Sunday, 9 March 2014

The Ship Restaurant and Bar Student Meal - Nex Shopping Mall

If you asked your parents about the restaurant, The Ship Restaurant and Bar, it might ring a familiar bell to their ears. The Ship restaurant has a long history which goes all the way back to 1977. They have had many articles posted about them – once in the New Paper, twice in the magazine 8 Days, and thrice in The Straits Times from 2007 – 2011. The Ship also received the Successful Entrepreneur award in 2010. 

The flagship outlet at the Shaw was once the talk of the town. It was frequented by many customers, often having a full house every night; a common date place for many. However, it was closed since 18th June 2012 for renovations until further notice. It has been 2 years, and nothing has been said about it. Perhaps, the final outlet at Nex would be the last standing outlet in time to come in Singapore. Interestingly, The Ship has outlets in Malaysia. 

With a large amount of publicity over the past few years, little has been said about the current state of The Ship. Does the long legacy and heritage of the restaurant of serving good food still stands? The Tummy Tyrants are back in action to try the restaurant out. 

Food served at the restaurant will cost an average adult about $30. The only reason why we would go to the restaurant would be for the Student Meal! Without researching, we would have never known about The Ship’s history, or even its outlets in Malaysia. We definitely would love to try their normal lunch menu, but well… it is definitely stressful on our pockets so we will have to try it another time.



Every student meal entitles you to a drink, a soup, a main course and a scoop of ice cream. Each student meal costs $10. Do look out for one of the more senior waiters. You can’t miss him. He’s the oldest dude there, a really nice man. When we were taking the pictures for this post, he came up and talked to us. The other staff in the restaurant are not as nice as him though. 

For today’s meal, we ordered the Chicken Chop and the Beef Lasagna. 



Every main course comes with a soft and fluffy bread with some butter. Tummy Tyrant 2 loved her bread. Her bread was soft, but mine was mostly dry. So that was pissing off.


We were served cream of carrots and potatoes in the soup. I thought the soup was of some standard, but Tummy Tyrant 2 thought that the soup was average. Tummy Tyrant 2 has dined at The Ship for quite a while right now. The restaurant serves broccoli soup on some days which apparently is far better than that. 

Now, onto the main courses. We will first begin with the Beef Lagsana.


Layers of minced beef with pastry and cheese, topped with a bolognaise sauce and coriander for dressing. My first impression? I really thought that it was going to be quite a good dish. I dipped my fork into the bolognaise sauce before anything, and it was really good. The minced beef which they served was also of some standard. It was cooked well – slightly juicy which blended very well into the dish. I really wished that the dish had a cheesier taste. It was probably meant to cater for the people who would not like cheese as much as the both of us do. 


However, there were 2 problems with this dish. Firstly, the portions. If you’re a big eater, we suggest that you get something else like the Chicken Chop or the Spaghetti Carbonara. The portions are not very big. I was satisfied after the meal but sincerely wished I had more to chew on. I would have finished the dish quickly if not for a conscious effort to try and savour the dish. Secondly, it’s consistency. Some parts of the pastry in middle layer were hard. The other parts were soft and to my liking.

Beef Lagsana: 3/5 Tummies


Over here, we have a chicken fillet topped with a creamy mushroom sauce served with fries and boiled vegetables consisting of carrots and cauliflower.

Tummy Tyrant 2 always orders the Chicken Chop because she’s convinced that it’s the best option in the Student Meal menu. The fries are nothing the shout about, same goes to the boiled vegetables. But, the chicken is super worth it considering the price! The portions are good, the flavours are good. Tummy Tyrant 2 has a soft spot for the creamy sauce with mushrooms because the sauce complements the chicken quite well and she believes that it’s always a joy to have this dish. 

Chicken Chop: 3.5/5 Tummies


Lastly, we were served with our ice cream. Tummy Tyrant 2 chose the Chocolate Mint flavour. I chose the Cookies and Cream flavour. The ice cream isn’t anything fantastic. Just, normal, cheap supermarket ice cream.

Flavours of ice cream: chocolate, vanilla, mango, cookies and cream, mint chocolate.


If you looked at the restaurant from the outside you would have no idea what the restaurant entails inside. I honestly thought it looked very mysterious, like a haunted house. Inside the restaurant, as the name goes, it looked like a ship deck. Yes, a ship. With its nautical theme of having lifebuoys, flags and anchors placed all over the restaurant, the restaurant did live up to its name.

According to some, the dimly lit restaurant seemed to not be able to feel like you are on a real ship deck as much as the Shaw outlet (which is still under renovation). The previous flagship outlet had a very distinctive wooden flooring. The Nex outlet is still as interesting as ever, though. If you need a place for a date, and you’re still a student, the Ship is definitely a place to go to. 10 dollars per person for a restaurant which sells food at about $30 per person (if you’re an adult). What a deal! Arguably, it is cheaper and better than the Jack’s Place student meal.

Boys, this is a great place to bring a girl you want to impress. It’s quite a romantic place with affordable good food!




Before I sign off, I must speak about the very tempting off-peak menu! (Up to) 50 percent off food on weekdays from 3pm-5pm, every day. What a deal! So if you’re an adult having a lunch at irregular hours, The Ship could be a way to sail as you partake of a lunch. 




We are certainly not done with the Ship too. We will come back for the Lunch peak menu. The Chicken Ala Ship is greatly loved by many – a Chicken fillet topped with a cheesy sauce. Sounds really interesting! I will also try the Seafood Aglio Olio. I am in search of good Aglio Olio in Singapore. The one I tried at The Ship… was terrible. Hopefully, The Ship restores my hope in finding good Aglio Olio in Singapore!


23 Serangoon Central
#01-61/62
Nex Shopping Mall
Singapore 556083

Tel: 6834 3733
Opening Hours: Monday to Sunday, 1100 – 22 00

Student Meals:
Monday to Friday, 1100am – 5pm. Excluding Public Holidays and Special occasions.

Tea-time Meals:

Monday to Sunday, 3pm – 5pm. Excluding Public Holidays and Special occasions.

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for publishing the blog on "The Ship Restaurant and Bar Student Meal - Nex Shopping Mall" you really serve the best and you did a really good job with pictures. Students are surely going to love this.

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    ReplyDelete