We had:

Coffee ($4++) - Good

Carbonara ($14.50++) - Though light & interesting, Carbonara shouldn't be served with the egg cooked seperately. The pasta looked good topped with a nice poached egg.  However, a proper Carbonara should have the egg stir-in with Parmesan cheese. The portion was rather small too. It would be great to be able to choose a bigger portion with a higher price tag.

Gateaux Chocolate ($6.50++) - A nice impressive looking petite piece of cake. Quality wise, no different from the one I just had at the Greenhouse Cafe. Pretty good.

Tiramisu (S6.50++) - Ok.....Hmm....I'm trying to be nice here....This is the perhaps Canele's interpretation of a good old fashion Tiramisu. I had higher expectations because it was Canele. The taste for the whole dessert was nothing like those found in Italian restaurants.  To me, the dessert should be renamed but don't call it Tiramisu.

Service - Though the place is pretty small and the number of Service Staff is not that small, it is rather difficult to get their attention. From the moment of waiting for a seat, getting the menu, getting the order and getting the extra ice water besides the coffee was rather tough. To be fair, the staff were not chatting in a corner, but somehow, most of them were standing at positions that were somewhat difficult to wave them down or have eye contact. I need to walk to the counter several times to get some attention. However, the service provided, once gotten, was polite.

Ambience: A nice place to be seen though with all the nice and comfortable furnishing. It's a nice place to chill out with frens.

Value: Most dishes were priced much lower than I've expected.  However, I guess because of the low prices, the portion were much smaller.  Have had wanted to order a pizza, then realised that the price tag ensured not one whole round pizza but a small piece of rectangular portion  instead. 

Overall: The overall experience was good.  Will be back.

Was there for dinner on the 2nd day of CNY - 15 Feb 2010.

As expected, given the day and time, the place was very busy and crowded. I had expected slow food & service.  But I was suprised by the "speed" they brought the food to our table and by the compendent English speaking staff; given that the place is more like an air-con Zi Char restaurant.

We were seated at the sidewalk with direct view to the kitchen and the fish tank. The fish tank kept the kids occupied while we adults saw how fast the staff worked in the small but efficient kitchen.

We had:

Rice per bowl: $0.80 (really small portion - Petite Mummy needs 2!)

Chinese Tea: $1.50

Coffee: $3 (Instant mix from the machine)

Sambal Kangkong (S): $8 (The portion is relatively smaller than regular zi char restaurants/stall but it was good.)

Crispy Seafood Noodles (Sang Mee): $10 (Very small portion for $10 given the zi char setting, but the seafood was fresh and there was no MSG aftertaste experience.  Therefore, I felt the quality beats the quantity.)

Claypot Beancurd (S) : $8 (Decent beancurd but the vegetables could have been more generous.)

Conclusion: The small restaurant price itself with zi char prices, noted the $8 dishes, but the portion were alot more smaller and they do have high end seafood and meat dishes.  I felt that they are much better, in terms of quality and service than the HK cafe a few doors away.  Given the very busy day and time, when substandard food and service is not uncommon, this new restaurant score high in keeping both the food and service on par. In short, a decent, no fuss place to dine. Will be back to try other interesting stuff when I've more adults with me.

Literally, my 2 children were swinging in the cafe. We walked past and the kids were drawn in with excitment because they saw 2 Swings inside the cafe. True to their theme, the swings are actually a complete dining garden table (as if it's in a garden) and that the benches are in the form of a swing. It's just me and the kids. When we wallked in, everyone seemed so happy. Even the Chef came out to take a look. However, I was a little embrassed bcoz we already had a full meal elsewhere. Drawn by the Swing, we were just there to enjoy the novelty and to have our tea break. Thus, we ordered a Chocolate Cake ($6.50) & a "Sir Thomas Classic Tea" ($3.50). The chocolate cake was moist and good. Not too sweet, it is simply presented with 3 different tone of chocolate colour / type. The tea is actually just Lipton Tea. Well, at least the staff was honest to let me know before I ordered. The Service was good. A senior staff, on her own accord, suggest that my child could wash her hands at the public Flower Arrangement Counter. My children were delighted. At the same time, they offered to refill my tea with hot water if I require more - which is something that most many F&B outlets would usually frown upon. This is a small gesture and won my brownie points ; ) We will be back for the food.

Situated in town, yet out of CBD, with Free & Easy Parking, this is a great place to hang out, and to spend time away chatting with friends or awaiting for the next appointment on the diary. As it was way past lunch time, it's understandable to see an empty restaurant.

