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.

Changing Appetites. I remember a time long ago when their tag line was: “Japanese and Western fusion for the masses.” but its been some time since that particular portion of history and now, the new tag line is: “The all American and Dessert Cafe” which is still mildly inaccurate due to the infusion of Mexican influenced items since early 2007.

Relaxed, huge and cold would most probably pop into your minds when you see this place. Located along a stretch of food joints such as Carl’s Junior, Cafe Cartel and Swenson’s, it wouldn’t be exaggerating to say that competition is stiff. It still managed to grab my attention over the more generic outlets available due to its bright colors and reasonable prices. And because it was one of the first places i brought my gf for a meal when we started out. Nostalgia abound.

Strawberry Frozen Magaritas ($10.90) - Big, that was the first thought when i saw this drink. I know places that charge higher prices but serve miserly portions of the drink. Strawberry bits were readily apparent from the outset but i’m not sure if concentrate was used instead of actual strawberries. However, i do know that it is not sweet enough so i’m guessing they used real strawberries in blending this concoction. The white outer layer is salt and believe me, you’ll need it because the alcohol is pretty strong and generous as well. A good item if it was just a wee bit sweeter.

Boneless Shanghai Chicken ($8.90) - An appetizer i ordered out of curiousity which i was soon to rejoice because its very well done. Deep fried crispy chicken tossed with pineapple-citrus sauce and topped with sesame seeds. Its basically a cross between 3 different culinary disciplines since even wasabi mayo sauce is used for its dip. The result is a tender, crispy, sweet, sour, spicy and yet light tasting chicken which tastes better when everything is mixed together. Do try this.

Chicken And Mushroom ($16.90) - This dish came looking less glamorous then its menu picture showed which kinda turned my gf off a bit. Her request for more cheese also fell on deaf ears with our extremely forgetful waiter who seems unable to remember anything longer then 4 words. Taste wise, the chicken was rather bland and the cheese was not as strong as it could have been. However, wrap it in the flour tortillas, add a little sour cream and fill it up with onions, bell pepper, chicken and sauteed mushrooms and take another bite for a refreshed feeling of this item. Although not good enough to elevate it to a status where i would say it is delicious, it is at least better then when the items were taken individually. Not that i would order it again on my own though.

The Barbarian Burger ($20.90) - This is the main reason i keep returning to Changing Appetites. Despite being raised by $1 since my last few visits, this is still value for money regardless of how you slice it. 2 200gms of well marinated and totally compressed beef patties which even my gf said tasted good when she’s not a beef lover, 1 dory fish fillet which is actually really small but tasty nonetheless and 1 spicy grilled chicken patty nestled within 2 slices of brown cereal bread, tomatoes, lettuce and onions. And finally, served with a huge serving of piping hot fries. I have personally tried to finish this item 4 times, with and without other items beforehand, and sad to say, i’ve never been able to finish it. The beef patty is where it is all at, marinated minced beef meat without further additions make it compact, tender, juicy and absolutely bursting with taste. Still one of the better patties i’ve had, at a rather hefty price i must admit but i say its still worth it. Do challenge yourself with it and let me know if you actually finish everything on your plate.

Cookie Monster Mudpie ($7.90) - Dessert was a cookie monster mudpie. Cookies and cream ice cream decked in hot chocolate fudge and sprinkled with oreo cookie crumbs. Sweet, sinful, slightly bitter and very tasty. The mudpie is as i remember it to be, smooth in texture, hard but easily cut away and melt-in-your-mouth tasty. Though i have to say, the best tasting mudpie i had was the complimentary watermelon mudpie i had during my previous visit. A shame it wasn’t on the menu though.

To my surprise, a meal for 2 came up to $77. Which is quite a hefty sum for a total of 5 items. Although of course, whatever we had could have easily fed 3 young adults but i do miss the support of UOB promotions in this joint. *hint hint*

Not many places serve burgers as big as this place packing the same amount of taste. For a fusion restaurant, there are bound to be a few hits and misses in their items and honestly, i’ve seen my friend strike out in their fish and chips, my gf in their chicken and mushroom and her previous order of something associated with chicken as well. So i’d say their not all good but have certain good calls that are bound to please. Do give it a chance.

