hburn10's Reviews
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Finally trooped down to Porn's with 3 close friends to see if it is worth the hype. The white signage with the famous elephant behind is quite easy to spot from the street, and at 6:30pm we snagged the last indoor 4-seater available, which was a relief compared to having to sit outdoors. A queue started forming not long after.
The menu is presently simply on pages of white laminated paper with pictures of selected dishes, all in its distinctive categories of soups & curry, thai snacks, thai salads etc.
Papaya Salad ($6.90) - Refreshingly crunchy and not too tart, until you accidentally eat the chilli padi bits in it. Be careful.
Rice crackers with seafood sauce ($6.50) - I've heard this is rarely seen in most Thai places and I wonder why. It is indeed tasty and the crackers served warm, but I did not notice any seafood bit in the sauce, no doubt it was quite nice. And for 6 small crackers, it was overpriced I felt.
Stuffed chicken wing ($8.50) - for 3 pieces. It was crispy and thankfully not too oily but I didnt quite like the fatty bits I found inside.
Pineapple fried rice ($10.90) - Standard far; serving was probably enough for 1 main, not 2 as the staff said.
Pad Thai ($9.90) - Served wrapped in an egg with a tired prawn on top, it was just okay and no hint of wok hei.
Tom Yum Seafood ($12.90) - Nice clear tom yum but I felt there could be more seafood. There's an option of a smaller portion as well.
Thai iced tea ($3.90) - Too sweet for my liking.
Thai iced coffee ($3.90) - Didnt quite like it, perhaps its an acquired taste.
For all its hype, I didn't feel the food lived up to it, given that Pornsak is a Thai. It was okay Thai food and nothing wow. I had read before coming that the most expensive item on the menu is $12.90 and thought that was reasonable pricing. But the small portions made it somehow overpriced; it wasn't value for money for me and I probably will not return.
The seating is not big so the place fills up quite quickly. Very young crowd mixed with a handful of working class diners, and very young staff too. Service is not too bad though, with the food being served rather promptly despite the full house.
Of course the novelty is you get served by Pornsak but not everyone goes there for that. And the 4 of us had to go for round 2 after dinner, which was probably not what I thought was needed after spending close to $90 in total.
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My Korean-food lover friend picked this for a Friday night dinner and said we should go early as its always crowded. She was not wrong in the end, and luckily we reached at 6:40pm; and got the last available 4-seater upstairs as the ground floor was already full by then.
It was a good mistake that we ordered the side dishes first while waiting for 2 more friends, reasons below. They also serve little side dishes in accordance to the usual Korean tradition and here's what were plonked onto our tables (although we spied that the 2 Korean ladies seated next to us got more variety):
Kimchi - didnt try as I actually dislike kimchi but looked authentic
Spicy anchovies - Terribly addictive. I'd imagine it'll go very well with porridge.
Potato Salad - Very nice, with peanuts mixed in it, which gave it an unusual crunch.
Cold beancurd - Cold pieces of beancurd. Quite bland.
Mixed veg kimchi - like achar....very good achar.
Seafood omelette with leek - this must be the biggest omelette I have ever seen for an appetizer. It came all fluffy and rather plumped up with squid pieces and was really good as it was served hot off the stove. The only thing was I couldn't find any other seafood besides squid in it, so the title was a bit misleading I felt.
Spicy rice cake - best korean rice cake, ever, and in big portion too. I tried this dish when I was in Korea and didnt remember liking it this much. The sauce was just nice, not tongue-pricking spicy yet very flavorful. It was not only rice cake as well - there were squid pieces and dumplings in the mix too.
BBQ chicken - This was less wow than than the rice cake, but we had fun wrapping the chicken in lettuce before chomping them. The chicken had more fat than I would have liked though, but no worries health conscious nuts like me can remove them easily.
Spicy beef soup - I dont take beef but tried the soup which looked scarily red but not spicy at all. Not too bad but was too full to take a proper bowl of it.
Hite - Korean beer served very chilled. What's not to like.
