639976 Tue Jul 28 01:46:05 -0700 2009 25 48 Greater Asia 0 4896165 Finally that huge new mall, Ion Orchard, is open and looked fabulous from the outside. I read somewhere that it's got 80 food outlets in there but I don't know where to start. Anyone has any idea what's good? Tue Jul 28 01:46:06 -0700 2009 245541 M_Gomez 1 4898969 waiting for xex to open, the food court - scotts beef noodles( juz there to eat the cartilage and stuff, i still like pho) Tue Jul 28 20:19:51 -0700 2009 4896165 149699 Lucil 2 4899234 Do u mean the beef noodle at the food court from the demolished Scotts Shopping Centre move to Ion? What is the name of the stall? In the food court? Tue Jul 28 23:45:04 -0700 2009 4898969 130720 FourSeasons 1 4899232 Very crowded now, layout is not that good, walk path is narrow, food court seem messy. I have not tried anything there... Tue Jul 28 23:44:08 -0700 2009 4896165 130720 FourSeasons 1 4899274 I'm just back from the US over the weekend, so no chance to try ION Orchard restaurants yet. But these 2 restaurants should be okay, as they are branches of well-established restaurants: 1. Taste Paradise on 4th floor of ION Orchard - original outlet in Mosque St Chinatown has great modern-Cantonese food, and perhaps the most superb fried carrot cake in Singapore (elevated from street food standards) by the very talented chef there - hope he's now in the new ION outlet; 2. Canton-i on 3rd floor of ION Orchard - this is the latest outlet from a very popular Hong Kong-Malaysian restaurant chain. They have at least a dozen outlets in KL & Penang under the Dragon-i (Shanghainese cuisine) and Canton-i (Cantonese cuisine) branding, but this must be their first Singapore outlet. If their Malaysian outlets are anything to go by, the Cantonese food there should be very good. I heard from foodie friends that the B4 food court has some gems to be discovered, e.g. - Arinco King, bakery from Japan offering supermoist, soft Swiss rolls filled with fresh creme. They come in 3 flavors: Salty Caramel, Matcha green tea and Vanilla. Don't miss the salty caramel one; - Ginza Bairin (Est. 1927) tonkatsu place. Their katsudon can rival Tonkichi's at Shaw House; - R Burger - steamed mantou, with fresh beef patty, avocado & cheese. Interesting, though service is a bit slow: teething problems at new outlet. Wed Jul 29 02:19:15 -0700 2009 4896165 143097 klyeoh 2 4908588 Thank you very much for the dining tips. I was at ION this morning, just before the crowds packed in at lunch. Yes, the beef noodles were from Scotts Picnic - I was never a big fan of theirs, my favourite beef noodles are from Taiwan. 3rd Generation laksa was not too bad, but not too good either. Like all other food court stalls, all the food are pre-cooked way before and then re-heated upon order. The hard-boiled egg & sliced fishcake tasted cold still. Yucks! The laksa soup was too milky-rich, and much too salty! There was a long queue for Gindaco takoyaki (octopus-filled balls topped with mayo & some Japanese barbecue sauce0. One of my girlfriends joined the queue and bought some. Frankly, we all ended up wondering what all the big fuss was about - the takoyaki were not any different from those one would find anywhere else. We attribute the long queues to simple Singaporean "kiasuism", ie what others have, I also must have! The Taiyaki stall next to Gindaco was a bit more interesting: instead of red bean/anpan filling, they offer innovative savoury ones - we tried a German-potato taiyaki and a ham-and-egg taiyaki. Both were quite good, but would have been tastier if they'd been freshly made. Another extremely popular stall was Modern Peking Duck. Yet another of my girlfriends (mahjong friend!) queued for it. The Peking duck, pre-wrapped in egg crepe, was not very good at all. We didn't try any part of the "Big Pig", a large whole-roasted hog-beast which took centrestage at the stall. All in all, the ION food experience was pretty "meh". In fact, the only saving grace was Arinco