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2015-12-25
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Having dined here once in the past year, our family of 3 was looking forward to a Christmas evening treat. We arrived on time for our reservation, the first table in the restaurant.Immediately upon being seated, the lights were dimmed down to the point where it required the use of a flashlight app to read the menu. We all opted for the set menu, at an additional $45 to the listed price. This includes salad, soup, bread rolls and a drink.My daughter ordered the 8 ounce filet, a pork chop crusted
Immediately upon being seated, the lights were dimmed down to the point where it required the use of a flashlight app to read the menu.
We all opted for the set menu, at an additional $45 to the listed price.
This includes salad, soup, bread rolls and a drink.
My daughter ordered the 8 ounce filet, a pork chop crusted with nuts for my wife, while I looked forward to an 18 ounce T-bone.
A paltry bowl of tepid iceberg lettuce, a solitary cherry tomato and some shavings of onion, topped with the finest dressing to ever come off a supermarket shelf, was presented as salad.
The second course of a watery, vaguely mushroom flavored gruel arrived to little fanfare. Salt, pepper and butter from the rolls did little to improve the flavor.
The generic bread rolls were no doubt the product of someone painstakingly opening a bag of frozen dough and popping bits into the oven. Pasty, bland and gummy in the center.
The 8 ounce filet arrived first, and was thankfully, cooked to specification. The meat was carefully balanced upon a puck of potato-like food product, surrounded by watery, over-cooked vegetables. No danger of those veggies ever falling through the grille!
The flavor of the meat was acceptable, however the vast expanses of ropy gristle throughout the cut did not resemble center-cut filet as it's traditionally known.
Some 15 minutes later, my wife's pork chop arrived, similarly presented, while being adorned with a crust of nuts which had almost been cooked crisp. The meat was well-prepared, not cooked to death, with enough juice present to avoid having to sip water between bites.
Some 15 minutes after the girls had finished their plates, we inquired as to the ETA for my steak. I've never know it to take the better part of an hour to cook a T-bone rare.
The waiter began immediately to make excuses, blaming the kitchen for not yet having thawed the steak. (thaw?????)
He then proceeded to tell me (for the first time) that he had informed me at the time of ordering, that it would take up to 45 minutes for the meal to arrive. Right. Forget to learn the menu, blame the kitchen staff, and lie to the customer.
The long-awaited plate finally landed on the table, looking far more like a rib steak than any T-bone I've ever seen. No meat at all on the tenderloin side.
With the supplied blunt cutting utensil, I sliced into an utterly bland, freezer-burnt bit of animal protein which may, at some point in its existence, belonged to a decrepit draft animal. It took only two small slices before I asked to speak with the manager.
I now understand the origin of the training for the wait staff. The manager abruptly informed me that what I was tasting, was, in fact, the flavor of a properly grilled steak. I politely disagreed, upon which the manager turned and left. No offer to replace the dish, no communication beyond her calling into question my sense of taste. Utterly humbling.
I was raised in a family with a renowned master-butcher as a grandfather. We learned from a very early age, how to appreciate and recognize the differences between grades, cuts and country of origin. Beef, pork, poultry and wild game were all slaughtered, hung, butchered and sold to a city full of satisfied customers.
What the Lam Tei Grill serves should never be mistaken for quality food, prepared with care and presented with pride. The chaan-teng next door takes more pride in their food and places greater value on customer satisfaction.
I left sad, disappointed, hungry and a fair bit out-of-pocket. I will not return to this converted village-house, nor will I miss the crowded urinal which passes for a lavatory.
In the event that I yearn for indifferent service and overpriced freezer meats, I need look no further than 7-11.
Other Info. :
I'd nearly forgotten what indifferent, borderline hostile restaurant experiences were like. Thanks to the Lam Tei Grill for reminding me how bad a restaurant can be, when it's run out of someone's rent-free basement.
(The above review is the personal opinion of a user which does not represent OpenRice's point of view.)
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