Review Rating: ⭐⭐ (Below Average)
Address: G-6, Ground Floor, Holiday Villa, 260, Jalan Dato Sulaiman, Taman Abad, 80250 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia (Located within Holiday Villa Hotel)
Google Map Link: https://maps.app.goo.gl/j1oAQCkJkbWxkecM9
(Please refer to the Timings provided in the Google Map Link for the Operating Hours.)
AC020 佛钵咕噜肉 Fried Sweet & Sour Pork RM15.00
鲜虾烧卖皇 Steamed Pork Dumpling with Prawn (Siew Mai) RM9.80
水晶虾饺皇 Steamed Prawn Crystal Dumpling (Har Gao) RM9.80
Service Tax 6% = RM2.08
Service Charge 10% = RM3.43
Here is the Full Menu of the Eatery/Restaurant.Prices are Accurate as of the Date of the Post.
This is an Atas Chinese Dim Sum Restaurant. Even before entering the Main Entrance, they have External Speakers playing some Modern Chinese 古风 Styled of Instrumental Music to get you into the Mood. 🎵🎶 I'll admit this worked for me, and initially gave me an Impression that this place is probably going to be good. 😍
As you enter, you will reach their Lobby. Although the Official Opening Time was 9.00am, there were already at least 15 Customers waiting at the Lobby at 8.50am on a Friday Morning when I was there. 😳 When you are here, you're supposed to go up to the Counter and register yourself. Tell the Counter how many people are dining and give your name.
Issue Number 1:
The Lobby Counter staff is a Young Malay Chap, and I feel he could be Friendlier actually. 🤔 He was raising his Voice in an Unfriendly Manner and barking out names of Registered Customers to let them know they can go up to the Restaurant. 🤔 I don't know why but the Irritated Tone of his Voice rubbed me the Wrong Way. I wished he at least Smiled and practiced some Proper Customer Service instead of barking names loudly to Customers like the way he did. 🤔
Issue Number 2:
So the Main Restaurant is up on the 2nd Level and there is a Flight of Stairs that you need to climb up. 🧗There are no Elevators available. So if you have Mobility Issues, you might want to take note of this.
Side Note: I also noticed that the Lobby allowed Customers who are holding Luggages to park their Luggage at the Lobby. 🧳 Its not kept in a Secured Area however, so park your Luggage at the Lobby at your own risk.
The Interior of the Restaurant
The Restaurant itself opens at 9.00am on the Dot without any delays. 👍The Whole Restaurant Interior Area is quite Large as you can see in my Video. Its Nicely Furnished and looks very Posh as a Chinese Restaurant should be. 👍 Looks Cleanly Maintained, the Place is Nicely Airconditioned and Comfortable.
You will be directed by the Staff to be seated. I was directed to sit at a section that was somewhat further and at a more Empty Section of the Restaurant. While it is less noisy and away from the Noisy Crowd of most other Customers, there is an Issue with this. 🤔
Protip: I would recommend to request to be seated where the Most Customers are seated instead. You will understand why later in the Review. 🤔
Once seated, a Staff will come over and take your order. The Young Lady who attended to me had a Happy and Cheerful Smile ☺️ which I appreciated compared to that Commanding Barking Tone of that Malay Chap at the Lobby. 👍 The Menu is only 1 Sheet of Items as you can see in my Photo Collection.
Do note, this Staff that comes to take your order at your Table will only bring you the items that are listed under the "Ala Carte 单点" section of the Menu. These are apparently the more Premium Items I guess? 🤔The (AC020 佛钵咕噜肉 Fried Sweet & Sour Pork) that I ordered is from this "Ala Carte 单点" and it was served up to me quickly in about 2 Mins.
