I was at Esplanade yesterday and was looking for a place to eat. Saw Harry's on the directory and went straight to it, thinking I'd get good steak. I was a little confused between Harry's @ Esplanade and Harry's Steakhouse, but when you see the place you'll know that the former is a pub or something.
So our group of 4 sat at a really small table where the plates were too big for it. We ordered a Fillet Steak, Rib-eye Steak, Fish & Chips and Chicken Burger. I must say everything but the Fish & Chips was disappointing.
Appearance wise, the F&C wasn't fascinating. I think hawker centres can do better, but nonetheless, in comparison to the others we had, the F&C was the best. The breaded fish was crispy and the meat was very soft.
I'd say both steaks were bad. I had the Fillet Steak with pepper sauce and a jacket potato and corn cob as side dish. The corn cob was bad because when you bite into the corn, it tastes very mashed up like the corn isn't fresh. I've never had anything like that before. It was horrible I couldn't bring myself to eat it. The potato itself was all right. At least the potato was soft. But they left out the bacon bits (which I later found out wasn't crispy. It was actually bacon slices cut into small pieces) on my potato and there was very little spring onions and sour cream. The steak had no taste of the pepper sauce at all, which goes the same for the Rib-Eye that my mom ordered - had no taste of the sauce requested.
As for the chicken burger, it was big no doubt. Looked good. But I guess all that would have been good on the burger would be the bread, tomatos, lettuce and nothing else. Realize what's missing? Yes, the chicken. The chicken was dry and tough, it could have been mistaken for yesterday's.
Lastly, they have nice waiter and waitress who tried to attend to all our needs. But I think that was all they had - 2 of them. I must say it did look like they were severly under-staff. They can still function well with 2 of them, but I'm complaining only because they can't. They miss out orders here and there. I hope that's only because it was a public holiday yesterday and they couldn't get people to work.
No matter what it was, I think that was my first and last time there.. I'd give a 1.5/5, but since there's no 1.5, I'll give it a 2 then.
There are so many Haagen-Dazs outlets in Singapore but somehow, I feel particularly comfortable at this outlet. I like this outlet because it is pretty quiet at all times. Most of the time, when I'm there, there seems to be less than 5 other customers there. I have no idea why the place is never full, but I'm not complaining! The place is always quiet, it's wonderful!
I like Haagen-Dazs' ice-cream, especially their Flower Blossom! This is better than those Banana Splits and whatnots. Why? Because it's SIX FLAVOURS in one wafer bowl! And guess what, you get to choose the flavours! This thing is less than $20 and it's big enough for 2 people to eat. I like this the most because you get to try so many flavours and I think it's the most worth it, relative to the other items they have.
Other than their ice cream, things like their coffee isn't really that worth it. What with the GST hike, the prices of their drinks hiked by more than 2 percentage points! Things are so expensive now. I think paying more than $7 for a cup of coffee is really not worth.
Service wise, this place does not have exceptionally good service but it's acceptable. They'd smile once in awhile and stuff. But at least they don't do absurd things that make you angry. Haha.
Try this Haagen Dazs if you're looking for a quiet place to go (:
There seems to be a growing trend of opening what used to be deemed more exclusive food (Italian, French etc) in food/hawker centres with competitive prices to boot. Ragazzi the Italian Kitchen is one such outlet to jump on the bandwagon to offer quality Italian food at coffeeshop prices.
Located at a rather obscure coffeeshop under a block of flats in the Ghim Moh estate, Ragazzi is owned and run by Gabriel Cher, ex chef-de partie of The Oriental's Dolce Vita (Interestingly, Dolce Vita serves Mediterranean food now, not Italian). Business was rather slow on a wet Saturday evening and one can only wonder if its the lack of publicity, wet weather or quality of food thats keeping the crowds at bay.
Zuppa alla Funghi - For $2.50 a pop, I certainly wasn't expecting much. But I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the soup was made from grounded mushrooms and onions, which was evident from the taste and texture. Only thing that could been improved was its thickness. It did come across as a little too watery but hey, its definitely value for money.
The bruschetta ($3) could have been good but was let down by a few factors. The good things first. Well toasted with the sides a little charred but soft and warm within. Now for the bad part. There was an way too much olive oil on the middle portion of the bread, which made it a little too soggy. Tomatoes on the top didn't look very fresh but did provide the necessary texture and zest.
