The Little Bites
I can be quite hard to please when it comes to food. Only at times. Sometimes. Especially when it comes to restaurants. And I hardly remember the names of restaurants I don't frequent regularly. Or those that I particularly have a poor opinion about.
Unknown restaurant #1 (located on the ground floor of 1u, opposite some Houseware/DIY shop - something about Thai food and steamboat)
Soft shelled crab - it was ok for RM9. I was expecting a tiny one about a quarter of that size, so I was quite pleasantly surprised when it arrived. Size aside, I found it quite greasy. It went well with the sweet chilli sauce that was served with it, but that wasn't quite enough to mask the oily taste. While it's probably not the worst thing I've tasted, it's probably not the best, either. Somehow, there's always going to be a better equivalent dish for each type of dish that I try, but this one's not too bad. I guess.
SK trying to hide from view :P
Pandan-leaf chicken. It's ok for RM11. Again, not the best considering how the flavour's a little overbearingly strong since they were rather generous on the salt, so I'm on the fence on this one. I'd probably lean more towards a negative review, but maybe it's just me.
Seafood tomyam - this is probably the only dish among the three which will have a positive review from me - positive, as in, I won't nitpick into the fine details. It was sweet. It was sour. It was spicy. More sweet than sour, and that's probably the reason why I was quite fond of it. People who enjoy a perfect balance of all three flavours probably aren't going to be too ecstatic about it, but for those who enjoy a slighter sweet-tinged variety of tomyam soup, you probably would. I didn't try the prawns, mainly because I didn't want to risk having a swollen face and rashes covering every square inch of my body, but I ursurped most of the squid in the soup. Personally I enjoyed the squid. Tender, yet a little chewy. Just the way I like it. Not too squishy that it tasted like mush, nor too chewy that it tasted like oversized rubberbands. The seafood tomyam wasn't the only thing I liked about the place. I don't have pics, but the ambience was alright. The service was good and timely, with glasses refilled promptly, helpful recommendations provided, timely serving of the dishes, and smiling, pleasant waiters. I usually give restaurants a plus point if the waiters are friendly and actually bother smiling. I usually piss on the restaurant if otherwise. Probably has something to do with the fact that it's extremely unpleasant when someone in the service industry looks upon you with the hugest, fugly frown you've ever seen, looking like you're actually paying them for it. Like, from experience, waiters/waitresses who look like you'd just slapped them as you walked in, or those who turn away and pretend that they never saw you waving your arm towards them. Or certain salespeople in retail outlets who really shouldn't be in the business. Anyway, I deviate. Bottomline, I found the service pretty good.
Overall: On the fence
Unknown restaurant #2 (some Vegetarian restaurant located opposite TGIF that I didn't bother finding out the name of)
Fried (disgusting) rice - okay, I admit I like whining when it comes to food. I like food. I really do. I just hate it when people mess it up - myself included. Anyway, I'll name a couple of things wrong with this dish. The burnt corn. The rotten peas that oozed with a bitter taste as you bit into them, like it was something they just decided to chuck into the wok with the rest of the ingredients a day or two after it had gone bad. Oh, I realize now that I should've flipped a the bits of burnt corn over just so that you guys could have a look. The strangely dehydrated carrots. I'm also quite dubious about any other possible "extra" additives. Uncannily enough, 10 minutes into my meal and even after downing a full glass of soymilk, my throat still felt parched. Normal meals don't leave me feeling like a stranded traveller in the midst of a dessert thirsting for a single glass of water. MSG, however, I suspect, has such an effect. RM9's not the most I've had to pay for a plate of fried rice. However, it's probably the most I've ever had to (and hopefully will never have to again) pay for such an awful meal. I'd prefer the AUD11 fried rice from White Box any day over that - double the portion, and at least quintiple the palatability.
