Lat's Place @ Puteri Harbour, Johor

I had fine dining Malaysian style tonight, courtesy of a package that includes a trip to Hello Kitty Town, complete with a dinner at Lat's Place, the restaurant next to Hello Kitty Town. To read more about the day trip and Hello Kitty Town itself, please refer to this and this.

 

The restaurant has a unique concept in that it honours the local cartoonist Lat, hence much of the interior decorations are reproductions of his work. The interior of the restaurant is decorated in the style of an old kampung (aka village).

 Restaurant sign

 

 The entrance to the restaurant. I like the decoration!

 

What I like about the place is the superb customer service. On my way to Hello Kitty Town in the morning, someone from the restaurant called me and confirmed my reservation. I was really impressed that they would go to this extra mile to personally call me and ask what time I would be going and which menu I would like. I chose the Adults' menu.

When I reached the restaurant, it was still closed. Apparently the place opens for dinner only at six, so I had to wait. The staff asked me to wait at the bench outside where drinks were served. Bear in mind that the restaurant is halal, hence no alcoholic drinks would be served. The drink is a welcome drink of fruit punch.

 

While waiting, one of the staff came up to introduce herself and said she would be the host for the night. She gave me the table number and asked me to wait at the front where a statue of a hen is at six, where someone would come and usher the customers inside.

 

 This is where customers have to wait to go in

 

Slightly past six, the staff of the restaurant came out and ushered the guests in. The interior of the restaurant is shaped like the inside of a typical kampung house. We had to pass by the gift shop and a long corridor before going into the restaurant proper, which is again structured like a kampung house. It really gives the feeling that one is dining in a kampung house!

 



 This is Lat, the cartoonist

 

 The interior decoration of the restaurant

 

There were not that many customers in the queue. When I entered the restaurant, I realised why. There are only enough seats for thirty-five guests the most. Hence advance reservation is required. I suppose they liaise with a lot of tour agencies, so the dinner at this restaurant is normally part of the package for families going to Hello Kitty Town.

 

When I entered, I saw the menu and the table setting, and is pleasantly surprised! The setting is that of a Western fine dining style, but the food is typically Malaysian. Normally I do not take much to fusion food, but this place does it in a way that is both classy yet retains the local flavour. Kudos to them!

 The menu

 

 The table settimg where the first dish is covered, complete with the utensils and the welcome drink

 

 The spices and condiments

 

Dinner started the moment the guests sat down. First course was Appetiser, which is Seafood Pudding "Otak otak", Mango "Kerabu" and Honeydew Prawns.

 

The first course (Appetizer) - Honeydew Prawns, Mando "Kerabu" and Seafood Pudding "Otak otak"

 

While eating, that was when the entertainment of the night started. The staff all started dancing and singing in, entertaining us with their merriment. I must say, all the staff could sing and dance! I wonder if that was one of the requirements when the place hired its staff?

 

Not just that, an entertaining clip of a cartoon was played on video. The cartoon consisted of the "village head" welcoming all the guests into his "kampong" and hoping that we enjoy the food! The "village head" also introduced us to all the other "residents" of the "kampong".

 

Before the start of the second course, the "village head" spoke out the name of some of the guests, and one of the staff then went over to the person and asked if they were enjoying themselves. This entertainment went on throughout the dinner and there was even a dance that kids could participate in!

 

I am really impressed by this unique concept. I have not come across any restaurants that let the guests interact while having dinner (and I do not mean interact with each other, but interact with the serving staff). That is really personalised service of the highest kind!

 

As dinner went on, the staff even announced that one of the kids is having a birthday, and brought out a birthday cake, compliments of the house, to celebrate. This is what will keep the customers from going again and again!

 

In any case, the next two dishes are below, followed by tea or coffee (I took tea) to end off the whole dinner.







 Second course (Mains) - Steamed Fragrant White Rice with Chicken Potato Dumpling, complete with Rolled Chicken with Lemongrass and Mild "Percik" Sauce, Lamb Cutlet Curry with Potatos, Steamed Red Snapper Fish with Ginger Soya Sauce, and Steamed Vegetables with Peanut Sauce

 

 Final course (Dessert) - Sweet Black Glutinous Rice and "Buah Melaka" with Fruits

 

This is really the best dinner I have had! Interactive, personalised, and the food is really good too! I actually enjoyed the dinner more than anything else I have done for the day.

