Hot Tomato Cafe & Grill

Hot Tomato Cafe & Grill
68 Orchard Road
#B2-40 Plaza Singapura

3 Gateway Drive
#B1-11 Westgate

313 Orchard Road
#B3- 35 313@Somerset

23 Serangoon Central
#B1- 47 NEX

1 Woodlands Square
#02-11 Causeway Point

1 Vista Exchange Green
#01-21 The Star Vista

311 New Upper Changi Road
#B1-37 Bedok Mall

http://www.hottomato.com.sg/


Casual, Decent Grills

(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 6
Ambience & Setting: 5
Food & Beverage: 7
Service: 2
Value for Money: 7
Spent about SGD $20 per person.


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Styled as a casual Western dining cafe, the main draw at Hot Tomato Cafe & Grill is their incredible value for money prices, moreso if you're a student. Founded in January 2006, Hot Tomato Cafe & Grill oftern draws crowds, and not just students, but those looking for a decent meal. Their grills, especially their steak, is on par with, and sometimes better, than several other high end steakhouses!

Ambience at Hot Tomato Cafe & Grill is simple, with colours of white and orange red against wood panelling. Tomato decor abounds, and the overall feel is loud and garish, like a cheap diner. For me, ambience here is a low point, like a visual assualt when sitting within. Overall cleanliness is also a minor point, you tend to get fast food style cleaning, which leaves little specks on the table or floor.

Service at Hot Tomato Cafe & Grill varies from decent, to poor. Staff are welcoming and friendly, but as they're mostly young part timers, the manner in which they speak to you tends to be rather to the point. On 1 occasion, I even had staff asking me to settle the bill before I was even served my main course! When all goes well though, service is rather average, and though orders are served to your table, payment is self-service at the cashier.

Food at Hot Tomato Cafe & Grill is Western style, mostly combining pasta (spaghetti aglio olio), with grilled meat or seafood. And their grilled items do stand out, seared / grill to perfection nearly every time. I particularly like their beef steaks, and their salmon. Portions are large, and for the price you pay, about SGD $15 per person for 1 main course, it's more value for money than many other places.


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Soups here are nearly always an add-on with a Set Meal (SGD $3.50), and thus, aren't really good quality. The Tomato Soup has good flavour, bright and piquant, but too thin in texture. The Mushroom Soup is better, with a thick, creamy texture, and small bits of diced mushrooms within, though I feel it tastes better if you add a pinch of salt.

Tomato Soup

Mushroom Soup

These drinks also come with the Set Meal (SGD $3.50). The Ice Lemon Tea is rather standard, but I prefer the sharp sourness of the Lime Juice.

Ice Lemon Tea

Lime Juice

The Ribeye Steak With Spaghetti Aglio Olio (SGD $14.90) features a 200gm beef ribeye steak, grilled to your liking. I got mine medium rare, and it was grilled perfectly, with a nice sear and char marks outside, yet moist and pink inside. Good beefy meaty taste, and the cut is also quite thick. The pasta is fragrant with the use of garlic, but a little too oily, and I wish they would have added some chili for heat. I loved the lettuce on the side, dressed in a tangy, sharp, bright citrus vinaigrette. Good value for money, highly recommended!

Ribeye Steak With Spaghetti Aglio Olio 01

Ribeye Steak With Spaghetti Aglio Olio 02

The Seafood Combo With Spaghetti Aglio Olio (SGD $13.90) is like a platter on its own. The prawn, while large and meaty, was cooked till dry, and is the worst item on this dish. The pacific dory fish fillet was nice though, firm and flaky, and still moist, while having a nice freshness to the flesh. The best item for me was the salmon, a large steak size portion, firm yet still juicy, and I could taste the fatty oils of the fish! The pasta was good, but oily as usual, and I loved the lettuce dressed in citrus vinaigrette. Very good item to order if you'll like to sample all their seafood / fish!

Seafood Combo With Spaghetti Aglio Olio 01

Seafood Combo With Spaghetti Aglio Olio 02

The Pork Chop & Sausage With Spaghetti Aglio Olio (SGD $11.90) has that same tasty pasta, but what stood out for me was the perfectly grilled, thick cut of moist yet tender pork chop, which yields easily to cutting. Savoury with that tasty hint of grilling, so good. The chicken chipolata sausages was moist, savoury, and meaty, decent in taste, and well grilled. Good dish!

Pork Chop & Sausage With Spaghetti Aglio Olio

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