There are tons of blogs and food review sites that write about the yummy food and beautiful ambience of restaurants. We tend to write the good stuff, and I wondered... shouldn't we also write about the bad ones so other people can avoid having to go through the horror or bad experience you have had?
With that thought, I decided to summon the old memories of my bad experiences with the restaurants here in Malaysia -- though I can't pinpoint exactly anymore the exact dates. Just wanted to share so I can spare others the bad experience.
1. Osteria RealBlue - Publika Solaris Dutamas
- Italian restaurant facing the road side (facing the residential Duta Tropika)
- we had the most horrific time ... food portions were small. Food was not impressive at all for an authentic Italian restaurant. The waitress who was bossy and seems to have lived in Italy once (but she is Asian), she was pushy and weird. In the end, we paid quite a high price -- and believe me, we have often dined in pricey places, yet we found this place pricey for the food quality and ambience (and experience).
- Never, ever, ever go there unless you want a horror experience for your Italian meal
2. Okomen Japanese Restaurant, Desa Sri Hartamas
- I wrote about this place earlier, definitely will not be going back
- for a weekend evening, it was quite empty-- and I am not wondering why... for me personally I don't like going to restaurants that are feeling quite empty!
- food was mediocre, price was okay not too expensive yet not cheap as well
- the Japanese pancake, which is one of their speciality, had too much sauce for our taste, and we didn't like it
3. The Daily Grind, Bangsar Village
- to be fair, the burgers kept up to their promise and were huge
- the milkshake was good
- the service sucks. there was a Filipina waitress who had long hair who served us, and she looked very bored while taking our orders, she was brief and even spoke very sharply... which I did not appreciate. She needs to be sacked else it gives a bad name to the restaurant. This was a recent visit this MAY 2013, and I would not go back ever just because of that sucky, condescending service.
- the other staff were okay. You can't say she was tired from a long day of work because we had an early lunch on a weekend and there were NO customers yet when we got there... sigh, bad service from a Filipino ... unbelievable. Usually they are the ones who give better service at restaurants as compared to other staff
4. Nathalie Gourmet Studio, Publika Solaris Dutamas
- I like Nathalie, she is a nice person. I personally took one of her cooking classes long before she opened this restaurant
- I am sure I wrote about this sucky experience long ago in my blog... and until today it haunts me. They had a silly French waiter who took our orders and was disrespectful to my mother (who was visiting me from Manila and is my guest). She asked for mint jelly to go with her lamb, and in hir snobbish French way, he just stated out we do not serve mint jelly. No apologies, no nice words to say they don't have it... simply his matter-of-fact-we-are-French-this-is-how-we-serve-it kind of way. This pissed me off because he was trying to educate me about the French way, not knowing I am in fact married to a French! He really blew me off and because of that I don't ever want to step in that restaurant again.
- occasionally i would succumb to buying a few pieces of macaroons from the place, that's it. Never dining there again. The price there is quite high for typical malaysians or locals... and for a hefty price I expect good service and not condescending waiters
5. Umai-Ya, Japanese Restaurant, KLCC
- this happened at least 2 years ago and I wonder if that Japanese restaurant survived until now. So far when you go to the KLCC Suria website you can still see them listed there, so I guess they did.
- it was the most horrible service and food and price you could ever experience in KLCC. It was so disappointing I remember leaving very upset and worked up after our meal.
- one thing i remember well was we ordered sushi and maki as an appetizer and it didn't arrive until the middle of the meal. We tried to cancel and they came to say that I cannot cancel it. Simply said like that with no apologies whatsoever. The customer service there sucks big time. I wonder if things have changed? I, for sure, would not like to find out. I am never, ever going back there even if that is the last Japanese restaurant remaining on planet earth. That is how bad it was.
