Pink But Not From Blushing

I love cafes and the smaller and more intimate they are the better. And, I love cafes that offer simple, quality food. The style of cooking, whether local, Western or any other types isn't a problem for my taste buds. My problems always start with bad service, something I have zero tolerance of.

A Saturday afternoon spent with old friends I've always planned to meet but never got to is my idea of a great chill-out session. The one I had last weekend was simply great.

Want to take a guess where I chill at with my friends?

There were so much laughter, even when two of the "friends of my friends" I've hardly met or known came to make the threesome into a fivesome.

Everyone has had their meal and drinks so that left me, the lone ranger who is always late for her food. I waived at the wait staff and he brought me the menu. Placing an order was fast because the menu is very impressive and the choices plenty.

My favourite late breakfast - waffle serves with butter.

Knowing full-well what I wanted and that was another light "breakast" (at tea time) to add to the single toast with choc drink in the morning, I pointed at the Waffle served with marmalade and butter. My favourite, a Flat White was to accompany the waffle.

As is the norm with me, my order, if it includes a Flat White, follows a specific pattern. The coffee must never come before the main food ordered. The coffee must come together with the food.

There's a simple logic to this - food outlets in Malaysia take ages to bring out the main meal. So if you were to order coffee, and the coffee comes to your table, it will be sorely cold by the time your food arrives. And what’s the golden rule for drinking coffee? Yes, drink it hot.

I like my coffee hot, please.

All's good as the wait staff gave me a smile, after taking my order and disappeared to the kitchen counter. The only problem was, he didn't come back with my food even after half an hour of waiting.

I waited, and waited, and waited. No, no food arrived. My girlfriend got edgy. By the look on her face I knew she was about to turn into a bitch, not that she isn't already even without anger seeping in.

When a wait staff finally got to our table and our queries answered, my coffee arrived. The waffle didn't. So I waited, and waited. And my girlfriend and her girlfriend got edgy. Only my girlfriend's husband had one nice thing to say: They are normally quite efficient.

After several long minutes, and the four decided they've waited long enough and that they have work to do, my waffle arrived, after the coffee of course, which arrived much earlier (not according to what was specified, right?). So they sat down again to accompany me.

The waffle looked good with a sprinkling of sugar powder on top of it. It was spongy and fluffy and brown, just the way I like it. And that was it. Neither the promised caramel nor butter were any where to be seen.

When I asked the wait staff about the missing condiments, he said, "Yes, we have but you have to ask for them."

Really? When they are actually already included in the menu?

Here's a tiny helping of butter. Enjoy.

The wait staff disappeared and then re-appeared with one, just one miserable tiny butter cube in his hands. No marmalade and just one tiny cube of butter. I was tempted to say: Shall I bring my tub of butter next time?

I ate silently. My girlfriend was pissed off but she had to leave. So she picked up the bill and paid her portion. I said I'd pay mine on a separate bill. They left.

Less than five minutes I decided to go because I've downed my coffee as it was getting cold. So I told the wait staff to please pack the remaining waffle. He did. No, no butter or marmalade included.

I asked for the bill. It was RM13.50. I asked why? He said they gave me complimentary coffee due to the delay with my food. I smiled at him, placed RM20 on the tray and said it was ok and left.

I wasn't about to make the wait staff pay for anything, even if it was their inefficiency that caused the delay.

So off I go. Five hours later my girlfriend called. "Did you pay for your food?" she asked. Of course I did. Her voice was fuming mad. First the delay in sending the coffee and waffle. Then they charged us twice! My girlfriend paid for my food and then they charged me again. Hello?

The Pink Sage can make a cool place to chill at - in the day or the evenings.

Today I got a message on my FB wall: "I got the waffle refunded." "The waffle". So now I'm wondering if they also refunded the bill for coffee, which they wanted to give me as complimentary to which I rejected. Hmm ...

In case anyone is wondering what happend to the waffle I packed home, well, I threw them in my kitchen bin.

I've been to the cafe and is impressed with the wait staff's mannerisms, the menu, the outlet in itself and even its website. But, I'm not impressed with the service. Now, if anyone can tell me it just happened to be my bad day then I have no reason to return to:

The Pink Sage Diner & Pantry
A4-UG-01 Solaris Dutamas
1 Jln Dutamas 1
50480 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
phone: +6016 205 2023
http://www.thepinksage.com/