we had a rather lacklustre sunday lunch at aerin's a few sundays back - probably like a month. and i guess the reason why im only writing about it now is because it was so lacklustre there really isnt much to say about the place save that i expected alot more for what i was paying.

anyway, i called at 11 and made reservations, and the guy on the other end said actually you dont have to make a reservation. you can just come down. and he was right, the place was pretty much half empty.

Anyway we had the following:

Deep fried calamari - battered salt, pepper and chilli spiced calamari squid served with tartare sauce

Spaghetti prawns - spaghetti pasta lightly tossed in tomato garlic-olive oil served with sauteed bay prawns baby spinach and semi-dried tomatoes

Beef au gratin - beef ragu and aubergine gratinated with creamy cheese sauce

Fillet of snapper - pan-seared snapper fillet served with french beans, fork-mashed potato in tomato coulis

Fish and chips - lightly battered snapper fillets with shoestring fries and chipotle aioli

Double chocolate fudge cake - rich dark chocolate cake sandwiched with chewy chocolate fudge

Warm chocolate pudding - oven baked valrjona manjari (64%) chocolate pudding with raspberry swirl ice cream

we shared the calamari - and i actually quite enjoyed it. the batter was unique (but as we were to discover later they pretty much use the same batter for everything fried) and it wasnt too oily. i also liked the tartare sauce, that was not so thick or sour, and complimented the calamari. however, i did think that the portion was slightly small.

my partner had the spaghetti prawns (because it was apparently was a healthy choice option on the menu and it also did look rather appetising on the menu) but it was a let down. he said it was rather bland and quite clearly not enough for him, i gave him half my beef au gratin. personally i thought his spaghetti wasnt that bad - considering the fact that i dont like spaghetti (it is my least favourite pasta) and i even more do not like oil based type pastas. so this dish had contrasting reviews, but it was more to the bland side.

i had the beef au gratin, and it was baked in an over prior, so the dish literally was burning hot. well it was ok, but portion wise it was not generous. it just took really long to eat because it took very long to cool. personally i thought the dish worked, save for the aubergines (brinjals) which were slightly bitter. im not quite sure i understand why they thought aubergines were something good to put into the dish. they could have left it out and i think more people would be inclined to order the beef au gratin. anyway my partner had half and he thought it was okay.

my baby sister had the fillet of snapper. she did not have much to say about it. she just did not care particularly for the vegetables served with the fish. my father had some of her fish and said it was okay, but had no further comments.

my father had the fish and chips, and i ended up eating alot of his fries, which were nice and thin. but his fish was rather sorry looking, with two (i think) measly somewhat oily pieces lying on the big white plate. he said it was okay, but i think he was just being nice and using okay as another word for no taste. the batter was the same as the calamari's (i think) only it didnt taste as good. i did expect a little more from this dish particularly since it was supposed to be one of aerin's recommended dishes. so that was a let down.

we shared two desserts among the four of us and i can say straight up that the double chocolate fudge cake was an absolute waste of money. it was so ordinary (how could it possibly be famous? or recommended?) it pretty much tasted like something secondary twos could bake at home economics class. ive been there and done that and i think my chocolate cake would taste like what aerin's served us. my partner and baby sister were a little more forgiving. they thought it was okay and the fact that it was a "recommended" and one of aerin's more popular (if not the most) cakes gave it some street credibility. but i tell you, it was all in their minds. there was nothing particularly good about the cake. you can eat it, but its a waste of calories because it wasnt good. it was okay in the blandest of ways.

the other dessert however, was very good. we enjoyed the warm chocolate pudding, and the raspberry swirl ice cream was pretty much a vanilla based ice cream which went rather well with the sweet chocolate pudding (which was actually a cake). we were a little disappointed when we cut into the cake that there was no molten inside, but well i suppose there was no promise of that based on what they had provided for in the menu. so while it was good, it could have been better. (and probably be more expensive)

service wise we had a rather rude indian (i think) manager. im not saying indian manager to insinuate anything, but so that i can point out in particular who the manager was. he was brusque, abrupt and actually rather rude in taking orders and attending to other patrons. he also ordered the waitstaff around and got impatient with them. i havent seen anyone so dismissive and rude to patrons for quite some time so this was even more unpleasantly obvious.

i did want to like aerin (i even told my dad if he wants to redeem ocbc credit card points to get aerin's vouchers) but with this type of mediocre food and crappy manager, i would think twice about coming back.

