Chatterbox at Meritus Mandarin

after hearing much about legendary chicken rice at chatterbox from my sister, I finally got to try out the dish, along with my sis at Meritus Mandarin over wed evening... her main motivation to go was to catch the exquisite night scenery at the top of the hotel as well as to see if it is still the revolving 'top of the M' while I mainly wanted to check out if the food is as good as its price...

there are some renovations outside the hotel itself, so in order to get to the entrance, we need to further in from last time..and i would say that there has been quite a big change to the appearance of the hotel. It is smaller but brighter and cleaner than the last time i went there, during company DND abt 4 yrs ago...

Meanwhile, we had to take two different lifts in order to reach 39th floor. (and there are actually staffs stationed at lift lobbies just to direct customers to correct lifts..) In order to reach 39th flr, we need to take a short flight of stairs up. The scene at 38 lounge was very lovely though humid... In contrast, 39th was cooler but has a rather over-exaggerated red veneer dining atmosphere. As a result, all the photos we took w/o flash was practically tinted with a shade of red lighting.

This was the first time I try the food so I couldnt really comment if there is any difference.. but my sis commented that the portion of rice was much bigger... true enuff, the bowl is so big i think two person could share one portion.

However, there was generous serving of chicken meat (can choose between chicken drumstick or chicken breast meat) and although the meat is cold, it is tender and rather juicy. The rice itself is moist and fragrant and FILLING... in order not to waste $, we finished the whole bowl of rice. Burp*!

Aside from the meat, there are also cherry tomatoes as accompaniments apart fr the usual cucumbers. The soup is also quite nice, with atypical vegetables(which I think is lettuce shreds) and small piece of toufu. Did i forget to mention that their chicken rice chilli sauce is really hot and spicy..wooh! almost make me cough...

In all, the dining experience was good and the food is quite up to standard. However, this is mainly becos we had a one-for-one dining offer. Suppose we have to pay full price, then we would have hesitated. One suggestion though, the management ought to do something to the ambience, there seem to be a misconception of red lightings=oriental setting.

By e way, heard that the original chef was retrenched years ago and had since started his own shop "Mr Chicken Rice" at E!Hub, Downtown East. There were good and bad reviews abt it.. so next time i shall go try it out myself....

by e way, found this christmas tree made up of cute little teddies at taka, and they are soo lovely i feel like grabbing them home...