ($12) – This pineapple sorbet was more sweet than sour / tart, but was very dense unlike the usual sorbet which I liked. Serving it in an actual pineapple was a unique touch though.
Apple Crumble ($12) – The tart and crumble tasted freshly baked and thankfully not cloyingly sweet as typically others. The apple was diced too finely and too cooked though; couldn’t quite taste the crunch in it. The accompanying vanilla ice cream was Haagen Daz so nothing to complain about.
Coffee – Good and thick coffee.
Grapefruit Juice – disappointingly, it was not made from fresh grapefruit but instead from a can, and it came with a dead ant in it. They offered to replace it but we felt we could finish it so we declined.
The presentation of the food was better than expected to be honest, as the place looked more like it was for drinks than actual dinner.
When we arrived and wanted to order our starters, we were told that out of the 4 choices offered, 2 were not available. I felt they should have told me in advance, perhaps at my point of reservation. Only after asking were we offered the option to select other starters from the rest of the menu (as we don’t take foie gras and didn’t want mushroom soup).
A few of the other starters were not available as well, which quite surprised us. It was only after the MD Victor Tan explained that they were in the process of changing their chef that we understood. The staff could have been better trained to explain the situation to diners, otherwise people would not possible have understood why 4 out of 9 items were not available from a single section alone.
They should also have steak knives as we had some trying time with the steak. Other than that, service was quite okay as the place was hardly full on a Thursday night.
It’s a nice quiet place which makes it very suitable for chilling out and romantic dates. Perhaps it helped that it was a cool night when we were there. Live performances by a solo singer provided some good music too.
There were no direction signs when you reach Bukit Timah Road, so you just have to ask the guard. understood the intent is to avoid overpublicising the place and rather for word to be spread through the smaller but more effective word of mouth.
Nara, with its original location at Goldhill Centre, has opened up a new outlet at Serangoon Gardens, to tap onto the revitalisation of the dining scene in the area. Helmed by Chef Ben Teo, who has almost 20 years of experience serving Japanese cuisine, Nara apparently has its fair share of loyal supporters.
The outlet at Serangoon Gardens is hidden in the back row of shophouses just a door or two away from Ministry of Steak. The place isn't big and can probably accomodate 30 odd people or so. Seats are spaced a little too close for comfort but at least you won't get to elbow your neighbour or eavesdrop on their conversation.
Nara Special Maki - This came at the recommendation of the manager (I believe) of the restaurant and with toppings of flying fish roe (tobiko) draped over soft, sticky sushi rice flanked by pieces of anago (which is alot finer then unagi), I found it delightful, especially with the light mayonnaise sauce that harboured a hint of wasabi.
California Maki - Usually the simplest stuff pose the most difficulty in making and California Maki is one such dish and I have had my fair share of really bad ones in Japanese restaurants in various countries. Nara's rendition was surprisingly decent (to me at least), with the rice very light and hinting of vinegar, coupled with the crunchiness of the cucumber and of course the flying fish roe (tobiko).
Shake Teppan - I'm not a big fan of salmon but at least this one was well grilled without the strong fishiness that I personally dislike. Of course the not cloyingly sweet sauce helped as well.
Nara Special Beef - Granted, the tenderloin was tender and definitely a pleasure to chew on, especially with the bits of fried garlic sprinkled all about. However I did find the sauce a little too sweet for my liking so perhaps they could cut down a little on the sugar. And $18 for a rather small plate of beef isn't exactly cheap.
Sukiyaki Nabe - Though chock full of ingredients, I wasn't too taken with this Japanese version of steamboat as it didn't seem out of the ordinary. The stock was flavourful but a little too sweet for my liking. I guess it all boils down to personal preference.
Tempura Soba - I didn't try the soba, but from what I gathered, it was, well, soba. I did try the tempura though and found the flour a wee bit too thick though it didn't retain much oil and seemed relatively light on the palate.
Gyo Somen - This is the first time I'm having fish noodles in a Japanese restaurant. I usually have them in Chinese restaurants that they come in a much thicker variant. Nara's rendition looked like mee kia, albeit way more springy with tons of bite. I appreciated the pieces of smoked duck breast that provided the necessary salt intake as well as the lingering smokey taste. Very good! A pity $15 doesn't get you much so you might want to order 2 bowls if you are hungry.
It has been quite some time since I last had Japanese food and Nara was a decently good choice to begin the plunge back in. Dinner for 3 cost almost $119, which isn't too expensive, considering the quality of food and the decent service (which did seem a little inexperienced at times). Nearby Sushi Tei now has a serious rival to contend with.
