Tried Recently in Singapore: Red House at the Quayside

On my recent trip to Singapore, we went to Red House at the Quayside for our corporate dinner and what a way to spend the last night in Singapore by trying one of their signature dishes which is the Chili Crab.

Red House has been in the business for the past 24 years and they are known to offer fresh seafood dishes. We went to their second location which is at the Quayside which is just a few steps away from our hotel.

The meal started with the drunken prawns.  So even for the appetizer there is already alcohol, hehe.  No wonder I was about 5% proof that day and the reason why I wasn't able to notice the wrong bill at Hooters http://execlunch.blogspot.com/2010/11/hooters-singapore-now-thats-what-im.html

My favorite is this dish which has a curry like taste and a bit spicy.  I believe this what they called the spicy seafood combination.  It was served with a mantao-like bread that you can use to scoop the wonderful sauce off your plate.

Spicy Seafood Combination, the best!

And the food just kept on coming, we were served sauteed fresh scallops with savory egg whites and broccoli followed by crispy duck scezhuan.  Funny thing is the waiter has to violently shred the duck when served and a "piece" flew to my side of the table.  Here is the scezhuan duck, at the background is the scallops with broccoli.

Excuse me if some people might find the next picture offensive.  Say hello to my little friend...

Donald? Is that you?

And finally, here is the signature dish of Red House the Chili Crab.  I am not a crab eater myself having had seafood allergy as a child and secondly we had some difficulty eating it.  We tried every trick to try and eat the crab. It was only after the meal where we noticed that the crab utensil is at the side.  (Way to go Idaho.)  One thing though, the sauce is good and SPICY!  The trick is to put the sauce in the rice.

You would need a fire extinguisher for this!

A grand Singapore dinner such as this is not complete without drowning the old liver with Tiger Beer.

And here is the perfect fire extinguisher.

And of course for the perfect ending, here's a staple Chinese dessert with a twist. - Chilled Fresh Mango Pomelo with Sago. Tangy!

It was a good dining experience all in all.  And after eating you can enjoy the river scenery and walk off the excess calories.  I actually walked from Red House to Clarke Quay and back to Riverview Hotel...in leather shoes.

I'll try to see if some restaurants here in the Philippines could emulate the authentic Singapore taste.  If not, it would be one good reason to go back to Singapore soon.

Hooters Singapore - Now that's what I'm talking about!

Guys guys, settle down.  I know what comes to mind if the word Hooters is mentioned but this post is more about the great customer service that I've experienced with Hooters Singapore lately.  So it's more like marrying a Playboy Playmate because of her great personality ;-)


This story started when my friend and I decided to have a few beers at Hooters Singapore at Clarke Quay.  They have a 2+1 Happy Hour Promo starting 10pm so we've decided to order two Hoegaarden Beers and we got a third one free.  (It's a Belgian Beer, sweet tasting.  I recommend this one.)  


We were able to consume one and a half bottles each and so when I started to pay (through my credit card which turned out to be a good thing, will explain later on) I didn't quite notice very well how much I was paying.  (I blame it on the multiple rounds of Tiger Draft Beer that I have drank before going to Hooters.)  The server giving me extra service by folding the bill made me forget about giving the bill a second look. (Frankly, I could have preferred a different extra service... like a back massage perhaps? Ano pa ba...) 


I was already here in the Philippines when I looked at the bill again and saw that we were not charged with two beers but instead tequila and chicken wings!  Sad part is I overpaid as the beers would only amount to SGD27.10 and not the SGD35.20 that I signed.  I quickly wrote an email to Hooters to see if they can rectify the problem.  See my email below:  

From: Ronaldo N
Sent: Monday, November 15, 2010 2:07 AM
To: mktg@hooters.com.sg
Subject: bill error

Dear Sir,

I was a recent visitor of Singapore and your restaurant at Clarke Quay.  It appears that there seems to be some error in the bill that I have paid on November 12, 2010.  We ordered two Hoegaarden Beers and availed of your 2+1 promo.  I have paid invoice no. 550226 using my credit card with an amount of SGD 35.20.  However, now that I am checking my transaction the bill couldn't have reached that amount since a Hoegaarden only cost SGD 11.5 per bottle.  When I looked back at the invoice that was presented me (I noticed that the server quickly folded it when it was given to me) the items in the said invoice is tequila and chicken wings. Can you do something about this?  By the way I've already returned to the Philippines yesterday.

