Among the works of Ernest Hemingway, my favorite is The Old Man and The Sea followed by Farewell to Arms. If this Discovery Bay's D Deck restaurant Hemingway's by the Bay is to publish a book, I think it should be called The Chef and The Sea! Why you ask? Simple, it was because the afternoon I was there, the CHEF has left the kitchen and likely to be out in the sea fishing for some fresh seafood which the kitchen ran out of! The al fresco dining area was nice especially on this wonderful afternoon with a light cool breeze together with the sea view.
(1) Apple Sour + Blueberry Nut Smoothies
After my first sip of the the Apple Sour, I immediately withdrew myself from it because it was not just very sour but very unusually in my own opinion. What do you know, it was actually okay when compared with the blueberry Nut smoothies my friend ordered. It EXTREMELY watery and rather flavorless for some odd reasons. A picture is worth a thousand words so take a look at the zoomed in picture below regarding the WATERY aspect of this drink. The layers were visible only after a few minutes. Two Thumbs down!
(2) Steamed Mussels
(with a lightly spiced tomato broth and served with cumin toasted bread) I really didn't understand why it was called broth when thick paste was found! Before getting to the mussel, the cumin toasted bread was very hard but flavor wise it was alright in general.
As for the mussels (and the paste), they were definitely overcooked! Many of the mussels escaped the shells and there were many empty shells! It seemed there were more capers than mussels in this dish! Once again, what broth? It should be lightly spiced tomato paste with excessive amount of capers?? The empty shells (likely due to mussels being overcooked) really disappointed me!
(3) Seafood Paella
Just from the look how it was served, one can be sure that the paella was not cooked from the accompanied pan! It must have been cooked somewhere else and place in this pan for serving because a good paella should be served "flat" on a big pan! It should be wide round and shallow! I was already disappointed at this stage.
How was the taste? It was rather dry and tasteless despite the vivid color of the rice and ingredients! The prawns accordingly to my friend was very firm and seemed like frozen prawns. There were plenty of empty mussels shells again. I thought I was eating Chinese fried rice for a second! Another thumbs down!
(4) Pan-fried Crab Cakes
Now the pan-fried crab cakes, it looked decent but it was rather loose in texture and lacked real crab meat. It contained plenty of flour though. Relatively speaking, this one was more enjoyable than the other two items ordered.
(1) Apple Sour + Blueberry Nut Smoothies
After my first sip of the the Apple Sour, I immediately withdrew myself from it because it was not just very sour but very unusually in my own opinion. What do you know, it was actually okay when compared with the blueberry Nut smoothies my friend ordered. It EXTREMELY watery and rather flavorless for some odd reasons. A picture is worth a thousand words so take a look at the zoomed in picture below regarding the WATERY aspect of this drink. The layers were visible only after a few minutes. Two Thumbs down!
(2) Steamed Mussels
(with a lightly spiced tomato broth and served with cumin toasted bread) I really didn't understand why it was called broth when thick paste was found! Before getting to the mussel, the cumin toasted bread was very hard but flavor wise it was alright in general.
As for the mussels (and the paste), they were definitely overcooked! Many of the mussels escaped the shells and there were many empty shells! It seemed there were more capers than mussels in this dish! Once again, what broth? It should be lightly spiced tomato paste with excessive amount of capers?? The empty shells (likely due to mussels being overcooked) really disappointed me!
(3) Seafood Paella
Just from the look how it was served, one can be sure that the paella was not cooked from the accompanied pan! It must have been cooked somewhere else and place in this pan for serving because a good paella should be served "flat" on a big pan! It should be wide round and shallow! I was already disappointed at this stage.
How was the taste? It was rather dry and tasteless despite the vivid color of the rice and ingredients! The prawns accordingly to my friend was very firm and seemed like frozen prawns. There were plenty of empty mussels shells again. I thought I was eating Chinese fried rice for a second! Another thumbs down!
(4) Pan-fried Crab Cakes
Now the pan-fried crab cakes, it looked decent but it was rather loose in texture and lacked real crab meat. It contained plenty of flour though. Relatively speaking, this one was more enjoyable than the other two items ordered.
Likes:
- Atmosphere / alfresco dining
- Steamed Mussels - too many empty shells, mussels overcooked and tomato paste instead of broth!
- Seafood Paella - dry, flavorless and not cooked or served directly from a paella pan
- Blueberry Nut Smoothies - too watery!
Hemingway's by the Bay
D Deck G09, DB Plaza, Discovery Bay
Tel: 852 2987 8855
http://www.hemingwaysdb.com/
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5 comments:
I had heard really good reviews of this place in the past, especially as it was the only place to get (decent) Caribbean food, and especially food items with their Jerk seasoning/ rub.
oh yikes, that sounds like a really bad experience, but at least you still got humor... the chef and the sea? hahaha :)
@cheeky angel: yeah, I heard good things of this place as well but I think they should try to maintain consistency on their items aside from their specialties ie: Jerk items.
@Jin: now that you mentioned it, I think it should have been Jason and the sea because I wanted to set sail and leave. HAHA ...
As a local resident of Discovery Bay, I can assure you that most of the eating places here are overrated and way overpriced. We leave DB if we want to have good food!
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