We were cracking our heads over a place to eat on sat and when my friend suggested Jing, i had a rush of excitement! A new place I have not tried and by the people behind the Majestic...how can it be wrong?

WELL. I have to admit that Wong AY got it right this time round. If you read his review, he was even handed and fair about the hit and misses of the restaurant. The four of us had the $80++ set each because it had many of the popular dishes from the Majestic (eg foie gras, peking duck, carrot cake) and I really count myself as a fan of the Majestic.

The dinner was truly underwhelming. Seriously, if you want to eat the good food from the Majestic, just go to the Majestic. Why settle for a pale reflection of what can be really good food? The desserts also disappointed, sounding good on paper, looking good on arrival but sadly five steps behind in taste.

Ambience was very nice but I don't think anyone should be paying this kind of money for mediocre food (unless you have money coming out of your ears). It was a very quiet night for the restaurant (which should have given us our first clue - empty sat night...hmmmm).

I instituted an austerity rule last week - only spend money on food that is good (since the economy is so bad, better not waste money on bad food). And I broke this rule tonight, here at Nijumaru.

Before I went, I thought the place had so many plus points:
1. It's located at Cuppage, a place supposedly famed for good Jap food.
2. Previous reviews were pretty good.
3. The menu (accordingly to a previous reviewer) was all in Japanese.
4. Prices looked reasonable.

Alas. My friend had I both had the set that came with rice, soup, saba fish, tempura, some sashimi and a piece of fatty pork. The fatty pork was very tasty (but really, with so many layers of fat, it's hard not to be tasty). The tempura batter was heavy and the pieces came out soggy instead of crispy. But the greatest sin really was that the restaurant gave us off-cuts of the salmon and tuna sashimi. Instead of cutting the sashimi along the grain, we had odd shaped sashimi with tough tendon bits. I kid you not.

Ah shucks. To make up for wasting money like that, I probably now have to pay penance and eat at home for the next few days.

If you look at my previous reviews, you would know that I diligently hunt down Italian restaurants that I hear are good. I get such indefinable simple joy when I find an outstanding one. It's been a while actually and I'm happy to say Chiara reminds me of all that's good in Italian food.

First impressions were positive. Besides the warm bread, they served us a small bowl of pitted olives. The olives had a tart, fruity taste and a good bite to them. I enjoyed popping them into my mouth randomly throughout the meal.

I had my eyes peeled for the famed squid ink fettucine but alas, they had just launched a new menu. The list of items was not extensive, but hey that's sometimes a good thing (if you have watched Gordon Ramsey's Restaurant Makeover, you will agree). In the end, I had the tagliatelle with beef in truffle sauce. The tagliatelle was al dente, beef was moist and juicy and the truffle sauce added another layer of taste to the dish. Thumbs up.

My friend, Greedy Das, was swooning in a corner over the guinea fowl with foie gras. I took the drumstick from her and agreed. The waiters were all slightly manic in asking how she liked the dish as it was a new one they were just trying out. The third waitress to ask her said the owner sitting outside was most anxious to know.

Dessert - yums yums yums. The waiter greatly emphasised that we were to eat the dark chocolate ravioli with the ice cream to counter the bitterness of the dark chocolate. But I dig dark chocolate and it was good! I also liked the crust of the apple tart and the cinnamon ice cream (which they say they get straight from France). Would prefer my apple tart be more pie-like and less waffle-like, a true torta della nonna, but this goes as well.

All in all, I can't wait for my second visit. I've been busy telling friends about this place because I think there's a true danger it will close. Business was slow and it was only towards 9pm+ that some customers came trickling in. It will be a real shame if this gem goes away and all these other freaking mediocre blah restaurants survive. My boss says it's the fengshui (!!), that previous restaurants in the same location had all closed pretty fast.

My only gripe - the glass of Prosecco at S$16++ was overpriced!

Ps. If you look at all the other reviews for this place, there's inevitably one person ticking "I don't agree with this review". Boy does someone have a vendetta against Chiara.....

The father-in-law suggested the place for dinner and we figured it must be ok given that it comes under the Tung Lok franchise.

First off, the place is not supposed to be for fine dinning, so if you go expecting posh chinese food, you certaintly would be disappointed (as one of the previous reviewers was). While the restaurant is housed in a nice stand-alone shophouse, the whole get up (food, prices, ambience, layout) really reminded me of Crystal Jade!

There was some American Express promotion going on, but unfortunately, our server wasn't conversant in any language (chinese, english, cantonese, we tried them all) and wasn't able to articulate what exactly the promotion was about. I still am not clear. It's either 1-1 or spend x and get 1 free dish or something. In any case, we ended up getting three free dishes. But before any of you rush off to try the place, the free dishes were extremely small. (The non free dishes were also very small). We had a salmon dish where there were a few small pieces of salmon and when I took one, before my taste buds could react, the piece was lost in the mouth.

