We developed special likings for Korean BBQ after watching Running Man ~ and have visited several other places and branches of Korean BBQ. We always ended up comparing the places we went to with Hansang.
Note that we only went for the BBQ buffet dinners before:
Contrary to what the other reviewer wrote about Hansang, we found the place to be rather clean and clear of smoke. The place does have "smoke inhalers" but not at the top like other restaurants but at the sides of the BBQ oven. We are not as smelly as after we go some other restaurants.
Cuts of the meat are good, especially the pork belly which has got the perfect thickness that let's you bbq it to crispiness and yet not gag at the fattiness.
The buffet also includes free flow of very fresh vegetables, free flow of hot or cold roasted barley tea, free flow side dishes and the very nice kimchi pancake. One serving of either bibbimbap or soup and one serving of fruits and mochi. Cost is about $36 which we find to be quite reasonable.
The negative side of the place is firstly, the noisiness. Not sure why people need to laugh on top of their voices while eating Korean BBQ, that together with the loud korean music can really cause a headache.
Service is not non existence however, it is better if you get the Korean staff to serve as they seems to know better what the customers are talking about even though we are all talking in English. The Korean staff also give better explanation of cooking the meat.
Selection of meat for the BBQ is quite little, one non free flow beef, free flow of chicken, pork belly and marinated beef.
Went to this hotel for Christmas, a retro-themed boutique hotel which is quite fun to visit once in a while for Staycation.
The lobby and lounge is striking with Fushia Pink as the primary colour, the only problem we had was, we were unsure where the queue at the counter was.
Can be quite inaccessible for tourists who are unsure of the bus system. Though the hotel provides shuttle bus, we are not sure of where to board it and had to rely on cabs to and fro places.
Rooms were cleanly and retro-ly decorated (even in the bathrooms!). Smaller than a normal hotel room but extremely clean and well kept. With Star Chinese Movie channel, a basket of complimentary soft drinks and tidbits. Best, with free Wifi.
Went to this restaurant for brunch on Christmas day, the retro themed made our groggy morning/noon brighten up.
Order Laksa, Wings, Sandwiches, Steak, mushroom soup and desserts consisted of Tiramisu and Longan with Grass Jelly.
Laksa smelt nice, not too spicy, with eggs and prawns in it. But the prawns were not that fresh, unpeeled and not washed very cleanly as sand can still be found in the Laksa itself.
Wings were tad too oily and could have been marinated better with a bit of lime.
Steak was ordered as well done and indeed it came well done but not too much so the meat remained tender. The sauce though, was a mixture of black pepper and something VERY salty like soy sauce. Quite disappointing.
Their Tiramisu doesn't use Kahlua, the name of the wine I've forgotten, maybe we are not used to it so the Tiramisu tasted weird to us.
Pro: Went to Nirwana Gardens Beach Club (Huts, 2 rooms to 1 hut) for my first trip to Bintan. Rooms are clean and big enough for 2 or 3 pax to stay comfortably in. Toilet and floor are clean. Towels provided are clean. The air con is working very well and seems to be new too. Staff relatively friendly, can speak and understand English. The best thing about this place is, there's a beach attached to it and it's almost deserted most of the 2 days we were there. I believe this is because most of the guests went to the beach at the Nirwana Garden Hotel. The sports centre is very nearby so accessible if you want to play Banana Boat, Ski Jets but you'll need to go to the Hotel area for ATV. The Club is also very accomodating and allowed us to extend our stay by 1.5 hours with no extra charges.
Con: Don't buy anything from the cafe at the beach club. It's about 10 times more expensive than the prices in Singapore. A bottle of 1.5litres mineral water costs $10 and fruit platter at $8. Don't go for the packaged massage sessions offered by the beach club. We went for 1 at SGD 75 each that includes massage, choice between sampan or private beach, ride to shopping area and lunch. In the end, we travelled an hr plus of dizzy and nausating dangerous ride to some other resort. Massage was ok but we weren't given a choice of beach or Sampan, we were directly taken to the Sampan, no notifications at all! Lunch consisted of measly nasi lemak at 4pm! We were also told that the package doesn't include shopping when it actually does. If you want massage, just go to the nearby shopping area where they offer $50 for 2 hours massage.
