Astons Specialities (Suntec City)

Read the full review at http://thehungrybunnie.blogspot.com/2012/03/astons-specialties-suntec.html

I'm a huge fan of Astons' hawker-boy-made-good story, and really, you could say that the reason for Astons' success is its quality-at-reasonable-prices philosophy. Astons may not be the best when it comes to steak or particularly stand out in the world of western grill, but they do serve pretty decent fare at very-broke-at-the-end-of-the-month prices. That said, what's up with their oily menus? I don't know about the other diners, but I can never seem to find a menu at Astons that's not disgustingly oily.

We had: 

1) Wagyu Ribeye Grade 6 Steak ($39.90): done to a perfect medium rare finish, tender, moist and hearty. Grade 6 marbling is the half-way mark for wagyu marbling, the maximum being 12. The fatty content of the steak was hence, just right. Not too fatty that your calorie count would go off the chart, but not too lean that there's not enough flavour. This was served with a very generic and starchy mushroom sauce, which we stayed away from because the steak was flavoursome on its own. A refreshingly chilled pasta salad provided the carbs and garden veggies, which was simply steamed baby carrots and broccoli, for our fibrous needs and an all-rounded meal.

2) Black Pepper Fish ($8.50) with baked potato and corn on the cob. The smooth dory fillet was substantial and tasty on its own with a herb rub, so I didn't touch the also very generic and starchy black pepper sauce (which I asked to be served separately). I quite like the corn here, squirt-worthy juicy and sweet

The menu is so basic that it doesn't give you any info about the dishes - there were about 5 burgers on there and it didn't say what was different about any of them, what toppings, what sides (if any) or even what meat in some cases - you have to ask the waiter if you want to know about any of the dishes.

We ordered a chicken burger, a beef burger, onion rings, chicken nuggets, chips and mashed potato.  The mashed potato was tepid at best, the beef burger wasn't cooked in the middle (they hadn't asked how we wanted it cooked but then neither do burger chains, and in that case you assume it will be cooked through).  The chips were covered in paprika (surely it should be up to us if we want that on our chips) and the chicken nuggets and onion rings were the cheap and nasty kind you could buy from any supermarket and cook at home.

The only thing that was semi-OK was the chicken burger and that was let down by the fact that the bun was stale.

Price was cheap but then so was the food.  In fact, Carl's Jnr does better chicken nuggets and burgers and they're on a par with this place price-wise.  I think I'll stick with Carl's from now on. 

We had a  BBQ chicken($6.90), Prime Rib eye($14.50) and Teriyaki Chicken($6.90).

Friends were very happy with their orders, the 2 side dish that came along with the mains were decent as well(Pasta salad and french fries). Rib eye done-ness was right.

Service wise was acceptable. Prompt and attentive.

Will be back again.

The taste of black pepper is still quite fresh in my mouth, and yes, I just had a meal of black pepper chicken + 2 sides (mashed potato & their house salad) there. The place was at least 3/4 full, however the staff were all congregated near the entrance instead of spreading out and focusing their attention on a selected area. Why? Because they (including the manager, which I presume is the girl in black) were all playing around instead of being attentive towards their customers (we had to go to the counter to pay, not sure if that's the norm but there you have it). But never mind, I presume this is the reason why I paid $6.90 (excl. GST & what-not). They charge 30 cents for a glass of water BTW. Acceptable, I guess.. sort of.

But, enough digressing! Back to the main point of this review: the food. Chicken was acceptable in terms of texture, juiciness, etc., while the black pepper gravy was a bit overpowering so I didn't taste much of chicken (the juiciness & texture was there to reassure me that what I was eating IS chicken though). The salad was so-so, at least the veggies tasted alright (not crispy fresh of course, but like I said, so-so). I was quite surprised to find some chunky bits (which I wasn't aware of previously) in my mashed potatoes which tasted like mushrooms (so I guess they must be mushrooms), so that was a nice addition.

This is my first, but probably not the last time I'd visit. Overall I'd suggest going there if you happen to work in the area when you get a craving for grilled meat, otherwise don't bother.

I'm not sure about other patrons but my most recent trip down to the Astons at Suntec on the 14th of May wasn't as bad.

On arrival there was a short queue and there was a waitress taking orders of those in the front of the queue. My friend and i were not given a menu thou, so we took a look at the menu on the board.

Soon after, we arrived at the head of the queue. Our orders were taken promptly, however, we had to wait till the manager was done taking the orders of the next couple in queue before we could be assigned our seats. It would have been more efficient if the waitress could do so.(afterall she still ushered us to the seats)

The food came in quite fast. I ordered my usual serving of ribeye steak and my friend had a prime steak. Both medium rare and turned out quite well. The mushroom soup on offer was a pleasant surprise. The soup was not too thick and quite homogeneous in its creaminess and abundance of chopped mushrooms; nothing like the usual Campbell soup you'd get at a hawker centre.

