Bipolar Journalling:
/ Once upon a song / Death Becomes Her / Boy: "You said after I went to the hospital, you'd... / I made soup! / UGH. / Educational Charity / Desperate Anatomy / Cleaning out my desktop / What I did during my September Holidays. /
:: Sunday, March 30, 2008 ::
I ai'nt dead
Al Dente Trattoria @ EsplanadeA trattoria is an Italian style of restaurant, less formal than a ristorante. There are generally no printed menus, the service is casual, the prices low, and the emphasis is on a steady flamethrower clientèle rather than on haute cuisine. The food is modest but plentiful and is served family-style (i.e. at common tables).
That's the definition I pulled off wikipedia. Let's see - Al Dente Trattoria had printed menus, their service staff were more well-dressed than me, prices were most definitely not low, and the cuisine did seem rather "haute" to me. In appearance, at least.
So, already, this establishment has failed to live up to its name. What else could go wrong?
We entered the Al Dente Trattoria hoping to have a repeat of the delightful experience we had during our previous jaunt to the Esplanade. Unfortunately, this was not to be.
We were ushered to our seats by their well-dressed staff. Despite the rather warm evening, it seemed like a good start to the meal. The bread basket was a nice touch, especially since it came with a delightful pumpkin dip. Then, things started going downhill.
We'd been seated for quite a while, but none of the staff seemed to want to take our order. I finally caught the eye of a waiter, who nodded at me, but to my greatest surprise, he stopped instead at a neighbouring table whose occupants had arrived later (though by not much) than us. Thankfully, we were soon waited on by another of the wait staff. We ordered a starter, a Spaghetti Carbonara, and another pasta with mushrooms.
We polished off the bread quickly Then we waited. And waited. And waited... The table beside us had already received their starter - calamari. We waited some more. We watched them eat.
Another member of the wait staff apologized for not giving us a bread basket earlier. We informed him that we had already had it. He looked rather confused at this information and as I later told Lyndon, he looked rather new and "blur". In fact, most of the staff looked rather inexperienced. And what made the dining experience even more unpleasant was the inability of any of the staff to smile...
Anyway, we waited some more. The table next to us received their main course. Outrageous! Fortunately, our starter arrived in time to placate our burgeoning irritation.
It was... rather insubstantial. A serving of a few slices of parma ham, rocket salad served on rock melon slices, and 4 dollops of a rather tasteless and chewy kind of cheese prompted me to comment that the antipasti platter at La Cantina was far better. Nonetheless, we gave it a shot. The flavours blended well, the slightly smoky taste of the rocket leaves complementing the sweetness of the rock melon.
Still, the piece of art was demolished in a matter of minutes. And we continued our wait, discussing the musical that we had watched that afternoon and the talent (lack thereof) of the bands that were playing then at the open air concert space. (Warning: Never, never, if you would like to have a quiet meal, go to an open air restaurant next to a concert venue. It's common sense, but it needs to be said.)
Back to the wait for our main course. By now, the table next to us had already finished their meal and were enjoying a quiet after dinner chat. We were getting increasingly impatient, and it seemed that we were not the only patrons dissatisfied with the service. Nearby, a group of Caucasians were also waiting for their meal. They had been there before us, and apparently had not received all their dishes. One of the men finally made a complaint, and had to be soothed by the staff and given reassurances that their meal would arrive soon.
This did not lend itself well to the irritation we felt and soon, we followed suit, politely threatening to pay for what we'd already had and leave if our meal was not arriving soon. I'm not entirely sure if this did speed up the process or if the meal was already on the way up, but my carbonara spaghetti arrived soon after. The other pasta dish followed a few minutes after.
Now, had the food been prepared well, I'm fairly certain we would have readily forgiven the sub-par service and long wait. First, my spaghetti was decidedly too al dente for my tastes, the onions more raw than caramelized. The angel hair pasta with mushrooms was nothing special - in fact, I commented to Lyndon that we could've gotten much better food at Pastamania, which is a "fast food" outlet, at a fraction of the price. The standard of the carbonara sauce was indeed better than I would have gotten at Pastamania, but the rawness of the onions and the hardness of the spaghetti negated whatever points Al Dente Trattoria had scored for their sauce.
All in all, we finished our meal in less than half the time it took waiting to order AND receive our food. We left quickly, vowing never to return.
When I arrived home, meaning to post a review about this place, I realised that we weren't the only customers unhappy with the overall standard of the restaurant. (Click the link above to see evidence of this) Now, you've been warned too. If you ever find yourself in the Esplanade Area with a yen for Italian - do not step into Al Dente Trattoria.Labels: food, Informative
:: And that's all she wrote 1:17 AM [+] ::
2 comments
2 Comments:
I'd been there once and it appeared fine to me. But after hearing your horror story, I am certain I'll never go back there again. Thanks for the heads up cuz Al Dente is like...EXPENSIVE!
It was very good the last time we went, that's why we went again, but we were shocked by the change in the service and quality of food the last time we went. The menu seems to have changed too. Might be a change in management.
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