Ventured here again afer dropping by on the 3rd day of CNY only to see that its not opened. At 6pm on a Saturday evening, the outdoor seats were all reserved, so we settled for the indoor. The seats by the sides were probably a better choice as the middle seat we got was right smack in front of the cake counter and doorway to the washroom.

Rotisserie chicken - this came in the form of 2 chicken drumsticks perched on top on a pool of mashed potatos and something else I cant' remember. The chicken looked quite good at first but we later realised the it was not probably not season enough as once we took off the skin, the meat itself was quite tasteless. The potatos were not wow either. Plus the order came about 10mins after they took our order, which leads me to conclude the chicken was pre-cooked. And so it was even more strange that the inner bits of the chicken was still red.

Squid salad - small squid rings that came tossed with a bunch of rocket leaves and seasoned with a lemony-dressing, and accompanied by silvers of cooked capsicums. The squid felt a tad too 'soft', and while the dressing was a nice change from your usual creamy fare, I would have preferred the capsicums to not be so cooked and retained more crunch.

I have to admit the ambience is really quite nice, sort of like a semi private lush dining. I walked from Tanglin Mall to get there and it was a good 15mins walk, but still better to have your own transport, evident in how we were stuck when leaving because it was raining. The staff offered to call for a taxi for us which I thought was a nice touch even though we didnt take up the offer.

The rest of the menu looks interesting enough for me to be back; maybe I just ordered the wrong things??

I came here almost 4 years ago and never revisited as I actually feel it is a bit pricey for crepes and at that time what I tasted was not spectacular, so the only reason I walked in on a Monday night was because I saw that they are having a 1-for-1 savoury crepes (promo is valid until end Mar from Monday to Thursday).

Tables alongside the fountain are taken up quite quickly, so we were assigned a 2-seater right beside the escalator. Tables are packed quite tightly perhaps to maximise the space, so good for evesdropping. Service was abit haphazard, with blur-ish staff looking spaced out sometimes.

Peking Duck (whole wheat crepe) - although I couldnt understand what 'sambal olek' sauce was and why lychees appeared in the description, it acutally turned out nice! The crepes were packed quite firmly with the meat and the sauce was very distinctively Peking duck without being too salty. My only fault with it was the fatty duck skin in the mix of onions; which I ate without knowing that it was there, then saw my friend painstakingly remove them from her plate.

Seafood (sun dried tomato crepe) - the menu says its spicy youghurt sauce but whatever I tasted was not really spicy but more of a tinge of spice to dress up the sauce itself. Actually I could only taste the prawns and the oranges in the crepes but overall taste was good too.

Each crepe came with a side of salad in a dressing which reminded me of orange vinegrette. Not too bad.

I'll come again for the offer but not without as I still think it is pricey. Quality of the crepes have improved from what I remember, so good for them.

Everything here seems to be done with macha, drinks, shakes, lattes, ice creams, etc. A tad quiet on a Monday night and maybe that's why the air conditioning seemed to be a little too strong for me.

Hot macha latte - friend ordered the unsweetened version for me but maybe it was the wrong choice. It was terribly bitter and consistency was so thick it didnt taste like a 'latte' at all. I added some hot milk to dilute it but didnt turn out too different. Had to add a pack of sugar to make it bearable in the end. Lesson learnt - take the sweetened version.

Macha + black saseme ice cream - ordering 2 scoops instead of 1 by 1 was a mistake, even though it was cheaper comparatively. The macha ice cream dissolved into a green puddle too quickly under the black saseme, the black saseme overpowered whatever macha taste I could find. I'm sure they taste great separately.

The place is semi-self service: write your orders on an order chit on the table, bring it to the counter, pay, and wait for your food / drinks. Prices are very reasonable for $6 per person too.

Most seats are low-back cushy seats but the layout of the seats don't really offer any privacy for chit chatting, unless you're lucky enough to snag 1 of their 2 booth seats, one of which unfortuantely was taken up by ONE lady during my visit. Sigh.

We got hit by a flying piece of porcelain when one of the staff broke something near the kitchen but maybe that's just bad timing for us.

