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2010-02-03
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I was quite ecstatic at first, hearing of Duke's Deli opening a new cafe eatery at i-Square, as I love the American style food. I regularly purchase lunch from their Central Store a fair bit, but that's been a review which was archived before it got to to see daylight. Upon re-confirmation from the Central store's staff that the flagship store has finally opened - I came here kinda hoping to experience just a bit more sophisticated stuff in my daily eating path! What erks me the most ini
What erks me the most initially is the way the i-Square Duke's Deli outlet is set up - its been compartmentalized into 4 sections: A coffee & Cake one, a Sandwich section, a Hot Sandwiches with Pizzas & Pastas section, then in the behind housed a slightly repetitive schemed 22" Pizza counter! Its almost an carbon copy of the Central Store except its bigger.
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"PHILLY CHEESE STEAK -"
It took me a while to work out whether I shall order their very simple (perhaps too simple, Te style) pasta offerings, or their signature burger which is the same as in Central store, or a Sandwich/Kaiser Roll or their Philly Cheese Steak. I settled for the latter because I like this Philadelphia styled beef sandwich on a crusty roll with thin sliced grilled beef, plus there are many outlets throughout America which serves this so I was kinda curious to their interpretation. Made from American Wagyu beef - this meat carried quite a lot of beefy but gamey flavour, perhaps a little off-putting for some people! The Cheddar cheese on top is what u would expect too, strong in flavour, double-thickly sliced, but a little bit artificial! (I actually like this fake style!)
The Hoagie roll was toasted really well, the green peppers and onion were also sauteed grilled well, albeit slightly too salty. The Wagyu beef was slightly too chewy to be frank but on the verge of being acceptable! The side-dish of what resembled something between a white coleslaw and a remoulade however, was very bitter and carried too much white pepper influence rather than being refreshing as it should. Improvements needed in both items.
"MUSHROOM PIZZA SLICE -"
Its a given that any non-fresh pizza slices to be reheated is not going to be too good, nevertheless such is life - sometimes, you need to order and eat something which isn't in its perfect form! This pizza slice was thin and nearly crispy, but retaining some tenacity in the dough, although ultimately a bit dry prob due to refrigeration and the need to be double-baked. There was a fair bit of herbal influence, I could pick out tarragon, oregano and rosemary, not sure about other things! Its not bad but not too good either.
"SAN PELLEGRINO LEMON DRINK -"
Pretty good as usual! They actually carry the famous Caffe Vergnano 1882 coffee here in this outlet - but I really couldn't fit another coffee in.
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OVERALL - Low '4'
To put it less emphatically, this cafe seemed a little under-performing with its very dinosaur aged menu items, its almost liked a souped-up Subway but double the price. The overall designed scheme lacked a bit of coherency as well. I feel that this shop is just about perfect for a light lunch, but for dinner its perhaps not really what customers want. It still needs some refining and re-shuffling before they get onto the right track, but otherwise, I can't foresee any immediate threats of it usurping its closest competition!
張貼
