White Dog Café (VivoCity)

Cheap and nice 3 course lunch set from $10.90++, include a White Dog Waldorf Salad, a soup and a main course.

More photos and review at http://monsoontravel.blogspot.com/2012/03/set-lunch-white-dog-cafe.html

White dog cafe offered a variety of choices (~18) for the main course, much more than what is usually offered in other restaurants.

White dog Waldorf Salad and Soup of your choice

You can choose Veloute of White Dory or Barley Chicken Broth. White dory cream soup sounds fishy and weird initially, but it turn out to be quite ok. 



Grilled Pork Chop with Prune and Apple Salsa

Pork was nicely charred, not too tough and quite fragrant. The prune and apple salsa doesn't look appetizing but it does compliment the pork well and is not too sweet. Portion of the meat was small, but should be sufficient for the average as the mains are served with a small portion of raisin organic brown rice.

There is much room for improvement for their service. Never sight a single smile from the gloomy waitresses and it also took quite a while for them to settle the bill.

Nonetheless, will still be back again as the food is relatively cheap.

I've always liked this place and my boyfriend likes it because they have cheap beer ;)

The ambiance is always crowded, but we're always seated promptly. Seats comfortable, modern and bright lighting.

Most recently we went with some friends. I had the steak with garlic butter and brie. Super nice!! Perfectly cooked with a side of salad and a small potato. Loved it! My friend had the chicken with mango and she said it was pretty good as well. My boyfriend had a burger as he always does there. We were satisfied with everything except the fried mushrooms. Wrong batter, too oily.

The service was above average, always refilling our waters and a smile here and there. Great casual dining place, I recommend the steak and beers ;)

The best thing about White Dog Cafe is their location, on the second floor of VivoCity, overlooking the Sentosa bridge and the Harbour. If you get a window seat, you'll have a fantastic view while you dine. 

Unfortunately, White Dog Cafe is let down by its food and service. 

That's not to say that White Dog Cafe food or service is terrible... just that it's average. But in a location like VivoCity, surrounded by top quality restaurants and cafes, competition is stiff. And in this location, being merely 'good' may not be good enough.

The closest I can come to placing the theme of White Dog Cafe is 'Western Food'. Unlike some of the other restaurants nearby which offer 'Seafood', 'Brazilian', 'Spanish', 'Indian', etc; White Dog Cafe menu is a mix of European and American influence. 

Food is decent, and so are serving sizes. However, for the price, you could get better meals at other restaurants and cafes around the area. 

Service is average as well, and is slightly better during non-peak service hours. 

Nothing in particular would attract me to return, or cause me to want to travel here just to dine... And that for me, is where White Dog Cafe has failed.

Probably the only reason I'll eat here again is if the other restaurants or cafes were crowded.

Been there a few times for their lobster bisque. Love it! With flavours, thick, though not much lobster meat. It was very worth it until they reduce the portion. Still quite okie though. But the prob is, each time we order main courses, they always disappoint us. To date, still haven tried a single main course that we like.

They have a mango blended drink which is nice though.

Full review with photos at http://seriouslysinful.blogspot.com/2011/07/white-dog-cafe-vivocity.html 

The Pros

- Good view, we were facing Sentosa. I dare say the view at night should be pretty spectacular.

- Doesn't burn a hole in your pocket, especially if you go for one of the set meals.

- Nice food presentation

- Classic Beef Burger had a real handmade beef patty and the bread was fresh. Overall, I have to say the burger was quite nice.

Cons

- Iced Chocolate: way way way too sweet. I don't particularly want to develop Diabetes

- Classic Beef Burger: The tomato used wasn't fresh and didn't go particularly well with the rest of the burger (so I disposed of it). The egg (sunny side up) was too well done. It didn't ooze! :(

- Fries were chunky cut (which I normally don't mind) - these were slightly cold by the time they arrived however, and they lacked seasoning so I had to salt/pepper them myself. I have a feeling they were just deep fried and left on a paper napkin for minutes (very many minutes in fact!) to dry and then slapped onto the plate.

All in all, I should think that there are other establishments worth frequenting in Vivocity besides the White Dog Café.

We were ushered to a window seat which was great because we had a splendid view of Sentosa across the sea. I ordered the classic chicken burger while he ordered the pork chop.

 My classic chicken burger came with a thick chicken patty and a sunny side up which I enjoyed pretty much. The fries were crisp and thick, filled with potato inside which was the way I liked my fries to be. I'm not particularly fond of skinny fries. However the patty was filled with minced chicken so for those who prefer the patty to be a chicken thigh or something more juicy, the patty might disappoint.

