The Doughnut Lands - RM2.50 for Krispy Kreme...

...will it prove too steep for the average Malaysian pocket?

And is this going to be enough of a profit margin at RM2.50 per doughnut?

How long will the queues last? Is there room for a premium doughnut player in town?

My spies inform me that the line at the inaugural Krispy Kreme store in Berjaya Times Square was as long as a snake today, all the way out to the entrance of the mall, say my spies.

However, it wasn't that long that they couldn't get a box of the doughnuts themselves.

Price point: RM2.50 per doughnut for the plain original glazed and RM2.80 for the more exotic variants with topics and the sort.

Having sampled the plain original glazed version from the box of six I received, I am pleased to say that it holds up muster to the ones I ate in HK with no variation or deviation in flavour or quality. But, as the Krispy Kreme head honchos were probably at the opening, QC is unlikely to be an issue. (we need to check back in on this in about 3-4 months because that's how long it took Big Apple to take a plunge). And I maintain the superiority of the Krispy Kreme Original Glazed Doughnut over Big Apple any day. (see my story 'Much Ado about Doh' which compares Krispy Kreme against Big Apple against J Co.)

A biggest test for Krispy Kreme is probably going to be the MidValley store, which will open to considerable competition from Big Apple and Dunkin Doughnut. The inaugural store in Berjaya Times Square is home territory for the KK franchisor in Malaysia, which is the Berjaya Group (also the franchisor for Wendy's, Starbucks, Kenny Rogers and Papa John's Pizza).

I will be posting a list of my favourite doughnuts in due course.

Website: www.krispykreme.com.my

The Original Glazed Doughnut - note how the glaze is almost translucent and slightly matte. And the glaze *scrunches* when you bite into it.

Four In the box - the topped one is one of my favourites: New York Cheesecake!

The original glazed, from another perspective. The scrunching effect of the sugar (indication of the quality and smoothness of the glaze) can be seen here.

Krispy Kreme KL - RM3.50?

I've got bets going with my mom on how much a doughnut will cost at Krispy Kreme (those thinking about getting in line to be the first person, erm, sorry, my spies tell me there's already someone camped out there today with a sleeping bag).

Price point sensitivity is definitely an issue here in Malaysia, where disposable incomes are not high and discretionary spending amongst the middle class is definitely going to decline in light of the tightening economic situation. If the doughnuts are priced too high, they're not going to get the J Co and Big Apple crowds and their expansion plans may be slowed down (the franchisor is required by the franchise agreement to open a certain number of stores within 5 years).

In Hong Kong, Krispy Kreme doughnuts sold for HKD10 per doughnut and HKD100 per box of 12 (if memory serves me). That makes it RM5 per doughnut and RM50 per box. Big Apple charges RM22 per box of 12. It's been so long since I last went to Dunkin Doughnuts I have no idea what their product costs.

Now, realistically, the price point sensitivity requires the product to be priced competitively but the brand could command a premium. My original price estimate was RM2.50 until my mother pointed out that half the buns in Breadtalk are anywhere between RM2-2.50. She thinks RM3.50.

Well, in about 12 hours, we'll find out.

Chicken Ham and the Cajun Club Sandwich at Chilli's

So, I'm celebrating the end of 14 days of living with the Diet Demon in the name of compensating for my indulgences over Chinese New Year...English New Year...erm, well every weekend spent at Alexis eating brunch since the start of 2009...

And for my off day, I decide I really want to scarf my face on fried carbs like Chilli's Fries (still the best fries around, aside from the hand-cut ones at places like Magnificent Fish and Chips), guzzle their Margaritas...

...and after dawdling over Triple Play vs Chicken Crispers, I decided I wanted something truly evil: like grilled chicken breast with two types of cheese, sandwiched between three slices of WHITE bread that had been slathered in garlic butter (maybe garlic margarine - clog my arteries baby) and mayo, then toasted. With some token lettuce to make us all feel better. The Cajun Chicken Club Sandwich for the uninitiated. (tsk).

Now, I've had this sandwich before at one of my infamous 'last supper' rituals (embarked upon usually before 14 interminable days of being waistline disciplined) and it was fab. I loved it. So imagine my hideous surprise when I chomp down on the sandwich and...

UGH. It was cold in the center. I looked at the sandwich. In the middle portion (it's a club sandwich = three layers), there was something pale and pink that looked suspiciously like...chicken ham.

