Rose Veranda

17th Oct was my BD. As the actual day was a family celebration,
hubby planned to treat me some place posh for high tea 1 day belated on 18th.

After reading many +ve reviews abt Rose Veranda, proposed this place to hubby. Thus he made reservation on 15th.

As the waitress answeing his call stated that 1st slot already fully booked, 2nd slot still has seating at 3.30. I happily accepted that, though I sort of blamed hubby of booking so last min( 3 days in advance maybe is sufficient, but I myself is a Kiasu person). Been a Kiasu person, I'd have made the reservation at least 1 wk before hand. But, its my birthday. Its a 'Birthday gift' from him, doesn't make sense to make the call myself right?

Feeling excited and knowing there's more than 100 types of tea to choose from, 3 hours before our departure, I diligently looked thro all the reviews jotting down which types of tea is nice.(another kiasu part of me :P)
Then took 1+ hr to dress up nicely for a posh cafe, feeling so excited.

We reached there promply at 3.30. I'm very impressed with the waitresses pretty Cheongsam, all with nice smile and grace.

Told the round face Chinese waitress we made a reservation. But she couldn't find my husband's name in the system. Asking my hubby has another name? My slow acting hubby was stunned. Clever me, asking her to check by Hp number, cos they would always ask for contact when making reservation. But, NO. Not in the system!!!

This moment I can't hide my disappointment and anger. I flared up and confronted my hubby(infront of that waitress) whose the waitress that made his reservation. Know what? He forgot to ask, saying cos he never expect anything will go wrong.(cos its a 5 star hotel u know)

Know what? That waitress didn't even attempt to apologise. She simply just show us 2 seating near entrance, saying that 'It's ok even no reservation, juz nice we have a extra table)
Sound as if we're two walk in customers trying to cheat seatings by faking reservation!!

Looking at those empty window seats, I told her i'd prefer nicer seating. Hinting us without reservation, thats the best she can do for us(giving us the table near entrance)
Seeing my black face, still no apology.

My nice temper hubby urged me to sit down. Another waitress passed us the tea menu, I purposely dumped it on the table without looking. The waitress can't bother to find out why, only hurriedly flee off(to avoid troble i guess).

My mood totally spoilt, no mood to eat liao. I demand hubby to show proof to them we did make reservation, in order to stop them giving us the BoChap attitude. And also to return us justice, we did make reservation!! (Not those faking walk in customers!)

After saying that, i walked fiercely out of the cafe all the way to the lobby and hubby chased after me. Those waitresses juz looked blankly at our direction, no one bother to find out why. The round face waitress should know, but she doesn't bother.

After some mental struggle, hubby went back, showed them his hp call-out records, showing proof that he did call on 15th.
Only when we did untill this extent, then they apologised, offer to give us a better seating.

But sorry, when mood is spoilt, not posssible to recover within mins.
We simply walked away. And the 30min parking cost $6(But this a small issue compared to our lousy experience)

Sorry for the long winded story.
In short, my disappointmwnt can be summarised as below points.

1) 5 star hotel shouldn't make this kind of mistake!(Or maybe its only me thats damn unfortunate? When customers made reservation, its not recorded down, and no way to trace back!
Some cheapo Zi Char might be able to do better than that. I did make reservation with some popular Zhi Char stalls before, no mistakes ever so far.

2) No apology given all the way. I don't expect discount, since my hubby not a stingy person. Just expected a simple, sincere apologic smile and words of 'We're sorry'.
Maybe its their 5 star status not to bring down themselves?

3)When I black face, throw tantrums at my hubby(poor hubby). That waitress simply act blur. All I wanted is a word of apology! If she overheard our conversation, she should know.

I've frequented many 4, 5 stars hotel restaurants and cafes. Some very rare times they did miss out reservation. But, they will show apologies and sincerity which always successfully bring down my 'fire'

But, not for Rose Veranda. Service reaaly doesn't live up to a 5 star hotel........

This review was typed 3 hours after I left Rose Veranda. Never been so hardworking in writing review b4. But must write, else tonight I can't sleep. Here goes my 'BD gift'...

This was my first time to the Rose Veranda, and probably won't be my last!

As you first step into the tranquil dining area, you are ushered to luxurious sofas that are so comfortable that you could possibly fall asleep after your meal. The view of the hotel's lush landscape similarly soothes the mind in preparation for the mind-spinning buffet spread. As buffets usually go, the Rose Veranda's selection may not be as mind-boggling as other more lavish spreads. But where the establishment lacks in over-the-top variety, it makes up for it by the exceptional quality of the food.

The salad section boasts a fresh variety of salads, from the usual Caesar's salad to a crunchy mix of greens that include some of the yummiest arugula (rucola/rocket) I've tasted so far in Singapore. Freshly grated parmesan, as well as the usual suspects of salad dressings are tasty and appetising.

