Don’t shoot me…

I’ve mentioned it time and time again that all opinions expressed in this blog of mine are entirely my own – what I like, you may not, what I feel is expensive or cheap, you may think otherwise…so if you do not agree with me, do feel free to say so and like I’ve always said too, it is not so much what you say but how you say it.

There are more ways than one to say the same thing. I think this is from a book on communicative English by a guy named Littlewood. The example given is: Why don’t you close the door? Depending on how you say it, that may come across as a suggestion, a reprimand, a ridicule…and if you are sitting on the bed and you let your hair down and you say that to me seductively, you know jolly well that it is none of the aforementioned. LOL!!!

So if you come and tell me that I always blog about this place and praise it to the skies but the things there are so expensive, depending on how you say it, it may come across like you are not too happy with what I have written, just to put it mildly.

Well, for one thing I would always specify the prices (unless somebody else is picking up the tab and I do not have the information I require) so you can see and judge for yourself and don’t shoot me if you do not read everything I write in my posts. If you think it is expensive, then it is your prerogative not to go to such and such a place and no, don’t shoot me if you still choose to do so despite your opinion that it is expensive…but no, I would agree to a certain extent that it may not be all that cheap though I did mention once that it may relatively be the same as or perhaps even cheaper than many places elsewhere but that would depend entirely on what and how much you order.

For a start, let’s say that you pick this Bangladeshi lamb curry…

…which is a whopping RM19.00 with one rice…and if you ask for another plate of rice, that will be an additional RM2.00 – RM21.00 now. There is meat in the dish with potatoes, enough for two and with the rice, that is a complete meal by itself. For an upscale cafe, I would say that is not expensive unless you want to compare it with prices at a no-class-at-all coffee shop or hawker stall.

Ok, you feel that is not enough, so perhaps you would want the pomelo salad (RM8.00)…

…or the Payung rojak, small (RM10.00) to go with it and maybe, you would want a mushroom roll (RM8.00) as well…

…that would bring the total to RM37.00 or RM39 if you are having the rojak. All that, I would say, is just nice for three so you may have to share the two plates of rice or order another plate, RM41.00.

It may be less that that if you go for the chicken dishes instead of the lamb like the green curry…

…or the kacang ma…

…or perhaps you can opt for the fish…

…or the otak otak…

…which are all very much cheaper.

Of course, if you get carried away and order everything, all at one go, and you just can’t resist the lovely desserts here, then don’t blame me if the bill goes sky high. For one thing, we always ask for iced water…and we get special treatment there and it is on the house, so we get it free. Three of you would mean an additional RM3.00 for 3 glasses…but I do know of places where they charge the same or even RM2.00 for a glass, mind you! Still, most of the time, I would spend more or less the amount I would fork out eating here or here…and definitely not as much as here or here but even at those places, it may depend on what you order and how much.

And while we are on the subject of places that I often blog about, I would like to state here in no uncertain terms that if you plan on dropping by here, perhaps it would be a good idea to go on any other day other than Sunday, but of course, it is closed on Tuesdays.

We stopped by two Sundays ago after the morning service in church and it was packed so we had to leave and go elsewhere. Last Sunday, we tried again and we did manage to grab a table…but I was quite put off by the guy who went around taking orders and did not bother to come to our table (which was on the pavement outside by the extreme side) no matter how frantically I waved…even when he was standing there looking quite lost. I had to get the boss’ wife’s attention to our predicament before she sent him our way.

As it seemed, they did not have the staff to cope with the crowd on Sundays so the whole family was set loose to run the show. Even the nice lady who would wait at the tables was roped in to go into the kitchen to help out there when usually, the guy would do most of everything himself and she would go and help out sometimes with whatever she can do.

Then the food came. My missus had fried kway teow…

…but it looked so little, like only two-thirds of the above serving that we would usually get. What I know is the guy actually weighs the amount of noodles for each plate so it should be exactly the same – I was quite sure that I saw a lot more in some of the plates going to the other tables and I remember when he was still employed at his previous station, we did encounter the problem of a lot one day…and very little on another day.

When my nasi lemak with masak hitam beef came, I think there was just about a spoonful of the meat, definitely not as much as what I would usually have in the past, not even half of this…

…and we waited and waited for my girl’s nasi lemak with beef curry but it never came. My patience was wearing thin and I was about to explode…but my girl kept frowning and frowning – she never likes me making a scene in public so I just asked them nicely and told them to hurry up – we were going to leave right away to send my girl back to her school in the jungle.

Looking at how things would be like there on Sundays, you can jolly well guess that I would never go there again, not today nor any other Sunday from now on…and if you choose to do so and have the same not-so-pleasant experience, don’t shoot me and don’t say that I did not warn you!

Incidentally, the kopi-o-peng (iced black coffee) I had that morning was like plain water with a very very slight hint of coffee in it – it was so so so horrible, the worst I have ever had!!! I asked when I was paying the bill and was told that they had a new guy there making the drinks. Well, if that is the kind of coffee that he is capable of making, I’d just have plain water next time…or I’d wait till I get home before having a drink. Sometimes, these things can really spoil one’s day! Tsk! Tsk!