Places to eat in Singapore

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Carona is an eatery specializing in a variant of Singapore's most famous dish, the Hainanese Chicken Rice. Their twist is that their version is served only with fried chicken wings that have been heavenly marinated with sesame oil, coated with a batter made from corn flour and then deep fried to crisp perfection.

Cavana is Carona's halal sister in the tropical island of Singapore. Thus, Muslim diners will be able to dine at Cavana as well.

The interior of Cavana in Marina Square is quite like any standard food court, just a little spiffier looking.

Favorite Dish: Maybe it was because I had their Classic Wings (S$3.20 for 2 ) one time too many, but I like their BBQ Wings (also S$3.20 for 2) more. However, I think calling it BBQ Wings is a misnomer because it does not taste barbecued at all. Rather, I suspect that it is still deep fried, just without the batter and with a honey based marinate instead.

If it is your first time there, the Classic Wing Chicken Rice (S$4.50) is of course a "must order". Otherwise, do try their Nasi Lemak (S$4.90 for a set which includes a small serving of soft drink), which is surprisingly quite nice with a sambal (ground chilli paste) that actually has some kick in it.

Their hotplate dishes on the other hand are really only of average standard. Nothing to shout about.

You can complete your main dish with a small serving of side dish at only S$1. The Oyster Green and Teriyaki Tofu I tried are definitely more than worthed the extra paid.

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I am a big fan of great buffets and nothing pleases the glutton in me more than discovering a generous buffet spread that is not only very varied, but provides great value for my dining dollars.

I am pleased to say that the Bar & Billiard Room at the venerable Raffles Hotel is such an establishment. Set within an decor that exudes an elegant old world charm, but not in a stuffy kind of way, its casual class, excellent team of service staff and well-prepared delicious fares makes it really hard for me to raise any faults with it.

On some evenings, to quote their website, "live piano music and the snazzy jazz vocals of Claressa Monteiro entertain and complete the mood for dining in sophistication and style". How very true.

From Monday to Saturday, both the Lunch and Dinner buffet are served at S$48+++ and S$59+++ per pax respectively. On Sunday, a champaign brunch is served at S$119+++ per pax. Some people may find these prices a tad expensive, but in all honestly, considering the quality of spread that is being served and their really excellent service, it is honestly a bargain.

Please note that the "+++" means that all prices listed are subjected to a 10% service charge and a 1% government tax, followed by another 5% GST. Diners who pay by their UOB issued credit cards are entitled to a 15% discount.

Favorite Dish: I would not really know where to start, but honestly almost everything is good. Seafood lovers will certainly be delighted to know that for dinner, there is an unlimited serving of chilled lobsters, big crab craws, and fresh oysters. Sashimi lovers will appreciate the spread of raw tuna and yellow tail in additional to the usual sake, or salmon.

I think the lobsters deserve special mention because unlike some other buffets I had been to, the lobsters were really constantly being refilled. Based on this alone, I think the price for the buffet is very well-justified.

There are also many other food stations available, which serve things from soups to various hams, to salads prepared on demand, as well as an outdoor barbecue station. I was quite intrigued by the interesting selections of the bite-size morsels of appetizers served on a spoon or a small saucer - It was a great way to try out a wide variety of flavours and textures without over-stuffing myself.

The desserts, with a decadent spread of chocolate pralines, puddings, mousse, baked items, and ice-cream are rather good as well, and I was certainly delighted that the chocolate sauce available was actually made from Valrhona chocolate. Really good quality stuff.

When you are done with the buffet, there will be a coffee and tea service provided to provide a nice finish to a wonderful meal.

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The Imperial Treasure Group in almost every respect, very similar to to Crystal Jade Culinary Concept Holdings, and this is no surprise, since they stem from the same heritage. The founder of the Imperial Treasure Group, Alfred Leung, was after all a co-founder of the Crystal Jade Culinary Concept Holdings, and was their managing director for a very long time before deciding that he will be their most direct competitor ever. In true soap opera style, there is really nothing like an all-out rivalry to keep people interested.

