I have reviewed many restaurants in the past year, and it took me one full month into 2007 before it finally hit me that I should have a “Best of” list! Rather than let the good restaurants go forgotten, I have awarded little doughnut trophies to the best ones around, complete with various different awards!
When I started this, my intention was to have just a few basic categories such as Best Food, Best Service, Best Ambience, etc.
But soon I got carried away and came up with more categories such as Best Hawker Stall and Best Hidden Gem! They even have nominees a la Oscars!
Rules: All winners are determined by me, obviously. The judge’s (my) decision is final. All disputes would be ignored. Each winner gets a little doughnut trophy that I have made with love (I meshed a frosted doughnut with a world cup trophy), and a chance to thank me by offering me a free meal!
Disclaimer: I know there are many other good and perhaps even better eating establishments out there that I have not included. But the only eligible ones are those that I have actually visited in 2006. So please don’t come asking me why I didn’t include this particular restaurant and that particular restaurant.
All restaurant descriptions would be brief since I have already written full reviews previously. All included links lead to my past reviews that you can read as you go down the list!
Check it out!
Nominees:
Winner: graze
Runner-up: Giraffe
graze wins the best service award for having a team of very professional waiters and waitresses that actually know their stuff. Have you ever visited a restaurant where you asked for recommendations, the waiter(ess) simply pointed to the food items on the menu that are highlighted with the little chef’s icon (as if you didn’t already know)? Or worse still, recommended something that was hideous!
Well, not at graze. The staff here are well-versed in the food menu. More props to them for being highly attentive and dedicated to the diners.
Nominees:
Winner: Giraffe
Runner-Up: The Olive Ristorante
For me, the ambience of a restaurant is very important especially if I was going to spend a couple of hours in there. Giraffe trumps all the other restaurants in this area. Built mostly out of glass, this place oozes chic and style! It gets cozy at night with candle lights, lounges, and even a private garden!
Nominees:
Winner: Turkuaz
Runner-Up: Eclectic Attic
Being a designer, I am a stickler for beauty and all things pretty. There are a number of stylish-looking and beautiful restaurants, so it’s difficult to pick one that looks the best. Beauty is so subjective!
I chose Turkuaz in the end. Not only is the restaurant very uniquely and beautifully decorated, its lady owner has such an eye for detail that even the smallest thing, such as a napkin holder can look so pretty!
Nominees:
Winner: Royal Copenhagen Tea Lounge & Restaurant
Runner-Up: The V Tea Room
As most of you already know, I am so not a tea person. Yet I can’t deny that there are enough quaint tea boutiques out there that they really do deserve a category of their own! I happen to like all four nominees. But since I have to pick one, I’ll go for Royal Copenhagen. They serve not just good tea, but good tea served in expensive tableware.
Nominees:
Winner: tcc
Runner-Up: Pacific Coffee Company
I have been a faithful customer ever since the tcc chain started four years ago. Being a coffee lover, I am drawn to their huge selections of the various types of coffee. My favourites include the Blue Mountain coffee and Java Arabica. Besides the wide coffee range, tcc also serves yummy food and desserts. The service is almost always worthy of a five-star rating that puts the other coffee chains to shame.
Nominees:
- Cafébiz at Traders Hotel
- The Rice Table Indonesian Restaurant
- Sakura
- Straits Café at Rendezvous Hotel
- Town Restaurant at the Fullerton Hotel
Winner: Cafébiz at Traders Hotel
Runner-Up: Town Restaurant at the Fullerton Hotel
A good buffet comprises of 1) a huge spread of food, 2) quality on top of quantity, 3) regular replenishments of food 4) prompt clearing of plates and good service 5) a chocolate fountain! Cafébiz at Traders Hotel has all five and more – actual lobsters and crabs. Yum!
