I’ve always liked Singaporean food. Liked it enough that I used to plan day long stopovers in Singapore just to eat at hawker centers. The Malay ingredients, the Chinese methods and the Indian spices that make up Singaporean cuisine go to show that Asian fusion is not something Western chefs invented recently.
Recently, two Singaporean places opened up. Prima, probably the only Singapore-based food company mentioned in an act of parliament, opened a branch of its Prima Taste chain at its office building in Rajagiriya. And Trans Asia, recently purchased by a purveyor of processed, precooked meat products (Keells!), also changed their Chinese restaurant, Long Feng, into a Singaporean one.
We found out about Prima first so we went there. As befits a chain restaurant, the ambience is McDonalds taken upmarket with really bright lighting. The service, being new we supposed, was also rather slow.
However, the food should theoretically be the determinant of a restaurant. Prima Taste, being both Singaporean and a food company, should have hit on all cylinders. We, in our excitement, ordered 8 dishes, about half of the signature dishes section, for 4 people. Now, usually, this is overkill. 3 or 4 would’ve been fine for 4 people. The only reason I can give is that we’re pigs.
With Laksa, Singapore Crab, Haianese Chicken Rice, some kind of pork dish and many more, our table ranneth over. And probably our stomachs. But not, unfortunately, our palates. The Laksa lacked the expected kick (not chilli, mind you, but je ne sais quoi) and the rest of the whole experience could have been summed up in a giant blah.
The bill came to around LKR6,000 which wasn’t bad for the amount of food we ate. But we wouldn’t go back there. I have always found kadai pang to be preferable to Prima bread. That processed bread blandness is something Prima Taste seems to share.
Restaurant: Prima Taste
Address: 50 Sri Jayawardenapura Mawatha, Rajagiriya
Phone: (add 011 if calling from a mobile) 288 3311
See also: Long Feng which was a better experience all around
I ve got a similar experience too.I have always been singaporean food lover and was so thrilled when i heard abt prima in sri lanka.
ReplyDeleteMe and my husband went ther efor dinner and i was so excited about the spicy yummy authentic sigapporean food.
We ordered prawns dish,nasigoreng with tom yum soup with two fruit juices.
From the start we were not impressed.service was too slow and least proffesional.Food was not at all spicy like typical sigaporean food.portion size was too small for us.We are regular diners at different restaurants and we know the quantities we order for both of us.but this time we failed...sigh..
the bill came around 2500.not bad..but exp was not so overwhelming...
neither we will go next time...
we went there a few times, all I can say is food was awesome, nothing fancy mind you, just simple good food!
ReplyDeletefood is great! Especially the seafood laksa!!!! Looking forward to go there tonight!
ReplyDeleteI am not an expert on Singaporean food, but i've tasted a few dishes on my occasional visit to Singapore. The food served at Prima Taste is quite good, although it does not exactly match up to the standard of Singapore restaurants. Service was good, the waiters were helpful and food was served within 20 mins. Ambiance is somewhat modern 'mall' type, although i would have preferred a more dimlit environment. Charges are reasonable (i got a 10% cut for my card as well) All in all,it would be a good experience for Sri Lankans to get a taste of Singaporean food is all about. Recommended. Overall, would give 3 1/2 stars out of 5.
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