So, the Imperial Treasure La Mian Xiao Long Bao at Marina Square is obviously a very thinly disguised and obvious competitor to Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao at the mall just next door, Suntec City.

Imperial Treasure definitely have the better ambience and surroundings though, with their more cosy setting that feature dimmer and more comfortable lighting, and better upholstery for their furnitures. Service was equally attentive.

Like most Chinese restaurants, there is a "towel" charge of S$0.30 per person. The prices on its menu are also subjected to a 10% service charge, a 1% CESS, and a further 5% GST.

Favorite Dish: After all that has been said, it is no surprise at all that the food served at Treasure La Mian Xiao Long Bao is very similar to those served at Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao. They taste similar, and even their price points are uncannily similar.

There is one subtle but important difference though, and that is that I find the food at Imperial Treasure La Mian Xiao Long Bao way oilier than their equivalent at Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao. For some dishes like the Shanghai Fried Rice (S$10.50+++), the extra oil does help to bring out all the flavours in their ingredients and make the dish taste better on the whole. But for other dishes like Stir Fried Long Bean with Pork & Chilli (S$8.00+++), it just makes it taste oilier and makes it more unhealthy for no good reason.

The Beancurd Skin Roll (S$7.00+++), which is also known as vegetarian goose or mock goose (it's a sort of fake goose....) in particular, is spoilt by the abundance of oil in its filling, made mostly up of mushrooms.

Otherwise, the other dishes like its La Mian, Steamed Pork Dumplings and Pan Fried Pork Buns are definitely at least above average.

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Diners who had been to Shangri-La Hotel's The Line Restaurant have often describe the dinner buffet spread as the mother of all buffets in Singapore, and to some respect that is very true. It features a huge variety of quality food that are prepared on the spot and this range from hot-from-the-tandor tandoori chicken, to char-grilled prawns, to steaming hot dim sum. Of course, it also features an unlimited serving of chilled lobster which by itself is enough to justify the dinner buffet price of S$68++.

Some people like the new age decor, while some people do not. I belong to the latter category and absolutely hated the plastic decor. It is far too casual, too foodcourt like, and too cheap looking to be avant-garde. And while some tables had too much lighting, others (like the one I was allocated in my most recent outing there) were way too dim. The outdoor dining area (if you need to puff) had absolutely no ambience to speak of. For me, a good dining experience has to be a multi-sensory one, especially for one that charges anything more than S$50 per diner and unfortunately, this is one area where The Line fails to meet the mark.

Service is quite attentive, but I find that it is nowhere as good as the services I received at Raffles Hotel's Bar & Billiard Room (my favourite buffet restaurant), Oriental Hotel's Melt: The World Cafe, or even Meritus Mandarin Hotel's Triple 3.

Hmm... Somehow, the writeup sounds kind of negative, but it is really not like that. The price for the dinner buffet is S$68++, the additionals being the 10% service charge, followed by the 7% GST. The money spent is however totally worth it because of the amazing array of food items available.

Favorite Dish: Most of the dishes are really good and I especially like the fact that the chocolate that was used for the Chocolate Fountain is unsweetened. I am very picky about my chocolates and although the melted chocolate was a little thin (it would be better balanced with more cocoa butter), the quality of the cocoa used was rather good. The slight bitterness of the chocolate provided a wonderful contrast to the sourness of the strawberries and the sweetness of the cookies available for dipping.

Something to take note is that it seems that each time I revisited the restaurant, the food's standards dip a bit. On my latest visit, the seafood was not as fresh as I had them during the first 2 times. I had a hard time separating the seafood's fresh from its shell (which is always a good indicator of staleness) and this applied to the prawns, lobsters and scallops. I am hoping that these were isolated events..

