Friday, July 24, 2009

Bar Review on Firestation Hillside Gastrobar with live performances by Kewei & Ein Ein

I got an invitation on Facebook from Kewei to go for her first return performance at Firestation Hillside Gastrobar. Thanks, Kewei! After making some work arrangements, I managed to find some time to head down to this rather secluded location along Upper Bukit Timah Road to watch her live performances (3 sets' worth) with Ein Ein. Their gig here runs every Thursday from 8pm to 11.30pm so for those who missed last night's performances, you can try any of the coming Thursdays.

I only took one photo of my dessert dish because there was not an opportunate time to take photographs since it was my first time there and there were already some raised eyebrows on an unfamiliar face by the regular patrons there - I preferred to remain inconspicuous since I am supposed to be quietly rooting for the two ladies who were the stars there.
I reached the venue around 8.30pm and the two ladies were already performing there so I settled down at a table and ordered a glass of vodka lime as my starter drink. The crowd was a sizeable thirty-plus from where I could see, with one long table of middle-aged working adults celebrating a birthday. Other tables include a couple of families, a few couples and a few small cliques of friends. Some of them seemed as if they were already there since 6pm since they already had empty dinner plates on their tables. I already had my dinner before I came so I decided to try some desserts. The ordering was rather difficult because it was a good five minutes before anyone came along with a menu. The lighting at the sitting deck was not very good so I had to strain to see the menu items before settling on "assorted ice-cream" with chocolate hersleys, raspberries, strawberries and some powdery baked apple crumbs nicely-presented in front of me. The dessert was delectable and the portion was quite filling even though the open-air sitting deck was melting the ice-cream faster than I would have wanted it to. It took me a solid 20 minutes to eat through all that and I enjoyed every mouthful of it, especially so since I am both an ice-cream and a chocolate fanatic. Yum~~~ ^__^
(photo source: Firestation Hillside Gastrobar Facebook official site - indoor seating area)

The outdoor seating has quite an impressive variety - including swings, round wooden tables, wicker lounge chairs - all of them unobtrusively blending into the semi-darkness for privacy of the customers. The only thing that I could think of is a little bit extra outdoor lighting decorations to spruce out the ambience of the seating areas beyond the sitting deck. I did not venture into the first and second floor indoors seating areas but they sure looked cozy from the outside even though they have no view of the performance area (which is set at the sheltered sitting deck). Apparently, from what the waiter there had explained, the second floor is available as private rooms for group gatherings too.
(photo source: Firestation Hillside Gastrobar Facebook official site - sitting deck with performance area - this was taken by Victor Tan from another day with different performers)

Kewei and Ein Ein beautifully performed a wide variety of genres, including Bossa Nova, Mandarin contemporary pop, 70 oldies, English contemporary pop, etc, and they took in quite a few song dedications from the customers. Kewei even invited two guest performers (Zijie and Keith (I think)) to chip in and performed a number each. Throughout the two sets which I stayed through, there were still a few patrons streaming in and filling in the tables vacated by some of the early birds. I know Rao Zijie and Clarence Yifa had taken quite a number of photographs and video clips last night so I hope I can somehow grab those from the two of them on Facebook to further illustrate this bar review post.

A few things for my blog readers who wanted to visit the Firestation Hillside Gastrobar:

Parking space is sufficient for about 30 to 40 sedans but the parking area is very dimly lit and tight when nightfall comes. Get an accomplished driver or flag a cab outside along Upper Bukit Timah Road where cabs zoom past every minute.

Presentation of the food was impressive for a bar which usually features more on drinks. Even though I did not order the main dishes, I could see them coming out hot and fresh from the kitchen. Take your time to enjoy as the portions are quite something for the small appetites.

The waiters aren't as sharp as I would have liked - for a small place, it took me quite a while to grab hold of the waiters' attention to order food - they moved too fast and were not looking around enough for customers' requests. I was in a fairly prominent seat but if you are reclined elsewhere, you might have to spot them first and wave harder since they are mostly dressed in black.

The vodka lime was a good size glass portion with strong aftertaste (which I liked) but the Jack Daniel's bourdon on the rocks was a little too bland (a squirt too little bourbon for that amount of ice). Definitely room for improvement in their bourbon drinks at least. I wanted to try their martinis and cocktails but I think I would have drank too much that way. Haha.

The service was polite and respectful when the waiters were finally at the tableside. You can tell from their half-bows when they answer customers' questions and the warm smiles (not the kind of squeezed artificial ones at some mall restaurants). I deliberately held back during my orders to test their patience and they walked through every step (types of drinks, brand names, straight or on the rocks) without a hint of frustration - a major plus to service attitude.

The sound system was excellent and the volume was perfect (kudos to the performers as well) and easy on the ears - they know their audio systems well but I thought one fixed-position hard spotlight with no variation in lighting colour and patterns makes the performance area a little tad boring even though Kewei and Ein Ein were dressed up to the nines for their gigs. I noticed two of those disco-multi-lights on the roof of the sitting deck but it was a pity they did not set it up for some nice lighting effects.

I left the place after Kewei and Ein Ein finished their second set to grab a cab back. No performance review is being done on their singing last night because I was there to enjoy myself and their singing accompaniment, nothing else. I will be heading back to the place again with my friends because I like it and I am sure they will too. ^__^

P.S To Kewei & Ein Ein: "I did it my......way....." hahaha. (one of the highlights last night)

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