Tea for Two, Bangsar

There are so many places serving bad, overpriced food that I'm surprised our powers-that-be have not concocted an Ops something or rather to make sure us honest citizens are not subjected to any more of that kind of nonsense.

I really wanted this to be good. Really really. But it wasn't. I've always had a soft spot for the Bangkung area of Bangsar - the limited crop of outlets here has never failed before. And we were looking for someplace quiet and non-threatening for a good catch-up so we arrived at Tea for Two and thought, why not.

The place was extremely quiet for a Saturday night - no more than three tables occupied - alarm bell really, seeing that neighbouring Cava and Opus were packed to the brim. The waiter who served us was courteous and helpful, and indulged in our indecision over whether or not to drink.

To drink it was, and we ordered a jug of Sangria on the promise that it was one of the house specials. It arrived in a BEER jug, an ominous sign of things to come.

It had wine, it had the customary fruit slices, and by god, it even had a faint whiff of alcohol but it was too little of everything to pass off as anything more than fruit punch.

Mellie establishing a relationship with the Sangria - pained but perservering...

We sent it back and to be fair, they were easily obliging with topping up on the lethal stuff. So the Sangria ended up faring better than everything else that awaited us.

Garlic bread started us off. This was fine, but not the sort of orgasmic garlic bread that could've saved this meal.

Mellie went for the red golden fish dish (not sure what the actual "Modern Continental" name was). The sea bass was fresh but the freshness was completely drowned out by the salt-laden tomato-based sauce that came with it. The pretty big white plate didn't help a notch.

My pepper mango chicken - sounds pretty special right? Super fusion right? Well it's nothing the uncle at the neighbourhood Western food hawker stall can't accomplish blindfolded - fatty chicken thigh meat grilled (and dare I venture, a tad undercooked?), black pepper overkill, drizzled with a mango sauce that tasted bottled at best.

We're not against simple hawker-standard food, just paying restaurant prices for essentially prettied up hawker food. The Sangria (our enhanced version) kept it on the brink of disaster, as did the good company and the promise of "chow meen seen" at Tengkat Tong Shin next.

Too bad, really, given the ace location and the very illustrious neighbours.