Chatterbox

The Food
I ordered the famous Chatterbox Chicken Rice since I never try before until now. The rice was fluffy, flavourful, quite tasty and not so oily. The chicken meat was okay but really did not impress me for the expectations I have on this premium chicken rice. It was nice, tasty, soft but not juicy and tender enough. The sauces did not quite compliment the chicken either.The chilli had some sourness and had no punch or taste to it.

The Price
Over-priced at around $30++

Overall
I will not come back again and will try other stalls instead

2013-03-13

Food

Mandarin Chicken Rice - $23.80
Its menu mentioned that chicken is tendered boiled with fragrant jasmine rice and soup complemented with homemade chili, ginger and dark soya sauce. What I like most is the soup that taste of gingseng. Soup and rice are refillable. Bean sprouts with silver fish - $8
Normal plate of sprouts. Nothing to brag about.Service
Service has dropped as years passed. Staff are not as attentive as before.

Ambience
Although level 5 now is spacious and renovated, I still reminisce the old place on one of the top floors in Mandarin Orchard. The ambience is better and with a panoramic view of Singapore.

Price
Expensive plate of chicken rice.

Recommendation / Tips
(1) At the price and service rendered, there are better players out there.

SGD 25(Dinner)

Delicious but expensive local fare - this is how I would describe the food from Chatterbox. Though I love the chicken rice from Chatterbox, I have to admit that it is not worth paying $25 for it. This is especially so when you can easily find chickem rice which taste as good, if not better than the one from Chatterbox. Perhaps you can have it once in a blue moon when you wanna pamper yourself...

As for the service, I feel that it is not up to standard. I am kinda disappointed with the service as I need to ask the waitress many times to refill my water.

2012-07-10

The dining area in this restaurant is very spacious and cooling. The decoration looks pretty simply but it is really cosy and comfortable here. Here at Chatterbox has many signature dishes display on the buffet spread, which one of it is definitely will be their hainanese chicken rice with their signature garlic chilli sauce. The chicken is really tender and juicy and taste even better with their thick garlic chilli sauce dip on it. The chicken rice is equally fragrant and the grain are separated well and is filled with lots of the fragrant chicken taste in it. Normally I can straight to have two big bowls of rice with many pieces of chickens on it.

2012-04-03

SGD 50(Tea)

Though Chatterbox is famous for its chicken rice, the rest of the local delights taste as good. I would recommend one to try the Nasi Goreng (as shown in picture). Served with fried egg and juicy (yet not fatty) satay, the Nasi Goreng is a main course which I believe many people will love after trying it. In fact, I prefer the Nasi Goreng to the famous chicken rice. Located in Meritus Mandarin hotel, it is inevitable that the food is not as wallet friendly.

2011-12-23

SGD 25(Dinner)

For more photos, please visit Rubbish Eat Rubbish Grow: http://rubbisheatrubbishgrow.wordpress.com/2011/12/27/chatterbox-mandarin-orchard/

We made reservations before heading down since it was stated in the deal. I reached promptly at 5pm and was given a window seat since the place was quite empty. It was pretty nice to watch the world go from the 5th level of Mandarin Orchard, so when you call to make reservations, request for a table by the window. Yandao was late, so they served me my drink and left me alone. While idling my time away, I noticed that I was the only local! The people seated around me are all foreigners – Hong Kongers, Indonesians & Japanese! As much as I tried to eavesdrop on their conversations, I understood none of it. Boring. Anyway, when Yandao arrived, they brought the set out almost immediately! Howinitiative & attentive of the waiting staff. I like.

The deal includes Chatterbox Half Chicken, 2 bowls of rice, 1 seasonal vegetable, 2 drinks (soft drinks or beer), complimentary parking at Mandarin Orchard (for 2 hours only) for $36.52 excluding service charge & GST which sums up to about $42+. Pretty good deal since I heard that 1 plate of Chatterbox Chicken Rice is about $25. Furthermore, the car park charge for 2 hours is about $10.70.

Our Seasonal Vegetable was Dao Gay. Not too bad though I was hoping for 油菜 cos Dao Gay is so cheap. Dao Gay was soaked in sesame oil & was flavourful. There were mushrooms in them& I love mushrooms. They also removed the tails of the Dao Gay so thumbs up for effort they put in!

