When
Alicia asked me to lunch, she said I should pick the place but it turns out
that she chose Seven Oaks because she’s heard so much about it.
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| Seven Oaks retail level for breads and pastries |
I’ve
not dined in this café before so I readily agreed to her suggestion.
I’m
familiar with the site where Seven Oaks Bakery Café is situated and I watched
as the building took shape. When its
doors were opened, there was a great deal of hype, particularly for their famous
molten salted-egg croissants. While, I’m
a great fan of salted-egg flavoured food, I did not join the mad queues for a
taste of the much-touted croissants.
One
of the considerations about dining in Taman Pelangi is the challenge of finding
a proper parking space so as we are driving there, we send up an arrow prayer
for a parking spot within a reasonable distance from Seven Oaks. And lo and behold – when we turn into Jalan
Serampang, an empty lot is waiting for us!
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| Dining hall on upper level |
A
security guard, who also doubles up as the doorman, politely opens the door for
us.
The
ground level is the retail section for bread and pastries while the café is on
the upper floor. It’s just one flight of
stairs up but there is also an elevator for guests to ride up and down more
conveniently. Later I notice that there
is yet another flight of stairs up to the next level of dining area, so it
makes sense to have an elevator for guests with young families and senior
citizens.
From the façade’s ornate design, I
expected the decor in the café to be equally opulent and I was not wrong. Salon brocade chairs, upholstered chairs, crystal
chandeliers, heavy curtains, wallpaper with brocade designs, wrought iron
balustrades and a vintage scallop-edged lampshade with tassels, simply reek of
the Regency era. I thought I had walked
into the pages of Pride and Prejudice and half-wished to meet with my Mr Darcy
here!
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| Elevator service! |
The
tableware and cutlery are well laid but an electronic call button on the table
seemed rather incongruous to the lavish setting. I guess this call button is necessary,
especially for guests at tables that are situated behind the staircase and
elevator shaft, who needed to call for service.
So from time to time, I can hear that “ding-dong” chime over the
piped-in music.
The
wait staff seem to be well-trained to a point.
She leaves the menus with us with an assurance that she will be back to
take our orders.
I’m
quite excited to see Lobster Bisque and Clam Chowder in the menu but before I
place our soup orders, I ask the waitress if they are made from fresh
ingredients or if it was from a can. She
replies, without hesitation that it was all own-made. Alicia then picked the bisque while I chose
the chowder.
Besides
the main menu, there is a separate page for lunch promotions. We take our time to look through the choices
before making a decision on our main course items. When we are giving our orders to the
waitress, only then are we told that the particular item picked from the lunch
promo menu, is not available.
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| Crystal chandeliers and wrought iron balustrades |
I
can’t help feeling rather miffed because the waitress should have mentioned
ahead that all items in the promo menu are available except this or that
item. Then we need not waste time
considering those choices which are already no longer available!
So
a few more minutes are spent in making an alternative main course choice. After our meal order was taken by one
waitress, another came to our table with the order print-out to request us to
confirm if the order was accurate.
Order-takers are wearing hands-free speakers and some sort of a radio
transmitter in their pockets that emitted scratchy sounds – which I can hear
when they are nearby.
The
waitress also gave each one of us, separate print-outs with our free WIFI user
names and passwords that are valid for four hours’ use. This reminds me of my experience at a coffee
place in New Zealand that offered limited usage of their free WIFI with the password
printed on the bills.
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| Vintage scallop-edged lampshade with tassels! |
But
here, each diner receives individual print-outs with passwords! I guess the culture of photo-taking and
instant posting in social media, is much encouraged.
Our
soup is served in elegant bowls and even before we finished, our main course
items arrive at the table. I tell the
waitress to set it down while we finish our soups. I thought that with the number of wait staff
equipped with radio transmitters, they could have been more attentive to keep
an eye on guests who have finished their soups before sending the freshly
prepared main courses to the table. They
were, however, attentive to remove empty dishes from the table while we
continue with our meal.
Alicia
said that she didn’t want any coffee after the meal because lately, she was not
sleeping as soundly as she wished. This
gives me an opportunity to use the call button to summon the waitress and she
comes soon after the “ding-dong” chime sounded.
“Do
you serve decaf coffee?” I ask her, in the hope of getting a decaffeinated
coffee for Alicia. But the waitress
responds with a puzzled look and I safely conclude that they don’t have any
because she didn’t even understand what I wanted.
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| Ornate framed mirror with matching ornate table for the sink in the restroom |
After
a moment’s hesitation, she tells me that she will check. When she comes back with a negative reply, she
repeated my coffee order – less one for Alicia.
As
in any café or restaurant, I must have a peep into the restroom. When I see the dual sign on a single door, Ally
McBeal comes to mind. As I enter, I’m
forewarned that I may meet a male user in the restroom…
While
the individual toilet cubicles are designed with modern fixtures and opaque
glass doors, the centerpiece in the restroom must be the ornate framed mirror
above the sink, complete with a brass decorative faucet, set on an equally
ornate table!
On
my way back to our table, I pass a cake counter with rows of beautifully
decorated pastries and pause for a closer look. Assistant Manager, Pancho Galvez, welcomes my
interest in their cakes and pointed out that their best-seller is the D’or, a
rich chocolate confection with a hint of cherries.
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| D'or, a rich chocolate confection with a hint of cherries |
I
simply have no room left to savour their cakes so I agree with Alicia that we
should probably keep the cakes for another visit to Seven Oaks for afternoon
tea.
When we paid the bill, the waitress gives us a feedback form to complete. I ask in jest if I may be brutally frank and she replies, "Yes!" with a smile. I ask Alicia for her comments as I complete the form and return it to the waitress. Its good to know that this cafe is serious about providing quality standards in food and service and I hope they will take the feedback constructively, to make all the necessary improvements.
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| Seven Oaks - There's always room for cake! |
It is a little after 2.30pm when we come downstairs to the retail level to look
at the bread and pastries. We are
inevitably seeking out their popular molten salted-egg croissants but in
vain. One of the helpful sales
assistants must be listening in to our chat because she supplied us with the
answer to our futile search.
We
are so naïve! Apparently, fans of the molten
salted-egg croissants are aware that the daily batch should be ready for sale
at 2pm and they will join the queue to buy, from about 1.45pm. When they start to sell the croissants at
2pm, she said they would be sold out in about 20 minutes!
Ah! No wonder there is not a trace of the elusive
molten salted-egg croissants then! So
this is yet another reason to visit Seven Oaks again – timed to join the queue
at 1.45pm – to ensure that we can buy a croissant or two when they go on sale
at 2pm!
Seven
Oaks Bakery Cafe is at No. 134, 134-A & 134-B, Jalan Serampang, Taman
Pelangi. Johor Baru. Tel: 607 - 338
3377. Website: www.sevenoaks.com.my
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