Now, before I *confront* management, I like to make sure I'm right. The customer may be always right, but it's best to definitely be right. So I got my booth buddy to snag the menu as I mumbled about something not being right with my sandwich. And then I scrutnised the picture (looks like chicken) but more importantly, THE DESCRIPTION of the Cajun Club Sandwich.

Indeed, the words "grilled chicken breast" were in the description.

Waiter was summoned and proved no help. Manager was called over. Swiftly to his credit he appeared.

Now, his reasoning for the chicken ham was in my view quite incredulous although not entirely unbelievable. And for the record I'm not saying I don't believe him. I'm saying the reason it incredulous.

He told me chicken ham was substituted because customers complained that when the sandwich contained real chicken meat (as opposed to god knows what parts of the chicken that go into chicken ham), not every bite had chicken. Grilled chicken apparently has a habit of not aligning perfectly within the sandwich to ensure that every bite of the sandwich produces a mouthful of bread, shredded lettuce, chicken, cheese x 2 and mayo. By substituting chicken ham, this ensured that the customers who bitched about not having chicken in every mouthful, GOT their chicken in every mouthful.

Albeit said customers were obviously unaware that what they were getting was ANYTHING but chicken. (come on, chicken ham?).

Completely to the credit of the manager at Chilli's that night at BSC, he immediately made me another sandwich, with real grilled chicken breast, which he said was do-able on request of the customer. He did however to my shock say that the customers preferred the chicken ham version. (why do I get the feeling the next time I go, it will say chicken ham?). I hope it won't be chicken ham because that would just be mind-bogglingly daft to substitute processed meat just so that a few dimwits can convince themselves they are getting their money's worth. Btw, chicken ham costs LESS than real chicken breast so in case any of my readers happen to be in the 'incredulous' grouping who believe chicken ham and chicken breast is the same...

Note: Service at Chilli's BSC is always impeccable with MidValley running a close second. I officially condemn the outlet at Bandar Utama, having had one too many watery margaritas and horrible Crispy Chicken Salads more times than I can count.

Breakfast of Queens: A Haiku

A Triple O breakfast burger.
Fries. Chocolate milkshake.
Oh Heaven.

DROOLWORTHY

A great story on America's Best Doughnuts at Forbes Traveller

If the article seems too long, just skip straight to the slide show.

Moments like this make...dieting bearable.

Espressamente comes to Bangsar Village

Today I ventured to try out Illy Espressamente in Bangsar Village I. It's just opened and we had an opportunity to chat to the owners on opening night. They were friendly, attentive (no service with a snarl here) and did a great job selling us on trying out the food and most importantly, the cakes!

If the name sounds familiar, it's because they have an outlet in Pavillion (right next to Kedai Roti Tun M, The Loaf). The coffee is excellent at the Pavillion outlet (can't fault the Illy pedigree) and it would have long been on my favourite list if it weren't for the fact that Pavillion is simply too far away, and the parking too expensive, to be a regular shopping visit choice. There's nothing like a nice piece of bread from The Loaf, accompanied by the perfect cappuchino.

Because I rarely visit Pavillion, I've only ever had coffee at the Espressamente outlet in Pavillion. Today, I road tested their breakfast sandwich, the Ciabatta Benedict (fried eggs, beef bacon - aiya - and cheese). It came with a little side salad tossed in balsemico and olive oil. The total damage for my bill, which included a Firefly Detox, and a Machiatto was RM38. Not too bad for a decent lunch. The sandwich was also excellent - not too ginormous so that you feel like you can't finish it, not too small either that you feel you're eating overpriced food. My grouse is of course the beef bacon (bah) and they seemed a little overwhelmed today so when I got there, I had to ask for the table to be cleaned, and the menu to be brought to me. And my Machiatto was lukewarm when it got to me (and I sat at a table pretty close to the coffee machine), leading to my belief that the coffee was hot but the milk was lukewarm, resulting in a lukewarm Machiatto.

I will however be back - their lunchtime panini sandwiches look worthwhile trying and the antipesto are tempting (the cocktails!). I'm also looking forward to sinking my teeth into their cakes - I was given a little background to their tiramisu which warrants a visit just to verify if it's as amazing and authentic as they say it is. (clue: it apparently was handed down to one of the owners by his Kadazan grannie!)

