When we entered the building, you would immediately understand that you had to proceed up the stairs because of the lovely wooden counter that immediately draws your eye. Noone was there to wait for you, so you have to make your own way to the restaurant, up another flight of steps. There, you will find a notice.. But it might be too late. Haha.
So, first up, you should note that THERE IS A DRESS CODE: smart casual. In other words: Guys, long pants, please; bermudas not permitted. Covered footwear is a given, of course. Girls, I don't know, but I didn't encounter any problems in my peep-toed flats and a v-neck tee tucked into a pencil/bandage skirt. My friend was politely informed by the waiter that there was a dress code, but he kindly allowed us to dine.
I had the US Beef Top Sirloin Set (SGD 22.90++) while my companion had the Rib Stickin' Baby Back Pork Ribs (also SGD 22.90++).. For entrees, both of us ordered the steak soup. It was between that and baked potato soup(?)--totally weird sounding, right??--and maybe something else. The starter was accompanied by a salad, too. For our mains' sides, we could decide whether we'd like garlic mashed potato--which we did--or french fries, baked potato or more vegetables (the mains already came with vegetables). We had a choice of beverage as well: iced lemon tea, coke or sprite. Dessert was a slice of chocolate fudge cake, no other options.
Steak soup
Salad
Food was only so-so, really. Didn't quite enjoy the steak soup. The meat was rather tough--yeah, I know. What could I expect?--but the beans were quite enjoyable. Quite a meaty soup.. But I preferred the vegetables. The salad was quite a sizeable portion, but the greens tasted like grass--slightly bitter. Mix of cherry tomato halves (which were ok), romaine lettuce, baby spinach (?) and arugula, I think. Not a pleasant experience--I felt a little like a cow. My companion barely touched his salad.
Top Sirloin (with horseradish (l) and mustard (r) requested 'on the side')
The mains arrived before I had finished my starters.. The beef was slightly overdone for me--though, I said it was ok when they asked how the doneness was--I ordered a medium rare. It was not very tender--I don't particularly like US beef--but had quite a beefy flavour, I suppose. Hurr. The garlic mash was neither aromatic nor smooth (in fact, there were garlic and potato chunks), but the broccoli and carrot were quite sweet. Tried a little of my friend's rib, which was somewhat dry/tough in between the delightful fats. The glaze was too sweet for my liking, but what's new, right? Anyway, my friend said that the standard had dropped since the outlet opened in school.
The dessert was alright for me. The cake portion was quite brownie-like, a little chewy. The fudge portion was quite rich, a little sweet and not very chocolatey. My friend found it too a little sickening--too rich.
Chocolate fudge cake
The iced tea, with a half-slice of lemon, was.. very tannic. And here comes the biggest gripe of all: they asked if we would like a coffee or tea with our dessert, which we were waiting for for the longest time, so we said we'd have 2 teas. They served us 2 English Breakfasts, which you would think were part of the meal, since it's the norm elsewhere. BUT NOOOO, there is an additional charge of SGD 4.50++ per cup which THEY DIDN'T TELL US. And it was the WORLD'S MOST EXPENSIVE AND WORST-TASTING TEA. It was so tannic that even sugar syrup and milk couldn't save it.
Iced lemon tea
Therefore, service = fail. The waitress who served us couldn't speak English properly--you'd expect better service for such a posh-ish place--she almost took my order as medium well instead of medium rare. And the inappropriate intervals between courses--negative waiting time to waaaaaay positive waiting time--does not make for a happy customer either. Only prompt service we got was to pay the bill. We also had to request for the promotional menu--which was not much of a promotion, to be honest. The tenderloin and some other cut of beef were SGD 68++ and SGD 49++ respectively, or something.
View (refuuuuse to take with flash dX sorry) and interior
Ambience was ok, I guess. The view was quite alright--greenery and blue skies outside the large windows--and the interior decor was pleasant with a high ceiling to give you that roomy feeling.
Moral of the story, service makes or breaks you. Nothing else can save you. Not even a 10% student discount. Pooh. I don't think I'll be going back there.
That wraps up a rather dissatisfactory meal, though I wasn't expecting much.
Don't be tea-ricked.
Lunch aside, conversation was nice and easy. I did some book-shopping before a sub-standard facial in the evening. Oh well. I want to cut my hairrrrrrr. French test tomorrow. But girly lunch + skype date, yay!
I'm losing my head. Forgot to bring both my water bottle and laptop charger though they were both in front of me when I packed my bag this morning >:( and I forgot my specs the other day, too. And it was also right under my nose when I packed, right up till I left the house. Thank goodness I didn't need them to see. How am I going to pass my exams???
Robotically--i.e. not engaging the brain--parked literally 1cm away from the front car's bumper at the gas station today. Purely muscle execution, driving by feeling. Should've taken a picture.. It would've been epic. I intended to go close, but I didn't know my judgment was so awesome. I owned myself, seriously. Someday, I think I will forget to put on clothes before I leave the house, without even realising it.
XOXO
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