As you know.. Singapore has tonnes of food everywhere. Dempsey is saturated with all sorts of cuisine. I suggest this place after a friend recommended to try it as it was opened by another friend's friend. Talk about 6 degrees of separation..

We went on Saturday night just before 7pm and the restaurant is near empty save for 1 chinese family and 1 couple who was later joined by another couple.

We were seated inside and we noticed that there is only set menus. 2 course at $48++ and 3 course at $58++. The menu was a little confusing as we didn't understand what (+10 supplement) meant.

Example; Foie gras xxxxx (+10 supplement)

but I quickly catch on and told my beau that it probably means we have to top up money for the choice of appetizer.

The mains also have (+20 supplement) for waygu beef etc..

All in all the service is fantastic, the food is good. However, this restaurant doesn't give me the 'A~HA' moment.. in which the food blows my mind away or a particular dish stands out from the rest. You know with sooooo many restaurants around.. I need a slight edge in the food to remind me that this place exist. You know.. like a signature dish or a wow factor.. sadly this restaurant doesn't have any.

It is a pity as there is nothing to complain about.. just maybe I'm trying to look for something more.

With the increasing numbers of people dining out, the sheer number and variety of food outlets are increasing and I wonder if that means that we are simply becoming numb and accommodating to mediocre food.

I passed by Ootoya several time and I always see a long queue and came to a conclusion that the food must be fantastic. So 2 nights ago, while everyone is busy with CNY preparations, my boyfriend and I decided to try our luck. We were there at around 7pm, and Orchard Central is quiet. The row of restuarants at level 8 was also quiet..

We were told that the booths were full and if we would like to see side by side or facing each other at the huge table. We conceded. I must say that I'm happy with the service as shortly after sitting, they informed us that a booth is available and they will be happy to move us over once the table is cleaned. I think it is good service as they put in the initiative to ask us without us requesting for it.

They have couple booths on one side lining the wall and family booths on the other lining the glass panels. It is a small arrangements about 3 - 4 of each.

As I did not have a cheatsheet, we order the Ootoya Special, which is tonkatsu with sunshine egg, and I order the rice with scallops and tofu soup. The interesting part of the menu is that they let us know the amount of calories we are consuming, so I was able to watch my intake and ordered the small rather than the large. It also make me order the tofu soup rather than the steak/ burger (which on hindsight was a mistake).

the Ootoya Special is just fried chicken with potato croquette and the usual clincher would be the sauce or the batter. In this case, it lost cos there is nothing special. So I would go to Tonkichi for this ANY DAY.

The rice came with 3 scallops and the tofu soup has the consistency like that of sharksfin soup. But it was rather tasteless and bland (or maybe I'm someone who needs a stronger flavour to excite my taste buds).

The consolation is that if u are looking for variety in the rice seasoning, this is the place as they have the special seasoning, the seaweed seasoning instead of plain rice.

In my opinion, this is probably what homecooked food taste like, without the solid delicious-ness of mum's cooking...

i don't know about you, but as a Singaporean (true blue hot blooded), i like air con. VERY MUCH. so I prefer to sit inside. with air con..

I think it's time to quit trying to push my money to TGIF after 3 times. I mean, how shameless do I have to be?!

1st time: we walked up on an evening asked for table for 2. Answer was fully booked. Sorry.
2nd time: weekend afternoon. Hot Sun.. we crossed the traffic light from Cineleisure and we asked to be seated in the air con area.
Response: Sorry, all the seats are reserved.
We did the SHAMELESS thing. We were sooooo desperate to let TGIF earn our money, we walked into the 2nd floor of Heeren and ask to be seated there.. Same answer.. Duhz..
The problem is the tables were empty... like no one.. not a single body was there... We stared at the waitress and told her, we should be finished with our lunch before ANYONE with reservations get here. The answer is still no. That's how resolve they were with not earning our money.. We went to Waraku upstairs to eat.. and came down.. still the empty tables... Ermm... not 7th month leh...

