Having visited Absolute Haven before, I shall skip the niceties and move on to the food. Do look at my review during my previous visit to find out more about Absolute Haven (AH). I decided on AH for lunch on that particular day since my cousins have budget concerns, and i happened to remember about AH weekly set lunch promotion. A nice fit.

The previous time i had dinner, but being on the mailing list of AH, they sent me regular updates on their current promotions, and now they are having their weekly lunch promotion, $9.90++ for a 3 course meal, available Tuesday to Sunday.

Soup of the day
The soup of the day was grilled vegetables soup, there were green and red pepper, carrot, potato and some other vegetables. Slightly spicy and sour, the grilled-taste was evident in the soup. I ain’t a big fan of soup, o well.

Oatmeal Crusted chicken breast
There’s two main course available for selection from their set lunch menu, and one of which was the Oatmeal crusted chicken breast with miso braised rooted vegetables and pically sauce.

Thinking back now, i didn’t recall tasting any miso flavour in the root vegetables, and just what exactly was pically sauce, i never found out. I reckon it’s the slightly sweet and sourish red sauce which gave the chicken breast an additional zing.

The chicken breast strike out as dry and hard. But never judge a book by it’s cover, or rather in this case, never judge a chicken by it’s look. We were proven wrong by the first taste of the breast meat. Despite the dry look, the inner portion of the meat retained the soft and moist texture. I always dislike eating chicken breast because i found them to be too hard and dry, but this one’s the complete opposite.

Seafood ragout angel hair pasta
The other main course, was the seafood ragout angel hair pasta with tom yam pesto sauce. I was curious about the angel hair, having saw it but never try it before. Like the name implied, angel hair is a very thin variety of Italian pasta, which beared a resemblance to the Chinese rice vermicelli.

The tom yam pesto sauce did gave the pasta a different twist in flavour. It was spicy, sourish all together as one. I didn’t really fancy tom yam flavour, but if you are a tom yam fan then this should do the trick for you.

Dessert of the day
We rounded off our 3 course lunch with a simple triple chocolate ice cream.

Total bill for 4 set lunch was $46.3 which worked out to be $11.50 per person. I was initially skeptical about AH set lunch because at $9.90 per person it’s totally in a different league with its a la carte pricing. How good can a 3 course meal at $9.90 be, when a normal main course for dinner at AH cost around $20.

But like what i found out, there isn’t anything intriguing about the food at AH set lunch, but it does provides value given you can have a soup, a decent main course and a simple dessert all for $11 per person. With western food at some food courts costing around $6-8 bucks, i say this is really a good option for lunch if you want somewhere with a good ambience, but at the same time not hurting your pocket. And one of their main course option changes every other week. So there’s always variation for you.

You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!

It seems so obvious now. How many restaurants have over 100 reviews, nearly all favorable? But we fell into the trap, thinking the few that tried to warn us may be particularly fussy. And we read that this restaurant had a romantic setting and a good wine list.

Our excitement around trying a new restaurant was immediately dampened by the rather cheap ambiance and no cloth napkins. Any restaurant serving European/Fusion cuisine at mid range+ prices must have cloth napkins (paper napkins in our book are for fast food and picnics).

After being seated, our hope for any romantic evening was completely squashed when we asked for the wine list to find there was no wine list and worse no wine. We were informed they were changing their wine list, so as we struggled to understand how that translated into no wine, the waiter mentioned they had beer, one bottle of chardonnay and one of sparkling shiraz (oh my goodness what is that?). We are not so keen on white wine, and the idea of beer with the fine cuisine that we hoped was forthcoming just didn't make sense. So still in shock and wondering what on earth were we going to do, we timidly inquired about the sparkling shiraz. Australian. High marks for creativity, but it just didn't sound appealing. At this point, we were two seconds away from getting up to leave, but felt that would be just too rude. So in desperation and against our better judgment we agreed to stay and try it. Well, that was a big mistake. Picture cheap red wine with bubbles.

We ordered dinner which was fair. Grilled king prawns - tasty, but nothing to rave about and from the reviews you would think this was something to die for. Lamb - not much flavor but cooked medium rare as requested. Pork - dry, sauce boring. Overall, nothing special. And for the price there are numerous better options available and in more interesting settings and with a lot more ambiance. Oh and in case I forget, with good wine options that pair well with the food.

Positive points - food was presented nicely and service was decent. Also, we have a great story about the sparkling shiraz to muse over with friends.

Conclusion - after our mediocre experience, the large number of highly favorable reviews (many going into unusual detail) left us with the impression that they may not have come entirely from independent sources. Caution is therefore advised.

Went to AH after reading all of the glowing reviews for the Weekend Brunch.

