Astons Specialties (City Square Mall)

Astons Specialties has always been one of our favourite family dining chains. Their sirloin steaks are consistently done, just right, never tough and chewy.

We decided to give the outlet at CSM a try as it just opened a few months ago and it's close to home. As expected, there was a queue which we joined. A Chinese manager (black t-shirt) went down the line, taking pre-orders on a dupe pad which we would later present to the server, once we got our table.

This manager seemed to be either very hurried, harried or just not a customer-oriented person. As he took orders from people in the line, he never looked up at the customer, wore a perpetual frown on his stony face, tore off the order and thrust it at the surprised customer. All without any eye contact at all! Even the way he handed out the menus was brusque and unceremonious. Definitely a bad start to our dinner.

The inside of the outlet is very small and cramped, like other Astons outlets. However, this problem is exacerbated by the triangular shape of the dining area, which doesn't accommodate many larger combinations of tables. Servers and guests had a hard time manouvering around that area.

Happily for us, our steaks were perfect as usual. Notably, the mashed potatoes at this outlet seem to be more than others (please don't change that!). Service was also very efficient, and pleasant. The servers are highly apologetic for any wait, and are always hovering to offer assistance or service.

Our one peeve was finding the remains of a winged insect in one of the mashed potatoes. After some futile efforts to explain the contamination, the server was profuse in her apologies and offered to replace the side dish, (which shows that Astons empowers their junior staff to offer service recovery without hesitation - good!). We declined, but suggested that the manager be informed for quality checks. The cashier likewise was pleasant and genuinely apologetic for the insect.

As we left the restaurant, we met the stony-faced manager again, which reminded us to dine at our regular outlet again.