This is an outdated review, but I though better now than never??
Stayed at the Swissotel during their Xmas 2006 weekend promotion for SGD238 per night and found the stay only so-so. Not too much to scream about for a highly acclaimed 5-star hotel.
Time seems to be taking its toll on the hotel. I got a room on the 55th floor; the furniture are dated and looks worn out, with the wood peeling in some areas. Disappointed, I called room reservations and kudos to them, they offered me another room on the 61st floor. A porter promptly arrived to transfer our luggages to the new room, which was much better. View was excellent though.
There was complimentary high tea included in the package, but I went away disappointed. We had to wait 1 hour for our food, and it was just sad limp sandwiches and oily left-out-for-too-long puff pastries.
Cute of them to leave 2 gingerbread cookies on Xmas Day itself though.
I probably wouldn't choose to go back there again although the view was excellent. For a little more, conrad and raffles the plaza will be a much better bet.
I chose the Pan Pac Singapore for a short getaway, and turned out to be better than my experience at Swissotel the Stamford. I got a Paranomic Balcony room on the 29th floor, and it was accessible by the glass elevator facing the Marina, which offered a great view everytime we went up to the room.
The room was smaller than expected, but being recently reburbished, had a more classy feel and modern elements, evident in the mounted swivle plasma TV and hidden compartments in the counter which hides the mini bar, cups etc (a very nice change from the normal counter tops).
Very clean, and nice, with efficient room service and house keeping. Breakfast at Global Kitchen was only so-so...I had expected a bigger spread for the price (SGD82 for 2 persons!).
Also recieved a complimentary bottle of wine and chocolate cake as I had informed it was my birthday cum anniversary celebrations.
Heard that a friend loved the thai food here so decided to pop by this tiny eatery in the Kovan heartlands. The chef is Thai or so we heard so had high hopes for the quality.
A few tables indoors and outdoors, all tightly packed together leaving just enough space for the staff to walk through. I reckon the max seating capacity would be about 50-60pax. For 4 hungry people, we decided to order abit more as we saw the portions wasn't really big.
Green curry prawn ($6) - I usually don't like anything coconut milk including green curry, but this is really good! Very enticing blend of fresh oconut milk and spices, and just nicely spicy for me. They could have been more generous with the prawns though. Goes really well with the rice.
Belachan Kang Kong ($5) - Not your usual sambal kang kong, was a lot less spicy but means it is also a lot less oily too :D I'd rather it this way than spicy and terribly oily.
Deep fried pork with garlic ($6) - I don't eat pork when I'm outside but made an exception for the birthday girl. Surprisingly enough, I liked it. Lean strips of pork deep fried topped with fried garlic pieces. The garlic wasn't too overwhelming, coz some places tend to over-fry theirs and ended up too bitter for my liking.
Fried chicken with cashew nuts ($6) - this is like your kong pao chicken minus the spicyness. Nice and fresh as well, and I like it that they cut the chicken into more easily eaten thinner pieces than chunks.
Thai fishcake ($5) - came with a thai garlic chilli sauce. 4 pieces in total, and very good. Just enough scent of the spices without being overwhelming.
Thai ice tea ($3) - This is the only 'dish' I was disappointed at. It basically tastes like teh-coloured chin chow (grass jelly). Not enough milk in it too. I think Tuk Tuk do theirs better.
Thai rice ($1) - Normal white rice but just needed to let you guys know that they charge $1 per for a normal portion.
No ambience to speak of, and groups of people waiting for seats started forming around 730pm or so. Service was okay but I gave higher ratings than usual because we didnt see any grouchy faces altho they were extremely busy.
Its definitely value for money for good thai food. I'll be back :D
Of all the places to eat in T3, my friends chose this. So fine, okay...wasn't feeling very fast food-ish but since I haven't tried it before either, I thought I'll give it a shot.
For $6.90, I got the chicken strips meal which was 3 pieces of chicken strips, a small pack of cajun fries, 1 of their famous biscuits, and regular size ice tea (they didnt have coke light...bah).
The chicken strips came looking very small and pale, like those cooked-but-not-really-cooked-properly kind of colour. Not too oily to their credit but taste wise was rather bland, even the batter wasn't as crunchy as expected.
