Well, it has been more than a month or two (during the Ramadan month) since my visit on a friday night to the highly raved The Lab, located at Jalan Pisang, and I did think about not putting up this review because.... I can't really give you an accurate review of how The Lab did the food they've served me. So I might as well turn this into a rant of poor service I've experienced that fateful night, alright?
First up, the place did look pretty nice at the indoor seating area, but it so happens we were given the alfreso seating set up in the alleyway....
Which was perfectly fine, still. I understand about the lack of space and trying to maximise space usage, so cramming 5 guests at a very small table is alright... I reckon.
And since we visited during the Ramadan month, we decided to go for the special Lftar Dinner Set at only $38 nett per pax that comes with a starter, mains, dessert and a drink.
Kiwi Cucumber Spritzer
Probably the best thing I've had that night, even though it still tasted pretty wash down. I guess it's because ALL the ice has melted and diluted the entire drink. But the refreshing taste of cucumber with the appetizing tangy flavour of kiwi is still detectable.
Baked Mussels
Packed full with tomato based sauce, it could have been quite an enjoyable dish, for I'm a huge mussel lover, if only it weren't all cold and rubbery.
Lamb Chop with Pilaf Rice
The coldness of the whole dish apart, the lamb chop was OBVIOUSLY overcooked (or perhaps reheated too many times) until I couldn't decide if I was chewing on food, or rubber. At some point I totally gave up on chewing down the meat properly and risk getting choked by swallowing the huge chunk of meat down. Don't even thinking of reminding me that I should have cut them into smaller, bite size. It was also near unslice-able (if there is such a word) with the dining knife that I had to pick it up by the bone and tearing the meat off like a hungry dog.
Sticky Date Pudding with Ice Cream & Pistachios
I believe the ice cream is in pistachio flavour, which is really not bad. But not the sticky date pudding. Well, too sweet, and too sickeningly moist. Not my favourite kind of dessert, In fact, nobody at the table finished their desserts.
Speaks a lot.
And now, to my experience of a truly poor service.
Well, my friends happen to be early and got seated slightly before 7pm, much earlier than our reservation of 730pm.
And guess what, even though NOT all guests were seated (I was obviously not early, and in fact, LATE and another friend was also running late although she reached earlier than me in the end) they started serving the food.
And guess whose food got served first? MINE.
"It's weird how they serve here. They serve ghosts before the seated patrons."
This was what one of my friends texted along with a picture of my sad looking mussels and lamb chop sitting at the table.
So my food got served at 7pm and I reached at about 745pm, just 15 minutes later than our reservation and I had to settle for cold, rubbery food.
And mind you, I did ask my friends to request that they keep my food first to keep them warm because I obviously was not going to reach early enough to have them while they're still hot, and apparently the server replied, "But I can only reheat the food once."
Wait, what?
You just need to keep the food first, wait until I got seated, then you can reheat the food just that one time and serve, yeah?
But of course, that didn't happen. Was it because they've already hit the quota of reheating the food before the served it to our table or what, I don't even care anymore. I can be just damned sure that I will never ever return to this darned cafe, ever again.
And you know what, I'm not even going to tell you their exact address or give you the link to their website or FB page. If you're a fan of poor service and cold, rubbery food. Just go google about them on your own. kthxbye.
Till then,
Mia Foo
