Bistro Delifrance (Compasspoint)

Delifrance is an all round familiar name which can probably be found in every major department store in Singapore. It begun in 1985 as a cafe officially and prior to that, have been distributing dough-made items to hotels since 1983. It brand owner actually heralds from France under the company name of Grand Moulins de Paris (GMP), which have been in the business since early 1900. With such a diverse and sound pedigree, its only right that Delifrance serves good food right?

For a cafe that was and still is priced at a premium, the restaurant really isn't much to look at. If you ask me, the only thing i've ever enjoyed from Delifrance was its mayo chicken or crab with croissants. And that was a pretty long time ago when the items were going for less then $6. Prices have skyrocketed since then however, and Delifrance is now known as Bistro Delifrance which supposedly offers better service and gourmet food.

Caesars Salad ($7.95) - In 2 words? Rip off. A small amount of lettuce with some crumbs and fake bacon pieces with thousand island sauce. It wasn't even fresh to begin with and the service was terrible to say the least. Is this just a bad start or was the visit doomed before it began?

Beef And Fish Combo ($19.90) - This is a rather self explanatory dish. Beef, egg, potato wedges and fish in bread crumbs. And somehow, they managed to make a perfectly simple dish perfectly bad. The wedges were (drum roll) cold in the middle, which means they did not thaw it enough and it wasn't fried well. The beef came well done which meant it was rubbery and required a chainsaw to get through. What really dissed me was that the service staff didn't even ask if i wanted the beef done in any way. The fish was also equally badly done, with a strong fishy taste and also inadequately thawed. The only thing they did not screw up was the egg but then again, i'm sure i can do a better job even with that one.

Choc Fondant ($5.50) - This was not my dessert. I specifically ordered a molten chocolate cake but was given the chocolate fondant instead. However, i did not bother to argue because, i've already waited 20 minutes after my meal for them to serve the dessert after repeated reminders and they still got it wrong. Honestly, Wall's ice cream with warm chocolate cake. Why would anyone bother paying $5 for it when its so easy to just make it ourselves?

An unsatisfying, terribly serviced and bad meal cost me $33.20 after discount. Thats $33.20 too much to pay for such a terrible experience.

What went wrong? I remembered a Delifrance where we had to self serve that gave much better food and service overall. Maybe the waitress was having a bad day but i didn't pay to see her unhappy face from problems i never want to know. Service aside, i never knew the food could be that bad. I'm utterly shocked at the quality of food i got and honestly, coming back is not something that will cross my mind for many years to come.