Very often at interviews, you will be asked the question: “so, tell me more about yourself”. Hence, I decided to write more about myself but in the food aspect… If you have been following my posted articles, you will know that any interesting or out-of-the-market dining concept will capture my hands to pen it down online. Plus, any out-of-the-shop food item/window display will produce the same urge on me. Don’t get me wrong, I am not in the F&B industry or some genius marketing director. I am just very passionate about food and anything that associates with it. Just as a chef who revels in the satisfied look of the customer after a polished-off meal, so do I; I feel tremendous joy and encouragement when people devour my articles.
I shall start off rattling on my recent dining spree with different people. First, I had a fantastic evening of Italian Fare with a bosom friend and it created a beautiful memory stored up at my ‘CPU’. The aforesaid Italian dining experience was one that integrated its simply chic interior, dear pricing, meticulous service, extravagant produce and bona fide culinary art into a good package deal. Keep it up, Procacci!
Next, I visited an authentic French restaurant with this same bosom friend of mine. However, I was very disappointed with their produce. Take for an example, their famous Foie Gras, it tasted as if the goose had very serious body odour…very obliging for me to bite and swallow despite it being buttery smooth and ready to melt on my palate. I must admit the culinary skill was relatively good but the mediocre produce spoiled the signature dishes we ordered and hurt my pocketbook in the bargain. Food and dining are very subjective topics and separate issues too. For this case, unfortunately, the produce did not pair up well with the culinary skills.
It may not be an expensive meal or some sublime-interior restaurants to enrich your dining experience…Take for instance, I just recently visited a small-sized and affordably priced Indonesian Restaurant situated within a neighborhood mall. The ‘Ayam Penyet with Nasi - Smashed Fried Chicken with White Rice’ and a bowl of ‘Sayur Asam - Sour Soup‘ was a killer combo meal for me which I will mention more in the next post. Good food, good pricing and good location if you don’t mind the nose-to-tail seating arrangement!
In another dining episode, I was invited to an authentic Turkish restaurant for dinner (owned and cooked by Turks). The online reviews are good and strongly recommend this mid-end restaurant to foodies…But, to my dismay, both my companion and I did not enjoy the food and service. First, the food came and filled up our midget table. The wait staff did not bother to advise us on their serving portion and the food was served as if offered to the farm animals. The presentation was horrendous compared to my colleague’s recent Turkish meal pictures and lastly, we are not used to their style of cooking. Strangely though, we looked around and saw a few families of expatriates, not Turks, scattered around us and heartily tucking in. I guess this is what they called, ‘Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder’ but for this scenario, “Savory lies in the palate of the beholder”.
To sum it up, my other dining scene was at a Nyonya family-style restaurant accessibly located at a neighborhood mall. Again, food was reasonably priced; décor carries a note of Peranakan heritage. We tried the traditional dishes such as ‘Ayam Buah Keluak – chicken pieces stewed with keluak nuts and spices’, ‘Chap Chye – a stewed dish of mixed vegetables’ and etc…Maybe because I have tried better home-cooked authentic Nyonya dishes, I still prefer my preceding dining experience! I guess it could be because a commercial kitchen does not have the luxury of time to stew the dishes over a longer period to produce a more potent aroma and flavour. Certain dishes still do require the patience and time to achieve peak delectable results. I am sure, for this case, the Babas & Bibiks will agree with me.
Overall, I feel strongly that food needs to be cooked with passion and sincerity, I am sure the taster can feel it somehow or other; I will for sure!
PS: I shall not mention the names of mediocre restaurants; so no recommendation on them!