Melanzane al Forno - I've never been a fan of eggplants and this wasn't about to change anything. The eggplant was a little too soft for my liking but I did like the layer of grilled cheese on top.
Carbonara ($7) - Being a cream based pasta lover, I naturally ordered the Carbonara to be on the safe side. The pasta was a tad too overcooked and the gravy did come across as a little too thick, rendering me nauseous after a while. However I would still say its very decent with the respectable bacon toppings and definitely better than anything pasta mania or the likes can whip up.
Del Bosco ($6) - As with the Carbonara, the Del Bosco's pasta was a tad too overcooked as well but what won me over were the sausages, which tasted thoroughly smoked but was a tad too salty. The tomato sauce wasn't outstanding, being average at best.
Tiramisu ($4.50) - I would be lying if I said that the Tiramisu was decent. To be honest, it was terrible. For one, the sponge fingers weren't soaked in Kahlua. It tasted more like fruit essence or something. Also, the mascarpone cheese was a little too dense and the whole thing was rather watery(water logged would have been appropriate too) at the bottom. It definitely didn't help that too much Cocoa powder was added as well.
All in all, a very filling dinner for 2 pax cost $27.50, which is very pricey by hawker standards but cheap by restaurant standards. Overall food quality is still decent so you might want to give this place a shot if you are craving for Italian food but not willing to fork out the dough for it.
After reading the above reviews, I decided to give this place a try. Couldn't find the place at first, but thanks to Lucardia, I managed to find it.
The concept of the ice-cream sticks ordering system is interesting, but if fact I feel that its quite inconvenient for the customers. Let's just say, we still pay 10% service charge but we do half the work for them, i.e. ordering. The sushi belt is right in the center of the place and you have to carry them back to your seats. The tray they provide is small. The most you can put is 4 plates at a go. Well, still consider alright since there aren't that many options to choose form.
99cents for a plate of sushi is cheap. But that's all they are. Cheap. The other dishes available looks normal. Ordered Fried Ebi and Fried Tofu. Tasted nice. But not fantastic.
One thing I don't like is the after-smell that's stuck with you event up till now. The spell that I call the "foodcourt smell". (That's one reason why I avoid eating at foodcourts.) So ya, I'll be avoiding this place too.
Love cheesecake? Love the Cheesecake Cafe! After your main course at some food outlet around Siglap, do pop by this Cafe to try their cheesecakes!
I love the interior of the place. Although the place is dimly lit on purpose, I quite like the place as it has quite a romantic ambience. If you look around, you'll notice many little details in the room which reflects the effort put in by the store owner in decorating the place. I like the little angel statues hung around the place! Plus, the combination of the lights and the yellow wall gives the place a pretty cosy feel too.
Unfortunately, the place isn't very big, so if you're not early you may not be able to get a place inside. Nonetheless, this won't stop you from trying their cheesecakes!
Being a rather specialized place, this shop has a variety of cheesecakes you'd be spoilt for choice! The flavours of their cheesecakes are well-balanced such that the flavour does not come out too strong, still leaving the natural taste of the cheesecake itself. I like the texture of the cake too, along with its crust.
Lovely place that I'd visit over and over again! Unfortunately, Siglap is not a very convenient area for me, especially if you don't drive. Also, they only open in the evening, do take note if you intend to go down! (:
After our last visit to Peaberry & Pretzel some time back, my gf and I decided to head back to Sunset Way to try out Megumi Japanese Restaurant on the recommendations of some folks.
Located just a few doors down from Peaberry & Pretzel, Megumi's air conditioned interior is smallish, with the bulk of the seating capacity in the al fresco area outside. Notice that this means lunch here in the afternoon might mean a sweaty affair unless you get to sit inside.
Billed as the Megumi special roll, there was nothing really special about it in my humble opinion. It came across as your ordinary California Roll with crab sticks and Tamago in it. Not that the extra ingredients gave it much taste either. Lets just say it tasted like a slightly sweeter version of the California Roll. So much for the secrecy. One other bone I had was that the rice was a little too dry and could have been firmer.
