I've always wanted to keep my reviews short, but in the end, I end up writing much more than I desired. I'm not sure whether you like the reviews so far? Too long? Too short? Let me know how it is.
For now, I promise to keep this review short...
Anyway, whilst my brother and I were in Malaysia, we wondered about lunch, and was having trouble deciding between Chicken Rice Balls or a simple fare at a cafe. We were wandering about Dataran Pahlawan mall and we didn't want to backstep all the way to Jonker for the Balls, so he decided on Secret Recipe for a simple lunch.
We stepped into the restaurant in Dataran Pahlawan, just facing Hotel Equatorial. It wasn't crowded and there were many empty tables. Being usual polite Singaporeans, we stood at the host's stand, waiting for someone to seat us.
However, after standing idly for a minute, it looks like no one is going to come and greet us. That's when I decided to just grab a seat ourselves at a table we liked. Strangely, a waiter immediately popped out and came to greet us, handing us the menus.
Remember my Nancy's Kitchen review? Apparently that seems to be the restaurant seating system in Melaka -> when the place is not crowded, please go and seat yourself.. unless it's crowded, the waiters aren't going to shuffle the customers around for your seat.
The lunch special weren't that exciting. I wasn't in the mood for anything vegetarian, so A was out.
Singapore laksa! I must be crazy to choose that. Why would I have the urge for Singapore laksa in Melaka? And what's Singapore laksa anyway? I've heard of Nonya laksa and Assam laksa - which is pretty good in Melaka, anyone who chooses to try that must be out of his mind.
And C was out because I didn't want to try anything deep-fried - too heavy tasting!
In the end, my brother went for black-pepper steak, while I opted for something soupy - Vietnamese beef noodles.
Any thoughts about the black pepper steak?
The presentation is horrible! As much as we love gravy, the chef gave us WAY too much. The chef practically drenched the whole meal with the black pepper sauce. Anyone in his right mind will know that soggy fries taste horrible. Why would you cover everything in black pepper sauce and think it would be nice??
Similarly, why would you drench your salad with black pepper sauce as well? Black-pepper dressing? I was really turned off by how the steak was presented... however, my brother thought the steak was ok though, but he was never a connoisseur to begin with.
Ok... so my noodles looked better. Actually, it's not bad. The green chilli sauce was spicy enough, and went well with the beef balls. For once, the beef balls were actually good, having a beefy flavour and chewy texture. Unfortunately, the beef meat itself was too chewy and overcooked. The Vietnam glass noodles was also over chewy, as though it was undercooked, or was defrosted too quickly and cooked too long. Though the soup was flavourful, it tasted like it came from a powdered mixture, and was not thoroughly stewed from beef stock.
After the meal, my brother wanted some cake. The cakes from Secret Recipe Malaysia were really cheap, costing the same numerically in MYR as in SGD - a cake in Singapore costs about SGD5, and in Melaka MYR5! However, I vetoed him and said I wanted Nadeje Mille Crepe instead, as we could only eat it in Melaka, We could easily eat Secret Recipe in KL. He bought that argument and we left Secret Recipe for Nadeje.
While settling the bill, I was outraged to learnt that they had charged us MYR0.50 for the ice water! This is the first time I have been charged for water in Malaysia, and I was pissed! Water isn't that expensive in Malaysia. Besides, we had our main courses and they weren't cheap to being with. Surely a glass of ice water could be complimentary.
Is Secret Recipe a Singapore company? If so, I'm disgusted that Singapore companies are bringing Singaporean mercenary practices over to Malaysia! For goodness sake, the canteen in Klebang charges based on honor system! And yet, you are charging for plain water! And for MYR0.50! I was truly disgusted... even Nadeje offers complimentary bottled water...
FYI, my brother's steak was about MYR20, and my Vietnamese noodles was about MYR15.
Verdict:
So what do you think I would rate this experience? lol
NAY! We made a wrong decision to visit the cafe for main courses. It didn't look too expensive, and as a established brand and at that price, we had expected some quality. Unfortunately, the service was less than enthusiastic and the food was poorly prepared. Imagine your steak drenched in black pepper sauce, including the fries, garnishes and salad! The effort to standardise the taste of the beef noodles made it too artificial tasting. The beef balls were nice since they were made from a central kitchen, but the noodles and beef were under/overcooked.
I'll be fair however, The cakes look good and I would assume also taste good, since it is baked from a central kitchen, not prepared by the chef in the hot kitchen. Secret Recipe is popular in Singapore because of the cakes; I have tried the same cakes in KL and enjoyed it.
