Lunch at Garibaldi

Just a few weeks back, I had lunch with some colleagues at Garibaldi in Bangsar Village. As you enter the restaurant from the lower ground floor (which we did), you'd arrive into a rather bistro-club like atmosphere for beer drinking and darts and it turned out that this floor was for lighter dining and fast food. The waiter gave us the choice and up we went to the second floor where the ambiance was completely different with a rather crisp and clean feel. Liked the setting. Didn't like the service as much need to be improved if they were to call themselves a fine dining spot. For one, the waiters need to be trained in service - you don't hold the inner rims of the dishes you are serving as no one wants to eat from stained plates (the servers never wore gloves). Secondly, the waiters seemed to be not very aware of the dishes they are serving from the menu - try asking them for explainations...and they charge you RM40++ for drinking water because the waiters failed to inform you that the water thay are serving is bottled mineral water, not plain drinking water. We never made any fuss about that but I still think the fault is with the way the waiters are trained (not that they understood a word in italian to start with), and this is supposed to be the "premier" Italian restaurant in town.

 Liked the calm setting...

While waiting, some amuse bouches were served: salmon mousse with lumpfish roe (call it caviar if you like but Beluga they are not). OK. Not shouting for attention. I find them tasting bit like tasters you get at  gallery openings.

 The foccacia was nice, with dipping provided (Balsamic vinegar and olive oil).

I ordered the set menu with the zucchini flan because I am not crazy about beet roots. I find the flan tasting tad floury or undercooked. Presentation was good but taste-wise was disappointing. Good way to know if you'll ever go back to an expensive restaurant is to test their set menu - if the preset offerings do not meet your expectations, chances are, you'll never find them in the a la carte. Quality needs to be consistant.

The beet root salad that my friend had. Didn't want to tell me friends then because it would be disappointing for their experience but they could have done better with the quality of the lettuce. These are cheap supermarket variety. Dommage.

 Braised lamb: we expected chunks of lamb but got minced meat. I was told it was salty. Couldn't verify as I didn't try that.

The salmon that I ordered. The waiter asked me how I wanted my salmon done and I said medium. I got it well done. Not amusing.

The least amusing part - this seemingly delicious chocolate pudding (or fondant - couldn't remember) was extremely floury and heavy and I didn't like it at all. Has a very strange burnt coconuty - chocolaty taste to it (reminds me of a under done pasar malam kuih bakar).

The verdict: I will say 5.5 out of 10 for the experience. definitely not worth your ringgit eating here.