Monday, March 17, 2014

A Not So Sedap Experience

Warning: This is not a food review.

Dressed in black t-shirt and red shorts, her hair fashioned in a pony tail and face make up so thick you can barely make out her eyes. She walked over to take our orders and was quite annoyed we still did not know what we wanted. I forced myself to pay attention when she went through her recommendations - not because I couldn't understand her but because I was distracted in trying to figure out if she made her mouth extra pouty to accentuate her features.

We finally ordered. I asked for Penang char kuey teow and a hot teh tarik. The fact that I had an option to order cold teh tarik should have been a red flag that I am not home in food-heaven Malaysia.

My dish was last to arrive. Just as I was about to tuck in, I noticed the sausages. It was not the colour I was accustomed to. With a niggling feeling this could be what I think it is, I asked one of the girls working there the meat used. She said "chicken sausages". Just as I was about to breath a sigh of relief, she had her doubts and immediately asked her colleague - pony tail girl the same question.

"It is pork." pony tail girl replied.

My fears are founded. I am again reminded this is not Malaysia but a foreign country where it is necessary to ask the ingredients of each food type I am about to order. When there is a remote possibility of a certain ingredient to be present even when you least expect it.

I asked the waitress if it is possible to make the same dish without pork as I am not allowed to eat them. She agreed and took the dish away.

Pony tail girl comes to our table to check if there was a problem with the dish. 

"You FORGOT to tell me?!" she exclaimed with an incredulous look AND a sarcastic tone of voice after we briefly explained the situation. At that moment, her eyes seemed a little bit bigger (not that I thought it was impossible).

We told her we would still pay for the earlier dish just that we wanted a similar one without pork. She did not look pleased/placated and huffily made her way to the cashier/kitchen to relate the outcome. Maybe she thought we blamed her (we did not).

Although I admit the mistake is mine, this incident left a bitter taste in my mouth (and in my teh tarik). Pony tail girl single handedly influenced my decision to exclude Sedap, Regent Place from my list of preferred eateries. Okay, that's not entirely true. The teh tarik had a small influence too.


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Sedap is located at 501 Regent Place (George Street Level), 501 George Street, Sydney.
Opening hours: Monday to Sunday 11am - 9.30pm

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