Service was prompt once seated. The Waitress informed us about the Set Meal and that the coffee and tea was refillable as part of the Set.

Friend wasn't hungry.  Decided to have a Prawn Caesar Salad ($11.80) and a Mushroom Soup ($5.80).

I had the Japanese Set of the Day ($15.80).

When both of our Salads arrive at the table, we laughed. Both of our salads were essentially the same, including the portion/size. The difference was: hers was topped with Prawns, while mine, was topped with smoked salmon shreds. There's nothing Japanese about my salad, BUT, it was a good, decent Caesar Salad. Friend regretted her decision to go Ala Carte! With her ala carte orders, she might as well take up a Set!

Next, our soups arrived. I guess because the restaurant was empty, the cook might have switch off the Soup Warmer / Pot and another just scoop it up to serve. Both soups were almost cold. We sent it back, and were glad to have it returned pipping hot.

The mushroom soup was a disappointment.  We had expected a more decent mushroom soup and not a milky - flourly type. My soup tasted ok - Jap enough.

The Main, Grilled Mackerel, as you can see, hmm...tasted Jap enough because of the Jap sauce, but the "steam egg" failed totally: cold, hard, tasteless. The veg, bean sprouts seemd kinda out of place BUT was decent, though. The quantity of whatever that was being served made up for the "quality".  The food was not bad, I must say at $15.80 it was a good deal.

The dessert plate was nice & pleasant surprise. A mint ice-cream, a strawberry pana cotta, a canned mixed tropical fruit and a nice decent brownie.  The quantity was enough for 2 ladies!

Tea was Lipton teabag in a cup. Me & friend thought refillable would have meant, refilling with hot water (since it’s part of the set).  Thus, we were pleasantly surprised that the Waitress gave me a brand new cup of tea for a refill.

The overall experience was good, though the food could be better. Being in the city, yet Far from the Maddening Crowd, it is a nice quiet place to visit, especially if you are in the “To Be, or Not To Be” mood ; )

We will be back.

When I was at the Counter, there was NO queue. While I was REPEATING my order to the Cashier, a gentleman behind me ordered ONE bowl of Tang Yuan.

That ONE bowl of Tang Yuan, took them 3 ATTEMPTS, full of sound and furry.. to get it right.

1) Bowl FULL of liquid, ZERO tang yuan! Rejected.

2) Bowl with just 2 balls of tang yuan! Rejected.

3) At last, the right number of tang yuan in that ONE bowl. (How many u ask? Don't kw because, they were just too loud and noisy by now...)

Poor guy...ALL the trouble for just ONE bowl of tang yuan.  All this while, 2 Staff were "scolding" that One  that who just can't get the tang yuan order right, while I was still standing at the Cashier, REPEATING my order over AND over again, BECAUSE, the China Chinese Cashier was distracted with the whole scene and was caught up with the loud exchanging of words between the 3 of them, all from the SAME country.

When I was done ordering, I was kept waiting for my beverage & dessert when my noodles were already ready right before me. There went another round of LOUD exchanging of words between them and this time, I was shouted at for waiting at the "WRONG" queue, I should be at the "DESSERT QUEUE" insisted the Cashier, who a while ago just took my order without giving me any other instructions.

"Har?!" I went. "Hey! No one told me that I was at the wrong queue or that there was even a "dessert" queue!" I protested. Even though the "Noodle staff" knew I was waiting for my drink and dessert said nothing...., plus, I was at the SAME queue where the poor guy got his DESSERT order right after THREE tries.

This time, the Auntie behind me lost her patience. She started shouting... "Hey! You Three! 1st day at job is it?! All talk but no work!!! So full of NOISE! So messy!"  When I turned around, wow, there was a queue of at least 5 - 6 pax.  Good thing there was an "Auntie" that managed to get them back to work! I gave that Auntie a "thank you" smile. She whispered to me..."too much talking and no work la..."

Anyway, I had the Noodle Set B, came with a Lime Juice. Had Tao Suan at the same time.

The noodle was good as usual, not soggy, but springy. Tao Suan had this "whitish" starchy look, rather than the "clear" looking type. Lime Juice came with a preserved sour plum - nice.

This is my first visit to Pontian at United Square. Will I return? Probably...because with the way these ladies work....I don't think they will be around the next time I visit ; )

 Oh yes...the total waiting time? About 25mins!!!

