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2013-04-02
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Dining experience does not only refer to the quality of the food itself. Very often, the service of the restaurant plays a determinative role. No matter how brilliant the food tastes, one would not return if one doesn't feel comfortable with its service. This is one of the restaurants that gave me such a strong feeling. Food was good. The waiter was alright but the Boss was... intrusive :/ Service Friend J and I were not hungry- we just wanted a place to sit and chat. We stopped in front of this
Service
Friend J and I were not hungry- we just wanted a place to sit and chat. We stopped in front of this petite restaurant browsing its menu stand. We noticed there were both set dinner and a la carte menus. The Boss came out and chatted with us. I thought he was welcoming and confident of its food (He said: don't need to pay if don't like the food, restaurants opened less than 3 years were not comparable to his etc.).
After settling down, the Boss handed us a set dinner menu and passionately introduced each dish of food.
We requested for the a la carte menu, and he replied "The best food is on the set dinner menu. But of course if you want to have a spaghetti or what, we could just make it for you." Hence no a la carte menu was provided. We asked another waiter for a carbonara, and he said they did not have it. After a minute, the Boss came and said "As you could see, we have a small kitchen. We could not possibly make such a variety of food. You will know it if you operate a small restaurant yourself".
Frankly I felt offended . If they did not have a la carte menu at night,
1. they should not have displayed the a la carte menu at the front of the restaurant;
2. the Boss should not have told us he could make whatever food we wanted;
3. he could have politely apologised instead. His blunt response seemed to blame us for requesting something unreasonably impossible from him.
I could tell that this Boss was persistent in giving us the 'best' dining experience, however from his own, not his customer's, perspective.
Menu
Before we had made up our mind of what to eat, the Boss asked us at least twice if we wanted any appetiser or wine. There was no menu for appetiser. We requested a nacho. And again, they did not have it == Food
Very glad that the boss did not further bother us after some other customers had came.
We ordered two sets of 4-course dinner, which included a salad, a soup, a main course and a dessert.
Smoked salmon caesar
Slices of salmon, bacon, lettuce and caesar dressing- very ordinary. Tomato cream soup
It tasted so good. It had a lovely sour tomato flavour with fine juicy tomato cubes. It was thick and rich. J said it was like a fusion of borscht and cream soup.
The little piece of bread was light and crispy. Good.
Grilled Canadian Pork Rack with black truffle wild mushroom sauce $248 (set)
This pork came from Quebec. I am not particularly fond of pork as I do not like its rough texture. But this was very nice- both the texture and the taste. The pork rack was charred with a lightly grilled taste. The meat was succulent, mildly reddish but not bloody. It was thick; but it could be sliced easily since it was very tender.
The mushroom sauce was creamy and rich. There was slices of mushroom in it. It went perfect with the pork.
The sides were mashed potato and tomato-ized zucchini. The zucchini was softly crunchy. The mashed potato was more liquid than usual. It was smooth and was lightly salted. Nice.
Grilled "Myanmarian" Striped Prawn with Garlic Butter Sauce $228 (set)
The prawn was as long as my palm. The grilling was good. The prawn had a freshy texture and was deliciously seasoned with pepper and herbs. The sauce was buttery but not oily. The prominent garlicky taste was not too strong, and could raise my appetite. An irresistibly yummy dish!
Dessert: Baked apple crumble (set upgrade +$50?) and Earl grey pudding (set)
When it came to dessert, the Waiter, who was much more humble and polite, said he was responsible for preparing all the dessert, and introduced each of them to us.
The set included earl grey pudding. We added $50 (if I remember correctly) for an upgrade of apple crumble.
Baked Apple crumble (front)The Waiter said the apple filling had been prepared since afternoon. They used green apple instead of red (if I remember correctly.) No sugar was added. Hence he hilariously said "if you eat the apple crumble and you find it very sweet... this means the apple itself is really sweet."
The smell of freshly baked cinnamon pastry was always enthralling. This seemed overbaked a bit- the crust was crispy but too dry for me. There were abundant apple cubes, which was juicy, crunchy but quite sour. The sourness could reduce the heaviness of the dessert. But I would be happier if it was accompanied by icecream ;P
Earl grey pudding (back) (can't remember the exact name)
There were various fruits on top of the pudding, including strawberries, blueberries, kiwi and cherries.The pudding had a lovely earl grey taste. There seemed to be some poppy seeds. This (or whatever it was) gave an interestingly crunchy texture to this pudding. Like it!
Summary/ next?
I was struggling whether to give a smiley face, an "OK" or a sad face. I appreciated the Boss's passion- but I would be much more happier and satisfied if he could respect our choice. Hence even though the food was great, I would not be back.
I suppose you would find the service here alright if you are prepared to let the Boss dominate your choice of food.This might be the place if you wish to have a decent dinner at $200 in mid level and chat with the Boss about food or wine. (He seemed to be a wine lover. "If you equate wine with alcohol, don't come to my place.") Also he could chat unstoppably. Hence think twice if you just want to chat with your friends.
題外話/補充資料：
The suggested price range stated in Open Rice was $41-100. I think it depends on whether you are having tea or dinner. If you come for a dinner, it would cost at least $200 (as shown in the set dinner menu).
Also, the opening hour stated in Open Rice includes Sunday. However when I was about to leave the restaurant, the Waiter said they do not open on Sunday.
(以上食評乃用戶個人意見 , 並不代表OpenRice之觀點。)
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