Needed a nice place to catch up with a girlfriend and decided to go for its 101 Tea selection.
2 seatings: 12pm - 2:30pm and 3:30-6pm, so pick your time and make reservation, coz the place fills up with tittering tais tais quite fast.
Kudos to excellent tea selection, and it actually balances the buffet spread quite well. I had 3 whole pots by myself :) Food wise, nothing really outstanding, although they do try to fit in a bit of everything. Sushi, sashimi, mee rebus, scones, pumpkin soup, salmon pastry, popiah, salads, bread, curry, dim sum, naans, potato skins, slamom cakes, and a reasonable spread of desserts & fruits. Nice tiramisu though.
Service was quite faultless: polite, warm, and efficient. But then again, its Shang, so it is expected. Very good for catching up with girlfriends as the lazy ambience and nicely spaced out couches ensure privacy for your gossip!
Looks like we have consensus (almost) about this place.
Picked this place for early dinner after strolling around in Vivo, and the menu looked interesting enough. Bad choice.
We ordered the belgium mussels in wine, which is supposed to be their speciality, but its anything but. I expected fresh plump mussels soaked simmered in flavourful stock but nope, I got smallish shellfish which tasted like it was plonked into the pot last minute as they were just ultra bland. No hint of white wine. At all.
And yup, the seaweed was there!! Ugh.
We also had the carbonara and onion rings, which were really medicore at most. Don't really rememeber the service because of the food.
Better off at foodcourt really. DONT come here. I was extremly dissatisfied and had to adjourn elsewhere for 2nd round.
Had dinner at TCC and decided to adjourn to Prive Bakery for desserts and coffee, since we're already there.
Nothing special on the dessert counter, so ordered their chocolate geautx (or something like that). For $5 a pop, it was normal at most, nothing fantastic.
The other reason I wanted to go there was because they serve Illy coffee, and I noticed that they do not have Americano on the menu, so I asked the service staff and they said they can do one. When my coffee came, it tasted more like a Long Black so I asked to reconfirm and they said yes, its Americano. I had to ask them to re-do it and it was good the 2nd time round. With Illy coffee, the quality shouldn't be compromised, and $3.80 a cup is a rather good price I feel.
Ambience wise, its actually quite nice. Maybe it was rather cooling when I went, but I enjoyed the view and the occasional breeze at my alfresco table. Nice place to for a relaxing chat with friends~
Service seems to be the common issue with this place, and I think they need to really iron out the way they run because my friend's fruit punch took 45mins to arrive, and that is after 2 reminders. Then, food and drinks other people ordered kept being served to us by slightly confused staff.
My friend highly recommended this place for Dinner, and with such an interesting name, I expected a lot more.
Hidden along Middle Road, it was a little tricky for me to find. Menu wise, it was terriby boring. Really run-0f-the-mill stuff like calamari and bruschetta etc for appetizers, pastas, salmon or tenderloin etc for mains, and mainly a cake counter for desserts.
We ordered the calamari, a pasta, and the roasted chicken, and tiramisu for desserts. Everything was just okay; nothing much to shout about. Service was nothing to complain about though.
Ambience feels a little towards fine dining, although the tables are set very close to each other. But quality of food was more cafe than restaurant.
Not worth the trip and money overall. Maybe it was too hyped up thus the disappointment :(
Went there with a girlfriend for dinner coz we decided we want to try a new place.
We were not really hungry so opted for 2 starters and a udon to share: the cubed tuna with miso dressing, crabstick and chicken salad, and their "Special" udon. The cubed tuna was good, although I took a while to get used to the strong miso taste. Salad was really just so-so. The udon was quite tasty in a light broth and some simple vegs; their udon is more flat (a little like La Mian), unlike the thick fat ones we are more used to.
Portions can be bigger for the prices. The bill came up to $60 even after we had a $10 discount.
Many people were seated at the teppanyaki counter though, including many Japanese itself, so I assume the food is quite good. Was also surprised that it was almost half filled despite it being a Tues evening. Service was efficient and friendly, although they did break a tea cup while serving us.
Probably will not be going there again anytime soon, but its a choice to consider for a special occassion.
