Monday, May 04, 2009

The Queen and Mangosteen

C says:

This gastropub that opened fairly recently is currently our new favourite dining destination at VivoCity. We came here twice in the span of 3 days – once on a Saturday afternoon and the next time on Monday evening after work. Hence the dramatic difference in photo quality, and also how we managed to try 5 dishes. We may be atetoomuch, but even we have limits...

The specialities here are apparently the mini burgers, and the fish and chips. Surprisingly, both appear in the Nibbles section of the menu rather than the mains, and for the price and corresponding portion sizes (fish and chips for $12 and the burgers for $16), these are very good value.


The fish and chips are given a slightly Asian twist here. The batter has a hint of lime leaf, and it’s served with a curry tartare sauce that’s a little strange on its own, but goes well with the fish. The fish itself, 3 pretty generous pieces, is really fresh, flaky and moist.


I always make a point to ask for my burgers to be cooked medium rare, because more often than not most places don’t get it right anyway. I’m happy to say that they didn’t disappoint here. The dish comes with 3 mini burgers; the patties are about 100g each, and served with a slice each of tomato and onion. They were very simple, no-frills burgers but were juicy, done perfectly and very enjoyable.


The only proper main course we tried – lamb chops with mash and arugula salad – was good too, but at twice the price of the nibbles but almost the same size portion-wise, this isn’t the most value for money. Taste-wise the lamb was very tender, but I didn’t quite like the sweetish dressing for the arugula salad.


Hot off our new obsession with all things cheese and ham related, we also tried the duck rillette with mini baguettes, and the cheese platter. The rillette was pretty good but very oily; the cheese board was surprisingly good and actually paired very well with the rillette dish.

The slightly kooky name apparently stems from a rumour that the mangosteen was Queen Victoria’s favourite fruit. Whatever the story, the name really suits the whimsical vibe of the place.

A says:

The food is here is very good though I’m not sure it fully lives up to its gourmet pub food billing. The prices are not cheap but the large portion sizes (especially for the nibbles) and quality of the grub mean you get great value and it’s totally worth it. I’ll definitely be back to have the mini-burgers again.

The Queen and Mangosteen
#01-106/107 VivoCity1 Harbourfront Walk
Tel: 6376-9380
Sundays to Thursdays - 11am to midnight
Fridays, Saturdays and Eve of Public Holidays - 11am to 1 am
http://www.queenandmangosteen.com/

2 comments:

YY said...

B & I were at Vivocity today.
He'd read your post about The Queen and Mangosteen, so we popped in for a pint each and shared some nibbles.
Had the mini-burgers, which we loved. Had to fight over the 3rd one.
And we had a seafood platter. Not too bad.

YY said...

Wanted to add...
Can't remember what he drank, but I had the one with gula melaka in it, and it was great!