Buffets buffets. Who could resist the temptation of eating as much as you can for a fixed price? I for one, am always intrigued by what is offered at these places. Ellenborough cafe happens to be the one that our dear Moses Lim happened to patronize when we were there. He donned a chef's garb and was patrolling the premises while we dined, for reasons unexplained. The reason i was there was because FatPig invited me and my gf in to share his good fortune of being able to secure a 50% discount with the help of his friend.
As with all buffets, there'll be a few good pickings and a huge load of bad pickings before you realise which items are worth having and which aren't. The crabs were alright but its meat tend to stick to the shell which i detest. Seafood was generally fresh though not exactly tasty. The best items in these had to be the salmon and the otak which were moderately passable.
Sharks Fin Soup - Maybe its just me, but i fished the entire bowl and found at max about 5 strands of what i hope to be shark's fin. The broth was also a bit too salty and thin for my liking.
Durian Pengat - I've heard that you can't have a buffet here without tasting the durian pengat and i must say it has a certain amount of truth in that phrase. Smooth, creamy, sweet and rich are what you would use to describe the pengat served here. I had huge servings of food before having the pengat but still managed to get 2 bowls of it down. Still, there were comments that the standard had dropped for this item. On my note however, it stands as a very good dessert still.
Bill came up to $223.63 before discount. A staggering amount if you ask me. The quality and selection present does not warrant nor justify the price in the least. After discount however, it stands at $22 per head but i'm still not returning for another try though.
Decent selection due to additional items for anniversary event organized by the restaurant but food quality varies. There were some really bad items and some that were pretty good but for the price before discount, there should not be any bad items in the first place. Having heard many things about how good this buffet is from colleagues, it was a quite a disappointment for me unfortunately.
Monthly dinner was decided to be had at Bonta after much discussion with the group. Apparently, we were getting pretty tired of Chinese cuisine after our failed attempts with Golden Peony and Hua Ting and so Italian was on the cards this time. Opened in April this year, the restaurant has gotten many rave reviews for its food and service and is helmed by chef Luca Pezzera, formerly of Hotel Intercontinental fame.
The exterior housed a nice chill out space in an alfresco setting while the interior was small and cosy complete with soft lighting which they dimmed as time passed and a small wine chamber for those so inclined. Seating capacity was small however, and the maximum the restaurant could hold inside was probably around 40 people.
Complimentary Bread - The complimentary bread was served after much fanfare and bantering with the overly friendly waiter who took our order. Still, this is another one of those great-complimentary-breads-in -posh-places item. Its also one of the best i've had thus far. The bread was served warm in a longish cup and is crispy on the outside while soft and fluffy on the inside. Pockets of cheese and walnuts were also interspersed to enhance the experience. These are available for take away at a whooping $8 a loaf if you are interested.
Foie Gras (Pan fried goose liver $24) - I got to try one small piece of this and i must say it is surprisingly pleasing. I'm not a big fan of foie gras but this was done well. Slightly crispy on the outside and smooth and creamy on the inside. The aftertaste lingers long after you have swallowed it but is overpowering in bigger doses.
Oven Baked Scallops ($22) - I shared this item with a friend to minimize the damage. At $22 for 4 scallops, this came across as being overly expensive. The scallop was sweet and went well with the accompanying sauce to create a pretty good appetizer.
Home Made Angel Hair ($42), Ravioli with Goose Liver ($28)
- The angel hair was springy, soft and sweet making it a decent though not excellent dish. The baby lobster was overly cooked and lacked the fresh sweetness i hoped it would exhibit. I also had a piece of Ravioli and found the taste overpowered by the cream sauce instead of the goose liver present in it.
Black Angus Beef Sirloin ($42) - This dish i did get to try....twice because the first was ordered by my friend, while the other was a wrong order the waiter served to me....twice as well. The first wrong order being Angel Hair and the second being this dish. My main order was actually a Wagyu Beef steak. The beef was served medium rare but lacked the strong beef taste i would love to have. It also came with wierd, greenish tasting porcini mushrooms and foie gras which didn't really cut it for me since my mood was already spoiled by waiting without a main for 20 minutes while my friends finished their own mains before my main arrived with a wrong order again.
