Swenson’s (Tampines Mall)

Swenson's is a property pretty much everyone would have heard about. Began since 1948 over in San Francisco, Swenson's has since grown to encompass the Middle East, Asia and USA. Their outlets can be found easily in shopping malls and other outlets alike. For a place that began as a humble ice cream shop, it now boasts a menu all its own. Has time been kind on this franchise though?

What i had that day: Strawberry Sundae Chicken Soup Prawn And Fruit Salad Chicken in a Jacket Omelette With Salad and Fries French Fries Pesto Salmon Saute Rodeo Wings Clam Chowder Ribeye Steak Cookies and Cream Ice Cream with Chipsmore Cookie

Of all the items above, the ones i did try are the soup, which was pasty and starchy and also quite salty. The prawn and fruit salad was pretty good albeit bland as it was only the taste of lettuce with prawns with little or no olive oil and vinegaritte. The good thing about it was that the prawns were crunchy. The fries turned out to be the best item for this visit IMHO. Hot, slightly thick and not oily. It went well with the tartar sauce and chilli/tomato mixture as usual. The rodeo wings came across as overfried and had too much flour thrown into the mix. The rodeo aka spicy chili sauce felt tagged on and not the authentic smoked rodeo wings it should be. My main course was the ribeye steak which i ordered medium rare but came well done. There was also an abundance of the fatty layer which meant a huge part of the meat could not be consumed. The meat tasted tough and lacked any form of beefy taste which i would have expected. The cookies and cream ice cream was another disappointment in it being close to tasteless. At least it was sweet though.

I'm quite disappointed frankly but at the very least, it did not deteriorate to the point of Jack's Place which i've completely sworn off. Also, i have to thank my 2 colleagues for giving me a treat for this as otherwise, i may not have had the chance to try it again. The way it stands now, its a safe bet to say that improvements are definitely needed but its still not beyond redemption.