Specifically asked if they were offering the Foie Gras as we had been craving it for the past few weeks. Was assured that it was part of the Buffet Spread and we promptly booked and drove over. When we arrived we walked past a limited, but attractive spread and were briefed by the waiter that there were a few changes to the menu in that the King Prawn was grilled to order. No problem we thought as that just means it will be fresh. After we ordered the eggs and main course (rack of lamb and grilled beef) we went to get our first round of the buffet.

We were desperately searching for the Foie Gras only to find that there was none although we had specifically asked this over the phone. We came back to the table and compared the stated menu to what was actually being offered. Turns out not only was the Foie Gras missing, but so was the baby octopus, sharkfin, marinated mozarella, seafood salad, assorted coldcuts with olives, smoked salmon, marinated mackerel and white bean salad! We asked the waiter why there was no Foie Gras and were told there was sushi instead which was a california roll minus the avocado and heavy on the rice.

We called the manager to complain as we had specifically come for the Foie Gras. After a long explanation, she agreed to allow us to order the ala carte order of Foie Gras as a freeflow. This was acceptable, however all of the other dishes were still missing and the price was the same as if the dishes were all there.

Overall, the food was decent and being a salad fan I wasn't too unhappy as the salad greens were fresh and well presented. The grilled prawns were very good and very large, but every time we ordered another plate of the foie gras it was greeted by an eye roll from the waiter and about a 15 minute wait. Also the presentation of the foie gras was very different before the manager/owner arrived. Before she came we were given extremely small slivers quite poorly presented. Twice when we ordered it, we were given the grilled prawns instead which seemed almost intentional.

For the actual ordered portion of the brunch, the eggs seem poorly considered, the lamb was considerably undercooked from the medium I ordered, but the grilled beef was prepared well. Dessert was so-so. I think the intent is to be fine dining, but the actual content of the food is only a step above what you can find at swensens.

The highlight was probably the Parma Ham and the Fresh Salmon, however I definitely did not think this was value for money as a considerable portion of the menu was missing and we were made to feel as if we were being inconsiderate to keep ordering the ala carte foie gras.

Shortly after we arrived, a couple came in and the woman stormed over to the counter to make the same complaint of the Foie Gras. She stormed out angrily completely outraged and overly dramatic (it is just food!), but 20 minutes later she returned back. I think the manager called her to placate her.

I can see why this place would be a favorite if everything was being offered as stated, however I think there is some cost cutting going on and overpromising and underdelivering is a sure way to ruin what seems to be a good reputation. I won't be going back if the shortened menu becomes the regular menu and I don't think it is good practice to state something on every table which isn't true.

Drinks free flow.. anything els free flow... KING PRAWNS free flow? Come on... u gota be kidding. haha

Anyway thanks to PAranai for the invitation, i got to know about this place.
Seriously i din expect the place to be like a fine dining restuarant ,When i heard of king prawns free flow, i expect some seafood ulu place...where pple gorge seafood.

Prinsep street, opposite paradize centre is Absolute haven.
A cosy place, from the outside looks small, but inside holds many food delights. Yumm

First we had free flow of apetizers, i was like already 50% full after my apetizer, and i only took like 1 piece of each. There's smoked salmon, mushrooms, and many small appetizers lined up on the table for us.I specially liked the smoked salmon, not as salty as most places.

Then it was the king prawns... U got to believe it when u see it. FRESH.. from the kitchen. One after another. Its really how much you can it.. not how much they can give you. Must go place for prawn lovers. Too bad i think my apetite shrank, i only ate 4 prawns in total. Cos we had many other dishes, including Foie GRas.. First time i ate so much foie gras... really have to jog like 10KM to burn those caloriess.
Phyllis was very warm and friendly. Her staffs too. Thumbs up for their service.

In the end we were so full, we only ordered one Cod fish main to share. Cod fish tastes special... ITs the sauce... tt makes it saucy.. hehe. I liked it. Try it, and prob u might wanna ask the chef how he does it. My Boi at first tot it smells fishy... but the fishy smell is not the stale kind.. but the freshness smell..
We can tell that absolute haven only uses fresh ingredients for their dishes. thumbs up again!

Last but not least.. we have the cakes n sorbet. I loved the chocolate n strawberry cakes. Makes my day. Sort of melted in my mouth. Feel like bringing them home.. so tt i can eat all i want.

Last but not least.. i think i seriously over ate!There's just so many things i wanna try.. well.. il come again next time~
Maybe bring my uncle who loves prawns.. heh

Been to this outlet sometime early this year and there is only ONE description : AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING

Contrary to the many reviews by its supporters, the food and service is not at a level that warrants a die-hard appeal. Tried their fish as part of their set lunch some time back and it's not that great. Service is definitely friendly but is not any necessarily better than those you can get at Jack's place, Aston, Pasta Fresca.