Hip Diner USA

License to Wed. This is a comedy that made me laugh and the same movie that made me cry till my body shook. Honestly, I guess I was alone in the cinema where crying is concerned :P - But the male lead who initially drew cartoons on his wedding vow book actually wrote his long wedding vows in big letters across the beach to show his sincerity. Tell me that's not touching at all? Ok, nvm. :P

With my emotions (all my laughing and crying) overflowing, this is one good show which is worth every cent of the expensive $9.50 ticket we paid. And it went way beyond the value when we used our movie ticket stubs to enjoy the offer of having a 1-for-1 set meal at Hip Diner USA.



Type
Western

Quality

Corn Soup (7/10)
I have never liked corn soup, though the people I am closest to (my mother and husband) likes corn. I gave it a try at Hip Diner, nevertheless, and I must say it's good!



Mixed Grill (8/10)
"Can't decide whether you want a bacon, a sausage, a dory fish or grilled chicken for the main course? Fret not! Mixed Grilled provides everything you desire. All in one plate!"

Sounds like some cheesy late night advertisement? Lol! But yeah, this is what you will get in a Mixed Grilled plate. And if the main courses are not enough, you can have mixed vegetables, a sunny-side up and mashed potatoes to go along. A very complete meal for you to eat to your heart's content!

To top things off, the food has a quality to match its quantity and variety. I especially like the seemingly-ordinary-but-yummy-dory-fish and the crispy bacon. Shiok!



Ambience
It's in 80s deco, with a touch of modern feel. I love those chairs. I was eyeing them to match my dining table more than a year ago, but had to give up because the chairs costs like $200? each!



Service
üüüüü
Not too bad

Price
$$$$$
$20+ for two! The discount plays an important role in pushing the price down. *yay*

Place
Orchard Cineleisure
#01-06

Park Palace (Grand Plaza Park Hotel)

The manager is very service-oriented. Even though this is way out of his job scope, he still showed us the way up to the restaurant and made sure we are seated comfortably before he left.

Type
Chinese

This restaurant was previously Si Chuan Dou Hua. However after the change in Management in this hotel, it is now known as Park Palace.

Quality

Sweet and Sour Pork (5/10)

To be frank, the sweet and sour pork was a huge disappointment. The sauce was ok, but the pork was rather fatty. It's reasonable enough to get fatty meats from a food court stall or a kopitiam. But a restaurant like this? I don't think it's acceptable.



Some Asparagas dish (7/10)

Not too bad. This is the first time I eat Huaishan (a kind of herb) and it wasn't as 'tonic-ky' as I thought all herbs should be. The fried cuttlefish? was pretty good.




Service
üüüüü
The service was exceptionally good. But if only their food matches this standard.

Ambience
Typical chinese restaurant with VIP rooms.

Price
$$$$$
I can't remember the exact price we paid for this meal, but it was rather expensive. Definitely above $50 for just two main dishes and rice.

Place
Park Palace
Grand Plaza Park Hotel
10 coleman street

Wakashachiya Curry Udon

There are so many places with similar names (either in spelling or pronunciation) in this small island of ours. There are

1) Holiday Inn Park View (Orchard) vs Holiday Inn Atrium (Outram),
2) Grand Plaza Park Hotel (Coleman) vs Grand Plaza Park Royal (Kitchener/Beach Road)
3) Loyang (East) vs Lokyang (West)
4) Meritus Mandarin (Orchard) vs Mandarin Marina (Marina)
5) The Central vs Central Mall (both in Clarke Quay Area)

Us : Uncle, The Central
Taxi Uncle : Central Mall?
Us (thinking mall is just a word that Uncle added to show that he knows it is a shopping centre) : Hmm.. ya.
Us (just to make sure) : Clarke Quay there

We ended up in some ulu building. We were rather doubtful of being dropped at the correct place, but alighted because Uncle was very firm that it is the Central Mall. Indeed, it is. Coincidentally, it is somewhere near Clarke Quay, as what we have told Uncle.

So near, and yet so far, that is. We had a 15 minutes walk before reaching 'The Central'. By then, we were already famished. The restaurant that my hub wanted to bring me to was full and it was going to be a half an hour wait. Our growling stomach told us that we have to come back for that restaurant some other days.

There were queues everywhere and only Wakashachiya Curry Udon was without one. We were hesitant about going in because no queue means food quality is not as good? But I was pleasantly surprised.

Type
Japanese

Quality

Prawn Tempura Curry Udon



Pork Cutlet Curry Udon (8/10)
It was so delicious, I wonder why there aren't any queues forming. The curry is mild and not too thick. It was a big bowl, but I managed to gobble down everything in it. :9



Ambience
It was one long stretch of seatings across the longish-shaped restaurant, allowing very little space for privacy. Overall, the lighting and the deco are simple but pleasant. What's worth mentioning is that they are showing Japanese variety shows on the TV. This is something new and interesting for a change.

Service
üüüüü
Smiley and attentive staff

Price
$$$$$
Pretty reasonable

Place
The Central
Eu Tong Sen Street #03-92

Xiao Xuan Feng 3

We dropped by Xiao Xuan Feng after our show. I recommended my hub to the two dishes I had with my mother at Xiao Xuan Feng some time back and he went along with my suggestions. Click here for the dishes and details.

The following are some fried beancurd rolls we were trying for the first time.

Beancurd Roll (8/10)



Crispy and nice, though it's slightly oily.

Mr Bean Soya Bean Ice Cream

Fish Head Curry

Yuan Yuan Claypot

Type
Chinese

Chicken Claypot (8/10)

I still prefer the Claypot I had at Alexandra Village. The chicken from this stall, however, is much more tender.



Preserved Vegetables Soup (9/10)

My hub's favourite. It is indeed very nice.



Service
üüüüü
It was a long wait. :(

Price
$$$$$
Hawker price.

Place
ABC Brickworks Food Centre
6 Jalan Bukit Merah
#01-4948

Swensens

Type
Western

Quality

Fries (8/10)



Curry Chicken Baked Rice (7/10)



Chicken Baked Rice (9/10)



Chocolate Ice Cream (9/10)

Cafe Cartel 2

After the NDP preview, almost all the restaurants nearby were swarmed with people. Only cafe cartel wasn't. So we happily entered the restaurant for our dinner. After we had the main course, we came to understand why we managed to get a seat.

Type
Western

Taste (2/10)
For the main courses.

The food sucks. I am not a very fussy person in terms of food, but that tough hawaiin pork chop took me at least 5 seconds more to cut, chew and swallow.

The dessert in a way saves the day. But this is no surprise eh? Afterall, it's just waffle and ice-cream. You can never find fault with these two items.






Service
The service was bad, with me having to wait for half an hour because of the mistake they made - wrong order. That resulted in gastric pain. :(

Price
$$$$$

Not worth it.

Place
Marina Square
(I don't even bother to find out the unit number, coz I ain't recommending this place)

Cafe Cartel's food and service has deteriorate tremendously over the years. Unless I am in a situation whereby I am starving and all the other restaurants are full, you will never see me in Cafe Cartel again.