Some weeks ago, I had another bad dining experience using voucher and this time I was pissed, like, REALLY pissed, even now when I think about it again.
So, there is this particular restaurant or maybe “cafe” would be more appropriate to address this place, Waluma Waroeng, which is located in the golden area of Hang Lekir. It has been there for quite a while, although I always drive pass by on the way home, I had never tried it before. There were some rumors that the cafe is owned by Luna Maya, but we asked the staff and he confirmed that the owner is not her but her friend.
Actually Waluma Waroeng has the simple yet funky atmosphere in it. The place has the big potential to be a comfortable hang out spot, especially with its nice outdoor seating which is located just inside the cafe. And actually, if my visit that time was a good one, I would have come to this place more often just to relax, enjoy some live performances and drinking wines (yes, they have them, too!).
So last month, when I saw a promotion in Groupon, I bought the voucher for High Tea Package for up to 5 person. I made reservation 2 days before my visit (usually you only need H-1, though) and luckily I could make reservation smoothly although I read in their twitter that someone had problem with voucher redemption.
When I got seated, I took out the voucher and handed it to the waiter from hell who sadly was our waiter that evening. He was very impolite (or “rude”, probably describe him better) and gave us the most annoying attitude ever. When we were asking about the menu presented, he half-heartedly explained, and when he gave us 2 options out of 9 desserts (with the unexplainable reason that the other 7 were NOT AVAILABLE that very day), I asked politely whether I could go back the other day when all the items would be available. He just rudely answered me whether I had make any reservation or not. I said that I did already and I demanded better service because the person who answered my call the other day told me that reservation was needed to prepare food for voucher users like me. So supposedly there was no reason that anything could be unavailable.
Well, the waiter just continued giving the attitude, like he wanted to tell us, “just shut up and make your order!” with that face. I was so pissed and I asked to meet the manager on duty, which (of course) he replied that the manager wasn’t there that time. Then I was thinking, well, we had the choice of 5 desserts and if we had to order 2 or 3 same ones, then we might as well throw the voucher away and just left. He then pretended to read the note in his hand, later saying that we could order any desserts from the 9 options except Banana Pillow and Churros, because those two were not available. I was like, WTF!! Mr. P tried calming me down and we ordered 5 desserts and 5 coffee/tea, but seriously the only thing I wanted to do was just leaving the damn place!
You all might think why so much fuss about it, but seriously I really HATE places like this which sell vouchers but try to cheat here and there! I have read so many stories about bad experiences using vouchers, but hello?! We also pay to eat in your place and better yet, we pay before hand!! And if we are happy with our visit, it’s possible that we could be your loyal guests!
*take deep breath*
Since it was stated as “High Tea Package”, I was expecting my snacks and desserts to be served on a tiered stand, but it wasn’t. I thought I would just let this go and be hopeful with the food, but boy, I was totally wrong!
First, the desserts actually came first, and the appetizer platter was the last. And it wasn’t in sequence, but took a while until the snacks were served. Way to please your angry customers.
Pudding Caramel, Panacotta, Tiramisu
Believe it or not, all these supposedly different desserts appeared just similarly one to another, and the waiter proudly said that they were indeed what we ordered. You know, when we saw these served, we couldn’t help but laughing like crazy. The pannacotta was described as fresh vanilla infused Italian pannacotta with strawberry sauce. Sadly to say, there was no pannacotta because everything was just pudding. And correct me if I am wrong, I didn’t spot any strawberry sauce on my pannacotta plate. The other thing was the tiramisu which is described as luscious cake for those coffee lovers. Did someone mention “cake” there? Or I was just so “unlucky” that day? Well, only they knew the answers. On the brighter side, the puddings were quite nice, especially the tiramisu one because it tasted very much like tiramisu, but in pudding. The cinnamon stick garnishes were also very lovely, but I didn’t understand the spoon-shaped choco powder decoration, seriously they were ugly as hell.
Waluma’s Crepes Flambe & Original Crepes
Anyone can spot the difference? Well, we absolutely could NOT spot any so we asked the waiter about it, suspecting probable mistake in our order. He (again) impolitely answered that they were just like that, and with the same attitude showing that he didn’t even give a damn and just left right away. Waluma’s Crepes Flambe is Waluma crepe with special orange liquor or lychee, which we ordered the orange. But there was no orange whatsoever on the plate, and last time I checked, there was never any word of ice cream in the menu, then this was what I got? Call me crazy if I didn’t explode. The other one, supposedly Original Crepes, is actually crepes that are served with 2 scoops of ice creams, and choice of peach, chocolate or caramel sauce. I ordered vanilla ice cream (and the waiter refused to let me order 2 scoops and we had a short argument first before I finally asked him to READ THE MENU stating that the original crepes comes with TWO FRIGGIN’ SCOOPS OF ICE CREAM) and peach sauce, then again, this was what I got. Twin plates of totally different menu and not even close to what were written in the menu!! So what’s the point having the menu list if you can’t serve the right stuffs?!
The crepes were just pancakes in disguise, dry and hard. The ice creams were nice but were already melting when served. Quite an irony since the distance between the kitchen and our table was less than 5 meters. And again, wrong sauces, not-so-fresh strawberries. Definitely HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT.
We didn’t touch the other plate and Mr. P walked to the kitchen himself to ask what was going on. The kitchen staff only followed orders so apparently the order which was made for us wasn’t that one. So one of the kitchen staffs actually remade another plate of Original Crepes with peach sauce, and brought it to our table. We didn’t expect this and were very thankful to him for taking the initiative to apologize and make this for us.
Appetizer Mix Platter
This came the last after all desserts were served. A big minus point. And seriously, they expect this to be shared for 5 person?
Ice Tea – Lychee, Strawberry, Apple
Ice Coffee – Caramel, Hazelnut
Mantau Steam
It was surprisingly given by the kitchen staff as an apology gesture. Thank you!
Overall, not the best dining experience but not the worst. Although the waiter who served us didn’t even utter any single apology at all, but the other staffs were very helpful and trying their best to make our last minutes stay better. I probably will not come back in the mean time.
Jl. Hang Lekir II No. 4A
Kebayoran Baru
Opening Hours: Sun-Thu 10.00 – 24.00, Fri-Sat 10.00 – 02.00
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