Singapore Kid's Dining Guide

Earlier this month I had spent S$8 to buy the 1st issue of this new magazine, Singapore Kids' Dining Guide, simply because one of the articles interested me greatly: Best Family Restaurants. I was curious to know how many restaurants in the list I've visited, and if the reviews were really accurate.

Well, turns out I've brought Sam to almost half the eating places listed. Restaurants like Ikea, PastaMania, Swensen's and Go Go Bambini are definitely child-friendly, the reviews are short but true. 2 others, California Pizza Kitchen and Fish & Co., I enjoyed eating there, though have yet to try the kids' meals.

It was interesting to read about places such as The Tanglin Tree and Sol Playground Cafe. Neither hubby nor I knew about these restaurants, and we're now looking forward to try these gems when we have the chance. For this reason I would hang on to the magazine for the next few months.

Cos while I enjoyed reading the articles about Gourmet Food for Kids and Healthy Snacks, I didn't think it warrants the relatively high price of the magazine. Maybe I'm just being stingy. ;P

Still, there's a chance of redeeming back the cost of the magazine. Looking forward to using the discount coupons, which are valid till at least the end of this year. Restaurants like NYDC & PastaMania are definitely a must-return-to for a hassle-free meal with young children.

Lovely Jumbo Executive Lunch

Got blogging here again, thanks to the great lunch we had just now at Jumbo Seafood @ Dempsey. We went to Dempsey Hill cos hubby wanted to eat at the Ben & Jerry's, but because Sam wanted noodles for lunch, we ended up at the 1st Chinese restaurant we saw.

Turns out to a great choice. The outlet there was renovated in a very 'fusion' style with corresponding utensils. Wouldn't have guessed the restaurant would be serving typical Chinese seafood restaurant fare. We were seated in a corner table facing a ceiling-high fish tank wall, which Sam consented to pose for with purposely-closed eyes.

We opted for the Executive Set Lunch B (Chilli Crab Celebration), at S$36++/pax (cost incl. tea& towel). The Appetizer Trio (Scallop in Yam Ring, Chilled Mango Duck, Seafood Bacon Roll with Mayo) was nothing special, but tasted good.

The best dishes that fully justified the cost of the set lunch were the Scallop Dumpling in Seafood Broth, and the De-Shelled Chilli Crab Claw with 'Man Tou'. Crab, prawn & dried scallop were wrapped in scallop, served in a thickened broth that's not too salty, good enough to clean off the whole bowl. I was so terribly reluctant to share the dish with Sam!!! Hubby loved it too, and specially - since this dish isn't on the regular menu - 'tabao' another 2 servings home (@S$12 each) for his parents to try!

The chilli crab was great! It's lovely to eat crab without having to remove the shells messily, and since I don't really enjoy eating spicy food, the small portion was ideal for me. I wished there was more buns to mop up the gravy, but hubby & I shared a bowl of rice to do justice to the lovely gravy.

The Jumbo Prawn Noodles was supposed to be cooked with XO sauce, but because of Sam, we requested for it to be cooked differently, so that it would be non-spicy. The result was nothing spectacular, but still delicious.

Sam loved eating it on his grey Rubbermaid high chair, though the plastic spoon provided is obviously getting a trifle too small for him. The restaurant had also provided a plastic cup for Sam to drink from, though we had to request for the cold water before they remembered to fill up the cup.

Dessert was supposed to be Dragon Fruit Champagne Jelly. Well, without the menu, we thought it was simply 'wen tou xue' and aloe vera cubes with strawberries & mango. Still, it was a cool way to end the meal, and Sam loved the lime-flavoured dessert so much he actually drank off the cup.



Service was good, especially since we started our meal at 11:30am, when the place was literally empty. Felt even better when informed that there's 10% discount when paying with Citibank credit card, so the meal was quite, quite worth it! ;)


http://www.jumboseafood.com.sg/
Blk 11 Dempsey Rd, #01-16
Tel: 64793435
Opening hours: Weekdays - 12pm~3pm, 6pm~12am.
Sat & Eve of P.H. - 12pm~12am
Sun & P.H. - 11:30am~11:30pm