Nominees:
- The Rice Table Indonesian Restaurant
- Sakae Sushi Supper Buffet
- Sakura
- Siam Kitchen
- Sizzler Salad Bar
Winner: Sakura
Runner-Up: The Rice Table Indonesian Restaurant
While most good buffets tend to be rather expensive, there are some that offer much value for money; you get decent food without having to burn a hole in your pocket! Sakura offers a delectable buffet spread with a range that probably surpasses any hotel buffet! The best part? It doesn’t even cost more than 30 bucks per person for a weekend dinner buffet in town!
Nominees:
Winner: Chippy British Take Away
Runner-Up: Pret a Manger
Take-out food outlets are ubiquitous. They ensure that those of us who are in a hurry need not hurry about on an empty stomach. Having to choose between Chippy British Take Away and Pret a Manger for the best take-out award was a tough call. Both coincidentally originate from Britain. In the end I picked chippy because their cheesy curry chicken is really something to die for. Plus, extra brownie points to them for having fried Mars Bars!
Nominees:
- The Balcony Bar
- The BLooiE’s Roadhouse Bar & Grill
- Café Iguana
- IndoChine Clarke Quay
- Wala Wala
Winner: Café Iguana
Runner-Up: None
I frequented quite a number of pubs last year. The Balcony Bar looked promising when it was newly opened. Sadly, the place now looks like it badly needs a scrub, especially around its once comfie sofa-beds. My vote for the Best Bar of 2006 goes to Café Iguana for having the most vibrant atmosphere, a very diverse collection of liquors, and for generously giving me free drinks all the time.
Okay, so what if I’m biased?
Winner: Brewerkz
Runner-Up: None
My perpetual beer-binging spirit these days has led me to hang out at Brewerkz quite a bit. I haven’t tasted a single beer from here that I didn’t like! I heard there’s this beer place at Millenia Walk too. Until I check out that place, Brewerkz holds my doughnut trophy for serving the best beer.
Nominees:
- Best Satay (Stalls #7 & 8)
- Botak Jones
- Gu Zao Ren Seafood Taiwan Porridge
- Niqqi’s the Cheese Prata Shop
- Rong Guang
Winner: Botak Jones
Runner-Up: Gu Zao Ren Seafood Taiwan Porridge
I’m a firm believer that the best and most authentic Singapore food is found in hawker centres. 4 out of the 5 nominees are stalls I have frequented for a few years, so they are all very good and very consistent.
Botak Jones is a place I discovered just last year and has wowed me to no end. Their American-sized portions of burgers, steaks and hot dogs are a huge draw with the crowds, with people willing to wait an hour for their food!
Nominees:
Winner: Lagnaa
Runner-Up: Eclectic Attic
Hidden gems are the good restaurants that most people do not know about, mainly due to a poor location and lack of publicity, which is why I’m here to help! I fell in love with Lagnaa and its unique bare foot dining concept some months back. Ever since then, I have religiously recommended this North Indian restaurant to many of my friends. It’s a pity that some people can’t bring themselves to stomach North Indian cuisine, which in my opinion has the most colourful and vibrant tastes among all foods.
Eclectic Attic is another hidden gem. Although it is smack right in the middle of Plaza Singapura, undoubtedly one of the busiest and most crowded malls in Singapore, most people haven’t realised that it has a cozy café within that is excellent for high tea.
And now, finally, I bring you the best restaurants of the year 2006!
Winner: graze
graze has been mentioned and raved about a number of times in my blog, and yet it’s only been a short one month since I first knew of the place! Everything about graze is awesome, be it the food, ambience or service. I have no complaints! graze is the only eating establishment to grab two of my precious doughnut trophies – Best Service and Best Restaurant of the Year.
Congratulations, Aussie head chef Matthew Lawdorn. You have done an excellent job!
Runner-Up: Blue Ginger
The runner-up for Best Restaurant of the Year is Blue Ginger, a Peranakan place. It’s been months since I dined there, yet the taste remains vivid. It’s not very often when you go to a restaurant for the first time not knowing exactly what to order, and end up liking every single thing you ordered. But that’s exactly what happened with me at Blue Ginger!