3rd time: I called last friday, and asked to reserve dinner for 2 at 7pm. The answer is "We do not take reservation." HUH?! I told the lady, wat's the deal here. I went there and you say all reserved. Then u tell me no reservations. Then she says, uh.. u must call 2 wks in advance to book. Then I say, but u ask me to come down now, and I may get a table inside. So that means, it's not full, so u can still reserve a table for me, right? NO. dun take reservations.

So folks. TGIF dun need our biz. It's either for sweaty pigs or angmohs or just not me..

The queue is manageable but fast, the food is cheap and reasonable, the service is fast.

We reach there at about 7.30pm, on Sunday. Should be the peak dining period. The place was relatively quiet, but as u take e escalator and walk towards the restuarant.. the noise level increases. The place is packed, with teenagers in group (where did they come from on a Sunday?!), family with kids, couples (like us)... and super noisy.

The staff are not many, many 5 waitress serving the orders etc.. The drinks are free flow and is a drinks bar, like a salad bar, where u pay $2.88 for drinks. any drink u want. Help yourself. Iced water, ice lemon tea, pepsi light, milo, orange juice, coffee, tea.

The food starts from $2.88 for a small hot plate of corn n veggies to $6.98 for a pizza. yes. u are right. The pizza is about the size of a standard mouse pad.. slightly bigger and round.. :p

We did not order the pasta, but ordered the baked rice. and soup etc.. skip the mushroom soup.. watered down and runny.. it did not make the cut. The clam chowder however, is above the above. It is thick, and filled with ingredients. It is not fishy but still have the seafood and clam flavour. recommended!!

We ordered Bacon n Pineapple pizza, and their version of baked rice called Doria. For $6.98, I'm happy with the food. I'm not gonna complain. In fact, I'm gonna go back for more!!

I went to Canton-i on a Friday nite. It was 7.15, and there was no queue.. I decided to walk around before waiting for my friend to show up... I round back, and there were some crowd, I decided to go ahead and wait for my friend inside the restaurant.. It turns out that they were serving people, and there were just sudden surge of unexplained crowd.

I saw just inside the restuarant. Not too far in.. and I love the cutlery.. it's delicate and pretty for dining and the prices are affordable (for ION above ground standards) :p

The food presentation is nice but the food is normal. It's like crystal jade kitchen but not that expensive. It's almost HK cafe price but definitely much better quality food.

I think it would help if they tell customers in advance that the dim sum and some dishes in e menu are served til 5pm and not available. That would cut down our time and their time. Our time, as we decided a few dishes, only to find out that it's not available and have to re-think.. Their time, cos they only took half of the order and waited like awkward idiots, waiting for us to decide what dishes to replace those that were not available. It din help that they did not try to recommend any dishes..

*sigh*

I was looking for a place to eat near this end of Orchard Road and when I keyed in Centrepoint, Aston Prime came up in HGW's search. So I was happy to give them a call.

Aston's Prime takes reservations so I was happy that I can avoid any potential queues with that.

Upon arrival, we were shown to a booth, which is nice and cosy. It is very new and although it is not crowded, the place is almost full. I guess it must be newly opened and located at level 3, right in front of the escalator going down, it is easy to find.

We ordered the Prime Ribs House Cut ($29.90) and the Long Fed Tenderloin Steak ($33.90) lor.
My boi ordered the sides of french fries and onion rings, I got the buttered mushrooms and steam veggies.. He else ordered the soup of the day - Clam Chowder ($3.50).

The clam chowder comes with a looooong slice of garlic bread, which is hot and aromatic. The soup is full of clams and veggies and looks thick and creamy. My boi doesn't like it as much as it taste less like the sea and more like cream.. I love the fact that it's creamy enough to mask any 'fishy' smell. :)

The Prime Ribs looks good and huge and was deboned. I was looking forward to the Tony Romas style ribs but deboned. WAH.. power! but was a little disappointed when we saw it was the beef rib and looks more like a steak than a rib.. hehehheeh.. chey.. :p

The tenderloin came later and we both ordered cooked til it's not bloody, cos I dun like to be reminded that I'm eating a carass with the blood oozing out.. sorry to other food connoisseurs..

