80 % for the view 20% for the food
Repulse Bay has always been a nice area to chill during the weekend, and The Pulse has soon become a go-to spot whenever I want to get away from the city life. A weekend in May, I’ve decided to spend an afternoon with a couple of friends at TRi to relax, and also to celebrate our birthdays. As I’ve never been to Bali before, I was glad to hear from my friend that the ambience and interior has resemblance to the travel hot spot.
At first we were allocated to a regular table, despite the fact that we’ve arrived on time for the lily pod seat, but then after a while when there’s vacancy, we were able to switch.
The menu was quite straight forward, and we’ve picked short ribs and the beef as the main course. I expected the dishes to contain good amount of spices, however when I asked for choices or adaptations without the spices, the restaurant was not able to accommodate, neither were they for offering a decent price for a brunch without alcohol and cold juices. However, the environment was not bad, and our lily pod seats allowed us to have some privacy, as well as a glimpse of the beach.
The food was very simple and slightly fusion. The simple fruit salad was elevated by the fragrant of Thai green mango, but the coconut yogurt corn from a can was slightly disappointing. The sharing platter was average, all spicy, and the mixed bean with green peppers was not good, the balance of flavours was off and I couldn’t understand how some dishes could be worth for a relatively expensive brunch. The short rib which is their signature dish was fine, and the beef rendang was very average. In a city where South East Asian food is very accessible, I think this restaurant will need to amend the menu in order to sustain, and not just by leveraging the view and location. When the desserts were served, that’s the moment where the food finally impressed us, the ice-cream and sorbet trio was very interesting, the flavours were green mango, basil and soy sauce with chocolate. The choices are unique and were quite delicious.
As for the service, I do appreciate that it’s a relatively new restaurant and the staff needs time to practice the team work, as well as remembering the menu and the specials. But for a brunch like this at the Repulse Bay, inevitably customers will expect better service. After all, it’s always the combination of location, views, service and food when creating a dining experience.
All in all it was a very average and slightly disappointing restaurant experience. It will not be my choice of again when I go to The Pulse.
過一個寫意週末，淺水灣一向是一個不錯的地方，因此，The Pulse很快就成為每當我想遠離城市生活時所選擇的地方。五月一個週末，我決定和幾個朋友在TRi過一個輕鬆的下午，同時亦慶祝我們的生日。我從未去過巴里島，但很高興從朋友聽到餐廳的氣氛和設計都具有當地的特色。
起初，即使我們為蓮花座位準時到達，，我們卻被安排到一個普通的座位，但隨後當有空缺時我們都有被安排更換。餐牌相當簡單，我們選擇了排骨和牛肉作主菜。我預期菜式都會含有香料辣椒，但是當我問及更改或減小香料時，餐廳並無法安排，也未能為我提供了一個不含酒精和冷果汁早午餐的合理價格。然而，環境還不錯，我們的蓮花座位亦能讓我們有一些隱私，以及海灘的景觀。
食物感覺新派簡單。普通的水果沙拉用上泰國香青芒果味道有所提升，但是用罐裝產品製作的椰子乳酪粟米略微令人失望。小食盤的水平一般，所有都是辣的，青椒炒雜豆就甚差，味道平衡失當，不明白為何足以放於這個相對昂貴的早午餐。他們的招牌菜排骨不錯，牛肉咖哩就一般。在一個到處都有東南亞美食的城市，我覺得這家餐廳不可僅僅利用地理及環境優勢，需要修改菜式，以維持經營。上甜點時，才讓我們稍微有好的印象，雪糕三味很有趣，味道有青芒，羅勒和醬油與朱古力。選擇獨特，味道不錯。
至於服務，我好明白這是一個相對較新的餐廳，工作人員需要時間來練習團隊合作，以及記下菜式。但是，對於在淺水灣這樣的一個早午餐，客戶難免會期望更好的服務。畢竟，創造一個用餐體驗是地點，環境，服務和食物互相結合。
總而言之，這是一個非常一般，略為令人失望的經驗。我再次去The Pulse時不會再選擇這個地方。
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