Just been to this Japanese eating place at Illuma. This was an eating outlet which consisted of several small Japanese shops housed under one roof. On the outlook, it looks pretty much the same as most other Japanese eating places. But the most fascinating in this place was not the food (thou it was nice), but rather the way one orders their food.
Each table comes with an electronic pen, which is a scanner to scan the food codes on the electronic menu. This saves much time as the waiters need only serve the food and clear the table accordingly. As I went with a group of friends, we managed to taste a variety of food. These includes the hotpan rice set, which consists of a hotpan of beansprouts, beef and salmon, coupled with miso soup and white rice. We also tasted their Maki and curry rice, as well as pork ramen and bento sets. The food was generally tasty and portions were about right. We also tasted their desserts, which were some slices of cakes. They were not sweet , but were quite average in terms of taste and looks.
Nonetheless, the pricing was fair and it is indeed a great place for groups of friends to gather for a nice meal. However, the place can be slightly small and thus it would be wise to get there early or make a booking should you have a big group going there. So do try it out and see for yourself!
1=SGD 0.0587
This is a place where we certainly won't visit again. We decided to enter this restaurant as we have never tried it before and all the other restaurants had long queue at the door. Food focusing on fig & olives is of course not common.
We ordered Crisscut fries, Grilled Dory with Mushroom sauce, Figo Grilled Seafood (or seafood platter for 1). the mushroom sauce (note: the sauce only) and the crisscut fries were at least decent to taste though we have some reservations on the taste of the rice. Even though this place was called fig&olives, the olive rice was nothing much but spiced/buttered rice with a few pickled olives on top with not much of a taste too. The fish were cooked too oily though the texture was tender and well done.
The seafood platter for 1 cost a whopping $21.30 and contained only 4 prawns and 3 mussels with a whole heap of rice. Certainly not worth the price. Not to mention that the waiters there took the wrong order, failed to respond to our calls and proceeded to bill us for the wrong order. They were certainly in a hurry and is only able to refill the plain water for whichever cup we gestured to even though all the rest of the cups beside it were empty too.
I repeat again, definitely not worth a visit again. At least not this branch.
Rating given:
After our disappointing dim sum session at The Dining Room, it was decided that we would give Resorts World another chance by patronising their specialty dessert cafe, Boulangerie, located level two of Festive Hotel.
Boulangerie turned out to be a disaster as well. I will not say much except that the macarons were Bakerzin quality and retailed for $2.30 instead of a dollar. The shells weren't crisp and tasted very stale. The other desserts purportedly had an Asian "twist" to them but some of them just turned out plain weird. Case in point, the Satin, a coconut cream dessert topped with pineapple. It tasted like Thai salad to me, which was just unnerving considering that its dessert. The raspberry tarte had a base that reminded me of compressed Danish cookies which would have been fine until you consider how hard it was. It was literally steel against rock as I tried to spear a piece of the tart with my fork.
Only consolation of this place? They serve complimentary sky juice.
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
It all began with a simple phone call. The phone call that got us a reservation at The Dining Room at Resorts World Sentosa, which opened to much fanfare less than 2 weeks ago.
Billed a fine dining Chinese restaurant, The Dining Room is located on the second floor of the invite only Crockford Towers. Reservations are highly recommended as entry into the hotel is restricted and only if your name appears on the security list will you be allowed in. Apparently the restaurant doesn't take walk in customers. The dim sum menu is very limited (think less then 10 items) and while the ala carte menu offers slightly more choices, it is still limited by any standards.
Charcoal Roasted Pork - The would be highlight of the meal (or so I thought), was the charcoal roasted pork. In reality, it was nothing but a joke. It didn't carry any smokiness stemming from cooking with charcoal nor was the skin crisp or salty enough. I would expect such standards from the roast pork stall in the wet markets, but at an upclass Chinese restaurant? I really don't think so. It definitely didn't help that portions weren't exactly generous.
Steamed Siew Mai - A tad too soft and salty was what I thought of the siew mai, dashing any hopes of redemption for the roast pork. Disappointing!
Steamed Har Kow - The prawns were overly salty while the skin was so thick that it tasted gross after the har kow had cooled down. Which leads me to wonder why the copious amounts of salt in both the siew mai and har kow. An accident or a masking technique?
Steamed Scallop Dumpling - As with the har kow, the prawns in this dish were overly salty as well. I could see the scallop but couldn't make out any taste as everything was just overwhelmed by salt. At least the skin was reasonably thin though.
