California Steak House and Steamboat is located in Taman Universiti, Tanjung Malim. For the past one week, I have somehow been in the mood to try out the steak houses in town and this is the last remaining one. Well, this is the first among the lot to open up and somehow I had not visited them till today. Besides Grilled varieties, they also have Steamboat for those who are keen. This afternoon, I decided to drop in to give them a try.
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| The Restaurant in Taman Universiti |
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| Deco At The Restaurant |
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| Opening Hours |
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| Deco At The Restaurant |
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| Deco At The Restaurant |
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| Deco At The Restaurant |
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| Deco At The Restaurant |
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| A Table Reserved For Steamboat |
The restaurant has an interesting decoration which comprises of antique items as well as used sports items that are hung from the ceiling. There has been a lot of newspaper write ups on this restaurant and interestingly, none of them speak of their food but only about the decoration which had cost them close to RM 50,000 . It definitely looked very artistic but on the flip side, the place was ridiculously warm and not suitable for afternoon dining as they were not able to switch on the ceiling fans as a result of having all these things that were dangling from the ceiling. The service however was quite prompt and the moment I walked into the restaurant, a waitress immediately attended to me. I am not sure if the same reception is extended during busy hours as I was the only one dining here at this hour. I believe that most of their business happens at night, primarily due to this heat issue.
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| Ordering Chit |
Their menu had a range of Western dishes with only two pages dedicated to their Steamboat offerings. It seems that their Steamboat is packaged with a certain number of pax. Well, since I was here to try their Western dishes, this did not become an issue for me. After having gone through their menu, I had to fill my orders at their Order Chit which was provided along with the menu. Their prices are definitely higher when compared to the other players in town. Let me see what the portions are like and if the taste lives up to the price. An interesting comment was seen at the footer of the Ordering Chit which was about the waiting time for the food to be delivered. Well, grilling does take time and I certainly understand that. Once I had filled the Ordering Chit, I returned it to the waitress.
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| Coffee @ RM 1.50 |
I ordered a glass of the above Local Coffee and it was served fairly quickly. This was priced at RM 1.50 which seemed like a very reasonable price to me. The taste was good too and the Coffee was wonderfully fixed. I would rate this at 9/10 . A good Coffee for sure!
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| Cream Of Mushroom @ RM 4.00 |
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| Cream Of Mushroom @ RM 4.00 |
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| Cream Of Mushroom @ RM 4.00 |
To start off my lunch, I ordered the above Cream of Mushroom which was priced at RM 4.00 . A funny thing here is that they provided me with a table spoon instead of a soup spoon. I guess those etiquette's are not practiced here. Well, I don't want to be petty and just ignored it. The soup was nothing much but the canned Campbell Soup that is sold off the shelf. RM 4.00 for this was surely on the high side and the soup was lumpy and not thoroughly stirred. I would not want to rate this as it does not make sense as any credit for this technically should go to Campbell and not the restaurant. As mentioned earlier, the preparation was not perfect for something simple like this and that's a let down. Overall, not a recommended dish!
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| Grilled Chicken Chop @ RM 10.00 |
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| Grilled Chicken Chop @ RM 10.00 |
I ordered their Grilled Chicken Chop and requested for this to be served with Black Pepper Sauce. This was served with some Fries, Coleslaw and some Chili Sauce. It took them approximately 20 minutes for the dish to be served and that seemed like a very reasonable preparation time to me.
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| Ridiculously Small Grilled Chicken |
Their Grilled Chicken was pathetically small, if you look at the earlier photograph, three to four mouthful's is what it takes to finish this small piece of meat. The Chicken was ultra thin too. Perhaps they must be using real small birds to keep their costs low. Taste wise however, it was quite good. The meat was perfectly grilled and the Black Pepper Sauce was well prepared. As for the taste, I would rate this at 8.5/10 . Nevertheless, it looked like a rip off to me as the portion was ridiculously small, way smaller than their other competitors in town.
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| Lavish Portion of Fries |
Their Fries however came in a lavish portion, perhaps to fill in the spaces on the plate. The Fries too tasted good. Despite being the ready made ones, they were deliciously prepared with skill. Loved their Fries and I would rate this at 9/10 .
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| A Scoop Of Coleslaw |
Their Coleslaw too tasted nice but once again, it was puny. It was literally one scoop, measured using a table spoon. This is definitely the least amount of coleslaw served on a plate of Chicken Chop that I have seen throughout my entire life. Taste wise, I would rate this at 7/10 .
As an overall dish, I would only rate this Grilled Chicken Chop at 6.5/10 . The reason simply being the portions which is simply not acceptable for the price charged. If we compare this to their nearest competitors who are based in Taman Bahtera, the latter would beat these guys flat ....... in taste, portion as well as reception. Good for a single experience. Would I return? Maybe, just maybe. Until and unless I hear that the portions have improved, it's rather unlikely although they taste decent. As a consumer, I would only prefer to spend my money where the returns are best.
Address: No. 31, Jalan U1, Taman Universiti, 35900 Tanjung Malim, Perak, Malaysia.
Opening Hours: Sat - Thurs 1200 - 2300
Fridays 1500 - 2300
Telephone: +6012 4797 584 Chef Shuid
+6019 219 6800 Nor Haslina
Website: http://californiasteakhouse.wix.com/californiasteakhouse
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