We had intended to order mains after the appetizers but got ambushed by the big omelette and rice cake. I was full even before nibbling on the chicken and soup, but also because we over-refilled on the appetizers which was just too addictive along the way.
Service is nothing to complain about; they still managed to be quite efficient although the place was packed. There are also limited private saections on the 2nd floor which can be adjusted according to group sizes using partitions, but it doesnt mean you'll get less of the chatter and clatter, although nothing too loud.
I will really recommend coming early to avoid the queues. Prices are reasonable given I spent only about $24 per person including beers and drinks. This is now my favourite Korean restaurant and this visit totally changed my mind about not liking Korean food~
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The setting itself is all posh and nice, with staff busy flitting around attending to guests including pulling out of chairs. Mostly made up of leisure ladies and the occasional families and couples looking for a nice quiet cosy afternoon with live music to boot.
The high tea cost $48 per person for a 3-tier comprising finger sandwiches, scones, a choice of one hot savoury (chicken / beef satay, curry puff, quiche of the day, or dim sum of the day), then desserts / cakes / pastries. Add $10 for a glass of champagne.
There's also a nice selection of TWG teas, coffees etc.
3-tier - The stafff also explains to you what is being served when they bring you the tier. On ours were plain scones, raisin scones, sandwiches: crab, artichoke, salmon, and curry sandwiches - the scones were served warm but a tad dry for my liking. The sandwiches were all rather tasty except the curry which tasted like bo ji wan or some kind of chinese powder medicine (both of us agreed on that, I'm not kidding!). I wonder which type of curry they used?
Hot savoury - we picked the satay and dim sum which was prawn dim sum. The beef satay was excellently done, with no hint of the beefy taste at all. The chicken was less impressive in comparison, and the peanut sauce was more watery than usual which may not be a bad thing. The dim sum was only okay, but I thought one piece per person was a strange portion, especially tricky to serve for one pax
Desserts - We saw a dessert trolly being pushed around and waited in anticipation as it looked really good. But for some reason, the trolley did not come to us and instead we were brought 5 different tarts on a plate. The 5 came from the trolley itself no doubt but we would have appreciated the novelty of having a choice to pick right off the trolley. Didnt quite understand the system but oh well. The tarts were not memorable although not too bad.
Service was attentive and efficient and matched what you would have expected from St Regis. And people do actually dance! They created a nice little dance floor in the middle, in front of the 2-man band, and guests were happily enjoying themselves admist the chatter and champagne. There were even 2 dance instructors hired to dance with or teach interested guests, but I rather sit and enjoy the music.
I had expected much more of the quality though; and the price I felt was abit too high, but of course it comes with the whole experience and all that. ea was very good though.
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Stumbled upon this place for a weekend late lunch at about 3pm and the place was about 5 tables filled. Mostly families since its a heartland place and cuisine is chinese.
The menu reminds me of crystal jade la mian or similar set ups, but this kind of menu is I think what most people dont mind, which is good. Settings are cosy with some booth seats available; otherwise its the usual chinese rounds table sittings.
The food a hungry group of 4 had:
Carrot cake ($2.20) - 3 pieces but it was a bit too hard to taste home-made. Perhaps other dim sum will fare better?
Braised chicken feet ($4) - Its braised in the more orange-red sauce instead of the dark brown sauce which I preferred but still not a bad choice if you happen to be craving for it.
Jellyfish appetizer ($4) - this was good! Tossed with carrot, cucumber, and mushroom strips with just the right amount of light dressing and chilled nicely, it was an winner.
Soup ($6.50) - we ordered the old cucumber and pork rib soup - excellent. Mushrooms, dates, dried scallops were all part of the brew, making it refreshingly healthy and reminscent of mum's cooking.
Stir fried french beans ($8) - Disappointing. Came with chicken and mushroom strips (everything has mushrooms!) which overwhlemd the miserable portion of the veg. And because they deep fried the veg, they became scrawny and rather sad looking, plus the plate was way too oily for my liking.