This place is real~~~~~ crowded and full till when we wanted to go there for lunch at like 1pm, we had to leave our name there and waited for another 1 hour before there's a table available.
Btw, get a table, go to the counter and order pay. Do note your table number as you have to give that at the counter. Can't see the table no. anywhere though.
Tried European (egg Benedict), English Breakfast, Sauteed Mushrooms, Fresh Fruit Salad with Yogurt and Coffee.
Loved the toasted Brioche would like to finish it if not because I'm too full from the gigantic meal portion. Sauteed Mushrooms went well with the eggs or when eaten alone. Can't say the same for the sausages. Too salty for our taste.
The fruit salad with yogurt is a must-try! The yogurt is light and seemed to be spiced though I'm not sure with what. Cold yogurt went very well with the fresh fruits of berries, strawberries, mangoes and apples.
4 of us and we spent about $80 altogether! Bit ex for eating breakfast if you take that literally. But if we happen to visit that place again, Tunisian and Californian looks inviting. ;P
Went there for dinner during our stay at MBS. The buffet and last order for the ala carte ends at 1030pm. We didn't go for the buffet since it's already 930pm.
The reception staff was polite, no fake accent and ask for our room number and my husband's first name and led us to a nicely and clean table. Not sure whether this is true, but we got the same waitress serving our everything during the dinner. My husband's was also addressed by his first name during the dinner. Which means the waitress got to remember which table belongs to which guest. Not sure whether this only apply to guests staying at the hotel though. Polite-ness every where, questions of our well being and how we liked our food. There wasn't a need to request for refill of iced water as our glasses were refilled quite promptly.
Price, well, quite expected for MBS, $19 - $25 for main courses such as chicken rice, nasi goreng or laksa. $49 for stirloin steak. We ordered a Stirloin Steak, Lime Cheesecake and a coke and it came up to a whopping $79~ Luckily, the food quality is also quite standard... Steak succulent and to the mark when we requested for "medium well", a bit over marinated but still acceptable. Love the sorbet ice cream that came with the cheese cake. But the cake itself was too thick though. Not bad for an anniversary dinner but cannot visit too often, otherwise it will burn a hole in the pocket.
Just to add (due to space limitatn), i went to e wheelock branch, haven't been to e taka one, mlkc which branch did u go? and do u know e name of the therapist? good to share with us here! ;)
the time i went, there were others ard as well but it wasn't noisy, both the spa and salon was rather peaceful. i had my earpiece on and was able to focus on my movie - thankfully didn't fall aslp from e massage!
i like e massage e most, was really relaxing, and they also serve us drinks. overall, had a good experience at e wheelock branch.
Took Jetstar to Taiwan this year May. Price was $424 which wasn't what you will consider cheap. The usual complaints like cramped seats, no free meals, no entertainment and the too expensive coke. These are however, not of importance, hey~ its a budget airline, you can't expect too much.
They currently have add-$18-for-more-leg-space-seats which are quite bo liao. If I'm a Daddy long legs then perhaps I'll take it, otherwise no point spending the money on a short flight.
The only thing I have complaint about is the spoken English and Chinese on board. Even though its a budget airline but I do feel that passengers have a right to know the correct method of using the safety devices like life vest. With the don't-know-what-kind of accent the crew use, the incorrect pronounciation and the real muffled PA system, none of us really understood what they were explaining about.
Cramped seats or not, safety is more important to me.
Walking around the place with nothing much to choose for 3 hungry people's lunch, we finally walked into this shop(?) that did not look too catching but yet interesting.
Decorated in a manner that is sure to look inviting to students, we do see a lot of polaroids from past visitors (with their faces doodled).
As mentioned by the previous reviewers, you'll have to order and pay over the counter and wait for your number to be called. What we did not like was the hard to figure menu written in chalk above the counter and the noisy sound system which often interrupts our conversations.
Looking at the menu, seems to be fusion kind of burger joint where we ordered the Katsu burger, Mushroom swiss burger where I changed the bun for their "fluffy~ garlic butter rice" True to the description, the rice was so fluffy~~~ I thought they put a hamster in my plate! (nah~~) I do feel the taste of garlic can come out more instead of being over taken by the smell of butter. Perhaps its the side effects of doing away with the buns, the meat patty tasted too salty. And it was quite strange to eat scattered mushroom, meat patty and rice together.
