Ximending(西门町)@Vivo City

There is a newly opened restaurant at Vivo City called Ximending, named after the popular commerce area in Taipei.  They claim to be specialised in new Taiwanese cuisine.  Out of curiosity, we gave it a try yesterday.

Here are what we ordered for the day:

Buddha Dump over the Wall

Stewed Pork Knuckles with Peanuts

Almond Tofu

Well, let's see how the food fares by a few of our usual standards for food.

First, they claim to be specialised in NEW Taiwanese cuisine.  Actually I don't know what NEW Taiwanese cusine is, and so I wanted to give it a try.  Looking at their menu, there is not much different from what your usual Singapore Chinese restaurants can offer.  As a matter of fact, there is not much difference from what you friendly neighbourhood coffee shop Chi Char stall can offer. 

Second, the taste.  The taste of the food is quite OK.  It is not considered to be bad, but it is not exceptionally good either.  The stewed pork knuckles with peanuts is not what exactly I like, because the peanut is not the melt-in-your-mouth type, but the pork knuckles are still quite ok. 

Third, price.  Guess how much it cost for the food we ordered?  What is not shown here is two bowls of plain rice.  The total cost is $37, after a 10% discount by paying by AMEX.    Their plain rice goes for S$1.50/bowl, which is about 50% more expensive than other restaurants.  Well, it is still small matter.  Their tea comes at S$10.00/pot, as they claim their tea is of good quality from Taiwan. 

Some other dishes they offer on menu, for example, steamed prawns with minced garlic, goes for S$18.00, your ordinary San Bei Chicken (三杯鸡) goes for S$18.00 as well.  No, the portions are not big, just about the same as your Crystal Jade or Soup Restaurant type of servings.    The desserts are also about S$1.00 above the other restaurants too. 

I don't mind paying a bit more, if your food is of above average quality and taste, but in this case, they are no better than Crystal Jade, then why should I?  The owner of this restaurant must be thinking Singaporeans are stupid and ready to be fleeced happily. 

Conclusion: This will be my first and last time patroning this restaurant.  This restaurant offers the least value for money!