Have planned to have their Tea-Time special whereby I thought I can order any desserts and have my hot beverage at only $1.90. 

I was WRONG.

Was told by the waitress that my Warm Chocolate Cake is a dessert and NOT a SLICE of cake, thus, invalid.  Ok...whatever...I just wanna try their Warm Chocolate Cake ($10.80) and have my good old comforting Earl Grey Tea ($5.80).

The Warm Choco Cake was nicely presented on a round white plate, a simple but pretty sight. Though with only a small soft scoop of vanilla ice-cream on top, the choco used was suprisingly good. It was not overly sweet too.  My kind of dessert - a small portion without giving me the law of diminishing returns for the dessert ; )

Thanks to my biz associate for this Tea Time treat ; ) I appreciate it ; )

Cost: $6.95
Basically plain pudding topped with nice strawberry puree. The presentation looks pretty and great for those who are sensitive to dairy products. The taste of soy is not evident, thus, its taste just like any other plain and smooth pudding. Like an Italian Panna Cotta. A good take-away option to bring back for kids (after an adult night out).

A gals’ outing. Fren A that had recommended to dine here was tasked to order the food first when I was still in the cab. So basically, she ordered exactly what she had during her last visit there.

A little background to this outing: Fren B & I had visited Les Bouchons Rive Gauche. Both of us felt that though the prices were a little steep, it is fair and value for money for the quality of meat.

Fren A, who was put off by the prices @ Les Boushon , visited Brussels Sprouts instead. She felt that it was VERY value for money, kids eat for FREE, FREE flow of fries etc. She insisted of bringing us there. So, out to Brussels Sprouts we went.

Service
It was a table for 3. But the table setting wasn’t complete.
When I finally reached the restaurant, the food came just in time. At the table, I realized there were just 2 bowls and there were 3 of us. I requested for another bowl; only to have a return stare with a blank look. The waitress, interestingly, just turned and walked away. I requested for a bowl from another waitress and only to be told that the bowl was for the empty shells, and she too, just turn and walked away immediately. Hey, I don’t even have a side plate. I had to call for attention again, and to ask for my side plate. By then, we were treated and given "faces" like we were such a fussy group of ladies. Err…hello??

We had:
2 Starter of Mix Mussels & Clams ($25 promo price)with free flow of fries. The waitress’ recommendation.
i) BRUSSELS SPROUTS SPECIAL
black pepper, butter, celery, onion, parsley.
ii) POULETTE
mushrooms, chicken stock, cream, butter, parsley

To me, both tasted almost the same. One just looked clear, the other is creamy. The next round when we go back, we should be getting those that are cooked with white wine & beer instead. I seriously wonder why none of the beer dishes were recommended. Could it be the cost factor? To cook with beer, one bottle had to be opened?

Sirloin Steak ($32) – Requested for Medium Well, it came almost Medium Rare with blood oozing out. Though generous with fries, paying a cut of Sirloin for $32 is just not worth it. However, this restaurant is very good in managing undiscerning diners like Fren A. Anything FREE is "good & of good value". Oh come on, how much fries can we eat? Fren B pointed to her that the difference in price for a piece of steak is just $2 and the one just a few doors away charges just $34 for a much better cut and better quality of salad. $32 for a Sirloin, Fren B & me smiled at our dear & close friend and shake our heads. We told her, "Aiya...you kana pian liao."

I find it rather odd to have the yummy mussels, the clams and the broth without any bread. Though the fries were free-flow, we didn’t even need to have any refill. I requested for bread, against the wishes for my dear 2 friends.

The bread came, 5 slices. It was lovely. Buttered and char-grilled, soft and fragrant. I just love the burnt fragrant and it’s simply lovely with the broth. We should have ordered this at the beginning of the dinner. I shouldn’t have listen to them to just finish the fries first. Haaa…

Witterkerke Rose @ $14. This is great beer, at least for me. I first tried it out at Ristorante de Parma for just $10. It’s a slightly sweet beer, fruity with raspberries freshness and the fragrance of hops. Fren B, a non-drinker loves it. She drank almost half of my beer! Haa…

Good Belgium beer goes very well with the mussels & clams. The soft and fragrant bread goes very well with the broth.

At the end of the dinner, Fren A asked, “So, will the 2 of you be back here with me?”

Sure! Definitely! But just for the mussels, the clams and the bread! Oh yes…and for the beer too. …would like to try other fruity Belgium beer on their list.

