Cilantro - a chic modern asian eatery that closed its restaurant doors at Purvis Street to open up outlets in the heartlands, with the outlet at Old Airport Road Food Centre being the first. Prior to the closure, Cilantro had garnered relatively good reviews from the media for its modern asian cuisine. Therefore this new foray into the heartlands came as quite a surprise.

Smoked Duck Steak - $10 got me their signature smoked duck steak, which came highly recommended by a stall affiliate. Served up with rather tasteless rice and a scoop of equally unimpressive coleslaw, the smoked duck tasted to me a little like honey baked ham, albeit with a more distinctive fowl taste. Actually even the texture was similar, relatively smooth and slightly rubbery without any trace of fibre. On the upside, I could taste the smoky undertones and I guess that was the sole saving grace.

Chocolate Lava Cake - The chocolate lava cake was quite small and I could have probably devoured it in one big mouthful if I chose to. But its $4 and I'm sure you can't get something like this elsewhere for the price. The cake was a little too soft and pudding like for my liking but at least there was molten chocolate oozing out when I made a break in the crust. Don't expect thick decadent chocolate though. You get what you pay for. The chocolate is runny and rather weak but for the price, no complains.

I really don't know what to make of Cilantro. For one, the menu looks intriguing enough for me to want to try again but the relatively high prices (for hawker centres) are quite a turn off. Granted that the pastas do seem reasonable at about $5.50 per plate, but $4 for a bowl of mushroom soup doesn't quite cut it.

See all my pictures here.