Need some renovation. Their cakes dun provide plastic 🔪 ?? Seriously... No disposable plates also...
Ming Cheng
3
The grilled salmon with pesto sauce was a bit dry. For the two side dishes, the cheesy macaroni was your typical pre-cooked stuff and the garden veggies were hard. It cost $19.90 for weekday lunch, which was reasonable as the portion size was huge. Service was friendly. Overall, it was a typical Swensen's experience - not great, but not too bad either.
Tan Wei Quan
5
Visited swensens on a Saturday night in a group of 3. Went around 6+pm, managed to get a seat after waiting about 5min.
Our waiter was patient and professional, took time to explain the perks of the swensens memberships and the vouchers we could use (nowadays the swensens memberships is quite rewarding but also quite complicated - requires the use of telegram). There was another waiter subsequently who was a bit rude when we asked for our banana split - literally didn't acknowledge us and just waved his hand at the kitchen and walked away.
Ordered one pizza, one battered fish and chips and one meatballs to share. Came with 3 free drinks (topped up 1 dollar each to get special drinks), and a free banana split because of all our membership perks.
Total bill of 60 for quite a filling and value for money dinner. Thank you
Alex Pfieffer
3
Saturday 18 June 2022 @ 230pm
So ... its the weekend. Decided to head down to Bukit Panjang Plaza for a bit of window shopping and late lunch. Been ages since we had Swensens so decided on it pretty quickly.
We were approached by a server who welcome us in and got us our table. Gave us our menu and left us alone to decide. Quickly enough we made our choices and tried calling for a server to place our order. Here's where is got a little iffy. A male server finally came and took our orders. I guess this server must have had his energy sucked out of him because he sounded so bored. I mean I'm not hoping for the energy of a show emcee but a bit more enthusiasm would be appreciated. It just felt like he doesn't want to be there. In fact most of the male servers sounded the same and gave out the same energy, very bored and drone like. Again, maybe they are tired, I don't know. At one point during our meal, almost all the floor staff including one of the managers, was gathering in the midst of the dining area, looking and peering out of the window and was giggling or something. I think thats not appropriate given that the restaurant is a small one.
Moving on, to the same male server I asked about the portioning of the chicken in the chicken basket, if it was big or small, while showing a hand gesture and get this, he replied "it's medium, not big not small" wow! I was gobsmacked. How's that for an answer.
Anyways placed our orders and the food came quickly starting off with our appetitizers and drinks. Refer to picture for size reference. Interesting, that the soup was more of a glob of watered down powder rather then being soupy.
Then the rest of the meal came. It's nothing to rave about or be annoyed with. It was average to say the least. The fish was slightly on the soggy side, was expecting a flaky dory. The pizza topping was nice but the crust, I get that it's thin crust, but it was cookie crispy and crunchy! I don't think pizza crust however thin should be cookie crunchy.
I am not at all trying to be a "karen" but it's sad that a staple brand of restaurant chain like Swensens has become rather shambled. The fact that Swensen's, a restaurant chain that has seen so many wonderful memories for a lot of us have been reduced to this is just saddening.
Must be mentioned, however the server who shines was this lady Ai Wen. She was polite, definately had more energy and from my point of view, was the saving grace for this meal. Oh also, the cashier lady. Super polite and really nice. I mean, having been in the F&B industry for a decent amount of time myself, attitude and the energy that we gave out is very important. The food may be mediocre but with a staff that trained right, the dining experience can and will totally be positive and delightful.
Would I still recommend and give this place a chance, sure because I do believe that Swensens can reclaim their place as a wonderfully happy place.
Food : 2.5 / 5
Staff : 4 / 5 (For Aiwen and the Cashier)
Ambience : 2.5 / 5
Sherman Seow
4
Had a family western dinner. Quite a long wait due to limited seats after distancing arrangement. Still love the menu selections especially fish & chips, breaded chicken, bakes rice and more.
Gek
1
Here's the edited review:
"We tried to inquire about the Trust promotion for a complimentary sundae, but all the staff were very busy and just acted like they didn't see us. When a staff member came, he said he wasn't sure and needed to ask. He never came back. We asked another staff member, and he said he would inform the counter, but nobody came. We waited for more than 20 minutes. Eventually, when the manager finally came, we told them to cancel the remaining order as we were already rushing off. Swenson, please help to improve your staff's services and knowledge of promotions."
