taiwanese bistro Archives - A Winsome Life

Four Seasons Taiwanese Cuisine Restaurant/Cafe @ Joo Chiat Road

By delta September 4, 2012

Hello Everyone,
after such an eventful week that has gone by, it is now time again for us to blog a new entry!

However, this time round, we are not going to blog about the events that we had attended but rather, we are going to blog about our dining experience at the Four Seasons Taiwanese Cuisine Restaurant/Cafe that is situated along Joo Chiat Road.

From Four Seasons Taiwanese Restaurant 2012

Baby and I are true blue fans of Taiwanese food and we have been to a couple of food and beverage outlets that serves Taiwanese cuisine. So far, we have been to two eateries that serves Taiwanese food and they are Xi Men Ding and 8 Degrees Taiwanese Bistro [you can click on the links to check out our reviews on them].

So anyway, Four Seasons Taiwanese Cuisine was recommended to us by Baby’s sister and as we had a craving for some Taiwanese food, we decided to check it out.

I don’t exactly know whether to call Four Seasons Taiwanese Cuisine a Restaurant/Cafe but I don’t think it matters anyway.

Dining Ambience/Atmosphere:

The dining area is average in size and it’s not too crammed up like ThaiExpress. The interior decorations and furnishings are pretty common and nothing out of the ordinary. Though I would say that the dining area is cosy, it lacks an “oomph” to it. Also, there are no music played [maybe forgot to play the music] and that makes it a tad too plain unlike 8 Degrees Taiwanese Bistro that plays Jay Chou’s songs [not that I’m an extreme fan of Jay Chou but a little bit of music would be nice]. Though the place is able to fit large groups of people, I think a maximum number of 4-6 people in a group is more ideal. In fact, we feel that the place is a rather suitable venue for a dinner date.

Here’s where desserts and beverages are prepared.

From Four Seasons Taiwanese Restaurant 2012

Four Seasons Taiwanese Cuisine offers a wide variety of food choices and one can really be spoilt for choices as there are simply too many dishes to choose from.

From Four Seasons Taiwanese Restaurant 2012

Four Seasons Taiwanese Cuisine also has a tie-up with around! [an app that you can download on the App Store or Google Play] that allows you to enjoy certain promotions. All you have to do is to download the app and you will get 1 stamp for every $13 spent. These stamps that you accumulate would entitle you to free complimentary food items that are listed in their promotions.

From Four Seasons Taiwanese Restaurant 2012

The Food and Drink that We Ordered:

First up, we ordered the Honey Jasmine Green Tea with Pearls. Well, I’m not sure if my taste buds had an issue at that point of time but I didn’t really fancy this drink because the flavour is just quite odd [not like the normal Jasmine Green Tea that I always consume straight from the bottles]. Anyways, the serving for this drink is huge and if you’re not really a drinker, you might want to consider sharing it with another person.

From Four Seasons Taiwanese Restaurant 2012

That’s how tall the glass really is.

From Four Seasons Taiwanese Restaurant 2012

Secondly, we ordered the “Yan Su Ji”, otherwise known as Salted Crispy Fried Chicken. Comparing Xi Men Ding at Vivocity and 8 Degrees Taiwanese Bistro; Four Seasons Taiwanese Cuisine’s “yan su ji” is the best because it is extremely flavourful and crispy, though a little too salty.

From Four Seasons Taiwanese Restaurant 2012

Thirdly, we ordered the Fried Oyster Egg Omelette. I personally like the Fried Oyster Egg Omelette because the sauce complements the egg really well and its not too starchy [unlike those you find in some Hawker centres]. What’s even more amazing is that there it contains 8-9 oysters!

From Four Seasons Taiwanese Restaurant 2012

Fourthly, we ordered the Beer Battered Fried Button Mushrooms. I honestly don’t know what to say about this dish because I didn’t really fancy it that much. In fact, I find the mushrooms to be bitter in taste and Baby was telling me that it could be due to the beer. On top of that, this dish isn’t that cheap.

From Four Seasons Taiwanese Restaurant 2012

Fifthly, we ordered their Signature Fried Rice. Both Baby and I really love this dish a lot! The fried rice was extremely fragrant and it was sweet in taste. The portion is a little large but I think it is just nice for 2 persons. Also, there are Taiwanese sausage added and that makes it really special because usually for fried rice, “lup cheong” is added but not in this case.

From Four Seasons Taiwanese Restaurant 2012

Last but not the least, we ordered the Four Seasons Signature Dessert. Looking at the photos, you could really tell that it really looks good and seriously, it does taste good. The dessert is sweet and tangy in taste and it is extremely unique because there’s green apple, mango, strawberries, and red bean by the side; and shave ice at the bottom.

