Birthdays, Carter, Family, FOOD, Food reviews, Food reviews - Singapore, HUNTER, CARTER & CHLOE MADAM KWAN’S @ VIVOCITY 13 August 2013

On Carter’s actual 1st birthday, we took the kids, my parents and FIL to Madam Kwan’s at Vivocity. It’s (fairly) newly opened and is a branch of the famous Madam Kwan’s in Malaysia.. so I was excited to check it out. Plus, Mum and my FIL are chilli heads, so I figured it’d be a good place to take them!

Me and the birthday boy

 

Grandpa with the kidlets!

 

I’m gonna come right out and say IT IS STUPID TO CHARGE $1 FOR PLAIN WATER. Embarrassing and desperate, to boot. All I think of is “Wow, restaurant isn’t making enough money and desperately needs a few cents more”. I wish the government would outlaw this ridiculous behaviour like other countries’ governments have done. Shameful.

Anyway.

The interior is very spacious and seats loads of diners, and is fairly casual so we didn’t feel so bad having noisy kids. The staff were friendly and very efficient, and dishes came out swiftly.

I particularly liked their menu, full of photos to entice you:

The menu at Madam Kwan’s

 

Food-wise? They were good, but not blow-my-mind good. Just decent, hawker fare.. but at expensive prices when you factor in the portion size (super tiny).

Frankly, you can find the same food that’s just as good (or better) at those hole-in-the-wall places dotted around Singapore. But to be fair, you’re paying for a nice ambience, the fact that you’re in a mall and not sitting out by the roadside, and for the service.

Fish Otak. It looks terrible, I know, but it was good. Very spicy, though!

 

One of the best dishes, IMHO. Beef Rendang! However, in such a tiny portion it’s only enough for one person.

 

Sambal kang kong. Same as every other sambal kang kong I’ve had at other places

 

A kickass chicken curry

 

Assam Prawns was delicious, but the prawns were pretty petite and few and far between (among the masses of onions)

 

Both Hunter and Carter almost polished the Beef Hor Fun off! The only non-spicy item we ordered.

 

I dashed next door to Awfully Chocolate (one of my favourite chocolate shops) to buy some cupcakes to sing Happy Birthday. Carter was very game for it and merrily clapped his hands whilst we sang πŸ™‚

So happy with his birthday cupcake!

 

We tried to get the kids to do SILLY POSE!, but failed miserably…

 

Carter having his 2nd ever cupcake

 

He was pretty suspicious, and not too impressed with it!

 

……and grabbed my boob instead. Guess boob milk tastes better πŸ˜‰

 

Here comes the AEROPLANE!

 

Tiny little bowl of Sago dessert, vs GIGANTIC bowl of chendol. Both were the same price! The chendol was excellent.

 

With my parents. My FIL was taking the photo, hence why he isn’t in the pic!

 

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Nasi bojari ! The bojari rice is addictive and it comes with very good fried chicken and that sambal prawn and that beef rendang you like πŸ™‚

Hey Beverly,

Just wondering if you could point me in the direction of your blog post about Hunter’s tongue tie? My cousin just found out her son has the same issue and would love to read someone’s experience with it.

Thanks so much!

Hey Bev, I had to write sth about the water charging thing.

In Germany, it is very normal to pay for water – which usually costs more expensive than beer.

Most restaurants do not serve free water and if one wants water, one would have to buy mineral water. So there you go!

You have to ask for Kranwasser/Leitungswasser (tap water) which they wont charge for sure. Though they are of course not happy when you order it πŸ˜‰

Oh funny, i actually thought it was a very European thing to always provide free chilled tap water to the table, without even being asked!

Was just there this afternoon and grudgingly paid for the water – downright ridiculous!