Had a lunch meeting there last week. A group of us 6 ladies ordered: 1. Cesar Salad 2. Warm Spinach Salad 3. Esmirada's Famous Garlic Bread 4. Suckling Pig 5. Tiramisu 6. Melting Moments
The 2 salads were really just standard fare, nothing memorable. And I think their garlic bread is famous for their presentation: it's a whole baguette in this tall bread stand, spread with garlic and too much butter if you ask me; could be better. Modesto's across the road might be a better choice for garlic bread.
The suckling pig is an item not on their menu, you have to pre-order it at least 2 days in advance. My boss said she had it once and it was so good she had to have it again, so I went expecting a wow. But sadly, it fell short. Unlike the Chinese way, they roast the pig(let) whole without any marinate and served it already chopped up into pieces. We asked for sauces and was told it doesn't come with any. I got tired of eating it after 2 pieces because it was too dry and bland for my liking.
Desserts fared better. Their tiramisu was once named the best tiramisu in Singapore, and I think they kept to the standard pretty much. Good considering the countless bad tiramisus I've tried. The melting moments came overcooked though..didn't come with a liquid chocolate centre as we were told.
I caught a glimsp of the bill when it came, and it was about $350, which i feel was too pricey. For this price, the pig could have been better.
Service was rather faultess though: efficient and attentive coupled with cheery attitude. Had to ask them to turn down the volume of the music though, as it got too loud for our lunch meeting.
Still a very quiet lunch place despite being in orchard road, we were the 5th occupied table. Perhaps their 2-course / 3-course set lunches ($22 / $30 per set) would be better?
Was loitering in the East Coast area for lunch one day and decided to walk in as it looked quite inviting and a good rest from the intense heat outside.
My 2 colleagues and I had all had their set lunch, rather good for value at $10.90 per set: soup, main, coffee/tea. Soup of the day was mushroom, and it was surprisingly good; presentation of the soup was a nice surprise too.
My linguini with chicken was overcooked, sadly. My friend ordered the penne, which was much better. I later learnt that when in doubt, always order penne because it is harder to over-cook pasta; a practice which I will adopt next time.
Coffee was so so for a simple cafe, nothing fantastic but not too bad as well.
Think as with all other eateries in the area, parking is a pain, that's why lunch times are quiet. Take a bus here actually. Good value for money as we cant really demand much from $10.90.
Went there for another business lunch that day, turned out to be a nice surprise! We had a special set lunch:
1. Steamed Dim Sum(Steamed Chicken Dumpling with Sharks Fin,Steamed Vegetarian Dumpling "Teochew Style", Steamed Abalone Dumpling with Asparagus,Steamed Prawn Dumpling) 2. Peking Duck 3. Poached Spinach with Fresh Lily Bulb and Wolf berries in Sharkâs Bone Stock 4. Summer Palace Fried Rice 5. Baked Egg Tart and Custard Bun 6. Mixed Fruits Platter Complimentry)
For $297.97 for 11 ladies, I think the selection is excellent.
I've never gotten food in a Chinese restaurant which excels in all I've ordered, let alone one in a hotel (I've always thought they are overpriced for the quality they give), but was happy to re-adjust my thinking after the lunch.
Everything was good. It might seem a bit light on the palette but we thought we might as well veer on the healthier side since we going to eat anyway. The peking duck (the skin) came with too much fat for me, but perhaps others prefer it this way. The soup was delightfully refreshing, and the egg tart was one of the best I've ever tasted.
Someone in the group sang high praises of its Chinese dessert selection so we had to try it, even though we were pretty stuffed from the set. I had this excellent concoction of almond cream with white fungus, steamed in a whole young coconut. The aroma of the coconut blends in surprisingly well with the almond taste, not to mention that it is terribly good for complexion!
Didn't know if being in their private room made a difference but the service was excellent. Good job!
I think Summer Palace beats a whole host of other places like Tung Lok, Wan Hao, or even Summer Pavilion. Don't know if they offer the set on a regular basis, but it is extremely value for $ I feel. Go there!
Went for coffee last night with family, the whole 7 of us. Heard so much about the coffee so was quite excited to finally try it.
Maybe my expectations were raised by the hype surrounding it, but my old town white coffee tasted like, well, your coffeeshop kopi, no doubt a good one. This normal version was also quite thick, so I can't imagine how their 'gao' version would taste. Stay away people sensitive to caffeine!