6. My Elephant, Thai Restaurant, Sri Hartamas
- okay, I know, I know, even CNN listed this is as one of the good restaurants in KL. However, on my own list and taste, I doubt if we will go back because simply it does not serve the typical "Thai" food I have in mind
- brought my French in-laws here last April 2013, and they were not impressed, in fact they realized now that they hate Thai food. They "used to love it" because they thought Thai food was the Pineapple Fried rice and Chicken Pandan (which was also my own definition of Thai food, haha).
- the waiters didn't speak very good English and when I asked them if the dishes we were about to order were spicy, they said "little spicy". However, we ended up with drinking gallons of water just to eat a decent portion of the food. Everything, almost everything, were just too spicy. I know Malaysians can take this, and judging from the packed crowd at lunch time people love it. I think for those who love spicy stuff -- go for it. But for Filipino palates like mine, and the French, I would recommend you stick to your usual Thai places. Here, I didn't find chicken pandan, which was weird for me...
7. Delicious, various locations, KL
- When we arrived in 2006, for the next 3 years we have been loyal customers of Delicious. Their food, especially the duck pasta, was our favorite. However, fast forward to 2012, their service and food quality has gone down
- Perhaps it is the change of management, because the restaurant was sold to a bigger group -- I don't know... for sure the service has gone down the drain, the food quality has gone down as well.
- After many years of betting my money on a decent meal in Delicious, we have simply stopped going there.
8. Angus House, Publika
- I have given this place 2 visits: one long in the past when they were at Pavillion mall. And another round when they opened in Publika. Both instances proved the same: overpriced steak. Last visit was Mother's Day in 2012
- If you are looking for a real juicy, killer steak experience, do not go to this place. I find the meals disappointing and over-priced. You can get better quality steak somewhere else.
- When I ordered the chicken steak for my maid, even my maid said it didn't taste good and smelled too "chicken-y". Seems quality is not up to par with the prices you pay
- I would never, ever go back
- for good, affordable steak fix, head over to Las Vacas in Mont Kiara ... they serve good steaks at decent price sans the pretentious ambience and high price of Angus House
9. Coffee Club, One Mont Kiara
- my husband loves coffee and he usually just takes it black. One day, he decided to wait for me while I did grocery shopping.. and he hanged out at Coffee Club. After that 1 time visit, he never went back.
- how can one go so wrong with black coffee? The coffee they served was so horrible that he suffered at the toilet that afternoon
- despite living in Mont Kiara and frequenting One Mont Kiara (almost weekly), we avoid this place at all cost. I wonder how they are surviving, if they cannot even make decent coffee? Argghh!
10. Namoo, Korean Cafe, Publika
- Namoo at The Park was way too weird for us... perhaps because we are parents and went with kids. One morning, two expat families (none of us Korean), went to play at the park in Publika and decided to give the place a try. The kids didn't like the food, we didn't like it either and the drinks they suggested were too way off for us. I know there are people out there who are fans of Korean food and stuff, which I totally respect. But for us, we just couldn't pinpoint one decent dish out of the stuff we ordered. Or perhaps they were newly opened at that time, and their staff were a bit "blonde" not knowing what to recommend.
- I think this will appeal to foodies or single people... definitely not a place for families with young kids, in my humble opinion and experience
So far these are the things I could remember as horrendous and would never go back again. Perhaps other people will have better experiences -- good for you. However, personally, there are too many good places in KL who deserve my ringgit. So I for one, will not be back for my own reasons. Any review I made is solely on my personal opinion and experience.
With that thought, I decided to summon the old memories of my bad experiences with the restaurants here in Malaysia -- though I can't pinpoint exactly anymore the exact dates. Just wanted to share so I can spare others the bad experience.
1. Osteria RealBlue - Publika Solaris Dutamas
- Italian restaurant facing the road side (facing the residential Duta Tropika)
- we had the most horrific time ... food portions were small. Food was not impressive at all for an authentic Italian restaurant. The waitress who was bossy and seems to have lived in Italy once (but she is Asian), she was pushy and weird. In the end, we paid quite a high price -- and believe me, we have often dined in pricey places, yet we found this place pricey for the food quality and ambience (and experience).