Steamed Xiao Long Bao - If you like the XLBs from Ding Tai Fung, you might like the ones here as both taste similar. The quality control on the XLBs were suspect though, as some had fluids gushing out while others were barren. Depending on your luck, the XLBs may prove to be quite decent.
Wagyu Beef Cheek - Served with carrots and vegetables, the wagyu beef cheek was nothing fantastic - overly soft without any bite. The gravy tasted like any run off the mill beef dish gravy. Palatable but not something I'll order again even though I love my beef.
Baked Char Siew Puff - With such a dismal repertoire of dishes prior to the char siew puff, I had lost all hope of unearthing any gems in this restaurant. And I'm glad I didn't place any hope on this. Sure, the pastry was flaky with a ever so slight hint of buttery goodness, but there was an inordinate amount of fat meat in the puff, which made it nausea inducing and definitely didn't do my health any good.
It was a unanimous decision. $155 for 5 pax for such hawker centre quality food was totally absurd. And to top it off, we weren't exactly full after the lacklustre dim sum session. Service was good but waiting time for our food could have been shorter. In conclusion, all the hype was for naught and I will not be back in a hurry unless the restaurant bucks up on its food quality.
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
Went to KOVAN food market
althought it is a small Hawker Centre but it reflected our Singaporean life.
After a long walk, i have a sugar cane drink at Cheng liang sugar cane drink..
the taste is OIISHI !
the drink do not have those leftover...as in if the stall owner keep on repeating squashing the sugar cane there will be a lot of substances in the drinks..
But for this stall, they will do filtering ....so it ensure that what u drink is only the WATER and not with the stalks of the sugar cane.
it cost 80 cents for a small one
$1.20 for a big size ...
the price is quite economic
furthermore, the stall looks very clean
Rating given:
I have no idea how we ended up at Ivins, especially for someone like me whose tolerance level for spiciness is severely inadequate. Which of course made my exposure to Peranakan food pretty limited. Anyway I digress.
Situated in sleepy Jalan Leban, just off Sembawang Hills Road, Ivins' main outlet is at Binjai Park in the Bukit Timah area. I didn't know what to make of the decor except that it had hints of peranakan influences, as per what I had observed from my lunch trips to the Joo Chiat area. And for a restaurant located in such a secluded area, it was impressively packed with people even at 8pm on a weekday night.
Ayam Buah Keluak - As spicy as it looked, it was actually a stroll in the woods, even for me. The chicken pieces were chunky but I did think that the meat seemed a little dry while the gravy had a tad too much water. Still, nice when eaten with rice.
Bakwan Kepeting - This crab and meatball soup was reminiscent of a light yet flavourful Teochew styled soup with tong cai that I personally like. The meatballs were huge but had a little too much bounce in them whereas the soup suffered from an overdose of oil. Barring which, made for a very decent soup.
Nyonya Chap Chye - I've never had a good impression of chap chye (mixed vegetables) simply because most of the time, they turn out soft and all mashed up. This one was no exception. Well except it wasn't as mashed up as I expected it to be. And yes, the prawns added colour (not much taste though).
Honey Pork - Thinly sliced, the honey pork was as the name suggests, pork coated with a thick layer of not too sweet honey. Palatable but nothing too fancy in my humble opinion.
I wasn't too stuffed after dinner and I certainly didn't expect to be, considering we paid about $36 for 3 pax. Food quality hovers around a decent cze char stall's standard and prices are similar. Service was a little lacking but no complaints though as there is no service charge or GST levied.
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
One of America's most loved fast food outlets, Wendy's, has opened in Singapore and credit goes to the Kopitiam group, which aims to open up 35 Wendy's outlets in our tiny nation in the next 10 years. The first outlet is located in the central business district - Lau Pa Sat and seats in the air conditioned area are limited so you will probably have to sit al fresco or within the premises of Lau Pa Sat. Honestly, that isn't a bad idea given that the interior of the eatery was smokey from the cooking and I could make out flies buzzing around. Talk about hygiene.
Triple Cheese - Wendy's beef burger patties come in square cuts, which is nothing more then a gimmick in my humble opinion. I had the largest burger on the menu - the 3/4lb triple cheese and honestly it wasn't as huge as I expected it to be. Think a cheeseburger from MacDonalds with 3 slices of beef. In case you balk at the comparison, please let me assure you that even the taste is similar, stemming from machine processed beef patties. Only the buns differ. Give me Carl's Junior anytime.
