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2013-05-12
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Visited Swensen's at ION Orchard for lunch on a Friday afternoon with 3 other colleagues. Upon stepping in, we were greeted by a strange, sourish smell that was extremely off-putting. Unpleasant greeting at its best. We were quickly ushered to a seat, where the smell was worse -I must say though, that I'm really sensitive to odours and scents around me and it affects my dining experience greatly. Lunch not was so great so far.Swensens currently has this lunch promo with 1 main + 1 drink/ice crea
Swensens currently has this lunch promo with 1 main + 1 drink/ice cream/appetiser goes for $12.90++. Really good deal if you're with a few friends and there's variety when you order different sides or desserts to share. I'm a stickler for sundaes but I passed that day because I wasn't very hungry. Instead, we ordered two sides of Deep-fried mushrooms, as well as Cheese sticks.
I chose aglio olio for my main -a vegetarian choice with mushrooms, coriander and chillis.
The alio olio (UP $12.50 ala carte) was tasty enough for me, and the mushrooms weren't watery. The coriander gave the dish a very sharp taste but thankfully it wasn't overpowering. The spaghetti slid into my mouth effortlessly even though it wasn't too oily but when left to sit for awhile, the texture becomes clumpy...Almost similar to when you leave cooked pasta aside without mixing oil in. It's a bit sandy and I guess that didn't make it such a hit with me 10 minutes into the dish. Overall though I would say that you can get better algio olio elsewhere, but for the price and the family-friendly ambience, you could try it.
The deep fried mushrooms were really crisp on the outside, and the mushroom chunks were of a good size such that it held the batter well, but also harmonised the juiciness of the funghi. It wasn't heavily seasoned and you can really taste the mushrooms as it wasn't drowned in thick batter.
The cheesy sticks had loads of cheese in it, presumably mozarella as a primary cheese. When I bit into it, the cheese is stringy and chewy. The outside is crisp and warm cheese floods your mouth with every bite. Taste wise however, I'd have to say it unfortunately tasted a bit strange. I can't quite put my finger on it but there was just an odd aftertaste. Maybe this explains why I only took 1 cheesestick.Overall, my general Swensen's experiences have been inconsistent -sometimes the food really impresses me and the desserts create reminiscent flashbacks but on the whole, the Swensen's experience has been deteriorating over the years. This lunch left me feeling that they've been missing things out over the years and the quality just isn't there anymore (perhaps relative to other places). Lack of innovation? Unabel to keep up with the times? Perhaps. Until then, I doubt I'll be going back frequently.
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