Coliseum Review: Thumbs Down

I was looking forward to a nice slow lunch today. After bumming around the whole weekend, living off tarts, coffee and junk food in general, the weekday was an excuse to get back on the dietary track.

We paid a visit to Coliseum Cafe, a restaurant that has been a part of KL since 1921, famous for its sizzling steak and a decor that reminds you of another era - one of Rex, Odeon and simpler times. The waiters in those crisp white shirts too were of another generation - suffice to say that the restaurant was classic enough to land a mention in the Lonely Planet guide to Malaysia.

I hadn't been there in years, right after rumours spread about the halal status of the food. So imagine my delight when I was informed by Noreen about the official announcement of their halal certification recently (certified halal meats, and no pork served), as part of their promotion for Father's day.

Upon entering the Coliseum today, I noticed that the place had changed. The colours of the walls were even more bland, the white uniforms were spotted with grease stains that indicated a change of laundry contract was sorely needed. The waiters were a lot younger, and less graceful. The floor was slippery and the furniture had at least a millimeter of something that felt like baby lotion. The clincher was the air - the place smelt like a butcher shop.

I fought the urge to leave. After all, many a good meal is met by the adventurous diner. After looking around at the other patrons, who were as ancient as the venue, I overcame my gut feelings - and ordered a small steak. Sharizal ordered something I can't spell and we hoped for the best.

As I chomped down on my first bite of the dry (supposedly medium well), un-marinated piece of meat, my head was screaming: "We should have gone to Jake's damnit!"

Give me that honey-thyme marinated ribs (Sharizal's favourite) at Jake's. Give me that cat carcass (yummy 500g slab of meat) that Fische had at Shook! Give me Victoria Station or San Francisco Steak House. Real meat is good - but real meat lovingly prepared with the finest ingredients: a light spread of mustard, some herbs, at the very least, some sauce...

*sigh*

The meal was a painful RM90. The Coliseum I used to romanticise was gone and so was the fabulous steaks. While the price is typical for a steak lunch for two (cheap even if you compare it with some establishments), the encounter left me cheated (even though I didn't pay for lunch). The effort to move my jaw up, down and sideways for cafeteria food masquerading as something else left a bad taste in my mouth.

Now I have to resort to my original diet of tarts, coffee and junk food to wash it down.

Posted by Najah Nasseri at 2003年06月16日 18:55 | TrackBack