OVO at Damansara Utama

How do I blog about this?

That was the question I had in my mind right after the food review session at OVO last Thursday. And I even tweeted about it. Friends who were there knew what I was talking about. For those of you who have read my buddy's blog entry, let me explain what happened before you go:

• OMG, free food but still bitching about service
• OMG, bloggers these days are so demanding
• OMG these ungrateful bloggers
• *eh, scroll down and read on please*

I was invited for a food review at OVO located at Damansara Uptown(DU) last Thursday. I googled OVO Damansara Utama and I did find a blog entry on it. The place does look good and it serves a mix of Japanese and Western dishes. And you betcha, I was looking forward to it without setting any expectation of how the food will taste.

The time set was 6.00pm for the food review and I did ask permission from my team lead to leave the office slightly earlier than 5.30pm; which she allowed as my work was done for the day. As I'm coming from TPM to DU, the distance including after office traffic would take approximately an hour by itself. But luck was on my side because not only did I arrive at DU by 6.00pm, I also managed to find a parking spot near OVO.  While making my way to OVO, I bumped into Evelyn, her hubby Dennis and Marcky; Yeah, we were all going for the food review.

As soon as we got there, we were greeted and told that the food photography session was taking place outside; good news for a photographer without a flash gun like me. The setup was good; a reserved area( I think), a simple white table cloth to set the mood for the food photography session. Everything seems to be going well.

Here are my sets of pictures.

By the time I was done taking photos, I was starving. So I guess you could tell that we were looking forward to a good meal tasting session at least.

Well, wrong. Here is where things started to go down hill.

Having a ball(s)

Some of us were busy catching up with one another while some were just playing a game of pool. We were then invited to head over to the VIP room and order whatever we want drink. Okay, great; just like any food tasting session. Spacious, tables were all set.

Anticipating the anticipation....

....as we lay our guns to rest

It was still normal, we got our drinks taken. We were asked to order our drinks of Sprite or Coke. Its been a long time since I last had Sprite; so Sprite it is. Some of my friends ordered Guinness Stout. I was tempted but I was really hungry and I didn't feel like going for a stout at that point.

#1
Our drinks of Sprite and coke came and to our disbelief, it was WARM; NO ICE CUBES. Even the kicap stored in the bottles would have been cooler. After seeing that the service was tardy, we made do with the drinks.

Where is the ice? I think I know the answer from Marcky's blog

They got served

#2
Stouts were served. Those that ordered had their drinks except for one. My friend Evelyn even made her order TWICE during the order taking but still it wasn't served.

Note: At this point, we were asked "Alright folks, who here takes oysters and who doesn't". Probably to avoid wastage; fair enough.

#3
Although I did not order the stout, I was shocked. Why? Mike was presented with a bill for the stouts. I could see my friend's facial expression; a mix of shocked and annoyed. Firstly, we were told to order what we want and weren't told about which drinks were free and which were not part of the deal. And I was thinking to myself, even if we DO have to pay for the stout, can't they hold on to the bill until we were done? I mean isn't it the norm? If I remember correctly, places where they would collect your money before one gets to dig into their food are hawker centers. So what's up?

#4
Mocktails were served at each table. Okay so we were told their names and some of their concoction and stuff. I'll be honest here, I'm not a mocktail person but 1 of the drink tasted like cough syrup.

#5
After the long wait, the food was finally served. Yes, we were all agitated, hungry and upset at that point. First dish was the Salmon, pasta and lamb that you saw earlier but they tweaked the serving size(smaller portion) to make room for us to try other things. Fair enough. 

Looks delicious

Okay so each of us gets one but....we were lacking 2 or more pieces for our table. It was mediocre to be honest. You could get something similiar or better say...at Sushi Tei.

After the sushi, we were served this dessert which you see here. The ice cream cake was not bad except that the cake was still a little frozen but the ice cream was good. I enjoyed that.

Eh wait a minute, DESSERT? Isn't dessert served at the end of meals? Where are the oysters? Where are the fish roe sushi which looks like California Maki? Where are the scallops? Let me refresh your memory:

After some checking, I heard that there were not enough oysters for everyone. Seriously? You gotta to be kidding right?

Okay food was done. We were still hanging around and chatting. I was thristy and wanted another glass of Sprite. I assumed the soft drinks were on the house since they were charging for the guinness stout. I asked for a glass of Sprite with ice this time.

Waiter: "Sorry, no refills."
Andrew: *WTF* "Huh? then ice water please"

I guess its my mistake to assume things? Just like my work, never assume a requirement; get it checked and confirmed. I went ahead with just a glass of ice water. Pathetic to be honest.

We left OVO soon after for a "proper" meal on our own.

-End of story-

So at the end of the day, how do I blog about it?

Firstly, we all know how the food review session went. It wasn't up to expectation not because we're full of ourselves but it was just not right.

Secondly, we were invited by our friend Mike. Do we blog about it just to show what OVO has to offer? Sugar coat all the flaws? If we talked bad about the food review, will it affect Mike because he was the one who invited us? We could see Mike was feeling bad and annoyed as well because of the service, drinks and food. I could somehow relate to him.

Last month, I invited a few friends over to my friend's newly opened restaurant and bar at TTDI called 42 East. I haven't been there before but yet I'm inviting friends to try out the place. I was worried about the food and drinks. Despite having more turnouts than expected, my friend said "No worries, just come and enjoy". With that being said, free flow of drinks such as Margaritas(or a certain time frame), FULL SLAB of awesome tender juicy pork ribs were served. Everyone loved it and I felt satisfied and at ease.

Sadly, the situation was otherwise for Mike.

Thirdly, even if we sugar coat it, how would it reflect on your own ethics, honesty and style of blogging? I was stuck because no way I was going to review the food.

Food bloggers, they only abuse the power of social media. There might be bloggers who free loads on food when it comes to food review but 1 rotten apple doesn't ruin the entire barrel. Everyone blogs for their own interest. I enjoy every event and food review that I attend. I strive to improve my photograph taking skills.

I may not write as lengthy as others. I may not have awesome pictures as others but I enjoy my art. I love spending time editting my pictures and drafting my blog entry because after all, its here on MY blog; my journal, my diary.

There is no such thing as a free meal; I agree. I'm not speaking on other's behalf but I'm sure most of you will agree that we have to fork out our own money for petrol, time and energy to brave through traffic jams to meet the designated time of an event. And then comes the time to choose and edit photographs taken from the event. Lastly, one would write about it to share.

We, bloggers, food bloggers, floggers whatever you wanna brand yourself, have our image and etiquette to uphold. Please do not treat us as cheap online advertisement tool.

So how should I blog about it? Or have I already did.