To be fair though, the food was not bad and the total price came up to be very decent with the Amex promotion. Fairly typical Tung Lok fare and good enough for a sat night out with the family (like going to crystal jade lah). We had a whole range of dishes, from the wasabe prawns to the roast pork with mustard dip, sweet potato leaves etc. We actually ordered a steamed patin but when it came, it was overcooked (the fish was all dried up and twisted upwards - like it was fried!). We sent it back and half an hour later, they came to say that they had run out of fish. Oh well.

Yesterday night was our second visit and as we entered the restaurant, the waiter who served us the first time actually remembered us, where we sat and what we ate. This was strange and very nice, especially since our first visit was more than two months ago!

Because we were lazy, we just asked for recommendations since the waiter did a pretty good job the last time. The only thing we added was the palek paneer (spinach and cheese - always a good combination).

I confess that I am no connoisseur of Indian food and don't know what benchmarks people use to gauge good Indian food. All I know is that both times, the tandoori chicken was juicy and had taste throughout the meat. I think chicken is the easiest thing to get wrong and can so easily be overcooked, stringey, tough and tasteless (which is why I am usually scared senseless when I have to eat chicken outside).

The Palek Paneer was creamy and yet light, with the cheese fluffy and subtle. We had a fish curry and another chicken curry as well. I clearly wasn't paying attention when the waiter gave their names, but both were good. The fish was silky and lightened the curry.

We ordered rabdi for dessert. I just don't get Indian desserts, find them very sweet and have never been able to find one I like. But that's just me....my husband gobbled up the rabdi.

I have eaten at a couple of Indian restaurants across town and I really do think that this place stands out for its ambience, food and service. They never pack a full house for some reason and it could be due to what the previous writer suggested - bad positioning and being relatively new. It would be a real shame if this place went away!

Went last night on the strength of previous HGW reviews.

We had been to Kazu Sumiyaki before and was expecting similiar food. We started with the beef and kimchi soup, which was really just the thing for a cold rainy sat night. We also tried an assortment of grilled items, all pretty good. I liked my garlic fried rice too!

What was really a wow for me was really the ambience! We sat on the first floor, where there were 3 tables (1 for 2 people and 2 for 4 people) as well as 6 counter seats. Everyone sits on the floor, Japanese style. There's really something to be said for sitting huddled up on the floor, cross legged, hunched over the table and having a good long conversation with your husband, while you both drink hot soup and it is pouring outside. I really felt like I was in Japan (if you can just forget all the english that was being spoken).

I think that Kazu, on balance, probably has more food choices and way better desserts (the dessert we had here was strange - some dense tasteless redbean pancake with greenbean ice cream). But I would defnitely choose to return here over Kazu. I really like to have good conversation while having a meal, and it's tough to do so at Kazu. I had a fine time yesterday! And, it really wasn't expensive as well!

Two notes:
1. A previous reviewer had commented that the first salad bowl at Kazu is free, but not so at Satsuma. To be fair, Kazu's salad bowl consists only of cabbage/lettuce. Satsuma gives more stuff (onions, carrot, spring onions etc) and is a bigger bowl.

2. Do make reservations. We saw at least 5 couples turned away for lack of seats.

Tomorrow is going to be one of those rare days that that I would be able to have a leisurely lunch and so decided to seek out a restaurant with a nice ambience and serving a good set lunch.

We decided on Au Petit and so I called to make reservations. After contact information had been given, I asked if they could give me an indoor seat next to a window.

Answer: All seats next to windows are not for 2 people.

Fair enough. I then said "ok, no problems. Could you then maybe give me a table that's not too close to another?"

Answer: ALL OUR TABLES ARE CLOSE TOGETHER(said in a supercillious , I am king, you are peasant tone).

My initial two thoughts were:
1. Woah. Ok. Sorry man. Didn't realise you had so much business you could get away with being rude.

2. ALL your tables are close together?? (I was having images of the food court).

I made the reservation (because I must be a damn pushover), but after thinking about it and feeling that I certaintly deserved more, I called to cancel.

We will now be going to Cassis instead to check the place out!

Came across this restaurant while randomly surfing HGW one day and finally got the chance last night to try it.

The restaurant is located next to the pool at St. Regis, and while the rest of the hotel is dressed slightly over the top, this place has a refreshing white washed and airy feel to it. Reminded me of a more upmarket version of Turquoise Room at Gillman.

We both had the dinner journey menu, which was basically a 4 course meal at S$80++. Truth be told, it was because we thought that the menu was written up quite badly and couldn't settle on any dish. Honestly. Have you ever been to a place where as you read the menu, a gleam enters your eye, your stomach starts to slowly rumble and you wonder how many dishes you can get away with ordering? This place was not like that.

