feizhu's Reviews
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Well, since I dislike buffets and I am rather inapt at doing a writeup on it, I shall leave it to my amateur photographs to tell the story. Please pardon my photos, both quality and quantity wise, as it was a bad field trip for me.
Honestly, I think the standard of the food has gone south while the prices have steadily gone north. The shark's fin soup used to be decent but now its just a bowl of salty watered down starch serving with a couple of strands of shark's fin. The famous Durian Pengat, which used to have me going back for more (think 5-6 helpings), is now ridiculously sweet and diluted. Variety of food has stayed constant and I'm pretty sure that they have been serving up the same few dishes throughout the years. The additional outdoor counters are only there due to the restaurant having some anniversary promotion and even then, the food is really not up to the mark.
$223 for 5 pax (before discount) is pure madness for some common and average tasting fare. However factor in the 50% discount ($22/pax) and it will probably be worth it. No prizes for guessing if I'll be back.
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From the moment you step out of the express elevator, the panoramic backdrop of Singapore's urban landscape greets you through floor to ceiling windows. The amphitheatre styled restaurant is tastefully designed with subtle oriental influences through the use of wood and overhanging red Chinese lanterns. The world slows to a crawl in this elegant restaurant, giving one a sense of space and serenity, perfect for a laid back dinner.
The complimentary bread looked really appetising with lots of variety but the truth of the matter was, it was lousy. Most of the bread was dry and hard and probably the only decent one was the bun with sugar and cheese but even then, it was too sweet. It definitely didn't help that the accompanying butter was rock hard as well.
Cappucino of Wild Mushrooms - The soup sure didn't look enticing, especially with the seemingly charred black slice of toast atop. But to give it credit, it tasted decent but did come across as a tad too oily for my liking. There was definitely nothing wild about the taste and I can probably get better mushroom soup elsewhere at a fraction of the price. (I'm not sure how much it costs because it comes with my degustation menu, but being Equinox, you can be sure it isn't going to be cheap).
Roasted Japanese Scallops - Plain bland would be most apt in describing the scallops. Huge as they were, they were neither sweet nor juicy. Interestingly, straddled in between pieces of scallops were scallop lookalike soft and wobbly pieces of Boudin Blanc, white sausages made from pork without the blood, which had a faint liver taste. So in actual fact, there were only 3 pieces of scallops, all for a whopping $28.
Tian of Mud Crab and Avocado - Just a little background on the word Tian. Its actually a square or rectangular French casserole dish originally used for baking. Fanciful names and aesthetics aside, the mud crab and avocado was decent, with the rawness of the crab not overpowering. The bits of avocado in between provided a refreshing change from the monotony of the crab.
Roast Foie Gras Escalope - I shuddered as I took my first bite of the foie gras. First there came shock and then disappointment started to set in. It was neither soft nor wobbly! I am really appalled at such standards. However, I must say that the honey cake that came alongside was spongy and actually made the foie gras bearable.
White Miso Glazed Cod - I've always liked cod fish and Equinox's rendition of the cod was quite good, with the flesh being soft and smooth yet firm enough to retain its form. However I did find the drizzled white miso sauce a little too sweet which made me nauseous after a while. Thank god for the greens that came with it!
Tenderloin of Beef 'Rossini' - Done up medium rare as per my request, the beef was absolutely disappointing. Dry and tough doesn't even begin to describe it. Portions were small and it lacked the sweetness and beefy taste that all decent beef should have. What more can I say?
Hazelnut Chocolate Bar - I liked this quite a bit. The chocolate bar was quite smooth yet not too rich with a nice crunchy biscuit base. Accompanying the chocolate bar was a nice scoop of mint ice cream which I don't usually like, but this one was light and sat very well with me.
Sweet Temptation - Milk Chocolate Orange Gateau, Fig and Sangria Gelee & Yoghurt Sorbet, Contemporary Apple Tart & Nougat Chips, Araguani Chocolate Cream & Vanilla Chantilly & Coffee Granite - Overall the dessert platter was decent. For starters, the milk chocolate orange gateau was rather interesting with the chocolate gateau hinting strongly of orange. Quite a nice combination in my humble opinion.
I didn't quite take to the fig and sangria gelee though, as I'm not exactly a fan of fig or sangria. And the texture of the gelee (jello) reminded me of hardened "kuay" then anything else. The yoghurt sorbert was alright though but nothing fantastic.
The contemporary apple tart's biscuit was a tad too hard and dry but the apple cubes were nice without being too sweet or sour. Having said that, it wasn't exactly wow for me.
The highlight of the dessert platter has to be the Araguani chocolate cream. Topped with vanilla chantilly (cream) and coffee granite, this combination proved to be rather interesting when everything was mixed together. Bitter and sweet altogether. The addition of chocolate balls to this dessert gave it a nice crunchy texture as well.
Expectations, expectations, expectations. That's what it all boils down to. Seriously, the food isn't bad, just that I had high expectations of it with all the hype and of course the steep pricing, standing at just over $310 ($177 after 50% discount) for 2 pax. Service is good but honestly, the food's not worth returning for. For the view and ambience, maybe.
See all my pictures here.
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Soon Kueh is so called for a reason. There is supposed to be Soon (Bamboo) in it and not Mang Guang (Turnip) which is pretty prevalent in most of the Soon Kueh that is sold today. Therefore it came as a surprise that the Soon Kueh we bought was filled with Soon and not Mang Guang. For those who didn't know, Soon is crunchier and tastier and emits a slight fragrance as compared to Mang Guang. The Soon Kueh's skin was slightly translucent and slightly elastic, which made for a very good eat.
The Ang Ku Kueh's skin was slightly thicker than usual, but when consumed, didn't feel too starchy. The peanut filling was tightly compacted and every bite guaranteed a mouthful of grounded peanuts. Taste wise was above average, but I've tried better.
The Png Kueh was huge for its price (70cents) but a tad too oily. But hey, all Png Kuehs are oily aren't they? Could never really differentiate between good and bad Png Kuehs so this one was ok to me.
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I had their Guacamole Bacon Cheeseburger, which was quite a size, relative to other fast food outlets in Singapore. The beef patties were a little juicy and moist but I couldn't quite taste the natural beef flavours as it was masked by the strong greenish looking sauce. The bun tasted ordinary and overall it was a decent eat and extremely satisfying.
Funny how the chilli fries weren't spicy and tasted of curry instead. Not impressive, but I'm a sucker for fries, especially for ones which have gound beef and cheese in it.
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$24 netts you 12 different aesthetically pleasing pastries, all of which are simply delectable. I honestly don't remember how each individual one tasted like but I do know for a fact that I liked all of them! I guess the pictures will be able to tell you a better story.
Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!they look so cute and tempting!!
30 Jun 2008 at 10:29 pm
are there tables and seats in there? or does it only sell takeaways?
30 Jun 2008 at 10:30 pm