All 7 of us went there happily craving dim sum but there wasn't any. It was the last day of the CNY and they didnt serve dim sum. So we settled for whatever they were offering ala carte.

Deep fried silver fish - I thoght this was the best dish of the day. Crunchy fish tossed with a tangy sauce that reminded me of what you get with a Thai salad. Quite a refreshing bite.

Fried carrot cake - didnt know where this came from as it wasn't on the menu and they said the dim sum dishes are not available. The fragrance was really nice but the taste didnt up to it. Too bland.

Roasted meat - 9 tiny cubes of pork. Warned by lunch mates, I lifted a piece to my nose and make the clever decision not to eat it. It smelt like a whole pig has been condensed into the tiny cube, resulting in a terribly overwhelming porky smell (and taste). Bravo to the 2 gentlemen at the table who ate more than one cube. One spat it out right after putting it into her mouth.

Peking Duck - Very nice presentation but taste didnt match up, again. The skin was not crispy enough and the sauce was overly watery. The crackers that came with it tasted bland too.

Fish done in two ways stired fried with asparagus - We were told this was only available that day. It essentially was garoupa sliced and stired fried, with the more bony parts of the fish deep fried to add to the volumne of the dish. Other than the fact that the fish was fresh, nothing special.

Prawn done in 2 ways - 2 deep fried prawns in wasabi and laksa sauce. Nicely presented in a glass and wasabi was okay, but what laksa????

Tofu with crab meat sauce and brocolli - bland tofu covered in bland roe-colpured crab meat sauce. The only saviour of the dish are the brocolli which added a nice crunch.

Fried rice with duck meat - we chose for the duck meat to be done this way. Was much more flavourful than the previous dishes but couldnt finish the single portion; a tad too oily.

Service was not too bad, although the lady who served us a few times had a perpetual frown on her face. We never found out why. Tea was refilled efficiently. Ambience felt Chinese grandeur in warm brownish tones.

Be warned that some dishes and tea are charged at per pax. Bill came up to $50 per pax, which was really not justified for the quality we got. For the same price we could have had many other options that will result a satisfying lunch. If they deliver this quality of food at their supposedly up-market outlet, I dread to think what the other outlets serve. Oh, and we were not told the fish was $80+ which was pricer than the duck at $68.

The conclusion was maybe their dim sum is worth another shot, but I'm not sure.

Taste Paradise: please buck up.

 

Chose this quiet spot for a company dinner, and ala carte's buffet always a good choice as guests then do not worry about ordering more items and thus adding costs, and there's no need to walk about and disrupting conversations.

The ala carte buffet is a quite comprehensive range of starters, mains, soups, and desserts; including oysters and sashimi, sushi, and shabu shabu. $42 per pax for weekends and $52 for weekdays seem like an odd promo at first but perhaps given that most of the weekend crowd there will not consider this as a dining option, it is a good pull factor.

We had the long booth seat for our big group on the mezzaine level which provided maximum privacy but it meant a difficult task getting the attention of service staff. They also have pull out drawers for your shoes while providing slippers if you like. Nice touch.

Shabu shabu - this is one of rare times I actually like beef. Thinly sliced beef sloshed in stock was very good and indicative of the things to come.

Salmon sashimi - thickly sliced and very fresh. We ordered more than 1 serving of course.

Vegetable spring roll - a little like the Vietnamese spring roll but without the beehoon. Refreshing on the palette and a healthy option against all the meaty stuff.

Deep fried shrimp - the first time I tried is was at Ichibantei at Liang Court and was hooked. The shrimps were deep fried to a nice crunch and was very addicitvely savoury.

Asparagus in blue cheese sauce - Im not a blue cheese fan and found the cheese overpowering. Couldnt actually taste the sweetness of the veg. Strange combination too.

Prawn tempura - sweet crunchy prawns in non-oily batter, done very well.

Eel fried rice - I didnt taste too much eel but was too full by then to take a second bite.

