My recommendations: Portobello Mushroom Burger Real portobello mushrooms used as compared to the canned variety you get in Burger King.
Tip 1: Bring friends with large appetites in case yours aren't enough.
Tip 2: When ordering a combo, don't change the ordinary fries that comes with it. Change it to anything else and they up-size your drink as well. Pointless when you can get a free-flow of soft drinks. Even more pointless when you know that the difference in price between the original ordinary fries and the new item is less than the extra you are paying for. If you really want to try the other sides, share. (Thus reinforcing Tip 1)
Tip 3: The air-conditioning is a little bit colder than one would like it. So I recommend sitting outside. Plus there's the occasional show-off who would drive his yellow Lamborghini around in circles. Probably because it can't go up over a hump without scraping the under-carriage. Anyway, that's the fun part on top of the fact that it is warmer outside, rain or shine.
Polarbearsaid: You forgot to mention free flow of drinks as well. I like the make your own lemon tea. Hee..... 05 Oct 2007 at 2:34 pm
ruffnookasaid: But I think the Iced Tea tastes rather horrid now... rather tasteless. They even stopped serving iced tea at one of the branches. 16 Mar 2008 at 9:48 am
Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!
My recommendations: Mushroom steamboat, tibetian ribs, monkey head mushroom in special sauce, paper steamboat.
The food is great! So gather round the steamboat for an experience.
It's fascinating to see so many different kinds of mushrooms before you and it's amazing how every one of them can have a unique taste.
I tried the paper steamboat set on my first visit and was pleasantly surprised. A generous amount of vegetables, meat of your choice and a wide selection of mushrooms simmering in a rich broth. The set also came with rice and a choice of a side dish. I picked the monkey head mushroom in special sauce. The chilli sauce is the type that compels you to have more of it.
For a larger group, get the mushroom steamboat for a communal meal. Since it is a steamboat, all the ingredients are served raw, even the mushrooms. For the curious and inquisitive, take time to scrutinise the different types of fungi that will end up in the soup. Start a class to talk about fungi here.
What Japanese fusion? It reminded me more of ice-kachang
The food in general is alright. Nothing special actually. Even after a few visits, I still cannot understand why they would categorize themselves as Japanese Fusion. The only thing remotely Japanese was just curry with rice. The western fare come in generous portions though anything western tastes like similar dishes from any other western restaurant. Also, every meat dish comes with a huge portion of fat. Which according to my very limited knowledge of Japan, seems very unJapanese.
As much as the restaurant praise their mudpies, I am very disappointed in them in the taste and portion. Ice flakes found in them are obviously the result of diluted ingredients. Though they taste ok. The use of soybean ice-cream for some of their mudpie flavors are quite delightful. The promotional sundaes were not bad, but they tasted more similar to ice-kachang than Japanese desserts with grass jelly and red bean. The sesame, green tea and soybean ice cream just weren't Japanese enough.
What is worth a try there are the drinks. They come in novelty mugs for single portions and jugs in double portions.
Occasion 1: Free flow of Candy Floss and a foot-long weiner!
I think I will go in and order a hot chocolate velvet and keep getting candy floss in future since it is free.
No joke, the Crazy Dog is a foot-long sausage on a tiny bun with lots of pickles and other stuff.
The sandwiches are really good and you can even order them for take outs and they don't bill you with service charge.
Occasion 2: Experienced Half-hearted Service and Half-decent Drink
My second outing to this restaurant with the Girlfriend had us ordering the signature BBQ Ribs, Smoked Salmon Salad and Frosty Bailey's Chocolate Velvet.
The bad: I mentioned the chocolate velvets were good in the previous post. I want to add on that the statement only applies to the hot ones. The cold ones, especially the frosty ones suck terribly. The Girlfriend and I both agreed that the Frosty Bailey's Chocolate Velvet was a rip off. The Girlfriend and I were also rather appalled by the service. It's one thing to be slow. It's a whole new league when they fail to follow-up or do things halfway. First they omitted the iced water, then they cleared the table halfway.
But at least this restaurant is a great place to people watch.
Occasion 3: Warning: Extremely rich hot chocolate
Potent hot chocolates which they call chocolate velvets. Highly recommended for chocolate lovers.
My friends and I got quite a shock when we saw the bill. 3 seemingly harmless main courses and 3 drinks set us back by $74. After a little investigation, we realized it was the drinks that really 'compounded' the bill. So my tips on eating at this place: - be prepared for the bill or - order just the main courses or the specialty drinks
That's for you to be mentally prepared.
