May 30 2008
Thank God It’s Friday (TGIF)
Published by Foong under Restaurants, Western Food, Where to eat |
TH and I simply loved eating over at TGIF. We have always felt that the food there is almost similar to the ones in LA, US. I know it is an American franchise but sometimes, franchised outlets’ food differ from its country of origin. TH loves American food, a lot. When we were there on holiday, we practically pigged out at most of the restaurants and coffee houses and fast food chains, etc. Till now, we still find that they have the best ever Roast Pork Ribs and we could not find any restaurants here that can serve up such good pork ribs.
So, as an early Fathers’ Day celebration for TH, we went over to TGIF at Queensbay Mall. The only outlet in Penang. We used to go to PJ One Utama to eat at TGIF whenever we go down to KL but now, we don’t have to anymore!
The first dish is a Chicken BBQ Salad which is actually a main dish but we ordered it as a starter to share and also for my son, the veg lover.
This dish was a disappointment. The BBQ sauce taste more like ketchup than anything else! The chicken is breast meat and was not tenderised so it was stringy and quite tough. Something my son doesn’t like so he spit out most of the chicken. It comes sprinkled with mozzarella cheese too and has a vinegar dressing which I luckily ordered to be dressings aside because it was quite sour. All in, nothing so great. Just a plate of greens with some cheese, stringy chicken and ketchup pretending to be BBQ sauce.
I ordered roasted lamb shank as my main meal. I simply love roasted lamb shank and when I saw it on the newly introduced menu lists, I quickly ordered it. Not cheap though, it is RM38 per plate.
I would have to say, this dish makes up for the salad shortcoming. It was simply delectable, scrumptious and delicious. The lamb was cooked to perfection. The outside is a bit crispy and when I bite into the meat, it is juicy and soft. So soft that it almost melt in my mouth! Also, the sauce goes very well with it. My son, the picky meat eater, also loves this. It comes on a bed of mashed potatoes which are creamy and not too mushy. Obviously it is not premix powdered mashed potatoes but the real thing.
TH wanted to try something different so he ordered the chicken ciabbatta-sandwich-thingy. Just pieces of fried chicken breast meat and some vegs on the hard crust french bread thingy. Surprisingly, the sandwich thingy is really good! The bread is crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. The chicken is really tender and very tasty. It is quite dry so we have to put our own ketchup and chili sauce.
Finally, we come to dessert. I love TGIF’s mocha mud pie. It is one of the best I ever tasted in Malaysia. It is almost on par with the ones in US. Almost. It is actually frozen coffee / mocha ice cream with a layer of rich chocolate cake and smothered with rich chocolate sauce and sprinkled with almond flakes. Simply delightful! However, I felt that this particular dish is a bit off. As in, it was not as good as it used to be. Either there is a change in chef or they changed the ingredients. Still, it was good enough for me to polish it all off!
Overall, we enjoyed the food there and the lively fun atmosphere. Luckily they have non-smoking corners which are kept quite far away from the chimney-pots so our meals were not insulated with second hand smoke. Prices are steep but it is a great place for celebrations and events. The service is also exceptional now which is a vast different from when it first opened its doors in Queensbay Mall. We will definitely be back for more!
Rating: 8/10
Price: $$$
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Courtesy of Jessie, The Hungry Mouse
Courtesy of April, The Hungry Engineer
