Kaiserhaus Restaurant | Cafe | Bar @ Capitol Theatre

Don't know much about the Habsburg Empire, so wiki'ed it proper. All those description cajoled up strains of musical notes of the Blue Danube Waltz, by Austrian (nonetheless!) composer, Johann Strauss and perfectly poised gentlemen with neatly combed hair, big moustache and dressed in decorated elaborate costumes, while the ladies in their lovely gowns, dancing the night away... Haha!

Sort of fairytale like, and for some odd reason, Kaiserhaus managed to conjure up that effect.  Especially after visiting their website. So, decided to drop by for lunch on a Saturday. Quandoo reservation did not go through initially, so tried it via their website and eventually, it worked. However, it wasn't necessary as the place was fairly empty on our day of visit.

ready to order

Take Exit D from City Hall MRT and you'd end up at Capitol Piazza. Walk over to Capitol Theatre and Kaiserhaus is at Level 2.

Friend ordered the Tafelspitz, said to be one of Austria's national dish as well as favourite of former Emperor of Austria, Kaiser Franz Josef. There's even an instructional booklet on how to eat it.

how to enjoy Tafelspitz

Ok, backtrack a bit. For drinks, of course my idea was to try the Austrian beer and they do have a beer promo then. Nope, not Happy Hour, but two beers for $18++ with a free side dish of bread or deep fried mushroom.

Hirter Beer Promo @$18++

Shoved the dark lager to the guy while for me, I took the lighter one. To get the beer to our table, that took some time as it seemed to have been poured from upstairs and the staff had to carry it down that majestic stairs to the dining hall.

interior

Cheers! Hirter Mochl and Hirter Private Pils @$18++

Happy Hour price for the beer was $8.50 and the Crispy Fried Mushroom was priced at $12++ ala-carte. Hence, with the promo, the side-dish was almost free.

Crispy Fried Mushroom @$12++ (ala-carte)

crispy button mushroom with homemade tartar sauce

The side dish was done in no time and beer was nice but let's have the main course now.

lunch spread

The Tafelspitz for one pax (@$38++) consist of a copper pot filled with beef bouillon, root vegetables and bone marrow, side-dish of creamy spinach, horseradish sauce and toasted rye bread with potato rosti. With so many 'plates', the table for two is no longer enough and the staff pulled the table next to us to expand the space of the table. Keke.

beef broth with liver dumpling (half)

grain fed beef rump, bone marrow and oyster blade

The booklet instructed to spread bone marrow on a piece of toasted rye bread and season with salt and pepper to taste. But alas, the bone was there, but where was the marrow? But that's ok, since butter is supplied. Tasted nice and light beef broth was comforting. Loved the creamed spinach. Smooth and hearty.

potato rosti and toasted rye bread

creamed spinach

The other main course, was the Original Wiener Schnitzel from Veal. Two generous pieces of veal, pounded, breaded and pan-fried.

Original Wiener Schnitzel from Veal @$38++

Served with a potato salad, lemon wedge and cranberry ragout.  Loved the cranberry ragout with the meat. Even better with the horseradish sauce.

Traditional and classic Viennese desserts are available including the famed sachertorte. According to the lady at the cakes section, she mentioned that the cakes are baked in-house daily.

plenty of desserts

raspberry truffle cake

Total meal would've cost about $110+ but with the Entertainer App, one of the main course was free. Hence, per pax bill came up to $34 each.

Lenas @ JEM Jurong East

Located at Level 1 of JEM, and it's one of the brands under Ministry of Food (MOF). Visited on a Saturday for dinner. Was there before 630pm and could get a table fairly easily.

open area

menu

It has everything from deep fried appetisers (onion rings, squids, chicken wings etc), salads, pizza, steaks, breakfast, pasta and ice-cream.

Ordered a steak (250gms without side dish @$25) and half a roast chicken (@$15 with 1 side dish), and topped up $12 for half pint hoegaarden and a glass of Santa Luz Merlot.

