Badranakan

Only open at night. Tiny kitchenette turning out quesadillas and tacos soooo greasy as if to help slow down the impact of booze, of which there are lots. The Entertainer offer includes two BOTTLES of tequila for the price of one - not the place for a quiet evening or a fun night with the kids. Their orange-colour salsa is numbing.

Strange place with many apparent contradictions. Cute pink, Tiffany-blue and white décor, adjacent to a Ben&Jerry’s counter - as if to appeal to an adolescent audience. Yet, the alcohol list is almost as long as the limited food menu. We didn’t try the bakery goods, but the unimaginative savoury dishes range from bad to barely acceptable. For lunch, the kitchen only opens at 12:30 pm. With so many alternatives in the Dempsey area, why bother? And why do the owners wastefully put an iPad at every table, when it says “For Staff Use only”. Incidentally, the staff are very friendly when they appear, but alas they are largely absent. Pricey for what it is - without the Entertainer offer, would be pretty bad value.

Located in an absolutely charming shophouses-turned-hotel. The food is above average. What is not, though, is the service. Although the staff is friendly AND the restaurant far from full, we had to ask at least 2-3 times for basic items like wasabi, water refill, towel/napkin; even the conveyor-belt sushi places have better service!

The Rendezvous hotel may be 1.5 stars below the Grand Hyatt, but the Straits Café is 2 or 3 levels below the Straits Kitchen restaurant. The buffet has both western and Asian dishes, although variety is quite limited. Ingredient quality is poor, and the food taste and flavour can be diplomatically described as mediocre, or realistically as off-putting. The service staff are friendly; problem is there aren’t enough of them - the stations (noodle soups, carvery) are often without help.