The interior design, however, was quite a contrast to the meal itself. I found it rather pleasing, with the intricate petal designs that stretched across the walls and ceilings. The atmosphere is quite pleasant, too. I can't say the same, however, about the service. C'mon, hire a couple of waiters/waitresses that can speak English. And chefs that can actually cook. It's not that hard, is it? If you can afford such lavish expenditure on the interior design, surely you can invest a couple of bucks into the cuisine and quality of service. While I realize that a single dish of fried rice is usually insufficient to provide a thorough analysis on the store, that single dish is also the main reason why I probably may never re-visit that place- not just because it sucked, but also because I was supposed to have another dish besides that plate of horror. That was where the horrible service came in.
In addition to the fried rice, I'd also ordered the Emperor's Tofu since it looked considerably impressive on the menu. I waited until my rice was warm. And then cold. No sign of the tofu coming. Only waiters loitering around the restaurant, conversing and chuckling amongst themselves. One yelled something in mandarin, another just stood, bent over the counter, conversing in the same language to another colleague. I'm not familiar with mandarin, but I'm pretty sure that the person who'd yelled wasn't yelling anything like: Get your lazy asses back to work. I was halfway through my meal when mom decided that she couldn't bear the wait any longer. We both tried flagging down someone, but unfortunately, they were too engaged in their own private conversations to notice 2 unimportant customers waving at them. After several frantic waves and a couple of "Excuse mes", someone finally looks up and saunters our way.
"We ordered the Emperor's Tofu, but it's still not out yet." The waiter heads back to the kitchen with a muddled look on his face, and a couple of minutes later a waitress comes up to us and asks if we actually ordered anything else besides the fried rice. Wonderful recording system. It's a miracle that they'd managed to somehow misplace our order, especially since the place had like, only one other customer besides us. Mom was pissed. She immediately cancelled the order. And that was it. No apology. Not even an apologetic look at the very least.
Judgment: Appalling.
Moral of the story: Don't be fooled; never judge a restaurant by its interior design.
...Oh, yes. Someone please remind me to tear down Pasta Zanmai's reputation. They got lucky that I was lazy that night. Maybe if I'm up to it I'll continue on the Adventures of Shredding Restaurant Reputations.
******************************************************************************
-Just some random yam pic-
...Purple yam! It's been quite a long time since I've had any XD
Seriously, sometimes it's the insanely simple foods that're the ones that keep me happy.
Unknown restaurant #1 (located on the ground floor of 1u, opposite some Houseware/DIY shop - something about Thai food and steamboat)
Soft shelled crab - it was ok for RM9. I was expecting a tiny one about a quarter of that size, so I was quite pleasantly surprised when it arrived. Size aside, I found it quite greasy. It went well with the sweet chilli sauce that was served with it, but that wasn't quite enough to mask the oily taste. While it's probably not the worst thing I've tasted, it's probably not the best, either. Somehow, there's always going to be a better equivalent dish for each type of dish that I try, but this one's not too bad. I guess.
SK trying to hide from view :P
Pandan-leaf chicken. It's ok for RM11. Again, not the best considering how the flavour's a little overbearingly strong since they were rather generous on the salt, so I'm on the fence on this one. I'd probably lean more towards a negative review, but maybe it's just me.
Seafood tomyam - this is probably the only dish among the three which will have a positive review from me - positive, as in, I won't nitpick into the fine details. It was sweet. It was sour. It was spicy. More sweet than sour, and that's probably the reason why I was quite fond of it. People who enjoy a perfect balance of all three flavours probably aren't going to be too ecstatic about it, but for those who enjoy a slighter sweet-tinged variety of tomyam soup, you probably would. I didn't try the prawns, mainly because I didn't want to risk having a swollen face and rashes covering every square inch of my body, but I ursurped most of the squid in the soup. Personally I enjoyed the squid. Tender, yet a little chewy. Just the way I like it. Not too squishy that it tasted like mush, nor too chewy that it tasted like oversized rubberbands. The seafood tomyam wasn't the only thing I liked about the place. I don't have pics, but the ambience was alright. The service was good and timely, with glasses refilled promptly, helpful recommendations provided, timely serving of the dishes, and smiling, pleasant waiters. I usually give restaurants a plus point if the waiters are friendly and actually bother smiling. I usually piss on the restaurant if otherwise. Probably has something to do with the fact that it's extremely unpleasant when someone in the service industry looks upon you with the hugest, fugly frown you've ever seen, looking like you're actually paying them for it. Like, from experience, waiters/waitresses who look like you'd just slapped them as you walked in, or those who turn away and pretend that they never saw you waving your arm towards them. Or certain salespeople in retail outlets who really shouldn't be in the business. Anyway, I deviate. Bottomline, I found the service pretty good.
