Arteastiq

NB: I’m reviewing the Plaza Singapura newly opened.
I’m giving this place 1 star for the sweet potato fries, and 1 star for the service staff who were prompt and friendly and tried their best.
–1 star for being wickedly overpriced
–1 star for subpar food
–1 star for not serving water + other little annoyances
The sweet potato salad was terribly over-​dressed and came with a strange, stale «tortilla bowl» which added zero value to the dish. I only ate it out of sheer hunger.
Duck confit was fine flavour-​wise, though very salty and dry. Came with some very odd, half cooked, kinda warm but kinda cold baby carrots, which were piquant and I Guess meant to balance the richness of the duck.
My strip loin steak was actually not bad. It was well cooked at medium rare, and came with some pretty good sweet potato fries. Unfortunately those odd baby carrots were also present…
Another odd thing: there was a great big menu on the wall which I assumed was the specials board. On top it read «Gentlemans Dinner» — unfortunately we were told that the menu didn’t apply after 6pm. Only from morning until 6pm. The logic being… I’m not sure.
Second annoyance — bringing us two drinks menus but only one food menu. WHY??? Just… WHY?!!
Finally, even with getting one dish free with the Entertainer App, it was still $ 50+ with food only and no drinks.

Not impressed. Ordered the quesadilla. Told the waitress to let the chef know that I would like it well toasted. She said, «don’t worry». Really? This is how you respond to a customer’s request? (You need training on how to speak to a customer.) I think she was a manager of sorts too! If the manager speaks like that to customers, there is no hope for the staff under her.
Was told they do not serve water, so I had to order a $ 5 bottle of water. I should have left then and there, but I was so hungry You always know it’s a bad sign when a restaurant whose cheapest main is $ 25 AND they don’t server water.
Well, the quesadilla was served barely toasted. Nothing like the picture advertised on their menu AND not what I had requested at all. I tried to get the waitress’s attention but she ignored me, so I just ate the soggy thing as it was served to me.
When I asked for the bill, the waitress did not even bother to ask me how the food was and she never thanked me for my payment.
Very bad service. Terrible food. Overpriced. Rude staff.
I should have gone to Jone’s the Grocer’s which is next door. I didn’t see it as I came up the escalator.

Wife and I came here because Lady Iron Chef recommended this place. Despite the 3 star average review, our overall impression of this place is as follows.
Atmosphere: 4.5
It’s pretty cute and well decorated. It has a lot of props with a combination of an european, Asian twist to it.
Service: 2
Wait time for seating is pretty long even though we were the second party waiting outside for a seat. I think it had a lot to do with people just taking their time (both customers hanging out and chefs/​servers taking forever to serve food). We ordered 2 dinner entrée and the first one came after 20 mins and then we finished it and between the second entrée it took another 20 mins for the second entrée. Yet, we still haven’t gotten our drinks.
Food: 4
We ordered the Prince of Monte Carlo-​Short Rib sandwich. It was super yummy (5 stars). And we also ordered the Boston Love Boat Ciponio, i thought it was just okay (3 stars). There was a lot of shells, soup was decent, average. Wasn’t bad, but wasn’t wow either. Both the dishes came with sweet potato fries which was really good. But we could only have so much.
Overall I think this place is more like a 3.5−4 stars max. While they have something unique going on as well as decent food, they really need to work on their turnaround time. It’s ridiculous for anyone to wait so long for a small tea pot (2 cups) even if they’re here to kill time. The table next to us was complaining about waiting over 30 mins and I can tell they were super impatient and annoyed.

Came here for a date during public holiday and I was amazed by the beautiful interior.
Location:
Nicely located in the middle of orchard road so it’s definitely 5 star location-​wise.
Food:
Meh! Don’t bother to order appetiser or even mains. Food’s overpriced and tasted horrible. The food presentation was nice to upload on Instagram but that’s it.
So it’s only worth to order if you love taking good looking food and upload it on Instagram (hoping to make your friend jealous).
Tea:
Nice huge selection of iced teas and some great tea-​flavored ice creams so I guess it’s their specialty? I’m not a big fan of hot teas in the humid Singapore, so it’s a good point that they serve delicious iced teas. Thus, I prefer this place over TWG.
Ambiance:
Great! Nice décor and comfortable seatings. Very conducive for intimate meeting with friends/​partner.
Price:
Not affordable but reasonable considering the comfort level and location.
PS: although they don’t serve free hot/​cold water but they allow you to get your tea pot refilled (TWG does not allow this).
I would’ve given it 5 stars if the food was good and I couldn’t rate it below 4 stars because of those alluring iced tea collection!!!

What is with cafes/​restaurants not serving water? We asked them for a glass of water and they dont serve any? The tea is on the pricey side but comes in a nice tray with some biscuits. I would go to some other tea place over this thou.

