Swensens @ Parkway Parade

Dinner @ Swensens, Parkway Parade

We ordered 2 main courses to share and a dessert!

First was “American Cheeseburger”. Don’t be fooled by the name. It’s a pizza with… well… cheeseburger toppings. The beef patty is “deconstructed” as ground beef sprinkled over a tomato mustard base topped with strips of tomato, onions and gherkins.

I really like the thin pizza crust. Its crisp but not the neopolitan way, The sides have an almost butter cream crackers kinda crunch. And the toppings were… well… tasted pretty much like a cheeseburger!

Fish Baked Rice was the second main course. Baked rice has been a major reason for coming back to Swensens. Well… kinda sub-conscious i guess. But prices have gone up and the quality has gone down. Pressure cooker steamed rice is used and the cream sauce is pretty much separated from the rice nowadays. Perhaps we should venture into other parts of their menu…

“Apple Crumble” for dessert, served in a cast-iron saucepan, its dramatic presentation used to enthrall us (and diners near our table!) when its being served. A cake-like pastry topped with crumbling flour mix is placed on the pre-heated saucepan until the base starts to brown. A scoop of vanilla ice-cream ala mode is added. When brought to the table, cuts of pre-cooked apple were first added to the sides, followed by glacing the top with butterscotch flavoured cream. It starts to sizzle and hiss as the cream trickles down to the pan. So much for dessert pyrotechnics!

Alas the presentation this time round was disappointing. The waitress seemed all to eager to get her task completed , without any sense of pride or job satisfaction. The ice-cream had already melted considerably when the pan was brought to the table, signifying that service was far from being prompt.

But it still tastes rather decent. crumbles are such forgiving desserts. So far this sweet-tooth fix hasn’t really failed us… yet…