When we arrived & requested for our reserved table, we were shown to a corner table by a wall. The wall fan was not directed at the table and the area feels stuffy. One of my buddies requested for another table. The waiter claimed that all tables are either occupied or reserved for bigger groups. My buddy then replied that there are other tables for three seaters. The boss (a man in his fifties wearing a cap and a pair of spectacles) came over and explained in an unhappy tone that all other tables are for big group diners and there are only three of us. His reply was as if to challenge us to take it or leave it. My buddy responded that: “how one could be expected to sit at a table with so little ventilation? If there isn’t any other table available, we don’t mind to wait.” The boss just walked away without a word. That was rude! I thought. We waited at the side and were almost going to walk out of the restaurant when a more suitable table was offered to us.

A male staff with a much better attitude and tone came to take our orders.

 We ordered:

Oatmeal butter Prawns

Rib eye steak (with fried rice)

Mixed Vegetables delight(Luo Han Zhai)

Crispy Shrimps

Salted Egg Crab

Durian Delight

When the dishes came, we weren’t impressed by their Oatmeal butter prawns and the Salted egg crab.

It was a total let down.

Though the prawns were big, it tasted bland; it was as if the cook "forgot" to marinate the prawns. The prawns did not have the oatmeal taste either. Also, the buttery of the oatmeal wasn’t intense enough anyway.

The crab meat taste was sweet, solid and tender.  The sauce of the salted egg yolk however, was not rich enough to ooze a creamy feel on the palate. It was too dry and pasty, and the sauce wasn’t served enough to goes well with the crab. And the crab shells were not evenly cracked. To make it worst, no water and wet towels were served to clean our hands.

When I requested for the wet towels, one of the female staff (a real blur Sotong) brought ONE piece and walked off. My buddies joked that it could be due to I was the only ONE asking for it.

During our meal, there were tables next to us who were very upset with the incredibly slow service. There was a family asking their order to be expedited because their old folks were hungry. The commotion started when they found out that the table that arrived later got their food.  There was another table seated with a family of 2 kids. I noticed that they had been waiting a long time to be served. We saw the father making many trips to check on their order with the staff. (I also must add that the staff almost forgot our last dish, Salted egg crab!)

Around 9.45pm, the crowd slowly subsided. We drank our wines and had a casual conversation. Since we are seating beside the cashier counter, I noticed that the waiters standing opposite us were glancing at our table. I smiled and asked them if everything is ok. They did not reply and looked away. One of my buddies wanted to have a bowl of Durian Delight for dessert. She ordered at the counter while I was still sipping my wine.

About half an hour later when almost all the diners had left, the boss who was resting on a chair 2 tables away, smiled and asked sarcastically if we were still waiting for our last dish. Come on, they can actually ask to clear our table first if they want to rush. When I looked at my watch, the time read 10.20pm. I cheekily asked him if he meant to chase us out since they are closing at 11pm. He replied no, just wanted to make sure no food on our order has been missed.

I asked him to come over to share a glass of wine with us. On hearing our dismay about his rudeness over a request of change of table earlier, he offered a glass of whiskey to each of us. Unfortunately, both of my buddies were too bloated for anything else. He went ahead to get himself and me a glass of iced whiskey. He pulled a chair and sits with us, we cheers and began to share about his food business. He agreed that the restaurant is always packed during weekends and it is beyond his control that not all dishes were served fast enough to every single table. He added that if there are complaints from a table that has an order of 3-4 simple dishes; veggies, meat, and noodles, he would see it as a small loss to his business. No big deal to him. We were totally taken aback with his remarks! How could he say he would regard it as a small loss to his business? No matter the value of the food ordered, it is STILL a business! Whether your food is cheap or expensive, customers are still paying for YOUR FOOD! There will be returning customers and word of mouth works miracles. To him, he can belittle some people who may seem as a cheapo to order simple dishes off the menu. BUT, please don’t forget, if your so-called simple dishes were not even cooked well, do you think they want to waste time and money in your expensive aka higher value dishes? There are people out there who tend to order simple cheap dishes to see how well the restaurant's cook handles it. I love my oatmeal prawns; almost every restaurant I patronized, this dish will always be my all time favorite. But sadly, New Ubin Seafood's standard was a disappointment to me. 

Too bad, it was the first visit for my two beloved buddies and I feel very bad for them. For me, No matter how much I love the food, I cannot tolerate bad attitude like this.

There seems to be an inconsistency of the food quality. During my first visit recommended by my friend (a blogger in wine and food), most of the dishes served were reasonably tasty. That included the oatmeal prawns. Not sure if it was a different cook or perhaps the cook was "switched off"

He also reckoned that there are customers who had been complaining their service are slow and inefficient. “Can’t be help when they (diners) make noise, they have to come early or else the whole restaurant will be too packed and my cooks will be very busy.” What the fish? Hello?! Are you blaming the customers who were unable to come and eat their meal early? Or are you blaming the customers are making your cooks too busy? We are pretty sure that you knew there were some commotions going on earlier. Since you knew that there were reviews written badly online about your poor service and manners, you should be amiable enough to pop around occasionally just to make sure everything is okay and running smoothly. Even just by putting up a show to pacify the waiting diners. You still charge them for a service fee don’t you? (This boss needs to really check his attitude and business mindset)

All in all, their service (in terms of attentiveness) and the consistency of food quality have a BIG room for improvement.

Last but not least, if one does not care about their service and the food quality, then the only score would have to be their free corkage. You can bring as many bottles of wine as you like to enjoy with their medium-rare rib eye steak.

Last evening, I could have worked someone's nerves unintentionally.

 I had a conversation with someone across the causeway via msn. 
Out of our casual conversation, this person assumed that I am childish.
I would suggest that this person are most probably childish him/herself,
simply because he/she was frustrated and annoyed by me who wasn’t 
on the same wave with his/her ideals of adulthood. 

Or maybe, they can´t stand a happy and postive person.

The reason of me writing this is not because I give a damn to what this person think of me. 
But we need to be serious here in making a distinction between acting childlike as
opposed to childish.  Acting childlike simply means we enjoy doing all the things
the children love doing. And being childish means we dislike/hate all the crap the children
do to drive us mad. People who are childish themselves actually can’t tell the difference.

In life, there are so many people forget what it's like to abandon themselves to
purely enjoy life in that moment without worrying about what others will think.

My own personal opinion is that I'd rather spend time with someone who enjoys all
that life brings than someone who takes themselves and life way too seriously.


At least I am better than people who sit all day telling people they are childish or fierce:-)