eL’s father and brother are both out of town so we get to have some quiet time together on a Saturday night. He recommended that we try out the Ponggol Choon Heng Seafood Restaurant at Turnhouse Road after doing a short search online for places to go.
The road leading to the place and the car park seemed deserted and quiet. That creeped me out a bit initially. However, the restaurant itself that greeted us was so vibrantly packed with diners!
At 8 p.m., we walked in without any reservation on a Saturday night so we were asked to wait. After 5 min, we noticed that some customers had left and an empty table was available, so I asked if we could sit there. One of the waitresses paused momentarily upon hearing my suggestion but chose to say nothing as she walked past us in a scurry. eL and I stared at each other in disbelief with her reaction and I walked out of the restaurant feeling embarrassed. eL was more determined and he chose to stand inside to make his presence felt.
The waitresses were so busy serving the other customers that we were practically ignored for another 20 min despite seeing an empty table outside that hadn’t been cleared and another one indoor. Hungry, I got hold of another younger waitress walking by and asked if we could sit at the cleared empty table indoor. Fortunately, she was friendlier than the previous waitress and said that she would clear the table outside for us instead as the one inside was not meant for guests. Alas! We got a table after half-past 8.
She cleared the table and lay the table in a jiffy before serving us drinks. However, we had to wait for another assigned waitress to take our order only after 10 min.
Finally, when our food arrived, we realised that our Mee Goreng had been changed to Beehoon Goreng without us being informed because they had run out of Mee. We were a little dumbfounded because usually we would be informed if we would like to proceed with any change if ingredients had run out but in this case, they had taken things into their own hand and decided for us without consulting us. Nevertheless, we gladly accepted the food and did not want to make anything difficult for them.
The food, on the other hand, tasted great! Thank goodness! At least, the good food would be able to make up for the lack of attention we had received. The salted egg crab is a must-try dish! The food portions were also rather big so we had to pack back the ngoh hiang & prawn pancakes. Prices were reasonable and we spent only $70++.
We will definitely go back again and WITH a reservation made next time. :)
