I’ll be honest. My visit to Ximending Taiwanese Restaurant at Vivocity was a disappointment. The food that we had was pretty good, but the service from the manager was atrocious.
If you have been reading my blog, I’m sure you’d know that I only blog about restaurants that give a positive dining experience. I always believe that bloggers must be responsible, and not publish any accusations which might potentially hurt somebody. Restaurants are running a business afterall, and it is difficult to please everyone since we all have different likings.
That said, I decided to blog about this because we enjoyed the food, though, it was a shame that we didn’t exactly had a great time overall.
Right from the start when we first took the menu, the manager persistently persuaded us to go for the pricier items though we had politely refused and specified we only wanted those that we ordered. After placing our order, we asked for ice water and he told us that they only serve it upon request. And again, he tried to convince us to order from the drinks menu. He reluctantly served us ice water after we told him repeatedly and firmly that we didn’t want any drinks from the menu.
Anyway, back to the food. Ximending restaurant’s menu (most dishes are under $20) has quite a few options, and it took us a while before deciding on what to order.
We tried the Taiwanese Salt & Pepper Chicken – a popular Taiwanese street food; Radish & Egg Pancake ($10) – a must-try dish to go along with Taiwanese porridge; and the signature Taiwanese Three Cup (san bei) Chicken ($17.9). We also ordered the Stewed Pork Belly with Preserved Vegetables ($9.9), but they only informed us that it was sold-out after we’ve almost finished all our food.
All in all, Ximending restaurant has pretty good Taiwanese food at decent prices, but the service was a let-down. Given that we do not have many Taiwanese restaurants in Singapore, the only places to satisfy my cravings for Taiwanese food are Shin Yeh restaurant at Liang Court, I love Taimei, 4 Season Taiwanese Cuisine (formerly Peng Lai Ge), and Oasis Taiwan Porridge Restaurant.
I don’t think I will re-visit Ximending restaurant again. How about you? Would you go back to a restaurant (with good food) if the service was bad?
Singapore Food Blog
Ximending Taiwanese Restaurant
1 HarbourFront Walk
#01-51A VivoCity
Tel: +65 6376 8018
Not bad, they improved on their food.
i went when they started not long, bad svc and so so food. so i never step back again.
i think shin yeh got better radish & egg pancake than XMD
i went to ximending raffles city once with my fren and we both concluded that we will never step back in that restaurant again … the service was horrible … food was horrible …
shin yeh serves far better taiwanese food … and truly authentic …
Went to XMD Raffles City with my colleague, the set lunch $12.80 nett is very value for money, even w dessert….will try other set also
i went to XMD vivo with my friends twice.the food was quite nice and valued. for the service, i feel quite good,although it might not be so perfect, bt i understand them. for i hav worked as part time in r&b
couldnt agree more with you. I had visited taiwan a couple of times and the food there as compared to taiwan is totally different. I would say that the standard is not there. But i am surprised to see that there are still so many people and it has not yet close shop..
There is a newly open place call 8 degrees taiwaense bistro along yio chu kang road.
Have some really nice taiwanese stuff there, worth a try.
Visited XMD at Vivo sometime back. That was the first and my last time ever! Needless to say, service was HORRIFYINGLY TERRIBLE. I think the rude culture is probably part of the menu. As a manager for a F&B restaurant, will you not listen to what your customers have to say and insist that your customers pay for the service charge even though they do not think they deserve to pay a charge for bad service? Perhaps the anger built up already spoil much appetite I had for their food – which I guess good food comes hand in hand with nice ambience and company.
i went to the 8 degree bistro last week and i think the people are from taiwain or something. but the food was so much nicer than XMD ones. Its more cosy there anyway
Tried it once.
Service was ok but food was quite terrible.
Try the taiwan braised pork rice at Bukit Timah plaza(cant remember is plaza or shopping center, d one that sells famous mee sia)
The restaurant name is Liu San Ge. The braised pork rice is really delicious and i coulndt find any better one out there! The soya milk is home made and some of the dishes are good tk order as well! Try it folks!!
Do not go to this place!!! I had dinner with my friend here and had a glass of Iced water. After drinking half the glass, I noticed two green-black things at the bottom my glass. I haven’t confirmed what the things were but I’m sure they weren’t clean ( to be honest, I think it was rat poo). took a picture of it and can send it via e-mail.
I would have to disagree. Not only was the service bad, the food was atrocious. The ONE meal I had there was probably the worst I’ve ever had, because I remembering stepping out of this place vowing NEVER to go back. NEVER EVER GO HERE FOR FOOD!!