Secret Recipe BBB (skip the local food entrees~)

Seafood Mee Curry. NO.

Secret Recipe Cyber review here.

This was another mom-son rendezvous I had with Armand last week, but somehow only managed to put it in now, due to lack of inspiration and shortage of time. You know I have a food review blog, I had said to Armand, I was not feeling Secret Recipie-ish at all and was reluctant to go. Do we absolutely have to eat at Secret Recipe? I asked again. But I want a brownie mama... said Armand over the phone. OK, so that was that.

To go straight to the point, Secret Recipe knows I am on to them and has improved! I noticed a full change of staff as well, which I guess is good because last time we actually had dinner at Secret Recipe BBB (some time last year, it was that bad), service was so slow the customers who came before us suddenly started screaming because we (i.e., the later customers) got our food first. I may be Indian, one of them screamed, but I am a lecturer! And I demand to get my food now! Not that we blame her .We noticed she had been sitting there ages. We had been too. 

Original chicken cornish. YES.

Vienna brownie with vanilla ice-cream. YES

When we ordered this time around, the pretty young waitress apologized in advance. It may take a while, she said, we're backed up. Well, I replied, my son only ordered the chicken cornish, don't you just have to heat it up? The response I got was a smile and a quick serve. In fact, quicker than the customers already sitting there. I was holding my breath for another outburst. Luckily this time, no one lost their marbles.

Armand ordered the chicken cornish, and I must say, it was pretty good. And I ordered the seafood mee curry, which was again, mediocre for me (why do I keep doing this to myself?). It just didn't taste fresh enough and I didn't eat the prawns because they neglected to clean the insides. And I could see it. 

Walnut brownie with vanilla ice-cream. NO.

For desert, we ordered the brownies and ice-cream. I had asked the brownies to be heated, cause that's the politically correct way to get your brownies done, all warm with melting ice-cream on top (in the US, they would serve the brownies on a hotplate, topped with ice-cream and drizzled with warm caramel and it was marvelous), but I guess the microwave wasn't working. Nevertheless, the Vienna brownie was delicious, although I couldn't say the same for Armand's walnut brownie which looked great but tasted a few days old. Armand's strawberry milkshake however was just nice. 

So here's the deal with Secret Recipe. Go for their cakes, coffee, milkshakes, pastries, and the freshly arrived brownies (ask them which ones). Avoid local dishes (tom yum, mee curry etc). They're not fresh and are overpriced. You can get better at local restaurants at 1/3 of the price with no surprising service charges. Sorry Secret Recipe, you still need a bit of work.

Secret Recipe, Bandar Baru Bangi, (same row of shops as CIMB)

Cleanliness: B

Food: B/C+ (depending on what you order)

Price: ~RM25 per pax  

Satisfaction Level: C+ (they didn't heat up the brownies when they said they would)

Service: B (waitress was friendly)

Atmosphere: B (everyone looked like they've been waiting ages).