The bill came up to $451.96 for 7 people for an unsatisfying dinner and huge service blunders.
Commercial reviews are either overrated or over showcased in my opinion. I don't suppose a restaurant will make bad food for food critics and newspaper reviewers but if they could do it for the writers, at least have the capacity to do it during normal hours as well. The working staff here need retraining and learn to apologize when mistakes are made or at least have the presence of mind to offer a gesture of peace when an error is committed. Still, their snotty attitude and average food offerings brought down this experience very much where i am concerned. Even for my friends, nobody found it in them to order a dessert at the end and thats saying alot. Stay away, stay far far away.
I was celebrating a recent recuperation of funds when i decided to bring my gf for a simple dinner at Pasir Ris. I used to live at the place and this Chinese Zhi Ca stall has been there since i was a young boy. Thats at least 14 years of history and they are still going strong. I remember having many meals there with my family when i was younger and so, to relive that feeling a little, we visited it for an ad hoc dinner.
A point of interest is that right behind the eating place is a carpark you can drive into and the contact is for you to order first, then drive down later to collect your order for take aways. No more standing in queue and they even bring the orders right down to your car for you. Talk about great service!
Zao Pai Dou Fu (Signature Dish Beancurd) $8 - Like i said, a simple dinner. This is their signature dish beancurd which is really good. The beancurd has egg mixed into it giving it a smooth and springy texture which literally melts in your mouth. The sauce is quite salty and is scattered with fried minced pork, shrimps and mushrooms which really add to the taste of the dish overall. This goes well with rice and best taken together with a large group of people.
Jin Sha Xie (Golden Sand Crab) $32 per Kg - I came back for this dish as i was accidentally introduced to it during Andrew's birthday recently and neglected to bring my camera along for the trip. The sauce is where the taste really is and we tasted cheese, chilli, butter and mayonnaise used in the mixture. The crab was obviously fresh and went really well with the sauce. Oats were sprinkled atop for added fragrance and taste. I quote what Andrew said when we had this dish previously: "This is fit for a restaurant." My gf also said it was a good dish but this isn't the first time she's had it. The sauce goes well with rice and of course, deep fried buns which are also available. As usual, bring lots of friends and order this in bulk, i'm sure it'll be a great get together dish.
Bill: The total bill for dinner came up to simply $36. Quite reasonable for a crab meal.
I can see myself coming back to this place many times since its easily accessible (to me at least) and has good food at reasonable prices. The lady and general service here is almost always good and makes paying for their food that much easier. Do try this.
One of the more popular Chinese Restaurant chains around, Ding Tai Fang is ranked by the New York Time's as one of the World's Top Ten Best Restaurants. The question is whether its really good enough for such a prestigious title.
I guess the first question that comes to mind is: "Why give a contact number if they can't accept reservations?" Maybe for business purposes or general complaints but it certainly doesn't facilitate me in the least.
You can get to the restaurant very easily, simply go up the escalator and voila! The restaurant is right in front of you. The question is if you should go in or hold out for a different location for food. In this situation, i chose to enter with my gf for a meal since she's never tried it before.
The place was actually packed when we came and so we had to take a number and wait outside. Apparently, in my absence, this place has become a choice location for many heartlanders to have their meals. Is it really that good?
Makes you wonder what these people are doing doesn't it? Their actually making Xiao Long Baos for our consumption but i'd like to liken their particular sneaky looking gesture to a dissection on an operating table. Oooo...whets your appetite no?
Appetiser - The appetizer is not free just in case you thought otherwise. This little dish is about $5 if i remember correctly and its a mixed bag of tastes. Its sour, spicy, sweet and salty all at the same time but surprisingly gave me a bigger appetite. Still, its a little too oily and a little too expensive for a starter.