After the slew of outstanding restaurants, who’s game to enter the hall of shame? I bring you, the scum of the pack, also known as the Worst Restaurants of the Year!
Winner (or Loser): The Mushroom Pot
Damn! It’s been more than half a year since I went to the Mushroom Pot at the national stadium. I wouldn’t have been there if not for the coldplay concert (which was awesome, by the way). My blood still boils at the extremely bad service and mediocre food, and I wouldn’t even bother wasting more time and breath describing my horrid experience.
Runner-Up: Happy Pay Steamboat
With Chinese New Year just around the corner, many families would be looking for a nice steamboat restaurant to dine at. Tian Tian Huo Guo a.k.a. Happy Pay Steamboat (I cringe as I type that) has been advertising aggressively on television in recent days, which is why I must warn everyone that dining there is a really bad idea. What kind of steamboat restaurant charges for soup? It’s like buying a book and being made to pay additional for the pages inside!
Interestingly none of the winners are Chinese establishments, while both the Worst Restaurants of the Year are. Coincidence? This has been a rather lengthy post for what is meant to be just a summing up of things. I hope you guys find this useful!
Update: Singeo has done up a nice map with the geographical representation of all winners and nominees.
Feb 12, 2007
16
haha… who’s this fella “NOTvalueformoney”.. if you actually read the blog properly, there IS a disclaimer.
I guess we can’t satisfy everybody.
“beauty is in the eye of the beholder”.. in this case…”gastronomy is in the mouth of the beholder”
okie, let’s eat!
Feb 13, 2007
3472
Haha when someone leaves remarks like that that add no value whatsoever to the discussion or this post, and doesn’t even have the guts to leave an actual name/nickname or email address, he or she is nothing more than a retard to me.
Feb 13, 2007
4
Well, it’s just sad when some people cannot be constructive in their comments. Even if you want to complain, do so with informing and improving in mind! Did you have a bad experience at Sakura? The food wasn’t nice at all? Share with the rest of us!
Feb 21, 2007
10
hello =) went to cafebiz at trader’s hotel with a friend for lunch,but didnt get to see the alaskan king crab or the lobster..tink they changed the buffet spread..awww…was so lookinh forward to the king crab especially after seeing your description..but still the food was not bad..
Feb 22, 2007
1
thank you for all ur posts! they are very helpful! hope you’ll continue to post feedback on the buffets u’ve tried!
u r great!
Feb 22, 2007
3472
damien: Awww… I wonder if they serve different buffets at different times of the day/week. That may explain the absence of the good stuff!
andrea: Thanks babe!
Mar 24, 2007
1
thanks for doing up these reviews, it is like my bible to good food slash eating places in singapore! keep them rolling in :) cheers.
Mar 27, 2007
1
Hi Veron, appreciate your entry.. gives me more ideas on where to bring my gf for makan… and as for the beer place at millenia walk, its called Paulaner Brauhaus. They have their own microbrewery and follows a traditional german recipe.. if you are hungry, they serve this pan of mixed sausages. My gf especially fancied the cheese sausages.. do check it out ya!!
and i recall you mentioning you have not visited My Secret Garden yet… jz wanna share my experience..went there recently with my gf for our anniversary.. at the table besides us was a french couple.. think the guy made some arrangements with the boss prior to going there.. out came a plate of ice cream desserts with words written in french (i think) with chocolate.. and down he went on one knee to propose.. I guess this highly endorses the ambience there ya… =) PS.. in case you are curious… she said yes..
Apr 29, 2007
1
Best Buffet should be the Japanese buffet at J Toshi, M Hotel.
or
Masala Art at opp excelsior hotel…
Trader’s hotel really SUCKED.
May 19, 2007
1
hi, u must check out this 30yrs restaurant, moti mahal (north indian cuisine) @ 18 murray st .tel 62214338
i must say they are the best in authentic north indain food.
do make apoint to review this restaurant.
kash
May 30, 2007
1
For Indian Visitors to Singapore
NEVER eat at Indian restaurants like Tandoori, Bombay Dreams or Sitara in Little India – esp when you book your dinners in India through travel agents.
