Blisshouse Theme Restaurant

I suppose this place has been instagrammed many more times than an average restaurant- the interior is so fairy-tale like that it's difficult not to resist taking too many photographs of this place! 

But fairy tales are after all, fairy tales.

Occupying a very large area on the 3rd floor of Central, this place felt very spacious.

I had the Chicken Roulade ($20). The mushroom in the supposed wild mushroom puree didn't have any of the mushroom goodness- you could see the mushroom but you couldn't taste them. The sweet chilli aioli had a strong mayonnaise taste to it without any hint of sweet chilli. The mashed potatoes were too buttery, which clashed with the mayonnaise. Thank goodness the chicken was not dry and the bacon was not too fatty.

The price of the dish probably includes the price of having the fairy tale theme. However, life is far from a fairy tale and the reality is that the food here isn't worth its price.

Blisshouse Theme Restaurant
The Central
6 Eu Tong Sen Street
#03-21
Tel No. 6 225 5532 

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L'Atelier Tiramisu

Tiramisu in Italian means "pick me up" or "make me happy". In an ideal world, all tiramisus should taste like this. Countless of tiramisus have come and gone, but only this, is worthy of praise. 

Occupying an extremely small shop space, you can ask for takeaway or make do with whatever limited space you have. 

We had the Classico ($6.80) and Lychee ($6.80). As with most food, the original is always the most comforting and endearing. Yet, the lychee tiramisu is not too shabby either. What really makes me impressed about the tiramisu here is that it does not disintegrate into an unidentifiable mess once the fork comes into contact with the tiramisu even though the lady fingers were so moist. Plus, finally it feels like someone has finally got the proportion of mascaporne cheese to lady fingers right.

The Classico had a aromatic coffee taste and it was suitably bitter-sweet. The Lychee, on the other hand, is like the younger sibling of the Classico, free and happy, without a care in the world.

Everything here is so simple yet so complicated. It takes a lot to perfect the skill to make tiramisus. Yet, the simplicity of it all (as seen from the layout of the shop and its website) also stands out. If you need a tiramisu fix, there's no where else you should be.

L'Atelier Tiramisu 
The Central & Clarke Quay
6 Eu Tong Sen Street
#B1-09 

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Chiso Zanmai

Having heard about the spread at Chiso Zanmai, we headed down to try the Japanese buffet. As the Singlish adage goes, "good things no cheap, cheap things no good." 

From the way some of the sushi were wrapped, I kept my expectations for the sushi low. Indeed, the rice was a little hard. I can't vouch for the freshness of the food also as one of the prawn sushis tasted really weird.

Deep fried food sure appeals to me. Here, you can try some Takoyaki Octopus Ball, Stir Fried Udon Noodle, Tompeiyaki Pork and Cabbage Omelette etc. Problem is most of the food were actually served cold, not sure how long ago they were cooked.

You could also make your own ramen although I gave this a miss because I didn't want to waste my stomach space on carbs.

Some of the appetisers included Chilled Tofu, Edamame, Potato Salad etc.Of all of them, I tried the Chilled Tofu which was nothing special.

More deep fried items including my favourite Prawn Tempura and White Fish. The Chawanmushi was too salty. The Deep Fried Tofu with Light Soy Sauce had a gooey layer which was quite unappetising.

Desserts are always my favourite section. The best was the green tea tiramisu as it was light and not too sweet. The rest were pretty average.  

Although $19.90++ is a really cheap price to pay for a weekend lunch buffet, I wouldn't come here again. Lots of natural lighting made this place comfortable. But the food really awaits improvement.

Chiso Zanmai
The Central
6 Eu Tong Sen Street
#02-17
Tel No.: 6 221 3177 

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Ma Maison Restaurant (The Central)

The table we were seated at Ma Maison had very good views of the Clarke Quay area. Another friend and I stopped talking because we got distracted by the lights of the G-Max Reverse Bungy. 

Nice ambience within the restaurant with a very cosy feel. I especially liked the table cloths- flower prints. Not your conventional mono-colour table cloths.

Having read reviews about the Cuttlefish Ink Spaghetti, I decided to have it!

Looking slightly unappetising, the Cuttlefish Ink Spaghetti ($15.90) was a first for me. The last time I ate anything remotely squid ink was at Skinny Pizza. Anyway, I found the squid ink too salty for my liking. It smelt really good though. At $15.90, I would have expected more ingredients, instead of the pittance of cuttlefish with some mushrooms in it. The spaghetti was cooked al dente. Note though, to wipe your mouth constantly and to have a cup of water, or you will be flashing black lips and black teeth.

Overall, the food isn't much to rave about. I have conflicting thoughts about the service. On one hand, there's this Japanese guy who's extremely friendly and helpful. On the other hand, there's this other guy who was pretty condescending. As I walked out, I told my friends, "Oh my goodness, that guy sure was, ... what's that word?" "Snobbish," my friend said. If you want to have a romantic date, here's a good place at a relatively affordable price.

Ma Maison Restaurant (The Central)
The Central @ Clarke Quay
6 Eu Tong Sen Street
#03-96
Tel No: 6327 8122 

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The Manhattan Fish Market (The Central)

One of the things my friend must eat whenever he comes back to Singapore is Manhattan Fish Market. Because it's good, filling and cheap (at least cheaper than Fish & Co). But upon checking Fish & Co's website, I realised that their pricing is more competitive than in the past. Maybe I should give it a try some other time.

MFM is having some kind of promotion for groups of 2 and 4, where you pay the same amount for a flaming platter but get a free salad and soup. It didn't apply to us because we used the Groupon. 

We bought the Groupon ($20 for $40) because we knew we weren't going to fork out money without a Groupon to try the Manhattan Flaming Seafood Platter ($35.90). Yes, it's that dish that gathers stares everytime it's served because of the aromatic grilled smell and just because, it looks pretty dramatic.

The Garlic Herb rice actually tasted somewhat like Hainanese Chicken Rice which should come as no surprise given that lots of garlic is added into chicken rice. The herb taste didn't stand out. It was also not warm when served. The four Flaming Prawns were coated with mayo and while the flaming process was interesting, had nothing special about it, except maybe the BBQ taste. The grilled fish was good, and the calamari was decent. Pity the amount of vegetables were quite sad- Two broccolis and carrot for each person. 

The food is decent but I definitely wouldn't pay $18++ (the total bill came to $42.24 for 2 people without a Groupon) per person for this. The guy who served us was friendly, although it took many mega waves before we attracted their attention for the menus. Water was also not refilled throughout the meal.

The Manhattan Fish Market (The Central)
The Central @ Clarke Quay
6 Eu Tong Sen Street
#02-79/90
Te Nol: +65 6534 7903

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