Fried Rice with Prawns - I ordered fried rice for myself as i remembered it being pretty good in this restaurant and indeed, its still nicely done. It comes with a generous amount of prawns as you can see and still has the concentrated egg taste in the rice. Fragrant and tasty but my gf found it a little too salty for her tastes and that is true as well. At $10 for this dish, it does come off as overpriced though.
Dan Dan Mian - We were actually asking the waitress for a recommendation and she recommended their famous Dan Dan Mian which i have never tried before. It came as quite of a shock when we tasted it though, it was salty and the paste tasted like a mixture of peanuts, sweet sauce and chilli. The noodles (la mian) were springy but lacked any taste on their own. In short, not something i would order again.
Xiao Long Bao - Their famous Xiao Long Bao tasted as it should be but i did find the the gravy in the buns to be insufficient and not hot enough. The meat was average but good enough and the skin of the buns can be stretched without bursting open which are all the makings of a good dish. Coupled with vinegar, this tastes much better but i honestly expected better.
Bill: Total bill came up to about $35 for 2 people which is a little too much for the average food we had.
I could not say the food here was very bad but i have to say i am not impressed nor satisfied with their current food standards because i remembered them as offering better food at a much lower price. Now, i do believe i won't be back for a second try and my gf certainly expressed her disappointment at their lackluster 'delicacies' as well.
Now for the main meal treat before Alvin left for Australia. Its really nothing much, but its nostalgic because it happens to be the first place his mother brought us to when they arrived in Singapore. And honest to goodness, the crab here is pretty big.
This is pretty much a throw back to times before fine dining and food is simply food with a distinct lack for service choices nor ambiance. One thing i really don't get is, what's with the word "beer garden"?
Coconut Juice ($4) - I have to say, this has got to be the WORST tasting coconut ever. It was sour, watery, lack ANY coconut taste whatsoever and costs $2 a piece. I was first impressed with the size until i drank it. And the meat inside was terrible as well. We bought this from a seperate store and brought over but that doesn't change a thing, this was bad, really really bad.
Orh Jian (Oyster Omelette $8) - Another item we packed from a nearby location. This oyster omelette came across as a little too watery for me. I prefer mine crispy and fragrant. The oyster's were faultless though, they came across as reasonably clean to me and tasty too. The problem was that some parts were cold, probably because the stall man didn't defrost it well enough before cooking so we got him to fry it again. After that, it was really nice with the chilli sauce. An average dish at best but still palatable.
Gong Gong ($12) - I honestly don't know the English name for this dish but its called Gong Gong which actually means dumb. Its supposed to be some kind of snail i suppose but not knowing what it is might be a blessing i suppose. Its quite a hassle to eat this because you have to firstly spear the tail like portion so that you can finally pull it out before it can be eaten. Al commented that the lady didn't cook it properly and so resulted in quite a few which we could not get out without a struggle. The dish itself isn't really too difficult to do i suppose, apart from frying the buggers with some light marinating sauce, everything else was god given. The freshness and taste is difficult to describe but is pleasant especially with the chilli sauce but i seriously doubt its worth $12. Try it and judge for yourself.
Chilli Crab ($37.26 for 1.035kg) - Actually, this place is known for HUGE crabs but we were unlucky that day. They ran out of Sri Lankan crabs and so we had to settle for its smaller Indonesian cousin which didn't disappoint in the least IMHO. Though smaller, the meat was still firm, fresh and sweet and thats just what good seafood is about. The shell was also a little thinner then its cousin making it much easier to crack and get at the meat. We opted for it to be cooked chilli crab style and the sauce came not as the spicy hot variety but rather more towards being sweet and sour with hints of chilli and eggs. The sauce, i discovered recently, is what makes a great crab better and the sole fact that we ate 21 buns with the sauce is testament that both the fried buns and the sauce complement each other really really well.
(On a side note, i discovered another location which serves great crab but not chilli crab style. They call it Jin Sha Xie or Golden Sand Crab literally and it was awesome. Will do a blog on it one day.)
