Father's Day Dinner

My father-in-law has not been in the greatest of health since the turn of the year. It was quite seldom that he would leave the house - which usually meant a trip to the hospital for check-ups. For a change, we took him out for dinner.

It was Father's Day after all. And he loved some western food. We brought him over to Victoria Station in Jalan Ampang and he ate a lot.

He was very happy that for his coming birthday we would be bringing him over to the same place as well ...

Lunch at Victoria Station

After my well-documented disappointment with the Jalan Ampang branch of Victoria Station, we decided to give its other branch, the one in Medan Damansara a go. Since my Dad's birthday was early in the week, we decided to have lunch there. Both my parents and in-laws were there, and of course the boys went along.

I had the chili spare ribs, and yes, it was better than the branch in Jalan Ampang. My Dad-in-law's trout was a downer though. The fish at Cosy Corner at Ampang Park was a lot better and fresher. For some reason, Idlan enjoyed the steak today. Normally he would go for chicken or fish. he finished half a steak - off my Mum's plate.

For a Sunday afternoon, the place was very quiet. I was not sure if business was going down, as the Jalan Ampang branch was almost always full for lunch. Since we were practically the only ones there, we were looked after well, and the food arrived very quickly.

In practical terms, the quality of the food at Victoria Station had been steadily declining over the last couple of years. Even the standard at the Medan Damansara branch had dropped compared to the years gone by, even though the prices had gone up. Before long, I would be looking for my steak fix somewhere else.

Birthday Do at Victoria Station

Today happens to be my brother-in-law's 47th birthday. We decided to have dinner at Mum-in-law's favourite place, the Victoria Station at Jalan Ampang. My brother being a trained cook, knows the manager there but unfortunately there were a few complains.

The food was good as usual. I had my usual shrimp cocktail, chili spare ribs and starfruit juice. I noticed straight away that the quantity is smaller. Not only that, the garnish for the baked potato is also different and the dressings wasn't that plentiful. I thought I was imagining things, but then my father-in-law started complaining about the size of his steak. The manager argued that it has always been the same size but he got no answer when my dad pointed out that it is now queen's cut rather than king's, whatever that meant. The manager seemed surprised.

Irfan sampling some cake

The two boys had spaghetti and bread. Anita had some fish. The next thing I needed to point out is the service. The waiters used to be a mixture of local and Philipinos. They speak very good English and communication have never been an issue. Now, there are replaced with Bangladeshis, or at least for that shift. They were slow, rude and difficult to communicate with. I given up asking for water after calling twice. They need to improve. Even the Mamak stall workers treat customers better than them.

Idlan cannot be bothered and continue on with his Snoot Blaster!

Next came the biggest shock. I took Irfan to the toilet to clean up his mess. He was covered with spaghetti literally. Oh my God! The toilet was bad. I never knew the restaurant to be this bad. The urinals were dirty and it smells! Victoria Station used to be better than this, or have I missed the toilet all these years I frequented them?

I don't think anybody related to the joint read all this but if they do, something needs to be done. There used to be big businessman and VIP, not to mention Johnny Foreigners from around the Ampang Hilir area coming through this place. Imagine the business they are going to lose if they keep this up? Good luck to them! Please email me if the manager happen to read this blog, and I am expecting free lunch at the very least!