Couldn't comment on the Katsu burger as I did not try it but my companion mentioned that the meat was "katsu" too much that it became too tough. He didn't like the idea of having the katsu between sesamed buns too.
An additional compliment to Burger Shack was that, our order was late. Lolx~ how was that a compliment? Well, our number was called way after it should and the cashier had sent us complimentary ice cream voluntarily. (Note: We didn't even noticed our order was late -.-") Good customer service I would say.
And so great tasting was their ice cream that we decided to be gluttony and ordered their brownie and apple pie. Brownie was a disappointment although it will be unfair of me to say that as its my personal preference towards crispy brownies and theirs was not. However, I do love the smell of the buttery crust and its texture of .. of ... pineapple tarts?
It will not be a place I'll frequent since its rather out of my way. With its limited menu, it will be difficult to choose as a venue for gatherings nor for frequent dining (will get sick of the food).
Was the first time that we order food as in food at MOF. The previous time we had desserts there. Since there were only 2 of us, we couldn't try much of their menu. I ordered the ever safe dish, chicken curry pasta. And I fell in love with it. Haha~ Simply because the curry was not like those in other Japanese restaurants. Their curry was not sweet. Getting tired from all the sweet and sama sama ingredients curry from other Jap restaurants, this was a nice change. The "chunks" of tender chicken with the pasta added marks to the dish and I never regretted ordering this.
Dar ordered Chicken Teriyaki Pasta and incomparison, this dish is not as nice as the curry. Not sure whether its the chicken or the teriyaki sauce they used but there was a "fishy smell" to the dish that puts me off trying it after 1 bite.
We got free drinks as we ordered pasta dishes. We chose ice lemon tea which we all agreed that it doesn't taste nice at all but the macha tea tasted great.. With me, dessert is of course a must. Haha.... I chose light soft serve that goes easy on my stomach and digestion. Of course the desserts came out satisfying as even the passive Dar persuaded me to sign for the MOF citizen card so that we will enjoy discounts and rebates the next time we visit. Its $10 for member fees and if you show your UOB card, the member fees reduces to $6 for 2 years.
1=SGD 0.0587
We developed special likings for Korean BBQ after watching Running Man ~ and have visited several other places and branches of Korean BBQ. We always ended up comparing the places we went to with Hansang.
Note that we only went for the BBQ buffet dinners before:
Contrary to what the other reviewer wrote about Hansang, we found the place to be rather clean and clear of smoke. The place does have "smoke inhalers" but not at the top like other restaurants but at the sides of the BBQ oven. We are not as smelly as after we go some other restaurants.
Cuts of the meat are good, especially the pork belly which has got the perfect thickness that let's you bbq it to crispiness and yet not gag at the fattiness.
The buffet also includes free flow of very fresh vegetables, free flow of hot or cold roasted barley tea, free flow side dishes and the very nice kimchi pancake. One serving of either bibbimbap or soup and one serving of fruits and mochi. Cost is about $36 which we find to be quite reasonable.
The negative side of the place is firstly, the noisiness. Not sure why people need to laugh on top of their voices while eating Korean BBQ, that together with the loud korean music can really cause a headache.
Service is not non existence however, it is better if you get the Korean staff to serve as they seems to know better what the customers are talking about even though we are all talking in English. The Korean staff also give better explanation of cooking the meat.
Selection of meat for the BBQ is quite little, one non free flow beef, free flow of chicken, pork belly and marinated beef.
Rating given:
Went to this hotel for Christmas, a retro-themed boutique hotel which is quite fun to visit once in a while for Staycation.
The lobby and lounge is striking with Fushia Pink as the primary colour, the only problem we had was, we were unsure where the queue at the counter was.
Can be quite inaccessible for tourists who are unsure of the bus system. Though the hotel provides shuttle bus, we are not sure of where to board it and had to rely on cabs to and fro places.
Rooms were cleanly and retro-ly decorated (even in the bathrooms!). Smaller than a normal hotel room but extremely clean and well kept. With Star Chinese Movie channel, a basket of complimentary soft drinks and tidbits. Best, with free Wifi.
Rating given:
Went to this restaurant for brunch on Christmas day, the retro themed made our groggy morning/noon brighten up.
Order Laksa, Wings, Sandwiches, Steak, mushroom soup and desserts consisted of Tiramisu and Longan with Grass Jelly.
