This is a family-run business by Koreans but thankfully there were chinese-speaking staffs to facilitate smooth communication.

Menu
The usual korean food you would expect to find – Stone pot rice, kimchi, onion pancakes, rice cakes…etc. The prices here are well-affordable. I ordered the Chicken set which comes with a bowl of rice. From the picture in the menu, the portion looks small and I went on & order a Vermicelli with mixed vegetables and before I could continue, the server looked @ me & asked me whether I could finish all the food. Well, I didn’t expect that they would serve little tapas together with the chicken set. Thankfully, I didn’t went on & order the pancakes.

Chicken Bulgogi set ($ 7+ inclusive of the tapas )
The chicken bulgogi , served in a Teppan didn’t arrive sizzling and wasn’t warm enough. Thankfully the chicken meat was well marinated and tender. I could easily finish this even without any rice to go along. I find the set very well worth as it comes with the 7 tapas which was a challenge for me to finish it. Well, there were certain tapas that I didn’t touch, wanna guess which are the ones?

Vermicelli with mixed vegetables ($15+)
I was taken aback by the generous portion and it was obvious that I couldn’t stomach so much food @ 1 go. The only choice – ”Doggy-bag” home. Before the servers pack it up for me, I tried a little and find the vermecelli exceptionally smooth and even slip off the chopsticks. There were some mushrooms, carrots and leeks to go along with the broth . IMHO, this is delectable.

The set comes with a dessert – A slice of Watermelon & a cup of ginger lime tea. I find the ginger-lime tea exceptionally sweet & didn’t have the ginger taste. In fact, it taste like honey!

Verdict: Lesson learnt, do not ”over-order” food. I should not have ordered the Vermecelli ( even though it was good ) . The chicken set is enough to satisfy my hunger pangs . Highly recommended for those who loves Korean cuisine!

The Clifford Restaurant
You would have to take a long stroll, walk pass the Front office and ”The Landing Point” before you could get to The Clifford .

Ambience
Fine-dining , tall ceilings and pillars, boost modern and elegant design of the restaurant. A perfect place for have a ”Power-lunch”.

The Menu
There aren’t many choices of food in the menu and the prices are priced on the higher side. Well, it’s a 5 * hotel and you are paying more for the ambience and service.

Set lunch menu
The set lunch menu is changed on alternate days so that repeat guests would not get bored of the same dishes. The set lunch is priced at $36++ ( 2 course) or $45 ( 3 course ).

Warm & Crusty Baguette
The baguette were served warm and CRUSTY ( Super crusty) but I find it a little too dry.

Classic caesar salad with egg & bacon
The salad portion just enough for 1 pax. On top of the romaine lettuce sits a poached egg and the salad was ordinary.

Grilled Seabream , artichoke barigoule
This is a very light and healthy dish. The 2 palm-sized seabream fillets were lightly grilled and served in a clear broth with artichokes and carrots. It was simple yet the the natural flavour of the fish was retained.

Petite 4 :Chocolate with hazelnuts, lemon-flavoured marshmallow, chocolate cookies
The LEMON- flavoured marshmallows were delicious but the chocolate cookies were too sweet and lacks the ”melt in your mouth ” texture, pass.

Verdict: The service is professional and outstanding but the food was just ordinary. I take it as an experience to experience the novelty of the hotel & excellent service of the staffs.

Cocotte is a 2 months old French restaurant at The Wanderlust Hotel. More & more restaurants have been opening up in ulu places , waiting for us to discover them. With the presence of Cocotte, ”The Black Sheep Cafe” would certainly face a tough competitor!
Cocotte has 2 meanings to it:

1. Small casserole in which individual portions can be cooked and served.
2 .A prostitute or promiscuous woman.
I’m sure it does not refer to the latter. Anyway, Cocotte serves Rustic French cuisine by Chef Anthony Yeoh & his team.

The restaurant is located at the ground level of The Wanderlust Hotel. It has a colonial feel to it and the casual layout makes the dining experience comfortable & relaxing. The chairs were smaller than usual & the lighting would change automatically according to the ambience.