- Never, ever, ever go there unless you want a horror experience for your Italian meal
 |
| Worst Italian Meal ever... never go there! |
2. Okomen Japanese Restaurant, Desa Sri Hartamas
- I wrote about this place earlier, definitely will not be going back
- for a weekend evening, it was quite empty-- and I am not wondering why... for me personally I don't like going to restaurants that are feeling quite empty!
- food was mediocre, price was okay not too expensive yet not cheap as well
- the Japanese pancake, which is one of their speciality, had too much sauce for our taste, and we didn't like it
 |
| Empty and not worth visiting |
3. The Daily Grind, Bangsar Village
- to be fair, the burgers kept up to their promise and were huge
- the milkshake was good
- the service sucks. there was a Filipina waitress who had long hair who served us, and she looked very bored while taking our orders, she was brief and even spoke very sharply... which I did not appreciate. She needs to be sacked else it gives a bad name to the restaurant. This was a recent visit this MAY 2013, and I would not go back ever just because of that sucky, condescending service.
- the other staff were okay. You can't say she was tired from a long day of work because we had an early lunch on a weekend and there were NO customers yet when we got there... sigh, bad service from a Filipino ... unbelievable. Usually they are the ones who give better service at restaurants as compared to other staff
 |
| Condescending service from their Filipina staff |
4. Nathalie Gourmet Studio, Publika Solaris Dutamas
- I like Nathalie, she is a nice person. I personally took one of her cooking classes long before she opened this restaurant
- I am sure I wrote about this sucky experience long ago in my blog... and until today it haunts me. They had a silly French waiter who took our orders and was disrespectful to my mother (who was visiting me from Manila and is my guest). She asked for mint jelly to go with her lamb, and in hir snobbish French way, he just stated out we do not serve mint jelly. No apologies, no nice words to say they don't have it... simply his matter-of-fact-we-are-French-this-is-how-we-serve-it kind of way. This pissed me off because he was trying to educate me about the French way, not knowing I am in fact married to a French! He really blew me off and because of that I don't ever want to step in that restaurant again.
- occasionally i would succumb to buying a few pieces of macaroons from the place, that's it. Never dining there again. The price there is quite high for typical malaysians or locals... and for a hefty price I expect good service and not condescending waiters
 |
| French waiter was too snotty, never going back there |
5. Umai-Ya, Japanese Restaurant, KLCC
- this happened at least 2 years ago and I wonder if that Japanese restaurant survived until now. So far when you go to the KLCC Suria website you can still see them listed there, so I guess they did.
- it was the most horrible service and food and price you could ever experience in KLCC. It was so disappointing I remember leaving very upset and worked up after our meal.
- one thing i remember well was we ordered sushi and maki as an appetizer and it didn't arrive until the middle of the meal. We tried to cancel and they came to say that I cannot cancel it. Simply said like that with no apologies whatsoever. The customer service there sucks big time. I wonder if things have changed? I, for sure, would not like to find out. I am never, ever going back there even if that is the last Japanese restaurant remaining on planet earth. That is how bad it was.
 |
| No sense of customer service at all |
6. My Elephant, Thai Restaurant, Sri Hartamas
- okay, I know, I know, even CNN listed this is as one of the good restaurants in KL. However, on my own list and taste, I doubt if we will go back because simply it does not serve the typical "Thai" food I have in mind
- brought my French in-laws here last April 2013, and they were not impressed, in fact they realized now that they hate Thai food. They "used to love it" because they thought Thai food was the Pineapple Fried rice and Chicken Pandan (which was also my own definition of Thai food, haha).
