Hard Rock Cafe, Sentosa Island, Singapore

Sunshine! Good weather!

BUT, unlike in the UK where sunshine equals topless men with one-packs flexing their beer drinking skills, over here, sunshine is pretty much available all the time. Except at night, of course.

Sunshine is even available when it's raining! And it's been raining quite a bit the last few days. On Sunday it pretty much was raining from the moment we were up till evening time.

Thing is, Hubs was most insistent on getting to a beach. Any beach. He wasn't fussed. Though, beaches are kinda few and far between in Singapore, so we made our way to Sentosa Island.




Wikipedia facts below: 

- The word 'sentosa' means 'peace and tranquility' in Malay
- There is a 2km long sheltered beach on the island (Where is it??? We couldn't find it. Nowhere on the map did it say Beach at any point ...)
- You can get to Sentosa Island from Singapore mainland through a variety of methods (discussed below the next picture).

The walkalator to the island (from VivoCty mall)

Depending on how deep your pockets are, you could:

- Take a monorail to the island (Sentosa Express) S$3
- Take a cable car S$24 one-way
- Walk S$1

Waterfall just by the end of the Boardwalk

We chose to walk, not just because we're miserly but because:

- It was a warm day
- There are actually walkalators along the way
- We've been eating too much




There is a blog which tells you what you can do at Sentosa for free.

For example, once you get to the island, past the Visitors' Centre, keep going and you'll come to this.




Came all the way around the globe (ha ha) to come to Universal Studio in Singapore.

But being cheapskates, we didn't pay to go in and all. Just pretended that we'd been here having taken pictures of the outside.

Come on - we've all done that ...




It was raining pretty much all day that day, but it didn't really stop us from getting around the island as there are shelters and covered walkways pretty much everywhere. It's like one huge mall / theme park, and this wasn't even the bit where you had to pay to get in to.

As usual, with every place we go to, we checked out their Hard Rock Cafe.

- New York
- Penang
- Vegas
- Bali
- London
- Edinburgh
- And now, Singapore




The restaurant is located next to the hotel. We stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel in Bali and really enjoyed the themed rooms, amazing buffet brekkie and also relaxed atmosphere at the hotel, so I'm guessing if standards are maintained, that it's pretty OK here at the Singapore one too.

Sorry, what's this place called again?

Lights on ceiling as soon as you enter the restaurant

The interior is consistent with all the other HRC we've been to. Waiters/waitresses are kinda 'wacky' (I think that's the image they're trying to portray anyway, otherwise it needs working on) and definitely friendly.

We were there around 4pm (we seem to be eating at this time more and more) so it was quite empty, meaning the waiting staff to diner ratio was around 2:1.

The HRC shop located by the entrance

Somehow, I managed to resist buying something from here. I've been collecting t-shirts from the various HRC we've been to - not that I'm one of those people who do that (or I never used to, anyway) but ever since realising that we do actually go to HRCs in most cities, I decided to buy something from each one to remind me that I've been there before.

The next three pictures I took because it amused me to see how HRC was trying to 'localise' itself. I don't recall  noticing this at the Malaysian one or even at the Bali one before, but that could be because I had some free time here so was taking a little more interest in the place.

Heinz meanz ... chilli sauce

Nice touch though, commendable for trying to blend in with local tastes.

Wok and (spring) roll! Nasi goreng and Char Kway Teow

Possibly the most indulgent burger menu around

For drinks, I had the Cecil Iced Tea which tasted a lot like a Long Island Iced Tea without the alcohol. Maybe it was meant to be a mocktail?

Chilli crab dip S$15 

It's Singapore chilli crab blended into a dip, and served with Chinese buns. You gotta give it to the chef - he's tried to put as much local flavours into the menu as possible and this one works a treat, too.

Taste-wise, almost exactly like how you'd imagine spicy chilli crab to be like if it were blended into a paste-like consistency. The buns were slightly crispy on the outside, and fluffy on the inside. Should've asked for tortilla chips instead as this was kinda heavy as a starter (shared) so we took most of it back as a takeaway.



Cobb salad S$22

Really like the HRC version of the Cobb salad. I've had this at almost all their restaurants and they've been consistently good. And huge in portion.