My bro had the hazelnut coffee which he said was okay, but looked really cute with the heart-shaped foam on top.
Post dinner for us, so we only ordered the garlic bread and ice-cream toast to share. The ice cream toast was done up nicely in a small tower, which I thought was a nice effort by them to dress it up despite the coffee-shop theme.
It was nicely packed on a weekday night, but I think it's thronged with families on weekends, so come on weekdays if you can. Also less noisy than Ya Kun or Toast Box, but then again maybe it's due to the relatively ulu location.
Would probably pop by if I'm in the vicinity or are with friends who drives~
I kind of like this place for tea and munchies rather than proper meals. Its the nearest "coffee place" to my home so I guess also not much choice~
I also like it for the fact that it is 24-hours on fridays and saturdays; makes it alot easier when deciding on places to have a post-meal chat without having to worry about the staff chasing you away upon closing.
Their special HK Milk Tea is not bad, both hot and cold versions. It can a tad bland if you're used to the local teh, but then again I can do with less sugar. Tried also their thick toast with peanut butter, it was terribly messy to eat although quite nice. A tall block of carbs topped with thick gooey peanut better on it (I would have preferred the crunchy kind instead of smooth though). Even with fork and knife, it was quite unglam to eat the bread as was too crusty and crumbs kept falling all over the place and the peanut butter had the sludge kind of consistency that you need to fight with. Taste wise, not bad :D
Tried a couple of their dim sums, it was okay. For desserts, they have a nice mochi thing sprinkled with crushed peanuts, it was delicious! Ice lovers can try their ice desserts, but you have to know they are humongous, so order to share.
Cutlery and napkins are laid out on table, so DIY. Service wise, its really your basic service. Can get quite noisy on weekends and it gets filled up by 9pm so go slightly early. Even better, so slightly early in a group of 4 and grab their comfy booth seats :D
1=SGD 0.0587
Go with your girlfriends~
Needed a nice place to catch up with a girlfriend and decided to go for its 101 Tea selection.
2 seatings: 12pm - 2:30pm and 3:30-6pm, so pick your time and make reservation, coz the place fills up with tittering tais tais quite fast.
Kudos to excellent tea selection, and it actually balances the buffet spread quite well. I had 3 whole pots by myself :) Food wise, nothing really outstanding, although they do try to fit in a bit of everything. Sushi, sashimi, mee rebus, scones, pumpkin soup, salmon pastry, popiah, salads, bread, curry, dim sum, naans, potato skins, slamom cakes, and a reasonable spread of desserts & fruits. Nice tiramisu though.
Service was quite faultless: polite, warm, and efficient. But then again, its Shang, so it is expected. Very good for catching up with girlfriends as the lazy ambience and nicely spaced out couches ensure privacy for your gossip!
A excellent choice for a luxurious afternoon~
Rating given:
Bad food :(
Looks like we have consensus (almost) about this place.
Picked this place for early dinner after strolling around in Vivo, and the menu looked interesting enough. Bad choice.
We ordered the belgium mussels in wine, which is supposed to be their speciality, but its anything but. I expected fresh plump mussels soaked simmered in flavourful stock but nope, I got smallish shellfish which tasted like it was plonked into the pot last minute as they were just ultra bland. No hint of white wine. At all.
And yup, the seaweed was there!! Ugh.
We also had the carbonara and onion rings, which were really medicore at most. Don't really rememeber the service because of the food.
Better off at foodcourt really. DONT come here. I was extremly dissatisfied and had to adjourn elsewhere for 2nd round.
Rating given:
Nice spot~~
Had dinner at TCC and decided to adjourn to Prive Bakery for desserts and coffee, since we're already there.
Nothing special on the dessert counter, so ordered their chocolate geautx (or something like that). For $5 a pop, it was normal at most, nothing fantastic.
The other reason I wanted to go there was because they serve Illy coffee, and I noticed that they do not have Americano on the menu, so I asked the service staff and they said they can do one. When my coffee came, it tasted more like a Long Black so I asked to reconfirm and they said yes, its Americano. I had to ask them to re-do it and it was good the 2nd time round. With Illy coffee, the quality shouldn't be compromised, and $3.80 a cup is a rather good price I feel.
