
braised whole pig trotters – S$18
bought 2 x $100 groupon vouchers at S$49.90ea & went with my OPS friends to feng bo zhuang 风波庄 on 16.8.2016. ^^
it’s a kungfu themed restuarant. the dishes were all named after famous 武侠小说stories. when you settle the bill they called you 大侠 and said 后会有期. but then what’s the use of gimmicks & superficial stuff when a service philosophy is lacking?
have to highlight that service was bad & extremely unco-operative. they were not outwardly rude but refused to help with the menu & any questions. basically “difficult to suggest anything, it’s up to you what you like to order”.
there were many instances, and not just an isolated server. both servers & manager were all uncooperative. maybe they did not like us using groupons…lol…

the dishes
anyway i changed from lao sichuan to this place because some may not take too spicy food.
so basically 2 of us ordered only 1 spicy dish & the rest items non spicy.

xiaolongbao小笼包 – S$8
my immediate reaction & comment “xiaolongbao小笼包 looks like a disaster!”.

xiaolongbao小笼包 – S$8
very little soup, skin not smooth, fortunately the filling was tasty.
so in fact one friend commented she would order this dish if she come here again.
it’s a matter of whether one is looking for a reasonably good dish or a good xiaolongbao小笼包.
this was NOT a good xiaolongbao小笼包 (like the very good ones we had recently at paradise dynasty @ ONEKM)
but it’s a reasonably good dish. for myself though, i would not order this as there are other dishes here at good price to try.

steamed scallops – S$20
we all agreed the steamed scallops was the worst dish. no taste la!
not so difficult to do leh, scallops or razor clams….

steamed frog legs – S$18
the steamed frog legs were strangely also much below par, not tasty. maybe it had to be taken with the sauce.

steamed froglegs – S$18
must say the photos actually looked alright, but quite tasteless??

spicy sour veg fish 酸菜鱼 – S$20
i was ordering only one spicy dish. they did not have my favourite 水煮鱼, so i ordered spicy sour veg fish 酸菜鱼.

spicy sour veg fish 酸菜鱼 – S$20
some found it spicy. for me it was not spicy, but for me水煮鱼 is not about being spicy or numb but that it is very flavourful – “pang” c/w with this.
one friend felt the snake head fish was not very fresh. for me it felt ok.

braised whole pig trotters – S$18
the best dish for the evening was the braised whole trotter.
very flavourful, tender, not old, & just the right texture. even the lean meat was good.
quite surprising! it was not just above expectations but very good even c/w good restaurants, and at S$18 before groupon discounts. ^^

duck soup – S$18
we had the duck soup medium.
it was very tasty soup, not like itek tim with special flavours of sour plum or orange peel & salted vegetables, but just a very tasty soup & quite nice duck.

娃娃菜baby cabbage with prawns – S$12
the 娃娃菜with prawns was ok, an average dish.

娃娃菜 baby cabbage with prawns – S$12
had some prawns, but not sure it made any difference.

百叶 fried gluten puff – S$6
so the forgoing we had 7 dishes for 7pax. trotters excellent, duck soup very good, spicy fish i still like, xiaolongbao & vege ok, the other 2 dishes quite poor.
one friend decided to order 2 more dishes to try.

百叶 fried gluten puff – S$6
i liked the 百叶 – fried gluten puff.

百叶 – fried gluten puff with minced pork – S$10
flavour was strong & unique, maybe a bit of sesame oil & slightly tangy. 🙂

百叶 – fried gluten puff. with minced pork – S$10
like the 百叶 – fried gluten puff. with minced pork too.
overall bill was S$138.50. there was no GST no service charge. with the groupon S$100 voucher costing S$49.90, dinner with 9 dishes for 7pax was about S$88.
i would often tip the servers(>10% of the nett price) if there was no service charge & especially when there was a good groupon discounts & food & service were good, like at uncle leong.
would have done the same here but service was non existent la…
so i do think food was ok, above average & good value for the price. also as we were not familiar with the menu & with no help form the servers, that explained few misses.
recently, the same OPS friend treated us to a zi char dinner at quan ji 权记 at amoy street food centre, S$102 for 6 dishes for 7pax.
food was good, tasty, good portions & i enjoyed very much & will go back.
& he eats often at the place so he knows all the good dishes to order.
so i would say if it were just food alone, and this is an aircon restaurant ambience c/w a hawker centre table, the groupon deal is rather worthwhile.. & though you don’t have groupon all the time, even S$138 for 9 dishes w/o discounts were ok if we ordered the right dishes.
the thing about bad services is whether one is bothered by it. there are nazi chefs, & places with zero service but if you know what dishes to order & no interactions required, zero service may not matter.
for me, i don’t rule out going back altogether but also not in a hurry to la…
c.h.e.f andy
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Like this:
Like Loading...