Candy Floss Dreamz

Chatterbox

While couples usually spend around $6-8 at food court for local food during their dates, me and jiang actually paid $48.35 for our dinner which consists of a plate of chicken rice that costs $20.50 and nasi lemak that costs $21, excluding gst and service charge. No, it wasnt a typo, and you didnt read wrongly, our dishes really cost twenty over dollars each!

Where else do you find such expensive local fare except at Chatterbox?I was skeptical about the quality of food here to deserve costing so much, and we only came because we wanted to see for ourselves if it is indeed that worthy of its reputation. Guess what, our conclusion is that it is not worth it! The rice was fragrant, chilli was spicy enough, the sauces were good, but the soup was bland and most importantly, the chicken was tough. Otherwise, it would justify its reputation better. Some of those hawker centres around definitely sell chicken rice that are on par, or in fact, better than the chicken rice here at just a fraction of its price (like my favorite Far East Chicken Rice which is no longer there *boo hoo*). And most certainly, my grandma's authentic hainanese chicken rice is so much better than this (my dad for one, never eat chicken rice from outside because he believes that grandma's chicken rice is the BEST, and damn, he's right)!
And the nasi lemak! The chilli was good, the rice was superb, but i have a BIG problem with it. WHERE IS THE FISH!?!?!?!
I dont know about others, but to me at least, the fish is the most important part of nasi lemak without which, it simply doesnt taste the same. Not having the fish is an unforgivable modification of the traditional nasi lemak to me. (oh, and Jiang thought that the arrangement of the food looks like an altar :X)I love food and i dont mind paying high prices for quality food, as long as they are yummy enough to deserve it. Unfortunately, the food here certainly doesnt warrant the price. Oh yar, they even had flies flying around the restaurant to give diners a more realistic local experience, how thoughtful of them *roll eyes*

Me and Jiang agreed that the food here is worth at most 10 bucks each. We wanted to try desserts at first, but we were glad we didnt after tasting the main course. Imagine paying $9 for tau suan, $12 for coconut ice cream and $10 for ice-kachang!

I know i may be too critical over here, but hey, i have the right to have such high expectations for local food that costs so much right! To be fair, the food here is definitely better than most that we find outside, but certainly not value-for-money. I much rather spend that money somewhere else.

I heard that the chef has left meritus mandarin and set up his own stall at Downtown East. Maybe i shall make a trip there when im free.

Labels: the boyfriend, wine and dine

posted by dreamz @ 9:49 PM