Saturday, April 3, 2021

Exploring Telok Ayer with Enjoyable Stay at The Clan Hotel in Premier Room

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Made a reservation direct with the hotel to enjoy The Clan Opening Special for the Premier Room King Bed at $588 nett for 2 nights.

The perks included breakfast for 2 at Qin Restaurant, customisable in-room refreshments,  1 way Limo transfer, and $100 voucher for next stay at Oasia Hotel Downtown, Orchard Rendezvous Hotel, The Barracks Hotel Sentosa (Valid for redemption from 1 May 2021 to 23 Dec 2021). There's also a Local precinct tour experience led by The Clan Keeper but I totally forgotten about that, and hence, did not utilise.

Reservation was easy via the hotel website, and requires a credit card to guarantee the reservation. However, no charges will be made to the credit card and one actually need to click on a link that'll be sent via email during the stay but more on that later.

Guest will receive an email confirmation once the reservation is guaranteed. This will be followed-up by another email a few days prior to arrival, and guest could select their preferred snacks (5 choices from the selection) as well as arrange for the airport transfer.




Two days prior to hotel stay, I received a phone call from the hotel who assisted in arranging for the 1-way Limo transfer from my home to the hotel. One day prior to the stay, I received another call that informed of my request for early check-in can be accommodated. But uh oh, because the transfer was first arranged for 1pm. The staff who called said he will check for me. During evening time, I received another call to inform that the transport has been rescheduled to 11am. Great!

On the day of check-in, I was happily awaiting for the transport but it wasn't there at the appointed time. Uh oh, and I realized that I had forgotten to ask for the vehicle number but there was a black Toyota Vellfire parked nearby. Hmm, is that the vehicle? I moved to the front of the vehicle but no reaction. Alas, after waiting for 5 minutes, I called the hotel but no pickup. Then waited for another 5 more minutes before the driver decided to roll down the window and asked "Are you going to The Clan Hotel?" Faints.

After I got onto the vehicle, he said that he had informed the hotel of his arrival and drivers will not be informed of the guests contact number. Hmm, but there wasn't any call from the hotel and neither was there any sms nor email on the confirmed transport pickup nor the vehicle number. For all I know, the driver could have driven off without me as well... This are definitely can be further improved by sending Whatsapp or SMS of the confirmed vehicle number as well as location and date time.

Another thing... for a limo transfer, I wasn't expecting a Vellfire to be honest. Hahaa!


entrance to the hotel


The staff at the ground floor that screens guests for Safe-Entry and temperature upon arrival, apologized as he did not assist to open the car door earlier. So sweet of him, but that's alright.

super cool


There was another staff on hand to usher the guests to the second floor lobby for check-in.


nice lobby at Level 2

Level 2 lobby


welcome tea is prepared here by tea master, Alex

enjoying the view while waiting for check-in

There is no need to queue for check-in and guests could remain seated and enjoy the welcome tea and snack, while staff explains about booking the slots for breakfast, swimming pool and gym, and bringing over the necessary forms to sign.

(left to right) wet towel, Nanyang ritual tea and tao sar piah (mungbean pastry)

tea master Alex, preparing the welcome drink

Staff are welcoming, courteous and check-in process was a breeze. Alex was also on-hand to explain more about the tea blend should one would like to learn more.

Once our check-in was done, we were ushered to the lift and to my surprise, one of the hotel staff, Sam actually walked us up to our room and helped to carry my overnight bag. So sweet of him.


no, Mahjong Room is not what you think it is


My room is at the 21st floor and I was happy with the room amenities, decor and all. Sam did a small tour of the room and explained the highlights of the room such as the bluetooth audio device, the UV sanitizer, the 55-inch smart TV, the coffee/tea in the room, the tea set near the window and the pre-selected snacks.

view from the room entrance


door (left), bathroom (right)

bathroom

shower area

Vuudh Lotus Osmanthus collection


bathroom amenities

And, for guests who booked Premier room, could choose one bar of handmade soap for their use. There were 3 scents to choose from, I think.