Spicy Chicken - This honestly tasted like a poor rendition of KFC's Zinger burger. For starters, the piece of chicken was smaller then that of the Zinger. And there wasn't much spiciness to speak of. The chicken essentially tasted limp and cold. Most disappointing!
We queued for 10 mins just to get our meals from the very cramp eatery, only to be disappointed with the food quality, which is miles apart from the Wendy's I tried in America. And prices are definitely more expensive then your usual MacDonalds or Burger King here in Singapore. Will I be back? Without a doubt, no.
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
Yet another new shopping centre, yet another burger joint. With it's wildly successful outlet at Raffles City Shopping Centre, The Hand Burger has decided to open up a branch at the new 313 @ Somerset, which is the latest addition to Orchard Road's lineup of shopping malls.
The eatery is located at B2 of the shopping mall with its decor revolving around the extensive use of wood and of course mirrors to make the interior seem much bigger then it really is. Tables and seats are reminiscent of school canteens' long communal dining tables and benches. The menu isn't extensive, offering just over 10 different burgers. That's specialisation for you.
The Works Burger - As the name implies, this has all the bells and whistles thrown into it. Think "The Handburger Original" with onion rings, bacon strips and mushrooms. Absolutely terrific sounding if I may say. But hype/expectation usually precedes reality. First and foremost, the bacon strips were a little too hard and dry for my liking while the buns were blackened on the flat surface and probably had a little sweet onion jam on it but I would have preferred it lightly crisp along the edges. As for the beef patty, I appreciated the bits of fats present, which lended a nice chewy texture. However, the patty was overcooked, a little too dry and lacked the inherent beefy sweetness (It's supposed to be a sirloin cut!).
Side of Fries - Thumbs up for the skin that came along, which I personally like. But the fries were too soggy and didn't seem particularly fresh.
Service was decent but that could also be due in part to the lack of crowd on a Saturday afternoon. The burgers are not worth the premium in my humble opinion as they are neither big or particularly great. In short, I am not impressed and I won't be going back in a hurry. One thing I don't quite understand is the fact that they charge 10% service yet I am suppose to go to the counter to make payment after my meal? Is it merely a gimmick to increase the bottomline of the restaurant?
Rating given:
Not too bad but better ambience for drinks
Had the opportunity to dine here by invitation to review the place by SWW. 2 hungry ladies with a huge appetite :)
Spider Tempura ($14) – The soft shell crab was thankfully not oily but the batter was a little bland. The miso sauce was too sweet though, although unique. The side of salad was very well tossed with balsamic vinaigrette.
Baked stuffed Paris Mushroom with escargots ($14) – I do not take escargots but the mushrooms were very fresh and breadcrumbed very nicely. It was a big portion too, with 5 well-sized mushrooms and side of salad too.
Steak au Poivre ($30) – The order of medium rare was done quite well, with the crust nicely charred. No heavy ‘beef smell’ too. The accompanying side of petit vegetables (diced carrots, celery and zucchini) were well sautéed. The mashed truffle potatoes taste quite bland actually, with no hint of truffles at all.
Pan seared seabass ($26) – The seabass was very fresh and it came with the skin very nicely crisp. There were the sautéed vegetables too, and came with 3 potatoes medallions; simple but good. The accompanying apple cider sauce didn’t quite taste like apples although the apple bits in it helped with the identity.
Mahalo Sorbet ($12) – This pineapple sorbet was more sweet than sour / tart, but was very dense unlike the usual sorbet which I liked. Serving it in an actual pineapple was a unique touch though.
Apple Crumble ($12) – The tart and crumble tasted freshly baked and thankfully not cloyingly sweet as typically others. The apple was diced too finely and too cooked though; couldn’t quite taste the crunch in it. The accompanying vanilla ice cream was Haagen Daz so nothing to complain about.
Coffee – Good and thick coffee.
Grapefruit Juice – disappointingly, it was not made from fresh grapefruit but instead from a can, and it came with a dead ant in it. They offered to replace it but we felt we could finish it so we declined.
The presentation of the food was better than expected to be honest, as the place looked more like it was for drinks than actual dinner.
When we arrived and wanted to order our starters, we were told that out of the 4 choices offered, 2 were not available. I felt they should have told me in advance, perhaps at my point of reservation. Only after asking were we offered the option to select other starters from the rest of the menu (as we don’t take foie gras and didn’t want mushroom soup).
