May I serve you some rubber rings?
Yes, that was precisely the texture of the stuffed squid we were served.
Over the long Raya holidays, I grabbed the opportunity to catch up with friends over food. The choice of food outlets were obvious; places that serves pork had always ranked highly on my list and any that serves pork burgers will have my dedicated attention.
Im such a burger addict that I attempt to eat as many burgers (pork burgers preferably) as I could. Its a personal obsession really; I love bread, I love meat, so burgers to me are just perfect.
If theres a pork burger in town that you think I havent tried, drop me a note and I will make time to visit, even if somemaneuvering aroundmy challenging schedule is required! 
The Elk at Solaris Mt Kiara is a convenient location. As soon as I was back from Hat Yai, I gathered a group of fellow foodies and headed there with high anticipation.
I knew what I wanted. The moment we sat down I ordered the Extreme Pork Burger immediately, without as much as a glance to the menu. All 4 of us are there for the pork burger, and additional orders were frankly, mere add-ons.
My standard orders for my burgers are No butter on the bum, no mayo, no fries. Say whatever you want, but to me a good burger doesnt need mayonnaise as a succulent patty would have imparted thenecessaryflavours. And a good bundoesntneed butter/margarine, the whole ensemble of the bread with vegetables and a juicy patty would have sufficed.
However, I dont hold it against anyone who likes their burgers otherwise. But if its my burger, then such would be my request, of which Im certain that it wouldnt affect the taste of the original burger drastically.
My burger came with a chockful of fries, much to my dismay. But thats fine, the other 3 fellas does eat fries. Then someone at the table commented that the fries were hard andsurprised, I took one to try. Alright, if you are going to mess up my order, could you at least serve me crisp, fluffy-on-the-inside fries? Thankfully the butter was missing. We added an order of runny egg, which didntcomeat all runny.
**The yolk didnt flow. 
Maybe my order was confusing, since I requested for so many changes.
I could go on, but that would seem that Im such a fusspot (of which I am) and whiny customer. Thus, to be fair, let me include mydining companions comments as well.
! Extreme Pork Burger.
KC:The burger patty was nice but the rest of the accompaniments were unsatisfactoryas a resultthere is a definite lack of awow factorhad better at A Minor Place.
Damien: Almost there. patty was good, but the accompanying condiments had a lot to live up to.
Kevin: Un-memorable. Aghast that a decent patty was smothered in sauce, in a way drowned in redundant condiment. Good burger doesnt need sauce. The ham was tough.
Me: Way too much sauce and a rubbery ham spoiled an otherwise decent burger.The saving grace was the patty itself, which I must say was fair in texture. It was moist enough andsubstantiallyseasoned. However, it felt just short of juicy.
Squid Ink Pasta with Marinara Sauce.
KC:The pasta was not done al-dente and the marinara sauce needs improvement.
Damien:Pasta were a bit thick while the sauce was the complete opposite. Seafood only needs a fl! ash in t he pan, which we hope is now what this restaurant may end up as.
Kevin:Adding sugar into tomato based sauce are for noobs. Texture of pasta was abit past al dente.Im fine with a bit of excess liquid, but it tasted like canned sauce. On a whole it was tasteless except that it was really sweet, which brings me to my point sugar was presumably added.
Me: I wont comment much on the texture; after all its homemade so perhaps thats the way its supposed to be.I know when to set my expectations at the minimum when the situation calls for it. However, even with such given leeway, the pasta was almost mushy and the marinara sauce tasted past its prime.
For a tomato based pasta sauce, it lacked the intense,acidic -vinegarytomato flavour. Thus we were all baffled why it wasso sweet! We deduced that there might have been a copious amount of sugar added while the sauce was made.
And the seafood. Oh the poor shellfish that died in vain!We got rubber rings for squids, leathery prawns andchewy mussels.
Stuffed Squid.
KC: The squid was slightly rubbery with a stuffing that was ok only.
Damien: If it were a concert, it would be more rock than roll. A tough act to swallow.
Kevin:Rubbery,bland, tough, dried out,tasteless dry squid. If I wanted to chew on something tough, probably dog chew toys are a better prospect than this.
Me: Dry minced pork stuffing with the the chewiest squid I have ever had. The chef must be having one hell of a bad day or he needs retraining in seafood cooking. Ill like to think that its the former.
Below: The rather offensive squid. The more you chew, the higher your blood rise.
Bacon and Spinach Quiche.
KC:The saving grace was the quiche. Crisp on the outside and super-warm and moist on the inside.
Damien: Thank god for the cheesiness that saved the day, just the right amount of spinach and egg. Phew.
Kevin: This quiche was like the only thing that was made right.
Me:Oh this was good! Not too buttery, rather eggy and thick, the mix of spinach in it wasgenerous and the amount of cheese was perfect. The pastry was thin and crispy too.It was well worth the RM12 paid!
KCs Spicy Lychee Cooler thats got a bit of kick at the endnice! (his comment). Also, nice bottle for free still spring water.
Note: This meal as shared with 3 other foodies whose opinions were of similar conclusion to mine. In a nutshell, all 4 of us found the meal to be sorely disappointing and we certainly wont be re-visiting anytime soon. As Damien noted, Owners have their hearts in the right place, now they only need to get their food to match.
Total Bill: RM88.00 (no taxes).
The Elk
Jalan Solaris 4,
Solaris Mont Kiara.
No comments:
Post a Comment