 

For those who are intending to go to the Puteri Harbour theme parks for the day, do complete your day with this interactive and unique dining concept. Trust me, this is really highly recommended, and you will get a dining experience which you will otherwise never get anywhere else.

 

Five stars for this!

Food : 4.5 out of 5

Ambience : 4.5 out of 5

Service : 5 out of 5

Price : Not sure as it was part of the package. But there is no hidden cost, and we do not need to fork out anything else. The food, service, entertainment and all other things are all inclusive, so I find it really worthwhile.

Pearl Waffle @ JB City Square

I was on a day trip to Johor Bahru today, and happened to see this new outlet in City Square Mall called Pearl Waffle. This is a waffle place from Taiwan and it happened to be their grand opening today.

 

Pearl Waffle is situated on the top floor of City Square mall, next to the box office of Cathay cinema. It is a little small corner outlet. Since it was their first day, the staff was dressed as maids (you know those old English maids, in their black and white uniforms?), and they were handing our flyers and putting up more tables.

 Outside the cafe

 

 The "freebies" the staff handed out to me

 

 Inside the cafe above the counter

 

The ceiling

 

There are many varieties of waffle, but I chose the banana waffle with vanilla ice cream. It came in a little cute plate like this.

 



And iced tea (as in iced milk tea).

I am not sure of the Malaysian market so I cannot comment how successful this outlet will be, but if it opens in Singapore, I believe it would be pretty successful, especially amongst the teenagers. The waffle itself is not that fantastic, but the banana with vanilla and maple syrup makes for a good snack or dessert. And the iced milk tea is just right, not too sweet.

 

I do hope we can have an outlet here soon!

 

Food : 3 out of 5

Ambience : None, since it is a small corner stall

Service : 4 out of 5 (maybe because it is their first day)

Price : 3 out of 5 (I feel it is a tad pricey)

Chili's @ Resorts World

I have been to Resorts World a few times and came across Chili's, but never had a chance to eat there until last night. I spent a day exploring fish in Sentosa so decided to eat at Chili's as I was so hungry after my adventures.

 

Chili's looks like any typical American diner. Ambience wise, it is not as cosy as TGI Friday's. The interior decoration is structured like a 50's malt shop. Food wise, there is not much variety too, save for the typica burgers and fries, steaks, and appetisers. The signature appetiser is chilli, of course!

 Interior decoration of the restaurant

 

 

After perusing the menu, I decided to order a New York striploin steak, medium, with two sides of mashed potato with black pepper gravy and seasonal vegetables. The order came pretty fast, but they got my sides wrong - serving me fries instead of mashed potato. I requested to change and the waiter promptly changed it for me. All steak orders come with a piece of garlic toast.

My order of New York striploin, with mashed potato with black pepper gravy, garlic toast and seasonal vegetables

 

The steak is quite chewy for medium. The potato is fine, but the vegetables taste as if they have been boiled for too long, as they seem so soft. Furthermore, the steak is not as big a piece as I expected.

 

Overall, it was a decent meal, although I think for the quality of the food, it is a tad overpriced. I much prefer TGI Friday's, for the ambience and food!

 

Food : 2.5 out of 5

Price : 2 out of 5

Ambience : 3 out of 5

Service : 4 out of 5

T.G.I. Friday's @ I12 Katong

I finally went to T.G.I Friday's for dinner after it came back to our shores after ten years or so. My impression of the restaurant now is not as good as before. I used to be so awed by this place, but now, I find it a typical diner.

 

Perhaps because it is now situated in a shopping mall (I12 Katong) instead of The Glass House, so the ambience is not as romantic or cosy anymore. And now it has alfresco sitting too, hence many kids were sitting outside the restaurant. I think alfresco sitting is more romantic, but the waitress gave us a table inside.

 

The menu has changed. No longer is it serving my favourite mudpie. And there is no jukebox anymore, at least I do not see it. Despite that, the food is good though. I ordered the Jack Daniel's Sirloin Steak, with American cut. The steak is a big cut (although I suspect it is much bigger in United States itself), and comes with two sides.