Laksa smelt nice, not too spicy, with eggs and prawns in it. But the prawns were not that fresh, unpeeled and not washed very cleanly as sand can still be found in the Laksa itself.
Wings were tad too oily and could have been marinated better with a bit of lime.
Steak was ordered as well done and indeed it came well done but not too much so the meat remained tender. The sauce though, was a mixture of black pepper and something VERY salty like soy sauce. Quite disappointing.
Their Tiramisu doesn't use Kahlua, the name of the wine I've forgotten, maybe we are not used to it so the Tiramisu tasted weird to us.
Rating given:
Pro: Went to Nirwana Gardens Beach Club (Huts, 2 rooms to 1 hut) for my first trip to Bintan. Rooms are clean and big enough for 2 or 3 pax to stay comfortably in. Toilet and floor are clean. Towels provided are clean. The air con is working very well and seems to be new too. Staff relatively friendly, can speak and understand English. The best thing about this place is, there's a beach attached to it and it's almost deserted most of the 2 days we were there. I believe this is because most of the guests went to the beach at the Nirwana Garden Hotel. The sports centre is very nearby so accessible if you want to play Banana Boat, Ski Jets but you'll need to go to the Hotel area for ATV. The Club is also very accomodating and allowed us to extend our stay by 1.5 hours with no extra charges.
Con: Don't buy anything from the cafe at the beach club. It's about 10 times more expensive than the prices in Singapore. A bottle of 1.5litres mineral water costs $10 and fruit platter at $8. Don't go for the packaged massage sessions offered by the beach club. We went for 1 at SGD 75 each that includes massage, choice between sampan or private beach, ride to shopping area and lunch. In the end, we travelled an hr plus of dizzy and nausating dangerous ride to some other resort. Massage was ok but we weren't given a choice of beach or Sampan, we were directly taken to the Sampan, no notifications at all! Lunch consisted of measly nasi lemak at 4pm! We were also told that the package doesn't include shopping when it actually does. If you want massage, just go to the nearby shopping area where they offer $50 for 2 hours massage.
Rating given:
This place is real~~~~~ crowded and full till when we wanted to go there for lunch at like 1pm, we had to leave our name there and waited for another 1 hour before there's a table available.
Btw, get a table, go to the counter and order pay. Do note your table number as you have to give that at the counter. Can't see the table no. anywhere though.
Tried European (egg Benedict), English Breakfast, Sauteed Mushrooms, Fresh Fruit Salad with Yogurt and Coffee.
Loved the toasted Brioche would like to finish it if not because I'm too full from the gigantic meal portion. Sauteed Mushrooms went well with the eggs or when eaten alone. Can't say the same for the sausages. Too salty for our taste.
The fruit salad with yogurt is a must-try! The yogurt is light and seemed to be spiced though I'm not sure with what. Cold yogurt went very well with the fresh fruits of berries, strawberries, mangoes and apples.
4 of us and we spent about $80 altogether! Bit ex for eating breakfast if you take that literally. But if we happen to visit that place again, Tunisian and Californian looks inviting. ;P
Rating given:
Went there for dinner during our stay at MBS. The buffet and last order for the ala carte ends at 1030pm. We didn't go for the buffet since it's already 930pm.
The reception staff was polite, no fake accent and ask for our room number and my husband's first name and led us to a nicely and clean table. Not sure whether this is true, but we got the same waitress serving our everything during the dinner. My husband's was also addressed by his first name during the dinner. Which means the waitress got to remember which table belongs to which guest. Not sure whether this only apply to guests staying at the hotel though. Polite-ness every where, questions of our well being and how we liked our food. There wasn't a need to request for refill of iced water as our glasses were refilled quite promptly.
Price, well, quite expected for MBS, $19 - $25 for main courses such as chicken rice, nasi goreng or laksa. $49 for stirloin steak. We ordered a Stirloin Steak, Lime Cheesecake and a coke and it came up to a whopping $79~ Luckily, the food quality is also quite standard... Steak succulent and to the mark when we requested for "medium well", a bit over marinated but still acceptable. Love the sorbet ice cream that came with the cheese cake. But the cake itself was too thick though. Not bad for an anniversary dinner but cannot visit too often, otherwise it will burn a hole in the pocket.