Char Siew Ramen - Labeled a house specialty, the ramen was a let down honestly. The noodles were your normal egg noodles though of a more springy version whereas the Char Siew was a little too dry and tough. It certainly didn't help that the soup was a tad too salty as well.
Saikoro Steak Set - Another one of the house specialties except that this one actually tasted quite decent. The beef was a little overcooked but still retained enough of its juices, taste and texture to warrant a decent rating. However, I must mention that portions are small and not homogeneously cooked, as evident by the residual butter I detected on some pieces of beef.
Black Sesame Ice Cream - I'm not exactly a fan of black sesame ice cream so I am not in a position to comment if its good or not. But my gf seemed to like it quite a bit so I'm guessing it must be of a certain standard.
Fried Vanilla Ice Cream - This was probably what I liked the best of all the dishes that evening. Interestingly, the batter was a thicker version of the crispy yet light tempura batter and actually went quite good with the vanilla ice cream. Now something needs to be done about the quality of the ice cream though, which was really mediocre.
While $61 for 2 pax isn't unreasonably expensive for the food, it isn't exactly cheap either, considering that the food was merely average. One funny thing I discovered. The restaurant was actually playing Korean songs. How cool is that?
There's been quite some talk about the Central (or at least from the people around me) and I was really anticipating my trip down! I must say it's really convenient to go to, because of the MRT station, and it's a wonderful addition to this Clarke Quay area. It's now not just a night-time place, you can go there to shop too!
It was quite nice to be walking in a new mall, seeing new things. I like seeing so many new clothes boutiques as well as restaurants! If you have to go there everyday, you probably won't run out of things to eat so soon (but maybe you'll run out of money first haha).
However, I personally wasn't very impressed by the structure of the building per se. Being my first time there, I thought that touring around the building could be quite confusing. The side of the building that has all the food outlets and restaurants seem to be another "tower", separated from the clothes and shopping section. Even then, within the "shopping" section, there seemed to be an annex. The place seems to be structured in a figure "8" design, where walking behind one row of shops will unfold yet another "world of shopping".
Although I did like walking around this new mall, I must say that most things on the 2nd to about 4th (i think?) level were selling the same type of stuff in terms of designs of clothes etc. No doubt it's the fashion now, but I really find it pretty boring to be seeing the same thing everywhere. Also, they seem to have created a replica of "Level One" at Far East in this mall. On top of that, there's not much things that appeals to the guys (other than the top most level (5th?) - the hardware shops). Not very well balanced, I feel. Don't think I'd be keen on shopping there too often.. =x
This incident happen to me over the weekend and have to say that I am very impressed with the staff over there.
I ordered a regular Black Forest and when I got it and drank it, I find the drink very diluted, seem like they forgot to add something in, I only have the coffee bitter after taste only, no taste of chocolate or whatever. Confirmed this with my galfren, who also find the drink under par.
So I mentioned this to the manager (I think), without any questions asked, he immediately offered to replace a new drink for me. The new drink was replaced to me within a min and it was prefect. Think they forgot to add in something in the 1st drink. Hee....
So based on this their customer service is really number one! I am really impressed!
(Now this is weird, I don't know what category to put this under!)
I was at Terminal 3 not too long ago! Had a free ticket to go in to check out the place. Changi Airport is definitely one of the nicest airport I've seen before, and terminal 3 is definitely not an exception (:
The design of the place is very modern and gives a somewhat futuristic feel. The place is quite different from T1 and T2 as they seem to make the place look more eco-friendly, with the plants on the wall and the green lift! Also, there are a lot of toilets around! This new terminal is REALLY BIG I say, and it's a good thing there are toilets everywhere!
I personally like the waiting area and basically the whole place after you check-in! There's going to be new shops that you've never seen in Singapore before. For soccer fanatics, they'll be opening a FIFA shop. I'm guessing they sell soccer stuff?
The interior design of the departure area is very interesting too. They make use of water features to give a cosy and warm feel in the middle of the departure area. On the B wing, they have a koi pond and a butterfly park. This is something refreshing to see in an airport! On the A wing, it's the absolutely-ladies' wing. They've got things like a powder room and shopping, shopping and MORE shopping! (All right that's basically in the whole place actually.) But the departure area is really so big that you need one whole day to walk I bet.
