January 4, 2006
Island Cafe
After reading a few reviews about the newly renovated Island Cafe at the third floor of Tangs Shopping Centre, olduvai and I decided to give it a try one afternoon.
The interior was nicely done up in earthy tones, giving it a Balinese resort feel to the place.
Seen through the glass windows, the canopy of the trees along Orchard Road provided the place with added greenery thus complementing the interiors.
This is the Asian Platter consisting of fried wantons, spring rolls, satay, fried chicken wings and drumsticks, and coleslaw. The food was very forgettable and I'm really hard-pressed to find anything good to say about it.
The Black Pepper Crab Tang Hoon is supposed to be one of their specialties. But we found the tang hoon way too peppery and dry for our liking. The crab was dipped in batter and deep-fried and it didn't taste very good either.
While it's not fair to judge the place just by two dishes, I would only say I'm very disappointed with the two dishes I had. Perhaps the reviewers had some other dishes and they tasted good. Still, I don't think I want to go there for mains. Maybe for tea as it's a good place to rest one's legs in mid-afternoon after thronging the shops in Orchard Road!
Posted by DSD at January 4, 2006 9:05 AMah, i've always liked island cafe bec it's a quiet spot away from the madding crowd. food is ok though not scintillating as u say. i always have the laksa. the red rubies - tried recently - weren't fantastic either. =)
Posted by: a l at January 4, 2006 10:37 AMcldn't be bothered to review it! hehe. i shall just provide a link to this review instead...
Posted by: olduvai at January 4, 2006 4:17 PMSame sentiments here. I went there about two weeks ago, and found the quality of the food over-rated by the press. We had the grilled taupok (average), prawn noodle soup (above average), crayfish horfun (totally tasteless, think they forgot to add soy sauce), and nasi goreng (below average). Somehow, I feel that the food tasted better before the refurbishment. Service was lacking too.
Posted by: Julia at January 6, 2006 3:29 AM