Chatterbox Singapore

Aloha! We are still alive after such a looonng hiatus. Y'know, cos travelling takes up too much time..... What?? You are not buying it?  Fine, no more excuses for us :( 

So here's one on Chatterbox that we tried recently! In all honesty, Chatterbox is basically an atas cafe serving Singaporean dishes with an inflated price tag, with a certain quality of course. Overall, I would say the meal was enjoyable but definitely not value for money.

First up we had the very expensive Rojak ($17):

It had fresh pineapple and soursop, which were refreshing against crunchy turnips and cucumbers. Drizzled generously with a peanut sauce,  it was one of my favourites that night.

Given the price tag, we also made sure everything was finished.

This was the delicious Honey Shrimp dumplings ($9):

Fried till a crisp, the dumplings reminded me of a fried wanton with a juicy stuffing of succulent prawns and meat. 

Good on its own!

Hokkien Mee ($22):

This dish was one that was wet, smooth and sweet, like a perfect... plate of noodles that is ;)

Gems of scallops, prawns and abalone dominated the dish and that made it very easy to finish!

The cousin, Beef Char Kway Teow ($24):

The wok hei taste was strong in this one, with a characteristic charred sweetness. I did not get to try the beef, but feedback was that it was not that tender. Tough luck I guess! :p

Another main we had was the Nasi Goreng Istimewa ($24):

Which turned out to be a very normal plate of fried rice with a sunny side up. Thank god the satay was delicious, with soft tender meat in a smooth peanut sauce.

Lastly, the Tahu Goreng ($9):

Deceitfully simply, this was one tofu evryone

loved. It was soft, lightly salted with a firm rough skin. This, coupled with a peanut gravy and fresh garnishing, was light and pleasant on thy palette!

Oh, I also had a lychee drink that cost $9. 

It was definitely canned lychees in my glass, with sugar syrup and ice.

No qualms about it.

Lao niang make at home also can leh.

Overall verdict: 

Chatterbox serves up decent food, but with an unjustifiable price tag. That coupled with average service? 

Also, the fact that the original chef of their famous chicken rice left to set up his own stall leaves no compelling reason to go back.

#realreasoniscositstooexpensive

Weelovefood's vote goes to Newton Circus or Satay by the Bay anytime! 

PORK SATAY FTW.

Chatterbox

Mandarin Orchard Hotel 

Level 5

Opening hours: 

Sunday- Thursday: 11am-1am

Friday, Saturday, Public Holidays: 11am -2am

Tel: 6831 6288/91

Mixed feelings about CUT by Wolfgang Puck

After hearing all the rad reviews about this place, we decided we had to come and try for ourselves. Stepping in, we were greeted by friendly staff but I did not feel much enthusiasm from them. Quite.. robotic and simply doing their job if you get what I mean. Laoniang got foodblog one ok?!! Pfffft. (hahaha)

So, despite the fancy place, with most of the food being impeccable, a good ambience, I didn't fancy the place very much. It simply felt it was lacking human warmth and passion. 

I'm a huge sucker for good service.... then good food. 

Lucky I had my favourite person around for company ;)

All the negativity aside, food pic time!

For starters, we had the Bone Marrow Flan:

A delicious pudding that had the subtle fragrance of meat, encased neatly in the bone.

It was quite fun to pick it out and then spreading our "jam" on the buttery brioche bread:

We also tried the shaved truffle pasta but it was a far cry from the heavenly creation of Casa Tartufo so we were quite disappointed as it was simply bland and boring. 

Well, they were generous enough with the black winter truffle.... :

Lucky the meat lived up to its name:

We ordered a 250g piece of US Wagyu Ribeye to share and it was pure carnivorous delight as we sank our jowls into a juicy centre and nicely cooked sides. The meat was flavourful on its own, hardly needing any extra sauces or salt, and we were pretty satisfied even after sharing.

The sides of Sauteed Wild Mushrooms and Potato Puree were equally good. The shrooms were very flavourful and juicy with a buttery aftertaste whereas the mash was soft, grainy with a taste of milk powder. 

(It got a bit gelat after a while, however.)

Also got a glass of red wine to pair the meat with:

It was a good fruity one, though I can't remember the name of it.

(Please refer to receipt picture)

At the end of the meal, we had a nice touch on the dessert, sending a smile to our faces:

Our bill for those interested to go:

Got a cute complimentary "X'mas tree" that was basically a stack of chocolate coated custard puffs, stacked together using glaze haha!

Free cookies by the restaurant:

To sum things up, I would say that CUT is over-hyped and that is probably why both of us felt let down at the whole experience. It could also be a culmination of factors, such as ordering the pasta (hate wasting calories on bad food!!), the X'mas crowd, hectic pace at MBS etc. And not say very cheap some more. 

I guess some things are just not meant to be *emo face*

So, I doubt we'll be back anytime soon as I think there are more steakhouses out there that offer better value for money.

(For the same price, I would very much prefer Skirt at Sentosa Cove if you ask me!)

For now, bye bye puck.

CUT by Wolfgang Puck

#B1-71, The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, 10 Bayfront Avenue

Tel: 66888517

Opening hours: 

Sun- Thur: 1800-2200

Fri- Sat: 1800-2300