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This place is packed! Reservations are a must, and if you want the limited indoor air-conditioning rooms, you need to make your bookings at least 2 weeks in advance.

I think the major issue with service here is the lack of training of the wait staff. They could not have been any "blurrer". Simple, straightforward instructions that seemed easy enough to understood were, in fact, not comprehended and/or implemented. Our crab turned out female despite our order of its male counterpart, and they added coriander to a dish when we could not have been more emphatic about not having any in any of our dishes. And the wait staff moved like geriatrics on pension. Even the young-ish ones were noticeably sluggish.

Food-wise, the western stuff are really good and worth a return trip and the bumbling service. Seafood is really just so-so, and not quite worth the calories or average cze-char pricing. Don't let the wait staff "cajole" you into ordering the prawns or squid or crabs or seafood whatnots. Stick to the signature ribeye, standard cze char fare and carby dishes and you'll do just fine.

We had:

1) Prawn Paste Chicken ($10 for small): Wonderfully fragrant, delectably crisp skin and juicy flesh and marinated to the core for a full-on flavour

2) Braised Beancurd with Golden Mushrooms ($12 for small), smooth, clear-tasting beancurd in a silky oyster sauce and loaded with strips of enoki, sugar snap peas and carrots

3) Black Angus Ribeye Steak ($58 at $10 per 100g). Everyone here orders this, and for good reason. The carnivorous beef is thoroughly flavoursome and juicy to a fault

4) Beef Fried Rice served as part of the ribeye together with the wedges, is another reason to try the ribeye steak. This cholesterol bomb was totally aromatic and flavourful, every last grain of rice having been imbued with beef fat and jus

5) Salted Egg Crabs ($32 at $4 per 100g): pretty forgettable. The crab was teeny tiny, and the salted egg yolk coating, while generous, was too one-dimensional. I would have liked a bit of spice to kick up the grainy salted egg yolk batter a notch

For a more detailed review with pictures, please check out http://thehungrybunnie.blogspot.com/2012/02/peach-garden-sichuan-miramar.html

As with most other Chinese restaurants during the festive period, only set menus were available for order. Lunch was a 7-course affair ($68++ per person) but because the portions were kept small, we didn't end up stuffed and bloated for the rest of the afternoon.

We had

1) Salmon Yusheng, fresh fish but very standard fare

2) Braised Shark's Fin Soup with Crabmeat, starchy and richly flavoured, with plentiful chunks of shark's fin interspersed with shredded crabmeat. The texture of the crabmeat seemed of the frozen variety but at least it didn't have that awful frozen fishy flavour

3) Pan-fried King Prawn coated lightly with a butter cream and plum sauce concoction. Sliced seeded chillis and flash-fried curry leaves lent a subtle peppery heat

4) Braised Duck Web with Dried Oyster in a black moss-filled beancurd skin pouch. I love the soft chewy beancurd skin and the moss, together with the mellow oyster sauce gravy slathered over it, but I gave the duck web and dried oyster away. I've never liked eating these so-called "Chinese delicacies"

5) Fried Glutinous Rice with Chinese Sausage soy-infused rice was sticky, slightly charred and flavoursome

6) Chilled Aloe Vera with diced snow pears and coral grass, very balanced and light

7) Pan-fried Nian Gao, soft, sweet and chewy

For pictures, please check out http://thehungrybunnie.blogspot.com/2012/02/trattoria-cucina-italiana-313-somerset.html

This casual Italian bistro is one of the first generation tenants at 313 Somerset, and I think the reason for its relatively brisk business is the very heavy foot traffic accorded to the bistro. It's gotta do with its very convenient location at the ground floor entrance of 313 Somerset linking to Somerset MRT station. While the food wasn't bad, it just didn't impress, especially at the price point of about $23 for most mains. I've definitely had better food at the same prices and at better surroundings. I guess it's really because the quality of the dishes were on par with what a fairly competent cook can whip up in a home kitchen. But, we did see a lot of Caucasians, both tourists and expats, eating here, so maybe the food's not too bad, and fairly authentic afterall.

We had:

1) Garlic Bread with Cheese ($6.50), not too bad, fragrant with a heady garlicky aroma, toasty and crusty.

2) Prosciutto e Funghi Spaghetti ($9.80 for Set Lunch with a soft drink) was seasoned simply with garlic and olive oil, and layered with plentiful bacon and shitake mushrooms

3) Porcini Mushroom Risotto ($22.90) flavour was balanced but texture of the rice was soggy

For a more detailed review with pictures, please check out http://thehungrybunnie.blogspot.com/2012/02/pizzeria-giardino-chijmes.html

Pizzeria Giardino's open-air location at the green lawn of the historic Chijmes, while picturesque, makes this quite the attraction to flies, we were swatting flies away throughout our dinner. If you're one of those people that require the comfort of air-conditioned surroundings, this is definitely not the place for you. Despite the prevalence of fans and a slight breeze, we found ourselves rushing through our food so we could escape from the heat and humidity. But, if you're a smoker, this is quite a dining paradise. Many of the tables were set aside for smokers.

We got

1) Prosciutto e Melone ($17) terrific-I don't usually eat melons, but this were brilliantly sweet and juicy, a perfect complement to the ham.

2) Insalata di Rucola ($13), rucola leaves interspersed with shaved parmesan and cherry tomatoes, and dressed lightly with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. I was quite surprised that the portion was so huge.

3) Gamberi e Finghi ($23) crunchy, marinated prawns and shitake mushrooms. This was well done and perfectly portioned for one person

4) Mushroom Ravioli ($21) too cloying. I was unable to eat more than 5 raviolis in this dish. Strictly for cream lovers, this one

For a more detailed review, please head to http://thehungrybunnie.blogspot.com/2010/09/paradise-inn-funan-digitalife-mall.html

The Paradise Inn chain is a casual dining concept by the Paradise Group, serving more home-style cze char dishes than its seafood pioneer at Defu Lane. Stuff your grandmother would cook for family gatherings. This is like the Paradise Group version of Crystal Jade Kitchen of the Crystal Jade Group of restaurants.

We got

1) Steamed Minced Pork with Chestnut and Salted Egg Yolk ($8), coarsely chopped mince with discernible cubes of chestnut for added texture and crunch

2) Stewed Tofu with Chicken and Salted Fish in Claypot ($10 for small) was just so-so, Crystal Jade does this Cantonese classic better. This just lacked the rich, salty, flavoursome oomph of the salted fish and oyster gravy combination

3) Paradise Inn has one of the widest range of double-boiled soups, which is really great for the soup lover in me. We chose the Double-Boiled Chicken Soup with Mushroom and Chinese Cabbage ($16.80 per pot), which boasts nourishing and health properties. I liked that this had a slightly herbal tinge to it and I hardly tasted any MSG in the soup base

4) Stewed Lingzhi Mushroom with Sauteed Young Cabbage ($14 for small). I loved the smooth and firm texture, and clean taste of the mushrooms