Accidental discovery

Never underestimate the power of the blog! Take last night for example, we were so looking forward to dinner at the new Tex Mex restaurant called Sante Fe after reading a review by Ho Chiak that we went there at the first opportunity.

On the way there, I told CH I had not made reservations. Well, it's a large restaurant in an obscure location, surely they can fit the both of us in. But no, the place was fully booked, we were advised to return next week. How many people have read the food blog I wonder?

So near yet so far.

As it turns out, they were celebrating their 10th anniversary. All the mains were going for only $10 (this is super value, as they are almost real Texan sized servings) and yesterday was the last day of the promotions.

Since they had no room for us on the riverboat, we went for crab at the Chinese restaurant round the corner. It was a wise move. The food was good, ambience was very pleasant as we could enjoy the seaview and cool evening breeze and the service was excellent. It would have been noisy and crowded if we were seated in the Tex Mex restaurant.

The crab bee hoon was very good value for money. For $30 (July promotion), we had a large Sri Lankan crab with so much bee hoon in a flavourful stock, we couldn't finish everything. The crab was sweet and succulent, it tasted better than many of the chilli or black pepper crabs I've had in the seafood restaurants. The quality of the food here is really commendable.

Similarly, the pork chops, one of the signature dishes recommended by the manager, was cooked to perfection. It was so tender and well marinated, I almost didn't have to chew at all.

Last night's accidentally discovered restaurant turned out to be a real winner. We shall return to Santa Fe someday to find out for ourselves if the ribs are as tender as that pork chop just round the corner.