If you want to order the Dim Sums, you will need to wait for their Dim Sum Pushcart to roll over to your Table before you are able to order them. Just like a Traditional HK Dim Sum Pushcart style. 🛒
Issue Number 3:
(The Straw that Finally Broke the Camel's Back)
Because the Dim Sums need to be ordered from the Dim Sum Pushcart, you have to wait for it to be rolled to your Table. Now the Main Reason why I recommend to sit near to where the Most Customers are seated is because the PushCarts give Higher Priority by rolling to these Areas first. 🤔 I remember seeing 3 Pushcarts available in this Whole Restaurant and all of them went there first. I get it that they would prioritize rolling these Pushcarts to the area with the Most Customers, what I didn't like was when I tried to get the attention of one of the Pushcart, the guy just looked at me blankly and just rolled the Pushcart away! 😳 OMG...I think this was the part where I finally snapped. 😒
Even when I signaled for that Friendly Lady Staff who initially attended to me and sought her help, she acknowledged and went to a Pushcart to inform to roll over to my Section. I'm not finding fault with her and she did help me, but still no Pushcart came, and I had to request ANOTHER Service Staff a 2nd Time. 😒 In total, I had to wait for a Total of 10 Mins before a Pushcart FINALLY rolled over to my Section. 🙄
To make matters worse, the Guy who rolled the Pushcart to my place, didn't even smile and had a 死人臭脸 that looked like I was wasting his time rolling over to my Section. 😒 At this point, my Dining Mood for this place has been Completely Crushed and Destroyed. 👎 I appreciated that the Friendly Lady Staff took the time to come over to check if the Pushcart had arrived. Unfortunately my Mood at that time was very low 😒 and while I never raised my voice, I was not happy and questioned her if the Section I sat at was the Lowest Priority for the Pushcarts. Of course she tried to pacify and apologized. I suppose she sensed my Frustration because she never dared come over to my Table anymore thoughout the rest of my Meal. 😔
I'm so sorry for being frustrated at her as she has tried her best. 😔 In fact, this Friendly Lady Staff is really the only reason why I did not give my Lowest Score to this place. She really is Very Customer Service Oriented. But unfortunately, this place has a Workflow/Process Issue that needs to be sorted out. 🤔
But it really was Frustrating to have the Pushcart guy look at me blankly and wheeled it away causing me to have to wait longer. 😒 Even when I sought help to expedite, it still took another 10 Mins before a Pushcart eventually came to my Section. And this was Early on a Weekday Morning where the Restaurant is not even 50% Crowded. 😳 Can you imagine how much longer I had to wait for the Pushcart were it to be a Busy Crowded Weekend? This is an Issue that is also highlighted by some Google Reviewers too for this place. 🤔
OK so how do the Dim Sums taste?
The Condiments were a Soy Sauce and Chilli that were placed on Every Table. Soy Sauce was Sharply Salty but is not the Good Quality Sort of Soy Sauce. It tasted more like a Cheaper Supermarket Quality type. 🤔
Chilli was a Garlic Chilli that while had an Elevated Saltier Level compared to other Garlic Chillis, I have a Feeling its still from a Bottle and not made In-House. 🤔
鲜虾烧卖皇 Steamed Pork Dumpling with Prawn (Siew Mai) = RM9.80
These were Small Sized, Decently Wrapped and had a Meaty Bouncy Chew. Its not Overly Porky, but its also not the Juicy Type and infact Somewhat Dryish. 🤔 I feel this Quality is perhaps Only Slightly Better than our Singapore Budget S$1.50 Dim Sum only. Not the type of Quality I expect from an Atas Dedicated Dim Sum Restaurant like this. 🤔
水晶虾饺皇 Steamed Prawn Crystal Dumpling (Har Gao) = RM9.80
Likewise, the Har Gaos here were also Small Sized. I did enjoy the Skin which was Soft and Melt in Mouth although it does break easily. Inside is a Very Nice Fat and Bouncy Prawn that doesn't taste Overly Prawny. 🦐 Not Juicy, there are No 汤汁 within, but I liked it. Decent and Above Average.
