Nyonya & Baba (VivoCity)

This is probably my 2nd visit.  The 1st visit was not memorable so I never went back again.  Was in Vivo and had been craving for Pernankan food so though I would visit them again to satisfy my craving.

We ordered the set menu for 2 pax at $68, consisting of the following:

Chicken Ayam:  This was a rendang like consistency.  Taste wise, it is only so-so.  The lady boss or manager commented that gravy is very good.  I looked at her with dismay and wondered if she even tried it herself at all.  How can gravy served cold be good??

Ngioh Hiang:  This was again so-so.  4 miserable pieces that was again served cold!

Chap Chye: I found this to be too sweet.  Vegetables are too soggy and to any fan of this very famous Pernankan dish, the form here is pretty much an insult.  This is a very basic dish and you can even get it right.  And served cold makes is even more unappetizing.

Hee Peow Soup: If I am still touring Istanbul, yes, serve me cold soup but hey this is Singapore.  Soups should be serve piping hold to retain its full flavour.  This soup is pretty tasteless and the only saving grace for this soup (and perhaps) the entire meal would be the 2 meat balls found in the soup.

Sotong Sambal: The rempah used to fry this sambal tastes very low grade and unauthentic.  And again, the temperature of this dish leaves it lagi undesirable.

You get 2 drinks as well. Dessert was Pulot Hitam and something else... hey why can't I recall what it is?  Maybe because it was so unmemorable, it's not worth remembering.

I know I am sounding like a broken record here but the food here is served cold, cold, cold!!!!  Is that why it arrived on our table pretty quickly??

A note to people at Nyonya and Baba: If you can't perfect Pernankan food, at least learn how to use the mircowave correctly!!!  Also, right after we ordered the set, we regretted as we did a check on the prices if we had ordered ala-carte, there really wasn't any different so where's the special incentive or discount?  Looks like they have a Marketing issue too.  Perhaps I am naive but wouldn't one think that a packaged deal such as a set would usually offer better value??

Service that evening was average.  The foreign talent at this outlet looked bored and uninterested.  We sat outside the resturant (within the mall) and were continuously harrassed by the many fruit flies buzzing around us and our food.  In total, we paid $80 for 2 pax and honestly, it's just not worth it.  I don't understand how they survived all these years.

Please note that this review is for the Bukit Timah branch. Again, this is another groupon dud. I bought $60 in value of vouchers from groupon and brought my parents there for dinner. When we were seated, the waitress immediately pointed to the 4 person set meal and suggested us to order that. There was only 3 of us. Besides, the set meal dishes did not appeal to me (there was a fish dish which I do not eat). When she saw that I did not order the set meal, she suggested another 2 times that I should order that. By then, I was slightly irritated. Instead, we ordered about 6 dishes from the ala carte menu. The waitress said "You ordered just one meat." I told her that err ya, but the soup had meatballs in it too. Then she said that the total will not hit $60 voucher value. I was quite sure that it would, but tired of arguing with her, I order another pork dish. 

In the end, there was too much food and we could not finish. The bill came up to $90+, thus I ended up paying another $30. The food was not nice at all and the waitresses were rude and forgetful. I had to ask for the bill twice because they forgot the first time round. I noted complaints from 3 tables as well. They messed up the credit cards for two tables, and served another customer who arrived later first. This is one of the worst dining experience I ever had.  

We went there recently on a weekend, to try and see if it is any good. Short version: No.

We ordered Chap Chye (mixed veggies), Beef Rendang and Chilli Crayfish, together with some beer and coke. The Chap Chye came first, and it was pretty bad. It was almost completely tasteless, the cabbage cooked beyond recognition. The only taste inside (little as it was) was from beancurd skin and mushrooms.

The Beef Rendang was ok, and may well be one of their best foods. However, the meat was not soft enough, and the taste not quite there. Nevermind that it was also not spicy enough by far.

The crayfish was good by itself, but the sauce completely ruined it. It was like ketchup with water and some egg; for that price, this is a shame. (Again, not spicy.)

The service was also subpar; the waiters were unattentive, and when we wanted more chilli, it took us two attempts to actually get it. Overall, it was hard to get the waiters' attention (strange, since this is not a big place, and it was not completely full.)

Overall, for the price they have, I would definitely not recommend going here. There are a lot of places where one can get better Peranakan and Malay food, for a lower price.

For those who have eaten good nonya food, u sld avoid this place at all cost!

I managed to get a table on a NY Eve for dinner and no wonder it was not full house cos the food SUX! Dont be mislead by the deco also.

When you visit a Thai restaurant, you want to find that unique thai food taste. Over here, you cant find Nonya taste nor are u able to categorise their food as malay or chinese. its just neither here nor there.

The food have no unique flavor. its plain and boring.