The cajun fries was bad. Limp cold fries seasoned with something which made it look like cajun but definitely has no taste in it.
Their infamous biscuit...I kind of like it. Slightly crispy and saltish crust on the outside but soft on the inside, abit like the cheese bun from Provence like of texture. Some people may find it bland though. And it sticks to your teeth so be prepared.
Their main dish, the chicken, and fries which is an essetially component of fast food, failed miserably. Should have busted my calorie count on Carls Junior instead. If I have to return next time, i'd probably grab 2 biscuits 1 drink.
My 1st meal at St Regis with 8 other foodies :D A good start to the evening was realizing that they had given us a semi-private corner with a large table and cushy Cheena seats. Located on level 1U, the entrance I find is a little too hidden, so much so you'd probably not notice it unless you've been there before.
The place was surprisingly empty for a Friday evening, but then it means we have the attention of the wait staff and not too many clink-clangs of china ware distracting us from the food and conversation.
10 dishes for 9 people was a feat I've not experienced before, but well, that's probably just sufficient to satisfy 9 foodies. The dishes were served really fast, leaving us no time for a breather between taking photos and eating, so I'd try to remember what all of them tastes like. Here goes:
Peking Duck ($60) - What we call 'instant duck' as it appeared like 10 mins after we placed our order. At least they carved it in front of us. The bun that came with it tasted a little dough-y but I believed they make it in-house, which I rather have instead of those standard buns I usually see. For me personally, the sauce was too little but other than that it was quite good.
2nd Serving of the duck meat ($27) - we can have it either fried with rice, noodle, or minced served in lettuce. We chose the last option, which came nicely flavoured in crispy lettuce. Nothing to complain about.
San Bei (3 cups) Chicken ($20) - I like claypot anything, so this was a winner for me. Came with a few leaves of basil and very aromatic pieces of tender chicken :D
Shi Chuan (loosely translated as "long lost") Chicken ($28) - Sorely disappointed at how normal this tasted despite the name, which hinted of a long lost recipe which should have been spectacular, no? Just another baked chicken for me.
Dou Bei ($26) - supposedly a better breed of dou miao, but erm honestly tasted like normal dou miao.
Mango Prawns ($36) - Deep fried prawns encasing the meat and mango strips. While the dish was quite nice, I couldn't quite get used to the combination. Plus the mango was sour.
Scallops with shrimp mousse ($32) - We were all wondering what's shrimp mousse when we saw the menu. Turned out to be something like prawn paste on top of pan fried scallops. I quite liked it, but tasted like fishcake according to LIC haha~
Cereal Cod Fillet ($28) - One of the better dish. A different take on your cereal prawns. Very nicely deep fried chunks of very fresh fish coated with cereal. Hmmm~~
Garlic pork ribs ($28) - I don't usually take pork outside but this was quite good too. Simple, tender pieces of pork deep fried with fried garlic.
French Beans ($20) - A common dish but very easy to flop at it too. Luckily they did well, with crunchy beans and very savoury minced meat . Not too oily too, which is a big plus for me.
Herbal Jelly, Mango Pamelo, Almond Tea, Honey Dew Melon ($6 each) - These were what we ordered for desserts, and mine was almond tea. Too watery for my liking and the price. Avoid.
Char Siew Pastry ($3.60) - Came highly recommended and the chef had to make it especially for us because it is usually available during lunch time, haha. The pastry was very freshly-buttered, and nice lean filling. But a little too ex for me for 1 piece though.
Chinese Tea ($5 per pax) - normal Chinese Tea but I have to include this just so to inform that its priced per pax.
Service was very good, and I think it was one of the captains who served us throughout the evening. Courtesy of the 25% discount we got, it came up to $40 per person which I find very reasonable for the variety we got to try. Plus they have this cute way of displaying their individual sauces and cashew nuts for a snack.
But still am not sure if I'd return because it is quite expensive without the discount. But it was a good experience for me :D
1=SGD 0.0587
This is an outdated review, but I though better now than never??
Stayed at the Swissotel during their Xmas 2006 weekend promotion for SGD238 per night and found the stay only so-so. Not too much to scream about for a highly acclaimed 5-star hotel.
