Unforgettable dining experience, in the wrong way

jH and i dropped by the newly opened Tampines One to check out the hype after recent coverage for its food and fashion outlets, Manjuku and Uniqlo.

After exercising Singaporean's favourite past-time (queueing), jH got into the store and walked a few rounds before coming out empty-handed. I didn't join the queue, instead, I went into SayCheese to have a seat and ordered dinner.

Before i proceed, we decided not to have Manjuku for dinner after seeing the queue. Probably next time when we have more energy to burn.

So the unforgettable dining experience at SayCheese.

The food was mediocre at best and the service staff were clueless! I was attracted into the store after see-ing the variety of cheesecakes they have, which honestly LOOKED like they will taste good. No prizes for guessing how the cheesecake tasted like, definitely not as good as it looks.

We ordered a beef lasagne and a baked macaroni cheese for mains, mashed potatoes and an additional macaroni cheese for sides, and a strawberry milkshake to down all of that gelatness.

It was a good start to the meal because the first dish served was the mashed potatoes, which tasted really nice and creamy. The brown sauce wasn't too overpowering and you could taste the sweetness of the potato.

Hmm. Not bad, I thought to myself.

Next came the other side, macaroni cheese. Well, actually it didn't make it to our table first. The waiter served it to the table beside ours, and the customers said they didn't order this. So after checking, he served the same bowl of macaroni cheese to our table.

The dish was similar to the ones you can get at Kenny Rogers, but substitute the shell-sized macaroni with the tube-like ones. There wasn't much flavour in the macaroni and it wasn't served hot. Blahh.

Then came the strawberry milkshake, which I thought was quite nice. They added some crumbs on top of the drink to give that extra bite to the drink. If without the crumbs, it felt like the McDonald's strawberry sundae which you can get for $1.50.

Next came the main dish, Baked Macaroni Cheese. It came in a rather small serving, and tasted exactly like the side dish we ordered. Like what the hell?

While I am complaining how bad the dish was, I was wondering where the heck is the beef lasagne. When I saw a plate of beef lasagne being served to the table beside ours, I was thinking if the waiter made another mistake because the customers weren't touching the dish at all and were giving each other the "look". (like whether they should just eat it, thinking its complimentary)

So after 5mins, I called the waiter over and asked if my beef lasagne is ready to be served. He went into the kitchen to check, came out, asked the table beside ours if they orderd the beef lasagne, and he had the cheek to

SERVE ME THE SAME LASAGNE!

I politely declined and requested for a new serving. I haven't come across such slack in the level of hygiene in restaurants. How could you serve the same dish twice?! Tsk.

The manager spotted my black face, promptly served 2 complimentary bowls of mushroom soup, apologising for the delay in serving. I didn't touch any of it, and jH finished my portion. According to her, it was nice, or maybe because she's not picky when it comes to food.

When the beef lasagne finally came, I touched the plate to check if it's hot just so to confirm they don't serve me the same bloody one I rejected. When I tucked into the first bite, it wasn't quite what I expected it to be. Some parts were not as hot to my liking, and it tasted more tomato-ish than cheesy.

Before we settled the bill, jH convinced me to order a piece of cheesecake, since that was what enticed me in the first place. And that might be the restaurant's salvation.

We decided on the original cheesecake.

Verdict?

The cheese was thick and fragrant, but the crust? It was like stone hard. Throw that on the floor and it will not crumble. It might even make a sound.

We spent about $52 for two person at that place, and WOULDN'T even think of going back. I would gladly join the queue for Manjuku the next time I'm there. So much for trying out new stuff.