Coconut creme brulee - yes I know, creme brulee in a Jap restaurant? It turned out to be one of their signature dessert and although I dont like creme brulees in general and declined to taste it, I know of ladies who can take 4 servings at one go, after dinner.

Guests can be seated at 6pm and leave at 11pm, so you can basically stuff yourself for all you want and stagger out of the place thereafter. Its probably better for catching up with girl friends than dates or couple's night out though.

Terribly overpriced.

The outlet have a good sized couch area right in front of the band set which wasnt playing when I was there that night. I guess low tables are good for having ice cream and catching up but I found the couch seats rather bad for people who want some privacy chat.

Each scoop costs $5.50 if Im not wrong, and is already more pricey than most brands around. Because there was about 8 of us, the satff cheerfully recommended the Merlionster, which was 6 scoops topped with various stuff like bananas and brownies. It was probably our fault too for not looking too carefully at the prices, but we never thought it will cost $32.90.

Technically, it is still cheaper than if you would have ordered 6 ala carte scoops. BUT they could have done much better than to squash all 6 scoops into a tiny plastic bowl with whatever 'vairious stuff' it was supposed to hold threatening to drop off the edge of it. This was by far the most expensive ice cream I had ever had. I shudder to think how the Vermonster looks like for the charge of $88.00.

And I had the Snapple at $3.90 instead of their signature milkshakes which were $8.90 for a small size cup.

Dropped by the Mandarin Gallery branch on a busy Saturday afternoon and the place was packed. Informed the staff that I needed a table for 2 and she said okay and walked off, so I waited, only to realise that there was another entrance to the area where people were waiting too. Then 2 ladies who just came in breezed right past me and parked themselves at a newly vacated table. Huh? I asked the staff which side was the correct queue, and she sheepishly said, oh both sides. I had to ask then can I be seated soon as the 2 ladies cam after me had already seated themselves. It took another staff to come to me to offer me a table. They should really re-look their queue system.

Service and system aside, we ordered some bites to share:

Lemon meringue tart - the lemon was not strong enough and the pastry dissappointedly dry.

Thick cut fries - it looked like it came from a frozen pack, sadly, although it was served piping hot. Came with a mustard dip that was quite addictive.

Long Black - Credits to a good long black. Nicely pressed and acidic.

Will seriously re-consider about dropping by again.

This was the only place that was not closing during a weekday 10+pm so it was a good post-shopping fatigue break.

Done up in bright colours red, the place was dotted with eager wait staff, probably because it is a new place after all. Menu comprise of a good selection of Chinese desserts, alongside mains and bites as well. The mains and snacks did not seem to have a \'theme\' though, but I guess the focus should be on the desserts:

Hawthorne Jelly ($6) - a huge slab of the jelly served with smaller bits of Jap jelly. The rawness of the hawthorne, although is evidence of being home-made, was a little too tart for me. It was a refreshing taste I have to admit.

Almond cream with macha ice cream ($6) - very good quality almond cream with a big scoop of macha ice cream. It feels like a very heatlhy dessert and is a new combi to me, but such a combi also means I couldn\'t really taste the fagrance of the ice cream as it was overpowered by the cream.

Credits to the staff who took the touble to ask how was our desserts, and it was smiley and efficient service throughout. Nothing bad about the place so far, and I\'ll be back to try their other desserts!

The plus about Dolly Kitchen is that its a convenient choice for pre-party dining. The place is in fact a full fledge restaurant with dedicated chefs and service staff but has a much smaller seating, perhaps at 60-70 pax, with the place dressed in mostly black. 3 couch seats provided a haven from possible large noisy crowds from Shanghai Dolly downstairs.

The menu is mostly local with a dab of western dishes to suit the crowd. Very quiet on a Thursday night, with us being the 3rd table occupied; 2 staff were quite sufficient to manage. Stuff that we had (no need to review the Yusheng la):

Crispy tofu topped with cucumber, onions and roasted peanut sauce ($8) - very innovative replacement for gado gado. Honestly, the fact that they were the same thing didnt connect until it came. The tofu was dissappointingly soggy and bland; the peanut sauce didnt offer any lift to the whole dish either.

