Get me outta here!

June 21, 2015

The House of Robert Timms @Orchard, Wheelock Place

The House of Robert Timms. We've always thought this looks similar to TCC. Their colors perhaps. We thought they served more of coffees, desserts etc, but after reading about a promotion they were having, we were sold.

The promotion, featured on a popular deal site, was 1-for-1 on all mains, pastas and steaks. And judging from the prices on the menu, it's a really good deal if you go in pairs. One person ends up paying for only less than $15 before taxes if you're not going for the more expensive dishes. Well, provided if they have what you want available, and that you actually get a table. Because when we went there without a reservation, we had to gobble our meal so that we could let the next guest have it at 7pm. Also, the table on our side had to re-consider their order twice as their Mussels were out of stock, their Short Ribs unavailable...

As they're an Australian restaurant, they should be good in their Kangaroo dishes right?
So we tried...

Stout Braised Kangaroo Loin ($30)


Barramundi with Cilantro Butter ($28)

The Stout Braised Kangaroo Loin ($30) was kind of hard to chew, or rather just tough. Some parts were tender. The loin is the least used part of the kangaroo, so if it's still so tough, we wonder what would the other parts taste like... But then again, this is probably their "cheap cut", being on the lower end of the menu, as they have the more expensive "Steak" tier, going for $40 a cut. So well, beggars can't be choosers. 

Also, it seemed like it went in to a microwave before meeting us, because the heat just 'erupted' from the middle when we mixed the sauce with the meat. Nonetheless, the taste of the sauce wasn't compromised. In fact, the sauce tasted quite good, and we actually used the sauce as a dip for the healthy, natural vegetables. The two sticks of pastry were interesting touches as well. 

The Barramundi with Cilantro Butter ($28) is a pretty normal dish. The fish is of a decent portion. The tomatoes somewhat a different world from the fish... Anyway, if you don't really like meat, I guess fish is the way to go. 


At 1-for-1, our dinner is definitely value for money, coming up to only $35 after taxes for 2 pax just for mains of kangaroo and fish. Well, if you've never tasted kangaroo meat, like deer meat, which are under the game meat category, do give it a try. We read somewhere there's a crocodile sandwich as well!

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Verdict:
Food: 3/5
Service: 3/5
Ambiance: 3/5
Total Score: 3/5
[1- Never visit again, 2-Won't visit unless there's no other option, 3-Perhaps, 4 & 5- Yes!]

Good for? Couples, Groups, Family

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About it:
The House of Robert Timms
Address: #01-02/03 Wheelock Place, 501 Orchard Rd, Singapore 238880 (2 other outlets available here)
Prices: (Mains), $18++ onwards

June 14, 2015

Cafe Mosaic @Bugis, Carlton Hotel

We've always walked past this place and wondered what's with the happy faces of the people inside.
And finally, a card promotion (one-for-one) finally allowed us to have the chance to dive into this buffet without much consideration. At $91 after taxes, it works out to be less than $50 per pax.

 Fruits!

Fresh seafood and salad

Live cooking and carving station


Desserts Station

Which honestly, we'd suggest you skip this place.

They were doing some promotions on bountiful seafood, but honestly, other than oysters, mussels, prawns, endless salmon sashimi, there's not much variety. No crabs, no crayfishes, no Alaskan King Crab legs. Stuff yourself silly with salmon sashimi. And a salad station.

Live stations, there was laksa, which was quite tasty, and LOTS OF SAUTEED vegetables. Kang Kong, cabbage, beansprouts, shitake mushrooms, dou miao. We ate the most dou miao ever in our lives.

Carving station, they only had roast beef. That's it.

Chinese food, they had your usual soy sauce fish slices, rice, etc.

The desserts station consisted of only slices of cakes and puddings, with 3 soupy desserts. One of it Red Ruby, which we jumped for joy, but felt eeky after the first mouth as the chestnut has all become soggy, not crunchy at all. Nothing interesting, no fondues, no ice stations, etc. The ice creams were a low key affair, with coconut being a substitute for vanilla, and the topping stations a few steps away from the ice cream chest. Pretty weird setup.

No Indian food station, no different cuisines. It was the first time we actually had space in our stomachs two servings of ice cream.

The decor is great, but the varieties are just too little. If you're going to visit this place paying full price, I'd recommend you to visit other buffet lines.

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Verdict:
Food: 2/5
Service: 3/5
Ambiance: 3/5
Total Score: 1/5
[1- Never visit again, 2-Won't visit unless there's no other option, 3-Perhaps, 4 & 5- Yes!]

Good for? Couples, Groups, Family

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About it:
Cafe Mosaic
Address: 76 Bras Basah Rd, 189558
Price:
Exclusively for Citibank, DBS/POSB and UOB Cardmembers for a limited time only*

Enjoy 1-for-1 Adult Buffet
Lunch: Mondays to Fridays
Dinner: Daily

Lunch Buffet, 12 noon to 2.30 pm
Mondays to Fridays       $53++ per adult, $26++ per child

Dinner Buffet, 6.30 pm to 10.30 pm
Sundays to Thursdays     $78++ per adult,  $39++ per child
Fridays to Saturdays        $88++ per adult, $44++ per child
Free flow of soft drinks and chilled juices at $9++
Sommelier selected wine at $11++ per glass and $52++ per bottle