The Moluccas Room

Found out about Moluccas when it just opened its door either 1 year ago or more, fell in love with the Indonesian archipelago dishes whipped out by Chef Alicia Tivey, a lady chef nonetheless, which is really rare in the world of chef.

Back again for dinner after what felt like century and I was pleasantly surprised to find that our seat by the window was actually no window, the glass partition window was folded allowing the diners to view directly to the Marina Bay Sands courtyard looking to CBD area. It was definitely a different dining experience.

What I like about Moluccas apart from its dishes are the excellent service given, the staff are well-mannered, polite, courteous and able to explain and recommend the dishes to patrons.

I definitely can’t find any fault on Moluccas, it is one of my fave dining place, and I do hope the support from locals and visitors are there so it will not close down.

The menu changed a bit from my last visit, now, there was hand-made Pempek (one of my fave) so I was curious to know how the Pempek would be in fine dining restaurant.

Giving the location of the restaurant, I definitely prefer Moluccas compares to other celebrity chef restaurant in MBS.

The restaurant is not Halal certified as they sell alcoholic beverage but if I recall, we once asked, in case we need to bring our Muslim colleague here, the staff mentioned that the food supplier are Halal certified.

Considering how difficult it is to find such a fine dining Halal restaurant, I’d say that Moluccas is the Best Option to have there.

The window panel was folded back, an open view to courtyard and passerby. You will be amazed to see variety of exercises people do in this courtyard

A bit akward at first but enjoying the breeze 

View to Marina Bay Financial Centre

Entrance to the restaurant

Nice arrangement 

 

The Luxe Menu

 I like how they described about Moluccas Room

 Elegant table setting

 

The 'sambal' condiments

The appetizer, it was glutinous rice with some flakes, delicious and pretty

 Butter Avocado Juice, too thick for my taste

 Still water

It just a humble drink, but, I felt theirs were a good one, Wedang Jahe Drink

Sate Ayam Madura, the meat was succulent and the peanut sauce was perfect!

The 'fine dining' pempek kapal selam; the fishcake was good, can see it clearly handmade. But the vinegar sauce was a bit different to the usual one, the fishy smell was not there

The Nasi Kuning/ Yellow Rice, one my fave dish here as you seldom found it anywhere else

 The Moluccas Room Rice, it has beef flakes. Another speciality that worth trying

Confit Sakura Ayam Tuturaga, citrusy confit chicken curry from Northern Sulawesi. Indonesian style curry is different from Malay; Indonesian style has no Oil, it purely from all the herbs. The chicken was boneless and it was very tender. A thumbs-up.

Ikan Bakar Jimbaran, sweet and spicy freshly grilled Baramundi Fish Fillet with refreshing baby tomatoes

The 4 different sambals up-close...fresh and not too spicy

The Moluccas Room

The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands

2 Bayfront Avenue L1-81

Singapore 018972

Tel: +65 6688-7367

 

http://www.themoluccasroom.com/

Opening hours:

Daily from 11.30 am to 3 pm for lunch and 6 pm to 10.30 pm

Malioboro Soft Bone Chicken

I am always game to try authentic Indonesian restaurants that I heard just opened up. This was no exception, especially I never had any Soft Bone Chicken which you could end up eating the bones too.

Location is at the Jurong Point Shopping Centre, next to Boon Lay MRT. Gotta be careful though, as the idea of going to Kopitiam as the food court area in this mall was not as simple as we usually thought. 

Perhaps due to its size, the mall has another wing which has  another 'food court cum restaurant space' called Feast Kopitiam. So, if you come to the Kopitiam which doesn't have restaurant space area, you need to go down and walk towards the wing which closer to the MRT entrance.

Decor is simple Indonesian flair with their dark timber furniture and the hanging lamps. I do like how Kopitiam came up with this concept, it's a good place instead of crowding at the food court.

I was a bit perturbed by hearing from the restaurant that some diners who were seating at the food court area / not inside their restaurant space, expected the order to be delivered to them, when it was clearly self-service. They were even being given Beeping beacon to collect their order. After they didn't collect it, they would complained the food delivered was not warm anymore. 

Staff were friendly, and since they are still in soft opening stage so they are still looking for more waiting staff.

The dishes definitely Authentic Indonesian with capital A, the spicy sambal was amazing and Spicy. 

The soft bone chicken were really soft which you could chew on it.

And what I like the most was Not A Single Oiliness you found on your fried chicken.

The dishes are totally different from other Indonesian restaurant we've heard.

Quality and presentation are better than other on same category.

Even the fresh juices, one of my fave, the Avocado juice was way better than others. It's thick and the amount of chocolate milk just great.

I hope the Malioboro Soft Bone Chicken will gain popularity and lead on to more outlets island wide, or at least, another one in East so we don't need to go all the way down to Boon Lay.

A definite come back place when we miss authentic Indonesian food, even the distance is not putting me off....

 

The Menu

A Really juicy Avocado juice, it tasted more of the Avocado than ice or water

Beansprout as our side dish

Soft Bone Chicken with Green Chilli, not as spicy as the red chilli provided separately. The soup was from Sayur Asam soup, delicious...