Overall: On the fence
Unknown restaurant #2 (some Vegetarian restaurant located opposite TGIF that I didn't bother finding out the name of)
Fried (disgusting) rice - okay, I admit I like whining when it comes to food. I like food. I really do. I just hate it when people mess it up - myself included. Anyway, I'll name a couple of things wrong with this dish. The burnt corn. The rotten peas that oozed with a bitter taste as you bit into them, like it was something they just decided to chuck into the wok with the rest of the ingredients a day or two after it had gone bad. Oh, I realize now that I should've flipped a the bits of burnt corn over just so that you guys could have a look. The strangely dehydrated carrots. I'm also quite dubious about any other possible "extra" additives. Uncannily enough, 10 minutes into my meal and even after downing a full glass of soymilk, my throat still felt parched. Normal meals don't leave me feeling like a stranded traveller in the midst of a dessert thirsting for a single glass of water. MSG, however, I suspect, has such an effect. RM9's not the most I've had to pay for a plate of fried rice. However, it's probably the most I've ever had to (and hopefully will never have to again) pay for such an awful meal. I'd prefer the AUD11 fried rice from White Box any day over that - double the portion, and at least quintiple the palatability.
The interior design, however, was quite a contrast to the meal itself. I found it rather pleasing, with the intricate petal designs that stretched across the walls and ceilings. The atmosphere is quite pleasant, too. I can't say the same, however, about the service. C'mon, hire a couple of waiters/waitresses that can speak English. And chefs that can actually cook. It's not that hard, is it? If you can afford such lavish expenditure on the interior design, surely you can invest a couple of bucks into the cuisine and quality of service. While I realize that a single dish of fried rice is usually insufficient to provide a thorough analysis on the store, that single dish is also the main reason why I probably may never re-visit that place- not just because it sucked, but also because I was supposed to have another dish besides that plate of horror. That was where the horrible service came in.
In addition to the fried rice, I'd also ordered the Emperor's Tofu since it looked considerably impressive on the menu. I waited until my rice was warm. And then cold. No sign of the tofu coming. Only waiters loitering around the restaurant, conversing and chuckling amongst themselves. One yelled something in mandarin, another just stood, bent over the counter, conversing in the same language to another colleague. I'm not familiar with mandarin, but I'm pretty sure that the person who'd yelled wasn't yelling anything like: Get your lazy asses back to work. I was halfway through my meal when mom decided that she couldn't bear the wait any longer. We both tried flagging down someone, but unfortunately, they were too engaged in their own private conversations to notice 2 unimportant customers waving at them. After several frantic waves and a couple of "Excuse mes", someone finally looks up and saunters our way.
"We ordered the Emperor's Tofu, but it's still not out yet." The waiter heads back to the kitchen with a muddled look on his face, and a couple of minutes later a waitress comes up to us and asks if we actually ordered anything else besides the fried rice. Wonderful recording system. It's a miracle that they'd managed to somehow misplace our order, especially since the place had like, only one other customer besides us. Mom was pissed. She immediately cancelled the order. And that was it. No apology. Not even an apologetic look at the very least.
Judgment: Appalling.
Moral of the story: Don't be fooled; never judge a restaurant by its interior design.
...Oh, yes. Someone please remind me to tear down Pasta Zanmai's reputation. They got lucky that I was lazy that night. Maybe if I'm up to it I'll continue on the Adventures of Shredding Restaurant Reputations.
******************************************************************************
-Just some random yam pic-
...Purple yam! It's been quite a long time since I've had any XD
Seriously, sometimes it's the insanely simple foods that're the ones that keep me happy.
posted by Sean Im at 11:04 AM
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