(Closed Down) JBM Coffee & Dining (One Raffles Place, #03-23/24/25 - Above Raffles Place MRT) Enquiries: 6536 1047

Visited on 2nd Aug 2014 (Sat). This is a new restaurant opened in late July 2014 by JBM Coffee Works serving French cuisine as well as a one stop place for all coffee lovers for a sophiscated siphon to brew a cup of artisan coffee. The service here was ok, but lack of warm smile from the staff. Aircon was quite cold here during the weekends so do bring a jacket along.  The settings of the restaurant was very comfortable and semi elegant. Good for friends catch up or couples on a date as this is a quiet place for dining/coffee except weekday lunch is slightly crowded.

The restaurant is split into 3 sections. These are the front seats..

The seats at the centre section

And this is the last section..

Their kitchen at the back

JBM Special Ice Latte with Hazelnut ($7.20++)

Their hazelnut ice latte was very good, can taste it's from good coffee!

The Golden Hen ($23++)

This is a very small half spring chicken which i don't think it's enough for sharing between 2 pax. There was some broth underneath the chicken which tasted quite nice - buttery with peppery taste. But what turned me off was too much garlic in it! The chicken looked very pale in colour, doesn't look like the golden hen in their menu. The taste of the chicken was quite bland if you don't dip with the broth together. Overall this dish lack of flavorful taste, still need some improvement. Naturally we will compare this with the popular chicken at Poulet (Not the same but something similar) Poulet is selling at $15.90++ and here is selling at $7 more so we would expect better taste.

Yellow Submarine ($12++)

This is my favourite dessert! A very light and airy Passion fruit souffle with a scoop of Vanilla bean ice-cream and orange tuile that delighted my taste buds! I'm surprised that the passion fruit souffle does not taste that sour. The sourness was very very mild and natural type which gives me a very happy feeling. The souffle was super soft and the sugar cubes underneath the vanilla bean ice-cream tasted very nice as well. This is a great dessert to complete the meal! :)

Will try this little froggy the next time!

Overview for this place: The price here is not cheap, a little steep for the portion of food given. Not filling for me, end up still have to go to the food court upstairs to eat some more.. hahaha... But i must say the standard of their coffee, food and dessert are slightly almost above average. Best thing is no need to queue here and can eat quietly during the weekends. Their specialty is coffee so don't forget to order any of their coffee!

Revisited on 8th Aug 2014 (Fri) to try their Weekday Set Lunch. ($22++ Per Set)

Soup of the day (Cream of Vegetables)

I find it ok only as I prefer a tad salty type of soup, but this is more to sweet type of soup..

Minced Duck Fresh Green Salad with champagne dressing

 I love this minced duck. It's salty and appetising!


Chicken Schnitzel with French Fries & Paprika Hollandaise

 This chicken schnitzel has a crispy exterior with quite tender meat inside. Best thing is this is a very big portion. Finally something bigger portion for me to get full! Hehe.. Oh and not forgetting the french fries, very nice too!

Oven Baked Wild Sea Bass Fillet

The sea bass was quite tender and the skin was crispy too. It tasted a little bland but overall still quite nice. 


Dessert for the day - Almond Custard with Rasberry

 I love this dessert, the almond custard was very smooth and the rasberry sauce was not too sour so everything tasted great to end the meal! :)

JBM Espresso Creme Brulee ($8++)

My additional order of Espresso Creme Brulee - Something special that i found here! It's more like a dessert rather than coffee. The whole cup was full of creme brulee custard with some espresso shots in it. Espresso blended very well with creme brulee, just that it's a tad too creamy..

Note: The procedure here is they will place the bill on your table after you have placed order and you can bring the bill to the counter to make payment after you're done. Water is not complimentary here, they only have bottled water which is chargeable. They do not take reservation as the restaurant is quite big and not crowded on weekends, you can just walk-in. Sometimes their weekday lunch was quite full house with office crowd while sometimes was not crowded.

