feizhu's Reviews
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Jurong Hill Top restaurant, as the name suggests, sits on top of Jurong Hill, right above the Jurong Bird Park and overlooks the entire Tuas industrial estate. Having a ride up is highly recommended, unless you prefer to have a rigorous workout before your meal. It is divided into 3 sections, or whatever you want to call it. The Japanese section, the Teppanyaki section and the Indonesian food section. As usual, my gf and I made reservations for the teppanyaki section and I'm proud to say that we were actually on time today! Well, that still didn't guarantee us a seat. We had to sit around for a couple of minutes to wait for a seat. There were many people waiting as well, but we had priority. It was as packed as that!
The menu was simple and easy to read. No complicated combinations or fancy names for the dishes. My gf had the sukiyaki chicken set while I had the recommended venison meat set with an additional order of tofu. The chef proceeded to cook in front of us and I must admit that I was pretty impressed by his nifty slicing and dicing skills, especially when it came to de-shelling the king prawns that someone else had ordered. The cooking of beef was also an eye opener and it must surely be the epitome of our visit to the restaurant. The slab of beef was doused with spirit(I think)and set ablaze with a matchstick. Imagine the "woos" and the "ahs" that followed.
Well, back to our food. The sukiyaki was normal and so was the venison meat, which was cooked with black pepper. Even the bean sprouts with garlic was normal. But it definitely tastes better then any of those Teppanyaki wannabe stalls that I've tried in various foodcourts. Portion wise, it was just right, but for people with bigger appetites, it might be a tad too small. Our meals came with dessert as well and I had the almond jelly with longan and my gf had the mango pudding. The almond jelly tasted a little funny, but the mango pudding was a notch above average. It had this layer of milk on top of it which left a nice after taste.
Total damage for the day was $43.05/-. An excellent price considering that it's a nice quaint little restaurant perched on top of a hill and you get to experience someone cooking your food in front of you. The service was good, even the chef was nice. I've got to give it to the chef for his presentation skills as well. To top it off, there's no service charge! But be prepared for the cooking fumes to linger on your clothes though. People who are looking to have a nice romantic meal with their loved ones, stay away! Meals are over in about 30-45mins max and there are just too many people around one table to have any personal space. However, if you are looking for the Teppanyaki experience without busting your wallet, do give it a try. Meanwhile, I'll be going back to try their King Prawns and steak soon!
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Marutama's interior is quite small and can be rather uncomfortable at times due to the close proximity of the tables as well as the lack of open spaces. Seating capacity should hover around 30 pax or so and the decor is kept clean and simple. If you so happen to get a table with a window, you are in for a stressful session as the only thing that seperates you from the queuing customers outside is the window. Imagine people peering at you and your food. Not a nice feeling if you ask me.
Aka Ramen - Seven kinds of nuts soup base Ramen with Coriander - This soup base was supposedly of a limited nature aka while stocks last. It was a little spicy and tasted very strongly of coriander. Honestly, I couldn't make out the taste of any of the seven nuts and it was really salty, not to mention "sweet" from all the MSG in it. It was quite bad really. I had to down glass after glass of water just to get rid of the MSG induced thirst. That aside, the noodles were quite springy, but tasted rather flat. From what I understand, the soup base is supposed to be flavourful to make up for the flat ramen, but its really like two extremes coming together but not exactly jelling well.
I had added on a side of Char Siew and it was simply fabulous. The fatty portions of the Char Siew literally melted in my mouth and the meat was tender and flavourful. I've honestly never tasted Char Siew like that. The only bummer was the not too generous servings. Please note that it is not your usual Char Siew that you can buy from the marketplace. In case you are wondering what are those balls in the picture, its some kind of a meat ball with a weird taste to it. Nothing fancy or impressive though.
Marutama Ramen - Chicken Base Soup Ramen - This soup base came across as slightly heavier and tasted rather common. As with the Aka Ramen base, it was heavy on the MSG and way too salty. The additional side of pork belly was good though. Quiveringly tender, it dissolved ever so readily in my mouth. This is definitely as good as the Char Siew.
Considering that it was only 2 bowls of ramen with an additional 2 sides, $40 is heck of a lot to pay. The noodles and soup base were not to our liking, but the Char Siew and pork belly could prove to the biggest draw. Having said that, I don't think I'll be back in a hurry, especially with the mad queues.
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The dishes came fast and furious, almost simultaneously. The braised goose was a little too soft for my liking and was nowhere as good as the ones from Guan Hin, Hung Kang or Huat Kee. However the portions are quite substantial, which propels it to the top of the food portions category. Stir fried Kailan was pretty normal. The Ha Zhor was pretty good. Crispy and compact. However the dipping sauce was sweet sauce and not the traditional plum sauce.
I only had a bite of the Fish Maw and found it quite decent, but nothing too outstanding unlike the one I had at Beng Hiang. The Four Treasures beancurd is slightly better than the homemade beancurd I had at Guan Hin. Though made in the same way(I presume so cause both had rough textures), Swa Garden's offering was slightly more robust in texture and flavour. However, having said that, I am still of the opinion that it was not impressive.
