Long weekend food quips

Peach Garden at Eastwood Centre, Saturday lunch. The roast pork was oily. Yecch. Their seafood hor fun, in contrast, was done pretty well. Verdict: Standard dropped.

Outback Steak at Millenia Walk, Saturday dinner for a party of 14. I'd rate the service we had at 2 of 5. Had a half-rack of ribs which were just decent. Their Chocolate Thunder From Down Under arrived with the ice-cream half melted, but at least the brownie part of it was rich and sinful. (I just had to try one to see what it was like after this comic strip. Yes, I'm a glutton.) Verdict: So-so.

Spring Court at Upper Cross Street near Hotel 81, Sunday lunch for a party of seven. Boy, was this a disaster! This restaurant moved in recent years from East Coast Road to where it is now. We were aiming for the 76¢ Peking Duck offer - valid with food orders totalling at least $76 - but the pushy female captain (short, bespectacled.. sounds familiar maybe? I wonder..) kept trying to upsell their expensive seafood, even though we'd already ordered quite a lot. Took a bit of doing to keep shaking our heads.

It took more than 40 minutes after the last food dish was cleared from the table, and after a whole lot of chasing, for them to serve the sliced meat from the Peking Duck. At which point our stomachs had already settled, and none of us could eat any more. We ended up bringing the duck meat home. The final bill? Definitely much more than $76! Food wasn't great, I'd give it an average or below expectation. Verdict: Not going back there!

Michelangelo's at Chip Bee Gardens, Monday (May day holiday) lunch for a party of four. Sistina Pizzeria - its sister restaurant next door - wasn't open for lunch, but her pizzas were available at Michelangelo's! The calamari was decent if a little too dry, and its accompanying wasabi tartar sauce dip too mild. The pizza - Sistina's Pizza - was fabulous despite the long-ish wait, loaded with toppings, a little cheese, and served on a gorgeous crust. It sure was dark in there though:



Verdict: Pricy but gooood.

Lei Garden at CHIJMES, Monday dinner for five. In an effort to make up for the poor showing at Spring Court above, we had another (far better) round of Peking Duck, double-boiled soup, another braised duck dish, claypot garoupa and fried string beans. The fish was great and the duck dishes were pretty good; everything else fared par for the course (expectations being much higher anyway). Verdict: Reliable but pricy.

Now you guys know why I opted for salad at tea today.

Tomorrow's dinner is probably going to be at Lee Kui (Ah Hoi). I can hear the cold crab and yam paste calling already... somebody save me!