i must have eaten in three out of every four dining establishments at vivocity. yes, that is how often i go to that place. i would probably exhaust my dining options over there soon! but then again, new restaurants pop up every so often, such as the mussel guys, which opened just last month.
“the mussel guys”. ain’t that a cheeky name? well i didn’t notice any muscle guys, that’s for sure. haha! a restaurant that specialises in mussels is pretty rare. mussels are the kind of food that not many people would be a fan of. and i happen to love mussels (okay, and muscles too).
besides mussels, the restaurant also serves other seafood, steak, and a few more meat dishes. i went for a pasta main with the signature mussels of course. i didn’t have to wait long — the dish was served within ten minutes!
one thing that bugged me was that diners had not been provided with an extra small bowl to place the empty shells. i thought this was something that the restaurant definitely shouldn’t have overlooked, considering the fact that it specialises in mussels with those huge ass shells of theirs.
Price: $15.90 + 10% Service Charge + 5% GST
Dish rating:
my mussels pasta was a chef’s recommendation, and what a huge disappointment it was! the menu had promised a chunky and thick tomato sauce, but it was really thin and soupy! frankly, prego’s bottled pasta sauces fare much better than this. this was easily one of the blandest things ever!
that’s not even the worst part. i highly doubted that the five or six mussels in my pasta were fresh. the taste was very pale, as though they had been frozen for too long.
it’s a real shame that for a restaurant that prides itself as being “the mussel guys”, it can’t even manage something as simple as mussels pasta. in fact, the mussels and clams pasta at pastamania is a whole lot more satisfying at just half the price. and they provide the little bowl for your shells too!
give this one a miss, folks!
VivoCity
1 Harbourfront Walk
#02-123 Singapore 098585 [map]
(65) 6820 1800
Service rating:
www.musselguys.com.sg
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goes by the name veron (english) or wanting (chinese). a definitive leo born august 1, 1984. a solo traveler. loves cats, coffee, sensual music, yummy food and technology. when she's not at her job as an IS developer for the government, she's likely to be out dining, or visiting an interesting art gallery or event.
I am not really into seafood, so you won’t find me lurking around there, unless I get pulled in there by my shirt by my seafood crazy friends. They REALLY can gorge! View all comments by pkchukiss
the picture certainly looks delicious but wow, such a disappointment. As the saying goes, never judge a book by its cover ! Ya man, I love seafood pasta esp with tomato sauce. I normally request the chef to make it very spicy for me, by putting in a lot of red cut chillis…., yummy ! View all comments by Edna
Hey pkchukiss,
I’m not that into seafood too, although I do love the occasional crayfish, mussels and peeled prawns. I like the taste of crab meat too, but I still don’t know how to eat it from the shell! View all comments by Veron
I guess.. Looks are deceiving.. But you can tell that the sauce is watery from the picture. What a waste of your money… View all comments by piccola
Hey Edna,
Looks like we both love our pasta spicy. I usually just dump a whole lot of red pepper (the kind that comes with pizza) into my pasta. Will ask the chef to do it your way next time! View all comments by Veron
Hey piccola,
It was a HUGE waste of money. Damn! View all comments by Veron
I work so close to Vivocity and I haven’t gone there to eat yet hahaha. Man, the tomato sauce fails big time. I scream blasphemy at the sight of that View all comments by mervkwok
*lol* Hey I work rather close to VivoCity too! View all comments by Veron
http://kaokamoo.wordpress.com/2006/10/15/spaghetti-vongole-pomodoro/
Look at my cooking. I was too hungry to wait for the sauce to reduce.
I guess the mussel guys are in a hurry to serve the pasta to you…
:) View all comments by James Ong
Thanks for sharing! The thing is, the sauce in my pasta was not only soupy, it was of very minute amount as well! If it had been left there for longer, it would have been reduced to nothing! lol View all comments by Veron
hey..if mussels are your kinda stuff, would recommend Oosters over at Far East Square, just a hop from my office. Belgian Mussels! SOLID! makan there somtime? not so many muscles tho..:P View all comments by andy
Sounds sweet! A pity about the muscles though… View all comments by Veron
try me .. i got muscles View all comments by James Ong
hey i totally agree abt yr review of mussel guys. the mussels may look big & beautiful but unfortunately it tasted bland. its really a disappointment to come from a restaurant that specialises but couldnt make the best of it. the staff was also proud to accept feedback. recommendations: Ooyster bar @ central sq & crepe place in duxton. generous serving & flavourful that comes with a loadful of hot crispy fries! View all comments by daryl
Cool! Where at? I’m down the road towards Pasir Panjang. There is like no good food around my office *gah!* (walking distance of course) View all comments by mervkwok
Hey daryl,
Seems like you’ve tried telling The Muscle Guys that their mussels suck? Hey thanks for the recommendations! That’s two votes for Ooster already. Now I MUST check out that place! View all comments by Veron
Hey mervkwok, I think we work very near to each other! Talk to you over email! View all comments by Veron
Do they serve mussels in a pot, cooked in white wine, garlic ? I love those! Think belgian mussels are usually served this way. I’ve had this dish in NZ before and guess what, the name of the restaurant is Mussel Boys…ooh…no muscles for you! View all comments by tigerfish
I think they do! But my bad experience is deterring me from checking it out again, ever. Haha these seafood restaurants just love punning on the word “Mussel” don’t they? I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a Mussel Dudes somewhere. View all comments by Veron
I think I can cook better mussels pasta than them….. View all comments by DK
I had eaten at some of the places in vivocity. I’m very disappointed with all of them. They are expensive and taste horrible. Even well-done steak can see blood flowing out from the meat. View all comments by ZY
I don’t eat steaks but damn, that sounds nasty! And you are right about VivoCity. I haven’t written a really positive review about any of its restaurants so far. View all comments by Veron
[...] out Sparklette.Net’s review, bad [...] View all comments by mr Ha » The Mussel Guys @ vivo city
i think you are right about them but that was like two months ago……………i mean yah it’s been some time but now their like totally wow
’cause i just got dragged in by some of my frens and its like so different now View all comments by britney
i think the restaurant is a flop. i went with 4 other friends and found their service and food totally lacking in standard. the waitor forgot about our order and had the cheek to ask us if we had cancelled it. furthermore the baked rice felt more like it was uncooked, hard and tasteless. well i’m not sure if they are experts with mussels but they sure seem like they are lacking in other areas. View all comments by shaoming
It sure is. Sorry to hear about your bad experience. It’s been 2 months since my unpleasant visit there, and it sounds like nothing has improved. View all comments by Veron
its my very bad experience in mussel guys i think white dog cafe has more GOLD STARS View all comments by chole
hi there… ur wkplace in Toa Payoh too?? :P
niway.. i went there 2 wkends ago.. mm.. i felt nothin extraordinary. the dishes i ordered was delicious though. guess im too hungry to noticed anything unpleasant. lolx. View all comments by BERN
Shoots. If only I had read ur post earlier. I just went there over the weekend. (so desperate to find a place to eat at Vivo…) We ordered the baked mussels. In no way do I find it baked or taste of cheese (as claimed by the deciteful menu). Sigh… Waste of money and time.