I tried his pork chop too but it tasted pretty average. I would say the burger was definitely way better!

For the full review and pictures visit toseetofeeltoeat

For photos, please visit Rubbish Eat Rubbish Grow.

We wanted to write a parallel review so that Mr. Nice-Gay-Finish-Lust (NGFL) and I could give two sides of our experience but since I concur with his review, I will just insert my comments in red.

***

One fine day when the sun was bright and shiny, a bunch of bears of the gay variety decided to have an outing. To get technical, not all were strictly bears, some were chubs, some were cubs, some were otters and there's one particular bear who was in denial of his bearness.

After rolling on the hills and sniffing the flowers [at the horrible Sentosa Wilting Flowers Show], the bears decided to have lunch at White Dog Cafe. Wise Guy ordered the beef goulash ($16.90++) and I ordered the arizona prawns, the lunch special at $10.90++ that came with a bowl of chicken corn soup and a paw size of coleslaw.

The soup and the coleslaw that was sprinkled with fish roe were decent. The prawns were disappointing. They were pan-fried with salt and garlic and would taste better if they were fresh.

Wise Guy's beef goulash wasn't much better. When the dish arrived, looking at the beef sitting on top of a bed of mash potato, he exclaimed, "This goulash has too little beef!". After tasting it, he exclaimed again , "The goulash has too much salt!". Unfortunately, for Wise Guy, this lunch had no fairy tale ending. The beef goulash was just not right!

What saved the chef from a bear attack was the very good conversation among the bears about the very bad movie love songs playing in the restaurant. The waterfront view helped too.

I'd add that the service was prompt but, besides the manager, the rest of the staff had bittergourd faces. Some of the food are very reasonably priced and too bad that the one I like (beef goulash) isn't. I should have taken the breakfast set, including eggs, baked beans, sausage, toast, and coffee/tea for only $6.90. The beer is also cheap. The inconsistent pricing makes it difficult to know the target audience of the restaurant. I'd never have come here if not for the group decision--it was empty enough to accommodate a huge group on a public holiday--but I don't think I'll ever return to this restaurant.

能在高尚的怡丰城里享用$11.80++的套餐，应该就是这间餐厅的卖点。

餐厅的颜色以紫、黄、红为主，给人一种好玩、充满活力的气息。放眼望去，落地的玻璃让食客在用餐时也能展望宽阔的大海及美丽的圣淘沙，格外有情调。

餐厅售卖意式、法式及日式美食为主。而价廉物美的午间套餐包括：汤品、主菜（任选）和热饮。

·今天品尝到的汤品是奶油鸡肉块，喜欢奶油的朋友，一定会喜欢这碗汤。我不喜欢奶油。

·多利鱼是主餐的重要材料之一，我们选择用酸甜酱与它翻炒，有中餐厅咕噜肉的感觉。

逛街累了，这里是歇息的好地方！要阅读更多本地美食，请点击这里。

 

Went there with family last Friday night. Greeted by a whole bunch of very eager and friendly wait help with 'Hello !, Welcome!'

Had the  Fried Calamari [ nicely battered and tender squid inside], Linguine, White Dog Chef Salad and 'Cowboy' pizza. Generous portion and all the meal tasted fairly good.

Cowboy pizza had just a little too much cheese and thousand island cream. And it overpowers the taste of the meat in the pizza.

Thought the wait staff were attentive [ especially the supervisors], the wait crew had this 'habit' of greeting every customer that comes into the restuarant [ very much like any Japanese restaurants]. After awhile it gets a little tried and seems so insincere. I know we all talked about service with a smile but though the smile was there, I don't think the heart was!

Anyway, i guess the staff were told by the management to greet customers that way. Just a point to note that it can really ' kill' the nice view, the nice ambience and the rather nice meal. 

Restaurant has a good view of Sentosa, or rather the construction on the island. The seats are comfortable enough to have a sit-down dinner for 3 hours.

Staff is adequately friendly, carrying out standard protocol throughout the dining experience. Floor manager is helpful and prompt to correct errors (one smoothie came looking like ice blended, which is obviously wrong).

If you are a lover of lobster bisque, you would be disappointed. Thin and somewhat fishy. Good portion and decent warm garlic bread. The leading soup, sadly, lacks the luscious creamy body. The squid fritter is crunchy on both the inside and out. The crumbs made it taste like fish sticks, probably similar batter. The Margarita pizza is succulent! My all-time favourite pizza topped with smoked chicken. Yes I cheated. Just the right amount of bubbling cheese and herbs, with a tomato base that does not overwhelm the white meat. 

Overall, rather uneven in terms of food quality. I will go back for the drinks and maybe the pizza.