Time seems to be taking its toll on the hotel. I got a room on the 55th floor; the furniture are dated and looks worn out, with the wood peeling in some areas. Disappointed, I called room reservations and kudos to them, they offered me another room on the 61st floor. A porter promptly arrived to transfer our luggages to the new room, which was much better. View was excellent though.
There was complimentary high tea included in the package, but I went away disappointed. We had to wait 1 hour for our food, and it was just sad limp sandwiches and oily left-out-for-too-long puff pastries.
Cute of them to leave 2 gingerbread cookies on Xmas Day itself though.
I probably wouldn't choose to go back there again although the view was excellent. For a little more, conrad and raffles the plaza will be a much better bet.
Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!posting fast and furious, so quick got 34 liao. soon you will catch up with us. hahaha
18 Jan 2009 at 9:03 am
No way, you're too fast for me!!
21 Jan 2009 at 5:03 pm
I chose the Pan Pac Singapore for a short getaway, and turned out to be better than my experience at Swissotel the Stamford. I got a Paranomic Balcony room on the 29th floor, and it was accessible by the glass elevator facing the Marina, which offered a great view everytime we went up to the room.
The room was smaller than expected, but being recently reburbished, had a more classy feel and modern elements, evident in the mounted swivle plasma TV and hidden compartments in the counter which hides the mini bar, cups etc (a very nice change from the normal counter tops).
Very clean, and nice, with efficient room service and house keeping. Breakfast at Global Kitchen was only so-so...I had expected a bigger spread for the price (SGD82 for 2 persons!).
Also recieved a complimentary bottle of wine and chocolate cake as I had informed it was my birthday cum anniversary celebrations.
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Heard that a friend loved the thai food here so decided to pop by this tiny eatery in the Kovan heartlands. The chef is Thai or so we heard so had high hopes for the quality.
A few tables indoors and outdoors, all tightly packed together leaving just enough space for the staff to walk through. I reckon the max seating capacity would be about 50-60pax. For 4 hungry people, we decided to order abit more as we saw the portions wasn't really big.
Green curry prawn ($6) - I usually don't like anything coconut milk including green curry, but this is really good! Very enticing blend of fresh oconut milk and spices, and just nicely spicy for me. They could have been more generous with the prawns though. Goes really well with the rice.
Belachan Kang Kong ($5) - Not your usual sambal kang kong, was a lot less spicy but means it is also a lot less oily too :D I'd rather it this way than spicy and terribly oily.
Deep fried pork with garlic ($6) - I don't eat pork when I'm outside but made an exception for the birthday girl. Surprisingly enough, I liked it. Lean strips of pork deep fried topped with fried garlic pieces. The garlic wasn't too overwhelming, coz some places tend to over-fry theirs and ended up too bitter for my liking.
Fried chicken with cashew nuts ($6) - this is like your kong pao chicken minus the spicyness. Nice and fresh as well, and I like it that they cut the chicken into more easily eaten thinner pieces than chunks.
Thai fishcake ($5) - came with a thai garlic chilli sauce. 4 pieces in total, and very good. Just enough scent of the spices without being overwhelming.
Thai ice tea ($3) - This is the only 'dish' I was disappointed at. It basically tastes like teh-coloured chin chow (grass jelly). Not enough milk in it too. I think Tuk Tuk do theirs better.
Thai rice ($1) - Normal white rice but just needed to let you guys know that they charge $1 per for a normal portion.
No ambience to speak of, and groups of people waiting for seats started forming around 730pm or so. Service was okay but I gave higher ratings than usual because we didnt see any grouchy faces altho they were extremely busy.
Its definitely value for money for good thai food. I'll be back :D
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Of all the places to eat in T3, my friends chose this. So fine, okay...wasn't feeling very fast food-ish but since I haven't tried it before either, I thought I'll give it a shot.
For $6.90, I got the chicken strips meal which was 3 pieces of chicken strips, a small pack of cajun fries, 1 of their famous biscuits, and regular size ice tea (they didnt have coke light...bah).
