Celebrated Mothers' Day dinner at Traders Cafe (Traders Hotel, 1A Cuscaden Road, Singapore 249716) tonight. Was very disappointed with the spread of food. There also happened to be a group of Russian tourists which got into a fight with their tour leader right in the cafe, which got a little physical before they settled down. The service is inattentive. By about 8pm, most food were gone, with little replenishment from the kitchen.
Had dinner at Parrot Garden (Imperial Aryaduta Country Club, 01 Bl. Jend. Sudirman, Lippo Karawaci 1300, Tangerang 15811, Jawa Barat, Indonesia) with HS and his family on one of my business trips to Indonesia. We went for the buffet dinner, the main attraction of which is a grilled seafood section. You choose your own fresh seafood (fish, prawns, squid) and the chef would grill it right in front of you. The seafood is very fresh and the price very reasonable.
I stayed at the Imperial Aryaduta Hotel & Country Club (401 Bl. Jend. Sudirman, Lippo Karawaci 1300, Tangerang 15811, Jawa Barat, Indonesia) on one of my business trips to Jakarta last year. This is the only hotel in Lippo Karawaci and is in an excellent location, being right opposite the Karawaci SuperMall. So amenities are just a short walk away. The hotel is nice and comfortable and has a resort feel to it. Hotel guests can access facilities at the adjoining Aryaduta Country Club, which has a very nice pool. I spent a couple of weekends there with HS and his family, playing badminton and swimming.
Had lunch with LS and HB from iGine last Thursday at Food Haven Restaurant (Staff Centre, Singapore Polytechnic). Food is cheap but nothing spectacular. You get your usual coffee shop "zi cha"-style fare. I had a beef hor fun which is ordinary. The restaurant overlooks a swimming pool. The easiest way to get to the restaurant is via Gate 3 of Singapore Polytechnic.
On my last trip to Jakarta, HS brought K, D, and myself to Porta Venezia (Aston Hotel, Jl. Garnisun Dalam, No. 8 Karet Semanggi, Jakarta, Indonesia) for dinner. Porta Venezia is an Italian restaurant within the 5-star Aston Hotel. But the food and service is anything but 5-star. Everyone of us gave a thumbs-down for the food. First was the service. Response was slow even with a simple request to bring more bread and butter. HS and I both had the veal scallopini which was so tough and chewy that we thought it was old cow rather than veal. The sauce is also poorly done. We had originally wanted dessert, but decided to give it a go after tasting their main course.
Had lunch with family at Vil'age (18 Cross Street, #B1-26 China Square Central) last Sunday. This is a Marche-style restaurant serving what appears to be European food (Swiss, German, and Italian), but which the quality and taste is not. The food is prepared by staff that most likely are not qualified chefs. They appear unproficient. I also find the over-attention (every time you walk pass a station, the staff behind the station would shout out to ask you if you want this or if you want that, even if you are just pausing to see what they have) very irritating! The best item there in my opinion is the freshly squeezed fruit juice.
I visited Cha Cha Cha (32 Lorong Mambong, Holland Village, Singapore 277690) with my family some weeks back but had forgotten to pen my experience down till now. Cha Cha Cha is a Mexican restaurant that is over-rated. We had a sample of a wide variety of food on their menu: prawn fajitas, burrito, enchilada, and chimichanga, all of which turned out to be utter disappointments. There's no refried beans (which is so much associated with Mexican food) with the dishes we ordered. There's no grated cheese with the fajitas. The burrito, enchilada and chimichanga tasted bland. I would even venture to comment that Taco Bell serves better tasting burritos than Cha Cha Cha! The portions were also small. We ended up crossing the street to Häagen-Dazs after dinner to satisfy our palates.
Had dinner with family at Senbazuru (Level 6, Hotel New Otani, 177A River Valley Road, Singapore 179031) last night. Senbazuru is a Japanese restaurant serving teppanyaki, sushi, sashimi, simmered, grilled, and deep fried dishes. We went for teppanyaki. The teppanyaki station has a magnificent view of Singapore's downtown skyline, with Clarke Quay in the foreground. The food is just as good. I had the teppanyaki set which came with salad, cold tofu, and hamachi (yellow tail) sashimi as appetizers, and salmon, king prawn, scallop, US beef, garlic rice, and miso soup as main course. The meal was completed with a cup of coffee and green tea ice cream. It was completely satisfying. The service was also courteous and friendly.