Ayam buah keluak - Watery and oily. Chicken meat were not flavorful.

Fish Maw Soup - Bland. Taste more like chicken rice soup added with lots of cabbage and fishballs and charge you $$ for a big bowl. Terrible!

Fried Nonya Noodle - More like hokkien prawn mee but was cooked with no flavor and watery. I dunno if nonya fried noodle really taste like that.

For those who really want to enjoy GOOD nonya food, pls visit the one at Keppel Club.

last word.....PLS AVOID THIS RESTUARANT.

Tried a few dishes here over 2 visits - crab meatball soup, ngoh hiong, chap chye, babi pongteh, curry fish head. Generally tasty, but agreed that the portions were miserly.  Crab meatball and ngoh hiong did not have much 'texture' (too soft).  The only dish that is spectacular (and got us coming back the next week) is the curry fish head. The $29 dish came in a big claypot good enough for 4 pax.  With unlimited rice helpings, it was very shiok to heap the gravy onto the rice. If you are unable to finish the gravy, ask to tapau. It taste even better the next day when heated up.  Eat with roti prata... heavenly.

Disappointing food. Felt embarressed as I was treating an old friend and felt like the portions were too miserly. The baby poteh was like eating frozen pork cooked. SO hard. not the melt in your mouth feeling. the squid was so so. The kangkong was so so. Something wrong with the chili mixture. the rest of the $68== meal for 2 at lunch was barely passable. very expensive for lunch for two with so small portions.....

Service staff were attentive though.

(short review) Came here with my parents.

In all, the service and ambience were good, though the food itself lacks a bit of shiokness.

Babi ponteng was ok - 5.5/10 - It tasted.. normal at best. Not bad, but nothing special.

Sambal kangkong was 8/10.

Honey crispy chicken was 6/10 - though the sauce was acceptable and the meat was pretty fresh, the cooking seemed to be slightly uneven, leaving some inconsistencies in texture.

The yu piao soup was great! 8/10

Otah, however, was a letdown. It costs something like $6 and it's pretty bland. Perhaps it's the intention all along, but I don't think that works.

Ngoh Hiang was 2/10 - At $8 for a roll of 5 pieces, this isn't a good buy. The filling is very loosely packed - and there's quite little meat thrown into the mix.

Chap Chye - completely average 5/10

Chendol - 9.5/10. With the exception of the frozen jelly that wasn't thawed at all, this chendol is simply awesome!

I had the chance to lunch here one day with another friend. It is not often to find a peranakan restaurant in the heart of a shopping mall so it is a pleasant surprise to find one here.

We were seated promptly, as it was a relatively slow weekday crowd. Ordered our drinks which was promptly served with prawn crackers and archar for starter. However, the cracker tasted stale (in chinese 'lao-hong'), either the crackers were left out for too long or the container was not air-tight enough.

We ordered Ayam Buah Keluak (Chicken), Bayam Titek (stir fried chinese spinach), Nyonya Ngo Hiang (Fried spring roll). The Ayam Buah Keluak was yummy, with the right amount of buah keluak spices mixed. The Ngo Hiang had good filling and was fried to the right consistency. A plus point - the oil used to deep fry the Ngo Hiang was 'fresh'.

I felt the vegetables were slightly old, which means the stem part was 'fibrous' and therefore took away the crunchiness of having fresh stir fried greens.

Overall, service was fair - though I felt that as there is only a small crowd, the wait staff could be more attentive to the customers' needs.

Quite a nondescript restaurant tucked away at one corner of Vivocity. Surprisingly, the tables inside the restaurant were full even though we arrived at 6pm on Saturday, so we were given a table outside of the restaurant which wasn't a great experience with all the noise from the performances at the empty space next to the escalator. Plus, people were walking by and looking over at our food :( Service was very good and the food was cooked amazingly fast (quite suspicious hmmm).

The chicken tasted like tom-yam and was just so-so. Nonya mee is quite good if you like hokkien mee with lots of gravy. Also, the Nonya mee has a "lighter" taste than hokkien mee usually sold at foodcourts. Chap chye is quite good and the gravy is good with the rice. You can give the ngoh hiong a miss.

Price of each dish (IIRC):

Black nut chicken - $12

Nonya mee - $10

Nonya chap chye - $8

Ngoh hiong - $8 (apparently there is crab meat inside but I think this is a rip-off!!)

Elderly folks might like this place because the food here are cooked till it is very soft, so it'll be easier for them chew.

I've eaten here a couple of times before. went with my family of aunts & uncles(all adults) & we ordered the medium size for all the dishes. We had the curry fish head, Nyonya ngo hiang & kang kong+ some other dihes. all were nothing exciting. not ad but not that good either. I think their location is also not exactly the best. with the many restaurants & eateries in vivo, I'll rather go somewhere else to have my meal.