P.S. Waitress served wrong dish to my bf and after discovery, swiftly picked up the dish and just brought it to another table. Luckily my bf has yet to plunge his cutlery into the dish… View all comments by Pinch.Salt
Gawd. Looks like they haven’t improved much from before. It’s coming close to a year now. They can’t use the “we’re still new and thus having minor hiccups” excuse anymore. View all comments by Veron
TERRIBLE SERVICE. Repeatedly i get things going wrong in all my orders,,, I promise myself never to go there again. Often have to repeat myself to the waiter due to him not understanding English n often has to check w the kitchen on many of the basic info which I require to know. Mussels lately served in the pot come w several empty shells and the STAFF IS RUDE N BADLY COORDINATED. Trust me! Do not go there. Extra stress n disappointed with money wasted too. I used to go but then now stopped cos their standard is not consistent. Disappointing. Cant believe such a restaurant can survive in this day and age. Slow service too and waiters not attentive. Have to really wave very long and hard to grab their attention. Often the restuarant is empty, esp afternoons. But during weekends it is crowded, though not as crowded as the rest of restaurants in VIVO. They do not seem to handle crowds very well too. During crowded times, expect NO GOOD SERVICE, MISTAKES, DELAYED FOOD, n BEING TREATED LIKE U ARE THERE FOR A FREE MEAL. The only thing is their mussels taste good in the pot, though frequently repeatedly lately, some mussels are only shells without the meat,,, I reported this to the staff but was rudely told “it is fresh what”. I felt i was bluffing and wanted to lie, and not only that, my friend waited for close to half an hour for the set meal. In the end only the soup came. Wanting to cancel it, he had to walk to the cashier to say to cancel it. The answer was yaya n bad attitude type like ok ok cancel then. Later the bill came when and it included the set meal in it. Only complain again then cancel. There is so much more outrageous horrific experiences with MG, but I rest my case here but only declare, NO MORE MG FOR ME FOREVER. SUBSTANDARD n INEXPERIENCED PPL RUNNING THE PLACE. (This is only in my opinion, and that of my friends. Anyone is free to disagree and my disclaimer is that this is only a personal opinion.) View all comments by VeryDisappointedInMG
Typing correction: I meant to say I felt they were implying I was bluffing and lying abt the empty shells instead of feeling sorry abt the shells without meat…, and not only that, my friend waited for close to half an hour…. View all comments by VeryDissapointedInMG
I have had a really unpleasant while visiting mussel guys restaurant on 24 Ajnuary 2008, Friday @1530Hrs. The waiter actually served us the wrong order. We have to told him twice before he move away to the next table. And to think that there is only 2 tables including ours during that time!When our food was served, it is really to my disappointment. My partner’s grill chicken was actually cold to taste! How can it be called grill then? The sausages tasted just as cold..what are those? Salads? Cold dish? I had the baked rice and to find that was blande and tasteless. The service was really another letdown!I was asking for my tea to be serve as we were not given any ice water but was slapped with a “Our tea only served after food” and walk away! I must admit that water was served after that. But dont you think that water should be serve even without asking? When we finished our main course, plates were not cleared when their staff were standing there looking!We were waiting for out desserts to be served but in vain.They dont even want to clear our empty plates , let alone to serve our desserts!We have to ask like 8mins later before we can have it…but stil need to check here and there before serving!This is really not what a restaurant should provide in terms of food and service.We dont mind paying more if the service and food are good but to pay for your food and service, really made us boil! I demand for a explaination. You will also expect that i will tell my friends not to visit your restaurant if no good explaination is given. View all comments by Atien Chew
Seriously, I just tried it today, the medium steak i order is not too bad, but the pasta my girlfriend had was disastrous. She didn’t like the tomato sauce, so we asked for cream sauce, and the cream sauce tasted so weird(my gf said it tasted like da bai tu nan tang, but i insist it tastes like shit) that pastamania suddenly felt so much better. Had a bad experience at pastamania too.
The waiters do not have initiative. I sat down for 10 minutes already and nobody bothered to serve us drink, not even tap water. I had to ask them to get us ice water. No bowls for mussel shells. Asking for the bill is plain hell. I had to ask for it twice.
+1 to avoid. View all comments by Ix
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