The salad weighed more than what I'd like to imagine and had loads of lettuce, bacon bits, hard boiled egg, avocado, onions, grilled chicken, tomatoes, cheese and was served with 2 dressings on the side.

Not sure how I did it, but I finished it (well, with a little help from the Hubs - just a little).




Hickory-smoked BBQ trio combo S$35 

The trio consisted of BBQ ribs, BBQ chicken and pulled pork. The pulled pork was really tender but the star of the meal was the ribs. Flavours were intense, and texture was excellent. With the perfect balance of meat to fat, the Hubs (who usually doesn't like eating ribs) finished the entire rack without so much as an offer of a nibble to me.

The chicken kinda let the show down - dry and chewy. Maybe they should've served just the darker meat bit of the chicken which would have remained a little bit more tender than what was served.

The chips were fab - they were seasoned with the lovely Cajun (?) sweet and salty seasoning I so love on my fries. Coleslaw was OK - it had some raisins in it but could've been a little tangier. BBQ beans were good, kinda like most other BBQ beans I've had but that's not necessarily a bad thing.


Things like BBQ beans shouldn't be surprising in any way, in my opinion. As long as they taste like BBQ beans, it has exceeded expectations.




When the waiter had set all the plates out on the table, he looked at us and said 'Good luck'.

We showed him

Don't mess with us (or our plates).

Overall, one of the more expensive meals we've had so far. But definitely very enjoyable, and worth a visit if you're wanting big portions and lip-smacking noms.

New York Eats – Hard Rock Cafe NY, 1501 Broadway New York, NY 10036

Just like you can’t not visit the popcorn counter when at the cinema, we couldn’t not go to Hard Rock Cafe when in New York. Not that it started there or anything (because it started in London), but something about HRC is just that bit NYC.



And horses standing by the pavement. Smiling at the cameras.



And as we were right smack in the middle of dinner time rush hour, we were prepared for a bit of a wait.



And wait we did. See that ‘Current Line Up’ board above?

Well, we weren’t on there for the first half hour or so. And when we did get on, it was an agonising, hungrying, wait to get up the leader board. Jessica B, Dasya and Louis kept taunting us as their names moved upward and onward, leaving us trailing behind their (smokey-barbecued-flavoured) tails.



We could’ve had some drinks at the bar to while away the time, but because we’re tight tourists, we decided to just sit on the carpeted floor sulking.



In total, we waited something like 1 hour and 40 minutes. Not that I was counting or anything.



When our names were called, boy oh boy did I sprint my way towards the elusive thing called The Free Table. With menu in hand, and appetites uncontrollable, it was henceforth decided that we’d jump straight to the main meal and not bother with silly things like starters and such.



Hard Rock Cafe menu

These days, everything has calories – even menus. Slightly annoying if you’re out for a grand celebratory meal trying to ignore those calories, only to be reminded of those calories everywhere and anywhere with food. Why? Why must you tell me that my Classic Patty Melt has 1,792 calories?!?! Can’t I just have one day’s worth of calories on my plate if I want to?



After we’d placed our orders, I sat there contemplating how many calories I’d just ordered.



Nothing like a bit of Heinz to help wash down those calories.



1,792 calories – Classic Patty Melt (US$15)

You can probably guess that this burger was pretty good considering the stuff it was made out of, and you’d be right. The meat was chunky, juicy, succulent and very meaty (sorry for stating the obvious but we’ve had burgers which just weren’t meaty enough). Nothing like a bit of processed cheese to finish off a lovely American burger.



1,798 calories – Hickory-smoked Bar-B-Que ribs (not sure how much as I didn’t take a pic of the menu and the website’s menu only has calories on it)

Because I’d just started to get used to the ginormous portions served up almost everywhere in New York, this dish was almost a disappointment when served.

What? It’s only just slightly bigger than the plate? Just not good enough.



Despite that, the flavour and texture didn’t disappoint. The barbequed aroma was full and flavoursome, and the meat with just enough bite and chew to it.



Just like yellow taxis and bright lights. I miss it already (we visited in May 2010), New York New York!