The waiting area is quite cool too! The chairs are aligned in a casual way, making the place look very comfortable. (The chairs are definitely comfortable actually.) It has uniquely designed couches and ceiling lights. On its own, these individual pieces of furniture are rather boring, but put together, it makes the place look very warm and welcoming. And with the view of the runway, it makes waiting time less boring too.
It's a pity though that unless you're going overseas, you probably won't be able to see the nice facilities they have. But on the whole, the new T3 is definitely great! I'm going to wait till the airport is officially open and I definitely will depart from T3 one day! (For the sake of being able to enjoy the facilities in there too... hahahah!) :D
(i'm not much of a photographer, so there aren't that many pics! oh and don't mind the weird "title"(s).)
This place is a bar plus restaurant at the ground level of Amara Hotel, but I was there only for dinner.
Initially, I didn't quite know what this place was. I was just looking for a place to sit but it was pretty early for dinner. I only knew it after I sat there for 20 min, until someone finally noticed my presence.
I was too early for dinner, so I decided to take a look at their snacks menu. Probably because it's a hotel, things are more expensive. The snacks cost as much as, or even more than, dinner itself. So I decided to wait. While waiting, I wasn't served a cup of water but was approached by 3 different very unfriendly-looking waitresses. I thought it was because you had to pay for it (what with water not being complementary anymore..) so I didn't give it much thought.
Finally, I ordered a bowl of Vietnamese Beef Noodles for dinner. It cost me $8 but the portion was so small it wouldn't have took me more than 5 min to finish it. Not only was it expensive, the beef, although it tastes ok, looked like it was some overnight beef. While I was eating, a different person came to ask if I wanted anything to drink. I asked for a cup of ice water and one of those unfriendly-looking waitresses came with it, along with my bill. Only then did I realize that the drink was free, and it really made me wonder why did I not get my drink at all..
As the sky darkened, the place got really dark too (oh I was sitting outdoors..). Good thing I was almost done and about to leave. The place was poorly lit, I don't think I'll like eating in the dark...
I don't think I'll be going back again. Not with the expensive food and unfriendly faces coming to me all the time..
1=SGD 0.0587
I was at Esplanade yesterday and was looking for a place to eat. Saw Harry's on the directory and went straight to it, thinking I'd get good steak. I was a little confused between Harry's @ Esplanade and Harry's Steakhouse, but when you see the place you'll know that the former is a pub or something.
So our group of 4 sat at a really small table where the plates were too big for it. We ordered a Fillet Steak, Rib-eye Steak, Fish & Chips and Chicken Burger. I must say everything but the Fish & Chips was disappointing.
Appearance wise, the F&C wasn't fascinating. I think hawker centres can do better, but nonetheless, in comparison to the others we had, the F&C was the best. The breaded fish was crispy and the meat was very soft.
I'd say both steaks were bad. I had the Fillet Steak with pepper sauce and a jacket potato and corn cob as side dish. The corn cob was bad because when you bite into the corn, it tastes very mashed up like the corn isn't fresh. I've never had anything like that before. It was horrible I couldn't bring myself to eat it. The potato itself was all right. At least the potato was soft. But they left out the bacon bits (which I later found out wasn't crispy. It was actually bacon slices cut into small pieces) on my potato and there was very little spring onions and sour cream. The steak had no taste of the pepper sauce at all, which goes the same for the Rib-Eye that my mom ordered - had no taste of the sauce requested.
As for the chicken burger, it was big no doubt. Looked good. But I guess all that would have been good on the burger would be the bread, tomatos, lettuce and nothing else. Realize what's missing? Yes, the chicken. The chicken was dry and tough, it could have been mistaken for yesterday's.
Lastly, they have nice waiter and waitress who tried to attend to all our needs. But I think that was all they had - 2 of them. I must say it did look like they were severly under-staff. They can still function well with 2 of them, but I'm complaining only because they can't. They miss out orders here and there. I hope that's only because it was a public holiday yesterday and they couldn't get people to work.
No matter what it was, I think that was my first and last time there.. I'd give a 1.5/5, but since there's no 1.5, I'll give it a 2 then.
Rating given:
There are so many Haagen-Dazs outlets in Singapore but somehow, I feel particularly comfortable at this outlet. I like this outlet because it is pretty quiet at all times. Most of the time, when I'm there, there seems to be less than 5 other customers there. I have no idea why the place is never full, but I'm not complaining! The place is always quiet, it's wonderful!