These restaurants do not have capacity to cater to huge travel groups of 100+ at a time & hence there is chaos esp in vacation time when entire lot of about 10 coachfull of tourists enter at 8 pm for dinner.
There is a long que for food & it takes 1 hour to get food & then all sitting tables are booked & if empty, there are a lot of “leftovers” which are shabbilly cleaned by miniscule hotel staff for next batch to sit comfortably in clean atmosphere. All toursists are made to eat like dogs & hence its best not to pay upfront for Indian dinner in Indi & instead – visit other Indian restaurants & eat “Aa La carte”, which may be only slightly costlier, but much peaceful & cleaner. May 2007
Jun 3, 2007
1
One more addition to the worst restaurants- Spice Junction on Race course road. Bad food ( their buffet is cold,and the waiters dont bother when you tell them). I initially thought the waiters were at least cordial-but dont be fooled. They can be quite unhelpful, if you try asking for simple favors. The manage in particular is quite arrogant.
Jun 14, 2007
7
Hey Veron
I’ve commented on this post in the past, just thought i’d update you on a merchant i’m familiar with.
Have you heard of Swiss Culture in Suntec? i think you’ve highlighted them before. Anyway, it was arguably the best meal i’ve had this year. The boss Raymond has just opened another outlet at Pasir Ris Park called Beach Culture.
~from the initial pics, it looks damn cool, a sure fire winner.
http://www.beachculture.com.sg/about.htm
Anyway, i’m not getting paid to promote it, but its a win-win deal since he’s one of my supporting merchants for my company’s Social Enterprise privilege program.
As for you Veron, do you want to get paid an easy $15 per merchant you visit and blog about? it could be any merchant from F&B, fashion, wellness, lifestyle, entertainment etc..
its simple- visit the merchant, talk to the boss, get them onboard as advertisers for my Social Enterprise website (its free advertising for the merchants, so you don’t have to sell anything) and we’ll pay you $15! It’s a freelance position.
i think i mentioned this in the past.. but you were way too busy :P
gimme a buzz if you or anyone you know is keen :)
[email protected]
Jun 17, 2007
1
Hey to all,
I was looking for good restaurant when I found your blog… Very well written!!!
Things 1 agree:
1. Tian tian steamboat is the worst steambpat experience I had..
2. I agree about the Giraffe not serving ice water even when ordering food and drinks is unacceptable – as far as the Singapore competitive context, other than that, good food and nice place.
Have you thought of awarding the best ice cream ? I have a suggestion for Japanese ice cream…. They claim the best green tea ice cream – Stall name is Uzumaki or something… Very nice…
(Just a thought…:)
Have a great weekend to all!!
Jacq
Jun 18, 2007
3472
Best Ice Cream! Now that’s an idea I might consider, although I must confess I don’t eat ice cream that much. Gotta give that Japanese ice cream a try some day. I walk past the Uzumaki stall at Bugis Junction all the time but have never thought of getting one for myself.
Jun 18, 2007
7
Hi
speaking about ice-cream, You visited the latest Aussie franchise in Singapore? Its called Cold Rock- located at Holland village. Just opened this week and the crowds are packin in!
Got a few aussie companies in s’pore these days such as:
-Gloria Jeans Coffee
-Video Ezy
-Boost Juice
-Jurlique Spa
-Hogs Breath Cafe etc etc…
You ever thought about doing a blog review of merchants all originating from the SAME COUNTRY? have like a ‘world cup’ of food & beverage :)
lastly, visited Giraffe & Cod Fish in Toa Payoh recently based on your blogs… one word for both…”expensive”!
(however, food & service was generally quite good)
Jul 4, 2007
1
yo guys or Veron , actually i am currently doin a research on which restaurant gives n provide the best service tat u got nothing to say . do u have any in mind pls post it on the site. many tks to u Veron and others. Cheers !
Jul 22, 2007
1
nice post… really helpfull