Off we went to a few doors away for our desserts, tea and coffee.

Log Chocolate Cake ($7.8)– Tasted exactly like their black forest cake, minus the berries. The chocolate of was course of good quality and yummy.

Souffle with Rum & Raisin ($11.85)– Yucks. It was nice, light and fragrant at first. The rum was evidently in this dessert. However, after the “puffed up” part, what we had just below was; a wet and runny base instead of a light and moist texture. The taste of raw egg white was overwhelming. With the taste of rum, the end result was like the smell of algae. Fren A termed it as “chao qi” – “smelly green”.

2 scoops of Sorbet ($7.50)– The mango was delightful. The strawberry sorbet tasted like our local childhood preserved snack “shan cha”. We concluded that the sorbet was made with frozen fruit puree instead of fresh ones. A tub of frozen fruit puree was in the display fridge anyway.


Guanaja Truffle ($7.8) – Guanaja is a bittersweet chocolate of 70% cocoa of the Valrhona brand. Thus, it is fragrant and not too sweet. I like the dense& moist and not too spongy texture. Good. The best for the evening!

Bourbon Vanilla Tea ($7.00) – My favorite and usual tea whenever I visit this café. The colour of the tea is light, yet the taste and the vanilla fragrant is still intact even after a 3rd refill of water. Found this tea at TWG Ion! It's going at $22 a box. There is about 12-15 teabags (4got the actual number).

Black Coffee ($4.80) - Regular.

Suggestion: The menu is grimly. Time to change the menu since the paper is not even laminated.

Will return for desserts and tea as it is one of the better place for an after dinner hangout in that area.

*There is GST & Service Charges.

I can't even believe that I actually step into this cafe.

I needed to have a late night meeting, approaching 11.30pm & this cafe is the only one nearby, decent enough to meet and talk.

I was shocked when I stepped in. It was almost full house and it was a weekday! Looking into the menu, there were stuff that are really cheap (eg Fried Wanton @ $3.9++) and stuff that are priced at top restaurant prices for mediocre dishes and products. Water is not free here and there's a difference in price for ice water and hot water. Haa...so weird.

Looking around, there are alot of young people, chatting and even playing cards!

Here's what I had:

Fried Wanton $3.90 (Was told that there were to be 5pcs but there was more.) Came hot & crispy. They can't go wrong for this "Ready to Fried" stuff.

Glutinous Rice Balls with Sweet Ginger Tea/Soup ($3.90)
This was rather bad. There's no Ginger taste at all! I know it's the instant type, but at least get better ones la.

Chinese Tea $1.20 (So cheap right. I guess pple might as well drink kopi and tea here than in a hot coffeeshop. Haa...)

Metal "Gong": Forgive me for my "old fashioness". I couldn't help but feel frustrated to see metal tins being used as a "cool" container to serve beverages here!Those metal gongs (while I was growing up..) were being used by trishaw workers, construction workers etc for their meals, which they would later filled it up with hot beverage to drink. At home, these same metal gongs are either used as a water beaker to brush teeth, to soak dentures or as a very informal personal mug for a drink. Decent eating outlets do not use them to serve on the table. In short, these metal mugs; cheap and hardy, are meant for personal use.

BUT I must applaud the Mgt of such creative ideas into making pple "think" that it is a cool "thing" so that the business owner can save quite a pile on "breakage" losses, if they were to use chinaware, or save on changing stained glasses, if they were to use plastics. Nevertheless, this "gong" thing is rather ridiculous, almost offensive to me as a diner. Sorry..it must be my age...I just don't buy into this "trend".

Will I visit again? Probaby not, unless I need to have another very late night meeting which I have no better alternative.

Leaving at 1.00am, this cafe is still full of life. Location, location, location and it really doesn't matter what is being served or how is the service like.

I was left alone (while waiting for my guest) for more than 10mins before I could get the attention of a staff to take my order. Busy night for the staff? Not really, most pple just order a drink and spent their time away. There were enough staff, walking here and there, but never quite there. You know what I mean?

Tip: If you can't sleep, it's a good place to grab a sweater, a book or a friend to visit this place. The staff wouldn't bother you, even when you have nothing (no food, no drinks) on your table, not even when there is a genuine diner (like me) looking for a seat.

ps. Had requested a seat outside because its too cold for me in the restaurant. But all the tables, including some inside were full of people just hanging around. I actually had to "q" and wait for a table to leave before showing me my seat. How interesting.