I like Haagen-Dazs' ice-cream, especially their Flower Blossom! This is better than those Banana Splits and whatnots. Why? Because it's SIX FLAVOURS in one wafer bowl! And guess what, you get to choose the flavours! This thing is less than $20 and it's big enough for 2 people to eat. I like this the most because you get to try so many flavours and I think it's the most worth it, relative to the other items they have.
Other than their ice cream, things like their coffee isn't really that worth it. What with the GST hike, the prices of their drinks hiked by more than 2 percentage points! Things are so expensive now. I think paying more than $7 for a cup of coffee is really not worth.
Service wise, this place does not have exceptionally good service but it's acceptable. They'd smile once in awhile and stuff. But at least they don't do absurd things that make you angry. Haha.
Try this Haagen Dazs if you're looking for a quiet place to go (:
Rating given:
There seems to be a growing trend of opening what used to be deemed more exclusive food (Italian, French etc) in food/hawker centres with competitive prices to boot. Ragazzi the Italian Kitchen is one such outlet to jump on the bandwagon to offer quality Italian food at coffeeshop prices.
Located at a rather obscure coffeeshop under a block of flats in the Ghim Moh estate, Ragazzi is owned and run by Gabriel Cher, ex chef-de partie of The Oriental's Dolce Vita (Interestingly, Dolce Vita serves Mediterranean food now, not Italian). Business was rather slow on a wet Saturday evening and one can only wonder if its the lack of publicity, wet weather or quality of food thats keeping the crowds at bay.
Zuppa alla Funghi - For $2.50 a pop, I certainly wasn't expecting much. But I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the soup was made from grounded mushrooms and onions, which was evident from the taste and texture. Only thing that could been improved was its thickness. It did come across as a little too watery but hey, its definitely value for money.
The bruschetta ($3) could have been good but was let down by a few factors. The good things first. Well toasted with the sides a little charred but soft and warm within. Now for the bad part. There was an way too much olive oil on the middle portion of the bread, which made it a little too soggy. Tomatoes on the top didn't look very fresh but did provide the necessary texture and zest.
Melanzane al Forno - I've never been a fan of eggplants and this wasn't about to change anything. The eggplant was a little too soft for my liking but I did like the layer of grilled cheese on top.
Carbonara ($7) - Being a cream based pasta lover, I naturally ordered the Carbonara to be on the safe side. The pasta was a tad too overcooked and the gravy did come across as a little too thick, rendering me nauseous after a while. However I would still say its very decent with the respectable bacon toppings and definitely better than anything pasta mania or the likes can whip up.
Del Bosco ($6) - As with the Carbonara, the Del Bosco's pasta was a tad too overcooked as well but what won me over were the sausages, which tasted thoroughly smoked but was a tad too salty. The tomato sauce wasn't outstanding, being average at best.
Tiramisu ($4.50) - I would be lying if I said that the Tiramisu was decent. To be honest, it was terrible. For one, the sponge fingers weren't soaked in Kahlua. It tasted more like fruit essence or something. Also, the mascarpone cheese was a little too dense and the whole thing was rather watery(water logged would have been appropriate too) at the bottom. It definitely didn't help that too much Cocoa powder was added as well.
All in all, a very filling dinner for 2 pax cost $27.50, which is very pricey by hawker standards but cheap by restaurant standards. Overall food quality is still decent so you might want to give this place a shot if you are craving for Italian food but not willing to fork out the dough for it.
See all my pictures here
Rating given:
After reading the above reviews, I decided to give this place a try. Couldn't find the place at first, but thanks to Lucardia, I managed to find it.
The concept of the ice-cream sticks ordering system is interesting, but if fact I feel that its quite inconvenient for the customers. Let's just say, we still pay 10% service charge but we do half the work for them, i.e. ordering. The sushi belt is right in the center of the place and you have to carry them back to your seats. The tray they provide is small. The most you can put is 4 plates at a go. Well, still consider alright since there aren't that many options to choose form.
99cents for a plate of sushi is cheap. But that's all they are. Cheap. The other dishes available looks normal. Ordered Fried Ebi and Fried Tofu. Tasted nice. But not fantastic.