Chicken Wings ($8.40) - We actually ordered fried dough sticks (you tiao) but they unfortunately have run out of such luxuries so we had to settle for Barbecued Chicken wings instead. This was decent but oily. The meat was a tad dry but otherwise thoroughly cooked. Not too special.
The total bill came up to $64.70 for the main meal. If you add drinks and additional items, this would total about $76.70. Not too expensive for 4 people really.
Well, great company and freedom of speech and actions made this an extremely casual and enjoyable affair. Food was at least reasonably priced and of an acceptable standard. They pride themselves as crab specialists and though i wouldn't go that far, i'd say they made enough effort to provide good crabs. Try it if you come around to this part of Singapore.
1=SGD 0.0587
As with all buffets, there'll be a few good pickings and a huge load of bad pickings before you realise which items are worth having and which aren't. The crabs were alright but its meat tend to stick to the shell which i detest. Seafood was generally fresh though not exactly tasty. The best items in these had to be the salmon and the otak which were moderately passable.
Sharks Fin Soup - Maybe its just me, but i fished the entire bowl and found at max about 5 strands of what i hope to be shark's fin. The broth was also a bit too salty and thin for my liking.
Durian Pengat - I've heard that you can't have a buffet here without tasting the durian pengat and i must say it has a certain amount of truth in that phrase. Smooth, creamy, sweet and rich are what you would use to describe the pengat served here. I had huge servings of food before having the pengat but still managed to get 2 bowls of it down. Still, there were comments that the standard had dropped for this item. On my note however, it stands as a very good dessert still.
Bill came up to $223.63 before discount. A staggering amount if you ask me. The quality and selection present does not warrant nor justify the price in the least. After discount however, it stands at $22 per head but i'm still not returning for another try though.
Decent selection due to additional items for anniversary event organized by the restaurant but food quality varies. There were some really bad items and some that were pretty good but for the price before discount, there should not be any bad items in the first place. Having heard many things about how good this buffet is from colleagues, it was a quite a disappointment for me unfortunately.
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The exterior housed a nice chill out space in an alfresco setting while the interior was small and cosy complete with soft lighting which they dimmed as time passed and a small wine chamber for those so inclined. Seating capacity was small however, and the maximum the restaurant could hold inside was probably around 40 people.
Complimentary Bread - The complimentary bread was served after much fanfare and bantering with the overly friendly waiter who took our order. Still, this is another one of those great-complimentary-breads-in -posh-places item. Its also one of the best i've had thus far. The bread was served warm in a longish cup and is crispy on the outside while soft and fluffy on the inside. Pockets of cheese and walnuts were also interspersed to enhance the experience. These are available for take away at a whooping $8 a loaf if you are interested.
Foie Gras (Pan fried goose liver $24) - I got to try one small piece of this and i must say it is surprisingly pleasing. I'm not a big fan of foie gras but this was done well. Slightly crispy on the outside and smooth and creamy on the inside. The aftertaste lingers long after you have swallowed it but is overpowering in bigger doses.
Oven Baked Scallops ($22) - I shared this item with a friend to minimize the damage. At $22 for 4 scallops, this came across as being overly expensive. The scallop was sweet and went well with the accompanying sauce to create a pretty good appetizer.
Home Made Angel Hair ($42), Ravioli with Goose Liver ($28)
- The angel hair was springy, soft and sweet making it a decent though not excellent dish. The baby lobster was overly cooked and lacked the fresh sweetness i hoped it would exhibit. I also had a piece of Ravioli and found the taste overpowered by the cream sauce instead of the goose liver present in it.
Black Angus Beef Sirloin ($42) - This dish i did get to try....twice because the first was ordered by my friend, while the other was a wrong order the waiter served to me....twice as well. The first wrong order being Angel Hair and the second being this dish. My main order was actually a Wagyu Beef steak. The beef was served medium rare but lacked the strong beef taste i would love to have. It also came with wierd, greenish tasting porcini mushrooms and foie gras which didn't really cut it for me since my mood was already spoiled by waiting without a main for 20 minutes while my friends finished their own mains before my main arrived with a wrong order again.
