Thursday, August 27, 2009

Zhou’s Kitchen Jurong Point

I have to confess, I don’t think I’ve ever been to a Chinese buffet. Sure, I’ve been to the occasional Chinese restaurant (as you can see from the last post) and I’ve been to several kinds of buffets (Japanese, international, even ice cream) but never a combination of the two.

Still, I have heard nothing but good things about Zhou’s Kitchen, a Chinese buffet restaurant, and I headed down with my friend to the Jurong Point outlet for their tea-time buffet (which runs from 2.45pm to 5pm).

Alas, either this outlet failed to live up to the name or, as in the case of most Jurong Point outlets of restaurant franchises I’ve eaten at, a certain discount in quality has to be given for a suburban mall version.

Firstly, the selection is terrible. Of course, one wouldn’t expect their tea-time buffet to have the whole gamut of dishes like the a la carte dinner buffet (which boasts an impressive menu including Beijing roast duck and chilli crab), but their tea-time menu was lacklustre and certainly didn’t offer as much as the menu online indicates.

Admittedly, their food quality wasn’t bad. The salad bar (which seems an oddly Western concept in execution) had an interesting selection of veges for choice and the dimsum (most especially the open-topped roast pork bun, which is my favourite) was decent. Those looking for a more filling staple meal, however, were out of luck.

Other than serving up some fried noodles and rice (a la any economic bee hoon stall at any coffeeshop), the restaurant didn’t offer anything much in terms of solid meals. True, the timing of this buffet might not be for heavy gorge-out meals but there are people who would eat late lunches or early dinners and it certainly would be a waste if one pays almost $20 and ends up eating $2 noodles.

Like I said, while the food was decent, the actual variety was so dismal that I have effectively tried everything I wanted in two rounds (and those were small rounds, as you can see in the photos, where my plate was barely more than 80% filled). The desserts, too, while pretty, were only a mere handful and, while good, seemed a bit cheap for a full-fledged Chinese restaurant like this.

One dessert to try, however, is their little egg puffs to be drenched in honey. It’s unbelievably tasty and was just about the best part of the meal (other than the roast pork bun).

Once I get to try out the lunch or dinner buffets (with the full selection), I’ll post again with a full review then but, for now, only go for the tea-time buffet if you’re really craving for an unlimited supply of normal everyday Chinese fare.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Zhou’s Kitchen (there’re outlets at Far East Square, Anchorpoint and Square 2 but the one featured in this review is the Jurong Point one and might not be indicative of the rest)
63 Jurong West Central
#03-28 Jurong Point Shopping Centre
Singapore 648331

Tel: +65 6363 1123
Fax: +65 6790 1607

Opening Hours:
Lunch: 11:30AM – 2:30PM
Hi-Tea: 2:45PM - 5:00PM
Dinner: 6:00PM - 10:30PM

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Din Tai Fung Jurong Point

I have fond memories of eating at the Din Tai Fung outlet at Paragon. Although I’m not an expert or even a great fan of Chinese cuisine (the usual extent of my Chinese dining being at one of the billions of Crystal Jade outlets islandwide), I loved the fragrant egg fried rice and flavour-packed xiao long baos I had then.

Last week, I paid a visit to the Jurong Point outlet (which opened with the mall’s huge new extension a few months back) and, while the food was decent, it was a pale shadow of what I had eaten then.

While the open-air (well, open within the mall) concept of the restaurant made for an interesting people-gawking environment, the decoration of the outlet as well as the lacklustre presentation of the food (as opposed to the deliciously inviting fare of Crystal Jade) was a bit of a letdown.

The food, despite a bland, slightly uncooked look, turned out to be pretty decent, although nothing much to write home about.

While my friends had mushroom and minced meat noodles, I went for the ham and egg fried rice. I’ll acknowledge that there isn’t much room for creativity with these ingredients and that, given the fact that it was a restaurant and all, the dish was pretty decent and worth the $8 it cost me but any adept housewife could probably have whipped it up at home.

We also tried out their special offer, spicy crab xiao long baos which turned out to be pretty good. The xiao long baos were packed with flavour and the spiciness was bearable even for a spice-phobe like me. Definitely one of the highlights of the meal.

For dessert, we went for the red bean xiao long baos which, true to expectations and despite their dumpling-styled skins, tasted very similar to the Singaporean favourite red bean bao.

