Greenhouse

15 August 2008 :: Friday :: Dinner

 It has been around 9 months since I last dined here with my significant other (SO). All we remembered from the last time round was the sight of a pile of boiled red lobsters behind the counter, inviting queues of diners to savour. Oh yes, they also served a relatively wide selection of fresh seafood. In order to mark our anniversary, ‘we’ decided (actually I was the one who’s more enthusiastic) to pamper ourselves at Greenhouse again -> Greenhouse

Brief Description:
While buffet dinners offer an international spread, the main attraction are the delectable fresh seafood available. Lobsters, scallops, oysters, prawns, crabs and much more.

Review

Being a Friday night, I made a reservation just to be sure. The lady who answered the call was helpful and polite, the service expected of a 5 star hotel.

Upon arrival, we were left standing at the counter for a few minutes before we were attended to. I suppose this is something that can be improved, since the restaurant wasn’t even half-full. After requesting for 2 glasses of iced-water, we quickly made our way to the food counter, eager to see what is available.

For round one, I went for the cold dishes. I took raw oysters, flower crab, sashimi, steamed prawns and lobsters.

1) Sashimi. The sashimi on offer are salmon, tuna and yellow tail. A chef was on hand to prepare the sashimi and arrange them nicely on little plates (probably to avoid having diners taking to large a serving). The quality served was above average, comparable to the finer local japanese restaurants. The slices were just nice, and doesn’t fall apart when you put them in your mouth.

2) Raw Oysters. I like my oysters raw and uncomplicated. With a dash a lemon and tabesco, the oysters were a great start to the dinner. They had none of the heavy zinc taste and were firm and juicy.

3) Flower Crab. Boiled and then iced, the fresh sweetness of the crab meat was locked in and you can almost taste the sea with each mouthful. The crabs were meaty and tastes equally good plain or with a touch of soy sauce. My SO actually went crazy over it.

4) Steamed prawns. My SO wasn’t enthuasiastic about the prawns. The meat of the tiger prawns was succulent but I guess somehow, they weren’t as sweet as expected.

5) Lobster. The boiled lobsters are served in halves, along with a claw. The lobsters are cooked just right, and easy to shell. The freshness of the lobster is apparent when you bite into it. The meat is succulent and sweet. Just the lobster alone is worth the price of the buffet!

Round two was for hot food.  I went for braised pork, braised chicken drumstick, duck, skewered sword fish, steamed fish and mutton.

1) Braised pork. I felt it was quite average. Though tasty, it didn’t really excite me.

2) Duck. The duck tasted good. The meat was cooked just about right and the flavours were well locked in.

3) Skewered swordfish. The swordfish came in sticks with green capsicum. The fish alone is quite salty when taken alone but when paired with green capsicum, it was wonderful.

4) Steamed fish. It seems to be that steamed fish is becoming quite the common dish for buffets in recent times. My last visits to Fairmont and Ellenborough both had steamed fish available. Thus, I wasn’t surprised to see that this was also offered at Greenhouse, though size-wise, it acutally pales in comparison to the former 2 restaurants. Taste-wise, it was average. Definately not as tasty as the one offered at Fairmont.

5) Mutton. The mutton was average, nothing to shout about, really.

6) Braised chicken drumstick. I felt the drumstick was overcooked. The meat wasn’t as tender as what I would’ve liked.

7) Drunken prawns. The special of the day was drunken prawns. Each table had a tripod set up. The unfortunate part was that I had to ask the waiter what the tripod was for. The drunken prawns tasted a lot more herbal than drunken. Don’t get me wrong, the prawns taste excellent, just that I’m not sure if it should be called herbal prawns rather than drunken prawns. I suppose it would have been more well-recieved if he staff told me what the day’s special was before I had to even ask. Lesson learned. Ask for the day’s special or you may end up losing out on something nice.

Round 3. Desserts

Chocolates, mango with pomelo, Aloe vera.

Round 4. Fruits. By now, my stomach is starting to test the limits of my belt. Rather than having my belt bailing out on me, I decided it was time to give the rest of the spread a miss and head on to the desserts.  I took jackfruit, peach, persimmon and grapes. The fruits are sweet and juicy, especially the peach. definitely worth the sampling.

 Round 5. Ice cream. Who can resist ice-cream? A decent range of the choices is available : Chocolate chip, Strawberry sorbet, Pistachio, Lemon sorbet and Maple and walnut. I decided to try the sweet maple and walnut and pair it with the refreshing lemon sorbet.

The maple and walnut is sweet but average. Definitely not as good as the one you can get from Baskin Robbins. The lemon sorbet however, is definitely above average. It is refreshing and neither too sweet nor sour.  

Final Round. English Breakfast Tea. After such a heavy meal, we asked for some hot tea to help in the digestion. It is indeed enjoyable to be able to enjoy sipping some nice hot tea while listening to live classical music while replaying the food which has just been savoured.

The bill came to about $85/pax (It’s $72/pax plus the customary taxes). Luckily, there was a promotion for UOB credit cards. After the 15%discount with the UOB signature card (15% for Platinum & above, 10% for Gold & Silver cards), the final bill was $72/pax. All in all, a satisfying meal. Though rather costly, the quality of the seafood made it all worthwhile.