AC020 佛钵咕噜肉 Fried Sweet & Sour Pork = RM15.00
This is the Dish that garnered the Most Praise from Google Map Reviewers. Its essentially a Yam Ring filled with pieces of 咕噜肉 (Ku Lou Yoke). Its not a Big Yam Ring, perhaps about a Palm Sized and about an Inch in Height. The Amount is just about enough for 1 Pax.
There are 12 Pieces of 咕噜肉 (Yes, I counted them). 😅 They are Small and Bite Sized and while they do taste nice, the Actual Amount of Meat if you look at the Cross Section in my Photo is not really a Whole Full Piece of Meat. 🤔 Its actually mostly just Batter. It was just enough Meat for it to taste nice and yet also able to save money on Ingredient. 🤔
The Dish has a Delicate Crispy Outer Ring which was Nicely Fried that was both Visually Striking and was a Delightful Tease in my Mouth when I bite it. 😋 That said, the Yam Paste Meat within is actually abit Bland and lacks Oomph. 🤔
The Thing that makes this Dish work is the Nice Tangy Tasting Sweet Sour Sauce its coated with. 👍 This Sauce really was the Soul of this Dish because it helped cover up that the Ku Kou Yoke themselves didn't actually have much meat in them, and also helped improve the Taste of the Yam Paste. Without this Sauce, the Whole Dish would have been alot less impressive than it is. 🤔
I have to give credit to whoever designed this Dish because despite the Little Corners it cut, is still able to appeal to Customers because of its Unique Presentation and Smartly Utilizing a Sauce to help cover up its Shortcomings. 👍 I'm not being Sarcastic here. I honestly feel that this is a Very Clever Culinary Technique. 👍
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Conclusion and Closing Thoughts
At RM9.80 (S$3.00) for the Siew Mai, I don't feel this is worth the money because I feel its just only slightly better than a Budget S$1.50 Dim Sum we have in Singapore. 🤔
Sorry to be blunt, but for a Specialized Dim Sum Restaurant like this, I expected much Higher Quality than this.
At RM9.80 (S$3.00) for the Har Gao, I feel these are Acceptable Quality for the Price.
Not Amazing, but Decent. I don't have anything else to say about them.
At RM15.00 (S$4.60) for this Sweet Sour Pork Yam Ring is Hard to Judge. 🤔 On one hand, I feel this is Well-Designed and Well Made and it does look Visually Striking and Taste Decent. 👍Totally understand why this is Highly Raved among Google Reviewers.
But on the other hand, I can't help but feel the Effort that was being made to Cut Cost to make this, 🤔 and yet I also find the way they Cut Cost to be quite Clever too. 😅 Its really up to you how you feel about it.
What I am Disappointed though, was their Overall Service and/or Workflow Process. 👎 My Feeling for this place Dropped Steadily the more I entered this Restaurant. From an Initial "Oh this place is so easily going to get my Top Score" 😍 to "Ok, its not Top Score" 😐 and finally to "So Disappointed, this could have been so much better". 😔
All the issues that I highlighted in my Review should not have been commited by an Actual Atas Dim Sum Restaurant of this Caliber. 🤔 The Pushcart Experience especially was the one that disappointed me. 🙄 I remembered when I was in Hong Kong, the Push Cart came to me less then 2 Mins after I sat down even though the HK Eatery was Super Crowded with Customers, and yet here I have to wait at least 10 Mins for a Restaurant thats not even 50% Crowded, and even so I had to ask 2 times. 🙄
I did not mention this in the Review, but my Dim Sum Containers were even snatched away without even bothering to politely ask if they could take it away. Sheesh! 🙄 This Restaurant may look like a Atas 酒楼, but the Service Level is anything but. 👎 They need to seriously look into better improving the Overall Customer Service Experience. 🤔
Anyway this was my Personal Experience with this Restaurant. 🤔 Not a Place I would return I'm afraid. If you are here, I hope you have a Better Experience than me. Hahaha remember to request to sit nearer to where Most of the Customers are sitting if you ever want to see the Pushcart! 😅
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