A few of the other starters were not available as well, which quite surprised us. It was only after the MD Victor Tan explained that they were in the process of changing their chef that we understood. The staff could have been better trained to explain the situation to diners, otherwise people would not possible have understood why 4 out of 9 items were not available from a single section alone.
They should also have steak knives as we had some trying time with the steak. Other than that, service was quite okay as the place was hardly full on a Thursday night.
It’s a nice quiet place which makes it very suitable for chilling out and romantic dates. Perhaps it helped that it was a cool night when we were there. Live performances by a solo singer provided some good music too.
There were no direction signs when you reach Bukit Timah Road, so you just have to ask the guard. understood the intent is to avoid
overpublicising the place and rather for word to be spread through the smaller but more effective word of mouth.
Rating given:
Nara, with its original location at Goldhill Centre, has opened up a new outlet at Serangoon Gardens, to tap onto the revitalisation of the dining scene in the area. Helmed by Chef Ben Teo, who has almost 20 years of experience serving Japanese cuisine, Nara apparently has its fair share of loyal supporters.
The outlet at Serangoon Gardens is hidden in the back row of shophouses just a door or two away from Ministry of Steak. The place isn't big and can probably accomodate 30 odd people or so. Seats are spaced a little too close for comfort but at least you won't get to elbow your neighbour or eavesdrop on their conversation.
Nara Special Maki - This came at the recommendation of the manager (I believe) of the restaurant and with toppings of flying fish roe (tobiko) draped over soft, sticky sushi rice flanked by pieces of anago (which is alot finer then unagi), I found it delightful, especially with the light mayonnaise sauce that harboured a hint of wasabi.
California Maki - Usually the simplest stuff pose the most difficulty in making and California Maki is one such dish and I have had my fair share of really bad ones in Japanese restaurants in various countries. Nara's rendition was surprisingly decent (to me at least), with the rice very light and hinting of vinegar, coupled with the crunchiness of the cucumber and of course the flying fish roe (tobiko).
Shake Teppan - I'm not a big fan of salmon but at least this one was well grilled without the strong fishiness that I personally dislike. Of course the not cloyingly sweet sauce helped as well.
Nara Special Beef - Granted, the tenderloin was tender and definitely a pleasure to chew on, especially with the bits of fried garlic sprinkled all about. However I did find the sauce a little too sweet for my liking so perhaps they could cut down a little on the sugar. And $18 for a rather small plate of beef isn't exactly cheap.
Sukiyaki Nabe - Though chock full of ingredients, I wasn't too taken with this Japanese version of steamboat as it didn't seem out of the ordinary. The stock was flavourful but a little too sweet for my liking. I guess it all boils down to personal preference.
Tempura Soba - I didn't try the soba, but from what I gathered, it was, well, soba. I did try the tempura though and found the flour a wee bit too thick though it didn't retain much oil and seemed relatively light on the palate.
Gyo Somen - This is the first time I'm having fish noodles in a Japanese restaurant. I usually have them in Chinese restaurants that they come in a much thicker variant. Nara's rendition looked like mee kia, albeit way more springy with tons of bite. I appreciated the pieces of smoked duck breast that provided the necessary salt intake as well as the lingering smokey taste. Very good! A pity $15 doesn't get you much so you might want to order 2 bowls if you are hungry.
It has been quite some time since I last had Japanese food and Nara was a decently good choice to begin the plunge back in. Dinner for 3 cost almost $119, which isn't too expensive, considering the quality of food and the decent service (which did seem a little inexperienced at times). Nearby Sushi Tei now has a serious rival to contend with.
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
Just been to this Japanese eating place at Illuma. This was an eating outlet which consisted of several small Japanese shops housed under one roof. On the outlook, it looks pretty much the same as most other Japanese eating places. But the most fascinating in this place was not the food (thou it was nice), but rather the way one orders their food.
Each table comes with an electronic pen, which is a scanner to scan the food codes on the electronic menu. This saves much time as the waiters need only serve the food and clear the table accordingly. As I went with a group of friends, we managed to taste a variety of food. These includes the hotpan rice set, which consists of a hotpan of beansprouts, beef and salmon, coupled with miso soup and white rice. We also tasted their Maki and curry rice, as well as pork ramen and bento sets. The food was generally tasty and portions were about right. We also tasted their desserts, which were some slices of cakes. They were not sweet , but were quite average in terms of taste and looks.
Nonetheless, the pricing was fair and it is indeed a great place for groups of friends to gather for a nice meal. However, the place can be slightly small and thus it would be wise to get there early or make a booking should you have a big group going there. So do try it out and see for yourself!
Rating given: