After watching the movie Public Enemies, my friend and I walked around the TST area in search for some new places to try. We ended up coming here for our first time. The main dinning area is on the second floor and my first impression was that the place must look identical 20 years ago. Then again, it is the retro look that add an interesting ambiance to the dinning experience. There seemed to be a large selection of dishes on the menu and we were somewhat undecided for a long while before we placed our orders.
(1) Satay Beef / Pork Skewers
Either the lighting was too dim or it was over grilled, it was pretty hard to distinguish the skewers from beef or pork until you bite on it. Both the pork and beef tends to be overly stiff or chewy and the Satay sauce was rather weak as well. Overall a fair dish with no surprises at all. (It somehow reminded me of the pork skewers from Golden Bull Restaurant which was very tender and the texture seems more like chicken than pork.)
(2) Laksa Udang (Shrimp)
The soup base was very good, spicy but tasty too. It was thick enough to have the creamy texture to it. The main ingredients for the laksa was the shrimps but it tasted frozen and seemed to be been cooked twice! What do I mean by that? It was so stiff / hard and dry that it must have been cooked twice over to have such a texture !!
(3) Sweet and Spicy Seafood Soup
As the name suggested, the soup was spicy but contained a touch of sweetness as well. A very good soup indeed. The spiciness was not of the type that would last the whole meal in your mouth, it was those similar to what I once tried in Thailand that would stay in your mouth only for a short while only. What remained in your mouth was the somewhat sweet and chili-flavored sensation of wanting more right away. While the soup was good, the shrimp, the shrimp with the shell still intact seemed to have cooked more than twice over; it was stiffer and harder than the one from the Laksa dish !
(4) Kang-Kong Goreng (Fried Water Spinash)
It did not taste like the usual one you would find at other places. It was good. I liked the touch of spiciness in the sauce. The vegetable was fresh and crisp as well. Nothing surprising. At this point I like to point out that our small table was already packed with food dishes but the staff continued to shove them in wherever there were spaces. The skewers were now on the right side of me and the satay sauce was way over at the friend's place across the table. I actually called out loud that "there isn't enough space on the table," but the server did not seem to hear or care what I said and continued his way back to the kitchen. Am I asking too much? or am I not suppose to expect good services at this place? I wonder ...
(5) Spicy Roasted Chicken (with bean paste sauce)
Very dry chicken and the sauce was so rich that it took over the taste of the chicken. Aside from the taste, the presentation was not very pleasant as well. There was a thin layer of chili oil on top of the sauce but somehow it wasn't spicy at all but it was very salty for sure.
(6) Kolak - 'mor mor jar jar'
I am not sure how I should describe my experience on this dessert soup. A picture is worth a thousand words. The picture below on the left is BEFORE and on the right is AFTER. I literally had two sips and that was it. Enough was enough. It was so watery and I tasted something "salty," which made me feel I was having a soup rather than a dessert soup. Not only was it watery, it contained very little of other items as well. Very disappointing indeed. I rarely leave food or dessert unfinished but I think I had to let this one go for sure.
(1) Satay Beef / Pork Skewers
Either the lighting was too dim or it was over grilled, it was pretty hard to distinguish the skewers from beef or pork until you bite on it. Both the pork and beef tends to be overly stiff or chewy and the Satay sauce was rather weak as well. Overall a fair dish with no surprises at all. (It somehow reminded me of the pork skewers from Golden Bull Restaurant which was very tender and the texture seems more like chicken than pork.)(2) Laksa Udang (Shrimp)
The soup base was very good, spicy but tasty too. It was thick enough to have the creamy texture to it. The main ingredients for the laksa was the shrimps but it tasted frozen and seemed to be been cooked twice! What do I mean by that? It was so stiff / hard and dry that it must have been cooked twice over to have such a texture !!(3) Sweet and Spicy Seafood Soup
As the name suggested, the soup was spicy but contained a touch of sweetness as well. A very good soup indeed. The spiciness was not of the type that would last the whole meal in your mouth, it was those similar to what I once tried in Thailand that would stay in your mouth only for a short while only. What remained in your mouth was the somewhat sweet and chili-flavored sensation of wanting more right away. While the soup was good, the shrimp, the shrimp with the shell still intact seemed to have cooked more than twice over; it was stiffer and harder than the one from the Laksa dish !(4) Kang-Kong Goreng (Fried Water Spinash)
It did not taste like the usual one you would find at other places. It was good. I liked the touch of spiciness in the sauce. The vegetable was fresh and crisp as well. Nothing surprising. At this point I like to point out that our small table was already packed with food dishes but the staff continued to shove them in wherever there were spaces. The skewers were now on the right side of me and the satay sauce was way over at the friend's place across the table. I actually called out loud that "there isn't enough space on the table," but the server did not seem to hear or care what I said and continued his way back to the kitchen. Am I asking too much? or am I not suppose to expect good services at this place? I wonder ...(5) Spicy Roasted Chicken (with bean paste sauce)
Very dry chicken and the sauce was so rich that it took over the taste of the chicken. Aside from the taste, the presentation was not very pleasant as well. There was a thin layer of chili oil on top of the sauce but somehow it wasn't spicy at all but it was very salty for sure.(6) Kolak - 'mor mor jar jar'
I am not sure how I should describe my experience on this dessert soup. A picture is worth a thousand words. The picture below on the left is BEFORE and on the right is AFTER. I literally had two sips and that was it. Enough was enough. It was so watery and I tasted something "salty," which made me feel I was having a soup rather than a dessert soup. Not only was it watery, it contained very little of other items as well. Very disappointing indeed. I rarely leave food or dessert unfinished but I think I had to let this one go for sure.
Likes:
- Laksa was good (the soup especially)
- Sweet and Spicy Seafood soup - very good soup as well
- All shrimps (and chicken for that matter) were so dry and stiff, must have been cooked twice !
- Uncaring service
- Kolak, Kolak and Kolak (watery and slightly salty ... )
1/F-2/F, 66 Granville Rd, TST
Tel: 2367 3287
3 comments:
i had the same experience when i went there the first time. the parent branch in causeway bay is better as the original cook (the father) is there. their beef rendang was fabulous and so was their terong sambal. but i have to go to the granville one tomorrow because my professors want to go there ever since they heard that this particular branch is kept open because the owner does not want to fire the staff who are old Indonesians and have served them faithfully for years. Oh well, in the knowledge that we are supporting the rights of the old folks to employment, we will have bad food tomorrow.
So how was the food? Does it live up to standard? :)
poor thing...you totally need some indofood treatment and indomie goreng :D
you gotta order their lontong cap go meh next time (rice cakes with vegetables in coconut milk)
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