Our Plan A restaurant at Vivo City in Singapore had no more seats, so we walked around the sprawling crowded mall for Plan B.
Pauline heard friends mentioned The Queen & Mangosteen before. I vaguely recalled The Queen & Mangosteen Gourmet British Pub featured in a couple of rave blogs.
So The Queen & Mangosteen it will be :D
Growing up in 1960s Singapore, I do have some affinity for things British.
We stood outside at the waiting point at the entrance while staff walked around inside the dining area.
A staff gestured us in nonchalantly after we waved and caught his attention. I was apologetic that we might be too early at 12:15pm - fortunately, the staff confirmed that The Queen and Mangosteen was opened for the day :D (Opened at 11am, we found out later.)
We were the first 2 customers of the day (a Saturday).
Inside The Queen & Mangosteen, the decor was a lovely blend of contemporary and old English charm.
I felt myself being drawn gladly into the restaurant.
We gladly sank into the plush bench seat and felt comforted by the heavy wooden furniture.
We were relieved that we could finally sit down after being crowded out of the other restaurants.
Love the ambiance here :D
After browsing the menu and ready to make our orders, it was about 5 minutes before we managed to catch the attention of the staff again.
When we asked for the drinks menu, the staff tapped a forefinger on a clipboard and paper on the table.. oops.. sorry, we missed it. The drinks menu was right there on the table.
We decided to have a glass of ice water each.
For our main courses, Pauline ordered a barramundi and me a risotto.
The whole ordering process was completed without the expressionless staff uttering a single word.
Our food came in around 15 minutes :D
My saffron risotto served with crab meat, peas and shaved parmesan cheese.
The rice was cooked through till soft and nearly to a starchy mash. The wet risotto lacked bite or flavour, and the yellow saffron somehow managed to have no aroma.
The pieces of soft fibrous crab meat were bland. The fibers were limp and lifeless. The pieces of parmesan cheese flakes were salty in a single dimensional way i.e. flat. The peas were generic.
Both Pauline and I did not enjoy this.
Pauline ordered this pan seared barramundi. The fish wasn't fresh and it was slightly overcooked, so the meat was a bit dry and stringy. The salsa verde (a green garnish) and sauce were overly salty.
The fish sat on top of the same tasteless risotto of wet soft overcooked rice.
Both of us didn't like the barramundi either.
A footnote in the menu explained the origins of the quaint and whimsical name The Queen & Mangosteen. Not sure which part of it is true.
Maybe I'll ask Ah Seng my honest durian seller, how did the King of Fruit choose a fruit with purple sap as Her Majesty the Queen (of fruit).
We were ready for tea and dessert but decided to spend our calories elsewhere.
Our total bill was SGD2 short of SGD60 i.e. SGD1 shy of SGD30 after government taxes and service charge per person.
It was Pauline's treat :D Thanks!
Come again?
Yes, I would like to try the quintessentially British fish and chips and a couple of pints of beer :D
Maybe my mistake was to order Italian in a British themed pub :P
The sea facing al fresco area looks like a fine place to down a few pints.
Restaurant name: The Queen & Mangosteen Gourmet British Pub
Address: 1 HarbourFront Walk, #01-106/107 VivoCity, Singapore
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/hJRJY
GPS: 1.263110,103.822002
Hours: Sun - Thurs: 11:00am - 12:00 midnight | Fri - Sat: 11:00am to 01:00am | Eve of PH: 11:00am to 01:00am
Non Halal
Date visited: 7 Jun 2014
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