J’s Wok And Grill (Bedok)

Went there extremely hungry and tired .. had a very very small lunch and spent a few hours practicing and performing. We went to this restaurant situated at a corner of a block of flats. Personally I don't like orange so the deco in the restaurant which was mostly orange, gave me a headache. We ordered Mixed grill, oven baked chicken (should be called over baked), Seafood pasta (I think), Chocolate Truffle, Brownie and Beef Lasagna.

Upsized the meal to include soup and drinks at a mere $3. The soup was great ... (I think was leek) with smooth and deep taste and not just diluted cambell soup. However the ice lemon tea, though big in size, was too sweet.

The overall verdict of the food there was : Overcooked

with tough chicken and beef in my oven baked chicken and the lasagna, dry, grainy and hard texture of our choc truffle and brownie

the steak and mixed grill seems not bad too, with the meat being very tender and the portion valued for money

Just try the steak when you visit.

Read about this place on Yebber by a fellow blogger. He was all praises for the place and recommended it with a 5 star rating which is the best a restaurant can get on the website. Seeing that it was so close to my workplace, i decided to drop by one night to try it out myself to see if it indeed deserves such praise.

Believe it or not, the place is actually located under a block of flats alongside grocery stores and right next to the car park. It certainly didn't feel that way from the moment i stepped in though. Its obvious to see much thought has been put into the decorations and the environment.

Complimentary Crackers - These are truly complimentary but had a weird milky taste to it that makes it seem like a mixture of malay and indian crackers.

Milk Shake ($5) - After scrounging around for a drink, i finally choose to try their vanilla milkshake which turned out to be a big mistake. Waiting time aside, the ice was not blended well and the milkshake had a powdery residue which makes it taste like baby milk at the top and sugar syrup near the bottom. Not recommended.

Soup ($3) - Simply add $3 to your main course to get a soup of the day and a soft drink. I did not get to try the soup but was told by my companions that it was average.

J's Prawn Salad ($7.50) - Always start with an appetiser to get things going. And after cafe cartel, i had a thing going on for prawn salads. Judging from the shot, its needless to say that presentation gained it marks for visual flair alone. It is, however, not very functional when it came to actual eating as the salad tend to drop and spill. That wasn't missing much however, since the overall salad didn't quite hit the mark as it was overly sweet and the prawns were not fresh and crunchy enough.

Seafood Oglio Olio ($8.90) - Squid, mussels and prawn with spaghetti stir fried in cheese and chili (??). This was different. Presentation wise, it was another looker but taste wise, it sadly fell short yet again. The spaghetti was too oily and the seafood simply had no taste and wasn't fresh.

Chicken Cordon Bleu ($9.90) - I had no idea what chicken cordon bleu is. When it was served, i was quite disappointed as it was simply chicken wrap. There was no hint of alcohol in the meat at all, not to mention the meat was too tough and not marinated enough. That said, the mushroom sauce it came with was so salty, it didn't take long before my gf camped out and simply stopped using it.

J's Classic Combo ($17.90) - I had heard about this dish on yebber and ordered it to try since it was supposed to be a signature dish of sorts. Yet again, the presentation astounds and pleases the senses but behind it all is a trio of overcooked chicken, beef and fish with a simply salty mushroom sauce and an undercooked corn. The meat were both tough to chew and lacked taste while the fish fillet must have been bought from the supermarket because it had 'frozen' written all over its taste. Another disappointment.

This aesthetically pleasing yet non satisfying meal cost me $59.10 for 3 people.

Disappointment is the word of the day at this restaurant. I had such high hopes for it that i felt sad when it simply didn't measure up. All its dishes look splendid when they are served but thats still missing the point because food is not all about looks, its about taste, and that department is where this place simply did not deliver.