There's also something decidedly clever about their menu that shows how with some smarts, you can create the illusion of an expansive menu, with lots of choice, but in reality without resulting in overtaxed kitchen and general all around so-so food. (read: the food at Delicious).

2009 Hit List

Traipsing through 1 Utama today to check out the new Cold Storage outlet there, I stumbled upon this:



New York, New York Deli (LG, 1 Utama, New Wing) is unfortunately halal but the menu displayed looks interesting enough for me to put it on the 2009 Hit List of new places to try out. Take a gander at the sugary treats they will be offering:

Service with a Snarl at My Elephant

The restaurant business in this country has always had a major failing and that's service. Many restaurateurs understand that service is important but there are also a number of them who pay lip service to the idea of service, but have absolutely no idea what it means.

A recent story of Service with a Snarl. And I want to emphasise that this account was related to me by my family members and so arguably is heresay. But as it has been corroborated by all the parties present (7 pairs of eyes), I consider it reasonably accurate and reflective of the incident that took place.

Recently, my family went to have dinner at My Elephant located at Happy Mansion in PJ. Now, I've eaten there twice and found the food to be reasonably good, although perhaps a trifle bit on the pricey side for smallish portions. But generally had a good impression. However, as you will see, it is now on the Condemn List and it has been so condemned because of what happened when my family members tried to eat there recently.

A family member had made a reservation for 7.30pm on a Saturday. This reservation had been made 2-3 days in advance. Upon arrival, the party (yours truly excluded but this is not hearsay since I have corroborated the account with all the family members present) was told that their table was not ready and still being occupied.

The party of 7 that occupied the table had arrived at 6.30pm and were still eating by the accounts of my family members. My father was displeased by this and kicked up a ruckus. My sister-in-law demanded to see the manager.

Now here is where it gets interesting. The manager came out and declared to my family that "a reservation entitles you to come here and wait, and does not entitle you to a table". A shouting match soon ensued to which the owner then told my family members to 'get out of my restaurant'.

Btw, this whole incident was witnessed by my 83 year old grandma. So said owner/manager clearly not only has no idea of service, but lousy manners too.

Now, let's examine the situation here. Yes, the customer has lost their temper and berated staff for not having their table ready. Well you know what? They're entitled to be pissed off. It behooves the customer to turn up on time for their reservation. And so it behooves the restaurant to behave suitably contrite when they've buggered it up. The correct response would have been to seat the customers somewhere, ply them with drinks and snacks on the house, and try to get the table that is being occupied vacant.

The wrong and non-service friendly response is to scream at them to get out of your restaurant. The food and beverage industry is a 'service' industry and as they say, the customer is always right. Screaming at your customers to get out is the purview of at best, a 5 star michellin chef, not a neighbourhood Thai restaurant. And which planet is the owner of My Elephant living on (and what water is he drinking) when he says that reservations do not entitle a person to a table but the right to wait? Then why bother to make a reservation? Why not just come and wait? Or is the reservation in My Elephant simply shorthand for 'right to sit on a bench if we let you and possibly eat the food if we think you're worthy'?

If you are Gordon Ramsay or Joel Robuchon, I can understand. If you are Alan Ducasse, or Thomas Keller, I might even be willing to tolerate this kind of diva behaviour. Mind you, none of these guys take that view about how someone should be treated in their restaurant.

You're a little Thai restaurant, making bog standard average Thai food. You don't get the right to behave this way. Who the hell are you and what the hell is so amazing about your food that you have such a monumental sense of entitlement?

Furthermore, it is plain stupid to have 2 seatings so close together, especially when Malaysians are not known for turning up on time for their reservation. Where this occurs, it is imperative that the restaurant inform the customer that they have to vacate the table. The customer with a reservation, who now has to wait for their table, will only get more irate when they see the people at the table are mid-meal and not likely to finish for ages.

When the owner/manager screamed, lost his cool and lost control, he not only lost our party as customers, but the party behind us who had also made a reservation and who also soon realised they had no place to sit.

Now, as stated earlier, I was not there at this restaurant when the incident occured. But with 7 pairs of ears hearing a restaurant owner screaming GET OUT OF MY RESTAURANT, I'd really like to see Mr Doo Dee explain his reason for losing his wig in this way. The owner/manager's berating of the customers (irrespective of what transpired before) as far as I am concerned is absolutely unacceptable and wrong. This is not how a restauranteur should behave.