 

I ordered medium, and the steak is perfectly done in medium! The texture of the steak is good, although not as thick as some steaks I have seen. Besides, the Jack Daniel's sauce is fantastic! The sauce lingers in my mouth after I ate up the steak! I really must find out how to make this sauce!

My sirloin steak, American cut, cooked medium, with two sides of mashed potato, seasonal vegetables and thick Jack Daniel's sauce

 My dinner companion ordered a ribeye steak, medium rare, Australian cut, with two sides of chips (fries) and seasonal vegetables. The steak looks smaller than mine though, maybe because it is an Australian cut, but the broccoli is gigantic!

Ribeye steak, Australian cut, cooked medium rare, with chips (fries) and seasonal vegetables

 

I must say, T.G.I Friday's is still a cool place to hang out, especially for expatriates and kids. One can know that the food is good from the number of expatriates (ie Caucasians) going to the restaurant. The service staff is also polite and friendly. I hope I can have the chance to go back there again, to try out the other dishes on the menu!

 

 

Food : 4 out of 5

Service : 4 out of 5

Price : 3 out of 5

Ambience : 3.5 out of 5

Charly T's @ 1I2 Katong

I have wanted to eat at Charly T's for a long time, but never got a chance to do so, because the price there is slightly higher than average. So when I came across a Groupon discount, I grabbed the opportunity immediately!

 

The Groupon discount entitles me to order up to S$20.00 for a main course. Anything exceeding I would have to top up. Since I bought two Groupons, we ordered two main courses, but paid extra for drinks. So you can just imagine how much one main course is!

 

I ordered the Garlic Chicken Rotisserie, which is their famous specialty dish, and my revered friend ordered a Sirloin steak. The orders took a while to come though, I was practically starving by the time the food arrived!

 My Garlic Chicken Rotisserie

 

Every main dish comes with a choice of two sides. I chose macaroni and cheese with seasonal vegetables. The chicken is tender and nicely roasted, but I cannot actually taste the garlic.

 



Sirloin Steak with fries and seasonal vegetables

 

The steak looks good actually, although I did not manage to eat any. But it was not really a good experience overall, because for that kind of price and that long waiting time, I would kind of expect the food to be better and tastier. Although the chicken is nice and tender, but it is not that tasty.

 

Perhaps next time I should order something else and see if the food is better!

 

 

Food : 3 out of 5

Price : 2.5 out of 5

Ambience : 3 out of 5

Service : 2.5 out of 5

Food For Thought @ Queen Street

Last night I met my friend at this new place called Food For Thought, near both our offices. This is a relatively new place serving fusion food. The menu looks interesting enough!

 

I ordered the steak and she ordered the chicken cutlet. When the steak arrived, it looked just like what I thought - medium, with sides of fries and salad. Her chicken cutlet is crunchy and tasty.

My steak

 



J's chicken cutlet

 

The interior of the restaurant has a pretty unique decoration. It is a pretty cosy place for casual dates, gatherings and meet ups. The food and pricing are not too bad too! I would want to come here again if I have the chance!

 

 

Food : 3.5 out of 5

Ambience : 4 out of 5

Price : 3.5 out of 5

Service : 3.5 out of 5

Quentin's @ Eurasian Association House

For a long time, I had wanted to try authentic Eurasian food. Most of the "Eurasian" food I tried were Peranakan-based food. Even though I have the recipes for Eurasian food written by the famous Mary Gomez, I have never tried authentic Eurasian food.

So today, I made it a point to go to the restaurant at the Eurasian Association called Quentin's. Instead of a set meal, the meal was communal. We had stewed beef, sambal kang kong, fried chicken wings, and dessert of chendol, gula melaka and the famous sugee cake (of course!).

When we sat down, complimentary crackers were served, just like a Peranakan or Indonesian restaurant. And these were Indonesian crackers, not the normal prawn crackers that are so nice and tasty, but the more bitter kind.

Stewed Beef

The beef was supposed to be cooked in chilli, but somehow the taste was not that fantastic.

Sambal Kangkong

The spicyness of this dish is there, but the presentation looked more like mixed assorted vegetables to me.

