Letters from the Equator

Yuck!
Originally uploaded by Elizabeth Salib.

OK. I am going to do a food review.

Why am I worthy to do one? Well, simply because I am a paying customer.

First, the premise. Everyone needs that. At 630pm, I left church in the middle of the 777 service (no reference to Boeing) with LL to fetch my mother-in-law. So, we needed to decide on a place to EAT.

MIL talked about Hong Kong all the way home, and we were en-route to the Shah Alam toll, where we decided on arrival that we should go to Eat Workshop, in Glenmarie.

I had made a previous attempt to eat there, an experience I would not like to repeat since I was completely exasperated not finding the restaurant amidst wailings of backseat drivers telling where the restaurant was (or wasn’t).

But this time we knew EXACTLY where it was, in the middle of this forsaken place… I won’t divulge, please visit their website at eatworkshop.com.

OK, on to the review.

Lee Lian ordered asparagus soup, and we had some squid for starters that had two asterisk marks on them denoting a recommended dish.

The soup caused my throat to itch. It was watery. There were only 3 dumplings inside, which was yummy but unintelligible. Crunchy on the outside, with some cream in the middle. And way too little. I would’ve just had the dish of the dumplings and toss the soup aside.

For mains, LL had the homemade pasta with pesto and tiger prawns. I had their risotto special, which was a rice medley containing sweet corn, asparagus, and cream. MIL had the dory fish.

This is where it really starts going downward.

The servings were so small you could pack it by holding it in your hand. Next, the risotto was dull and lacked inspiration. The only thing nice about it were the scallops, and there were only three (their favorite number). The rice was all Kim-garyish. The dory fish was smelly. The meat fell apart in my fork. The breading didn’t go well with the fish.

I didn’t even bother ordering dessert. It just seemed to me that the whole point of Eat Workshop was a pretty facade, an kooky name, priced at the mid-range gourmet level, having an interesting location - but the failed the provide the most important part of the entire experience - a proper meal.

For the same amount, I would’ve gone to La Bodega, or even Kim Gary. In fact, I just got back from La Cocina, in USJ, and that was such a good experience I don’t have a problem recommending it to friends.

Eat Workshop was really just an eat workshop. Food on trials.

Categorized as discoveries/food