- the waiters didn't speak very good English and when I asked them if the dishes we were about to order were spicy, they said "little spicy". However, we ended up with drinking gallons of water just to eat a decent portion of the food. Everything, almost everything, were just too spicy. I know Malaysians can take this, and judging from the packed crowd at lunch time people love it. I think for those who love spicy stuff -- go for it. But for Filipino palates like mine, and the French, I would recommend you stick to your usual Thai places. Here, I didn't find chicken pandan, which was weird for me...
 |
| Waiter didn't speak English too well and almost everything were too spicy for us |
7. Delicious, various locations, KL
- When we arrived in 2006, for the next 3 years we have been loyal customers of Delicious. Their food, especially the duck pasta, was our favorite. However, fast forward to 2012, their service and food quality has gone down
- Perhaps it is the change of management, because the restaurant was sold to a bigger group -- I don't know... for sure the service has gone down the drain, the food quality has gone down as well.
- After many years of betting my money on a decent meal in Delicious, we have simply stopped going there.
 |
| Service and quality of food going down |
8. Angus House, Publika
- I have given this place 2 visits: one long in the past when they were at Pavillion mall. And another round when they opened in Publika. Both instances proved the same: overpriced steak. Last visit was Mother's Day in 2012
- If you are looking for a real juicy, killer steak experience, do not go to this place. I find the meals disappointing and over-priced. You can get better quality steak somewhere else.
- When I ordered the chicken steak for my maid, even my maid said it didn't taste good and smelled too "chicken-y". Seems quality is not up to par with the prices you pay
- I would never, ever go back
- for good, affordable steak fix, head over to Las Vacas in Mont Kiara ... they serve good steaks at decent price sans the pretentious ambience and high price of Angus House
 |
| Pricey steaks that are not impressive |
9. Coffee Club, One Mont Kiara
- my husband loves coffee and he usually just takes it black. One day, he decided to wait for me while I did grocery shopping.. and he hanged out at Coffee Club. After that 1 time visit, he never went back.
- how can one go so wrong with black coffee? The coffee they served was so horrible that he suffered at the toilet that afternoon
- despite living in Mont Kiara and frequenting One Mont Kiara (almost weekly), we avoid this place at all cost. I wonder how they are surviving, if they cannot even make decent coffee? Argghh!
 |
| Horrible Coffee |
- Namoo at The Park was way too weird for us... perhaps because we are parents and went with kids. One morning, two expat families (none of us Korean), went to play at the park in Publika and decided to give the place a try. The kids didn't like the food, we didn't like it either and the drinks they suggested were too way off for us. I know there are people out there who are fans of Korean food and stuff, which I totally respect. But for us, we just couldn't pinpoint one decent dish out of the stuff we ordered. Or perhaps they were newly opened at that time, and their staff were a bit "blonde" not knowing what to recommend.
- I think this will appeal to foodies or single people... definitely not a place for families with young kids, in my humble opinion and experience
So far these are the things I could remember as horrendous and would never go back again. Perhaps other people will have better experiences -- good for you. However, personally, there are too many good places in KL who deserve my ringgit. So I for one, will not be back for my own reasons. Any review I made is solely on my personal opinion and experience.
Though my exprience in these restaurants are not as bad or may differ, I'm glad you wrote what you wrote.
ReplyDeleteAt least I know you are not bias and say everything is good and no negative comments like some other bloggers.
Keep on blogging :)
Thanks for dropping by! Just wanted to share the experience so that people know what to expect -- it may not be the case that the restaurant will stay bad... but at least it balances the expectations of people when they do a search.
Deletefor thai try bangkok house, i think they have several branches. there's one in 3 twosquare...quite near from my elephant. their tom yum is the best i've had here in kl, it's bursting with flavors. for vegetarian, secret recipe's beyond veggie is quite nice too they have branches in tropicana and midvalley.
ReplyDeleteเล่นผ่านเว็บ MEGA GAME เล่นสล็อตออนไลน์ กับเราวันนี้ สามารถสลับสับเปลี่ยน ไปเล่นเกมอื่นๆที่นักเสี่ยงโชคสนใจ เว็บตรง สมัครฟรี ได้ตลอดเวลา
ReplyDelete