Small Potatoes Make The Steak Look Bigger

I first visited this place (369 Sembawang Road, #01-05 Sembawang Cottage) some time back for their Moo Moo Burger and this time round, I returned for dinner just to see if the rest of the menu was any good. I have to admit that after the first visit, I didn't really think too much of the place. Now that I've actually eaten here, I think I'm probably right about the place. The conclusion to this visit is that I have some rather mixed feelings about them. Most of it leans towards the thoughts that I probably wouldn't come back again given the fact that there are many other places which I would rather take my chances with. I said that knowing that I didn't leave this place feeling really satisfied with what I've had.

The pistachio herb crusted lamb rack appears to me more like a lamb ribs. Despite the rather impressive appearances, I didn't think too much of the dish as a whole and it left me rather unsatisfied. A few things come to mind. Firstly, this was really quite difficult to eat with a fork and knife since the meat wasn't done to the way where it would fall of the bone easily and the knife that was provided didn't quite do the job properly. The meat was well cooked for most parts and medium well on some others. For the discerning, you might have realised that meant that the doneness was somewhat inconsistent. I ended up having to use my hands after sawing away at the lamb between the ribs which made it a slightly messy affair. Another thing I felt should be mentioned is that the crust of the lamb is mostly breadcrumbs. So the description from the name being pistachio herb crusted is something I personally felt was misleading because I didn't taste anything of the nut nor any particular herb. Seriously, I'm not impressed after hearing some hype about this.


I had first thought that the Emperor Oriental Chix Salad to be gimmicky, but it turned out to be quite tasty. The salad is filled with crackers, lettuce bits, accompanying strips of radishes and carrots with ground peanuts. It was actually served chilled and the plum like sauce which came with the salad definitely helped with the taste factor. Again, what I found disagreeable in this was the description from the menu which mentioned 'succulent chix breast'. Really, it's just shreads of chicken meat and the portions of that is pathetic.


Breaded and fried, the calamari isn't really exceptional and isn't worth much effort in words for descriptions beyond the that it is a tad chewier than I like them. It's really just plain old breaded calamari.


Despite the way it looks drenched in that very boring looking sauce, the ribeye actually turned out to be better than I had thought and these guys managed to do a very good medium rare. The brown sauce, according to the menu is a red wine sauce and it really isn't too bad. At how much they charge for the steak, it certainly could give Aston's a run for their money. If it's anything that I'll ever eat here again, this would probably be it. But from the way things look, I don't think I'm ever likely to return, given options.