So Expensive!

The last time we met when she came "home" (it's a difficult concept to explain here), Marlina complained that I am brutal with restaurants that fail to meet my exacting standards. I tried to explain that I'm about as objective as I can be. Still she held her ground. Fair enough. I may be harsh but I am fair.

So, this time, I want to hit out at "Hao Kou Wei" (Good Taste) in Downtown East. It is a foodcourt but man, everything inside there was so expensive (Hao Gui). For those who know how to speak Mandarin, saying hao kouwei quickly will get you hao gui.

From the rice stall, the kung pao chicken had more pieces of chicken skin than chicken meat, the sweet and sour pork had more pork rind and fats than pork; the vegetables were not washed clean and the portions were awfully small.

From the Korean food stall, the uncle is a lascivious scrooge. When he gives side dishes to go with your meal, he believes that giving you one additional anchovy will cause you gout, he believes that an additional kimchi piece will lead you to be unkissable for the entire night.

From the pig organ soup stall, the organ pieces are so small you can floss your teeth with them, the soup is heavily seasoned with MSG so you feel as though the soup is chockful of goodness, the pre-packed food stuff (e.g. meatballs) are boiled to death in the soups to coax every single ounce of articifical flavour out from the ball to the soup.

From the Japanese food stall, what you see is twice what you get. Enough said. From the handmade noodles stall, be thankful for what you can see, cos you almost can't eat anything. From...

Almost every stall exaggerates their portion sizes; the promise is never delivered. After your meal, you just wonder if you have actually eaten. In this regard, that food court has joined the "List of Banned Eating Places".