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2013-09-09
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I picked this place for a business lunch. It has been over a year since I last visited this restaurant (btw, the food wasn't great back then) and this time, I heard that they had recruited a new chef, so I decided to give it a second chance. As suggestd by my headline, it is an equally (if not more) disappointing experience to dine in Tosca this time.The menu was overwhelmed with cheese on almost every single dish from appetizer to dessert. I understand and respect the fact that this is an Itali
As suggestd by my headline, it is an equally (if not more) disappointing experience to dine in Tosca this time.
The menu was overwhelmed with cheese on almost every single dish from appetizer to dessert. I understand and respect the fact that this is an Italian restaurant. But being in an Asian country, I think they should also at least beware of the fact that many local people are lactose intolerant and/or dislike cheese. So introducing strong flavored cheeses like brie, goat cheese, etc is not a good idea. For a $400+ two-course meal, I was hoping that I could have a wider selection other than just pasta, pasta and pasta. The only non-pasta dish I found was veal (which I didn't like, given I felt bad for the baby cows being raised in a cramped up space so that they could minimize activities to keep the meat tender and creamy) and tuna.
The food was mediocre. I ordered the Octopus salad and all I got was 3 pieces of 1.5 inch long octopus limbs served on a sparing portion of salad without dressing (around 10 pieces of tiny mixed greens). By the time when I got my main dish of tuna, even though I had been warned that it would be served rare on the inside, I still couldn't help but to be awed and associate the look and feel of the tuna dish with cat food. The tuna tasted bland (if I could taste anything at all). When I got to the dessert, my expectation on the food quality was already at record low that I barely expected anything nice. It turned out I was right. The tiramisu tasted just like any other tiramisu you would get from the low to mid priced franchised cakeshops.
The service was a complete disaster. The waiter whom had served us bread came to our table at least 5 times (yes, even after we were already done with our appetizer and about to start working on our main dish). The bread did not even look that appetizing. By the second time that he came to our table, we all declined getting more bread. For a 5 star hotel, I would expect the waiters to at least have the common sense of knowing when NOT to interrupt my conversation with the client by asking me whether I wanted to add on more of his dull looking bread. I don't think it should take 3 repeated declines to give him a clear signal that we DID NOT WANT HIS BREAD and we wanted to be left alone to talk.
But what really ticked me off was when my client asked for coffee, the waiter served him with only half a cup of coffee. My client already asked them not to add any cream or sugar and he could take more coffee as is. The waiter then came and filled the coffee--with HOT WATER!!!??? By that time, I couldn't help but to look at that waiter and give him a "what's wrong with you" expression on my face. Look, for a five star hotel, I would think they shouldn't be this cheap about adding more coffee. But I could only say Ritz would never fail to amaze me with their lack of professionalism and unjustified price tags on dining.
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