Pork or chicken satay (1/2 dozen) ($8) - quite tasty actually, with the sides of the meat nicely charred.

Prawn noodle soup with pork belly, kang kong, beansprouts, fishcake and prawns ($10) - the larger than usual portion of noodles came in a concentrated stock, which was so good we asked for extra portions of the stock by itself, which they obliged at no charge. Nice.

Bak Kut Teh - braised pork spareribs in 5-spiced herbal stock ($12) - didnt try this at all but presentation was worth some points.

Cod with potatoes ($26) - The only western twist to the dinner turned out good. Sizeable portion of the fish in a teriyaki sort of sauce that came accompanied by 4 nicely browned potato medallions.

Other than the gado gaod, we liked most of what we had, although some will probably balk at paying $10 for a typical hawker fare. But hey, you\'re paying for the comfort and ambience too. Its also a good choice for post-party supper as it stays open til 3am, and it\'ll save you all that stumbling in and out of taxi from too much alcohol. I\'m tempted to try the other stuff next time.

We paid about $60 for 4 pax but only because we had a 50% discount. Plus we had Yusheng so to me, prices are still considered reasonable.

Had the opportunity to dine here by invitation to review the place by SWW. 2 hungry ladies with a huge appetite :)

Spider Tempura ($14) – The soft shell crab was thankfully not oily but the batter was a little bland. The miso sauce was too sweet though, although unique. The side of salad was very well tossed with balsamic vinaigrette.

Baked stuffed Paris Mushroom with escargots ($14) – I do not take escargots but the mushrooms were very fresh and breadcrumbed very nicely. It was a big portion too, with 5 well-sized mushrooms and side of salad too.

Steak au Poivre ($30) – The order of medium rare was done quite well, with the crust nicely charred. No heavy ‘beef smell’ too. The accompanying side of petit vegetables (diced carrots, celery and zucchini) were well sautéed. The mashed truffle potatoes taste quite bland actually, with no hint of truffles at all.

Pan seared seabass ($26) – The seabass was very fresh and it came with the skin very nicely crisp. There were the sautéed vegetables too, and came with 3 potatoes medallions; simple but good. The accompanying apple cider sauce didn’t quite taste like apples although the apple bits in it helped with the identity.

Mahalo Sorbet ($12) – This pineapple sorbet was more sweet than sour / tart, but was very dense unlike the usual sorbet which I liked. Serving it in an actual pineapple was a unique touch though.

Apple Crumble ($12) – The tart and crumble tasted freshly baked and thankfully not cloyingly sweet as typically others. The apple was diced too finely and too cooked though; couldn’t quite taste the crunch in it. The accompanying vanilla ice cream was Haagen Daz so nothing to complain about.

Coffee – Good and thick coffee.

Grapefruit Juice – disappointingly, it was not made from fresh grapefruit but instead from a can, and it came with a dead ant in it. They offered to replace it but we felt we could finish it so we declined.

The presentation of the food was better than expected to be honest, as the place looked more like it was for drinks than actual dinner. When we arrived and wanted to order our starters, we were told that out of the 4 choices offered, 2 were not available. I felt they should have told me in advance, perhaps at my point of reservation. Only after asking were we offered the option to select other starters from the rest of the menu (as we don’t take foie gras and didn’t want mushroom soup).

A few of the other starters were not available as well, which quite surprised us. It was only after the MD Victor Tan explained that they were in the process of changing their chef that we understood. The staff could have been better trained to explain the situation to diners, otherwise people would not possible have understood why 4 out of 9 items were not available from a single section alone. They should also have steak knives as we had some trying time with the steak.

Other than that, service was quite okay as the place was hardly full on a Thursday night. It’s a nice quiet place which makes it very suitable for chilling out and romantic dates. Perhaps it helped that it was a cool night when we were there. Live performances by a solo singer provided some good music too.

There were no direction signs when you reach Bukit Timah Road, so you just have to ask the guard. understood the intent is to avoid overpublicising the place and rather for word to be spread through the smaller but more effective word of mouth.