Overall, whilst there’s nothing wrong per se with the Din Tai Fung at Jurong Point and it does satisfy those desperate for a Chinese food fix, one could probably get better at the Crystal Jade outlet in the mall.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Din Tai Fung Jurong Point
1 Jurong West Central 2
#B1-70/71 Jurong Point Shopping Centre
Tel: 6861 1811
Operating Hours: 10am-10pm daily

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

The Uncle Sam’s Claypot

As a national serviceman during the last two years and now as a student, I’m always on the lookout for cheap, good food and just a few days ago, I was wandering around the newly opened CityVibe (a small mall located near Clementi Station, which alas had nothing much of note inside) when I found an eating place that offered such food.

Located in an innocuous corner on the second floor of the building, The Uncle Sam’s Claypot, gramatically-odd sounding name aside, serves up decent food at economical prices.

While the decor is minimal, the outlet is clean and the service is good. The service personnel were all attentive and friendly and the food came at record time (although admittedly there weren’t very many customers when I visited the outlet at lunchtime on a weekday afternoon).

Both my friend and I ordered their house recommendation, a chicken claypot dish that, while not the best claypot I’ve taken, was nonetheless pretty good. The chicken was chewy but not overly so, the spices used were flavorful but not overwhelming, the vege was adequately leafy and the rice was soft and had the requisite hard bits stuck to the pot.

While the dishes here are affordably priced for most of the usual work crowd, with dishes going for around $5 to $6 each and desserts going for less than $3, the real bargain here is for students.

For less than $7 (and that’s inclusive of GST and service charge), students get a lunchtime combo meal consisting of the claypot I mentioned above, a fruit punch as well as an ice kachang dessert.

The ice kachang, while again not the best I’ve tasted, was sweet and refreshing (not to mention rather large in serving size) and, despite an odd-tasting salty corn ingredient, the rest of the dessert was bite-inviting and provided a fine end to the meal.

The food at The Uncle Sam’s Claypot may not be for the true claypot connoiseurs but for those who are looking for good food at cheap prices, look no further than this shop.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars

The Uncle Sam’s Claypots
02-11/12 CityVibe, 3151 Commonwealth Avenue West
Tel: 6778-3088
Open: 11am to 10pm daily

Saturday, August 01, 2009

Arirang Korean Restaurant

Ever since the demise of the popularity of the Seoul Garden franchise (although it apparently still has five outlets now, at its peak it was the ubiquitous food hangout for Singaporeans of all ages), Korean buffet-style BBQ restaurants haven’t had much success locally.

While I generally much prefer Japanese cuisine, the surprising quality of the Shilawon Restaurant that I blogged about a while back had softened my palate to Korean food in general and thus, when my friend suggested we try out another Korean BBQ, I readily agreed.

Located amongst the sea of eating outlets at Liang Seah Street, Arirang Korean Restaurant is a nondescript little restaurant that had little customers on the Saturday afternoon when we visited (when Bugis has what seems to be a billion people walking around in it).

It was a pity, though, because Arirang actually has pretty decent food at equally decent prices (a lunch buffet on a weekend only set us back about S$20 each).

Decorated minimally, the restaurant has a homely feel to it and the dishes, while I can’t say I’ve actually eaten fare from Korea cooked by Koreans, certainly tasted more traditional and authentic than the decidedly local selection at Seoul Garden.

The banchan (or set of small dishes) that opened the meal was simple but definitely got our tastebuds going. The omelette and long bean dishes, in particular, were excellent.

The buffet menu has a selection of both raw ingredients for our own cooking as well as some cooked dishes. The cooked dishes were all pretty good, with the ginseng soup delectable (and with just the right amount of herbal taste for me), the pancakes a tasty (if greasy) alternative to rice as a staple and the bibimbap (a rice bowl with mixed ingredients) was tops.

Take care, though, not to go for their “Japanese” part of the menu (which is a paltry four to five dishes anyway and is quite misleading with its inclusion in the shopfront menu). The sushi we sampled were cold and flat, with nary any oomph in both texture and taste.

Of course, at such a buffet, the meat of the matter (excuse the pun) is in the raw ingredients and here the restaurant doesn’t disappoint neither. The meats we ordered (chicken and beef, mostly) were thinly sliced and tasty and were easily condimented with the whole range of sauces we were provided.

The meal is topped off with the restaurant’s sourplum tea which has a decidedly herbal aftertaste. While I found it a bit harsh on my tastebuds and stopped after half a cup, my friend couldn’t stop lapping it up and asked for repeated refills.

While Arirang Korean restaurant might not be the be-all-end-all of Korean cuisine on our sunny island, it definitely is worth a shot.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Arirang Korean Restaurant is located at 1, Liang Seah Street #01-08/09. For more information or to place reservations, call 6333-0025.