elemen 元素 — Restaurant in Singapore

TLDR: Disappointing CNY Eve Lunch – Poor Taste, Quality, and Service

I don’t think I’ve ever written any 1-star review because most of the time I couldn’t be bothered with justifying my opinion.

Our family and relatives visited on CNY Eve for a course meal priced at $43++ per pax. The experience was a major letdown on all fronts—food quality, taste, and service were far below expectations. Here’s a detailed breakdown of our experience:

[Food Quality and Taste] The taste and quality of the dishes were shockingly poor for the price. Most of my relatives couldn’t stomach the food and requested to pack the dishes as takeaway simply to avoid waste.

Appetiser Platter (Char Siew, Siew Yok, Steamed Chicken, Salad) • The salad tasted overwhelmingly of black vinegar. It was honestly unpalatable, I only had one bite and I was done. • Of the three appetiser meats, only the steamed chicken was passable. The char siew was tough and chewy, while the siew yok had an odd texture, resembling konjac or mushroom.

Satay Skewers • This dish consisted of two bell peppers and two pieces of oyster mushroom thickly coated in satay powder. It lacked any real flavour beyond the powder.

Shark Fin Soup • This was the only dish that was acceptable. While it wasn’t particularly outstanding, it was the least disappointing.

Fortune Beancurd Bags with Vegetables • Tasteless fortune bags stuffed with bland vegan meat, carrots, and black fungi, served with unseasoned steamed broccoli. The side of fried bread crumbs felt like an afterthought and added nothing to the dish.

Dessert (Yam and Sago) • By the time dessert arrived, we were just relieved the meal was over. Unfortunately, even the dessert failed to redeem the experience. The yam and sago dessert was diluted, with barely any yam or sago present.

[Service] The service was equally poor, which made us question why we were paying a 10% service charge. Key issues include: • Timing of Service: The appetiser was served prematurely, despite our request to wait until all guests had arrived. Dishes were then rushed out one after another, without regard for our dining pace. • Hygiene and Professionalism: A waitress dropped a used spoon onto a freshly served dish while clearing plates and did not apologise. Similarly, during dessert service, a waiter spilled dessert into one of the bowls, causing it to backsplash after touching his hand. He neither apologised nor offered to replace it until I explicitly requested a replacement. • Lack of Attentiveness: Throughout the meal, there was no proactive effort to ensure a smooth dining experience.

At the end of the meal, I provided feedback to the manager, who politely accepted it. The overall experience was so disappointing that I wonder if the IG reviews were shot just for view counts. For $43++ per pax, I expected much more in terms of both food and service. It’s safe to say we won’t...

This was originally a 5 start review rating. However I had horrible experience on my second visit here so downgraded to 1, on account of service. The management does not respond here so updating for users.

We ordered three sets and one of the sets had pizza. They reminded us upon arrival at 7:50, we have to order before 8:30 and by 8 our orders were in. They brought everything but the pizza and the desserts - we reminded them on pizza. At 8:30 they came to tell us the kitchen is closing, we asked where is the pizza.

At 8:50 they came to ask should they serve dessert, we said we didn’t get pizza. Another person came and we asked why our pizza disappeared.

Then you hear a whole lot of screaming at the kitchen. We told them I had a meeting, at 930 - let’s skip the pizza and pack our desserts. They came back and said they cannot pack all the desserts per their SOP. We said ok then serve it now. Then they came and said we have already prepared pizza at 9:05. We said ok, pack pizzas and serve desserts. Then we noticed that they actually were just putting pizza in the oven at 9:08 - where they lied 5 mins earlier that it is ready. Went to the counter and asked why they lied, they had no answer. I guess just to avoid refunding us for the pizza!! By that time they also packed our desserts, we wondered how their SOP changed but didn’t question. Big mistake. So, after another 3 mins we got a half cooked pizza and a bag of desserts. When we came home and opened the desserts - it was the wrong dessert. Instead of panacotta, tiramisu and brownie with ice cream they gave us some peach on hot water thing - totally inedible.

Will not go there again. Staff are dishonest, incompetent and more interested in charging than doing the right thing.

Old Review___ New outlet in Woodlands, lives up to the standards of the chain.

Clean vegetarian fusion food(has some eggs), mix of Different Asian cuisines.

The ambience is great, the layout is narrow, with one row of tables, gives a bit of a sense of privacy.

The food as usual was great. Disappointed by the Double boiled lemongrass, and orange red date tea.

Ordered the 5 course meals, which is always the more cost effective choice. Quinoa Salad and Rojak appetisers were good. All main courses were good as well - seaweed tempura tofu, kale tofu, peppery shroom rice, moonlight truffle. Disappointed with the main braised tai lok mee. Pam a Cotta, brownies, tiramisu as good,...

[Local-licious seasonal menu 7/7 to 31/8] Seasonal menu is up from tomorrow onwards till end of Aug! Awesome isn’t it. We will never get bored of @elemensg foodie with their constant innovation.This menu is available in all their outlets, and I strongly recommend you all to try the Woodland outlet if you haven’t as it is so spacious, new and pretty! Also, fun fact, guess who own elemen? It is @koufu.sg group! The new outlet is located at Koufu HQ 🤭. Cool isn’t it.

As National day is approaching, Local-licious menu contain some of our favourite local delights – This remind me of how racial harmonious Sg is. The 8-course set menu cost $38.80++/pax for member; $42.80++/pax for non-member. It has the below delicacies:

💚 Elemen Singapura Appetiser – Consist of CCF, Dal Vada & Spicy Fried Tauhu.

💚 Traditional Fruit Rojak – Omo. I love the crunchy fried dough & the fruits. Sauce pairing is good! This classic rojak style rocks.

💚 Meatless Mutton Soup – Fragrant classic broth w monkey head mushroom.

💚 Fried Straw Mushroom Omelette – Omelette lover will love this.

💚 Monkey Head Mushroom Satay – Finished this in no time. It was so well grilled - has the grilled smokey taste in it. Pair it with the flavourful sweet-sour tang from honey pineapples, simply dope.

💚 Fragrant Hainanese “Chicken” Rice – Here come the main highlight; unami-king oyster mushrooms doused in freshly grated ginger and chilli sauce. Rice is so fragrant too.

💚 Pandan Chiffon Cake w Round Spinach Gelato – I like this too! The pandan taste is so refreshing. Not a heavy dessert so all good after all the earlier dishes. The Gelato is so good too. Tbh, it did cross some of our minds to ask for another scoop of ice-cream 😆

💚 Honey Red Date Bird’s Nest Drink - Refreshing natural sweetness of honey & nutritious red dates w pandan taste. Look aesthetically pleasing too.

Lastly, you might also receive a food-safe paper cone of old school titbits too – This freebie is subject to outlet stock availability. Surely, this ending of meal, bring back memory of my young time - times when I had such titbits in paper cone in Cinema with...