I know I have not posted here in a very long time, somewhere along the line, I got kind of tired of blogging of food and this semester has been super duper busy as well, with endless projects, tests, essays that is taking up so much time that when I am free, I am too tired to blog anyway. But I found something to blog about again today, which is my recent visit to My Secret Garden(mysg) restaurant at Middle road.
It is a restaurant that I have read reviews about, many of them good ones. It also has a charming website which made the place sound so lovely, and I just had to try it out. I had initially picked MYSG to celebrate me and S's 1st year anniversary next month and I wanted to give him a surprise by bringing him here. I was drawn to the ambience of the place and the charming, laidback feel. I decided to try out the place beforehand, thus on Dad's birthday, we came here for dinner.
I suppose my review of MYSG is going to be quite biased because of the very bad service I received there, which has kind of put me off the place forever. One thing that struck me was that it was so different from what I had imagined it to be. Instead of a nice, quiet and intimate dining place, it was buzzing with noise, though with dimmed lightings and candlelights and soft jazzy music playing in the background. The waiters were inexperienced and lacked initiative, a couple of times, we had to ask to be served cold water even though they were standing around.
The menu was somewhat limited, but that aside, I have no complains about the food, and the presentation was nicely done. Our first course of escargots in garlic butter was delicious tender and juicy. The baked codfish with mashed potato and spinach($28) was baked to perfection, the fish was fresh with a melt in the mouth texture. At that price, it was however a tad small. I had the baked salmon($25) which was once again faultless except for its servings. It was soft and tender with a delicious black pepper sauce and none of that fishy salmon taste, with a healthy side of broccoli and carrot.
After our mains, we decided to ask if there would be any complimentary cakes from the restaurant for the birthday boy(though I had already baked a marbled cheesecake as the birthday cake, I thought there was no harm asking). I would have been fine with a simple no, but the waiter in question led me to believe that we would be given a triple chocolate cake($6)with vanilla ice-cream, and would even provide a candle for me. When the cake came, there wasn't any candle, and I just let it pass. But when I saw the cake included in the bill, with the vanilla ice-cream costing an extra $4, I felt severely disappointed and somewhat cheated and thus my resolve never to come again.
I guess it was more out of expectation more than anything else. Maybe I am being too harsh, give the poor waiters a break, they are only human after all. But from an excerpt taken from the website: "MYSG is a lifestyle place where out Guests will have an awesome experience in wining, dining, entertaining, celebrating, socializing or just relaxing by themselves in a holistic & self-fulfilling way. This will happen with a team of energized, fun-loving, passionate and inspired service providers who are highly professional and commited to optimize the joy and happiness of our guests'. With this kind of promise that they cannot live up to, they should re-evaluate and stop making the place sound so special and unique when it is not. I actually gave them a feedback of my dining experience there(yup, thats how disappointed i was, I have never bothered to do so in my entire life), and to this date, I still have not heard anything from them.
With prices that are above average, with small servings, bad service and limited menu, I'd rather take my business somewhere else. Awesome dining experience? You decide.
It is a restaurant that I have read reviews about, many of them good ones. It also has a charming website which made the place sound so lovely, and I just had to try it out. I had initially picked MYSG to celebrate me and S's 1st year anniversary next month and I wanted to give him a surprise by bringing him here. I was drawn to the ambience of the place and the charming, laidback feel. I decided to try out the place beforehand, thus on Dad's birthday, we came here for dinner.
I suppose my review of MYSG is going to be quite biased because of the very bad service I received there, which has kind of put me off the place forever. One thing that struck me was that it was so different from what I had imagined it to be. Instead of a nice, quiet and intimate dining place, it was buzzing with noise, though with dimmed lightings and candlelights and soft jazzy music playing in the background. The waiters were inexperienced and lacked initiative, a couple of times, we had to ask to be served cold water even though they were standing around.
The menu was somewhat limited, but that aside, I have no complains about the food, and the presentation was nicely done. Our first course of escargots in garlic butter was delicious tender and juicy. The baked codfish with mashed potato and spinach($28) was baked to perfection, the fish was fresh with a melt in the mouth texture. At that price, it was however a tad small. I had the baked salmon($25) which was once again faultless except for its servings. It was soft and tender with a delicious black pepper sauce and none of that fishy salmon taste, with a healthy side of broccoli and carrot.
After our mains, we decided to ask if there would be any complimentary cakes from the restaurant for the birthday boy(though I had already baked a marbled cheesecake as the birthday cake, I thought there was no harm asking). I would have been fine with a simple no, but the waiter in question led me to believe that we would be given a triple chocolate cake($6)with vanilla ice-cream, and would even provide a candle for me. When the cake came, there wasn't any candle, and I just let it pass. But when I saw the cake included in the bill, with the vanilla ice-cream costing an extra $4, I felt severely disappointed and somewhat cheated and thus my resolve never to come again.
I guess it was more out of expectation more than anything else. Maybe I am being too harsh, give the poor waiters a break, they are only human after all. But from an excerpt taken from the website: "MYSG is a lifestyle place where out Guests will have an awesome experience in wining, dining, entertaining, celebrating, socializing or just relaxing by themselves in a holistic & self-fulfilling way. This will happen with a team of energized, fun-loving, passionate and inspired service providers who are highly professional and commited to optimize the joy and happiness of our guests'. With this kind of promise that they cannot live up to, they should re-evaluate and stop making the place sound so special and unique when it is not. I actually gave them a feedback of my dining experience there(yup, thats how disappointed i was, I have never bothered to do so in my entire life), and to this date, I still have not heard anything from them.
With prices that are above average, with small servings, bad service and limited menu, I'd rather take my business somewhere else. Awesome dining experience? You decide.
posted by TreSSa at 8:41 PM
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