Fried Chicken Wings

At least the chicken wings are great! They were deep fried in chicken frying oil, which made a big difference to the normal chicken fried in normal cooking oil.

Sugee Cake

I must say this is rather disappointing. I thought a sugee cake looks nicer than this. Or maybe the ones I have seen are beautiful because they are meant for weddings. The taste is a normal butter cake, a tad dry. Overall disappointing.

Chendol

Gula Melaka

The dessert is also disappointing. The gula melaka is not sweet enough and the coconut milk is not thick enough. The best gula melaka and chicken wings I have eaten so far was at this now-defunct place called Do Re Mi, opposite the music school at the old Plaza Singapura. Unfortunately the place has closed down for many years. :-(

Overall, my first experience at tasting Eurasian food is not that impressive. Hopefully when I do find the other famous Eurasian food which everyone has been raving about, it may be better.

Food : 3 out of 5
Ambience : 2 out of 5
Price : 3 out of 5

Sunset Grill @ Seletar Airbase

I first got to know of this place through a website, then realised it sells my favourite food - fried chicken wings, or rather, red hot spicy buffalo wings, so have been waiting to try it out. Initially the distance is quite a turnoff, as it is at a very inaccessible place, where no one even knows existed! The place itself is at a deep part of Seletar Air Base, so deep that it is almost impossible to get to!

Some months back, I tried to figure out how to go there. Since we happen to be the not-so-lucky ones who are not able to own a car, I tried to see how else to get there. I discovered from my place, I can take a bus down, and then change the bus that will bring me right in. But then upon searching, I found out that even though the bus goes "right in", it only stops at the entrance to the airbase. The eatery itself is deep inside the airbase, amongst those aircraft hangars.

In the end, we decided to hitch a cab. Turns out that even the cab driver himself does not know where the place is! He turned a few rounds, went right into the air base into a grassy area of sparse housing, past a dilapidated colonial bungalow which has since been unused, and finally when we saw a car turning and guessed it was going to the same place, we followed the car, and found the place!

I still had no idea how we found the place because there are just so many twists and turns and dirt tracks, but at least we found it! The eatery itself is in a zinc-roofed house. I felt as if I have stepped back into time!

The entrance to Sunset Grill

The outdoor kitchen-cum-washing area

Upon reaching the place, we saw that there were two areas - an airconditioned indoor area, and an alfresco area facing the airplanes, and accompanied by grass and mosquitoes. The tables and chairs were placed around a big tree and there were mosquito coils around.

One of the tables at the alfresco area

View of an aircraft where we were seated

The surrounding aircraft hangars

View of the alfresco area of the eatery

We were there for only one purpose - the buffalo wings with different levels of spicyness. So we ordered the wings. There were thirty levels of spicyness, from not spicy at all (Level 1) to super-hot-and-spicy-that-you-need-a-jug-of-water (Level 30). Since we had no idea exactly the level of spice being used, we decided to "play safe" and ordered one plate of half a dozen wings (three Level 3 and three Level 2), with drinks and garlic bread at the side.

Garlic bread

This is the actual size of the garlic bread. Besides being a bit burnt at the side, the bread tasted just perfect - just the right level of garlic butter used.

The famous buffalo wings with carrot and celery and blue cheese dip

These were only Level 2 and 3 in terms of spicyness. To me, they were not spicy at all, but to him, he felt they were a tad spicy. If we had ordered a higher level of spicyness, the chicken wings would look much redder. Despite that, the chicken wings are fantastic! The skin is crispy and the taste is superb! Even without the spicyness, the chicken wings are delicious! No wonder this place is so popular with locals and expatriates alike!

Sun setting over the horizon

Sunset Grill indeed!

We finished our meal just when the sun set. This is definitely a great place to see the sunset and enjoy some hors d'oeuvres while chilling out at the same time. I will definitely come again, to try higher level of the wings next time round!

Outside of the eatery

The next question is, how did we get back? The serving staff was kind enough to call us a cab. Apparently they had special cab services, otherwise how in the world would anyone be able to find their way out? The cab managed to find its way in and the sky was dark by the time we reached home. Till then.. at least another eating adventure concluded!