The bill came up to $451.96 for 7 people for an unsatisfying dinner and huge service blunders.
Commercial reviews are either overrated or over showcased in my opinion. I don't suppose a restaurant will make bad food for food critics and newspaper reviewers but if they could do it for the writers, at least have the capacity to do it during normal hours as well. The working staff here need retraining and learn to apologize when mistakes are made or at least have the presence of mind to offer a gesture of peace when an error is committed. Still, their snotty attitude and average food offerings brought down this experience very much where i am concerned. Even for my friends, nobody found it in them to order a dessert at the end and thats saying alot. Stay away, stay far far away.
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A point of interest is that right behind the eating place is a carpark you can drive into and the contact is for you to order first, then drive down later to collect your order for take aways. No more standing in queue and they even bring the orders right down to your car for you. Talk about great service!
Zao Pai Dou Fu (Signature Dish Beancurd) $8 - Like i said, a simple dinner. This is their signature dish beancurd which is really good. The beancurd has egg mixed into it giving it a smooth and springy texture which literally melts in your mouth. The sauce is quite salty and is scattered with fried minced pork, shrimps and mushrooms which really add to the taste of the dish overall. This goes well with rice and best taken together with a large group of people.
Jin Sha Xie (Golden Sand Crab) $32 per Kg - I came back for this dish as i was accidentally introduced to it during Andrew's birthday recently and neglected to bring my camera along for the trip. The sauce is where the taste really is and we tasted cheese, chilli, butter and mayonnaise used in the mixture. The crab was obviously fresh and went really well with the sauce. Oats were sprinkled atop for added fragrance and taste. I quote what Andrew said when we had this dish previously: "This is fit for a restaurant." My gf also said it was a good dish but this isn't the first time she's had it. The sauce goes well with rice and of course, deep fried buns which are also available. As usual, bring lots of friends and order this in bulk, i'm sure it'll be a great get together dish.
Bill: The total bill for dinner came up to simply $36. Quite reasonable for a crab meal.
I can see myself coming back to this place many times since its easily accessible (to me at least) and has good food at reasonable prices. The lady and general service here is almost always good and makes paying for their food that much easier. Do try this.
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I guess the first question that comes to mind is: "Why give a contact number if they can't accept reservations?" Maybe for business purposes or general complaints but it certainly doesn't facilitate me in the least.
You can get to the restaurant very easily, simply go up the escalator and voila! The restaurant is right in front of you. The question is if you should go in or hold out for a different location for food. In this situation, i chose to enter with my gf for a meal since she's never tried it before.
The place was actually packed when we came and so we had to take a number and wait outside. Apparently, in my absence, this place has become a choice location for many heartlanders to have their meals. Is it really that good?
Makes you wonder what these people are doing doesn't it? Their actually making Xiao Long Baos for our consumption but i'd like to liken their particular sneaky looking gesture to a dissection on an operating table. Oooo...whets your appetite no?
Appetiser - The appetizer is not free just in case you thought otherwise. This little dish is about $5 if i remember correctly and its a mixed bag of tastes. Its sour, spicy, sweet and salty all at the same time but surprisingly gave me a bigger appetite. Still, its a little too oily and a little too expensive for a starter.
Fried Rice with Prawns - I ordered fried rice for myself as i remembered it being pretty good in this restaurant and indeed, its still nicely done. It comes with a generous amount of prawns as you can see and still has the concentrated egg taste in the rice. Fragrant and tasty but my gf found it a little too salty for her tastes and that is true as well. At $10 for this dish, it does come off as overpriced though.
Dan Dan Mian - We were actually asking the waitress for a recommendation and she recommended their famous Dan Dan Mian which i have never tried before. It came as quite of a shock when we tasted it though, it was salty and the paste tasted like a mixture of peanuts, sweet sauce and chilli. The noodles (la mian) were springy but lacked any taste on their own. In short, not something i would order again.
