Review: Lunar Asian Fusion Bar

I received this eDM (electronic Direct Mailer) in my mailbox. From the design, I thought it was an atas club with nice stylo-mylo oriental music, possibly nostalgic and even some Shanghai Jazz too, interior decor that would make Shanghai Tang really proud and service that would come from a team of waitresses dressed in ankle length cheongsam.

So when Lunar opened, I got the girlfriend along with her friends to check the place out. Like all club openings, the place was packed and music booming.

Once we entered, the attention was on the large screen which was screening Rain’s concert, with fans screaming in the background. There was hardly any room and on the first level, we decided to move up to the second floor. I was quite impressed by the lift and the waitress team that played lift attendants. Judging from their looks and grasp of English language, they were all our foreign talent directly from China. Good and Bad. Good because it sort of upped the kinky fantasies quotient. Bad because, well, you know how the locals think about foreign talent…

Since we are on the topic of the waitresses, their uniform was functional, especially the striking bob wig, which makes for easy identification in the dimmed environment. The whole package with the short cheongsam dress, stockings and boots however reignites the debate of whether Singapore’s very own Annabelle Chong should be considered trailer trash or local pop culture icon.

There was hardly any standing room and it was rather difficult snaking through the crowd. When we managed to find an available spot to rest at, the live music started. The first reaction by the ladies was, “Bad singing of even worse songs.”
A quick inspection and we realized it was a live band on stage. The female vocalists only scored in the looks department, singing wasn’t great and failed to carry the feeling of the songs. Their attempts on interpretation failed spectacularly. Male vocalists weren’t any better and looked liked the sharpei (Peking bulldog).

Just when I thought the music could get any worse, the band got off stage and house music resumed…
Guess what? They spun Afro-American Hip-Hop, Rap and R&B. Tak match to the extreme can!

Even though a waitress had previously taken our order, the drinks never came. Due to the crowds and the demand for the free drinks, we only managed to get one drink each after lots of pushing and shoving. I was pleasantly surprised by a quiet but friendly bartender who diligent served up requests of drinks.

We took our time to finish our drinks. One of the ladies wanted to hit the dance floor but was promptly discouraged by its emptiness. We decided to take our leave but also have a good look at the interior decor which was really nicely done up.

Some rather nice paintings too. There were also some racier ones on the ceiling, but I missed out taking photos of them. Guys, don’t hate me for depriving you of those artistic paintings.

The ladies particularly liked this throne and spontaneously hammed it up there…

And the same pictures with some styling…

And just as we thought the first band couldn’t get any worse, another ensemble took the the stage…

We waited for their first piece only to be disappointed and appalled yet again by the quality of sound made. It likened to the ad-hoc performances in Chinatown which employed Mainland Chinese ladies prancing around on stage looking as if they played the Chinese instrument.

So Lunar seemed to know nuts about Oriental music. Perhaps they should consult the Esplanade’s producer for Huayi Festival for its musical direction. Seriously, the concerts there are much more happening.

My Parting Note on Lunar

Lunar to me is pretty much like Café Del Mar (Sentosa) where the music failed to fit its image. The management probably didn’t think the crowds would appreciate anything that is non-mainstream. Great effort in the decor, but it fails spectacularly by missing the complete experience by miles.

For more photos taken at Lunar, click here.

Review: The Pump Room

The girlfriend’s pals were gracious enough to let me in on their gathering at The Pump Room. So we got there early to get ourselves a table.

For the uninitiated, The Pump Room is a microbrewery and bistro. So we ordered our beers and sides first while we waited for the rest to arrive. We were ushered to a table and presented the menu. I took my time to look through the menu for something that might inspire me…

Beer

Personally, I prefer dark beers whenever come to a beer place. I have this preconception that dark beers from a place specializing in beers would offer something interesting. Plus dark beers usually meant more dimensions in terms of the flavor, which would be better experience compared the fizzy, foamy, bitter and pale stuff.

I settled for their Scottish ale, a dark beer with a nice taste of roasted malt. It goes down slightly more bitter at first, but ends sweetly.

