Saturday, June 19, 2010

Old Town White Coffee

Even though they landed on our shores a couple of years ago, we never visited Old Town White Coffee once. We finally set foot in the Suntec City outlet last Saturday morning, after eyeing it as we left the mrt exit at Promenade station. Princess had to go for her appointment with the dentist and while waiting for her, hubby and I had our breakfast there. It is my first time setting foot in any of their outlets, and I decided immediately that I loved their decor, so quaint and very well-designed.

After rejecting the lovely booth seats which we were offered us, because both families behind hubby and myself had kids who were kicking against the seats, we settled on a table away from the noise. It was a good choice as it allowed me to play with my iPhone hipstamatic app. I couldn't think of a more appropriate place to use this camera effect than here.

Hubby ordered a blackcurrant drink which tasted like Ribena slushie.

The old town version of french toast.

There is peanut butter within the toast. Weird.

This has got to be the most delicious nasi lemak on earth. Hehe. Or maybe because it was late and I was hungry.

We had excellent service that morning and when I complimented the auntie who served us on the food and proclaimed to her that it was my first visit there, she took out a sheet of discount vouchers and promptly gave them to me, inviting me to visit again. Those were some good deals on the vouchers in conjunction with the World Cup.

Two days later, hubby wanted to visit the outlet again for breakfast as they opened at 8am, which meant it was perfect for us as we were rushing to USS for the opening at 10am. This time round, the service was non-existent and it left us with a bitter taste in the mouth after having had an excellent experience on our first visit. We were served by a lady who was first day on the job. We were easily the second table in the restaurant and while communicating with her, she couldn't answer a few of my questions and just said she wasn't sure as was her first day. She was the only server in the entire restaurant with no one to guide her or for her to shadow. Even the manager wasn't around. As the restaurant filled up, and time was ticking by, we were curious as to when we would be served even our drinks for a start. Unfortunately, no drinks arrived but for the table behind us, they were already given their drinks even though they had arrived and ordered after us.

A lady two tables away from us was fuming and shouting at the kitchen staff when she discovered that they had forgotten to fix her toast. I believe she was there before us. She told them off and left after paying for her expensive coffee, saying she'd never visit them again. I told hubby that if the table behind us got their order, we'd leave too. It was terrible how they could have messed up the orders. If they are lack of manpower, why then do they open at such an early hour? They should know that having the shop open at such an hour is to cater to the working crowd who do not have a lot of time picking up breakfast. Before long, I saw some items of food appear on the counter waiting to be sent to the tables. Hubby got up to check and saw an order of a nasi lemak. We thought we'd finally get our order, but guess what, our neighbour got it instead! I decided to walk out. Just at that moment, the manager entered the store and hubby gave him a good telling off. It messed up our plans (made us late as we had to find alternative place for breakfast). So, well, those were two very extreme experiences with Old Town in a matter of 2 days. Will I visit again? Well, yes, for the nasi lemak, and we have done so, but at the East Coast Parkway outlet. :)

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