Both Yandao and I were super disappointed by the chicken because the meat was tough. I was expecting tender, juicy chicken with the price people pay at this place. Chatterbox Chicken has nothing to rave about and I’ve had better chicken at many other places – Soup Restaurant, Boon Tong Kee, 925 Yishun Central and even Far East Shopping Centre. The good thing about this chicken is that it’s thoroughly cooked with no tinge of pinkness in the meat. Yandao can be pretty anal about blood in the food. Even though the chilli sauce had no kick, I liked it because I didn’t leave Chatterbox with garlic breath. I’m super conscious when it comes to eating Chicken Rice chilli because most places use too much garlic. No amount of mints will remove that garlic breath. It’s very embarrassing to let your colleagues or friends know what you had for lunch with your breath. Ack.

The rice was a bit too dry and white for my liking. Chicken rice is meant to be oily and slightly buttery! And the best way to eat chicken rice is mix in black sauce with the yummilicious chicken sesame sauce. This is how chicken rice should always be eaten. Plain dry rice becomes awesome chicken rice after my concoction. You MUST do it too. Drench your rice with the 2 main ingredients and you will be as awesome as me. I mean, your chicken rice will be as awesome as mine.

Two wrongs do not make a right. Despite the good service, I will never return as a paying customer because of the price and standard.

SGD 21

i heard that chatterbox is famous for its chicken rice? but well i have decided to try this as well.. the normal fried noodle..

there are prawns, fish cake, spring onions.. vegetables.. meat and egg.. a little different from those hokkien mee.. more of home made type..

but still rather tasty.. good mix with its sambal chili sauce

2011-05-24

At Chatterbox restaurant, not only do they serve their popular expensive Chicken rice set, they also served Asian buffet lunch and dinner. Tried their Asian buffet lunch and was impressed by most of the dishes. Especially love their black glutinous rice with coconut cream dessert. Taste really delicious as think they have cooked for several hours to obtain such a thick texture and the coconut cream is thick and fresh as well. Their laksa and chinese dim sums are equally nice as well. My verdict: 8/10

2011-06-22

SGD 50(Lunch)

Besides the signature and popular chicken rice set at Chatterbox, they also served quality buffet lunch and dinner daily. Went to try their lunch buffet and was really impressed by most of the My verdict: 7.5/10

2011-07-01

SGD 50(Lunch)

I must admit I was still surprised when I saw the prices on the menu, despite knowing the fact that it was set in a hotel. Nearly every main dish on the menu cost $25, and that is exclusive of GST and service charge.

However, I must say that service was prompt, and of hotel standards. They were happy, smiling and willing to greet you when you come in to chatterbox, and they seated us at a corner of the restaurant. We ordered a chicken rice and a king prawn hokkien mee as their chicken rice was their signature dish.

Ice water was served in a nice glass, and the ambience... I must say was quite good. Chicken rice came quite promptly, with the different sauces at the side, such as the chilli, the garlic etc. The rice and the chicken was also served in separate dishes. I tried the chicken, but I must admit that I was never a lover of white chicken meat. However, my friend found it really delicious, and enjoyed it very much.

The next dish was hokkien mee. I was expecting it to be a little different, and I guess it was, with 2 king prawns, and one big piece of scallop found in it. I was expecting the taste to surpass the hawker center's one, but to my disappointment, it was not very tasty for the price you are paying.

The bill came up to about $52, with 10% discount from OCBC card. I must say that there are better choices in other places if you want local delicacies, and there is no need to go to Chatterbox for that.

SGD 30

Recently there is this “Late Lunch” promotion on Chatterbox, Mandarin Hotel which is a quite a good bargain for patrons to enjoy their signature Mandarin Chicken Rice and other local delights at S$15++ from 3pm to 6pm on weekdays only (excluding eve and day of public holidays).

From my opinion, the “rice” could have been better as it is not as fragrant or fantastic as I thought it would be. But rather the chicken was tender and juicy, and it goes very well with their chilli and ginger sauce.

Surprisingly the broth of the Seafood Laksa taste great with a hint of heat that isn’t too spicy and it will leave you to crave for more scooping of it. A bowl of this also cost S$15.00 as main course in the promotion menu.

With an additional top up of S$3.00 you can enjoy a jar of either one of these homemade Soya Bean Milk, Barley Water or Grass Jelly drink to along with your meal too.

Late Lunch Promotion:
~ Monday - Friday: 3.00pm - 6.00pm (excluding eve and day of public holidays)

2010-10-01

SGD 20(Lunch)