One thing I don't like is the after-smell that's stuck with you event up till now. The spell that I call the "foodcourt smell". (That's one reason why I avoid eating at foodcourts.) So ya, I'll be avoiding this place too.
Rating given:
Love cheesecake? Love the Cheesecake Cafe! After your main course at some food outlet around Siglap, do pop by this Cafe to try their cheesecakes!
I love the interior of the place. Although the place is dimly lit on purpose, I quite like the place as it has quite a romantic ambience. If you look around, you'll notice many little details in the room which reflects the effort put in by the store owner in decorating the place. I like the little angel statues hung around the place! Plus, the combination of the lights and the yellow wall gives the place a pretty cosy feel too.
Unfortunately, the place isn't very big, so if you're not early you may not be able to get a place inside. Nonetheless, this won't stop you from trying their cheesecakes!
Being a rather specialized place, this shop has a variety of cheesecakes you'd be spoilt for choice! The flavours of their cheesecakes are well-balanced such that the flavour does not come out too strong, still leaving the natural taste of the cheesecake itself. I like the texture of the cake too, along with its crust.
Lovely place that I'd visit over and over again! Unfortunately, Siglap is not a very convenient area for me, especially if you don't drive. Also, they only open in the evening, do take note if you intend to go down! (:
Rating given:
After our last visit to Peaberry & Pretzel some time back, my gf and I decided to head back to Sunset Way to try out Megumi Japanese Restaurant on the recommendations of some folks.
Located just a few doors down from Peaberry & Pretzel, Megumi's air conditioned interior is smallish, with the bulk of the seating capacity in the al fresco area outside. Notice that this means lunch here in the afternoon might mean a sweaty affair unless you get to sit inside.
Billed as the Megumi special roll, there was nothing really special about it in my humble opinion. It came across as your ordinary California Roll with crab sticks and Tamago in it. Not that the extra ingredients gave it much taste either. Lets just say it tasted like a slightly sweeter version of the California Roll. So much for the secrecy. One other bone I had was that the rice was a little too dry and could have been firmer.
Char Siew Ramen - Labeled a house specialty, the ramen was a let down honestly. The noodles were your normal egg noodles though of a more springy version whereas the Char Siew was a little too dry and tough. It certainly didn't help that the soup was a tad too salty as well.
Saikoro Steak Set - Another one of the house specialties except that this one actually tasted quite decent. The beef was a little overcooked but still retained enough of its juices, taste and texture to warrant a decent rating. However, I must mention that portions are small and not homogeneously cooked, as evident by the residual butter I detected on some pieces of beef.
Black Sesame Ice Cream - I'm not exactly a fan of black sesame ice cream so I am not in a position to comment if its good or not. But my gf seemed to like it quite a bit so I'm guessing it must be of a certain standard.
Fried Vanilla Ice Cream - This was probably what I liked the best of all the dishes that evening. Interestingly, the batter was a thicker version of the crispy yet light tempura batter and actually went quite good with the vanilla ice cream. Now something needs to be done about the quality of the ice cream though, which was really mediocre.
While $61 for 2 pax isn't unreasonably expensive for the food, it isn't exactly cheap either, considering that the food was merely average. One funny thing I discovered. The restaurant was actually playing Korean songs. How cool is that?
See all my pictures here
Rating given:
There's been quite some talk about the Central (or at least from the people around me) and I was really anticipating my trip down! I must say it's really convenient to go to, because of the MRT station, and it's a wonderful addition to this Clarke Quay area. It's now not just a night-time place, you can go there to shop too!
It was quite nice to be walking in a new mall, seeing new things. I like seeing so many new clothes boutiques as well as restaurants! If you have to go there everyday, you probably won't run out of things to eat so soon (but maybe you'll run out of money first haha).
However, I personally wasn't very impressed by the structure of the building per se. Being my first time there, I thought that touring around the building could be quite confusing. The side of the building that has all the food outlets and restaurants seem to be another "tower", separated from the clothes and shopping section. Even then, within the "shopping" section, there seemed to be an annex. The place seems to be structured in a figure "8" design, where walking behind one row of shops will unfold yet another "world of shopping".
