Poolside Dining at Chat & Chow, ibis Styles at new MacPherson Mall

Fancy an affordable meal by the pool of a stylish hotel where cabanas and sun loungers dot a nicely landscaped poolside? We stumbled upon a poolside restaurant where you can do that. Chat & Chow, a casual dining restaurant located on the pool deck level of ibis Styles at the new MacPherson Mall, serves a decent set lunch at only $12 nett.

MacPherson Mall or M2

ibis Styles Singapore on MacPherson is part of the development known as MacPherson Mall or M2 (MacPherson Square). The new MacPherson Mall is situated at the junction of MacPherson Road and Upper Aljunied Road. The development has a hotel component and a mall which is expected to have up to 57 shops and 29 restaurants. The mall is completed and open for business. However, currently the only shop operating at M2 is NTUC Fairprice supermarket.

Chat & Chow

ibis Styles Singapore on MacPherson is opened and operational. The hotel casual dining restaurant is called Chat & Chow. Located next to a 25m freeform pool, the restaurant has an air-conditioned dining area as well as al fresco poolside dining. The restaurant has a contemporary colourful decor.

Chat & Chow serves a variety of international and Asian dishes at different times of the day. It has daily specials. On Friday nights, there are live band performances; and on Saturdays, there is a Teochew Porridge Buffet. Chat & Chow is also a poolside bar and it screens sports programmes in the evenings.

$12 Set Lunch

Currently, Chat & Chow has a $12 Set Lunch where you can get a main dish, either Salad or Soup of the day and a glass of Ice Lemon Tea. GST and service charge are included in the price of $12.

I opted to try their Nasi Goreng and Soup of the Day, which was tom yum soup. Service was friendly and efficient. The ice lemon tea and soup were served promptly.

The tom yum soup was just soup with a single prawn. Tastewise, it was not bad with the expected degree of sourness and spiciness. The Nasi Goreng was more substantial and quite nicely presented. The fried rice was topped with an egg and came with two sticks of chicken satay, archar and peanuts with anchioves. On the whole, it was quite an enjoyable dish.

We recently had lunch at another poolside restaurant – Il Cielo. Although the set lunch at Il Cielo is slightly more than twice the price of the $12 set lunch of Chat & Chow, between the two, I would choose the Il Cielo every time. The quality of the food and the ambience are both a significant notch better at Il Cielo. However, if I am in the light industrial area of MacPherson, then Chat & Chow is a very good option. I can get a good lunch with full table service in a very pleasant poolside setting at just $12.

Ratings:
Food: 3
Service: 3
Value: 4
Atmosphere: 3
Overall Rating: 3 TOPs   

Chat & Chow
Level 4, ibis Styles Singapore
401 Macpherson Road
Singapore 368215

Tel: +65 6622 6000

ibis Styles MacPherson Facebook Page

The Ordinary Patrons
a Singapore food blog by ordinary people looking for places to eat