I was told that this cafe has been renovated past a month ago. I somehow prefer the 'colonial feel' of the old interior at the smoking area (although I dislike smoking) except for that automatic swinging door. The door has been taken down now; and the interior and 'smoking section' -- now air-conditioned (and thus non-smoking)--has been transformed into modern Zen.
I occasionally crave for this soul food - the watery Taiwan rice porridge.
The chef now does a great job - with great consistency in the Taman fish sprinkled with sesame seeds and black sauce, black pomfret with black bean paste, kang-kong with sambal, kang-kong with fermented bean sauce, and tofu dishes et cetera. Every dish was served piping hot, and all the veg and fish just gave that perfect crunch. We went there twice last month (November 11, 2007 & ?). Warm soft porridge on cool November nights makes wonderful dinners.
The cafe's coziness makes it ideal for a night-out -- tranquil, no music. I remember how my Osaka friends found the main dish fascinating and asked for the menu over fax. A loves this porridge as well, but this should not be read as "Japanese love this porridge". Another Japanese, for instance, from Northeastern Japan commented that this is food for the sick man because in Japan only the sick are served warm rice porridge. He thus felt disgusted seeing rice porridge elevated to hotel food!
I am hence also reminded of the jaundiced views of looking at other cultures at this restaurant.
Ambience: 4.0 /5.0; food quality:4.2 /5.0; service: 2.5 /5.0;
value for money: 5.0 /5.0.
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