*Recommended*

Weekend Breakfast Buffet at Cali Cafe (31 Rochester Drive #01-01 - Located in Park Avenue Hotel) Reservation: 6684 9897

It's such a hassle to make reservation through phone - Book now through Chope for Instant Reservations!

Visited on 26th July 2014 (Sat). Cali Cafe is located in one of the most iconic locations of Singapore around the Rochester Park nestled within the Park Avenue Hotel. This is a California style cafe which you can find popular food choices of California including Baby Back Ribs and Steak with Fries. (The owner of this cafe were so mesmerized by the California deliciaes which is why i think the cafe is named as Cali)

Bought the Groupon voucher - $10.90 for Weekend Western Buffet Breakfast (Worth $23.40 per person). Let's look at the photos of the cafe first. The cafe is cosy and simple with 2 sections.

Simple Buffet Breakfast Items 

The buffet breakfast comes with porridge, free flow of coffee, tea, hot milk and some juices as well which are not in the photos. The presentation of the buffet breakfast here were quite terrible. Don't expect good quality food here, the standard of the food here is something like we cook ourselves at home. But worth mentioning was the scramble egg, it's really quite good, not dry and not hard, it's melt in the mouth type! 

This buffet breakfast is not recommended if the price is at $23.40 per pax but you can try their ala carte menu, heard that it's better than the breakfast buffet. Service was quite good for me that day. Plates were cleared and the guy in charge asked me to put my bag on the empty chair beside me so that i can eat comfortably. :)

It's such a hassle to make reservation through phone - Book now through Chope for Instant Reservations!

Website: http://www.cali.sg/

Chatterbox (333 Orchard Road - Mandarin Orchard Hotel, Level 5) Reservation: 6831 6291

It's such a hassle to make reservation through phone - Book now through Chope for Instant Reservations!

Visited on 26 July 2014 (Sat). Chatterbox is a very big and spacious restaurant in Mandarin Orchard Hotel. It was opened since 1971, with an extensive menu featuring a spread of local fare. They were renowned for their award-winning Mandarin Chicken Rice. The dish is a well-known Hainanese dish that has become a favourite in Singapore. But this is one of the most expensive chicken rice in Singapore that made me wonder how good is this Chicken Rice at $27++ = SGD 32 after the taxes? 

Signature Mandarin Chicken Rice - $27++

The chicken meat was laid on a bed of lettuce and light sauce. I requested for drumstick so i expected it to be very succulent and very smooth! But to my disappointment, the meat was not that succulent and smooth as what i've expected it to be.. It was not tough but was not very tender too. The light soy sauce underneath the chicken as well as the soup provided was very salty!! I was so thirsty the whole night after i had their soup and chicken rice.. The rice was quite fragrant but a tad dry. The portion seemed to be too little for this steep price. I can only say with such standard in a 5 star hotel, the price here shouldn't be $27++ = $32 nett (Costs around 8 times more than the market price) With such price, it should taste special but they failed to impress me. This dish was so embarrassing to be served to tourists. Seriously it should cost only $14++ with the nice ambience. You will know what i mean if you have tried those popular chicken rice stalls at famous hawker centres like Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice at Maxwell Food Centre.

Taohu Goreng - $12++

The taohu goreng was not crispy at all so it spoiled the whole feeling... 

Sago Gula Melaka - $12++

After trying the 2 disappointing dishes above, we do not have any expectation on their dessert anymore. And we were right, there was nothing to attract us or made us feel delighted even the last dessert. 

Overall Impression: Service was poor. No warm greeting and smile from the staff, they seemed to be like no expression at all. I find it weird to see this at a 5 star hotel restaurant. Waiting time for the dessert was more than 15mins - unacceptable! The only thing i like was the cosy and spacious ambience. You may come and try this place as different people has different view on the food. 

It's such a hassle to make reservation through phone - Book now through Chope for Instant Reservations!