From Four Seasons Taiwanese Restaurant 2012

Here’s Baby at the counter paying for the meal [Thanks Baby for the awesome dinner treat!

From Four Seasons Taiwanese Restaurant 2012

Verdict:

Honestly, comparing all the Taiwanese eateries that we have been to, Four Seasons Taiwanese Cuisine now ranks the top and it is very likely that we will be visiting them more frequently; now that we have tried their food. Also, the price is rather affordable and it is also definitely cheaper than Xi Men Ding and 8 Degrees Taiwanese Bistro. So, if you’re craving for some good quality Taiwanese food, you might want to check out Four Seasons Taiwanese Cuisine.

Stay tuned to more updates from us!

God bless!

8 Degrees Taiwanese Bistro- ????

By delta September 3, 2011

8 Degrees Taiwanese Bistro- ????

Located @ 164 Yio Chu Kang Road, Singapore 545616

Contact Number: 62848226

Operating Hours: 6:00PM to 12:00AM

The Menu Cover Page

Hello Everyone,

today, I am going to bring your attention to this new Taiwanese Bistro (opened about 6 months) called 8 Degrees. Situated in a little corner near the petrol kiosk along Yio Chu Kang Road, it might be easy to overlook this eatery.

From the outside, the Bistro looks compact and cosy and it wasn’t very crowded when Baby and I visited. When we entered the Bistro, we ourselves a corner table to settle down and listened to the Chinese oldies they were playing over their sound system. When we looked through their food menu, the food they serve are mostly the familiar local foodfare and western dishes, coupled together with some Taiwanese street foods for appetisers and side dishes. The desserts and beverages offered are pretty extensive too.

The Cosy Ambience of the Bistro

What We Ordered

Duo Mushroom Soup

The duo mushroom soup tastes good. Furthermore, the deep-fried Chinese bun is served instead of the traditional garlic bread or hard roll which is often served to dip in soups, . The mushrooms used to make the soup is also very fresh. The only letdown was that the soup was not served piping hot. Being a soup lover myself, the mark of a restaurant in its ability to serve excellent soups would be the soup’s temperature. Hence, that is why, I always tell people that the best French soups I have ever tasted so far in my life, is the one being served as Saybons.

Salted Crispy Chicken

According to Baby, the salted crispy chicken isn’t up to her expectations as she felt that the dish lacked a spicy fragrance. For me, I felt that it was ok.

Taiwanese Oyster Omelette

Again, Baby felt that the oyster omelette that is served in Taiwan is way better than the one we had. However, I got to put the point across that similarly, what may taste great in Singapore (in terms of local foodfare), may not taste as great as those which are prepared overseas. (probably due to some missing ingredients that may not be found there) For me, this dish was alright. The oysters were fresh and the omelette was nicely cooked.

Taiwanese Sakura Shrimp and Prawn Fried Rice

The fried rice tasted pretty ordinary. It’s very much like what you would find in the hawker or food centre. The fried rice was very fragrant and the portion is just nice for one person.

8 Degress Iced Yuan Yang

Baby says that the Yuan Yang tasted alright. I don’t really fancy milk products so I can’t really comment on this one.

Honey Bubble Green Tea

This was the drink that I ordered. Basically, I believe the concoction is Green Tea + Honey + Pearls. However, I felt that the quality of this drink could be further improved upon. The scent and the fragrance of the tea was very bland and minimal, in fact it almost tasted like plain water to me. As I believe they must have added quite a lot of honey, the sweetness of the honey slightly improved the bland taste of the water. The pearls were soft and chewy.

Toast with Honey and Butter

This has to be one of the better tasting toasts I ever had. The toast is pretty thick and it is laced with honey. Strawberries with chocolate sauce were also served by the side as an accompaniment. Having this dish ends of our meal perfectly. In fact, this toast puts Wanchai Hong Kong Kitchen @ NeX to shame!

Level of Service

Ok, I have to be brutally honest here. The level of service provided isn’t top notch and may be well lacking in certain areas. However, as the Bistro just opened for about 6 months mainly during the evenings, the level of service provided may be under average or perhaps just average. Speed and efficiency is lacking, and the service staffs probably lack communication between one another. So, visit the Bistro with an open mind and lower your expectations about the service level.

Overall Experience

We will definitely be visiting the Bistro again! There are many other food items available that we want to try and we hope that the next time we visit, things would have improved by then. In case you’re wondering, we spent a total of $45.60 for this visit. So, if you have spare cash to spend, you may want to check out this Bistro; otherwise, you might just want to wait a while for things to improve so that you get your money worth!

Bon Appetit!