Penang chabo who loves eating and writing about food. Everything food. Penang, KL, outside Malaysia; Snacks, road side stalls, chain restaurants, fine dining, desserts, home cooking, and bla bla bla bla bla...but still, Penang food ROCKS anytime!
September 13, 2010
Cassis @ Bellisa Row
It's time to share DC and my encounter at Cassis last month... It had been a while since we last met and I was under a lot of stress from work hence we decided to pig out! I was the one who suggested Cassis since it's new and I was aware that it's a fine dining establishment of some sorts and pretty pricey. But I must say that nothing prepared me for what's coming....
As DC already reached and got herself seated within Cassis, so die die we also had to have our lunch there lah! Both of us had to park at the car park behind Bellisa Row since there were none in front.
We were handed a menu which consisted of nothing but 2 sheets of paper - one on the left and one on the right. Left page contains all the appetizer choices while right details the main choices. There were no other options available during lunch time Except for their set lunch menu (which was the one we're holding)
The price for set lunch? RM 50++
There were 3 choices of appetizers available:-
1. Pea Soup
2. something I couldn't recall except the fact that we had to pay additional RM 18++ or so to order and
3. Salmon Salad
There were also 3 choices of appetizers available:-
1. Fish (not sure if it was Red Snapper)
2. Steak
a) Rib Eye (additional charge of RM 50++)
b) Wagyu Beef (additional charge of RM 65++)
3. Chicken Breast (yeah that was exactly how they phrased it)
I couldn't really recall their menu as I didn't have a chance to take a picture of it since the waiter kept prompting for us to order and collected them back right after.
There were also coffee or tea and a dessert as part of the set lunch. In all, we ordered a pea soup, a salmon salad for our appetizers and a chicken and a fish for our mains.
Complimentary bread
This was hard on the outside but I like the standard olive oil/vinegar dip
Appetizer - Salmon Salad
Note the portion of the salad in comparison with the hugeness of the bowl. This was very mediocre - even the greens were not as fresh as the ones I got off the packets from Cold Storage. There were no dressing whatsoever except for hints of salt. Smoked salmon was just standard.
Appetizer - Pea Soup
Again - Note the portion of the soup in comparison to the hugeness of the plate/bowl. There were 2 miniature slices of unagi and 1 miniature half prawn contained within. But I must say that the pea soup did not taste like one and it is pretty flavorful as if we were having laksa soup. We liked this one.
Main course - Fish
The presentation of this dish was amazingly tempting and it was a piece of art indeed. We were pretty excited to try this out but was immediately potong stim upon tasting the fish as it had an over-powering fish smell to it. This was just unacceptable for a fine dining restaurant. The greens were alright when coupled with the sauce.
Main course - Chicken Breast
This was another dish with a tempting outlook and a hollow taste. Huge disappointment. Chicken breast was merely grilled and I couldn't tell any specialty in it. Another negative was the chicken smell that DC commented - 'keh hean' in Hokkien. Nothing spectacular at all - it tastes as plain as its name - Chicken Breast.
Both of us opted for Coffee.
Our Swiss Coffee
Coffee was a delight - very aromatic indeed. I'm not a huge fan of coffee but DC is and she said it's not bad - since it's from Swiss :P
Dessert - Creme Brulee
This was very bland and nothing to shout about. it looks tasty with the caramelized sugar coating and all but it tasted just like cream pudding instead of creme brulee. It was very light and runny in texture.
As we were wondering how a fine dining establishment can churn out such quality of food; I overheard the enquiry from a man seated at the table next to us:-
Man : Is this Wagyu beef?
Captain : Yes it is
Man : But it tastes just like normal steak!
Captain : explaining....
So there you go - seems that we weren't the only ones questioning the price of the dining as opposed to the quality of food here.
Another point to note was the bad service for such a fine dining establishment as such. We were served half a glass of sky juice upon arrival and there were no refills whatsoever until we prompted them when our glasses almost hit the bottom.
There was no introduction as to what was being served for the dessert - we just assumed it to be creme brulee.
There was a strong sense of double standard as the level of attentiveness and service to other customers were way beyond what was delivered to us. I could someone of higher authority attending to other tables and there was one table who even had the chef coming out to attend to their order.
They brought over the bill without being prompted - a sign of shooing their customers away for sure.
In all, we would never make another visit for sure. And I felt so bad to DC for suggesting this place (I feel just as bad for myself!)
p/s: And we had to fork out another RM 11.50 just for our parking after the RM 58 per person damage at the restaurant!
OUTRAGEOUS
Labels:
Bellisa Row,
Cassis,
fine dining
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The chef is supposed to have an international background experience and boast of working in Aqua in America. This should not be the case.
ReplyDeleteThere are many grades of Wangyu, which grade are they using? And for freshness, it would also depend on the speed and movement of stock and customer flow.
Quality of food and service is a big determinant in a F&B business.
Great pix & thanks for the info, i will have 2nd thots on this place then.
ReplyDeleteJason : That's very interesting. Apart from the food presentation; it wasn't quite international taste-wise. I'm not familiar with the various Wagyu grades but if that is the price that they're charging I would assume they are of decent grades.
ReplyDelete: ) : Thanks! I was giving my 'best shots' using my iphone as it was a casual lunch with my good friend hence I didn't have my camera with me
over priced and over rated for sure
ReplyDelete