Monday, October 22, 2012

Spices of Penang: lousy food, poor service.


Gosh, this is a place where Penangites will stone the owner and burn down this premise. Since the lousy experience in MyDream and River Nile, I couldn't recall when was the last occasion I stepped a food point till this level. Spices of Penang is a corner shop on the same road with Hokkaido Japanese Cuisine and the newly opened Shin Chan Ramen. Okay, to kick start things, Spices of Penang is pork free. That means Penang Lobak is out from the list, authentic curry noodles with coagulated pig blood cubes is also out and not to mention prawn noodles with pork slices. Okay, flipping through the menu, I was not impressed at all.

 Firstly, who in the world would include Tom Yam as a Penang specialty. But seriously, I do not know what else to pick from the menu. I saw the next table ordering it and it was served in a stainless steel pot. But when it arrived, I could barely see any ingredients in the soup!! 2 pathetic looking slices of fried fish, a few rings of squid.... and I could barely see any tomatoes and mushroom. Tastewise, its prepared from Tom Yam paste as I could not see any hint of lemongrass or daun limau purut or any other spices. RM7.90, so much for "spice" of Penang huh?

This is some grilled fish with nasi kunyit. The rice is just artificially coloured yellow without any fragrance of kunyit. The fish used is dory and it was fried rather than grilled. The black sauce taste like rojak sauce. A weird combination, the bowl of curry did not do any saving grace either. Okay, I wasted another RM11.90. Sometimes I wonder, do this people really taste what they cook before jumping into business? Or their taste buds are dead?

The Nasi Lemak Ayam Goreng (RM6.90) is another epic failure. The santan cooked rice is bland and have a artificial aftertaste. Its clear-cut that instant coconut milk powder is used to cook the rice. The fried chicken is........ HOPELESS! Its lukewarm when arrived. Ok, the skin might be slightly warm but the meat is cold. Another clear cut it was microwave reheated? The meat is dry and tasteless. What happened to some basic marinade? I think even the Tesco Supermarket Nasi Lemak taste better? Ptuiiii...!!!

This is another joke of the century. Have you tasted Nasi Goreng Kampung WITHOUT ikan bilis, green chillies and belacan? You might as well call it NASI GORENG KANGKUNG la! Seriously, this is like normal nasi goreng kosong. Priced at RM5.90, go kill yourself! Bland, lacklustre, half hearted dish! I think the only think palatable was my Dragon Fruit drink.

Apparently this is a "chain/franchise". I wonder who is the idiot who started this "fast food Penang cuisine" out. A total disgrace and humiliation to Penang people. The service was sucky as well!! Its okay if you employ foreign workers but at least train them up! The 2 local Chinese waitress are busy playing their handphone behind the counter. Leaving the foreign workers waiters to blunder in serving food to the wrong table. They can even try to serve a plate of fried rice to a table next to mine whom just flipped open the menu. If you receive such critics, or rather CONDEMNATION in my blog, you are fated to fail in an ugly manner. Your road in F&B business in Ipoh will soon come to a dead-end. Very soon. Say... after Chinese New Year? My prediction and review are very justifiable and accurate. Look at MyDream and RiverNile now.... Spices of Penang, you have chosen the wrong town to con. Ipoh people are very particular with their food. Get lost of our beloved city, you are polluting a gastronomical heaven! Rawwrrrssss...

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