Indulge (The Cathay)

Having heard much good things about the Indulge from online forums and websites, i decided to make a trip down that same day i had my anniversary with my gf. In fact, this came after Braise and was an early dinner for us. Touted as a reasonably priced and good gourmet food restaurant, it had alot to live up to. Did it meet expectations though?

Location: B1-26 The Cathay 2 Handy Road

Contact: 67323952

Website: www.theindulge.com.sg

Price Range: $35-40 per head

Signboard

Interior

Menu

Indulge Yourself ($6.50)

Indulge Special ($7.50)

The interior is decorated with art pieces, soft lighting and simple chairs for a simplistic yet comfortable touch. Fronting the door is the bar were drinks are prepared while the restaurant has a seating capacity of about 30 people. The drinks were recommended by the waiter who informed that the drinks were made using real juice. The Indulge Yourself drink is made of half mango and half strawberry juice which was actually decent but the novelty wears off after a while. The Indulge special has mango, watermelon and a blue coral mix which was also cooling but extremely sweet.

Crispy Prawn Tossed with garlic mayo and sunflower seeds

Quite a mouthful in terms of a name but in actuality, it has much in common with the wasabi prawn. The batter is thin and crispy while the mayo is decidedly fragrant enough to warrant a taste. I did find the prawns a tad too small and the serving size too little but thats also testament to me wanting to have more of the dish.

Szechuan Sweet and Spicy Soup

Having not gotten the mild pumpkin soup ready in the kitchen, the chef nicely told us of the alternative of having a special szechuan soup which i feel is actually pretty good. Sweet, sour and spicy, it has some of the Szechuan flavor one might come to expect. Its not very strong though so it comes across as just right. I could have a second bowl of this easily.

Pan Seared Salmon in Kung Po Sauce

We asked to change the lemon sauce salmon for the pan seared kung po salmon as it was one of the winning dishes this restaurant has produced for the Singapore excellent food awards. Alas, i beg to understand how this dish could ever win? The salmon was pan fried too dry with the meat being dry, hard and lacking taste. No doubt the kung po sauce is excellent but the salmon itself totally disappointed me and my gf. Not to mention the size of the salmon was decidedly small. Its quite a let down actually.

Grilled Ribeye With Braised Mushroom

Another Look

Another award winning dish for excellent food awards, i was also disappointed as the meat was tasteless and could only pass for average at best. The presentation is pretty good but tastewise, it leaves much to be desired. In fact, i was constantly given the impression that these dishes were sold short as they were included in a budget set dinner menu but thats just me i suppose.

Passion Fruit Panna Cotta With Chocolate Ice Cream

The panna cotta is blurred off in the back of the picture. The ice cream is average at best. Supermarket quality if i'm not wrong but the panna cotta tasted fresh, sweet and smooth enough to recommend. Now if they could give a full cup of it instead of 1/3 cup, that would be great.

Bill

The final bill clocked in at $72.75 for 2 people. Its a real mixed bag but to me, my hopes were built too high and the drop too steep to feel the meal justified.

Overall Score: 6/10

Last Word:

The place had a lot going for it. Multiple awards, good reviews, nice set meal ideas but overall is let down by the huge hype it built and the rather lackluster main courses that were supposed to be the stars. Maybe the actual full payment for the course will yield better results but i'm sadly not going to return.

Breeks

It was my colleague, Florence's birthday that we decided as a team to go down to Changi Airport for a quick get together lunch with the entire team and the boss. Well, Breeks has been around for at least 15 years if i'm not mistaken and has been serving unbiased and unpretentious western fast food for the masses since its inception. Its strong points according to its website are its fish and chips and its chicken of which i have yet to try honestly.

Location: Terminal 2 #036-087-01 Level 3 Viewing Mall North

Contact: 65431339

Website: http://www.zingrill.com.sg/zingrill/

Price Range: $30-40 per head

Clam Chowder Soup

Its definitely thicker then usual campbells soup and there is quite a good variety of condiments and bread in the soup. Not lacking in the taste department at all and in fact, its pretty satisfying for a starter.

Safari Feast ($14.50)

As we were trying to decide which other starter we should have, the waitress informed us of the safari feast which included everything we needed to have. Criss cut fries, chicken drumlets, fried fish and some deep fried shrimp. Sinful stuff. Anyway, we ordered the feast and were delighted that they gave us 5 drumlets instead of 4 which was the norm. Great service on that one. The fries were golden, thick and crispy, the wings were crispy, spicy and juicy which were both good. The shrimp and fish were alright though it could be better as they somehow lacked much taste.

Hotplate Salmon Steak ($16.90)

Fish and Shrimp Lafayette ($15.90)

Baked Seafood Rice ($14.90)

Leaving you with the photos as i didn't get to eat much. I did try the seafood rice which was decent but not outstanding, the fish lafayette was alright as well but not fantastic. My boss had the chicken melt which was actually quite tender and fragrant but also, not fantastic. Honestly, that holds true for my main course as well.

Pan seared Black Pepper Fish Spaghetti ($16.90)

The spaghetti is worth mentioning as it was done al dente and worked well with the tomato based sauce it came with. The black pepper fish itself was also done pretty well but lacked the sweetness it should to be above average as the black pepper tended to mask the taste. However, in its defense, the fish was soft and seared well to retain its juices. The garden salad was a good choice to neutralize the taste when it overwhelmed as well.

Bill

Total bill came up to $134.10 for 7 people which averaged about $20 per head. Not too expensive but the quality needs improvement.

Overall Score: 6/10

Last word:
The place was surprisingly quiet for lunch and the seats were more or less free to choice. Service was pretty good but lacking finesse and the food has lots of room for improvement. However, for simple unpretentious fast food which it really is, it gets the job done. Just don't expect me to return when there are so many other better places around.