Stir fried Shanghai la lian ($8.50) - This was the best main course amongst the lot. Long beans, chicken strips, carrots etc accompanied the noodle wok fried in a dark sauce, plus not too oily. The best part of it was the wok hei which seemed to be missing in most places nowadays.
Zha Jiang mian ($6.50) - Didnt taste this but it looked dry and bland.
Spanish fried rice ($9) - Not good. For all its name, we could only taste rice and tomato, maybe some eggs in there. No wok hei, and rice felt a tad mushy for fried rice as well.
Service was okay, although you may get some clueless staff. I thought the prices were quite reasonable and I may try this again should I happen to be in the mall and looking for food. Some hits and missed, but I would think it is a good option for people staying in the vicinity.
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The difference hits you when you enter the lobby via the main entrance, greeted by a few chorus of ‘good afternoon’s. The check-in counters are not typical – it’s a few sit down counters for one-to-one service instead of standing front desks. Check in was quick and efficient; we were also escorted to the lift which I felt was a nice touch. I appreciated the complimentary upgrade to a Lady Astor room too.
The distinction with St Regis is its butler service. Coffee and tea are ordered with the butler and they bring it to your room. There are almost 10 choices of tea, along with coffee, cappuccino, hot chocolate, as well as an extensive pillow menu to pick from, although the bed itself comes with plenty of them already.
The Lady Astor room itself is big – 56sqm: 2 oversized single beds, a huge bathroom with a bathtub, 2 separate sinks, a makeup table, a shower, and a toilet. Plus a C-shaped couch and a coffee table. Cleanliness is excellent; nothing to fault.
Some of the spa facilities are complimentary for in-house guests: steam chambers, Jacuzzi, hydro massage pool, and sauna (non in-house guests have to pay SGD85 to use them) – they were all quite good.
The variety at breakfast was not as extensive as I thought, and quality honestly was just average for me. There’s also a complimentary daily wine appreciation for all in-house guests from 5:30pm – 6:30pm at the Decanter on level 1, which was a unique touch.
There was indeed a difference throughout my stay because its St Regis – there were more smiley faces and plenty of good mornings and afternoons. We felt more looked after and very welcomed anywhere in the hotel.
But as with all things, there are things to be improved:
1. Butler service – when we checked in, we were told that the butler will be at the room soon, so we waited. After half an hour, we called and the operator sounded a bit confused and asked what we need the butler for. We were in fact waiting for the butler to start our stay by telling us what his / her services are! The butler services was listed in a book set on the table, but I thought what they should have done is to get the butler to inform the guests what is available upon check in; otherwise the people who missed the book will not know that there is complimentary pressing of items upon arrival etc.
There were also 2 occasions where 2 different butlers came into the room without pressing the doorbell – they probably used the master key and entered while we were still in the room. It is unacceptable, especially so for St Regis – it is only basic courtesy to ring the doorbell when entering an occupied room. Admittedly they were delivering tea etc on the 2 occassions but if their hands were fully occupied, what they should have done is to place the tray on the floor to free their hands for pressing the doorbell. It would have been a disaster if we were in the middle of changing our clothes or worse, a couple engaging in some acts of affection.
2. Turn down service – the 1st night I was there, a lady rang my doorbell and tried to explain in English what she was there for - the turn down service. But she couldn’t, and eventually had to explain in Mandarin instead which I understood. But I thought the staff should be trained to at least be able to inform in English the purpose of them appearing at the door – what happened if it was a hotel guest who could not understand Mandarin (and given the clientele of the hotel; very likely). The turn down service also included a bar of chocolates – nice touch.
3. Breakfast – during one of my 2 breakfasts, I encountered a very strange aftertaste in my orange juice – suspiciously like soap. I alerted one of the staff who nodded her head and took it back into the kitchen, but the issue was never addressed thereafter.
4. Spa garden – The spa garden is a outdoor Jacuzzi in the spa which I tried for both days – but on the 2nd day, the water looked obviously more murky than previously, which made me wonder if the water needs to be changed / cleaned more frequently.
Outside of the above issues, my staycation was excellent. I’ll be back if I have the budget again of course.
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