Ratings

Food : 4.5/5
Ambiance : 4.5/5
Service : 3.5/5
Value: 4/5
RTE (Return to eat) : Yes

Details

7 Raffles Avenue,
The Ritz-Carlton Millenia
Singapore 039799
Phone:  6337 8888   

Daily: 6:30 am. – 10:30 pm.

Seri Nyonya

28 July 2008 :: Monday :: Dinner

After working hard (till 1am almost daily) for the past 2 months, I’ve decided on a break by going to Malacca with my family and SO over the National Day weekend. What better way to show my patriotism to other dear neighbours other than engaging in 2 of Singapore’s favourite pastime – shopping and eating. Since this post is about food, I’ll leave out the shopping part.

Food in Malacca is cheap and good. At Markota Parade, where most Singaporeans will visit in Malacca, Kenny Rogers and The Chicken Rice Shop serve great food at half the price (as compared to their Singapore outlets). In fact, the quality of their food over in Malacca seems better, probably due to better quality chicken?

In any case, I’ve been to Malacca quite a number of times, almost an annual pilgrimage, for the past 5 years or so. This time round, I made it a point to try the peranakan food. Peranakan food or Nyonya food, is a delightful mix of Chinese & Malay influences. Typical peranakan food are tangy and aromatic and normally consists of belachan, coconut, lime and other spices. You can read more about Peranakan cultere at Wikipedia -> Peranakan Culture.

Malacca has a couple of places famed for its Nyonya cuisine. Due to lack of time (too much shopping to do), I’ve settled on Seri Nyonya, a Peranakan restaurant at Hotel Equatorial, where I’m staying during the trip – > Eating places at Hotel Equatorial Malacca. Btw, Hotel Equatorial gives each room RM88 to spend within the hotel each day, Seri Nyonya inclusive.

 

 Brief Description:

Seri Nyonya promises Indulgence in authentic Peranakan cuisine in a traditional Peranakan house setting.

 

Review

The table was also set in a traditional manner, with metal cups instead of glasses (you can see it in the picture of the dishes).

We ordered Kuah Pie-Tie, Soup Mee Suah(Wheat flour vermicelli soup), Ayam Goreng Nyonya (Fried marinated chicken), Nyonya Ikan Tempra(Fillet of fish with fresh chilli, onions, soya sauce and lime juice), Udang Sambal Petai(Fresh succulent prawns fried in aromatic paste with petai and fragrant wild bean), Kangkong Goreng Belachan (Fresh green “Kangkong” fried with dried shrimps and chilli paste) and Taufoo Seri Nyonya (Egg beancurd fried with minced chicken meat and bean paste) .
 

1) Kuah Pie-Tie. This is a yearly dish my mom will prepare during the lunar new year. It is always received with much salivation by friends and relatives. For the uninitiated, Kuah Pie-Tie is a traditional Peranakan dish. A crispy ‘cup’ made of dough is used to house steamed eggs and vegetables such as carrots and turnip and are best paired with watery chilli sauce. Often, the downfall to this is that the ingredients are often served with too much gravy, making the cup soggy. For this dish, Seri Nyonya gets the two thumbs up. The chilli is not too spicy and provides a wonderful balance to the sweetness of the steam vegetables. IMHO, this dish is a must try.

2) Soup Mee Suah. Mee suah is another personal favourite of mine. Seri Nyonya serves it with prawns, fishballs and fish cake with a touch of chopped spring onions and shallots. The mee suah itself is tangy and the soup was tasty. I was a bit put off by the shallots which ended up making the soup a bit on the oily side, but in all, quite an enjoyable dish.

3) Ayam Goreng Nyonya (Fried marinated chicken). The marinate is good. It was unfortunate that most of the dish is chicken breastmeat rather than thigh, which happens to be the opposite of what I’ll rather have. For chicken breastmeat lovers, this should be a nice dish to savor.

4) Nyonya Ikan Tempra(Fillet of fish with fresh chilli, onions, soya sauce and lime juice). If you ever try this dish, do remember to mix the dish well first. This dish is more appropriate for an appetizer rather than a main dish.

5) Udang Sambal Petai(Fresh succulent prawns fried in aromatic paste with petai and fragrant wild bean). Nothing fantastic about this dish though.

6) Kangkong Goreng Belachan (Fresh green “Kangkong” fried with dried shrimps and chilli paste) . I was a bit disappointed to be honest. I was expecting something a lot spicer, but on hindsight, the restaurant probably toned down the spice level to cater for the international guest.

7) Taufoo Seri Nyonya (Egg beancurd fried with minced chicken meat and bean paste) . While the chicken meat a bit on the tough side, the egg beancurd is soft and has a smooth silky texture.

For dessert, I had Chendol, to complete the whole Peranakan experience. Chendol at other parts of Malacca are extremly heavy on the brown sugar, but probably to cater for the international guest (as above), the brown sugar is toned down. This actually suits my palettes more. I would recommend a nice bowl of chendol to finish off an above-average meal at Seri Nyonya.

The total bill came to RM35/pax. Works out to be around S$14/pax. Quite a gd deal.

Ratings

Food : 3.5/5
Ambiance : 3/5
Service : 3/5
Value: 4/5
RTE (Return to eat) : Probably Yes

Details

Hotel Equatorial Melaka
Bandar Hilir
Malacca, 75000
Phone: +60 6 282 8333

Daily: Noon-2:30pm, 6:30pm -10:30pm