hburn10's Reviews
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The place can be quite hard to find for 1st timers: its not visible from the main courtyard. You'll have to access it by climbing up a fleet of stairs near Insomnia, right smack in the middle of Chijmes.
Gyoza - 6 compact pieces of the dumplings decorated with a veg on top, all on a hot plate. Very nicely grilled and served very hot, although I though the gyozas could have a but more bite than just all meat. The slightly tart sauce that came with it perked up the dish though.
Salmon roll - Cute presentation of the rolls, and salmon was very fresh although nothing excellent. Quite a mouthful for me though, but some people call it value for money.
Deep fried squid - this is on their seasonal menu, although I couldnt figure out why squid was seasonal. Small portion of bite-sized squid (note: not the rings) nicely batetred and deep-fried. A very morish snack to accompany the meal.
Hotpot rice set (seafood) - My weakness for seafood made me order this. The set came with chawamushi, miso soup, pickles, salmon sashimi, fruits, and green tea ice cream. The chawamushi was studded with ednamame peas and had ginko nuts and chicken in it. Quite heavy for me compared to normal steam egg. I had expected the hot pot to give the rice some fragrance but it did not, disappointingly. There seem to be also not much taste, except for the soya sauce that was mixed into the rice.
The seafood had half a prawn, fish roe, fish, scallops, and salmon. It looks like a luxurious combi but somehow I felt the seafood and the rice didnt gel together and tasted like they were separate components instead. The scallops and salmon was not cooked although the idea was for them to cook themselves within the heat of the pot; and I had to send it back to get them to grill it again. I can understand if salmon was not cooked thoroughly, but scallops???
Green tea ice cream - This was part of the set and was the highlight of the lunch for me. Served very chilled in a chilled porcelain bowl, it was one of the better ones I've tried so far. Smooth with just the right amount of 'grainy' feel to taste home-made and very macha than commercial green tea.
Green tea - Probably made from the same green tea leaves or mix, but I had to highlight that they apparently make their own blend for the tea, and it did taste so.
Service was not too bad, perhaps given that there were plenty of staff to handle the half occupied place. Requests for tea refill, side plates were answered quite quickly.
I actually didnt know how much was the bill as it was a treat, the amount spent is an estimate based on what I remember from the menu. The quality I think can still be improved, but because I like the place, I'll return to try their other stuff.
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My first visit to MBS and I was quite excited to try what they are capable of in terms of food. It was a casual business lunch so buffet at Rise sounded like the best option to suit everyone's tastes.
Rise is located right smack in the middle of the high-ceiling Marina Bay Sands hotel lobby and very open-concept, so much so that you may walk right past it thinking it was the hotel lounge. Seatings are elevated and plenty of lush to also provide a sense of privacy from the lobby traffic. Remember to ask the cab to stop at the hotel lobby if applicable as it can be a fair walk if they drop you off at the Casino lobby instead.
Staff was eager to please although a bit clueless. We arrived early at 11:45am and asked if the buffet is ready. Staff said oh the buffet starts at 11:30am, to which we asked if it means we can go get the food already. He then said he needed to re-confirm the timing and come back to us. Huh??
The set up and variety looked promising, but unfortunately, the key word was 'looked'.
Soup & Bread - 3 varieties: tomato, mushroom, beef. I only tried the mushroom and found it quite good; I could taste actual chunks of mushrooms in it but after a few spoonfuls it started to be a little salty.
Cheese - A suprisingly better than expected selection of cheese, something I dont see alot at buffet lunches. The few I tried tasted too strong for me but taste is subjective of course.
Starters - normal items like salad leaves, potato mayo, sausage and potato salad etc.
Seafood - 4 varities: prawns, crabs, scallops, mussels (which I didnt try). The small-medium prawns were not chilled enough although it was buried under ice, and came without the heads. It did not have that sweet crunch of really fresh prawns either and was really just okay. The crabs had the same problem. I was quite disappointed as I had expected more out of MBS quality. The only plus point is when a staff saw me struggling with the crab claw, he offered to take it away to crack it for me.
Sashimi - I only tried the salmon but it too was served not chilled enough. I wonder if its the ice they are using????
Hot food - Nothing wow thus I didnt try alot. It was more common fare like dim sum, noodles cooked to order, pasta, sweet sour chicken, mushrooms, kailan etc.
Desserts - A big selection and I tried a few but was not wowed. Fruit tarts, chocolate cakes and mousses, bread butter pudding, biscotti, madelines, and mango pomelo dessert. Plenty of fruits though.
Coffee and tea is included in the buffet and you can take your pick of earl grey, english breakfast etc. We asked if only normal coffee is included or can we have cuppucino lattes etc; and they needed to check again. Turned out to be only normal coffee, FYI.
Ambience is nice and airy with a very alfresco feel, and although it is situated in the hotel lobby, it wasn't too noisy. You can spot business guys in suits or families on a weekday leisure post-casino meal.
I had expected better from MBS actually. I do agree that variety is good but sometimes I prefer quality more than quantity. And none of the items stood out. The host paid for all of us which was good, as this is one buffet I will not pay to return to. For the same price, there are definitely better buffet options out there.