Although I did like walking around this new mall, I must say that most things on the 2nd to about 4th (i think?) level were selling the same type of stuff in terms of designs of clothes etc. No doubt it's the fashion now, but I really find it pretty boring to be seeing the same thing everywhere. Also, they seem to have created a replica of "Level One" at Far East in this mall. On top of that, there's not much things that appeals to the guys (other than the top most level (5th?) - the hardware shops). Not very well balanced, I feel. Don't think I'd be keen on shopping there too often.. =x
Rating given:
This incident happen to me over the weekend and have to say that I am very impressed with the staff over there.
I ordered a regular Black Forest and when I got it and drank it, I find the drink very diluted, seem like they forgot to add something in, I only have the coffee bitter after taste only, no taste of chocolate or whatever. Confirmed this with my galfren, who also find the drink under par.
So I mentioned this to the manager (I think), without any questions asked, he immediately offered to replace a new drink for me. The new drink was replaced to me within a min and it was prefect. Think they forgot to add in something in the 1st drink. Hee....
So based on this their customer service is really number one! I am really impressed!
Rating given:
(Now this is weird, I don't know what category to put this under!)
I was at Terminal 3 not too long ago! Had a free ticket to go in to check out the place. Changi Airport is definitely one of the nicest airport I've seen before, and terminal 3 is definitely not an exception (:
The design of the place is very modern and gives a somewhat futuristic feel. The place is quite different from T1 and T2 as they seem to make the place look more eco-friendly, with the plants on the wall and the green lift! Also, there are a lot of toilets around! This new terminal is REALLY BIG I say, and it's a good thing there are toilets everywhere!
I personally like the waiting area and basically the whole place after you check-in! There's going to be new shops that you've never seen in Singapore before. For soccer fanatics, they'll be opening a FIFA shop. I'm guessing they sell soccer stuff?
The interior design of the departure area is very interesting too. They make use of water features to give a cosy and warm feel in the middle of the departure area. On the B wing, they have a koi pond and a butterfly park. This is something refreshing to see in an airport! On the A wing, it's the absolutely-ladies' wing. They've got things like a powder room and shopping, shopping and MORE shopping! (All right that's basically in the whole place actually.) But the departure area is really so big that you need one whole day to walk I bet.
The waiting area is quite cool too! The chairs are aligned in a casual way, making the place look very comfortable. (The chairs are definitely comfortable actually.) It has uniquely designed couches and ceiling lights. On its own, these individual pieces of furniture are rather boring, but put together, it makes the place look very warm and welcoming. And with the view of the runway, it makes waiting time less boring too.
It's a pity though that unless you're going overseas, you probably won't be able to see the nice facilities they have. But on the whole, the new T3 is definitely great! I'm going to wait till the airport is officially open and I definitely will depart from T3 one day! (For the sake of being able to enjoy the facilities in there too... hahahah!) :D
(i'm not much of a photographer, so there aren't that many pics! oh and don't mind the weird "title"(s).)
Rating given:
This place is a bar plus restaurant at the ground level of Amara Hotel, but I was there only for dinner.
Initially, I didn't quite know what this place was. I was just looking for a place to sit but it was pretty early for dinner. I only knew it after I sat there for 20 min, until someone finally noticed my presence.
I was too early for dinner, so I decided to take a look at their snacks menu. Probably because it's a hotel, things are more expensive. The snacks cost as much as, or even more than, dinner itself. So I decided to wait. While waiting, I wasn't served a cup of water but was approached by 3 different very unfriendly-looking waitresses. I thought it was because you had to pay for it (what with water not being complementary anymore..) so I didn't give it much thought.
Finally, I ordered a bowl of Vietnamese Beef Noodles for dinner. It cost me $8 but the portion was so small it wouldn't have took me more than 5 min to finish it. Not only was it expensive, the beef, although it tastes ok, looked like it was some overnight beef. While I was eating, a different person came to ask if I wanted anything to drink. I asked for a cup of ice water and one of those unfriendly-looking waitresses came with it, along with my bill. Only then did I realize that the drink was free, and it really made me wonder why did I not get my drink at all..
As the sky darkened, the place got really dark too (oh I was sitting outdoors..). Good thing I was almost done and about to leave. The place was poorly lit, I don't think I'll like eating in the dark...
I don't think I'll be going back again. Not with the expensive food and unfriendly faces coming to me all the time..
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