50 and beyond

For my 50th birthday celebrations, I brought my family to watch MozArt at the Esplanade, followed by supper at Gluttons Bay.

We last had dinner there sometime after the first circuit breaker was relaxed about two years ago. That was a memorable experience; we ordered a wide spread of dishes and ate to our hearts’ content.

However, our experience was very different last night.

Safety concern
D1 took a first bite of fried carrot cake and promptly spit it out. There was a metal screw in his mouthful. Indignant, the three boys went to confront the stall, and the staff running the stall discovered that their frying ladle had a screw missing. They apologised and sent over a new plate. But that had already spoilt our night.

Quality of food
The chicken wings were fully cooked BUT there was no char at all in any of the pieces. It looked like it was just boiled and brown looking. The pad thai was clumpy. The hokkien mee was very oily. The mee rebus and tofu goreng were ordinary. I should have taken photos to post here, but I was so disappointed with what was served that I didn’t bother to take any photos.

Price of food
My family of four spent close to $100 to feed four of us. The calamansi with sour plum drink was $2.40 each. I just checked their FB page, and in 2020, the same drink was $1.80. That’s a 33% increase in price. Chicken wings were $2 each. The plate of hokkien mee that we ordered was a whooping $18, and it didn’t have a fancy jumbo shrimp or a special ingredient, it was just a medium sized plate of hokkien mee.

My personal opinion is that Makansutra Gluttons should not be marketed a hallmark of Singapore hawker food. The quality of the dishes is below the standard of the average neighbourhood hawker centre, and the prices around double the price of the neighbourhood hawker centre. I understand that the price reflects the rent of the prime area at the Esplanade, but if hawker food is to be that expensive, then the taste and ingredients must justify the price.

Hubby was slightly colicky when we came home, and I was slightly colicky this morning when I woke up.

We will never patronise this place again. Can anyone recommend a place to go for supper after performance ends at the Esplanade?