Jurong HillTop Restuarant

Jurong Hilltop Restaurant was an ad hoc dinner we had due simply because the other venue we had planned has been closed down (oh the horror!!) and so, since i traveled half of Singapore already to be there, I wasn't going to leave till I at least had a semi-decent meal. And since blogger friend FatPig was there to bring us up the hill, we persevered, climbed and conquered huge-O Jurong Hill for our little rendezvous.

Address: Jurong Hill above Jurong Bird Park

Contact: 62663522 or 62651538

Price Range: $30 per head

The Feeling Of Being Horribly Lost

The View From the Top (Jurong Island)

The Path into Restuarant


The Entrance

I'll be honest, i would almost never have found the place had it not been for my friend. There was a long winding dark road up to the restaurant which simply isn't the kind of road i would willingly drive up for fun. And when we found it, i was surprised to see many people already there, which was quite a surprise as this location was, to me at least, an extremely ulu place. So maybe it serves good food @ a reasonable price?

Appetisers

The appetizers were pretty normal but served its intended purpose of whetting my appetite.

The Chef In Action

We had a moderately young chef who was quite chatty with our overly friendly buddy we brought for a treat.

Stir Fried Venison with ginger and pepper ($16)

The venison was tender and sweet but i suppose its possible to have almost the same quality at normal zhi ca outside minus the show and having a lot more msg and oil. So, in light of health concerns, i'd prefer this one.

Pork ($14)

I found the pork a tad dry at first but later discovered some parts to be more evenly cooked than others. Still, a pretty nicely done dish (that means alot mind you, i'm not a pork lover)

Tofu ($8 for 2 servings)

A must-have staple dish for me. The tofu they have is of the egg bean curd variety which is decent, smooth and soft in texture but i can't help feeling its possible to get this from any grocery store outside. It certainly doesn't look or taste like it was made in-house nor does it feel imported but i may be wrong. Still, tofu is something i must have whenever its offered and this is passable.

Fresh Mushroom ($10 for 2 servings)

As the name implies, fresh mushroom is indeed fresh. Nicely done, succulent and tasty. Pity about the portion though, which was rather small after being split into 3 portions.

Bean sprouts Aka Dao gay

The filler section for the menu. You can't expect to be full after eating only the meats do you? And also, which teppenyaki would be complete without a good healthy serving of bean sprouts? This one was good as it didn't have the 'greenish' vegetable taste that happens when bean sprouts are not cooked properly. It was neither too salty nor too oily either which is very good.

The preparation

Love the flames!

Sirloin Steak Completed ($22)

From what i understand about the fire procedure, its very dangerous for the chef as his hands may have residue of oil and catch fire during the process resulting in severe burns. However, its supposed to be a necessary process to cook the beef to a suitable level of 'doneness'? Correct me if i'm wrong please.
For the sirloin, the initial reaction is that its still a little tough maybe because it was slightly overcooked. It thus lacked the juiciness of whole steaks which i liked but in its cube form, this is still quite good. FatPig did comment that the meat wasn't really fresh though.

Bill

The meal came up to be about $85 for 3 people.

Score:

Ambience: 7/10
Food : 6/10
Value for Money: 6/10
Portion Size: 6.5/ 10
Service : 6/10

(Could have been more if it wasn't for this irritating waiter who couldn't do his basic job of 'waiting' and kept barging in to feel my tea cup)

Overall: 6.3/10

Last Word:

The place was pretty nice despite being found in an out-of-the-way location and i'm pretty sure its been there for quite some time given the number of people who willingly trekked there to eat. The food is pretty good and portion size was reasonable since it could be split by 3 people filling us up reasonably well. Its worth a visit for the experience and some nice Japanese Teppenyaki. The peace and quiet is also very much appreciated after the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

Just a shot of the guy who was the star of the day

Taken when we were relaxing with our complimentary ice creams after our meal. This guy is Terry and he volunteered to have his face put on my blog. He's single, so girls, go get him!

Ti Amor

This was where we hung out after our not-so-filling meal for more finger food, chat and simple drink. Ti Amor is found across Mcdonald's in Serangoon Central, do visit it as its a pretty nice place to chill out as you can see. =)

Bliss @ Punggol Park

Bliss is a feeling of happiness or absolute pleasure, a feeling i believe many would love to feel at all times if it is possible. So what does a restuarant that goes by that same word offer? A feeling of Bliss? Or a feeling of unhappiness? That was what i was there to decide.

