The White Rabbit

We came here for G's birthday celebration in July - yes, that's how far behind I am in my blogging. Thanks to X's connections *wink*, she managed to get a nice big table smack in the middle of the restaurant, despite the fact that it was only a few days notice... quite a feeat seeing this was quite soon after they just opened. A lot of hype about this place so I was quite excited to try it out.

The place used to be a church which was transformed into an indoor restaurant and bar area and an outdoor bar area. The stained windows were pretty (but I suspect it would have looked even better in the day with sunlight streaming in) and the mosaic-tiled floors were gorgeous too. Outfitted with simple chairs and tables, the chic place does take your breath away.

And now for the food... to start off, we tried a salad, which I have barely any recollection of -


Ok, the picture reminded me that there was truffles in the salad. The salad was not too bad, but obviously it was unmemorable.

For the main courses, I had to order their signature White Rabbit Mac & Cheese -


Yes, more truffles... The use of truffles contributed to the dish having an interesting flavour but it added to the "heaviness" of the dish and was impossible to finish by myself. I'm quite a big mac and cheese fan, but after this one, I'm inclined to think that cheapo is the way to go for mac and cheese. Or maybe my tastebuds are just proletarian :D

I tried a bit of the Mushroom Pasta -


which was similarly unremarkable.

For the desserts, we tried the Baked Alaska -


and the Strawberry Romanoff -


I was just slightly disappointed that the Baked Alaska was not lit in front of us - very 80s I know, but I miss the drama of this dessert! Tastewise, it was not too bad though... mostly it was a meringue and I never met a meringue I didn't like :) I've never had Strawberry Romanoff before so didn't know what to expect. It turned out to be a simple dessert of thinly sliced strawberries with a sheet of what tasted like strawberry jelly, and a scoop of ice cream.

Such a long post and I haven't even gotten to my gripes about this place. First gripe - the service. I think we got special attention because of X's connections, but we still saw glimpses of incompetence. I asked the waitress whether the Mac & Cheese was vegetarian, and she said that it wasn't, but couldn't tell me what was in it that wasn't vegetarian. Someone further down the table asked the same question and was told that there were bits of meat in the Mac & Cheese. Erm, I sure as hell didn't see or taste anything vaguely resembling meat in the Mac & Cheese.

Also, I feel this place is somewhat confused in its identity. The food are of minute proportions and the prices are definitely in the range of high-end establishments, but the table settings (paper napkins :o) and the substandard service is more reminiscent of a bistro or deli. It certainly does not help that the food is very mediocre.

I'm glad I had the chance to come here, coz then I never have to come back here again. Well, maybe just to take in the atmosphere of the outdoor bar area...


The White Rabbit
39C Harding Road
Tel: 6473 9965
www.thewhiterabbit.com.sg