RichardDTan's Reviews
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The walk is very comfortable, sloping with no steps, suitable for the elderly or those in wheelchairs. The boardwalk allows visitors to get close to the flora on the floating islands and examine the species of water plants, lillies etc. You can also glimpse large fishes in the murky water and in the evening, the herons and other birds will return to the islands to nest. There is even a bird hide in the shape of a mangosteen where you can spy on the birds without disturbing them.
When you get hungry, the McDonalds is just a ten-minute walk away.
Thumbs-down: irresponsible visitors have already started to litter the waters around the wetlands.
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The staff were very pleasant and welcoming, befitting the outlet's location at Singapore's gateway airport. The hostess presented us with the menu, recited the day's specials and festive set menus, took our tea order and melted away to give us time to consult the menu. After tea was served, she hovered behind us, at a respectful distance until we were ready to order.
Soup Restaurant's signature dish is its Samsui Ginger Chicken which features succulent, tender pieces of boneless chicken, arranged around a saucer of minced ginger and surrounded by thin slices of cucumber and accompanied by a platter of crisp lettuce leaves. There are two ways to enjoy this dish, the first being to slather some ginger onto the chicken before eating it with rice, like sashimi. This method allowed those of us who are not particularly keen on ginger to enjoy its subtle taste toned down with rice, and the natural taste of the chicken, much like traditional chicken rice.
The second, and more proper method was helpfully suggested by our server. The chicken is placed in the lettuce cup, a generous amount of ginger is spread on top, and some cucumber is added for crunchiness. The whole package is rolled up and delivered directly into our waiting mouths and enjoyed with unbridled glee. Very hands-on, but can be quite messy too. Great for ginger lovers! A small serving of the dish ($14.80) is sufficient for four diners.
Another popular dish is the Ah Gon Fan Shu Ye (Spicy Sweet Potato Leaves, $8.00) which are sauteed in sambal belacan. A non-spicy version (Ah Ma Fan Shu Ye) is also available, but we fancy this dish for the contrast between the smooth texture of the vegetable and the mildly-spicy belacan. Sweet potato leaves are an acquired taste, so other vegetable dishes are also offered.
To round-off our delightful meal, we chose one of the restaurant's popular double-boiled soups Pork Ribs with Lotus Root. The broth was very flavourful, the pork was cooked to tenderness, and the lotus root was just soft enough to the bite. Very good texture contrasts indeed. The soup was served in a traditional Chinese-pot ($11.80), again enough for four persons to have two bowls each.
The entire dining experience at this outlet was very enjoyable. The service was prompt and attentive, and the wait staff were knowlegeable and helpful. One even arranged for an extra stool for our bags, without bidding. The food is tasty, reasonably-priced and rather filling, even for a small order like ours. The ambience is just perfect, with a sense of quiet and tranquility, especially when you realise that the hustle and bustle of international travel is just outside that wall of bamboo plants.
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Our first order was a Spaghetti Basil Chicken Aglio ($6.90) which was very nicely done. The chicken was well-seasoned with natural basil flavours and tossed with an appropriate amount of minced garlic and fresh chilli slices. The pasta was in need of a little more olive oil, and turned out quite dry and hard to swallow. As the restaurant uses minced chicken, it tends to fall between the pasta and end up on the bottom of the dish, so diners should toss as they eat. Very healthy choice of pasta service.
Our second dish was the popular Spaghetti Creamy Chicken ($8.50) which was sinfully lovely to indulge in. Unfortunately, the cream sauce was quite thin and lacked in any seasoning at all. This was quickly remedied on our won accord by adding copious amounts of parmesan cheese (and pushing the dish further off the diet scale!) which thickened the sauce and gave it a bit of saltiness. The pieces of chicken were unusually large and ungainly, making this dish a little less elegant.
For a lighter choice, we recommend ordering just one pasta dish and upsizing it (add $2.20) to share. Then round-off the meal with a combo (soup, garlic bread or soft drink from $3.20) for each person.
For a unique dessert, we ordered our favourite Banana Dessert Pizza ($3.90) which features a mini-sized pizza with banana slices and a sprinkle of chocolate on top. Also available is the Apple Crumble Pizza ($4.30) which is another mini-sized pizza with tart apple slices, topped with cinnamon crumble. Heaven!
The dining experience at this outlet was very casual and enjoyable. The service was prompt and attentive, and the servers were attentive enough to move around, checking if we had received all our orders. My only comment was the cashier's apparent lack of information when asked if we could tone down on the chilli in our aglio pasta dish, to which she immediately replied "No, cannot, it is pre-mixed" ... Someone needs to brief her ...
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The staff are very warm and friendly. Our waiter showed us to our seats, explained the menu, promotions and hovered in case we had questions (we had told him it was our first visit). He was also helpful with recommended dishes.
The current Fresh Pasta ($15.80-16.80) promotion is quite interesting, featuring a selection of pasta dishes, served with a drink and soup.
I ordered a Basil Prawn and Avocado Fresh Pasta which was quite good indeed. Done in an aglio e olio style (no sauce), it was tossed through with oil and spices. My only comment is that perhaps a little too much oil was added which could have been drained before serving.
For fresh pasta, the noodles was a tad too chewy and could have been cooked a little longer. Still, you could taste the difference between fresh and dried pasta immediately,, which was good.
Besides the Fresh Pasta promotion, there are lunch and dinner promotions at the Pasta de Waraku. DBS credit card holders get a 10% discount off the bill.
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We decided to give the outlet at CSM a try as it just opened a few months ago and it's close to home. As expected, there was a queue which we joined. A Chinese manager (black t-shirt) went down the line, taking pre-orders on a dupe pad which we would later present to the server, once we got our table.
This manager seemed to be either very hurried, harried or just not a customer-oriented person. As he took orders from people in the line, he never looked up at the customer, wore a perpetual frown on his stony face, tore off the order and thrust it at the surprised customer. All without any eye contact at all! Even the way he handed out the menus was brusque and unceremonious. Definitely a bad start to our dinner.
The inside of the outlet is very small and cramped, like other Astons outlets. However, this problem is exacerbated by the triangular shape of the dining area, which doesn't accommodate many larger combinations of tables. Servers and guests had a hard time manouvering around that area.
Happily for us, our steaks were perfect as usual. Notably, the mashed potatoes at this outlet seem to be more than others (please don't change that!). Service was also very efficient, and pleasant. The servers are highly apologetic for any wait, and are always hovering to offer assistance or service.
Our one peeve was finding the remains of a winged insect in one of the mashed potatoes. After some futile efforts to explain the contamination, the server was profuse in her apologies and offered to replace the side dish, (which shows that Astons empowers their junior staff to offer service recovery without hesitation - good!). We declined, but suggested that the manager be informed for quality checks. The cashier likewise was pleasant and genuinely apologetic for the insect.
As we left the restaurant, we met the stony-faced manager again, which reminded us to dine at our regular outlet again.
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