This is something different, the chicken was topped with salted egg

The original soft bone chicken

Malioboro Soft Bone Chicken
Feast Kopitiam @ Jurong Point Shopping Centre
63 Jurong West Central 3
#03-39
(nearest entrance to the shopping centre from Boon Lay MRT)

http://www.malioboro.com.sg/

Opens Daily from 11 am to 10 pm

IndoChine Supertree @ Gardens by the Bay

Was excited to visit IndoChine at Supertrees, but not sure what to expect as I couldn't find many reviews on it.

Thought it may be similar to Le Jules Verne on Eiffel Tower experience, since Indochine is the only restaurant occupying the highest super tree at Gardens by the Bay.

I must admit that I was a bit sceptical when I saw months ago how IndoChine put the logo across the supertree, somehow, it was a bit kitsch with twinkling lights. But hey, I thought it must be seen from far away so that may be one of the reasons.

Couldn't find the online reservation at Reserve It.sg; I thought maybe it is still brand new, so their system was not up yet.

Called for reservation through phone and requested for indoor seating, I was glad I asked for indoor; the outdoor area had no lighting, only candle on the table, so, if you were having dinner, you couldn't see what was on your plate.

I would suggest to come around 6 to 6.30 pm to enjoy the view and you couldn't stop admiring the architecture and structure expertise applied when building this super tree when you stood at the outdoor area. But as night descended, it was total darkness.

Was upbeat when we arrived and went through the corridor which filled with IndoChine knick knack which you could purchase; it lead to the lift and I was already wary when I saw how they did the interior of the lift. 

It said nothing about the anticipation that may awaits you; perhaps I either expected it to be on par with Salt Grill & Sky  Bar at ION or Le Jules Verne at Eiffel Tower.

Arrived at 2nd floor, the lift opened but there was no reception table awaited us. We walked in to the door and was greeted by (I think) the restaurant manager which aware of my reservation.

Was lead to the low seating area, not the dining table as I expected.

Handed the drink menu which the pages were damp, definitely from the drink spills and it was not even dry yet when it was handed to me.

Limited meal choices and mostly deep fried; beverages were likewise, as if there was nothing special at all.

Seemed some tables were dining tables and some were on stools with long table facing the window.

There was some problem on the floor lighting next to us and the staff were interrupting us few times to fix it.

Staff were short handed and not properly stationed to each section, the worst thing was, our seats were next to bill counter but yet, the staff were still ignoring us. Difficult to get their attention as it seemed either short-handed or they paid attention more to big group diners.

What dismay me the most was how the did the interior for such a vicinity; it was Tacky with capital T; really! I never never thought I would encountered such arrangement nowadays and not to mention in this special spot that Indochine managed to acquire.

Disco balls, cow and tiger prints on rugs and seats, plastic leaves with twinkling colourful lights, Buddha statues on ceiling, plastic flowers, mismatch lightings everywhere; and the ultimate was the human-size of Roman statue inside the wheelchair bathroom. The bathroom was not even equipped with tissues and the hand dryer was faulty.


Total disbelief; really! Definitely not a place I would return and not to bring my guest for dining here.

We went to the Rooftop; which has sofas and table against the parapet. some standing table and a bar to whip out your drinks. Again, lighting was not so excellent and the plastic leaves were here and there. It may be a good spot to have a drink and enjoying 360 degree view to Marina Bay and surrounding areas.

There is nothing fantastic about the Indochine here; it is not a venue for special occasion and nothing to boast about. Trying to hard on the design which end up as a big disappointment.

Corridor leading to the lift

These lighting were okay but I already sceptic on plastic leaves but thought to complement the Garden by the Bay theme

Jellyfish? After thinking the corridor wanted to fit the Garden theme, now we were Ocean theme? Puzzled and it was so bare

Pasted flyer...

View from our seat to other tables with tiger prints, mismatch seating model too

Table placemat with transparent plates

Our table was more appropriate for group seating enjoying drinks and snacks

The leather bound menu, with pages that were still damp. They really pay no attention to anything here.

The disco balls

Stepping outside

If you were having drinks around 6-ish in evening; it would be a nice spot, but not when it is getting late.

Admiring these supertree grove design

The stools seating area

I felt this area was the best, if only they stick to this theme and consistency throughout the design

 

Lighting on one of the bars area, there were 2 bars areas

2nd doors to outdoor areas

Yes, I know IndoChine design is associated with Buddha theme but to have it displayed here and with those blue and red lights and plastic leaves...???

Enough said

Came after we place our order

Pussyfoot; fruit punch and fresh milk

Safe Sex on the Beach; Cranberry Juice, orange juice, peach syrup and a dash of grapefruit juice

Crispy Squid with Spicy Salsa Rosa and Barbequed Lime

Quite okay; as normal deep fried item. It was not too spicy as I thought

Grilled Kampong Chicken with Lemongrass, Wild Mushroom Risotto and Crispy Pancetta

The chicken were grilled nicely but the risotto were too soft

Grilled Tiger Prawns with Lemongrass; we ordered a Jasmine White Rice to go with this

I did like this dish; the sauce complimented well with the prawns. The only dish I liked

 

IndoChine
At Supertree Grove
Gardens by the Bay
18 Marina Gardens Drive
Singapore 018953
Tel: +65 6694 8489

http://www.indochine.com.sg/home/index.php

Opening hours:
Weekday from 10 am to 2 am
Weekend from 10 am to 3 am