The chicken strips came looking very small and pale, like those cooked-but-not-really-cooked-properly kind of colour. Not too oily to their credit but taste wise was rather bland, even the batter wasn't as crunchy as expected.
The cajun fries was bad. Limp cold fries seasoned with something which made it look like cajun but definitely has no taste in it.
Their infamous biscuit...I kind of like it. Slightly crispy and saltish crust on the outside but soft on the inside, abit like the cheese bun from Provence like of texture. Some people may find it bland though. And it sticks to your teeth so be prepared.
Their main dish, the chicken, and fries which is an essetially component of fast food, failed miserably. Should have busted my calorie count on Carls Junior instead. If I have to return next time, i'd probably grab 2 biscuits 1 drink.
I wonder what's the hype about it?
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The place was surprisingly empty for a Friday evening, but then it means we have the attention of the wait staff and not too many clink-clangs of china ware distracting us from the food and conversation.
10 dishes for 9 people was a feat I've not experienced before, but well, that's probably just sufficient to satisfy 9 foodies. The dishes were served really fast, leaving us no time for a breather between taking photos and eating, so I'd try to remember what all of them tastes like. Here goes:
Peking Duck ($60) - What we call 'instant duck' as it appeared like 10 mins after we placed our order. At least they carved it in front of us. The bun that came with it tasted a little dough-y but I believed they make it in-house, which I rather have instead of those standard buns I usually see. For me personally, the sauce was too little but other than that it was quite good.
2nd Serving of the duck meat ($27) - we can have it either fried with rice, noodle, or minced served in lettuce. We chose the last option, which came nicely flavoured in crispy lettuce. Nothing to complain about.
San Bei (3 cups) Chicken ($20) - I like claypot anything, so this was a winner for me. Came with a few leaves of basil and very aromatic pieces of tender chicken :D
Shi Chuan (loosely translated as "long lost") Chicken ($28) - Sorely disappointed at how normal this tasted despite the name, which hinted of a long lost recipe which should have been spectacular, no? Just another baked chicken for me.
Dou Bei ($26) - supposedly a better breed of dou miao, but erm honestly tasted like normal dou miao.
Mango Prawns ($36) - Deep fried prawns encasing the meat and mango strips. While the dish was quite nice, I couldn't quite get used to the combination. Plus the mango was sour.
Scallops with shrimp mousse ($32) - We were all wondering what's shrimp mousse when we saw the menu. Turned out to be something like prawn paste on top of pan fried scallops. I quite liked it, but tasted like fishcake according to LIC haha~
Cereal Cod Fillet ($28) - One of the better dish. A different take on your cereal prawns. Very nicely deep fried chunks of very fresh fish coated with cereal. Hmmm~~
Garlic pork ribs ($28) - I don't usually take pork outside but this was quite good too. Simple, tender pieces of pork deep fried with fried garlic.
French Beans ($20) - A common dish but very easy to flop at it too. Luckily they did well, with crunchy beans and very savoury minced meat . Not too oily too, which is a big plus for me.
Herbal Jelly, Mango Pamelo, Almond Tea, Honey Dew Melon ($6 each) - These were what we ordered for desserts, and mine was almond tea. Too watery for my liking and the price. Avoid.
Char Siew Pastry ($3.60) - Came highly recommended and the chef had to make it especially for us because it is usually available during lunch time, haha. The pastry was very freshly-buttered, and nice lean filling. But a little too ex for me for 1 piece though.
Chinese Tea ($5 per pax) - normal Chinese Tea but I have to include this just so to inform that its priced per pax.
Service was very good, and I think it was one of the captains who served us throughout the evening. Courtesy of the 25% discount we got, it came up to $40 per person which I find very reasonable for the variety we got to try. Plus they have this cute way of displaying their individual sauces and cashew nuts for a snack.
But still am not sure if I'd return because it is quite expensive without the discount. But it was a good experience for me :D
- 1 more comment »
Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!Hi, the pastry was $1.80 per piece, not $3.60.
18 Jan 2009 at 8:38 am
wah! you write so fast! haha
18 Jan 2009 at 9:02 am
Oh shoot, sorry!%u3000Must be my Maths~
21 Jan 2009 at 5:03 pm