Still, the seafood was good enough to keep me revisiting the Seafood Station to refill my plate. I also loved every single item from the Tandoori Station. The cook was genuinely nice and each time I went back, he would offer to get me a fresh serving straight from the tandoor. Now, that is what I call "great service".

Also, avoid the shark's fin soup, available at the Dim Sum counter. There was no shark's fin in it and it tasted like liquefied char siew pau - very weird and not nice at all.

There was also quite a selection at the Dessert Station, but nothing really outstanding except the sheer variety. Usually however, most people will already be too full to stuff them in. ;-)

Oh yeah, the buffet comes with a complimentary coffee and tea service at the end of it.

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Surf 'N' Turf is one of the restaurants I love to visit every now and then to reward myself for being good (i.e., I had not been overindulging on rich food for a number of days). Almost everything on the menu is like a weight watcher's worst nightmare, because they are mostly seafood (the "Surf"), steaks (the "Turf"), prepared either deep fried or grilled. But what wonderful guilty pleasures they are!

As far as I know, Surf 'N' Turf has only 2 branches in Singapore. One of them is in Suntec City Mall (the object of this review), while the other one is in Funan Digitalife Mall. Both are somewhat decorated in a casual and relaxed manner, with surf boards as well as mounted plasma screens showing what else but surf videos. Staff are dressed in breezy beach shirts and have a very friendly disposition.

I had been to both outlets a number of times but I much prefer the Suntec one because it is more crowded. While, I do like a less crowded restaurant more often than not, everything about Surf 'N' Turf screams people and so dining in their rather deserted Funan outlet (usually, less than 5 tables are occupied and once, my table was the only occupied table!) seemed out-of-character with the restaurant's flair and that feels kind of depressing for me.

Do note that all the food charges shown on the menu are subjected to a 10% Service Charge, followed by the GST (currently 7%).

Favorite Dish: My favourite dish in the restaurant is actually a starter, the Prawn Quesadilla (S$9.90++). Basically, it's grilled prawns and melted nacho cheese sandwiched between 2 corn tacos. What is there not to like? Delicious stuff really, and I often like to order this as my main, with an assortment of other side dishes of course.

The other starters are all really quite good as well, such as the appetizing Zing Wings (S$9.90++) - golden fried chicken wings served with a sourcream dip, Calamari (S$8.90++), and the surprisingly fragrant Garlic Bread (S$4.90++). The Crab & Salmon Cakes (S$8.90++) were nice as well, but I felt that there is simply a little too much potato in it to justify the its name - it should really be called a Potato Croquette instead.

I am not a big beef eater and so despite its namesake, I have not tried out the steak before. The mains I have tried include the Honey Fried Chicken (S$16.90++) and Hickory BBQ Chicken (S$16.90++). While these chicken dishes were delicious, they were nothing really special to shout about. One of the chef's recommendation, the Baked Seafood Casserole (S$19.90++), turned out to be quite a major disappointment for me - it was a huge mish mash of flavours that not necessarily complemented each other. You can upgrade your mains to a complete meal by adding S$4.90++, which adds a soup of the day and a soda. Speaking of soup, I loved their Mushroom Soup - it was flavourful, rich and loaded with ingredients.

Dessert wise, I am not so found of it either. The Brownie with Vanilla Ice-Cream (S$9.90++) came heavily recommended, but I find it such a sugar-laden affair that I got turned off after the third mouthful.

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Mouth Restaurant claims to be the oldest Chinese teahouse in Singapore, and while I do not know if that is really true or not, they certainly belong to the class of "very traditional" Chinese restaurants in Singapore. They have 2 branches, one in Chinatown Point, and another in SAFRA Toa Payoh.

Usually I like to go to the branch at Chinatown Point, but it is usually very crowded and quite difficult to get a table on weekends, especially on short notice or during holidays (i.e. long weekends). So I went to the less known branch in SAFRA Toa Payoh on a Sunday, and surprisingly, it was very crowded as well - so crowded that I actually got the last available table in the house.