My family had lunch on May 1st at the Suntec City Branch. The food is always good but the Service was great. For a place that does not impose a service charge, the wait staff are exceptional. It puts to shame the many other establishments who dare to impose the service charge whilst providing below par service!! They made it a point to serve everyone's meal at the same time even though the orders were placed at different times. It has been a long time since i had the opportunity to witness such service. It was refreshing and i gladly tipped them more than the service charge! Keep it up!

When there on Feb 12, before the lunar new year for lunch with a group of friends. We happens to be there and they dont need reservation. (first come first serve basis)

Due to the long que, we are able to order our dishes before getting the seats. The place was crowded compare to another restaurant nearby. Still the food was satisfactory for all of us.

The steak / chops comes with 2 sides dishes which you could choose from. for pasta, it comes with soup.

Price is reasonable.

I went there again on Feb 20, no que, no crowds, but the waiting time is just too long. for my well-done stir lorn steak took me 25 mins waiting time.

Astons is the place for my steak fix. They have been aggressively expanding for a long time and offers good value for money steaks. On one afternoon, I decided to have a late lunch at this wooden designed eatery after a late meeting at Suntec. While I usually have the rib-eye plus, I saw a new promotion and decided to try the 300 grams Club Steak ($19.90) instead. Unfortunately, even at medium rare, the steak was too tough for my liking. The sides of tasty rice and mash potatoes were still as good as ever though. Oh well, that goes my failed experiment to digress to other products at Astons. Back to the rib-eye for me.  Service was also poor at this branch, as the waiter was not knowledgeable on what the steak was and had to return twice to ask for my preferred doneness of the steak and side dishes.

" Value for money."

" Nice chicken & steak."

These are what people mention of Astons.

And i used to think likewise,

and patrons Astons @ The Cathay alot.

They NEVER disappoint me.

On 020110, i and my husband decided to head to Suntec for Pizza Hut.

After coming out from the carpark, and looking at Astons queue, it was alot

shorter than it normally was. So, we CHOSE Astons over Pizza Hut.

Queue was fast.

Soup & Drink was fast.

For my main, i ordered a Chargrilled Chicken & my husband order a Ribeye Steak.

When they serve me the chicken, it looked overly cooked.

The side facing me was okay but on the other side, it was burnt.

So, i asked them to change a new one.

(Normally, the chargrilled chicken would be slightly brownish in colour)

And they took quite fast.

Then it was a new plate of Chargrilled Chicken in front of me.

It was not so burnt but still black.

Since it was busy, i decided not to ask them to change again.

First mouth of my chicken, there wasnt the mushroom sauce but charcoal smell and taste.

When the chicken was 1/4 eaten.

I saw a strand of hair inside the sauce below my big piece of chicken.

I took the strand out and continue with the sides only.

I left the place feeling disappointed, hungry and turn-off.

And there wasnt even greeting when customer walked out.

I, myself worked in the F&B industry, that's why i didnt kick up a big fuss.

I've been trying to understand why a small outlet @ The Cathay can do a much greater job than the outlet @ Suntec which is a much bigger outlet and obviously have much more staffs.

So, I'LL NOT PATRON ASTONS @ SUNTEC EVER AGAIN.

Have always seen a long queue outside Aston Specialities (Suntec City). Decided to give it

a go yesterday after hearing much about Aston.

Queue was long but we got to assign a table pretty fast.

I ordered black pepper chicken. My boyfriend ordered Wagyu Beef.

Food was served in 15-20min.. Few things to note:

1) We were shown to a table that was obviously not ready. The table was still dirty

from the previous diner. Minus Points..

2) This particular waiter exhibited poor service, not once but twice.

He went to our table, threw a basket of cutleries onto our table and walked off.

Minus Points..

The knives and forks were not washed properly, I could see stains on them.. like the

cutleries were just shoved into a pail of water and that was it.. I had to clean them with

napkins myself.. Minus Points..

Then I asked this same waiter for a glass of coke. He looked at me with a nonchalant

expression and said, 'but we only have Pepsi.' I wanted to give him the =.= look. Then i

told him, 'Pepsi then.' And he just walked away without acknowledging me..

Minus Points..

3) No doubt the meat were tender but!! the food were served lukewarm.. Why is the food

lukewarm when we had to wait for 15-20min for them?? Minus Points..

4) That waiter with poor attitude was very inattentive. It seemed to me he was only

interested in walking up and down, gossiping with his co-worker. May I also mention

that his white tee and apron were dirty, stained with gravy? Disgusting! How can the

staff serving food be so sloppy and dirty? What kind of image do they project to their

customers (whom might be tourists)?

5) Finished our dinner and walked to the cashier to pay our bill.. 2 youngster presumed to be

the cashier were chit-chatting with each other. They stopped when they saw us standing

at the counter. The cashier took our order slip with no expression or rather she looked a

tad irritated that we interrupted their chit-chatting. When we signed the bill, she handed

us the receipt, telling us 'Thank you. Have a nice day. See you again.' fakely..

'See you again'?? Sorry.. Even if you give me free meal, I wont go back again.

Utterly disappointed. Cheap cold food with horrendous servious. This place is definitely

wayyyy over-rated. I'll save my money for better food and service..