Swa Garden's Orh Nee is a little different from the Orh Nees that I have eaten. Firstly, it comes submerged under a layer of syrup. Secondly, it is more watery than the others that I've tried, which isn't a bad thing really. It makes the paste smoother and it just glides down your throat. However, I did find it a little too watery for my liking. My dad liked it though.
$78 for 4 pax isn't really too expensive, but it stops short of being cheap. Not exactly an impressive dinner, but an enjoyable one nevertheless. The set menu for 4 does offer some really good bargains and I'll definitely be back to try it.
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Salted Pig Trotter with Pepper - We tried Pu Tien's rendition of the pig's trotters for the first time and left rather disappointed. True, the skin was crispy and lightly salted to bring out the balance of flavours. But it was more of soggy crispy rather than crackling crispy and most of it was just fats and minimal meat, which made swallowing a rather difficult task because of the preconceived notions of unhealthiness.
Stir Fried Kailan with Beancurd Skin - This dish was supposed to have more kailan than beancurd skin, but strangely enough, it was vice versa. The beancurd skin was a huge blob and practically covered out whatever small portions of the kailan that was given. And eating too much soft beancurd skin is a sure fire recipe for getting woozy really fast. A rather lacklustre but decently palatable dish overall.
Deep Fried Chicken with Garlic - This time round, the Deep Fried Chicken with Garlic was merely normal. The skin was as crispy as I remembered it to be but the meat came across as a little dry. Also, it tasted rather bland even with the fried garlic atop.
Homemade Beancurd - Undoubtedly the best dish of the evening, the homemade beancurd was soft yet firm and had a nice savoury after taste. I wouldn't go so far as to call it out of this world, but its really a gem. I must say that even my parents were quite impressed with this dish and thats coming from 2 very fussy eaters.
Hing Wa Fried Bee Hoon - As with my previous visit, I didn't find this dish the least bit impressive. The bee hoon was very fine but a little too dry and bland for my liking.
Dinner for 3 stood at about $51, which is in line with my idea of a reasonable dinner given the quality of food. But do not expect top notch food for the price. Its merely comfort food done up with a little more finesse.
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Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!haha i agree! the beehoon got no taste!
07 Oct 2008 at 10:38 am
Since we got there at about 9pm, alot of stuff were sold out, like the soup of the day and the smoked duck. So we had to settle for some recommendations by the captain. Namely, Double Boiled Fish's Bone with "Tian Ma", Deep Fried Prawns Coated with Salted Egg Yolk and Stewed Chicken with Young Ginger in Honey Sauce. We rounded up the meal with Durian Pudding and Glutinous Rice Balls with sesame filling.
Lei Garden is well known for its double boiled soups and I never fail to order at least a serving every time I patronise. As such, I had high expectations for the Double Boiled Fish's Bone with "Tian Ma" and it didn't disappoint. The soup was sweet and light with a hint of rawness. However, I did get a little sick of drinking the soup after the first bowl mainly because the slight fishy taste made me queasy. So too much of a good thing isn't always good. Just a little nugget of information, this soup is supposed to relieve dizziness and calm the mind. How true? I have no idea.
The Deep Fried Prawns Coated with Salted Egg Yolk was a delicacy in the making. The egg yolk gave the prawns a slight salty taste and the flavours were evident throughout. The prawns were also very fresh and biting into one is akin to eating Cereal Prawns - You just pop the whole thing into your mouth and enjoy the crunching sounds. However, I say that this dish is a delicacy still in the making because there is room for improvement. For one, the frying batter was uneven. Some prawns had more batter on the front, some had more on the back. This made the overall taste non homogeneous, with some parts being saltier than others.
The Stewed Chicken with Young Ginger in Honey Sauce sounded interesting, but it was no more than Sweet and Sour Chicken, at least that was what it tasted like. Yes, the chicken meat was definitely more tender than the usual stuff you get outside and the sauce was decidedly lighter and less pronounced than the normal ones outside that threaten to overpower the taste of everything else. I liked this dish and so did my gf. Funny that there was no ginger taste though.
Desserts have never really been a forte for Lei Garden and their desserts speak for themselves. My Durian Pudding tasted rather artificial although there were significant chunks of Durian meat in it. The Gelatine was in excess and gave the pudding a very creamy yet mashed up texture. My gf's Glutinous Rice Balls with sesame filling was rather tasteless. The rice balls were coated with ground peanuts, which made them fragrant. However, the sesame filling could do with more flavour.
Dinner blew us away at about $110/-. We certainly didn't expect the bill to be so high, especially since our dishes weren't exactly expensive stuff. Nevertheless, the food quality is there and it is certainly quite refined. No one said good food comes cheap right? Service was good as well, so that kind of eased the pain when I saw the bill.
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Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!Have you ever looked at the price on the menu before you even order a dish? :P
06 Jan 2008 at 12:40 am
I want to eat the dim sum here. Aiyah he likes to order recommended stuff ma :P
06 Jan 2008 at 1:26 am
I try not to look at the prices sometime :p
06 Jan 2008 at 11:46 am