Handmade Soap

coffee/tea area

I loved the Ritual tea


Nespresso


pre-selected snacks/refreshments (5 items)

Premier Room King Bed (31 m²)

view from the room

UV light sanitizer

only Master Series rooms will have this device

view from the day lounger

complimentary biscuits and tea wrapped in gray cloth as per the olden days (not the tea set, hor)

care pack

Bottled water is not provided. Instead, guests could take drinking water from the toilet via the Hyflux filtered water tap. I know I know... I still need some getting used to of getting drinking water from the toilet. I love the pre-heated toilet seat. Yass to warming my bum, hahaha!

lovely 55-inch TV that I can chromecast with

Tried the bluetooth device in the room and it works but the song will get interrupted if I use my phone for something else. It was also quite fun to cast from mobile device onto the TV. Took some figuring out initially and realised that one needs to sign-on to the chromecast network instead of the regular one.

The Clan Orient Brew was nice for our humid weather. Familiar taste, refreshingly bitter.

The Orient Brew - craft beer by 1925 Brewing Co.


Didn't realise there was turn down service till we came back from dinner.

Noticed that the bed has been refreshed, and a complimentary roll-on essential oil left on the bed.

lovely

part of turn-down service

lavender to help with sleep


They also removed the nice tea set and have it replaced with a transparent one and one pack of complimentary tea. Ooh, more tea, I like!

changed the tea set and a new pack of tea

Cocoon Ritual tea

Alas, had to work till the next morning, and hence had coffee and ate up some of the snacks.

savoury snacks

coffee and cookie at 5am

crumbly triple choc cookie

Breakfast is provided at Qin Restaurant located at Level 5. During this Covid period, guests will go to Level 4 to do Safe-Entry check-in and temperature scan. We took the 8am to 9am slot for breakfast. Coincidentally, Sam was on duty that morning and it was nice to see familiar face.


breakfast menu

Guest could choose one main from the breakfast menu. There is a Chef's Daily Special too besides the regular breakfast menu. Throughout our stay, the daily special on Day 1 was Udon set, while on Day 2, there was Dim Sum set.

ready to order


Once you are seated, staff will automatically bring over the toasted bread, kaya and butter set, and a bowl of lovely fruit cubes.

kaya, toasted brioche and butter

so yummy

pretty looking fruits bowl

Chef's Daily Special (Day 1) - Udon Set

Chef's Daily Special (Day 2) - Dim Sum Set

I tried the Homebrewed porridge, and it was comforting. Wished the temperature of the porridge to be warmer though. The porridge was light savoury and hence, all the condiments can be added in to jazz up the bowl. There's braised peanut, a slice of century egg, a strong savoury paste of olive (I think), fried anchovies and peanuts, preserved beancurd and a slice of pickle.

Home Brewed Local Porridge

closer view of the porridge

The Continental Breakfast was plentiful. Cold cuts of ham (pretty thick slices), smoked salmon, yoghurt fruits and cheese, salad and with a side of cereal.

Continental Breakfast - yoghurt, cereal, cheese, fruits, salad, cold cuts

breakfast view

The QIN Breakfast - scrambled eggs

The QIN Breakfast - sunny side up

The QIN Breakfast - omelette

closer view of the omelette

For hotel breakfast, I'd usually must have scrambled eggs or omelette, so Day 2 breakfast was a no-brainer, as most of us opted for The QIN Breakfast which is equivalent to the usual hotel breakfast of 2-eggs done your way, bacon, hashbrown, baked beans, tomato and mushrooms.

I'd recommend the omelette as visually, it just looked moreish when compared to the scrambled version. The beans had a hint of curry taste, so that was curious.

mocha


Breakfast at QIN was enjoyable but the 1-hour limit felt rushed, but it's understandable. I also didn't like the coffee from the restaurant nor the mocha. First time experienced a mocha that tasted of too much coffee.

outside the gym


I don't have much experience of making hotel bookings directly with the hotel and had assumed that the payable amount would have been deducted from the credit card automatically but alas, it was not so. The staff enquired if I had received an email with a link to pay. Actually I did, but the payment merchant was new for me, hence, didn't click on it especially if it was not from the same sender as per previous emails from the hotel.


