We tend to gush about food that's good, that's why there's so many food reviews on the Net. But does that mean that food unreviewed has to be bad? Or that only good food gets reviewed?
Reviewing good food gives their respective establishments more business and keeps the good stuff coming. Bad food, if left unreviewed, keeps the bad stuff in circulation, snaring unsuspecting patrons - like a Venus Flytrap just sitting there waiting for the next victim.
My first bad food review (you may remember my last bad establishment review) is on the beef lasagna at Hoca Cafe in KLCC.
First and foremost, the dish was served upside-down. Hoca may think it's creative and inventive to serve lasagna upside down, but even the picture of the dish indicated that it was the traditional kind - right-side up with the cheese on top. To glaze over the fact that all one can see from an upside-down lasagna is the pasta, which makes for a boring display, they doused it with dilluted gravy (reminds me of those upside-down meat pies drenched in pea soup in Adelaide - but not nearly as interesting).
I thought perhaps there is hope, because their Shepherd's Pie (also served upside-down) was unexpectedly delightful.
I was sorely disappointed. The lasagna was dry, perhaps the gravy didn't just serve a decorative purpose, they needed it facilitate the act of swallowing. The cheesy crust was indeed a crust, one that could not be broken by a humble butterknife.
I offered it my sister, Najwa. Her response was:
"Bila Kak Jah nak diet?" [When are you going on a diet?]
So I ate my lasagna in the same way I eat my toast - right through the middle with the sides in tact.
Noreen, who has always had a strong and insatiable stomach, decided to finish it off. Even SHE found it hard to palate. But I had to get a second opinion on my sister's comment.
me: "Am I getting fat?"
Noreen: "You are just as fat as you were last month."
Good answer.
I went back to office with a bad taste in my mouth (and pocket since it was RM17 - on the high side of Hoca's menu and for what?). It didn't help that the bad taste is now developing into nausea...
Posted by Najah Nasseri at 2004年03月03日 17:15 | TrackBackYou actually went to Hoca? I've heard stories, not many of them are good.
I can forgive you your Chinoz now.
Posted by: Ash.ox at 2004年03月03日 19:40Well, I'm sort of addicted to their nasi lemak and Shepherd's pie now... no turning back. But haven't had any experiences of the creepy crawly kind... Thank God!
Posted by: Najah at 2004年03月03日 19:42Gawd.... to hear all these horrors from what are supposed to be the creme de la creme of eateries (at least for their price and location).
Give me a nice mamak tepi jalan anytime now if I can't cook it up myself.
Posted by: pickyin at 2004年03月04日 07:21