feizhu's Reviews
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Aptly located at Clarke Quay, along the Singapore river (entrepot is French for warehouse and is a place where import and export activities take place), L'Entrepot's al fresco and indoor dining area is seperated by a pedestrain walkway. While the al fresco area offers a venue to take in the sights and sounds of the Singapore river, the indoor area doesn't have much of a view to offer. It is however, a rather cozy place with a seemingly huge wine cellar showcasing dozens of bottles of wine.
Lobster Bisque - Apparently a must try at L'Entrepot and one that garnered rave reviews in a certain newspaper, the lobster bisque was disappointing to say the least. As with any lobster bisque, there were a few small cursory pieces of lobster flesh but the soup was rather watered down and lacked richness. The puff pastry, though flaky, wasn't buttery enough in my humble opinion.
Angus Rossini (Pan Roasted Angus Tenderloin, Mashed Potato, Duxell Mushroom, Pan Fried Foie Gras, Red Wine Sauce) - The tenderloin came in 2 chunks, both done medium rare as per request. Although the meat was relatively tender, it did seem a little dry and void of the beefy taste that most beef lovers would appreciate. The mushroom duxell(e) came sandwiched between the 2 blocks of beef and tasted rather bland and watery - not exactly ideal. As for the foie gras, it was thinly sliced and decently soft and quivery on the inside. I understand that it was better then the foie gras dish some of my dinner companions had ordered as appetisers.
On my part, the bill came up to about $47 after a 20% discount ($59 without discount), which is rather expensive for the quality of the food. We were so disappointed that we made the decision to adjorn elsewhere for desserts. Service was decent but that's not good enough reason for me to want to return. I had definitely expected more from Chef Suffian Zain.
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Located on the ground level of Robinson Centre along Robinson Road in the Central Business District (CBD), Men Tei occupys a small space that is simpley done up and seats probably about 20 pax tops. The menu occupies a single sheet of paper (6 different types of ramen) so if you are looking for variety, this place is probably out.
Shio Ramen - You have the option of specifying the "doneness" of your noodles, ranging from normal, hard or extra hard. I didn't know that until after my ramen was served so I am assuming they gave me the normal option. I thought that it was a little too soft but at least it retained a little chewiness. The ramen broth honestly wasn't very robust and I couldn't quite make out any pork taste. Simply put, it was just salty but light. The egg was quite well done - quivery without being overly soft while the yakibuta (3 slices) was tender and flavourful.
Spicy Tonkatsu Ramen - Although the spicy ramen looked the part, it actually wasn't that bad and that's coming from someone who has a low tolerance for spiciness. As with the Shio ramen, the broth wasn't very robust but the yakibuta and tamago were equally good.
For the price, I honestly think its value for money given the quality of the ramen. Service is decent as well and best of all, there is no queue when you dine there on weekday evenings (they do not open on weekends or public holidays). The same can't be said for weekday lunch though. Men Tei also provides a delivery service to nearby offices for those who crave ramen but are too busy to step out.
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Located along Portsdown Road just opposite the building that houses Pietrasanta and cooking academy Palate Sensations, Soprano's sizeable compound comes with its own mini carpark, lawn and pool (not sure if it belongs to Soprano though). There is an option of al fresco seating or indoor seating, with the former perfect for chilling out on a cooling/windy afternoon or evening and the latter a life saver on warm days (the air conditioning seemed to be at a minimum when I was there that afternoon though).
The appetisers consisted of baby onions, onions and a mixture of button mushrooms, olives and capsicums - all of which provided a nice way to start off the meal. The bread on the other hand, wasn't served warm and tasted like ordinary baguette, albeit much denser in the center. Nothing impressive.
Bruschetta - I am actually quite perplexed by the amount of salad that came with the bruschetta. It formed the bulk of this dish save for generous helpings of halved cherry tomatoes atop 2 slices of ciabatta bread. Shouldn't the bread take center stage here? That aside, the ciabatta was toasted to a crisp and sprinkled with olive oil and fine salt granules, giving it a nice resounding texture marrying the sweetness and plumpness of the cherry tomatoes. Given the price ($9), not something I would order again though.
Linguine Aragostina - For $15 a pop, this was a steal honestly. You get 2 halves of a baby lobster served with al dente linguine in a robust and spicy (check out the cut chillis) tomato base sauce. If you prefer other sorts of pasta besides linguine, the aragostina option is also open to spaghetti. They need to fix the problem with the baby lobster though. It wasn't stale but it wasn't exactly fresh either, coming across as a little fishy.
Ravioli Ai Funghi Porcini e Tartufo - This was a cream based pasta and tended to be rather overwhelming after a few mouthfuls. But that wasn't to say that it wasn't good. The ravioli skin was not too thick and came with cheese and spinach stuffing (you can choose what stuffing you would like) in a sea of thick fragrant creamy gravy. I personally thought that the porcini mushrooms tasted great as well - crunchy with a nice woody taste.
Tiramisu - There was something different about this tiramisu. The mascarpone cheese was really yellowish in colour, probably due to the excess addition of egg yolks. I couldn't quite make out any substantial difference though except it being more dense then usual. The sponge to mascarpone ratio was rather lopsided in favour of the cheese. Whatever sponge fingers there were at the bottom was soaked in weak coffee, which meant that this was a teetotaler's rendition. Overall a decent dessert.
Profiterole - The profiterole was complimentary of Soprano and came stuffed with milk chocolate mousse drenched in chilled liquid white chocolate. I am a sucker for such stuff and honestly this is the first time I'm seeing a restaurant in Singapore serving profiteroles drenched in chocolate, which is the way they do it in France. Simple decadent! I wonder how much this goes for though because desserts are not listed on the menu.