The Clan Hotel from across the road

Staff who made the hotel stay memorable, was the sweet chap at the ground lobby whom I met on Day 1. Lovely Joy, whom was on-hand to meet and greet incoming guests and to usher to Level 2, Alex who made tea for us and of course Sam, whom we met a couple of times during our stay. Thank you and hope to see you again.


Stay tuned for subsequent posts on the eats around Telok Ayer during our staycation. See you soon!

More foodie and staycay adventures with Tracy, Hence and Ivan.


The Clan Hotel


Address: 10 Cross St, Singapore 048417

Websitehttps://www.theclanhotel.com.sg/





Thursday, April 1, 2021

Chao Shan Cuisine 潮山林 @ 17 Phillip Street

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Chaoshan 潮山 cuisine is similar to Teochew cuisine, which in turn bears similarity with Fujian cuisine. The restaurant Chao Shan Cuisine is located near Raffles Place MRT and according to Google Map, is about 5 minutes walk away. 

Chao Shan Cuisine restaurant entrance


The noticeable landmark opposite the restaurant, is the Yueh Hai Ching Temple.

Yueh Hai Ching Temple


Seems like the place is popular for cold crabs but unfortunately, it wasn't available on our day of visit. The restaurant seemed popular as the place filled up rather quickly by 730pm. 

interior


cockles 螄蚶


liver roll 肝卷


The cockles sauce was tasty but it was of a smaller morsel. Less shiok. The liver roll was nicely moist and flavourful. No funky taste.

lala 啦啦


The stir fried lala was good too and we were happy with the appetiser. I spied that the other tables had ordered red wine. A peek into their menu revealed that the bottle price was reasonable but we didn't have any.

We made sure to order their braised goose since they didn't have the cold crabs. Very rare to see goose on the menu in Singapore, I think.

braised goose 卤水鹅片



The portion served for the braised goose for a table of 8 pax, seemed rather small. I think ours was defaulted to medium size for all the plates. Goose slice was alright but it didn't have that distinctive goose taste. If you don't say, I'd think it was duck meat except for the thicker layer of fats on its skin.

pork slices in garlic 蒜泥白肉


If you're not a vampire and able to take pork, then the suan ni bai rou (蒜泥白肉) dish may well be a favourite. Lots of minced garlic!

Another definitive Teochew dish, would be the oyster omelette or orh lua. 

orh lua 蠔烙

close up view



Most of the dishes that we ordered seemed to be those that we eat for fun (吃爽) hence, able to order more.

chives with scallops


After having 4 appetisers and 2 mains, we decided we could do another poultry dish and that was the Chestnut Chicken which was added after we've eaten the first 6 dishes.

Chestnut Chicken


Oooh, I like the Chestnut Chicken especially that skin. Its flesh was also well braised, yummy and soft. Plenty of chestnuts to go around too. If we weren't full before, we were definitely there by this dish.

Most disappointing, was the fried noodles. Probably because of the 'kee' or alkaline taste from the noodles.

fried noodles (portioned out)


However, we made the right decision to order dessert. When talking about Teochew cuisine, one can't help but to also try the orh nee (taro paste). We had the one with pumpkin but didn't expect that the pumpkin wasn't melded into the paste, but was just sitting prettily ontop of the glistening taro paste.

orh nee 芋泥


The version here is not shy from sweetness and am satisfied by the dessert. 

Overall, the food had a down to earth kind of feels, and the place seemed to be popular with their regulars. Must order would be the liver roll, chestnut chicken and orh nee.


Chao Shan Cuisine 潮山林

Address: 17 Phillip Street #01-01/02 Grand Building, 048695
Contact:  6336 2390
Business Hours:
Sun - Fri: 11:30am–2pm, 5:30–10pm
Sat: 11:30am–2pm, 5:30–8pm

 
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