A place that pays for the ambience more than the food. The place situated with its fountain made a special evening.

My friend and I ordered:
- Choc Fudge Cake (This was their signature. I totally love it. The chocolate was generous on the top layer of the cake. It was smooth and neither too dry or soggy. Recommendation: Since the choc is heavy, order a tea (earl grey) to neutralize it.
- Spring Chicken Spaghetti (It is infused with Japanese style; octopus flakes as garnish. Nothing too fantastic but was amazed with the moving octopus flakes)

They make an effort to present a dish exquisite. Perfect for first date.


meL

‘Food itself is very personal; do not be affected by what I have written. Try it instead and tell me.’

Had a meeting with a biz associate.

We just had tea.

I had the Rising Star while the other had the usual Earl Grey.

From the description and recommendation, I was expecting a nice aroma of Jasmine. The tea was pleasing to the eye - very attractive. It was being served in a glass tea-pot and yes, indeed, I saw "a star rising". But that's it. It's only pleasing to the eye.

The tea was tasteless, no aroma whatosever. Perhaps it's infused with too much water? Maybe, they should have served 2 "stars" instead.

They also made the mistake of serving the tea with a "strong" honey. Instead of enhancing a tea, like honey is to Chamomile, the already bland tea was turned into "honey water".

No, I didn't add alot of honey. I just add a little, thinking it wld enhance the tasteless tea. But my attempt is fruitless.

Anyway, this place has alot of promise. The pricing is right. Had actually plan to have the meeting at Starbucks but decided on Aerin's because it's quieter, more spacious and of course, the pricing is about the same at Starbucks and it offers much more comfort.

Wld visit this place again to try other teas and snacks, perhaps salads.

Bad weather and in those zero inertia to move situation and don't wish to go back to my usual dining haunt at Raffles City S.C. And so somehow stepped into Aerin's for a lunch while waiting for the darn rain to stop.

Ordered a soup of the day-Brown Onion Soup ($7) and a Spicy Chorizo Spaghetti ($17). The onion soup was so-so although I like the multi-grain bun provied more (its served hot!:P). The spaghetti was spicy (as the name suggest) and salty. The tomato-based sauce was tangy coupled with a saltiness that I needed water to cleanse my palate with. Its actually not THAT salty, at least for me (m a savoury person). But I guess that day, I wasn't into a very savoury mood somehow. At least the noodles were done nicely.

Service was pretty efficient and polite. I did not have to wait very long for my soup and subsequently my pasta. And so, I couldn't squeeze in some doing of homework during my meal. :P Oh well, that aint a bad thing anyway. Hee.

Anyone who has been to Raffles City Shopping Centre would have at least seen or passed by Aerin's once. It occupies a nice location at the basement and the water feature is certainly the highlight of the restaurant. I went for a weekday lunch and I figure the ambience at night should make it a good place to have coffee and chill out with friends.

Previously, my friend commented that this place is good for appetizers, which is more of a reference to the food portion served. True enough, I found that to be my experience today.

There were five of us at lunch and we ordered 2 main course sets of Snapper Au Gratin, 1 pasta set for myself, 1 Chef Salad and 1 Pesto Prawn Pasta. The set meal comes with 3 choices of soup and all of us went for the pumpkin soup. It came with what looked like grilled potato strips, which was interesting but the soup was slightly bland and not as thick as I would like it to be. Interestingly Soup Spoon is just diagonally opposite us, and I feel they serve a tastier pumpkin soup anytime.

My Italian sausage pasta was reasonably portioned and well sprinkled with capsicum. The herb tomato sauce was tangy enough but not overwhelming. Given that I usually don't eat tomato sauce pasta, this dish was actually quite nicely done. I did try my luck and asked if I could change the sauce to something else but I was rejected with the standard answer of "this is a set item, cannot be changed". My colleagues had the Snapper Au Gratin, which had generous amount of melted cheese and brinjal but both said the fish cubes could have been more.

The Chef Salad was quite substantial, which came with strips of grilled chicken breast and ham. The greens looked fresh enough and it certainly made the salad look appetising.

The desert was a brownie with mashmellows inside which I couldn't make out what it was supposed to be. It was on the hard side, else it would have been more enjoyable.

Given that Aerin's is rarely empty, people should be quite satisfied with the fare served there. Personally I find the quality of food to be average, and Creation's probably serves better pasta. If I visit again, it would be for the ambience more than anything else.