While the outlet at Chinatown Point looked every bit like your typical Chinese Restaurant, I was actually taken aback at the interior decoration, or rather the lack of it, at their SAFRA Toa Payoh outlet. It was pretty obvious that the restaurant was converted from an unused multi-purpose room or hall and the restaurant did not bother to spruce the place up at all. It was terribly plain looking and was just barely functional, which is my way of saying that it was ugly and has zero ambience. But despite that, the place was packed, so I guess that gives you an idea of how good the food was.

Do note that usually, the spending per person in Mouth Restaurant is less than S$40 per person when you order from the normal set menu, or from the a-la-carte menu. I ordered from some fancy special set for this review and with drinks and additional dishes like the Stir-Fried Seasonal Vegetables with Scallops (S$28++), it actually cost about S$60+ per person, which is not usual. Just want to clarify this first.

All prices on the menu are subjected to 10% service charge followed by another 5% GST. There is a compulsory tea, towel and prickle (appetizing side dish) charge of about S$2 per person.

Favorite Dish: The branch of Chinese food served in Mouth Restaurant is Cantonese. For the purpose of this review, I ordered one of their special set (S$48.80++ per person), which included the following dishes:

1. Doubled Boiled Shark's Fin Soup with Yellow Melon

This was the only item which disappointed me from this set. It was absolutely tasteless and I never liked whole Shark's Fin anyway - I much prefer the cheaper shredded type infused with a chicken or seafood broth.

2. Poached Live Prawn

This was deliciously fresh! Extremely tasty with a hint of fragrant Chinese wine.

3. Braised Abalone with Assorted Dry Seafood

The abalone was tiny, but they sure threw every type of dried seafood and other stuff (there was a piece of braised chicken and a price of fried duck - go figure). For Western dishes, putting so many ingredients together is a big no no since the purity of flavours is important. But as a Chinese dish, the complex flavours actually worked very well with each other to create this very rich tasting dish.

4. Duo Fish Combination - Deep Fried Fish Fillet / Stir-Fried Salted Egg, Hashma with Fresh Milk

A little oily due to the deep frying involved for both items, but this was a very creative dish that was surprisingly well-executed. I loved it.

5. Fried Rice with Fresh Crabmeat & Scallop

Typical, but delicious nevertheless.

6. Chilled Kiwi Fruit

Actually your run-of-the-mill kiwi smoothie without the milk. Very refreshing and luckily, not disgustingly sour.

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Triple 3 is definitely one of the better buffet restaurants I had been to in Singapore, and I had been to lots of them. Despite the slightly higher price tag of S$45+++ for lunch, and S$55+++ for dinner, this is fully justified by the very wide variety of food available and the inclusion of some premium items such as lobster (usually available only during dinner) and fresh oysters.

Located within Meritus Mandarin on level 5, right beside its swimming pool, the restaurant's decor is a little dated. The main food hall where the food stations were, was quite nice, being spacious, and brightly litted. The food stations themselves were well presented, in an interesting and color (literal meaning) manner.

But the somewhat gloomy main dining area is a different story. The tables were placed quite closed together and there was insufficient lighting with little surrounding decorations, lending a kind of staff-canteen like atmosphere, far from anything romantic or glamorous. However, this was kind of expected, since the hotel itself is quite old despite undergoing a S$35M renovation in 1990, and another S$52M renovation in 2003 in which upgrading works were probably more or less limited to its guest rooms and lobby.

Looking beyond the decor, a meal at Triple 3 is definitely a wonderfully satisfying experience. Although I do not take oysters, its fresh oysters was reputed to be one of its top draws, and this was confirmed by the thumbs up from my dining companions who loved oysters. Its spread was international and featured other items such as soft shell crab, nonya curry, sashimi, roast beef, freshly cooked pasta, etc..., and a very well-stocked Dessert Station which featured items such as smooth pralines and liquered jellies. It is also one of the first buffet restaurants in Singapore to feature a decadent Chocolate Fondue Station!

