Walking past the restaurant on a Friday evening and decided to pop in to try their Hotpot Buffet (Mini Steamboat). The place was quite packed and tables were rather squeezy. Still, we were seated promptly, and the waitress came to take our orders fast too.
We tried the Hotpot buffet (without ala carte cooked food). The soup comes in a small metal pot above a burner (disposable fuel) used. We decided to try the soups recommended in the menu - the herbal chicken ( clear but bland), and the Hot and Spicy ( much tastier). Unfortunately, my burner (chicken soup) took significantly longer than the hot and spicy soup to boil, even without any food in it. In the end, I kinda gave up and decided to chuck everything into the hot and spicy soup!
There are a few steamboat items you can order from the menu - we tried the beef/pork slices, mushrooms, crab claw and fish "glue". All were pretty ordinary except the fish glue - interesting thin layer of sticky fish paste that is you scrape in to the soup. When cooked, it is sweet, and not too soft. There is also a chiller to get the rest of the buffet items - rice/nooddles, frozen fish slices, some veggies, eggs and well... alot of meatballs! There was chicken ball, mushroom chicken pall, prawn ball, sotong and fish ball.. As with all steamboats though, the most important part of the meal is the sauce! Sadly though, there was only 1 type of chilli sauce available, although there is garlic/ spring onion etc that you can add to suit your taste, some variety in sauces (including non-spicy options?) would have made a huge difference in the meal... the food all started to taste the same after a while!
Iced lemon tea is provided, free-flow and the service staff were quite prompt in taking orders and re-filling soups. 2 types of fruits that day - sliced oranges and cubed honey-dew melon (both types not too sweet).. and very small cubes of dry banana bread/cake ( like 1cm by 1cm!) to pass as dessert. Not great.
All in all, the food was edible but not great. Cost ~ $30/pax after GST (Fri and weekend dinners).

Headed to Changi Airport Terminal 1 to try the restaurants there for lunch with my 2 colleagues, and decided on eating at Astons. There was a slight queue to be seated, but the waitress seated us promptly within 5 minutes, and the service staff were polite and smiley!
The interior was quite cosy.. we were seated at a booth in the middle of the restaurant, and it was not too cramped.
I had the black pepper grilled fish with coleslaw and garden veggies - I liked the black pepper sauce! Nice, thick and peppery! The fish was a good size but slightly soft. Veggies were cooked just right, although the coleslaw dressing was a little bit runny. My colleagues had the grilled fish with herbs - they tried the tasty rice and vegies/coleslaw for sides. They liked the rice - fragrant and buttery!
We topped off the meal with a coffee each. Definitely value for money, as our lunch came up to $10/pax. We're glad Astons and other eateries (Paradise Inn etc) have opened at Terminal 1... Definite improvement in terms of choice when previously we had Delifrance, some cafes and BK.

Headed to Tampines to check out the Hokkaido Fair during lunch hour with colleagues and decided to have lunch at Swensons. There is currently a promotion - order a main/sandwich/pasta/pizza and get either a side dish, ice cream or drink free. I ordered a Tuna Ciabatta and my colleagues ordered the salmon/mushroom pasta.
The tuna ciabatta was very good... generous amount of tuna, side serving of boiled veggies and the ciabatta was toasted to perfection! Light and crispy! I've always only associated Swensen's with ice-cream and not so much for food, so it was pleasantly surprising to find one of the best sandwiches I've eaten in the past year or so here! Both my colleagues had the salmon / mushroom linguine, and while they both thought it was ok, they agreed it was rather bland.
Since all of us needed a coffee boost for the 2nd half of our work day, we decided to skip ice-cream and had coffee instead. One of the rare times I'm at Swensen's and not tucking in to their ice cream ( my fave Coit Tower!!)
All in all, a pleasant lunch, although the air-conditioner was blasting in certain parts of the restaurant. Restaurant staff were generally good and friendly, and the first waitress who seated us was patient and allowed us to find a section where it wasn't so cold. Only 1 senior manageress or female supervisor was a tad "hoity-doity" when we were asking about our bill and the lunch promotion. Strange, the younger servers were all smiling and friendly, and they are supposed to be learning from their Seniors. Well, in this case, I hope not.

Had dinner there on a quiet Monday night - ~$64 for 2pax, but there was good variety of food, so much so, I couldn't decide what to give a miss to save "stomach space"! Service was friendly and attentive, and we were seated in a cozy corner, over looking the pool at the neighbouring condo.
They had 4 types of sashimi - I stuck to my usual fish, the salmon and tuna. The tuna was fresher than the salmon, but I liked that they topped up the sashimi frequently, unlike some places where they leave the trays empty until the next serving is scheduled to be brought out. I also enjoyed the fried section - veg/mushroom/ebi tempuras, fried salmon skin, fried salmon cheek. The radish is at the side,help yourself. We also tried the freshly cooked mushrooms, beef and vegetables (tou-miao), all quite yummy, although the seasoning tasted similar for all 3 dishes. I also sampled some sushi - soft shell crab topped with salmon roe, and unagi/tamago sushi. Not too dry which sometimes occurs at buffets. There were also hand rolls, and though sorely tempted to have one, I decided to head over to the dessert section. There were 6 types of ice-creams! I loved the macha (green tea) ice cream - it was not too creamy or bitter. There is also a chocolate fondue so I coated my fruits with chocolate. I also enjoyed the cut guava, which they seasoned with preserved orange peel, a nice take instead of the usual plum powder.
Topped off the meal with a nice hot cup of coffee.. strong and aromatic! There was so much I didn't get to try yet, but sadly, I couldn't fit in more food comfortably. Next time!!?
It's not gourmet Jap food, but for a Jap buffet, I think they give Kuishinbo a good run for their money. Will definitely be back to try some of the things I skipped --- baked mussels, chawamushi, cold soba. The list is actually quite long!!

Decided to try the Penang food here for dinner. I liked the retro decor.. especially the floor tiles! But sadly, the food was not quite as authentic as we had hoped.
I ordered my perennial favourite- Penang Assam laksa. The gravy was very good - sour and spicy, but not so spicy you couldn't taste the prawn-paste or fish bits. The noodles though, were a bit too chewy. But, generally, I enjoyed slurping the gravy! The other dishes we ordered were the Sambal Belacan Fried rice and the grilled stingray. Sadly, the laksa was the best of the lot.
The Sambal belacan rice looked fairly unappetizing... it was a pale orange clump of rice in the middle of the plate, with small little bits of food spread around. The few strands of green mango were stringy and dry, the sambal belacan was less than a spoonful, and some dark meat. The sambal stingray came on a small little plate, and although it was quite meaty, it was rather dry , and not as tasty or aromatic as those served at the seafood restaurants/hawker centres on banana leaves.
They also had some biscuits on sale at the counter ( tau-sar peng), packed individually in plastic wrappers. I didn't try them because they looked like I could get them from any bakery (Crystal Jade bakery a few doors down!).
All in all, the food was definitely not Gurney Drive Penang standard. The service was quite good though. I would probably only go back if I was craving Penang Assam laksa.