Shawn Seow
4
Had a family western dinner. Quite a long wait due to limited seating capacity because of social distancing measures. Still love the menu selections, especially fish and chips, breaded chicken, baked rice, and more.
Alex Phay
3
Saturday, 18 June 2022 @ 2:30 PM
So... it's the weekend. Decided to head down to Bukit Panjang Plaza for a bit of window shopping and late lunch. It had been ages since we had Swensen's, so we decided on it pretty quickly.
We were approached by a server who welcomed us in and showed us to our table. He gave us our menu and left us alone to decide. Quickly enough, we made our choices and tried calling for a server to place our order. Here's where it got a little iffy. A male server finally came and took our orders. I guess this server must have had his energy sucked out of him because he sounded so bored. I mean, I wasn't hoping for the energy of a show emcee, but a bit more enthusiasm would have been appreciated. It just felt like he didn't want to be there. In fact, most of the male servers sounded the same and gave off the same energy: very bored and drone-like. Again, maybe they were tired; I don't know. At one point during our meal, almost all the floor staff, including one of the managers, were gathering in the midst of the dining area, looking and peering out of the window and giggling or something. I think that's not appropriate, given that the restaurant is a small one.
Moving on, I asked the same male server about the portioning of the chicken in the chicken basket, specifically if it was big or small, while showing a hand gesture. And get this: he replied, "It's medium, not big, not small." Wow! I was gobsmacked. How's that for an answer?
Anyway, we placed our orders, and the food came quickly, starting off with our appetizers and drinks. Refer to the picture for size reference. Interestingly, the soup was more of a glob of watered-down powder rather than being soupy.
Then the rest of the meal came. There was nothing to rave about or be annoyed with. It was average, to say the least. The fish was slightly on the soggy side; I was expecting a flaky dory. The pizza topping was nice, but the crust — I get that it's thin crust — was cookie-crispy and crunchy! I don't think pizza crust, however thin, should be cookie-crunchy.
I am not at all trying to be a "Karen," but it's sad that a staple restaurant chain like Swensen's has become rather shambolic. The fact that Swensen's, a restaurant chain that has seen so many wonderful memories for a lot of us, has been reduced to this is just saddening.
It must be mentioned, however, that the server who shone was this lady, Ai Wen. She was polite, definitely had more energy, and from my point of view, she was the saving grace for this meal. Oh, also, the cashier lady. She was super polite and really nice. I mean, having been in the F&B industry for a decent amount of time myself, the attitude and energy that we give out are very important. The food may be mediocre, but with staff who are trained right, the dining experience can and will be totally positive and delightful.
Would I still recommend and give this place a chance? Sure, because I do believe that Swensen's can reclaim its place as a wonderfully happy place.
Food: 2.5 / 5
Staff: 4 / 5 (For Ai Wen and the Cashier)
Ambience: 2.5 / 5
Tan Wei Jun
5
Visited Swensen's on a Saturday night in a group of 3. We arrived around 6 PM and managed to get a seat after waiting about 5 minutes.
Our waiter was patient and professional, taking time to explain the perks of the Swensen's membership and the vouchers we could use (the Swensen's membership is quite rewarding nowadays, though also quite complicated, requiring the use of Telegram). There was another waiter subsequently who was a bit rude when we asked for our banana split; he literally didn't acknowledge us and just waved his hand at the kitchen before walking away.
We ordered one pizza, one battered fish and chips, and meatballs to share. The meal came with 3 free drinks (we topped up $1 each to get special drinks) and a free banana split, thanks to our membership perks.
The total bill was $60 for quite a filling and value-for-money dinner. Thank you.
Ming Zheng
3
The grilled salmon with pesto sauce was a bit dry. For the two side dishes, the cheesy macaroni was typical pre-cooked fare, and the garden veggies were hard. It cost $19.90 for weekday lunch, which was reasonable, as the portion size was huge. Service was friendly. Overall, it was a typical Swensen's experience — not great, but not too bad either.