My friend chose The Disgruntled Chef for her belated birthday celebration with me so I made reservations here. The staff got back to me very fast via email to confirm my booking, so I thought that was a major plus.

The problem with visiting Dempsey is that you're kinda screwed if you don't own a car. We were stuck in town, stranded with no cab on a Friday evening. Taking a bus there was out of the question for us as we were not very familiar with the area - plus the thought of all the walking was just a turn off. Instead of 7.30pm, we arrived at 8.45pm (!!!). Thankfully, the staff was okay with that when I called to inform them earlier.

When I stepped in, I really found myself drawn to the ambience of the place. It's a really good restaurant for chill out sessions, and can accommodate big groups or couples looking for some alone time. Service is excellent - very attentive and they knew their stuff when faced with questions, from recommendations to mystery ingredients that puzzled us. Thumbs up to them! Since TDC's dishes are tapas style, we ordered several to share. First up, we had the Steak Tartare ($18), a mishmash block of raw meat mixed with quail egg and grilled toast. I can tell you this was the best thing we had that evening. Don't be put off by the rawness - it's really good! A little spicy but flavourful, this one packs a punch. With the bread it tastes a little like tuna, without the bread, it's something completely different. Weird but true.This was the most expensive thing we had - Crackling Suckling Pig ($68). Yes, it tasted good, the skin was superb, but honestly, the flavour does not justify the cost. I would not pay $68 to try this again. $35-$40 seems about right, but NOT $68!Moving on to desserts, we ordered two to share because we thought it'd be small.. but we were wrong. Here's my choice of Apple & Rhubarb Crumble ($12), and below is the (also) overpriced Churros ($12). The crumble had clotted cream which gave it its wow factor, plus they were very generous with the bits of apple chunks. As for the churros, I've had better. They were way too starchy and chewy. The crunch was missing... such a bland dessert *ugh*... even the chocolate sauce could not save it. Sad.

I'm sitting on the fence for TDC. I may come back - but only for the ambience and probably drinks, not so much for the food.

I almost got lost finding this place. I arrived with my friend around 8+ (I think) and it was pretty packed. We sat upstairs and really loved the ambience there, compared to the area downstairs.We ordered two main dishes, the pork belly and some fish roe soup (seriously cannot remember the names of these Korean dishes). The pork belly was pretty good, kimchi was excellent, and so were the other side dishes. The soup was quite spicy, but fish roe isn't really my thing, my friend loved it though.

I didn't really reek of oil after my meal, this is a major plus point. Must've been the vacuum thingy above the grill that helped. Yay for that!

The price you pay for a meal in town is no joke. If you work or live here, you could easily spend $15-$20 in a day for breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea. Yikes!

Lucky for us all, there's Far East Plaza, which houses some of the cheaper food stalls in town. Susan Chan is one my favourites, and I love their variety of dishes.One comfort food choice I have is the Beef Stew Rice / "Mui Fan". The portion's pretty huge for $5. It's not too salty, the gravy is just right and the consistency is perfect. Generous toppings of sliced beef, as well as vegetables and eggs.

Everyone walks past Max Brenner Chocolate Bar at Esplanade and everyone knows it, but I think few step in because it is a pretty pricey place for nothing but desserts.

I finally decided to give this place a go during NYE. My friend and I, being dessert queens aka pigs, ordered one dessert each after having a heavy dinner. She had the Chocolate Pizza and I ordered the Melting Chocolate Truffle Heart Cake & Shake.

Before I go on to review the desserts, I have to say I agree with OpenRicer Bern 100% about the chaos going on in the menu. I probably stared at it for 10 minutes before giving up and asking the waitress which one was the choc lava cake. Omg... bad bad bad!The Chocolate Pizza was freakin' amazing. I'm not a fan of marshmallows but it added a nice, gooey yet light touch to the chocolate-heavy pizza. I really liked the presentation of the choc lava cake here - I'd really give it an 'A+'! It's like there was something different on each part of the plate, from the container with chocolate sauce (tooooo cute) to the mini choc shake somewhere in the middle. The lava cake itself was incredible. It wasn't too sweet and the consistency of the cake was just right. I had no problem finishing this on my own - which means a lot because I usually have to share such a dessert due to its intense flavour.

I left the place feeling happy and satisfied. Oh, and the smell of chocolate and butter was on my clothes too. IT WAS AWESOME!

I was here with colleagues for a NYE lunch. I've always liked the food at Fish & Co. but the waiting time is sometimes unbearable. I had the Poached Cod with Spicy Teriyaki Sauce. First time trying this dish and I had no regrets. The fish was prepared very well, perfectly poached so it was firm meat on the outside and juicy on the inside. The spicy-sweet sauce was also exceptional. Can't say much about the fries - think they were a bit cold, but eh, the fish was so good, I'm just willing to forget about the fries and rice.

Now, about the service, two words: absolutely horrible. The staff needs to be more attentive and less forgetful. You could request for an item 2-3 times - they'd still forget about it. Waiting time is way too long, but they do have warning signs all over regarding this so, only if you're patient enough I guess. But no matter how patient one is, nobody should put up with such bad service by the crew. Grr....