On with the food. As mentioned before, the chocolate velvets are out of this world. "Richer than Donald Trump" was how they described these drinks, which was quite apt if not corny.
I tried the juicy beef burger. Huge portions, well marinated minced beef. The fries on the side were rather disappointing though. I could see them still soaked with grease when the food arrived.
The friends ordered the rotisserie chicken and chicken and prawns combo.
Pricing for the main courses are actually quite reasonable. But once again, be prepared for a bomb of a bill if you want a specialty drink to wash everything down.
I'm very unhappy about the way they trick you into paying for extras that you don't want.
On Tuesdays, you get waffles at half price. So being the bargain hunter, the girlfriend and I went to this branch for a large waffle. We wanted ice-cream with that. Then, the guy taking the order asked, "Would you like strawberry or chocolate sauce on top?"
It felt odd, the question. But I didn't give it too much thought. So I replied, "Chocolate sauce."
It is just like the unscrupulous trick question Long John Silvers' used to ask their customers, "Medium or large drink?" when the set meal you ordered only has a small drink.
The quality of the waffles and ice-cream is still good, but be sharp when you order waffles on Tuesdays.
And I hope the management fires that guy who asked, "Strawberry or chocolate sauce?"
genesissaid: Trick question. Beware! Every question they ask, must ask them back....it it FREE? 18 Sep 2007 at 4:33 pm
claudsaid: Wahaha! That's so funny genesis! For me, I usually take just the waffle and add a scope of ice-cream. Plain and simple is yummy! 19 Sep 2007 at 3:23 pm
PuNiaoPuNiaosaid: when you see the bill, you should try asking: "You mean the sauce isn't for free? I have to pay for it?" maybe, they won't charge if you ask like that.. 08 Mar 2008 at 12:51 am
Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!
1=SGD 0.0587
My recommendations: Portobello Mushroom Burger
Real portobello mushrooms used as compared to the canned variety you get in Burger King.
Tip 1: Bring friends with large appetites in case yours aren't enough.
Tip 2: When ordering a combo, don't change the ordinary fries that comes with it. Change it to anything else and they up-size your drink as well. Pointless when you can get a free-flow of soft drinks. Even more pointless when you know that the difference in price between the original ordinary fries and the new item is less than the extra you are paying for.
If you really want to try the other sides, share. (Thus reinforcing Tip 1)
Tip 3: The air-conditioning is a little bit colder than one would like it. So I recommend sitting outside. Plus there's the occasional show-off who would drive his yellow Lamborghini around in circles. Probably because it can't go up over a hump without scraping the under-carriage. Anyway, that's the fun part on top of the fact that it is warmer outside, rain or shine.
Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!You forgot to mention free flow of drinks as well. I like the make your own lemon tea. Hee.....
05 Oct 2007 at 2:34 pm
But I think the Iced Tea tastes rather horrid now... rather tasteless. They even stopped serving iced tea at one of the branches.
16 Mar 2008 at 9:48 am
My recommendations: Mushroom steamboat, tibetian ribs, monkey head mushroom in special sauce, paper steamboat.
The food is great! So gather round the steamboat for an experience.
It's fascinating to see so many different kinds of mushrooms before you and it's amazing how every one of them can have a unique taste.
I tried the paper steamboat set on my first visit and was pleasantly surprised. A generous amount of vegetables, meat of your choice and a wide selection of mushrooms simmering in a rich broth. The set also came with rice and a choice of a side dish. I picked the monkey head mushroom in special sauce. The chilli sauce is the type that compels you to have more of it.
For a larger group, get the mushroom steamboat for a communal meal. Since it is a steamboat, all the ingredients are served raw, even the mushrooms. For the curious and inquisitive, take time to scrutinise the different types of fungi that will end up in the soup. Start a class to talk about fungi here.
Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!
The food in general is alright.
Nothing special actually.
Even after a few visits, I still cannot understand why they would categorize themselves as Japanese Fusion. The only thing remotely Japanese was just curry with rice. The western fare come in generous portions though anything western tastes like similar dishes from any other western restaurant. Also, every meat dish comes with a huge portion of fat. Which according to my very limited knowledge of Japan, seems very unJapanese.
As much as the restaurant praise their mudpies, I am very disappointed in them in the taste and portion. Ice flakes found in them are obviously the result of diluted ingredients. Though they taste ok. The use of soybean ice-cream for some of their mudpie flavors are quite delightful.