UOB credit card holders, please remember to bring your card along, as it will entitle you to a 15% discount.

Favorite Dish: My favourite dish from the restaurant is the Sauteed Crab, which is actually soft-shell crab deep fried, and then stir-fried in a tasty savoury sauce. The sweet tasting sauce enhanced the flavour of the crab and served to make it feel less oily as well.

The appetizers were also all very good, especially the scallop item (there was no name for it), which was both succulent and fresh, and really whipped up your appetite for the other food items.

I also love the fact that they use better quality ice-creams from Swenson's, instead of those from unknown tasteless variety.

I seldom find chocolate pralines served in a buffet and even more surprising, were the fact that the ones served here were good quality ones.

I am not a big fan of the Chocolate Fondue Station though. But this is more because of me. As I personally prefer bitter-sweet chocolate, I find the chocolate used here too sweet and too creamy. But those with a sweet tooth should find it just fine.

In overall, it is a very good place to go to, if you are looking to pamper yourself gastronomically, and do not mind to throwing caution to the wind any diet plans which you may have.

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In a recent August 2006 issue of Straits Times, one of their food reviewers suggested that Pu Tien Seafood Restaurant is nothing, but a rather bad copycat of another Hing Wah restaurant along Kitchener Road, which has a similar namesake. Personally, I believe the truth is far from that.

The name "Pu Tien" is actually a specific Hing Wah locality in China and so nobody has a claim to it. Due to the automatic assocation of Hing Wa cuisine to any restaurants which has the term "Pu Tien" in it, a lot of Hing Wa restaurants will thus include it as their name, or as part of it.

And although Pu Tien Seafood only opened their Kitchener Road outlet this year, they actually have another outlet in Geylang, which had been around for at least a few years longer.

Comparing both restaurants (I had eaten in both restaurants on more than 3 occasions each), I will agree that Pu Tien Seafood's competitor is definitely is in a far better location, as well as having a much more chi-chi atmosphere. Food wise, with the exception of "Drunken Prawns in Bamboo Shoots", which soup base taste rather diluted in Pu Tien Seafood Restaurant's version, everything else tasted more superior (the other restaurant's fare is of extremely uneven and inconsistent standards) and is priced more competively here.

Pu Tien Seafood unfortunately sports an extremely uninspiring interior decor. In fact, it looks more like a factory cafeteria than a restaurant. But it does makes up for it by the personalised service of their staff (the service in the other restaurant is bad), its wonderful fare, and of course their great value for money.

Favorite Dish: There are many good dishes from this restaurant, but my favourite is the very simple Hing Wah Fried Bee Hoon. It is actually very thin rice vermicelli that has been stir-fried and lightly seasoned with clams, seaweed and peanuts. Totally delicious.

Of special mention is the soupy Hing Wah Style Braised Noodles. The thick rice noodles used are just of the right sponginess and smooth texture, laced in a delicious broth flavoured again by clams and vegetables.

Other dishes like Deep Fried Chicken with Garlic Sauce, Hing Wah Sweet & Sour Pork, and Deep Fried Squirrel Fish with Fruit Sauce, are also very well-made. Feel free to skip the Drunken Prawns in Bamboo Shoot if you have already tried it before here or elsewhere as although it is still delicious, I think ordering other prawn dishes such as the Salted Egg Fried Prawns or Braised Beancurd with Prawns is a better idea.

One thing I like about Pu Tien Seafood is that they offer set menus, which allows you to save about 20% off the prices of the items on the set if you are to order them separately. If there are any dishes on the set you are not fond of, they also offer you the flexibility of substituting it with another dish of the same value or less (you can also pay the difference and upgrade it to something else).

Finally, there are no service charges and often, they often even offer complimentary Longan Almond Tofu Dessert.