Xiao Long Bao - Their famous Xiao Long Bao tasted as it should be but i did find the the gravy in the buns to be insufficient and not hot enough. The meat was average but good enough and the skin of the buns can be stretched without bursting open which are all the makings of a good dish. Coupled with vinegar, this tastes much better but i honestly expected better.
Bill: Total bill came up to about $35 for 2 people which is a little too much for the average food we had.
I could not say the food here was very bad but i have to say i am not impressed nor satisfied with their current food standards because i remembered them as offering better food at a much lower price. Now, i do believe i won't be back for a second try and my gf certainly expressed her disappointment at their lackluster 'delicacies' as well.
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This is pretty much a throw back to times before fine dining and food is simply food with a distinct lack for service choices nor ambiance. One thing i really don't get is, what's with the word "beer garden"?
Coconut Juice ($4) - I have to say, this has got to be the WORST tasting coconut ever. It was sour, watery, lack ANY coconut taste whatsoever and costs $2 a piece. I was first impressed with the size until i drank it. And the meat inside was terrible as well. We bought this from a seperate store and brought over but that doesn't change a thing, this was bad, really really bad.
Orh Jian (Oyster Omelette $8) - Another item we packed from a nearby location. This oyster omelette came across as a little too watery for me. I prefer mine crispy and fragrant. The oyster's were faultless though, they came across as reasonably clean to me and tasty too. The problem was that some parts were cold, probably because the stall man didn't defrost it well enough before cooking so we got him to fry it again. After that, it was really nice with the chilli sauce. An average dish at best but still palatable.
Gong Gong ($12) - I honestly don't know the English name for this dish but its called Gong Gong which actually means dumb. Its supposed to be some kind of snail i suppose but not knowing what it is might be a blessing i suppose. Its quite a hassle to eat this because you have to firstly spear the tail like portion so that you can finally pull it out before it can be eaten. Al commented that the lady didn't cook it properly and so resulted in quite a few which we could not get out without a struggle. The dish itself isn't really too difficult to do i suppose, apart from frying the buggers with some light marinating sauce, everything else was god given. The freshness and taste is difficult to describe but is pleasant especially with the chilli sauce but i seriously doubt its worth $12. Try it and judge for yourself.
Chilli Crab ($37.26 for 1.035kg) - Actually, this place is known for HUGE crabs but we were unlucky that day. They ran out of Sri Lankan crabs and so we had to settle for its smaller Indonesian cousin which didn't disappoint in the least IMHO. Though smaller, the meat was still firm, fresh and sweet and thats just what good seafood is about. The shell was also a little thinner then its cousin making it much easier to crack and get at the meat. We opted for it to be cooked chilli crab style and the sauce came not as the spicy hot variety but rather more towards being sweet and sour with hints of chilli and eggs. The sauce, i discovered recently, is what makes a great crab better and the sole fact that we ate 21 buns with the sauce is testament that both the fried buns and the sauce complement each other really really well.
(On a side note, i discovered another location which serves great crab but not chilli crab style. They call it Jin Sha Xie or Golden Sand Crab literally and it was awesome. Will do a blog on it one day.)
Chicken Wings ($8.40) - We actually ordered fried dough sticks (you tiao) but they unfortunately have run out of such luxuries so we had to settle for Barbecued Chicken wings instead. This was decent but oily. The meat was a tad dry but otherwise thoroughly cooked. Not too special.
The total bill came up to $64.70 for the main meal. If you add drinks and additional items, this would total about $76.70. Not too expensive for 4 people really.
Well, great company and freedom of speech and actions made this an extremely casual and enjoyable affair. Food was at least reasonably priced and of an acceptable standard. They pride themselves as crab specialists and though i wouldn't go that far, i'd say they made enough effort to provide good crabs. Try it if you come around to this part of Singapore.
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