$52.80 for 2 pax isn't expensive given the portions of food and decent quality (save for the baby lobster). Throw in reasonably good service and a charming environment and you have a serious contender in the portsdown dining scene. Prices for most pastas hover around the $15-$16 range and lets hope they keep it that way. There is also no GST, only service charge, which is definitely a plus and don't be shy to ask for tap water.
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Aptly located at Far East Square, Ju Chun Yuan is housed in a conserved Chinese courtyard complete with traditional frontage and a tiled roof from ancient Chinese times as well as bamboo shoots flanking the walkway that leads to the restaurant. The interior however, is modern Chinese with a touch of class and sophistication.
Three Delicacies "Min Appetizers" Combination - The first of the three delicacies - Cashew nuts lightly coated with sugar to give it a mild sweetness and sheen. Nice and crunchy and I happen to have a weakness for cashews so this suited me just fine. The second delicacy was essentially winter melon strips dipped into orange syrup. The strips had a nice crunch and tasted mildy sweet with a zesty tinge of orange. Great as a snack. Third was the cucumber slices that had a mild and sharp spicy taste to it. Not a big fan of cucumbers though, so I didn't venture past my first piece.
Pan Fried Cod Fish with House Recipes - According to the waitress, the house recipe contained about 10 different spices in it and I was sold, especially when you throw cod fish into the equation. But honestly, it didn't quite pan out as expected. Sure, the sauce was mildly sweet and very light but the batter coating on the fish slices was a little too thick and I couldn't quite make out the texture of the cod nor the sweetness of the flesh. Disappointing.
Braised Beancurd with Vegetables Served in Fuzhou Style - Beancurd is comfort food to me and I like it done in any way, well almost. I don't exactly know what fuzhou style tofu entails but this dish tasted like normal braised beancurd (红烧豆府) to me. Average but edible.
Braised "Lychee" Minced Pork with Water Chestnut - I opted for this dish because I was intrigued by lychee, water chestnut and minced pork together in 1 dish. It turned out to be a most unwise decision. For starters, the minced pork comprised mostly fatty pork and carried an overwhelming pork taste. The lump of chestnut in the center of the meat ball added a nice crunch to it while the drizzled sauce tasted sweet, very much like those you would find on sweet and sour pork (咕噜肉). There was no taste of lychee whatsoever.
Fried Rice with Minced Shrimp and Egg White Served in Fuzhou Style - As aesthetically pleasing as the fried rice looked with its homogeneously egg coated grains of rice, it fell short in taste. There was no discernible wok hei taste and the whole dish lacked any flavour to the extent of being bland. Still edible though as the rice was soft and moist with reasonable servings of chopped prawns and other condiments. One thing I realised was that the rice seemed more steamed then fried. The restaurant probably steamed it for quite a bit before doing a fast fry with minimal oil.
Cold White Fungus with Osmanthus Syrup - A light and sweet cold white fungus dessert with floral connotations from the osmanthus to end off the disappointing meal. As average as it gets.
Fuzhou Yam Pudding - I had been dying to try out Ju Chun Yuan's rendition of my favourite dessert, yam pudding, ever since it was billed as one of the best by local media sometime back. On hindsight, I should have known about the overhyping that plagues most local media these days. Though the yam pudding was smooth, it retained little moisture, making it a tad dry. It wasn't fragrant either, probably due to the minimal or lack of lard. What was different was the addition of sesame seeds, which really boils down to personal preference.
Dinner for 2 cost to the tune of $71, which isn't expensive for the quantity and variety of food. However, quality is suspect, which does make $71 seem a little over the top. To be fair, it may be because I am not used to authentic Fuzhou cuisine like the way they do it in China? Either that, or they really need to work on their food.
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The place isn't located at somewhere you would term as accessible - an inconspicuous restaurant occupying 2 rather dilapidated units along Jalan Besar Road. The interior is dated as well, looking more like a scene out from a sixties movie set then a modern Chinese restaurant.
Prawn Roll - The prawn roll aka ha zhor had too much batter for my liking. It looked a little like goreng pisang (deep fried banana fritters) to me and that's definitely not a good thing. I couldn't quite make out the subtle presence of the prawns, if any and honestly, it was filled with more flour then anything.
Broccoli with Scallops - You can't really go wrong with broccoli and scallops and thankfully this one wasn't the exception. Apart from the scallops being a little too soft, I thought that this dish was still quite decent, but nothing to shout about of course.
Kong Ba Pao (扣肉包) - The answer to all weight loss programs, diets and they key to having a short life - that's what popping a serving of kong ba in your mouth does for you. I would have gladly thrown any health concerns out of the window if the kong ba had been good. Sadly, that wasn't the case. The meat was overly fatty to the point of being gross and the gravy was seriously bland. A little sugar might have made it more palatable.
Hokkien Mee - If the taste of alkaline was my thing, then this dish would have been a delicacy. Otherwise, it was terrible. Bland save for the strong hint of alkaline from the noodles, coupled with not so fresh prawns and a watery gravy that was more for the colour then taste, the noodles were limp and soggy. Not exactly my idea of a signature dish.
To be fair to the restaurant, the food isn't expensive (save for the scallops dish). As a matter of fact, it's considered quite cheap, standing at $48 for the 3 of us. But something really needs to be done about the quality of food. We tried the signature dishes and they turned out so bad. I really can't imagine how the "normal" dishes will turn out. Makes me wonder about the crowds.
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