King (thanks, KLyeoh!), the cakes there, sold by a beautiful Japanese couple who looked more like elegant socialites than serious bakers were absolutely delicious!! The cakes were just so very moist. We shared 2 pieces of choc sand cake and 2 pieces of caramel sand cakes (amongst 6 of us) and they were singularly the best-tasting items we had there all morning. We also bought a Swiss roll (Salty Caramel flavour) for S$18 to try and it was utterly delicious. So we ended up buying one roll each to bring home for our husbands & children :) Sat Aug 01 07:11:55 -0700 2009 4899274 245541 M_Gomez 3 5010395 By the way, It looks like the Salty Caramel roll by Arinco King is now the hottest thing in Singapore! I couldn't get any the last 3 times I was there, it was perpetually sold out, and we now have to book ahead?!!!! Looks like its fame spread by word of mouth faster than a Greek bush fire. Mon Sep 07 02:13:19 -0700 2009 4908588 245541 M_Gomez 4 5010683 It's so VERY Singaporean: to flock en masse to the flavor of the day. Remember that donut place in Raffles City with its perpetual 2-3 hour queues a couple of years back? Now, no one's interested anymore! Arinco King, on the other hand, is experiencing this mad rush of new fans. Sigh! Mon Sep 07 07:51:45 -0700 2009 5010395 143097 klyeoh 5 5010776 ha yes i remember that donut place ... last week i was looking for it to see the line and i didn't see one. i think they expanded. currently also there's a japanese restaurant in the 2nd floor from the bottom ...next to burger king ... i see a line everyday there about 20 people deep. i looked at the menu and it didn't look inspiring. Mon Sep 07 08:35:42 -0700 2009 5010683 46190 Hot Chocolate 2 4918948 Update on Canton-i: I had dinner there this evening & the food was pretty disappointing: - their signature HK-style wanton noodles was a big let-down: the soup was extremely bland & tepid. The noodles were quite springy, and the prawn wantons juicy & fresh. But still, a bland soup stock is a real travesty to this iconic HK dish! - stewed beef tendons & beef shank with squash fared much better. Tasty but not exceptional. The portion was real generous though; - the stir-fried lotus root, lily buds, black fungus, carrots, celery & macadamia was simply the WORST rendition of the dish I've ever had in Singapore! This was supposedly my favorite Chinese vegetable dish - but I absolutely hated it at Canton-i: undercooked, undersauced, simply indescribably bad! The menu lists dim sum items but neglect to say that these are available only for lunch. Service is very polite, polished & faultless. But the cooks - oh, the cooks, they really need to get their act together - fast! Wed Aug 05 06:42:48 -0700 2009 4899274 143097 klyeoh 3 4921185 Oh, oh, we're booked for lunch there tomorrow. Anyway, we'll stick to dim sum & see how it goes. Wed Aug 05 17:36:23 -0700 2009 4918948 245541 M_Gomez 4 4945653 Dim sum in Canton-i is quite good - large shrimps, very fresh. Wanton noodles is very bad! Stewed beef & tendon is best dish by far - soft & full of flavour. Stir-fried XO carrot cake with beansprouts is also very good - fragrant & tasty. Stir-fried kai lan vegetables and fish is awful. The chefs are not very good in stirfrying. Durian wrapped in crepes is okay, not outstanding. Don't think I'll be going back tho. Fri Aug 14 01:18:21 -0700 2009 4921185 245541 M_Gomez 5 5010397 Guess what, I take back what I said, I ended up going back to Canton-i. It's just that my sister & nieces & a family friend from Macau are in town and they only wanted dim sum for lunch! These people, they didn't even want to touch laksa or any "exotic" stuff - huh? Surprisingly, my sis & party think Canton-I's har gow and siew mai were, in their words mind you, "better than Crystal Jade Palace's". Not sure if I agree with their tastes. Maybe I'd been in Singapore too long, maybe I'm used to Singapore tastes. But I must admit the har gow in Canton-i was very generous though - two fresh