Thank you and Best Regards,

Ronald N

A few hours later this email greeted me with a welcome surprise:

From: Joey Leong 
Date: Mon, Nov 15, 2010 at 2:21 PM
Subject: RE: bill error
To: Ronaldo N
Cc: cs_chua, sam, operations, Hooters - Admin 

Dear Ronald,

Greetings from Hooters Singapore!

Yes!  We have since found out that we presented the wrong bill to you.  You were with another guest and had consumed a set of Hoegaarden Happy Hour deal (Buy 2 and get the 3rd free).  The amount should work out to be: $11.50 x 2 bottles = $23.00++. 

Folding the receipt was meant to be an extra service so that you can keep it in the wallet easily.  Our staff are trained to remind our customers to double check the items in the receipt as well, before we close the transaction.  We must apologise for this shortfall and we will definitely brief our girls again to be more careful. 

We will be writing to the bank to reverse the charges to S$27.10, or a refund of S$8.10. You should be seeing this in your next credit card bill statement.  Please find attached actual receipt for your reference.

We sincerely apologise for any inconveniences caused.  Should you require any further assistance, feel free to contact us again.  We look forward to see you in Hooters Singapore soon.

Warmest Regards,

(Ms) Joey Leong
Marketing & Business Development
Manager
Hooters Singapore

And just like that the SGD 8.10 was returned to me today.  Imagine if I've paid in cash?  The only thing I could probably do was be like Homer Simpson and say "d'oh!"


I have promised Joey to tell you guys about this great customer service experience.  And I can attest to you that there are more things to hoot for in Hooters other than the Hooter Girls ;-)  They serve good food and have good customer service too.  Do visit them at Clarke Quay when you are in Singapore or visit their website at http://www.hooters.com.sg/.  And try the Hoegaarden Beer too.

In Singapore - In Search of the Authentic Hainanese Chicken Rice

I arrived yesterday here at Singapore for a business meeting.  While here blogger me would be searching (again) for the Hainanese Chicken Rice.  I have first tasted this wonderful dish during my first visit 7 years ago.  At first, I figured what's the big fuss about this dish? It's steamed/boiled chicken with rice cooked in it's own broth. But when I tasted it I have become an instant fan.  There are restaurants that offer this dish in Manila but then again nothing compares to the traditional (and patient) way of cooking this dish.

During my flight coming here, Singapore Airlines got chicken in it's menu.  I was hoping it was chicken rice but it comes with pasta so I ordered the fried fish instead.  After arriving and checking late in the hotel, it was already too late and tiring to survey the area plus the fact that I already ate dinner during the flight so I settled to have a beer and some beef pie for midnight snack instead.

On my second day, I had lunch at the Fusionopolis in One-North.  I immediately asked my colleague if there is Chicken Rice being served at the food court and true to being unofficially being Singapore's national dish, there it was being sold with not just the steamed variety but with fried chicken too.  I am more traditional so I ordered the steamed set which cost SGD 4.50.

The set includes soup and petchay with garlic.  Of course for the dipping it would have to be chili sauce.  This version of the chicken rice didn't disappoint me but how I  wished that they have used a fattier chicken.  The rice has a different taste from the one I ate few years back but the local told me that it is because we are in fastfood so the meals are prepared in large batches.  The non set cost only SGD 3.00 but the chicken portion is smaller so the additonal cost was quite worth it.  Dinner with the group came later and if it included Chicken Rice I wouldn't mind eating it again.

Mission: Search for Hainanese Chicken Rice - COMPLETED!

 
Up next on Executive Lunch: Red House Seafood Restaurant at the Quayside.  Abangan!  This would be one yummy post.