The Set Lunch Menu
Cocotte offers a 3 course set lunch menu priced at $28++. The tart of the day and soup change weekly while the menu changes monthly.
The Signature dishes: Fried Tripe, Escargot Gougeres , Roast Pork Collar
( Tart of the day : Ratatouille tart with goat’s cheese)

Pear & Rocket Salad
The rocket leaves salad has blue cheese and sweet pear. I didn’t like the blue cheese due to the pungent & salty flavour. The pears were sweet & goes well with Sherry mustard vinaigrette.

Seabass with shaved fennel, tomato provencal & baby potatoes
The seabass was well-executed, without much seasoning and marinates , it has it’s natural sweet flavour. I enjoyed the tomato provencal in particular, it has an influence of Indian cuisine – tangy and sweet.


Apple tartin
The dessert is a disappointment. While the caramelised apples were soft & sweet , the tart base was too soggy. The tart base just failed miserably….
Verdict: I like the ”colonial” feel of this restaurant, the casual & laid-back ambience makes the dining experience very relaxed. The staff were well-trained & courteous.

After shopping, it is best to find a place/spot to sit down, relax and enjoy a cuppa of coffee. The Caffebar is the ideal place to take a break – cafe style, open concept, I like it!

The Menu
I read some positive reviews about their duck confit & The Salmon Roulade. I wanted to try the latter but the last dish was sold out….. so unfortunate!

Caesar Salad ($13.80++)
Sometimes I find the hard-boiled egg served in Caesar Salads ”over-cooked” which in turn results the egg yolk to turn slightly blueish/ grey. The Caffebar Caesar Salad does not have this problem. The egg yolk was just the perfect ”texture’‘ that I preferred. Somehow, I find the croutons were ‘‘lack of air” , bacon strips were crispy and addictive.

Pan-fried Seabass Arrabiata with braised fennel ($16.80++)
I was informed that the last dish of the Salmon Roulade was sold out. I had the Pan-fried Seabass Arrabiata instead. Besides the popular Salmon, the pan-fried Seabass is another popular dish here.The Seabass was a little too bland for my liking( require pre-seasoning ). The spicy tomato sauce has a hint of spiciness but was mild.I enjoyed the braised fennel that was moist & soft. Generally speaking, this dish is acceptable.

Chocolate Amer ($6.40++)
One look at the display case, I knew the cakes were sourced from Bakerzin & even the names wasn’t changed. Without much consideration, the choice would be the bittersweet Chocolate Amer. I’m sure chocolate lovers out there would agree for sure.
Verdict: Cakes sourced from Bakerzin & dining concept similar to Bakerzin too, I’m starting to wonder if they were under the same group.

Along Arab Street , there are quite a number of restaurants / food places offering Turkish cuisine. It was a tough decision to decide which restaurant to visit. Well, I had tried a few of them – Alaturka, Cafe Le Claire, Deli Moroccan and now the 4th one- Amirah’s Grill.
Typical Turkish cuisine – Kebabs , Hummus, Tabuuli , Grilled kofta… pita bread. I was attracted to the $9.90 ++ buffet instead.


Mini Buffet set -up
What can you expect from a $9.90 ++ buffet? There wasn’t much selection but it’s enough to satisfy your hungry tummy.
Buffet selections( food changes daily):
- Soup ( veg & chicken)
- Sliced Beef
- Roast chicken
- Dory in lemon sauce
- Stir-fried kangkong
- Arabian Rice/ White rice
- Banana cake
- Bananas
These are what they offer for the buffet, well like a typical malay food stall…

Roast chicken, dory fish, kangkong & arabic rice
I helped myself to try a small serving of various dishes. They were acceptable, nothing to shout about. However, the arabian rice was fragrant & fluffy , each grain of rice is infused with the strong aroma of herbs/ spices . ….. I enjoyed it.
Verdict: For a $9.90++ buffet , I have nothing to complain/ fuss about. The food was just acceptable but at least, I walked out of the restaurant with a satisfied stomach.