The sides are disappointing cos the steam veggies taste like they were scalded more than boiled.. It's hard!! my boi dig his fork into a piece of carrot and the carrot flew off the plate!! the mushrooms are great.. The disappointment also came from the fries and onion rings.. The fries are like mos burger size, rather than Mac's size and it's hard or soggy but most importantly cold... :( The onion rings should be called battered rings cos I didn't see or taste any hint of onions in them..

However, the service is good, the waiter came back mid-meal to ask if everything is alright and whether the food is ok. The drinks are topped up but only after we asked them to.. however, we do not get billed for service, only GST, so the price is kept to the minimum.

We are tempted to try the Waygu beef steak ($89.90) and my boi said that we should come back again to try that one. And with different sides.. :)

I think they are closed as I've tried to call other branches and they are left with Wheelock Place's branch.

I just returned from the dinner at Tony Romas and felt compelled to write this. I've been to Tony Romas several times and I always like the service from the orchard branch as the staff are more trying to please and hence the service although has room for improvement is always pleasant.

It is also the same for today. However, my experience is spoilt by a disappointing manager who should not remained hired especially during this economic climate when there are many more people who are hard up for jobs and easy to perform right now.

We came to see that there is a queue outside the restaurant at 7pm and hence we proceed to queue. After a while, I asked a girlfriend to remain in the queue while I go in and find out how long we have to wait. I was greeted by a hostile "You have to queue outside" reply and the manager who is a male in his 40s and wearing glasses, and tie and shirt, clearly not a waiting personnel but a manager then walked out, ignoring me and when to ignore my gf and ask the family BEHIND us to take down their names. After glaring at him and maybe he felt that I had burned a hole with my stare in his back, he asked for my name and the number of people. However, I felt maligned that I did not queue as I was placed BEHIND the family, which is not right. I am sure in his mind he felt that I had jumped the queue as there is already a line forming, but I think he was being unprofessional as he did not ask where I had queued previously.

When it was almost our turn, I walked into the waiting area where guests are usually standing, but within the glass air-conditioned partition, but I was shooed out of the restaurant! SHOOED out! because he said that me and my other gf was blocking the passageway! WHAT KIND OF ATTITUDE is THAT?!

I'm sad to see that one of my favourite restaurants have deteriorate their service and I must say that I will probably not want to come back anytime soon.

Being a Singaporean, please indulge my exclamation:
"Aiyo.. typical Singaporean leh! last time heeren one so big, no one wanna go.. now left one small vivo outlet, then always long queue..!!"

Anyway, you cannot make reservations in advance for Fridays and weekends dinners as they want prefer to entertain walk-ins.

Everyone goes for the rosti even though it is just shredded potatoes. Anyhow, I often say, it's the company not the food that is important. So if my friends like the rosti, then it's fine with me!

I must recommend the sweet crepe section. A marked difference worthy of me slaving over the laptop to talk about this. The chef tending the station has a ready smile. Me and another gf approached and asked about the day's special on the blackboard. I opted for their tiramisu crepe. It's normal batter with tiramisu cream and bananas. We topped it up with ice cream. Since we are unsure which flavour is good, we opt for the one that is most empty. The flavour is Maple Walnut. and it is DELICIOUS! We saw bowls of fruits and almond flakes, chocolate rice and raisins and ask if they are free or we have to top up $$$. Fortunately, only the fruits (like peach, strawberries, managoes) cost additionally.

We ask for the ice cream to be put separately so that it will not melt all over the crepe and cause it to be messy to eat. If in Marche, save some tummy space for the sweet crepe.

They are closed. I saw the notice when I pass by the shop near Daiso. Apparently, they went bankrupt. :(