Thinking back, the main problem could be that for each dish, the main ingredient was put out as the title in big bold letters and then the ingredients in smaller font below. We found it hard to imagine the end result.

Eg. TOMATO
Tomato with basil and mozerella cheese.

Anyway, the food was actually pretty good! The one item that stood out for me was the black risotto with chorizo sausages, squid and cheese. It was superb! (and that coming from someone that does not usually like risotto). When I leaned forward to smell the dish, the smell was that of hor fun (with the wok hei and all). Strange but very tantalising.

It of course did not taste like hor fun. Each spoonful yielded a slightly creamy (but not jerlat), smooth and taste-packed result. The squid was tender, juicy and not at all rubbery. There were two slices of chorizo sausages on the risotto but I think they also put in chopped bits of the chorizo into the dish. Every time I came across some chopped bits, it only made the dish better. And the best thing is, you don't know when you'll be scooping up the little chorizos, so it's like a mini bonus when you get some!

Service was efficient and attentive (but given that we were the only folks in the restaurant at 9.30pm....). My only little complain is that the bread rolls in the bread basket were kinda chewy, cold and rubbery.

Overall, definitely a place to return to.

This place has always been at the back of my mind, but Ice's review was inspiring enough for me to immediately pick up the phone and make a reservation.

We had the pan fried scamorza cheese to start, mainly because we had earlier wanted to buy some cheese from the supermarket to pan fry and realised how prohibitively expensive that was. The dish was very good - firm, not oily and subtle in taste.

The menu dedicated a whole paragraph to the restaurant's pizze and how they made them like the ones you find in Naples. OF COURSE we had to try one - dudes, if you haven't been to Naples and haven't tried their pizze....gosh. Thin crusted, cripsy pizze are all the rage nowadays, but I do truly love Neapolitan pizze. Thick crusted, almost rubbery and glistening in oil, I know this doesn't sound appetising at all....but I LOVE them.

Anyway, the pizza we had at La Strada came pretty close, though they did cut back on the thickness of the base and crust and it was not as oily (probably don't want to scare away Singaporeans). But it was good nevertheless and I would return for more.

We also had the carbonara (read the ravings below). That was quite yummy at first, but got a little gerlat towards the end. I probably have a peasant tongue, but the truffles got a little too much for me.

Good, efficient and inobtrusive service. Wonderful bread basket. I have no complaints. My husband did think though that the place was expensive, with pasta dishes going for S$30++.

A friend and I were thinking of a nice place for dinner on Friday and she mentioned she had heard that a new restaurant called The White Rabbit was opening up.

I immediately checked HGW, but alas, there was no review yet at that point. Google however pointed me to chubbyhubby. When I saw the pictures at the website, I was completely stunned. The pics were gorgeous!

So, we made a reseveration for dinner. I was actually a little apprehensive because:
1. Dempsey is a cursed place - where restaurants more often than not rely on their wonderful unique location to sell themselves, and think it justifiable to serve average food at exorbitant prices. Growl.

2. The place just opened - would we be subjecting ourselves to painful service and half-baked food?

So.

Ambience - the pictures on chubbyhubby lived up to their expectations! The place was wonderfully done up. I liked the way the lights played on structures in the restaurant and against the grills to throw shadows against the walls and ceiling.

A big negative though was the noise level. We sat in the side alcove and was spared most of it but I was quite hoarse by the time I left. But my goodness, when I went into the proper hall for the toilet, the noise level almost bowled over. It must be the high ceilings and lack of soft furnishing - I don't know how anyone can have a proper conversation in the main hall!

Service - Pretty good. Not at all like it was their first week. Bread came promptly, food came in a timely flow, the waitress was friendly and offered suggestions.

Food - What did I say about the Dempsey curse? Yep. There was no escape. It was mediocre, mediocre, mediocre.

We shared the prawn bisque soup (that was average). I had the duck with orange sauce. That was again average and a little dry. My friend's sole was certaintly below average, bogged down by a fish that was not too fresh. The thing about fish is, you don't have to be an expert to know when it is not fresh. Your body knows, your taste buds know. There's this certain flatness and mushy taste to old fish. We shared the mac and cheese side and the strawberry dessert....again average and forgetable. I am not being very descriptive here, but what's there to say about average? Nothing teased our taste buds, nothing made me put down my utensiles and have a moment. It was all just blaaaaah.

I thought about the food and wondered whether I could attribute it to the restaurant being new. But you know, bad service, forgotten orders and mixed up dishes can be attributed to start-up hiccups....but food that is not delicious? If a cook is mediocre, he is mediocre.

At the prices they were charging ($$30+++ for a main), it just ain't worth it.