Sides

Our appetite was growing as we waited for the others. So we decided to order some sides to keep our mouths occupied. I was disappointed that there wasn’t anything like buffalo wings on the finger food menu. The best they could muster were a few potato-based sides and garlic bread. The rest of the table did set their eyes on something else…

Creamy Mashed Potato was pretty good. I did wish there was some bacon crisps mixed into it. Would have been a great combination of textures.

Sauteed Shitake Mushrooms with herbs was nice too. Although it was on the salty side. The chunky garlic was a nice touch which I liked.

Still waiting, I decided to entertain myself and the “early-birds” with my camera…

More of the interior

And the fascinating “optic fibre” lighting which changes color…

Service

We were rather taken aback when we realized that the staff had failed to inform us about their special offers for their brewed beers. We thought fine, since we never asked.

Then we got really annoyed that many of the wait staff were selective of who they wanted to serve. There was this group of Caucasians that took the table in front of us and were given a VIP treatment while the other tables like mine were conveniently neglected and ignored. I then realized the wait staff were consistently tipped by that table for every item served. Talk about spoil market!

But I guess I shouldn’t harp on that. I mean, there are other stuff to be peeved by. Like the wait staff’s snail-like and begrudging response times for plain water. It seems like they convenient forget your requests. Not like we won’t order other stuff, right?

Main Courses

I found the Linguine with Prawns, Mussels, Scallops and Squid Aglio Olio style was pleasantly spicy with black peppercorns. The seafood was fresh done just right, with the exception of the mussels which were really raw. I think it is because we are so used to the well-cooked mussels in chilli.

One can hardly go wrong with The Pump Room’s Special Steak Burger with Salad and Chips. But it does lack the necessary punch to live up to its “Special” status.

Beer-Battered Pacific Dory with Chips, Tartare Sauce and Mesclun Saladwas nothing special, though the chips were pretty good.

My order was the Hickory smoked BBQ Baby Back Ribs in Special Beer Marinade. It was a rather standard and ordinary quality. nothing to shout about.

The verdict for mains collectively would be somewhere between mediocre and average.

Desserts

The plan had been to stay to catch the live band perform. So we needed to “buy ourselves some more time” in the form of desserts.

The Warm Chocolate Pudding with Vanilla Ice Cream was fantastic! The warm, thick chocolate pudding was probably oven toasted to achieve a crispy outer crust with a slightly charred taste. Every mouthful of the thick melted chocolate and the crispy crust was a luxurious experience.

Soft Centered Pavlova with Tropical Fruits and Passionfruit Curd was a light, zesty dessert thanks to the fruits involved at the sides. Pretty enjoyable if you just love the sugar. Personally, I found it a little too sweet, but nevertheless, it had a good mix of textures to be experienced with every little bit placed into the mouth.

There is a sudden realization that one can’t really go wrong with a Cheese Platter. With very distinctive textures and tastes, it will instantly turn one into a cheese connoisseur.

By the time we wipe off everything on the plates, the band started their act. Plenty of 80’s and 90’s music to dance the night away.

Last but not least, the toilet was pretty decent, a good thing to have with all the booze going around.

Ministry of Sound Pre-Opening Party

Managed to get an entry pass to Ministry of Sound’s Pre-Opening Party. (Don’t ask where I got all these nonsense from. Have means have, don’t have means don’t have) I’m not much of a party person, but I was curious to see what kind of nonsense they’ve got in there, so I went to take a look lor. Only brought the ROKR into the venue. So only got these half-past-six shots.

I guess the main dance floor wasn’t really anything special, maybe the music is better compared to everywhere else, Ministry of Sound mah. Don’t play-play with a ministry lor. Anyhow, they opened some VIP areas for the invitees to take a look. They are definitely more spectacular. One got a futuristic feel to it. It was brightly lit, funky, and had everything white and plasticky, accented by bits of red here and there. And they had these giant bean bags that are 2 metres across. The other was psychedelic retro all over, complete with those Saturday Night Fever lit dance floor and disco globes.

Oh yah, Cris Lu was the door bitch that night. And she seemed freaked when I called her by her name. Oh well, guess I sort of find it fun to freak people out.