The plush seats and brightly colored wall murals which remind me very much of Keith Harrington’s pieces of art, caught my eye as I walked past the eatery.

Well, the concept of food is rather similar to that of NYDC as they serve American food (with influences from other countries too), mudpies! and drinks which include milkshakes, yada yada. In terms of ambiance, I am reminded of New York New York (@ CitiLink Mall) because of the seats of the tables that line the side of the restaurant are really comfy. While this would be good for sitting around and chatting, it is not so good for eating a full meal. Reason being, you have to lean quite far back to get any back support from the “sofa-like” chair. These chairs also make going in and out a bother as you either have to push your seat all the way out or have the people sitting at the end to get out of their seat before you can pas through. Small price to pay though, for very comfy seats!

The food tastes pretty good but not “ohmygosh, it tastes so good! I’m coming back next week to eat here again” kinda’ good. The burgers are humongous so I wouldn’t advise ordering a double patty unless you plan to share it with a friend. Other food portions, however, are pretty manageable.

My friend said the Fish & Chips are good while I personally love “Cheese the Chicken”, which has mango bits and tortilla chips over grilled chicken and topped by melted cheese.

Having tried one of their signature Mudpies, The Frankenstein, it didn’t leave a deep impression on me as it wasn’t awesome.

Price wise, it is comparable to other American eateries with similar concepts such as NYDC and New York2.

The wait to get a seat, especially for larger groups of people, can vary drastically. Come at the right time(before the crowd comes) and you get a seat pretty easily. Arrive at the wrong time and you would have to wait quite a while before you get to order your food. This may have something to do with the comfy/cozy ambiance that makes you just want to sit there and chat with your friends.

In conclusion, I would recommend this place if you’re looking for some place to chill with your friends over dinner or dessert.

Ah, now I know why I felt that “asian” flavour in the food at Changing Appetities. Because it’s Japanese fusion! Alright, only realized when I saw one of the reviews above.

Honestly, Changing Appetites totally did not strike me as a place with jap-fusion food. It looks like another Cafe Cartel/ Breeks. Even their list of food looks very much like it. Pasta, brownies, mud pies etc. Very western style.

I was there with a group of friends for early lunch. I didn’t order a main course but I (after several attempts to order a mudpie of any sort) got myself a brownie and stole several mouthful of different dishes from my friends.

Main course - eh, let’s see. First thing that struck me was that it seemed rather typical for them to display their meat-stuff in a “kebab” style. If they were really a western restaurant, I’d be pretty amuse with this style of presentation. But when you try their food, it sure does have a tinge of asian flavour, with the funny unidentifiable taste/ spices used. Nonetheless, it (was nothing like japanese-fusion food) tasted rather weird to mix things like pasta with weird sour-sweet spices.

Drinks - nothing special. Feeling super hyped and all, my friends and I ordered 2 giant mugs of their super-sized ice chocolate. Well, all I can say is that it felt like a drink done with little effort put in. Powder, water, ice, ice cream, stick a spoon in, serve. If chocolate powder were coarse grains, I’d feel as though I was drinking sand-water. Yuck.

Dessert - bleh. Though their menu seemed to have such a variety of desserts, with their mudpies looking like their “main attraction”, there was virtually NO mudpies available then! Out of the THREE brownies they had, only ONE was available. Were we too early (we were their first customer of the day)? Still, I think that’s no excuse to not have all their desserts available! Was quite a let-down.

Price - it’s a little like Cafe Cartel I’d say. Though with what I experienced the other day, I’d say it’s a place I’d go once and never again. Not with that quality nor price.

Went back to changing appetite after a year because I miss their hokkaido cream cheese baked rice (it’s darn good). But it’s not on the menu anymore. In fact, I think they have cut down their menu in half. Food standards has dropped a little bit but still alright. Their servings are still pretty huge.

The 3 of us ordered:
- Chicken and mushroom fajitas
- Fish and chips with calamari
- Parmesan Fish and chips

It was quite messy while eating the fajitas but fun at the same time. Though it is a western restaurant I could taste chinese sauces being used. It didn’t really go well with the melted cheddar cheese.

Service was not bad. We were camwhoring while waiting for our food and this waiter came and asked if he could help us take the picture. However, it took them quite some time to fill our empty cups of iced water.