Tuesday, March 24, 2009

236. Pioneer Wharf


I didn't know of Pioneer Wharf being located at Jurong Point because I have never walked all the way to the far end to where it was. It was quite a grand appearance which would have caused money-savers to deter and pushed off the idea of having a meal there. It was a big restaurant with at least 8 ktv rooms to spare. On enquiry, the minimum spending to be entitled to the ktv room is $498. WOO..
The blinds separated the big hall of tables into half. Chandeliers hung on the tall ceilings. Loud red napkins and silver white table clothes decorated the whole restaurant. It gave a classy feel. Ktv songs played on the white screen on the wall. However, the songs were pretty outdated and it did spoil the classy feel a little.

Braised peanuts and specially made 'hay-bee-hiam'
The waitress said the 'hay-bee-hiam' was made with golden ham and she sounded it was something special. Alright, we'll try it. Shortly after, she mentioned it cost $2 for this plate. Okay, we'll take it anyway. But, it tasted just like 'hay-bee-hiam'! So, what's so special about it? It cost.
Japanese style beancurd @$12
A common dish of beancurd where broccoli was blended to mash and formed the green top layer of the tofu. Generous helping of mushrooms. It was decent. The tofu was silky.
Peking Duck (half) @$28
We were pretty surprised that the restaurant actually served peking ducks in halves. Usually, one would have to order the duck whole. The duck skin was wrapped up with cucumber and spring onion. The wraps were not very well wrapped. Duck skin was crispy and if it wasn't, then it would be a flop. Frankly speaking, I had only like to eat peking duck for the wraps and not the meat. I'm not very much a duck-lover.

How could the meat be forsaken? The meat was stir-fried with spring onions and it cost another $10. I felt slightly cheated because the waitress told us half the duck cost $28. Wasn't the cost included for the meat? It didn't taste like duck meat though. It was tender. For a moment, I thought it was chicken.

Mango scallop vegetables (small) @$25
Scallops with asparagus and mango fruits added. Surprisingly, the mango taste was not evident. They have chosen sweet and firm mangoes to go along with the greens. It was overall a light and delicious dish. Just a tad pricey.
Fried chicken wraps @$6 ($2 per se)
Wrapped with diced chicken and mushrooms. The ingredients were very well-marinated and thus well-flavoured. But, it was oil-laden. I didn't expect oil to have spilled out like soup from the xiao long bao. I could have exaggerated here a bit but the amount of oil spilled was quite gross. Thus, this wasn't very much to my liking.

Yam paste (small) @$18
The waiter recommended the yam paste as one of their signature dessert dish. So, we ordered the small portion. Per pax was $6 per se so it was more worthwhile to get the small portion. The only difference I could make out was they had finely diced water chestnuts added to their yam paste. But, it wasn't exceptionally good. The yam paste wasn't even piping hot. I felt the yam paste could have been sweeter. If you ask me, I would rate the yam paste as below average.

Our bill chalked up to $129.70 for 3 pax. Indeed, it was expensive. Food was decent. Service was good.
Pioneer Wharf
Jurong Point Shopping Centre
#B1-45/46
Tel: 6861 6833

3 comments:

  1. I was surprised by the size of the restuarant when I drop by a visit to the new Jurong Point. Little would I have guessed that there is ktv rooms in the restaurant... Thought it does spoil the ambience as it loses the class...

    Oops...

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  2. Haha...yup...but a min spending reqd for the ktv rooms. I doubt the rooms will come into use at this pt of time. Haha

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  3. No doubt the ambience is not too bad but I am super surprise that you actually find the service there good. I had the worst experience there ever. Has never been to any restaurant or even small hawker stalls that has such bad service and attitude. Firstly, never expect any "Thank you" from any of the staffs there, inculding the manager, do expect big "signs" when the manager actually serve you there. Even passing the menu to you comes with a big sign too. Tried the steamboat buffet there. Food is super normal, price is not expensive but is totally not worth it at all. They will stack food that you order and food that you did not order together (making you not able to return the food) then they will charge you for the "food wastage" on the food that you did not order. When they "weigh" the food weightage, that will include the shells of the food that you did not order which is ridiculous. Will totally not recommend one to eat there.

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