(It is of course unreasonable to assume a restuarant can give you the feeling of happiness alone. The company you are with factors as well but i'm digressing. =P)

Address: Hougang Avenue 8, Singapore 530000

Contact: 62803389

Email: blissrestaurant@hotmail.com

Price Range: $20 per head

The Entrance (from the carpark)

The View from our seat (Punggol Park)

Restuarant Exterior for Alfresco Diners

More External Shots

From our seat

The 'Friendly' Warning

Yet again, i brought my gf for dinner on this day. This time at a location much closer to home. This restaurant has been featured on television before for its unique location and quality of its food. The program raved about its food but i've never been a believer of commercial reviews so its more or less my own thoughts right here.
For starters, i liked the environment and the view. The location is quiet and though there were quite a few people there, it didn't come across as packed as there were plenty of leg space for everyone which is what i like.

(Bliss Special) Crab meat soup

My gf ordered a bliss special meal which consisted of a soup, main course and a dessert. All for $13.90 which was quite a shock for me as the price was rather low for what i envisioned to be a medium priced location. I was however, soon to realise why it could come at such a price.
The crab meat soup they served was not unlike the broth used in shark's fin soup. It had little pieces of carrot, radish, some crab meat and quite a bit of pepper. Nothing amazing but what do you expect for the price eh?

Stella Artois ($7.50)

Our drink for the day. A word of caution, the place DOES NOT SERVE cold water. So you MUST buy a drink. On further notice, i realise the place serves a pretty decent selection of wine, mostly old world wines at a pretty hefty price. If my memory serves me well, it does not serve wine by the glass. @ $7.50 a bottle, it does strike me as rather expensive for a simple beer but i may just be a miser. =P

Baked Seafood Rice ($14.90)

My main course of the day. It was a rather large serving so that earns it plus points. Beneath the thick layer of cheese contains 2 medium sized prawns, 2 huge mussels and assorted pieces of fish interlaced with the rice. Not to mention the 2 squid rings you see on top.
To be honest, i was rather excited when i got my dish. It smelled great and i love tomato based stuff, be it pasta or rice. And looking at the huge serving with the ingredients they offered just made my mouth water. However, it looks better then it tastes honestly, so that really disappointed me. Don't get me wrong, the rice was great and so was the cheese layer but the crucial part of its seafood just didn't quite cute it for me. The prawns were moderately fresh but the mussel and squid ring couldn't be called good which is such a waste considering the nicely done rice. Overall, this is passable but the seafood alone was not worth the money.

(Bliss Special) Smoked Salmon Pasta

Once again, the presentation of the dish is excellent. The serving of salmon it came with was quite generous i must say. However, the salmon didn't taste fresh yet again, just like the seafood in my baked rice. I would have really liked if they could give reasonably fresh seafood for their dishes, because the pasta tasted pretty well done as did the rice. Maybe the chef's specialty is actually in these instead of seafood? Because it sure tasted that way. The pasta was springy and had enough seasoning to make it taste slightly salty yet not overbearing. Needless to say, the pasta was finished but the salmon remained.

Tiramisu ($5.90)

This disappointed me to no end. I wanted a good dessert to end the rather mundane dinner offering but it just didn't do the dessert justice. The top layer was way too soft and watery as was the bottom layer. The rum soaked and completely destroyed the cake layer beneath and worse, the rum didn't taste like rum at all! This has got to be the worst tiramisu i've had thus far. Do NOT try it.

Not shown is my gf's dessert which is also equally bad. Mango ice cream from a really bad manufacturer i suspect. Not worth mentioning as well.

Bill: Total bill for 2 came up to $42.20

Score:

Ambience: 6/10
Food : 5.5/10
Value for Money: 5.5/10
Portion Size: 6.5/ 10
Service : 6.5/10
Overall: 6/10

Last Word:

I like the place and the lack of service charge and GST. I also like the rice and spaghetti but the seafood really didn't do anything for me in the meal except make me sigh in disappointment. The dessert served was outrageously bad as well and the lack of iced water is simply a sin. Service was nice but difficult to get and given the bad seafood, the price to pay for this 'Blissful' meal simply wasn't worth it.