Shashlik Restaurant

I know I know...some of you like it...and some of you don't....trust me...this is a love hate place....either love it or loathe it....well...guess I'm stuck in the middle.

Deco wise....it's dim...great if u are with a date and want to whisper sweet nothings....but if u are an old foggy.....do watch your steps !

Food wise....ordered the soup...which is mushroom....ok not too bad...tasted ok but nothing to shout about....now the main course...I ordered the shaslik of beef....it looks alittle dry...but it's not in my case....even when it's well done....tasted great IMHO.....it looks bland...but you are tasting the natural taste of a well marinated beef...and that's good enough for me.....no need for any fanciful sauce....I would say this is a no nonsense beef for a consumer like myself.

I did not order any dessert as I was full due to a late lunch...but I think this is a place mainly for family gatherings.....everything looks so "homely" to me...even the uncles and aunties serving you.....I know....they dun look too friendly...but if u request for anything u need.....they will oblige.

i first visited this place late last year and have come back for more more times than i can remember.

their legendary service (or lack of) and attitude is what that has kept me away all the years. but... maybe i'm a simple dope, but this has been a surprise. i'm not to need pampering when i eat, so i dont care for service with a smile, how that smile would make my meal any better, i dont know; a laugh with spittle.... i understand, but a smile??

they give me what i want; serve fast enough; efficiently; clears my plate before too long; comes to me when i catch their attention (usually without problem); restaurant is well staffed i got "good" service even in a full house evening. i dont complain; and when they fill my iced water glass without being asked, i call it excellent service. the chef even grnated me a baked alaska once when the waitress told me it was sold out (at 200pm...). maybe its my handsome good looks, but with the chef neither looking gay nor still interested in tedious pursuits for lusts, i believe its their attitude.

THE FOOD:
just order the borsch and spend days daydreaming about it. not cheap but heck, value for money, i have to force myself to say. like the master in the mastercard adverts, brilliant food is priceless.

i ordered the beef straganoff on my first visit while my female tiger in tow ordered the beef shashlik. i could have asked for a divorce right away as i fell in love again, though i know the beef straganoff could hardly satisfy me for more than 10 mins... eat it in the same mouthful with a russian salad and i begin pondering the divorce with more zest.

the shashlik is ok, but the wife enjoys it but i doubt divorce was on her mind whilst eating so it probably isnt as good as the straganoff. i have tried one or 2 other items since, though decent to good/vgood, they cant compete with the straganoff. the prawn shashlik has proven to be better than it sounds too and their steaks better than many places.

i've not ordered anything other than the baked alaska. and i try not to order it too often to keep the female tiger, and myself, in our still grea...erm...decent body shapes.

AMBIENCE: old school la. nothing to shout about but cool enough if you're nostalgic.

VALUE: their food is not cheap. not great value for money i have to admit. thats my complaint about this place. but their borsch, and in my personal opinion the beef straganoff, is world best, still i can hardly pass them for their value fro money.

i dont rate service by the smiles, which i believe would be better served in airplanes, hotels and brothels (seriously, no insults meant to the nice people in the service industry). but by how fast they respond, how attentive they are, and how little they spit into your soup. so i give them the thumbs up. compared to those waiters/waitresses that pretend not to see you as you wave at them. i used to wait, so i know good waiters will always see a waving hand within their vision. give this a try!

After reading all the reviews on this place I felt duty-bound to do 1 too. Now this place has been around for some time. I first went there way back in '94 or '95 when my Dad insisted on goin there. Seems he read abt the place somewhere and feeling nostalgic he wanted to pay a visit. I remember he left very disappointed in the quality of the food. I too did not have a lasting impression.

Fast forward to 2 weeks ago. Was supposed to go to Wild Rockets for dinner. Turned out Mount E stood for Mount Emily and not Mount Elizabeth. Wat to do? generation gap. My time Mount E was Elizabeth not Emily. Anyhow so we ended at Shashlik instead.

The place was at capacity(Fri 830pm) but the waitress still managed to get a table for the 4 of us. We had the borsh soup n snails for starters. The soup was gd but din try the snails. (sry i don believe in eating things that crawls n personally find it them disgusting). The rest of us had the shashlik beef, pork and lamb. My beef was pretty decent n so were the pork n lamb. This place reminds me of another long-standing, traditional restaurant, "The Ship".

As most reviewers state this place doesnt pander to u. So be prepared for no frills service. They do their job and they move on. No 'pls' or 'thank yous' here. The average age of the wait staff here is same as Singapore's independence(mebbe older) :). Thats not a dig at them btw. Serious.

Sure u cud prob get better steaks at Angus/Lawrys or even better escargots elsewhere. Yeah i agree service is abrubt, bordering on plain rude. Yes the place looks run down and decor definately cud use a touchup. But this place was opened by our forefathers. This group of Hainanese immigrants having tire of the prejudices and 2nd class treatment they received under their 'supposely superior' caucasians finally decided one day enough was enough. Having mastering the craft from their 'amoh chefs', these Hainanese went forth to set up their own restaurants to serve the local workin class people. Places like these have much history n significance attached to them. They were the pioneers. They are a group that defines the singapore in singapreans. Would we be enjoyin such gd food in s'pore without these entrepreneurs? Doubt it. Should we support this place? Yes, if only to prevent it from closing down. So the next time before we be so quick to judge these 'senior' staff perhaps we shld instead be thankful for the effort they have put into this industry. I'm sure they see us as 'young punks' (as one reviewer as so aptly put) with nothing better to do than to squander hard earned money. If we've only taken some time, I'm sure they have a wealth of knowledge and experience to share which we wud find enriching.

Sorry abt the history lesson but maybe only by learning the past can we truly appreciate the present.