Friends Restaurant @ Jelita - Will I Recommend?

Let me put this statement upfront first:

Everything recorded here is based on my experience and my opinion, your experience and thoughts might be different. 

Friends Restaurant @ Jelita had received a number of Awards and appeared in the Press a few times too with raved reviews. But seriously, in my opinion, its over-rated.

Let's Talk About Service:

Unless the food is horrendous, I would normally patronise a restaurant again if the service is great! Nothing feels better than to dine in a place filled with smiling and willing-to-serve waiters and waitresses.
I seriously cannot find a better word to describe the service at Friends Restaurant @ Jelita than this word: Abysmal
*Eyes Rolled*

There were only two waitresses in the restaurant when we went there for our Wedding Anniversary lunch at about 1.45pm. We were served concurrently by two waitresses, who were in their late 30s or early 40s. I am fine with age. Nothing against age. But maybe because of tiredness, they seemed really unwilling to hear what we have to say or ask. Then I was proven wrong when they served a table with one Eurasian and two other gentlemen who were very well dressed. They smiled as they served the men and were particularly attentive to that table. Why double-standard to such an extreme extend?!


We were Not the only one who went there with a Deal.com.sg voucher. There was another uncle there dining with that "privilege" too. And its obvious that they treated us like we were in for a free meal. I think I do not need to elaborate on how unlikeable those expression on their faces were. *double eyes rolled* As for others who paid full price for their lunch there were not given smiles at all either. Same sort of uninviting attitude was presented.Very bias indeed.

As if a second class treatment was not bad enough, both waitresses talked so softly. Yes, I understand that you are trying to mimic that of a posh French restaurant. But the volume of your speech should At Least be loud enough to be heard!!! I had to keep repeating what she had said so as to make sure that there is no misunderstanding of any sort.

A couple before us reached the place just few seconds earlier than us, but our appetizers came first, which was horribly pathetically little, unlike that couple's, which was served to them few minutes after ours. Their portion was much much more.

Our appetizers plates were wiped clean in three mouths and we were waiting for our main course to arrive. But it did not. Instead the couple, which we had been watching like a hawk, had gobbled down their big portion of appetizer AND big portion of main course and our MAIN COURSEs were NO WHERE NEAR MY TABLE yet!!! Can you imagine how long we waited?!

That's it for service.
Totally Unacceptable in my opinion!

Let's Talk About The Management:

I had purchased OTHER dining vouchers from Deal.com.sg and the dining experiences in THOSE RESTAURANTS were NOT discounted in any way. A discount voucher used in THOSE restaurants meant we get the same type of food, with the same portion and at the same quality.

But not for Friends Restaurant @ Jelita. In Friends Restaurant @ Jelita, we get the same type of food, with the discounted portion!

The portion served was worse than a kids meal in my opinion! Even my children's kids set lunch, which we paid FULL PRICE for, looks better!

Thank goodness there were others who ordered the same food as us, but they were paying full price, so I could see a BIG difference between these other diners and ours. Which makes me feel that the Friends Restaurant management is MORE CALCULATIVE than other restaurants who gave discounts on the price and not on the portion of the meal.

Please allow me to elaborate on how pathetic the servings were on every dish we had.

Appetizer: Angelhair

Our twirl was the size of a RockingHam hotdog.
Others who paid full price had a twirl at least 2.5 to 3 times more than ours.

Soup: Allan had Mushroom Soup and I had Clam Borsch

Our soup was served in a cup like that of Ya Kun's coffee cup, it was THAT mini.
Others who paid full price had the same type of soup in a 'real' bowl!


Main Course: Allan had Chicken and I had Ribeye.
To add to the 'Stinginess' of the restaurant management, we were required to pay $5.00 extra for the Ribeye and that did not mean we were given the same portion as those who paid full price. Which makes it that much more ridiculous! *Super eyes rolled*
Allan's Chicken had 3 pieces of breast meat. The size of the 3 slices of breast meat were the size of one drumstick.
Others who paid full price had TWO drumsticks AND ONE wing!


My Ribeye is one medium slice.
Others who paid full price had TWO big slices.

Dessert: Cake

Ours were one slice each.
Others who paid full price had TWO slices each.


At the end of this, I only have these to say to the management of Friends "If you want to give a discount, make sure that it IS a discount. If the portion of the food is reduced, then, its NOT called a discount on the price, its called a food sampling session. Don't do such a thing when other big and famous restaurants are giving discounts on price WITHOUT compensating on the portion of the food served. That is TRUE discount! Your actions made me feel really disgusted."

Let's Talk About Food:

Appetizer: Angelhair

It was a very refreshing taste. It does open up your senses, makes you feel hungry and leave you wanting to eat more. So can you imagine how horrible we felt? We were feeling hungry and we had to wait so damn long (remember the story above?) before our main course came. *eyes rolled*

Soup: Mushroom Soup and Clam Borsch

My boys are fans of Mushroom Soup, but even they did not show much interest in Friends Restaurant's mushroom soup. To us, adults, its just ok.
As for the Clam Borsch, its our first try, Allan disliked it. I am ok with it.

Main Course: Chicken and Ribeye.
Allan felt that because it was Chicken breast meat, it made the dish really dry, even with the gravy. But I loved the Chicken because it 'melted' in my mouth.
I had serious problem chewing the medium rare Ribeye. I strongly believe its my problem. But the tough chewing spoiled my appetite. I gave the remainder to Allan.

Dessert: Cake

One word : Delicious!

Verdict:

Will I go back again?
I doubt so.
At least NOT out of my own free will, that is.
Because the Original price is harder to swallow than the service of the staff and the standard of the food they serve.

Will I recommend?
I'm sorry.
NO!

293 Holland Road, #02-04 Jelita Shopping Centre, Singapore
Opening Hours
Daily: 12noon – 10pm
friendsfoodandwine.com