extra-large shrimps in each har gow - like those you get in Sydney's Marigold or East Ocean restaurants. Mon Sep 07 02:18:05 -0700 2009 4945653 245541 M_Gomez 3 4924798 Update on ION Orchard eating places: THE Good: - Lau Dai Hwa minced pork noodles (mee pok) at B4 food court: this is one of the best renditions of the dish in Singapore. Just the right balance of chilli sauce, vinegar, soy, pork broth. Yummy! - Rempah ayam from SG Kueh: Nyonya-style blue-tinged glutinous rice filled with coconutty minced spiced chicken, wrapped in banana leaves & grilled - absolutely fabulous!! - Stir-fried Hakka abacus beads from Mei Zhen stall: the taste grows on you. By the time I'm halfway thru the dish, I was hooked! THE Not-so-good: - Freddie's Burger: the "Perth" & the "Victoria" burgers were pretty average. Something your 5-year-old can whip up at home. Freddie purportedly offers "Aussie-style" burgers. I'm not sure if slapping a slice of pineapple on top of your burger meat patties make them any more "Aussie". If they'd used beetroot slices, maybe they'd be "warmer"? - The Japanese Patiscream No. 2 Mont Blanc dessert from the Creamery stall. Typical Japanese dessert: light, airy but neither fresh creamy-rich nor strongly-flavored enough, as compared to Italian/French-style dessert places. Thu Aug 06 20:33:36 -0700 2009 4918948 143097 klyeoh 4 4925067 The rempah ayam was divine!! BTW, Luk Yu dim sum stall's Gou Bu Li fried buns were nice - light & fresh. I tried Sergeant's Scissors Cut Curry Rice. It's very good, too! I am beginning to have my shortlist of places to eat in ION Orchard, and places to avoid. Thanks for all your feedback! Fri Aug 07 00:21:36 -0700 2009 4924798 245541 M_Gomez 2 4978440 I tried Taste Paradise last night. It was so difficult getting a table there. I liked the sharksfin soup in stonepot. The long, thin spring roll filled with chives(?) to dip into the sharksfin seem more like a novelty than adding a dimension. Also had a strange combination trio which had a laksa-infused prawn on watermelon (spicy, good!), mini-kurobuta burger (very small) and cheesy-bacon (eww! Gross!). The chilled whole tomato covered with sweet-mustard sauce is interesting, I must try to make it at home one day. Pan-fried carrot cake with XO sauce, which I loved in Taste Paradise outlet in Chinatown, seem not so good here in ION. Too bad. Not sure if I'll come back - at least $100 per person means I;m paying as much in Taste Paradise for up-graded cze-char! I'm put ting up some photos here to share - sorry, I;m a bad photgrapher. Wed Aug 26 00:28:35 -0700 2009 4899274 245541 M_Gomez 1 5003921 Tried 2 recently-opened outlets in ION: 1. Marmalade Pantry, which moved here (and closed its Palais Renaissance outlet). The food & service standards, unfortunately, seemed to have taken a steep dive in the move. What happened?!! 2. Nautilus Project (by the same folks behind Prime Society, Dempsey Hill). Ultra-cool decor & spectacular views from ION out to the Orchard/Scotts Road intersection. Service is pretty shakey - they had precisely TWO good waiters - the other wait-staff were nervous & inexperienced: imagine, a waiter walked past our table, looking at our empty plates with cutleries placed together at 5 o-clock position indicating we're finished - and he simply turned & walked away like he's seen nothing to chat with another waiter at the oyster bar! Food is EXPENSIVE: S$38 (make that S$44.46 after compulsory service charge/taxes) for a bowl of seafood soup (crab, salmon, mussels, pipis, prawns in bland tomato-based "Mediterranean" broth)!! Tastewise: Okay, but not outstanding. Is it worth the price? NO!! I think Nautilus has great potential (great location - centre of Orchard Road!) - but they really need to tweak their prices and up their service. Photos of Nautilus: Thu Sep 03 20:44:35 -0700 2009 4896165 143097 klyeoh 2 5006773 marmalade pantry has one of the most uninspiring menus in singapore. freddie's burger is a fast food joint .... but yes i