📍Graffiti Cafe @ NEX

Ambience: 5/10 ❤️❤️🤍🤍🤍
Flavor: 7/10 ❤️❤️❤️🤍🤍
Service: 6/10 ❤️❤️🤍🤍🤍
Overall: 18/30 ❤️❤️❤️🤍🤍

On a late Monday afternoon, I visited Graffiti Cafe at NEX, which is located right beside Serangoon MRT station Exit E.

I ordered (1) Set B (Wanton Noodles, Water Chestnut Drink, and a Soup), and (2) Ah Balling (Longan Soup).

Graffiti Cafe offered a very good bowl of wanton noodle that is flavourful, filling, and affordable. The fried wontons are very crispy, the noodles are Q, and with each bite, the noodle that is infused with the tomato sauce makes me want to go back for more. The Ah Balling also impressed me as well - chewy and comforting. My only complaint is that the Water Chestnut is way too diluted. It felt like I was drinking a Water Chestnut drink with ice that had been left under the sun to melt for 20 minutes.

For that, I give Graffiti Cafe a 7/10 for Flavour.

As for the ambience, Graffiti Cafe is a decent spot for a very quick meal alone, especially when you are running short of time. The area is quite cramped and if you do visit during peak hour, it can feel like you are squeezing with the rest of the diners.

For that, I give Graffiti Cafe a 5/10 for Ambience.

The food collection area is not well-planned out as it is situated in the middle of a very cramped store right in front of a sitting area. Given that it is such a cramped area, it does not give the diners and people who are taking-away much area to walk. The queue display system is also placed such that you can only view it when you are standing near it. As a result, people who are taking-away their food are forced to cramp around the collection point in the middle of the store, causing a lot of congestion and blockage for other diners who want to walk pass the area - such as to collect their utensil (which is again, poorly designed as it is placed near the cramped collection point which induces a lot of blockage). The staff on the other hand are actually relatively pleasant and friendly!

For that, I give Graffiti Cafe a 6/10 for Service.

Overall, Graffiti Cafe at NEX scored an 18/30 after combining the scores for Ambience, Flavour, and Service. To conclude, Graffiti Cafe is a comforting place for a quick meal if you are craving for an affordable yet delicious bowl of Wanton Noodle and Ah Balling.

📍Guo Fu Hotpot Steamboat @ 20 Cross Street

Ambience: 10/10 ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Flavor: 8/10 ❤️❤️❤️❤️🤍
Service: 9/10 ❤️❤️❤️❤️🤍
Overall: 27/30 ❤️❤️❤️❤️🤍

On a Saturday afternoon, I visited Guo Fu Hotpot Steamboat at 20 Cross Street, which is located 3 minute walk away from Chinatown MRT Exit F.

I ordered (1) Big Hotpot (Spicy Mala Soup + Herbal Soup), (2) Big Hotpot (Pure Tomato Soup + Spicy Mala Soup), (3) Sliced Beef, (4) Sliced Mutton, (5) Sliced Lean Pork, (6) Pig’s Liver, (7) Hog’s Skin, (8) Scallop, (9) Mussel, (10) Sliced Raw Fish, (11) Lobster Ball, (12) Salmon Fish Ball, (13) Crabmeat Stick, (14) Enoki Mushroom, (15) Sliced Special Beef, (16) Rice, (17) Pumpkin Puree, (18) You Mai Cai, (19) Sliced Lotus Root, (20) Xiao Long Bao, (21) Raw Egg, (22) Ice Plain Water, (23) Hot Chinese Tea, (24) Cuttlefish, (25) Cheese Seafood Tofu, (26) Bean Curd Skin, and (27) Quail Egg.

For a total cost of S$325, Guo Fu Hotpot Steamboat fell onto the pricer spectrum of the price scale. Nevertheless, all the ingredients that I had ordered, particularly the Sliced Beef, Sliced Mutton, Sliced Lean Pork, and Sliced Raw Fish - I felt were very fresh. The soup bases were very flavourful as well, but if you are unable to take spice well, I would not recommend their Spicy Mala Soup base because it really does have that strong kick in spice. The famed free-flow Xiao Long Bao did not disappoint as well and the free-flow Pumpkin Puree acted as a great substitute for drinks if you are not looking to pay extra for the normal drinks. The best part was that there were a few sauce bar areas within the restaurant that were filled with an extensive range of condiments and sauces which you can mix and match by yourself to craft the perfect sauce to enhance the flavour of your food.

For that, I give Singapore’s Guo Fu Hotpot Steamboat a 8/10 for Flavour.

In terms of their customer service, it was very commendable as well. Within each table, you place your order via your own mobile devices by scanning the QR code that they have provided. The downside is that only 1 mobile device within each table is allowed to send the order - even if you scan the QR code using multiple devices. I was impressed by how quickly the kitchen accepted my orders - which was within seconds, and they did make an effort to deliver my orders to me as soon as possible. If you are a regular customer there, you will also realise that the Lady Boss also comes around to check on your table to make sure that you are having a great time eating, and that the kitchen is delivering all the orders without any mistake. She also makes an effort to ask if there’s any feedback - be it negative or positive, to ensure that everything is going well. A friend of mine feedback to her that the portable air cooler wasn’t really working, and immediately, she got her staff to check on not just the identified faulty air cooler, but also the other portable air coolers in the vicinity. Such impeccable service. My only small complaint is that the kitchen does have a tendency to miss out an item or two in between my orders, which can be a little bit frustrating.