Ambience wise, its actually quite nice. Maybe it was rather cooling when I went, but I enjoyed the view and the occasional breeze at my alfresco table. Nice place to for a relaxing chat with friends~
Service seems to be the common issue with this place, and I think they need to really iron out the way they run because my friend's fruit punch took 45mins to arrive, and that is after 2 reminders. Then, food and drinks other people ordered kept being served to us by slightly confused staff.
I would go back though, for my Illy coffee again~
Rating given:
Disappointed
My friend highly recommended this place for Dinner, and with such an interesting name, I expected a lot more.
Hidden along Middle Road, it was a little tricky for me to find. Menu wise, it was terriby boring. Really run-0f-the-mill stuff like calamari and bruschetta etc for appetizers, pastas, salmon or tenderloin etc for mains, and mainly a cake counter for desserts.
We ordered the calamari, a pasta, and the roasted chicken, and tiramisu for desserts. Everything was just okay; nothing much to shout about. Service was nothing to complain about though.
Ambience feels a little towards fine dining, although the tables are set very close to each other. But quality of food was more cafe than restaurant.
Not worth the trip and money overall. Maybe it was too hyped up thus the disappointment :(
Rating given:
Nice ambience but pricey~
Went there with a girlfriend for dinner coz we decided we want to try a new place.
We were not really hungry so opted for 2 starters and a udon to share: the cubed tuna with miso dressing, crabstick and chicken salad, and their "Special" udon. The cubed tuna was good, although I took a while to get used to the strong miso taste. Salad was really just so-so. The udon was quite tasty in a light broth and some simple vegs; their udon is more flat (a little like La Mian), unlike the thick fat ones we are more used to.
Portions can be bigger for the prices. The bill came up to $60 even after we had a $10 discount.
Many people were seated at the teppanyaki counter though, including many Japanese itself, so I assume the food is quite good. Was also surprised that it was almost half filled despite it being a Tues evening. Service was efficient and friendly, although they did break a tea cup while serving us.
Probably will not be going there again anytime soon, but its a choice to consider for a special occassion.
Rating given:
Tiramisu is still good~
Had a lunch meeting there last week. A group of us 6 ladies ordered:
1. Cesar Salad
2. Warm Spinach Salad
3. Esmirada's Famous Garlic Bread
4. Suckling Pig
5. Tiramisu
6. Melting Moments
The 2 salads were really just standard fare, nothing memorable. And I think their garlic bread is famous for their presentation: it's a whole baguette in this tall bread stand, spread with garlic and too much butter if you ask me; could be better. Modesto's across the road might be a better choice for garlic bread.
The suckling pig is an item not on their menu, you have to pre-order it at least 2 days in advance. My boss said she had it once and it was so good she had to have it again, so I went expecting a wow. But sadly, it fell short. Unlike the Chinese way, they roast the pig(let) whole without any marinate and served it already chopped up into pieces. We asked for sauces and was told it doesn't come with any. I got tired of eating it after 2 pieces because it was too dry and bland for my liking.
Desserts fared better. Their tiramisu was once named the best tiramisu in Singapore, and I think they kept to the standard pretty much. Good considering the countless bad tiramisus I've tried. The melting moments came overcooked though..didn't come with a liquid chocolate centre as we were told.
I caught a glimsp of the bill when it came, and it was about $350, which i feel was too pricey. For this price, the pig could have been better.
Service was rather faultess though: efficient and attentive coupled with cheery attitude. Had to ask them to turn down the volume of the music though, as it got too loud for our lunch meeting.
Still a very quiet lunch place despite being in orchard road, we were the 5th occupied table. Perhaps their 2-course / 3-course set lunches ($22 / $30 per set) would be better?
Rating given:
Okay set lunch~~
Was loitering in the East Coast area for lunch one day and decided to walk in as it looked quite inviting and a good rest from the intense heat outside.
My 2 colleagues and I had all had their set lunch, rather good for value at $10.90 per set: soup, main, coffee/tea. Soup of the day was mushroom, and it was surprisingly good; presentation of the soup was a nice surprise too.
My linguini with chicken was overcooked, sadly. My friend ordered the penne, which was much better. I later learnt that when in doubt, always order penne because it is harder to over-cook pasta; a practice which I will adopt next time.