As we were seated outside the restaurant, it was quite difficult to get the service staff attention. Liked that they repeated our orders before keying it to the system, and once again when the print-out was brought back to our table. Double-confirmed our orders. Hahaa!

beer and red wine

Food was served within 15 minutes. Pretty efficient, I'd say.

friend's steak with mushroonm sauce, served on the side

medium doneness

The roasted chicken was actually quite small. More like spring chicken size. Nevertheless, the charred skin was nice and it was served with a dark sticky sweet sauce. Too bad the chicken breast was rather dry. The sauce for garden salad was sweet and slightly tangy with lime. Enjoyable.

The merlot was somewhat spicy and goes well with the meats.

half roasted chicken

There was a queue formed by 645pm. Spent about $26 per pax for the meal.

Ambush @ Plaza Singapura

Located at Level 4, this was one of the less crowded restaurants in Plaza Singapura on a Saturday evening. Queues everywhere especially at the more popular restaurants. It started before 6pm!

The outlet at JEM fared better in terms of ambiance, as that one is housed inside a proper shop. Didn't see a kitchen, so I wondered where did the food come from...

open space concept

The good thing about Ambush here, is its table availability during weekends. But one not so good thing, is that few of the junior service staff seemed pretty laid-back, and not responsive to our waving nor eye contact, nor our calls for service. Those in black uniform were better.

satan gold (@$10.90++)

Had a mini sausage platter to go with the beer. Think it was pork sausage.

mini sausage platter (@8.80++)

Friend had lambshank. Lamb was tender and breaks easily with a fork. Flavour was rather mild and muted. Had to dab bits of mustard sauce to break the monotony of the flavour.

lamb shank (@$19.90++)

PasarBella @ The Grandstand (Turf City)

Located at The Grandstand (former Turf City) Bukit Timah. Took the free shuttle from Clementi MRT bus stop. To be more precise, it's the bus stop (B17179) opposite of Clementi Mall. Shuttle bus schedule here.

to the market

Visited on a Sunday, and took the 245pm bus. Not so much of a crowd at that time. Go in via the nearest entrance at the drop-off point, and the first trader one sees, is the Oceans of Seafood.

Oceans of Seafood Japanese section

fresh fish

looks like those turban shells that one can sizzle away on a grill top?

Was there to ogle at slim, lengthly legs. Crab legs, to be more precise. If you must know, one section of the leg will set you back about $44.

sweet legs, anyone?

Over at the International section, one can take their pick of oysters, prawns, brown crabs and lobsters.

oysters and prawns galore

G'day mate! Shuck me an oyster, Coffin Bay oyster!

what ya staring at?

cold platter for you?

The fresh seafood looked so enticing. Wonder how sweet will they taste?

Stumbled into the Cheese Ark, and sampled cheeses made from cow, sheep and buffalo. Am no cheese connoisseur, and with very thin slices, am not so sure what exactly am I tasting. Haha, ended up with a rather safe option (gouda) but thought it was pretty flavourful when eaten in sizeable cubes and paired with 2011 Barons de Rothschild (Lafitte).

bright lights, to the Cheese Ark

something to look at, while munching cheese

say cheese

cheese sampling

my loot

Wandered somemore, and if you're looking for organic options, there are some traders in organic produce.

organic certfied fruits and vegetables

of walnuts and pecans

nashi pears and navel oranges

Quite liked the ambiance of PasarBella.

artsy feel

if walls can talk

There are many non-food traders too. Such as Pantry Magic. Everything looks so appealing in there. Of course, am easily jolted back to reality just by looking at the price tags.

Pantry Magic

attracted to shiny bronzy things

retro but complicated looking toaster

Elsewhere, one can stop to smell the flowers too.

nice decor with imported flowers

The upwards riding escalator inside PasarBella was intriguing. We went up but couldn't get down, till we go up one more level.

to infinity?

Interesting stuffs all around in the market area for us to explore.

pinky cute

Ok, back to food. Passed by Le Patio, and its gigantic pan.

Chef working, Le Patio's paella magic

Went on to Bistro Botintin, where the tiniest suckling pig was ready for customers.

spanish suckling pig

Wasn't hungry but was determined to at least try something, so got the Iberico pork loin (@$8 per 100grams).

Iberico pork loin

closer view

The fatty bits was really nice, especially with caramelization. Meat was slightly pinkish and tender. Enjoyable.