For that, I give Singapore’s Guo Fu Hotpot Steamboat a 9/10 for Service.

Guo Fu Hotpot Steamboat is genuinely the perfect spot if you are meeting with a large group of friends of not more than 10 people because the place does have the capability to allow all of you to be seated together side-by-side. To be certain that you will definitely be able to get that 8 to 10 seater table, do make sure that you make a reservation before heading to the restaurant. You are also able to make special requests during the reservation process as needed, such as requesting a Quiet Seat, Window Seat, Baby Carrier, Stroller, Assistance, and more. This really showed how much thought has been put into making their guest as comfortable as possible. The restaurant is also very big, with more than sufficient personal space at your seats, so it does not feel like you are cramming with 9 other people even if you drop by in a group of 10.

For that, I give SIngapore’s Guo Fu Hotpot Steamboat a 10/10 for Ambience.

Overall, Guo Fu Hotpot Steamboat at 20 Cross Street scored a 27/30 after combining the scores for Ambience, Flavour, and Service. To quickly conclude, while the damage in price might have been on the higher-end, but for the impeccable service and quality ingredients, I thought it was really worth it.

Visited Hollin @ Suntec City on a Saturday Afternoon and ordered their Best Sellers Series (1) Pink Guava Rock Salt Macchiato (Large, 50% Sugar, Add-on Honey Handmade Pearls).

Flavour: 8/10
The Pink Guava tasted like a much more concentrated version of the Marigold Peel Fresh Pink Guava Juice Drink that I really love, and the milk foam was light, creamy, fragrant, largely sweet, with a hint of saltiness. When I drink them in its entirety from a top down approach starting from the milk foam, the combination was extremely refreshing - perfect for a humid day or after a heavy meal. The honey pearl does have a subtle taste of honey - not too overpowering, which I feel will be a perfect fit for drinks that are on the lower-end of the sweetness level.

Overall, I feel that $6.20 for a Large cup of Bubble Tea given its quality and uniquely-flavoured handmade pearls that changes in flavour daily is very value-for-money.

Visited Tendon Kohaku @ Suntec City for a Thursday Lunch and ordered (1) Kohaku Tendon Set, (2) Chawanmushi, and (3) Ice Lemon Tea. The Kohaku Tendon Set includes: 2x Prawn, 2x French Beans, 1x Chicken Breast, 1x Squid, 1x Pumpkin, 1x Baby Corn, 1x Crab Stick, and 1x Shiitake Mushroom. It also came with a complimentary Miso Soup with a Rice option to choose between a Japanese White Rice or a Japanese Multi Grain, with a Sauce option to choose between Original, Spicy, or Mala Sauce. I chose Japanese White Rice and Original Sauce.

Ambience: 6/10 (for a lunch with your colleague)
It is a decent spot to have a lunch with your colleagues - very cosy and comfortable with a great atmosphere that will invite conversation filled with fun and laughter.

Service: 2/10
It saddens me to say this but the customer service was far from pleasant. The staff was very unwilling to accomodate to the additional requests that we had and always gave a vibe that she was trying to chase us out of the restaurant. For instance, my colleague had a request to have less ice in his cup and switch his ice lemon tea to a coca-cola. However, upon hearing our request, the staff frowned, took the items, and stomped away in a jiffy. This touchpoint with the staff left us so confused as it wasn't a very unreasonable request. Going into the meal - around 15 minutes in, one of my colleague who was a very fast eater had already finished his Kohaku Tendon Set. The same staff came over, cleared his plate very loudly while the rest of us was still eating - almost seemingly intentionally to signal us that we should be on our way soon, and walked away. At this point, I was left a touched annoyed as I felt that this was not how customers should be treated. Nevertheless, I brushed it off as my own sensitivity. But after another 15 minutes later, the same staff came over to us and asked if she could clear all our plates as she, i quote, "needs the table". At this point I have only just finished the Tendon Kohaku, halfway through the Chawanmushi, and have yet to begin drinking the Ice Lemon Tea. In fact, it has only been slightly over 30 minutes since we have begun our meals. Thus, this entire customer service experience I've received at Tendon Kohaku @ Suntec City left me extremely disappointed.

Flavour: 8/10
This is the best Tendon that I've eaten at this price point in Singapore hands down thus far. The quality of the ingredients and the flavours were impeccable. The batter was light and crispy throughout, the flavours of the vegetables were elevated, brilliantly executed, satisfying, and tasted garden-fresh (yes, it was THAT good), while the chicken breast was moist and tender. The chicken breast especially surprised me because you would typically expect it to taste slightly on the drier side as it is not a fatty cut of the meat. The Chawanmushi and Miso Soup taste about what you would expect of the dish.

Overall, the flavours took me by storm as the dish was truly very well-executed. This would have been a thousand-percent-return-again restaurant if not for the horrible customer service experience.