In conclusion, come to Secret Recipe for the cakes, but not for anything else!
For now, I promise to keep this review short...
Anyway, whilst my brother and I were in Malaysia, we wondered about lunch, and was having trouble deciding between Chicken Rice Balls or a simple fare at a cafe. We were wandering about Dataran Pahlawan mall and we didn't want to backstep all the way to Jonker for the Balls, so he decided on Secret Recipe for a simple lunch.
We stepped into the restaurant in Dataran Pahlawan, just facing Hotel Equatorial. It wasn't crowded and there were many empty tables. Being usual polite Singaporeans, we stood at the host's stand, waiting for someone to seat us.
However, after standing idly for a minute, it looks like no one is going to come and greet us. That's when I decided to just grab a seat ourselves at a table we liked. Strangely, a waiter immediately popped out and came to greet us, handing us the menus.
Remember my Nancy's Kitchen review? Apparently that seems to be the restaurant seating system in Melaka -> when the place is not crowded, please go and seat yourself.. unless it's crowded, the waiters aren't going to shuffle the customers around for your seat.
The lunch special weren't that exciting. I wasn't in the mood for anything vegetarian, so A was out.
Singapore laksa! I must be crazy to choose that. Why would I have the urge for Singapore laksa in Melaka? And what's Singapore laksa anyway? I've heard of Nonya laksa and Assam laksa - which is pretty good in Melaka, anyone who chooses to try that must be out of his mind.
And C was out because I didn't want to try anything deep-fried - too heavy tasting!
In the end, my brother went for black-pepper steak, while I opted for something soupy - Vietnamese beef noodles.
Any thoughts about the black pepper steak?
The presentation is horrible! As much as we love gravy, the chef gave us WAY too much. The chef practically drenched the whole meal with the black pepper sauce. Anyone in his right mind will know that soggy fries taste horrible. Why would you cover everything in black pepper sauce and think it would be nice??
Similarly, why would you drench your salad with black pepper sauce as well? Black-pepper dressing? I was really turned off by how the steak was presented... however, my brother thought the steak was ok though, but he was never a connoisseur to begin with.
Ok... so my noodles looked better. Actually, it's not bad. The green chilli sauce was spicy enough, and went well with the beef balls. For once, the beef balls were actually good, having a beefy flavour and chewy texture. Unfortunately, the beef meat itself was too chewy and overcooked. The Vietnam glass noodles was also over chewy, as though it was undercooked, or was defrosted too quickly and cooked too long. Though the soup was flavourful, it tasted like it came from a powdered mixture, and was not thoroughly stewed from beef stock.
After the meal, my brother wanted some cake. The cakes from Secret Recipe Malaysia were really cheap, costing the same numerically in MYR as in SGD - a cake in Singapore costs about SGD5, and in Melaka MYR5! However, I vetoed him and said I wanted Nadeje Mille Crepe instead, as we could only eat it in Melaka, We could easily eat Secret Recipe in KL. He bought that argument and we left Secret Recipe for Nadeje.
While settling the bill, I was outraged to learnt that they had charged us MYR0.50 for the ice water! This is the first time I have been charged for water in Malaysia, and I was pissed! Water isn't that expensive in Malaysia. Besides, we had our main courses and they weren't cheap to being with. Surely a glass of ice water could be complimentary.
Is Secret Recipe a Singapore company? If so, I'm disgusted that Singapore companies are bringing Singaporean mercenary practices over to Malaysia! For goodness sake, the canteen in Klebang charges based on honor system! And yet, you are charging for plain water! And for MYR0.50! I was truly disgusted... even Nadeje offers complimentary bottled water...
FYI, my brother's steak was about MYR20, and my Vietnamese noodles was about MYR15.
Verdict:
So what do you think I would rate this experience? lol
NAY! We made a wrong decision to visit the cafe for main courses. It didn't look too expensive, and as a established brand and at that price, we had expected some quality. Unfortunately, the service was less than enthusiastic and the food was poorly prepared. Imagine your steak drenched in black pepper sauce, including the fries, garnishes and salad! The effort to standardise the taste of the beef noodles made it too artificial tasting. The beef balls were nice since they were made from a central kitchen, but the noodles and beef were under/overcooked.
I'll be fair however, The cakes look good and I would assume also taste good, since it is baked from a central kitchen, not prepared by the chef in the hot kitchen. Secret Recipe is popular in Singapore because of the cakes; I have tried the same cakes in KL and enjoyed it.
In conclusion, come to Secret Recipe for the cakes, but not for anything else!
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