As this is an afternoon tea spread, there aren't many warm dishes, and in place of that there are finger sandwiches galore, as well as some Asian fare such as mee siam, Vietnamese spring rolls and a generous variety of breads. The finger sandwiches were plain to the eye (just lettuce and cheese), but the taste was just simply addictive. The bread was baked with rosemary, and had a fine taste to it. Under the warm hood, one can find succulent chicken, fish dishes with a savoury gravy, grilled vegetables with large, pleasant mushrooms, and green curry! The green curry was exceptional, I thought - the chefs had the moral courage to make the curry spicy enough to give one a kick, and not at all 'diluted' like how other 'international' buffets go.

The Japanese table -- a smallish table it was -- had a few sushi types that were a little boring, but nonetheless tasty. The rice had the right mix of lemon (or is it vinegar) that proper sushi should have. The salmon sashimi was fresh and soft and practically melted in my mouth. I kept going back for more!

The desserts were superb. What to say? The chocolate-green tea cake (no, it's not a cake, strictly speaking. However, I forget the proper name for the dessert...) was FANTASTIC! As all chocolate desserts are, it simply tasted decadent and was supremely rich. In fact, one should save that for the final crowning glory! The scones were yummy, with the hotel's own 'home'-made jams (rose-strawberry and something else with apricot), fresh cream was available, as was butter. There were pastries galore, and a huge spread of fresh strawberries coated with chocolate, or just strawberries naked on their own, waiting for you to drizzle cream or chocolate or sugar on them.

As for the beverages, the Rose Veranda is probably better known for their 101 Teas menu. The waitress places it before you when you first take your seat, and you are at liberty to order as many pots of exotic teas as you like. The tea is served in rather exquisite Wedgewood pots, as I'm told. Very impressive indeed. I had the Rooibos with Vanilla - which was super fragrant and most excellent. I'm hooked on it.

We went at about 2pm and stayed until 6, with our stomachs bursting but absolutely happy. That was lunch and dinner for me. They start at 12pm and go all the way until 6pm, and won't rush you even if you've stayed beyond 6pm - which is fabulous.

Note: Reservations are required as it's a popular place (especially with tai-tais!)

Before I start commenting, I need to digress to give a "full" picture. During my consideration of high tea venues, I noted that Goodwood Park L'Espresso and Rose Veranda have pretty good ratings. Based on the higher rating of L'Espresso (>8), I decided to make that place my first choice of visit last week. I wasn't disappointed and you can read my comments of L'Espresso. This week however, I had the opportunity of visiting Rose Veranda and was looking forward to it, in view of the much raved about 102 teas selection.
Perhaps due to the recent wonderful time at Goodwood's L'Espresso and other binges, I felt that the variety at Rose Veranda does pale in comparison to L'Espresso. Further, I quite agree with the rating of 7+ for Rose Veranda vs the 8+ rating of L'Espresso.
Ok, now back to my comments on the international buffet at Rose Veranda.
I must say that the ambience is great, with spacious sitting area and comfortable sofas and chairs.
There is such a great variety of teas that my friends and I sure took a while to decide. During the 3.5 hours we were there, the 3 of us had a total of 11 pots of teas(!), including Darjeeling Earl Grey, Splendid Earl Grey, Silver Pi Lo Chun, Darjeeling Pearls, Carribean Summer, Morocco Mint, Irish Whiskey Cream, Shangri La, etc. I must say I was pretty disappointed with the Earl Greys as they tasted too light and nondescript, absolutely unlike the Earl Greys I've drunk. On the other hand, my friend found Summer Carribean too fruity for her taste while Silver Pi Lo Chun was too "plain". Morocco Mint smelt like Wriggley's Spearmint Chewing Gum and my friend felt as if she's drinking Colgate. Then again, I guess it's really an individual's taste as I do like the smell and taste of Morocco Mint. Of all the teas I drank at Rose Veranda, I enjoyed Irish Whiskey Cream most, though my friends refused to try as they felt its description to be unappetizing.
As for the savoury stuff, I didn't try all that were there. For those I tried (e.g. chicken drumsticks, beef, fish, mutton), I could only say that they were either simply ok or disappointing. Most certainly, they didn't appeal to my palate. My favourites were the siew mai and "har gau" (prawn dumpling), which I had three helpings. My friend felt the mutton tastes all right but a tad too dry/tough when it should simply melt in the mouth. Another loves the salad/greens served.
Dessert wise, majority of the cakes are good but not fantastic enough to make me go back for seconds. As usual, there's a chocolate fondue with fruits and marshmallows. For the desserts served in plates or glasses, they are likewise ok to nondescript (at least for those I took, which are mainly yellow and fruit based). In all, my friend and I generally like the "brown" desserts, which either contain chocolate, hazelnut or mocha/coffee. As for the plain and raisin scones, I much prefer the ones served at L'Espresso.
I guess it's really a matter of taste and in the case of Rose Veranda, half of those I sampled simply didn't appeal to me.
Perhaps one of these days, I'll try its English afternoon tea before I finalise my views of this place...