When I thought eating local food at Raffles Hotel had to be a ripoff, here comes Cafe Oriental at Amara to redefine ripoff.
Ok, that should set the tone of this post right.To be honest, unless it's on company's tab or with overseas colleagues, I normally would not recommend heading to hotels to eat local food. It's almost confirmed and verified and certified a thousand times over - overpriced and overvalued and possibly, not the best rendition ever.
Now, WHY did I end up there? Not my choice, but by convenience.
Nasi Padang ($14.50)
Chicken satay with peanut sauce and nasi goreng with fried egg, achar, fried chicken drumlets, ikan billis and belachan
Compact in a bento set, the compartments were well-filled by a plethora of local treats - reminded me of those gorgeous looking shinkansen lunch boxes in Japan. Pretty to look at, bad to eat? Not quite the case thankfully!
Not quite THE nasi goreng but the flavours were well executed..at least it was the most palatable of the lot!
Cod Fish Bee Hoon Soup ($15.40)
The companion with non-fussy tastes cleaned out his bowl so that did not say very much except the chunks of cod fish were drooliciously thick!
Kueh Pie Tee ($5.50, 3 pcs)
Served in a bowl, it completely masked the daintiness of these little Peranakan treats. The kueh pie tee shells were barely crispy, topped with a turnip and a pretty prawn. One mouth is all it took.
Popiah ($3.90 per roll)
Has to be our town's most expensive popiah roll! At a premium of 4 buckeroos, the only other additions I get from the usual ones that would go at $1.50 or even $2 a roll is sliced preserved sausage. If it had been Ann Chin standard, I would have absolutely no qualms.
This was soggy, uneven distribution of chilli and it could barely be lifted from the plate without disintegrating.
Messy sight to behold to have my popiah deconstruct itself before I could even consume it.
Yam Paste with Gingko Nuts
The worst orh nee eaten? A thunderous YES. Pasty bland yam liquid with a drizzle of coconut milk and gingko nuts. Nothing left to comment on it.
Durian Chendol ($4.90)
At least some decency here, potent durian pulp on shaved ice and a meagre portion of beans and hardened jellies. I actually liked the attap chee best.
Ice Kachang ($4.90)
The companion deemed it "okay".
Call me a skeptic but even with Hill Street Char Kway Teow...I'd think twice if ever they were guest starring in St Regis. The ambience, location and "service" charges would somehow discount the flavour by a hundred times back.
High crass food, I shall conclude.Imagine me in that slang and lips pursed in an irritated fashion. Hawker food should be limited to the smoky surroundings - where they are found best, hawker centers. The food served up is perhaps good to kid foreigners that this is truly what we can offer...and I say, never back again.
Cafe Oriental
Amara Hotel
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