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They don't take reservations so had to leave my name at 7pm on a weekday evening for an indoor seating. Small seating as well so the place fills up quite quickly.
Tonkusen Toroniku ($16.80) - this came with 3 choices of soup base: shio (salt), miso, or spicy. I picked the shio after reading up prior to my visit and found it very nicely balanced, with just the right amount of fragrant but not overbearing milky porky broth. Didnt taste like there was an overkill of salt as well.
The ramen itself was a bit thinner than most but had the right amount of spring in it and thankfully not overcooked.
The supposedly highlight of the dish was the pork cheeks which came on a side plate, as with all the garnishes. Clever of them. It was the first time I had pork cheeks and my first piece tasted wonderfully tender and rich. But the salt quantum and fatty bits took a toll on me a few pieces later, with me carefully scrapping off the fats for the last few and ultimately not finishing it.
I had a taste of the spicy base also, which I thought was quite good as it had the fragrance of the bean paste. Nice.
Despite the pork cheeks being overly salty, I will still pick this over Ippudo in general. Better soup and better ramen :D
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Shrimp cake spring roll ($6) - this really didnt have any 'cake' as in 'crab cake' but was more of prawn paste in deep fried spring roll. Nicely fried, and the spring roll was lighter than typical, which was a bonus. It could have came with a better sauce than bottled chilli sauce though, as I felt as the run of the mill sauce destroyed the dish.
Karakamen ($17) egg ($2) - "Spicy Tonkotsu Ramen served with minced pork and spicy paste". Tried the soup, and it tasted like dan dan mian. The egg that cost $2 was also overcooked; the yolk was not runny at all. Disappointing.
Shiromaru Classic ($15) - "Original recipe tonkotsu soup served with thin noodles, Rosu chashu (Pork Loin), cabbage, kikurage & scallions". Ordered this because it was the classic dish. Didnt realise it came with ginger too, I had to take it all out because I'm not a ginger person. The broth was alot creamier than expected, with a delicate but obvious porky taste; a tad more salt and I would have found it too salty. The creamy texture made the soup quite je lart for me, and I couldnt finish it, although it was probably bursting with collagen. Luckily the thin noodles was not overcooked. The chashu was also mostly lean with a tiny bit of fat trimmings.
I thought the visit would explain the hoo-haa and the neverending long queues on nights and weekends, but I didnt quite get it. Perhaps the hype surrounding this place is too big for their own good, as I went to expect a drama moment when I took my 1st spoonful of the broth. It was not that bad, but it is not something I will brave the queue for either.
Service was typical Jap polite service and smily staff, so bonus points for them. But still not going to be on my return visit list anytime soon.
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Had a sudden craving for dim sum on a Sunday afternoon and didnt want to fight with the Crystal Jade crowd so headed towards Hai Tien Lo for some nice quiet dim sum. It was surprisingly not packed at 1pm and we were given a table with a view~
Service was good, but perhaps it was the small crowd as well. Orders were taken swiftly, and staff hurried to offer to refill our tea when they spotted my picking up the tea pot. Nice quiet crowd with some business guys and young families allowed for some peace and quiet. It was also quite nice to just space out at the view sporadically too.
All except the porridge, shark's fin dumpling, and rice flour roll came in 3 pieces:
Shark's fin dumpling in a broth ($13 per pax) - I only tried the broth and liked it quite a bit. It was a very light chicken broth with what I think was the sweetnss of scallops (?). I wished there was more broth so I can drink it as a soup.
Steam crystal dumplings with vegetables ($3.90) - This was disappointingly normal, with the usual crunch of meat and some veg. Presentation can be better too.
Pan fried rice flour rolls with crispy conpoy ($3.90) - Good. The plain rolls came pan-fried excellently and the conpoy added a nice touch of fragrance. The accompanying sauce was some form of bean sauce I think, savoury but too gluey for my liking. Rather eat it plain.
Poached Beijing dumplings stuffed with chicken and prawns in chilli vinegar sauce ($4.20) - The highlight was the sauce itself: very good. It enhanced the sweetness of the dumplings and helped to avoid any typical dim sum 'crunch fatigue' syndrome. The chilli and vinegar was mixed in the correct proportion, and was so good that we ended up dipping most of our other dim sum in it.
Deep fried sea perch wrapped with vermicelli ($5.40) - Was glad we ordered this. Fish was deep fried so to be honest the sweetness of it wasn't apparent, but the vermicelli was freshly fried without the stale oil taste which I am very sensitive to. It wasquite skillfully done and presented, with some roe dotting the top of the pieces.
Century egg porridge ($3.90) - Disappointingly bland and too watery for my liking. It didnt have the fragrance of the century egg as I think they used another variety of century egg which was golden organge hued. Pepper did not manage to lift the taste.
Rose Pu Er ($6 per pax) - Nice fragrant choice, although I personally think $6 is too pricey. I mean how much tea can one drink?
The host who greeted us asked for my name even though I did not make a reservation and I wondered why. Then realized its because she wanted to say goodbye when we left addressing me by name. How nice!
I was quite plesantly surprised by the prices. I'd pick this over Crystal Jade for almost the same pricing with a less noisy / hurried crowd. The varity of dim sum is small though, so expect to be bored after your 3rd visit.
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