Rating given:
Just to add (due to space limitatn), i went to e wheelock branch, haven't been to e taka one,
mlkc which branch did u go? and do u know e name of the therapist? good to share with us here! ;)
the time i went, there were others ard as well but it wasn't noisy, both the spa and salon was rather peaceful. i had my earpiece on and was able to focus on my movie - thankfully didn't fall aslp from e massage!
i like e massage e most, was really relaxing, and they also serve us drinks. overall, had a good experience at e wheelock branch.
Rating given:
Took Jetstar to Taiwan this year May. Price was $424 which wasn't what you will consider cheap. The usual complaints like cramped seats, no free meals, no entertainment and the too expensive coke. These are however, not of importance, hey~ its a budget airline, you can't expect too much.
They currently have add-$18-for-more-leg-space-seats which are quite bo liao. If I'm a Daddy long legs then perhaps I'll take it, otherwise no point spending the money on a short flight.
The only thing I have complaint about is the spoken English and Chinese on board. Even though its a budget airline but I do feel that passengers have a right to know the correct method of using the safety devices like life vest. With the don't-know-what-kind of accent the crew use, the incorrect pronounciation and the real muffled PA system, none of us really understood what they were explaining about.
Cramped seats or not, safety is more important to me.
Rating given:
Walking around the place with nothing much to choose for 3 hungry people's lunch, we finally walked into this shop(?) that did not look too catching but yet interesting.
Decorated in a manner that is sure to look inviting to students, we do see a lot of polaroids from past visitors (with their faces doodled).
As mentioned by the previous reviewers, you'll have to order and pay over the counter and wait for your number to be called. What we did not like was the hard to figure menu written in chalk above the counter and the noisy sound system which often interrupts our conversations.
Looking at the menu, seems to be fusion kind of burger joint where we ordered the Katsu burger, Mushroom swiss burger where I changed the bun for their "fluffy~ garlic butter rice" True to the description, the rice was so fluffy~~~ I thought they put a hamster in my plate! (nah~~) I do feel the taste of garlic can come out more instead of being over taken by the smell of butter. Perhaps its the side effects of doing away with the buns, the meat patty tasted too salty. And it was quite strange to eat scattered mushroom, meat patty and rice together.
Couldn't comment on the Katsu burger as I did not try it but my companion mentioned that the meat was "katsu" too much that it became too tough. He didn't like the idea of having the katsu between sesamed buns too.
An additional compliment to Burger Shack was that, our order was late. Lolx~ how was that a compliment? Well, our number was called way after it should and the cashier had sent us complimentary ice cream voluntarily. (Note: We didn't even noticed our order was late -.-") Good customer service I would say.
And so great tasting was their ice cream that we decided to be gluttony and ordered their brownie and apple pie. Brownie was a disappointment although it will be unfair of me to say that as its my personal preference towards crispy brownies and theirs was not. However, I do love the smell of the buttery crust and its texture of .. of ... pineapple tarts?
It will not be a place I'll frequent since its rather out of my way. With its limited menu, it will be difficult to choose as a venue for gatherings nor for frequent dining (will get sick of the food).
Rating given:
Was the first time that we order food as in food at MOF. The previous time we had desserts there. Since there were only 2 of us, we couldn't try much of their menu. I ordered the ever safe dish, chicken curry pasta. And I fell in love with it. Haha~ Simply because the curry was not like those in other Japanese restaurants. Their curry was not sweet. Getting tired from all the sweet and sama sama ingredients curry from other Jap restaurants, this was a nice change. The "chunks" of tender chicken with the pasta added marks to the dish and I never regretted ordering this.
Dar ordered Chicken Teriyaki Pasta and incomparison, this dish is not as nice as the curry. Not sure whether its the chicken or the teriyaki sauce they used but there was a "fishy smell" to the dish that puts me off trying it after 1 bite.
We got free drinks as we ordered pasta dishes. We chose ice lemon tea which we all agreed that it doesn't taste nice at all but the macha tea tasted great.. With me, dessert is of course a must. Haha.... I chose light soft serve that goes easy on my stomach and digestion. Of course the desserts came out satisfying as even the passive Dar persuaded me to sign for the MOF citizen card so that we will enjoy discounts and rebates the next time we visit. Its $10 for member fees and if you show your UOB card, the member fees reduces to $6 for 2 years.
Rating given: