Ambush (Jurong Point)

Been there more than 5 times and everytime we left satisfied. It's so addictive that it seems everytime we're glued there when we go Jurong Point.

Shall cut the story short and recommend some of our fave dishes. Oh, so far we love every dish we ordered, no complaints.

1) Pork Cheese Cracker with Rosti

2) White Cod pasta in pesto sauce (generous piece of cod for only $14.50. Like 5 times thicker than Sakae Sushi Teppanyaki grillled cod!)

3) Clams pot in white wine (with mashed potato) (slightly grainy at times)

(medium size pot not much difference from small pot)

4) Marinara in tomatoe

5) Sausage platter

6) Smoked duck salad

7) Clam chowder

8) Seafood paella

Wonderful prices, decent portions, good service. Ambience wise, it's actually not very crowded everytime I go so pretty great for a brunch or dinner because conversations are possible. If you care to look around, you'll notice every table are full of dishes. I.e, with additional 3rd or 4th dishes despite 2 diners only.

K and I finally stepped into Ambush for dinner after passing it countless times. The restaurant was full when we arrived and the hour hand hadn't even hit seven yet although it's a Friday. Thankfully, we were the first in line and the wait was short.

With the tables so close to each other, I had just enough space to slide my butt between them to my seat. K was wise not to try! The undeniable feeling of being ambushed then slowly crept up and I decided to quickly eat and leave.

My pan-seared hake loin with burnt butter sauce ($15.80) was served with purple coleslaw and sautéed potato. The piece of flaky fish was juicy but was downright bland since there wasn't a trace of sauce. The portion of coleslaw was minuscule while the potato was nicely flavored with shallots.

K's weihenstephan fish & chips ($14.50) tasted better. The beer battered fish was enjoyable with a thin crispy batter, which was served with well-seasoned cajun fries and mayonnaise.

Service was polite and efficient. Though our meal wasn't impressive, I wouldn't totally avoid returning but only when it's empty! Maybe then the chef wouldn't forget my sauce and the restaurant wouldn't feel so claustrophobic.

Had a lunch appointment with a friend & was attracted to the restaurant's open-concept & nice decor when we were looking for a nice place to catch up. While I ordered the Paella, my friend had Pasta & on her first bite, she complained that the sauce tastes exactly like Chilli Crab sauce, which isn't bad at all, but totally not the kind of taste expected of a "European" restaurant. We kept calling the dish Chilli Crab Pasta throughout lunch.

The Paella that I had was nothing to shout about either. Should have ordered the Rosti perhaps...

Ambush, a cafe offering Western cuisine at affordable prices. I walked past this cafe, took a glance @ the menu board & found the prices reasonable & interesting dishes being offered.The cafe adopts an open concept  style and people could easily watch what you are doing ( of course eating !) at the cafe.

The Menu

The menu was printed in a large board which makes it easier to read. The cafe offers a wide range of cuisine – spanish paella, Italian pasta, German pork knuckle… yes! you can find them here @ Ambush!They offer a range of pastas which allows you to decide on the sauce and ingredients.

Mesclun salad with salmon belly ($8++)

I had the (s) Mesclun salad with salmon belly and it came with generous fillets of the  salmon belly. The salad leaves were cool but the salmon belly was warm. The salmon belly was well prepared ( middle rare ) and oozing with flavours in every bite. I wished the salad leaves were a bigger portion cos there were too much salmon belly fillets.

Salmon fillet with Honey mustard dressing ($14.50++)

The 2 generous salmon fillets were really worth it’s price. I request the salmon to be donemedium rare and it was well executed. The salmon fillets were served with slices of potatoes sauteed with bacon strips & onions & top with purple cabbage.

The pieces of potatoes had a fragrant aroma of bacon and the onions further enhance its flavour. I like the sweet purple cabbage which were soft & easy to chew.The salmon was really juicy and has its natural sweetness . The accompanying lemon honey mustard sauce ( serve @ the side ) was really good. It has a tangy flavour and melts in my mouth … like butter.

Verdict: Reasonable prices and delicious food (rate 8/10  ) , I would definitely make a re-visit. Service is prompt and friendly too.

expected the place to be crowded for lunch, so i made a reservation the night before. but it wasn't really needed cuz the restaurant only had a table of diners when boyfriend and i went at twelve noon.

ordered two set lunches. boyfriend got the vongole cream pasta set ($12.80) that came with either soup or dessert (he chose the soup) and a drink (he picked coke), and i got the swiss german set ($12.80), chose roasted bratwurst  and added on $2 to change the mashed potato to rosti. my set came with either soup or salad (i chose soup) and a drink (i took apple juice). 

the clam chowder was awesome. not too watery but not too thick either, chock full of clams, potato, carrot and celery. like hoongy mentioned before, this is so filling that it could make a meal. i didn't finish mine so that i could have space for my mains.

boyfriend was impressed with the pasta. for the price, ambush was really generous with the clams, though they could have given another plate for the shells. the pasta was well executed too.

my rosti was nicer than that at the green restaurant with the cow, light and crispy on the outside but fluffy inside. but i don't think the $2 swap was necessary. if you're not getting the set, i.e. getting the sausages ala carte, you get to choose your staples, between mashed potato, rosti or spaghetti marinara . the sausages (two of the flavour of your choice) were succulent enough and reminded me of my stay in germany. awesome. if only they were more generous with their serving of sauerkraut. in germany it's like a bedding for the main food, so you get a whole lot of them at the bottom of the plate. but at ambush they only served a spoonful of it at the side. 

i asked for mustard to go with my sausages, and when i was halfway done i asked for ketchup too, but it didn't arrive until i was done with my food. the manager himself came to apologise though, so it's okay.

apple juice was too sour and artificial for boyfriend's and my liking, so if you're getting a set you might want to choose some other drink.

valuewise it's almost like pastamania, but here you get a more fine-dining feel. but yeah, you gotta pay gst and service charge at ambush.

We decided to check out Ambush after reading the three reviews written here. We were not disappointed.

It was a Saturday night and the place was rather crowded. Since it is right beside a passageway, it can be fairly noisy. If you do not like the extra noise from the shoppers walking around, asked to be seated on the other side of the restaurant.

The restaurant serves a rather good range of Western Cuisine. In fact, they just added some rather interesting entres to their menu. We didn't try any this time round though. I ordered a Nori Scallop Pasta with Fish Roe cream, and my husband ordered some cheese sausages with Rosti. We had a small pot of mussels in white wine sauce to share.

I liked my pasta. The pasta was cooked nicely, not too soft. The scallops were fairly large (considering that they had mentioned in the menu that they were small scallops), and they were quite generous with their serving. The scallops were nicely done, not overcooked. The cream was tasty, though I couldn't help but wonder if it would taste better with spicy cod roe.

The rosti and sausages were nicely done, and my husband enjoyed it. The mussels were very fresh and juicy, though the white wine sauce was a tat bit salty, probably because they used bacon to cook it. They serve up their mussels with a pot of fries, that were thick and nicely fried. Love it.

The servers were attentive, and were constantly topping up our ice water. One server though tried to clear our sauces while my husband was still eating his fries. However, he quickly apologised and brought us new sauces so all is forgiven. :)

In short, the place has left a good impression on us, and we will go back again.

Jurong Point was my destination for dinner yesterday and I decided to check out this new restaurant after not being in the vicinity for awhile.

An open dining concept, the place serves a variety of European cuisine. I started with the Clam Chowder ($3), which was full of cream, maybe too much of it. A small eater could make this a meal.

For my starter I had the Meatballs with Chips ($7.80). The beefballs came as expected and the fries were done quite well and can be quite addictive. I also note that the salt content of the fries were lower than normal.

I looked over at the next table and the pasta looked good, so I ordered a Prawn Fritti Aglio Olio ($10.50). This was a terribly executed dish. It had a very strong dry after-taste that reeked mono sodium glutamate and I had to beg twice for water. The prawns were also quite tasteless.

For my main course I tried a dish that was recently introduced, the Veal Escalope ($16.20). The meat came out looking a mixture of boiled and fried but at this price point I had no complaints. The one thing that did stood out is the fresh salad that accompanied it. It was really nice, even for non-salad lovers.

Overall, I can see why this place may attract the crowds, and it is in its value for money price point. However, I cannot imagine this passing off as European food and the dry after-taste just turns me off.

Met my sister for lunch at Jurong Point. And we were at a lost to what to eat until I walked to this restaurant with a very fun, friendly, frenchy deco, Ambush.

They are having 2 lunch promotion which are Executive Italian (mainly pasta) & the Swiss German (mainly sausages) at only S$12.90 inlcusive of either dessert (choice of tiramisu, brownie or apple crumble) or soup of the day and drink (choice of coffee/tea or lemon tea).

Some restaurant may served smaller portion during the promotion but Ambush does not ;) The soup of day I had was clam chowder which is rich to a just right consistency & generous in the bite size of vegetables & clams :D Then my main dish was pan fried Wild Salmon Penne with Thai Basil sauce (little spicy), the penne was really al dente, not overcooked, just nice with a little chewy effect, my favourite doneness. The Thai Basil sauce is a tomato based sauce with a tinge of sourness with basil flavour & a little spiciness that really brighten up my day! The salmon was not overcooked but could have lifted it off from the pan 10 secs earlier for more tenderness & juiciness :p then lastly was my Morrocon Mint tea... Oh.. it's awesome! Smooth & minty! Perked me up from a dreamy lazy lunch! :D

My sister had apple crumble which was really big serving, not too sweet, good for us health conscious freaks. Then her main was the German sauage with minced mushroom with rosti! the Rosti is the best I've eaten so far. Better than Marche's. Then she had ice lemon tea which is not sweetened. Sugar syrup is given separately for us to sweeten the drink to our taste. How thoughtful ;)

I'll definitely introduce this place for the good food. Ambience is so-so as it's a Fast Casual European Dining located amidst the busy shopping mall.

Staff are friendly but the girl that served us is a tad forgetful & not thorough in explaining on the promotional lunch deals. Then the manager is fast & efficient but could have put on a smile over his stern face.

But still... I'll go back to try out more food! :)