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Review: Fig & Olive Cafe
By estar | August 30, 2007
Feeling rather adventurous one Saturday evening, Daniel and I decided to brave the crowds at VivoCity for dinner. Knowing we would get lost in the vast expanse of the shopping mall, we searched the VivoCity website for eating places before setting out. We decided on Fig & Olive Cafe - we once saw its Tanjong Pagar branch fully-packed and figured that was a good sign…
Upon arrival, we were ushered to our seats promptly and handed menus. The ambience was casual, and I liked the mango yellow and terracotta walls so much so I got Daniel to take photos of them as reference for the renovation of our new flat.
The menu was limited, featuring mostly sandwiches and salads, with a whole section dedicated to the humble baked potato with various toppings ($6 for one!). Daniel ordered the exotic-sounding Zafira Zaytoon Steak ($19.90) while I had the Corned Beef & Melted Cheese Sandwich ($7.80). So far so good. The trouble started when we asked for iced water. “We don’t serve water,” was the curt reply.
Now I have a real beef (no pun intended) with places that don’t serve water. Water is the absolute MINIMUM any food establishment should provide. I’m not asking for Perrier or Pellegrino. Heck! You can put a jug of tap water at a corner and ask me to serve myself. But you should always give the customers the option! Are you telling me that you’re only interested in making a couple more dollars than having your customers’ interests at heart? So even before the food was served, this pretty much guaranteed I will never recommend or go back to Fig & Olive Cafe ever again.
Daniel’s steak arrived first and it looked impressive. However, it soon proved to look far better than it tasted. It was about 1 cm thick, dry and tough, obviously an inferior cut of meat. The seasoning was non-existent as well. The baked potato tasted boiled and was flavourless. Even the small dollop of sour cream on top could not salvage it. For $19.90, we definitely expected more. The only saving grace was the salad, which came with sliced figs and bits of olive. The figs added a sweetness that counteracted the salty olives - a perfect combination.
My sandwich was served sliced into 4 portions. Even so, it was evident that the sandwich was tiny to begin with. The lettuce was pale and rather sad-looking as well. Thumbs up though for the bread which came studded with figs and olives, and the corned beef wasn’t half bad.
Fig & Olive probably drew the lunchtime crowd at Tanjong Pagar with its sandwiches, which are passable, but not outstanding. For the same price or less, I could go to any other sandwich joint and get something more decent.
Feedback cards were well hidden within the plastic stands that displayed the drinks menu. I had half a mind to fill one up to express my dissatisfaction, but as Daniel pointed out, it’s much more effective to blog the experience to a wider audience base.
Overpriced, unspectacular food, and a refusal to serve water. Fig & Olive: We won’t be back anytime soon.
Topics: Cafe, Reviews, Western |
October 27th, 2007 at 12:17 am
Dear Madam,
First of all,thank you for dining at Fig & Olive. We sincerely apologised for what happened to you and your husband in Fig & Olive. From your feedback we will review our system and improve to serve our customer better.Thank you
Sincerely
Masmunah
Geneneral Manager
Fig & Olive
mas@figolive.com
November 2nd, 2007 at 4:11 pm
Hi Masmunah,
Thanks for reading our blog, and we appreciate that you took the effort to look at our review on your establishment.
First up I’d like to clarify that we’re not out to slag establishments, and we’d rather that our feedback helps to improve standards.
It’s to your credit to want to take the effort to improve. Our kudos to you.
Daniel
PS: You might want to work on the part about not serving water. There’s a growing movement out there - which includes prominent food journalists and bloggers - that are boycotting eating places that don’t serve water.
PS2: Thanks to the visit to Fig & Olive, our new abode now boasts similar interior colours - orange, yellows and browns - to your decor.
December 8th, 2007 at 6:50 am
Hi Daniel,
Thank you, your feedbacks is very important to us. Our Mission is To Delight Our Customers. I agree with you about the water matter.
I have already put this across to our management, and now we are back serving complimentary water.
Till then, have fun blogging !
Cheers
Masmunah
Fig & Olive
Singapore
June 17th, 2008 at 2:06 am
I agree with the water thing. These days I notice the trend among restaurants in Singapore not serving water. It’s really maddening!!! What can be more healthy than water?!?! Sometimes I really have the urge to order tea without the tea bag.
I wonder what’s wrong with the restaurants, not serving water. I think service matter more than a few dollars earning! Coz rather than having a customer coming once, why not capture the customer’s loyalty.