agree average at best..... (berg's is a half decent burger at far east plaza) R burger is disgusting. and yes every place there is mad over priced. i know the apartments i think are selling for $4,000 sq ft. Sat Sep 05 02:42:49 -0700 2009 5003921 46190 Hot Chocolate 3 5204384 You were absolutely right, Hot Chocolate - Marmalade Pantry was simply a big disappointment. After all the hoopla about it being a spot for people-watching, it's got really awful food. Not going back again. And the famous cupcakes aren't that good either. Mon Nov 23 23:03:07 -0800 2009 5006773 245541 M_Gomez 1 5006775 ginza bairan was tasty but i don't think it's one of those places i'll crave to back to. there's a tonkatsu place at the food hall in b2 of ngee ann / taka ...their sandwich is delicious. Sat Sep 05 02:44:19 -0700 2009 4896165 46190 Hot Chocolate 2 5008275 You hit the nail right on the head, HC! I thought the same about Ginza Bairin, too - nice, but I won't make a trip back there just for it. Oh, that tonkatsu place in Taka B2 is Romankan Yokohama - my sons & daughter who seem to regard themselves to be some Japan food experts of sorts all thought Romankan has the best tonkatsu in town, and I find their sandwich is (like you said) absolutely gorgeous! Sat Sep 05 19:30:36 -0700 2009 5006775 245541 M_Gomez 1 5090248 Last week when I was in Singapore, I had a quick snack at Luk Yu Tea House, a Singaporean branch of that famous Hong Kong dim sum shop, located at the food court of ION. Food was quite good actually. May be because I am not really a big fan of Hong Kong's Luk Yu T.H. so I didn't expect too much. Anyways, I was quite satisfied with their Hargow and Siu-Mai. I also liked roast duck and Dragon Fruit Chill at Lugang Xiao Zhen (鹿港小鎮), which has its business base in Shanghai. Thu Oct 08 22:44:16 -0700 2009 4896165 195466 kosmose7 1 5101633 Nothing of interest for me. Only real restaurants here have better locations elsewhere in the city... I live like 30 seconds from the Taste Paradise in Chinatown, so not going to be bothered to dine at one in a mall. I went to Ion once and hope to never return... the bottom floors are full of kids slowly ambling, upper floors are more of the same. I was slightly intrigued by the bottle your own whiskey, oils, etc shop and hear they do samplings :) but I'd have to spend another part of a day traversing the horrible layout and crowds to get there...sadly by the time I've worked up enough energy to venture back into that place I bet that shop is out of business.... Paul Tue Oct 13 23:09:14 -0700 2009 4896165 1116186 pcypert 1 5201049 I heard 'XEX' by Salvatore Cuomo will also open inside ION Orchard soon. :) Sun Nov 22 18:32:29 -0800 2009 4896165 195466 kosmose7 2 5204373 Yes, was supposed to be open in Oct 09. Still waiting, unless my failing eyesight made me miss the place. Mon Nov 23 22:55:06 -0800 2009 5201049 245541 M_Gomez 1 5204371 My goodness, I probably just tried the most expensive Thai restaurant in Singapore: Soht & Baay at ION's top floor, a couple of doors from Taste Paradise. Firstly, I must say that I didn't like the entrance to the restaurant one bit: your usher bring you down a long corridor, past 4-5 private dining room, with a life-sized white Buddha at the end of the passageway (ok, no surprises), then you're led up 3 flights of steps to the actually dining area. Oh my goodness, here we are a bunch of panting, overweight ladies and we're made to climb stairs to have a Thai meal. It's cruel. But nothing prepared us for the menu (only seafood! No other meats except green curry chicken - prepared off-menu because too many customers asked for it!). Tom yum kung soup was not remarkable - an individual bowl with one shrimp, 2 squid rings & mushrooms costs $18.80++! Crab stuffed with seafood costs $28.90 a piece! Fish are priced by 100g. You need really deep purses and wallets to dine in there! I'm going back to A-Roy Thai or Diandin Leluk! Mon Nov 23 22:53:17 -0800 2009 4896165 245541 M_Gomez