Ristretto Cafe Mont Kiara – visit for coffees yes, but not so for Peruvian Cuisine

Readers of my blog would have noticed that lately, I’ve been consistently posting generally raving reviews of places I’ve patronised. I still occasionally experience those “not -so-great -dining moments” of course, but that has become an accepted dilemma as I have pretty fussy tastebuds. However, they were never so bad that it spurred me to write a negative review.

The oh-s0-not-great Sashimi Platter that cost us RM99++.

As the blog gets more popular, I try to skew towards positivity, as I have been criticized before for my harsh reviews &  oh-called unobjective opinions. I still cared shit for what people think, but hey, sharing delicious desserts & food are so much more satisfying compared to a whiny post.

But today you’re getting a whiny post. Whiny because I paid a chunk of my currently carefully proportioned out-of -work budget on bland food, and to top it all off, I was sorely disappointed as this was supposedly my celebratory dinner after discharging from the hospital for ailments that till today the doctors are not able to pinpoint.

Arroz con Pollo. (RM25+)
Wikipedia: (“rice with chicken” in Spanish) is a traditional dish that is common throughout Latin America and The Caribbean, especially in Cuba, Colombia, Panama, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Honduras and the Dominican Republic. Common ingredients include rice, beer, stock, sofrito (a mix of vegetables and fresh herbs), chicken, and saffron or more authentic and commonly annatto.

That was from Wikipedia. Now let me give you my description.
This is the bland-est chicken rice I have ever tasted. Which is surprising, as research on the net pretty much portrayed this dish as extremely flavourful, with the rice cooked in flavoured stock, plus addition of beer or wine. Since all 4 of us concurred on the taste, I guess I’m safe from getting sued for my description of the dish.

Now let me get back to the RM99+ Salmon Sashimi (Tiradito aji amarillo) (raw salmon marinated in yellow pepper sauce or something) dish.
What irked me about this dish is that for RM99+, I would have been served top-notch sashimi cuts (of a few varieties even!)  in a reputable Japanese restaurant, or RM99+ could have bought me an all-you-can-eat buffet in town that pretty much let me stuff myself with unlimited sashimi. Here, for RM99+, I got a plate of salmon that could, or rather SHOULD have been fresher & more succulent. Well, at least the sauce was errmm.. interesting.

Lomo saltado. (RM25+)
Wikipedia: Lomo saltado is a Peruvian entree that has Asian influences (chifa) consisting of strips of sirloin marinated in vinegar, soy sauce and spices, then stir fried with red onions, parsley and tomatoes. Served traditionally over white rice with homemade french fries.

Now, don’t we all wish all food tasted like how it was described in wikipedia. The dish was served pretty much as described, but we would like to ask the Chef to perhaps be more generous with the whatever “vinegar, soy sauce and spices” that’s supposedly to be marinated with the sirloin, and pretty please too while he was at it, to ensure that when the sirloin was served, it remain tender & succulent instead of tough & chewy.

We have finally come to the last dish of the night.

Ceviche Mixto. (RM35+)

A nice big platter of fish, clams, mussels, prawns, squids & flower crabs. We thought it was weird that thick slices of sweet potatoes were found swimming in the sour dressing of the ceviche.

Anyhow, we were too disenchanted to worry about some sweet potatoes by then. While there were no complains on the portion for this one, we all opined that the seafood should have been fresher.
The shellfish were the worst. Leon suspected that it was not thawed properly prior to being prepared. I didn’t test his theory, as my recent stint in Assunta Hospital was still too fresh for comfort.

Chef came by our table at the end of the  meal & all feedback as per what you are reading on the blog were duly given. His reply? The food wasn’t supposed to be as described. Well, by then we pretty much had all the dishes cleared so I couldn’t ask him to sample them himself. A pity really, I would have loved to really know if Peruvian food was truly as our experience above.

Ok, let me attempt to end this post on some positivity.

Have I mentioned that the coffees here were VERY GOOD? Well, at least the Guinness Coffee (RM12+) & the Latte (RM5+) were met with approval from Jo & Leon.

What? You want positive feedback from me?
Errmm.. my Mixed Berry (smoothie) was decent.  Hehe…

Our bill. *ouch*

Email: my.ristretto@gmail.com

Ristretto Cafe
Unit 3A @ 10 Mont Kiara
Jalan Kiara 1, Mont Kiara
50480 Kuala Lumpur

All pictures are:

coffee, Mont Kiara, Peruvian