The promotional sundaes were not bad, but they tasted more similar to ice-kachang than Japanese desserts with grass jelly and red bean. The sesame, green tea and soybean ice cream just weren't Japanese enough.
What is worth a try there are the drinks. They come in novelty mugs for single portions and jugs in double portions.
Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!
Occasion 1: Free flow of Candy Floss and a foot-long weiner!
I think I will go in and order a hot chocolate velvet and keep getting candy floss in future since it is free.
No joke, the Crazy Dog is a foot-long sausage on a tiny bun with lots of pickles and other stuff.
The sandwiches are really good and you can even order them for take outs and they don't bill you with service charge.
Occasion 2: Experienced Half-hearted Service and Half-decent Drink
My second outing to this restaurant with the Girlfriend had us ordering the signature BBQ Ribs, Smoked Salmon Salad and Frosty Bailey's Chocolate Velvet.
The good:
BBQ Ribs were huge and they tasted really good. The cut was not as fatty as what the other restaurants (like Café Cartel) would serve and the BBQ sauce was not too sweet.
The Smoked Salmon Salad was surprisingly good. The flavours were strong but it also allowed the freshness of the salmon to be tasted. I strongly recommend this one.
The bad:
I mentioned the chocolate velvets were good in the previous post. I want to add on that the statement only applies to the hot ones. The cold ones, especially the frosty ones suck terribly. The Girlfriend and I both agreed that the Frosty Bailey's Chocolate Velvet was a rip off.
The Girlfriend and I were also rather appalled by the service. It's one thing to be slow. It's a whole new league when they fail to follow-up or do things halfway. First they omitted the iced water, then they cleared the table halfway.
But at least this restaurant is a great place to people watch.
Occasion 3: Warning: Extremely rich hot chocolate
Potent hot chocolates which they call chocolate velvets. Highly recommended for chocolate lovers.
My friends and I got quite a shock when we saw the bill. 3 seemingly harmless main courses and 3 drinks set us back by $74. After a little investigation, we realized it was the drinks that really 'compounded' the bill.
So my tips on eating at this place:
- be prepared for the bill or
- order just the main courses or the specialty drinks
That's for you to be mentally prepared.
On with the food. As mentioned before, the chocolate velvets are out of this world. "Richer than Donald Trump" was how they described these drinks, which was quite apt if not corny.
I tried the juicy beef burger. Huge portions, well marinated minced beef. The fries on the side were rather disappointing though. I could see them still soaked with grease when the food arrived.
The friends ordered the rotisserie chicken and chicken and prawns combo.
Pricing for the main courses are actually quite reasonable. But once again, be prepared for a bomb of a bill if you want a specialty drink to wash everything down.
Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!
I'm very unhappy about the way they trick you into paying for extras that you don't want.
On Tuesdays, you get waffles at half price. So being the bargain hunter, the girlfriend and I went to this branch for a large waffle. We wanted ice-cream with that. Then, the guy taking the order asked, "Would you like strawberry or chocolate sauce on top?"
It felt odd, the question. But I didn't give it too much thought. So I replied, "Chocolate sauce."
I only realized after my order was served that the chocolate sauce didn't taste very good with the waffles. I then checked the receipt only to see that I have been charged and extra 50 cents for chocolate sauce.
What pisses me off is that they used that common sales tactic to trick customers.
What pisses me off even more is that a cafe/restaurant like Gelaré would stoop to this level.
The correct answer to that question should have been, "I would like to have the maple syrup that best suits the waffles and by my recollection, free. Thank you."
It is just like the unscrupulous trick question Long John Silvers' used to ask their customers, "Medium or large drink?" when the set meal you ordered only has a small drink.
The quality of the waffles and ice-cream is still good, but be sharp when you order waffles on Tuesdays.
And I hope the management fires that guy who asked, "Strawberry or chocolate sauce?"
Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!Trick question. Beware! Every question they ask, must ask them back....it it FREE?
18 Sep 2007 at 4:33 pm
Wahaha! That's so funny genesis! For me, I usually take just the waffle and add a scope of ice-cream. Plain and simple is yummy!
19 Sep 2007 at 3:23 pm
when you see the bill, you should try asking: "You mean the sauce isn't for free? I have to pay for it?" maybe, they won't charge if you ask like that..
08 Mar 2008 at 12:51 am