And to provide some comparison of how restaurants SHOULD behave when they have boo-booed, I present several instances where I have received rotten service, and how the restaurants in question understood the meaning of going the distance, in so far as keeping the customer's experience sweet and retaining their patronage.

KNK Yakiniku, Sri Hartamas

Now, that is a VERY SMALL restaurant (not unlike My Elephant) and where space is at a premium and a reservation is a MUST. We had a party of 7 as well and when we arrived, our table was still being occupied. The staff on duty were suitably apologetic and hurried to find us a table. The party occupying our table did not seem likely to leave for a good 30 minutes to us so we started to order first. But the minute the table was free, the staff moved us there. And, they put a 15% discount on the tab. And they were scuttling around making sure our food came out quickly. And they were constantly apologetic.

And they didn't scream at us.

Kura Japanese Restaurant in One World Hotel.

My father ordered beef teriyaki set at Kura on our first visit but requested the beef be in cubes and not strips because that's the way he liked it. The order came out in cubes, but with no teriyaki sauce on it. We chalked it up to a miscommunication and left it at that.

Visit #2. Order repeated to the staff and we made sure they understood we wanted beef teriyaki, but cubed beef and not strip beef. Again, it came out in cubes, but with no teriyaki sauce. And both times, the staff that took the order stated it was a) possible to have the variation and b) understood the order.

The second time it came out in cubes but sans teriyaki sauce, we sent it back and my father demanded the 10% service tax be knocked off the bill. Some noisy discussion ensued but the management not only knocked the 10% off, but a member of the kitchen team came out, handed his card to my dad, and told my dad that he would personally serve my dad's order if my dad came back. So we went back.

TWICE.

And both times, the member of kitchen staff in question not only made the order perfectly (beef CUBES with teriyaki sauce, medium rare) but the restaurant also gave us complimentary salads both times, almost as if to make up for the boo-boo on the first two occasions.

Now that's service.

Umaiya Japanese Restaurant, Damansara Utama

We were a party of 3 and our food not only came out in bits and bobs (with the sashimi and sushi coming out last!) but the service was appallingly slow. The manager on duty was contrite, insisting that the sushi and sashimi counter was backed up. Unfortunately, I didn't buy into her explaination since I actually observed the sushi and sashimi chef for 15 minutes trying to figure out what the hell was going on. (yeah, I'm one of those customers who likes to 'watch')

Despite being 'backed up', the sushi and sashimi chefs continued to make sushi and sashimi at a leisurely pace, as if there weren't several furious and irate patrons waiting for their food. Now if you've watched enough Asian Food Channel, you'll know that when the kitchen is in service mode, it's a madhouse and the chef's are all moving fast fast fast! So imagine how it looks when a patron who is WAITING for their food, observes the chefs at the counter behaving as if it is a quiet lunch hour rather than a busy dinner service. And no, I don't buy the theory that sashimi and sushi is tantamount to making art and the chef should be allowed to take his time. There is pulling up your socks and pick up the pace whilst maintaining a standard and quality of output, and taking your own sweet time, impervious to the chaos breaking out on the floor.

It's chefs like that which land the front of house people into trouble. A restaurant's front of house and back end have to function in tandem with each other, like an orchestra. Front of house needs to do their part in making sure the orders go in correctly (see Kura's situation) and managing the customer's expectations. (ie: we are a little backed up with the sushi counter - would you mind waiting?). Back end needs to deliver the RIGHT orders, in the right sequence (in this case, sushi and sashimi SHOULD come out first, before the main courses unless otherwise stipulated) and pick up the pace when it gets busy so that the front of house is not left with screaming irate customers watching the person who came in after them get their food first because some nimrod in the kitchen decides it's faster to make agedashi tofu instead of beef teriyaki.

The table across from us had sat down earlier than us, and received their sushi roll order after us. That was how disorganised things were.

On our way out, the floor manager, aware of the snafu, pushed 2 15% discount vouchers into our bill and apologised profusely again. We returned. And got superb service the next time around.

But for every instance where the restaurant staff (or owner) has shown themselves to be above and beyond the call of duty, there are matching instances of service with a snarl (or worse, a blank stare). More stories to come....including the tarty tale of why I refuse to patronise Delicious.

But in the meantime, readers with their own Service with a Snarl stories, please feel free to send them to me via comments or email (I WILL PRINT THEM). As for My Elephant, we may just be one family, but you can betcha we'll be doing everything we can to make sure everyone knows about our rude encounter.