Sunday, March 14, 2010

Mall-functioned, Zouk Cafe & Bar, Gardens

Organised retail is a tough call. On one hand, our heinous traffic/public transport conundrum presents a commercial case for the ongoing erection of these mercenary all-in-one monoliths.

But sticking in air-conditioning and opening the shutters are hardly sufficient to convert window shoppers to serious ones, given the stiff competition and growing disdain for these hastily built but ultimately malfunctioning edifices.

Zouk Cafe & Bar at the Gardens in Mid Valley is an example of an outlet with failed potential given the captive traffic who work in the vicinity and starved for choice to wind down on a Friday evening.

Lasagne a.k.a. hunka microwaved rubbery beauty topped with melted plastic resembling play-doh cheese. Tasted no better, I was informed.

Fettucine Carbonara got an indifferent "Creamy" from meal owner, but only because she was well famished by the time the pretty gleaming plate was set in front of her and had no inclination for verbal expression.

An underwhelming Steak Sandwich done rare, which somehow translated to an alarming grey mass of mystery meat.

The Cheeseburger, a far cry from the Ramly outside a 7-Eleven I had later that same evening.

The Seafood Alio Oglio, which was served with thoroughly dessicated scallops. Not the way the mighty Creator intended for this mollusc to contribute to the food chain.

The Doughnut Dippers were hilariously stale and colourless. No one was in a hurry to try this.

Happy Hour beverage prices currently apply only for Carlsberg and house pours.

A disappointment, as with most mall outlets, saved only by the dependable camaderie of battle-scarred colleagues. Next time, we'll know better to get into our vehicles, fight the traffic out a little further for a better class of merrymaking.

18 comments:

qwazymonkey said...

i have to agree. That meal must have been one of the most disappointing meal I've had on a while too

Sean said...

yikes! i've only ever tried the skewers here, but those ranged from mediocre to not bad. have been meaning to return, but the word-of-mouth for this place has been toxic! quite a shame ... there must be literally a hundred dining options in mid valley + the gardens, but less than two dozen pass muster!

Ciki said...

oh no:( that's not good. lucky i didn't wanna eat here! haha

ai wei said...

ooops, sounds a no-no ><. better save for others

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

some people should just stick to what they do best, clubbing!

J said...

Oh no... What a waste. :(

Babe_KL said...

oh dear the lasagna really looked in a sorry state! yeah like what joe said, they better stick to wat they know best

worldwindows said...

Horrendous car parking with so so food? What's good.

J2Kfm said...

Hahaha... pathetic through and through eh? I had an equally disappointing outing at Sweet Chat the other day.

Bangsar-bAbE said...

Thanks for the heads up! I was about to go there for drinks sometime this week. I guess I'll pass. ;)

Kenny Mah said...

"an alarming grey mass of mystery meat"

Gosh, that sounds sorta like rejected brain matter. Eww. :P

minchow said...

Qwazymonkey, you too?? Is there anything in Mid Valley worth our while?

Sean, yes was gleeful with hope when I read yr post about this place too, but not quite sure what happened!

Ciki, can still drink here I suppose... if you're really really thirsty and you really cannot imagine fighting the crazy traffic out of Mad Valley!

Ai Wei, hopefully they'll get around to pulling up their socks. They really could do so much better!

Joe, totally agree! And I guess the onus too is on us to know what to expect from these guys... club yes, food, hell, no!

minchow said...

J, not a waste la... at least gave me fodder for a blog post no?? ;-)

Babe KL, when we saw the microwaved marks on the plate of the lasagne, we knew we were done for! Oh well... at least the place looked umm... trendy?!

Worldwindows, you're too kind! So-so food? This was bad, over and out!

J2Kfm, Sweet Chat's that place at the main mall yeah? I've not been, curious to know how it fared?? You blogging about it anytime soon?

LFB, rejected brain matter.. and then some!! Honestly, the food was DIRE!

superwilson said...

well written

Rebecca Saw said...

My, I ws never tempted to visit this plc. Now I knw for sure i wont!

PureGlutton said...

Such a sorry state of food! Yep, that microwaved plate of thingy really looked bad! Will avoid this place at all costs, hehe!

Lyrical Lemongrass said...

I LOVE the power of the blog. :-) Thanks for the heads up, girlfriend!

Sue Yin said...

i had the same horrible experience....
the food was bad , and all the tables around me were complaining at how bad the food was and how long it took for them to serve us.
when i complained, i waited for 15 minutes and the manager never came out from the kitchen
i just walked out and i will never ever go to zouk cafe ever.