Canton-i
Ferragamo was having a preview sale before the GSS (Great Singapore Sale) so I got a few of my colleagues, all HUGE Ferragamo fans, to Ion Orchard after work to check it out. I love sales, especially the ones at Ferragamo. Their items are usually slashed by up to 50%, which is A LOT because you get to save a few hundred bucks. Just be sure to go on the first day of their sales, because their shoes sell out pretty fast. Unless you have unusually large or small feet, the sizes you want will definitely be sold out. And yes, in case you were wondering, we each got a few pairs of shoes. I was a very happy bunny that day (hey, they don't call it retail therapy for nothing).
After shopping, we went to Canton-i for a late dinner. It's associated with Dragon-i, a fairly large chain of Chinese restaurants in Malaysia focusing on Shanghainese, Szechuan and Beijing cuisine. Dragon-i then expanded its repertoire to include Cantonese food under a differently-named group of restaurants, Canton-i.
One point I have to make about this restaurant and that I didn't like, was that iced TAP water is priced at the "daylight-robbery" price of $1 per person. OMG. It wasn't as if they flew to the French Alps to collect spring water and bring it back to Singapore to serve to us! Notwithstanding the fact that they charge a fee for iced TAP water (which is so abhorrent on its own), the said iced TAP water was charged at the exorbitant amount of ONE-FREAKING-DOLLAR!
Yes, you may be thinking that it's so ironic that I hardly bat an eyelid spending hundreds of dollars on a pair of shoes, but complain about spending $1 for iced tap water. But, that's really besides the point. It's about principle and value here. Restaurants charge for serving iced tap water to discourage such "cheapo" behaviour and "encourage" diners to order tea or other beverages instead (which are of course charged at more than $1 per person). Hello, this IS Singapore, with tap water clean enough to drink on its own! It's not as if restaurants have to install filtration/distillation/purification/desalination systems to serve us clean drinkable water!
Yes yes, although the manager did tell us that the establishment charged a price for the iced tap water, we didn't think that the iced tap waters would cost THAT much (at that time, we thought it would cost $0.30 like most other places that also charge a fee for iced tap waters)! We would most certainly have walked out if we had known the cost of such "premium" iced waters. But, we didn't. So we placed our orders. The food wasn't so bad, but it certainly wasn't good enough for me to go back there, especially with their policy of charging ONE-FREAKING-DOLLAR per person for iced TAP water.
The aromatic smells of the freshly roasted duck wafting through the restaurant were really tempting, which prompted Jo's bf to get the Char-Roast Duck Noodles ($8.80). The duck was good, but the noodles were a little dry. They needed a little bit more gravy.
That wasn't going to be enough, so he also ordered the Roast Pork Belly ($10.80) to supplement his duck noodles. Crispy skin but very ordinary.
Both Jo and Est got the Wonton Noodles ($7.80). Good but also very standard fare.
We also ordered a Deep-Fried Whitebait ($9.80), which was crunchy but consisted mostly of batter.We could hardly taste the whitebait beyond the batter.
The Fried Rice with Scallop & Prawns ($13.80) was not bad, with the scallops and prawns being fresh and sweet.
The Dry-Fried Preserved Meat with Glass Noodles in Claypot ($9.80) wasn't what we expected (we thought we'd be getting a carb dish instead), as it turned out more like a vegetable dish laden with cabbage strips.
We also ordered the soup-of-the-day, Double-Boiled Old Cucumber Soup with Pork Ribs ($18), which was pretty good, because it had quality depth of flavour.
Braised Peanuts ($3.50) were served as appetizers. These were standard fare but certainly not worth their $3.50 pricetag.
A word of caution, Canton-i is okay as a last resort if all other restaurants are closed or full, AND if you don't order the frills, such as the appetizers, water and towelettes. So, if you ever go to Canton-i (which I don't suggest you do), DON'T order iced water, DON'T order their tidbits, and DON'T use their wet towelettes as well (each towelette costs $1).
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, I won't be back.
Canton-i
2 Orchard Turn
#03-14 ION Orchard
Tel: 6509 8368
Open daily from 11am to 10pm
After shopping, we went to Canton-i for a late dinner. It's associated with Dragon-i, a fairly large chain of Chinese restaurants in Malaysia focusing on Shanghainese, Szechuan and Beijing cuisine. Dragon-i then expanded its repertoire to include Cantonese food under a differently-named group of restaurants, Canton-i.
One point I have to make about this restaurant and that I didn't like, was that iced TAP water is priced at the "daylight-robbery" price of $1 per person. OMG. It wasn't as if they flew to the French Alps to collect spring water and bring it back to Singapore to serve to us! Notwithstanding the fact that they charge a fee for iced TAP water (which is so abhorrent on its own), the said iced TAP water was charged at the exorbitant amount of ONE-FREAKING-DOLLAR!
Yes, you may be thinking that it's so ironic that I hardly bat an eyelid spending hundreds of dollars on a pair of shoes, but complain about spending $1 for iced tap water. But, that's really besides the point. It's about principle and value here. Restaurants charge for serving iced tap water to discourage such "cheapo" behaviour and "encourage" diners to order tea or other beverages instead (which are of course charged at more than $1 per person). Hello, this IS Singapore, with tap water clean enough to drink on its own! It's not as if restaurants have to install filtration/distillation/purification/desalination systems to serve us clean drinkable water!
Yes yes, although the manager did tell us that the establishment charged a price for the iced tap water, we didn't think that the iced tap waters would cost THAT much (at that time, we thought it would cost $0.30 like most other places that also charge a fee for iced tap waters)! We would most certainly have walked out if we had known the cost of such "premium" iced waters. But, we didn't. So we placed our orders. The food wasn't so bad, but it certainly wasn't good enough for me to go back there, especially with their policy of charging ONE-FREAKING-DOLLAR per person for iced TAP water.
The aromatic smells of the freshly roasted duck wafting through the restaurant were really tempting, which prompted Jo's bf to get the Char-Roast Duck Noodles ($8.80). The duck was good, but the noodles were a little dry. They needed a little bit more gravy.
That wasn't going to be enough, so he also ordered the Roast Pork Belly ($10.80) to supplement his duck noodles. Crispy skin but very ordinary.
Both Jo and Est got the Wonton Noodles ($7.80). Good but also very standard fare.
We also ordered a Deep-Fried Whitebait ($9.80), which was crunchy but consisted mostly of batter.We could hardly taste the whitebait beyond the batter.
The Fried Rice with Scallop & Prawns ($13.80) was not bad, with the scallops and prawns being fresh and sweet.
The Dry-Fried Preserved Meat with Glass Noodles in Claypot ($9.80) wasn't what we expected (we thought we'd be getting a carb dish instead), as it turned out more like a vegetable dish laden with cabbage strips.
We also ordered the soup-of-the-day, Double-Boiled Old Cucumber Soup with Pork Ribs ($18), which was pretty good, because it had quality depth of flavour.
Braised Peanuts ($3.50) were served as appetizers. These were standard fare but certainly not worth their $3.50 pricetag.
A word of caution, Canton-i is okay as a last resort if all other restaurants are closed or full, AND if you don't order the frills, such as the appetizers, water and towelettes. So, if you ever go to Canton-i (which I don't suggest you do), DON'T order iced water, DON'T order their tidbits, and DON'T use their wet towelettes as well (each towelette costs $1).
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, I won't be back.
Canton-i
2 Orchard Turn
#03-14 ION Orchard
Tel: 6509 8368
Open daily from 11am to 10pm
Comments
and i thought i had another place to go to for dimsum. hmm guess i'm gonna strike this off my list!