Thursday, September 14, 2006

The Original Sin, Jln Merah Saga

Stage
Jln Merah Saga

...
the Original Sin, cloistered along the stretch of pavement along Jalan Merah Saga. According to their website, this place, which is owned by the Michaelangelo's Group of Restaurants was named as such after the fresco which the artist painted in the Sistine chapel. Incidently, the restaurants Michaelangelo's and Sistinas are both conveniently located next door and the next one down the road.

The decision to dine at this place came when the Mediterranean salad dude beseeched my advice on vegetarian eateries for Adrian. Being informed that he is English, I naturally didn't think it the best idea to go the usual chinese or indian places, so the next location I naturally though of was here. Besides, I've been wanting to try this place for a long time. What luck!So after a couple of MSN messages to a colleague, we called to make reservations.

I'm probably going for the broad strokes in my description of the food at this place. I barely recognize half the vegetables used in this restaurant and really, Adrian would be the expert in what we actually ate. The deepest and foremost impression that the Original Sin left in me was that, I didn't feel like I was eating at a vegetarian place. Really, the food was nice enough for me to forget that I wasn't getting my meat fix. Phew!

We opened dinner with a Mezze platter and a crisp avocado salad. Oh, my advice is, don't click on the pictures. These look better small if you catch my drift. And as for identifying the contents of the platter, I'm really out of my league. We have let's see....pita, what tasted like fried bean cakes(brownies on the bottom right), hummus(far left) and some mashed eggplant thingies(with mint?). Boy, erm...I really do not remember what they were, but they were delicious. The avocado salad came light and fresh. I certainly had no complains about it, but there wasn't anything else distinctive for a salad. Without going into further details, I'm going to simply give you readers a peek of the mains we got ourselves and let you decide if it all looks appealing to your tastes. In any case, I would like to add my comments that they are indeed tasty.

The Moussaka

The Polenta Tower
The Bosco Misto
As I have mentioned, my descriptions will be of broad strokes. Many of the core of the dishes that aren't green vegetables or mushrooms or cheese taste pretty much like bean cakes. That means the Moussaka and the double patty which made the bulk of the Bosco Mistro. The Palento Tower however had a taste and texture distinctively like chinese carrot cake. And in the midst of the shots, I've somehow missed the Risotto which I was sure I took a picture of because that was my order.
Being a dining experience itself, I will just touch briefly on the service of this establishment. Curt and sculpted. Which is to say that while acceptable, was nothing above average standards and smiles do not emit warmth. Normally, it wouldn't bother me too much. But since this place prides itself a gourmet restaurant and charges us dearly for a bunch of vegetables , I think I'm entitled to voice out this little things that make a difference in dining experiences. For readers who are interested in giving this place a try, heads down for the estimated damage possibilities.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

wot? I'm certainly not an italian salad dude. The salad i tried to make was a mediterranean salad (not sure if it was italian or greek). Adrian is definitely not an esteemed guest, just a fussy vegetarian/pescatarian being targeted for localisation. hehe

Anonymous said...

While the last time I had lunch there I found the food quite palatable, I had a very bad experience with the service level of the restaurant. As such, I would say that there are other places that can do much better vegetarian fare than OSin, as long as you let the chef know in advance what you need. Definately the service will be better than what I had to go through.

LiquidShaDow said...

It is my opinion that most service level of restaurants, even those of the pricier variety do not commensurate to the cost which they charge. They've most things up to par which means the type and quality of food, ambience and the theme to match, however, service often falls short and is one point which is often lambasted by customers.
I guess it is an aspect which restaurants need to look at apart from their other core focuses in delivery.
I personally think lowly of waiters in places such as this if there were to tell me that they didn't know if I asked them what exactly does a dish constitute of. I find that to be a common failing in many restaurants.

M. said...

Did your friend Adrian suggest this place? Haha, I love this restaurant cuz I am also a pescetarian and a Med food lover! oh btw, thanks for popping my blog.

LiquidShaDow said...

Actually, I suggested it. I was looking for....well, non meat places.