I enjoyed myself the first time I was here. But today was terrible. Not only did they not have any chai lattes, they refused to serve hot water unless we paid for it. Only upon indicating that their hot chocolate was too sweet, did the waiter serve the hot water but with sending off one remark, which was «this is the last time which we will be serving hot water»
Well, this may also be the last time which I may come here. The teas are not exactly cheap at $ 11 per pot. Really nice ambiance but having service staff providing such remarks is uncalled for.

I must admit that I heard countless comments from friends raving about their unique experience at Arteastique. Most of them went for the Art Jam (social painting and tea), coupled with some random experience at the dining section.
For me, I was more keen on the Art Jam session. I made a reservation online (dropped them an email) and got no reply whatsoever for 3 days. After which, I decided to call in and make my reservation instead. I highlighted to the lady over the phone of my email reservation and she seemed unaware of it. I wonder, who is manning the email inbox? If no one is manning the reservation email, then why provide an email address for reservation?
Anyway, food was pleasant. Service was expected and really nothing more; what could be said of young servers who know nothing of providing good service?
After dining, we went next door for our slated Art Jam session. The «lady» at the counter was pleasant and comprehensive. However, I was sorely disappointed with the guide for the Art Jam session. I paid $ 88 for a Sat, 6pm-​9pm session and our guide was spending 80% of her time concentrating 4 others who obviously had bought the package of 10 art sessions.
Seriously, is this how you treat potential customers? Giving them only a preview of your time while making them pay FULL RATE? A good, indirect marketing ploy to get one to sign up for their 10 session package — sign up or get 10% of guide time only!
Only because I love painting and art, that I am sticking with the session. In the end, we couldn’t finish our painting within 3 hours and had to schedule to come back again at $ 10 per hour! My goodness! Why? All because our guide spent all her time ensuring the ‘package buyers’ could complete their art on time, under her studious tutelege (90% of her time). Personality-​wise, the guide took a while to warm up but was quite nice.
Speechless.
Try it if you are really short of things to do on a weekend.

The deco and furniture are really fancy. The price for tea set is slightly steep for what it is, but the innovative ice tea treats are refreshing. (Ice cream on pear tea? Yum.) You really pay for the ambience. A nice place to catch up with girlfriends. Guys might feel out of place here with all the feminine layout of the place.

Great ambience, tasty teas, OK service
Seems to be a trend in Singapore– lackluster or inattentive service
But otherwise, Arteastiq has a fun, creative ambience, my Lady Lychee was very refreshing and tasty and the black sesame mochi was a cute touch

I have always wanted to check out this place for hi-​tea (ever since a year ago) as I have heard good stuff about it.
It has a half-​art-​studio-​half-​tea-​lounge concept. But somehow the two parts felt very disjointed.
Ambience: Was here on a Monday afternoon … And so the crowd was mainly tai tais (rich housewives), their daughters and some solo book-​readers (prob writers trying to get inspiration). The tea lounge is really nice — posh in a quaint and elegant manner (pastel colours, Victorian style furniture and jazzy music in the background).
Tea: had its wolfberry and longan tea set which came with a mini biscotti and small mochi — very delightful presentation which transformed the tea experience to an all-​new level.
Food: I had some beef and chicken from one of the meat dishes my mum ordered (can’t remember the name) — horrible horrible meat — too overcooked, not juicy at all and not flavoured enough. This place is obviously not known for its food …
I would come back here for a quiet afternoon with friends (or my mum again) over tea … but not for its food.

Arteastiq is tucked away in a quiet corner of Mandarin Gallery. It first started as a tea and furniture store but has now ventured into Art Jamming aka Social Painting. Well that’s if painting with friends is up your alley. They would probably have to pay me to paint instead.
Chill out on their comfy colored plush chairs and order yourself a tea concoction. I love those that are paired with alcoholic gelato. They are to die for plus they also come in these really interesting cups/​glasses/​bowls that you have to mix around. I never knew what i’m supposed to be doing with them other than to drink from it.
Skip their tea sets, it is absolutely not worth trying even though it’s not pricey. Instead, you may want to try their steamed apple/​pear pudding. It’s not fantastic but remember you’re paying for the ambience than for the food.

Arteastiq is the place to be if you are looking for a nice place located at Mandarin Gallery to catch up with your friends over some light meal.
Last year, i found this place last year when I bought some high tea set meals coupons from Groupon. Check out the place and has been a place that I would go to in orchard if my friends want to catch up with friends over some light meals and tea. Love to try out many of their interesting tea and ice cream selection. Food wise, I love the creativity and effort put in their food presentation but would have appreciate the food quality was a tad better.
Oh yes. I haven’t checked it out for myself but they do have Art Jamming sessions there too!