Coffee was so so for a simple cafe, nothing fantastic but not too bad as well.
Think as with all other eateries in the area, parking is a pain, that's why lunch times are quiet. Take a bus here actually. Good value for money as we cant really demand much from $10.90.
Rating given:
Good food excellent service
Went there for another business lunch that day, turned out to be a nice surprise! We had a special set lunch:
1. Steamed Dim Sum(Steamed Chicken Dumpling with Sharks Fin,Steamed
Vegetarian Dumpling "Teochew Style", Steamed Abalone Dumpling with
Asparagus,Steamed Prawn Dumpling)
2. Peking Duck
3. Poached Spinach with Fresh Lily Bulb and Wolf berries in Sharkâs
Bone Stock
4. Summer Palace Fried Rice
5. Baked Egg Tart and Custard Bun
6. Mixed Fruits Platter Complimentry)
For $297.97 for 11 ladies, I think the selection is excellent.
I've never gotten food in a Chinese restaurant which excels in all I've ordered, let alone one in a hotel (I've always thought they are overpriced for the quality they give), but was happy to re-adjust my thinking after the lunch.
Everything was good. It might seem a bit light on the palette but we thought we might as well veer on the healthier side since we going to eat anyway. The peking duck (the skin) came with too much fat for me, but perhaps others prefer it this way. The soup was delightfully refreshing, and the egg tart was one of the best I've ever tasted.
Someone in the group sang high praises of its Chinese dessert selection so we had to try it, even though we were pretty stuffed from the set. I had this excellent concoction of almond cream with white fungus, steamed in a whole young coconut. The aroma of the coconut blends in surprisingly well with the almond taste, not to mention that it is terribly good for complexion!
Didn't know if being in their private room made a difference but the service was excellent. Good job!
I think Summer Palace beats a whole host of other places like Tung Lok, Wan Hao, or even Summer Pavilion. Don't know if they offer the set on a regular basis, but it is extremely value for $ I feel. Go there!
Rating given:
Nice place to chill out~
Went for coffee last night with family, the whole 7 of us. Heard so much about the coffee so was quite excited to finally try it.
Maybe my expectations were raised by the hype surrounding it, but my old town white coffee tasted like, well, your coffeeshop kopi, no doubt a good one. This normal version was also quite thick, so I can't imagine how their 'gao' version would taste. Stay away people sensitive to caffeine!
My bro had the hazelnut coffee which he said was okay, but looked really cute with the heart-shaped foam on top.
Post dinner for us, so we only ordered the garlic bread and ice-cream toast to share. The ice cream toast was done up nicely in a small tower, which I thought was a nice effort by them to dress it up despite the coffee-shop theme.
It was nicely packed on a weekday night, but I think it's thronged with families on weekends, so come on weekdays if you can. Also less noisy than Ya Kun or Toast Box, but then again maybe it's due to the relatively ulu location.
Would probably pop by if I'm in the vicinity or are with friends who drives~
Rating given:
Rather nice spot for tea
I kind of like this place for tea and munchies rather than proper meals. Its the nearest "coffee place" to my home so I guess also not much choice~
I also like it for the fact that it is 24-hours on fridays and saturdays; makes it alot easier when deciding on places to have a post-meal chat without having to worry about the staff chasing you away upon closing.
Their special HK Milk Tea is not bad, both hot and cold versions. It can a tad bland if you're used to the local teh, but then again I can do with less sugar. Tried also their thick toast with peanut butter, it was terribly messy to eat although quite nice. A tall block of carbs topped with thick gooey peanut better on it (I would have preferred the crunchy kind instead of smooth though). Even with fork and knife, it was quite unglam to eat the bread as was too crusty and crumbs kept falling all over the place and the peanut butter had the sludge kind of consistency that you need to fight with. Taste wise, not bad :D
Tried a couple of their dim sums, it was okay. For desserts, they have a nice mochi thing sprinkled with crushed peanuts, it was delicious! Ice lovers can try their ice desserts, but you have to know they are humongous, so order to share.
Cutlery and napkins are laid out on table, so DIY. Service wise, its really your basic service. Can get quite noisy on weekends and it gets filled up by 9pm so go slightly early. Even better, so slightly early in a group of 4 and grab their comfy booth seats :D
Rating given: