The menu was just quite mediocre, the usual kind a café had to offer. The interior of the café was quite small but cosy, the concept you envisaged yourself lounging about or surfing on your laptop (yes there's WiFi) whilst waiting for your meal to be served. And boy, we sure did wait for our food, try 45 minutes later! The service was extremely slow. Not the place to go if you have an hour for lunch break. I ordered the Fried Bee Hoon and Iced Lemon Tea while my friend had the Fettucine Carbonara and Iced Latte. I’m no expert in cooking, but surely our order shouldn't take that long to prepare?
Even the drinks took awhile to arrive at our table. Had the cafe been full house at that time, we would have been quite understandable, but the place wasn’t even fully packed. It was only us and a few other customers. And that is not the worst part yet, both of our food tasted rather bland. I reckon the chef had gone a little too far with the adding of MSG, either that or the chef couldn’t be bothered tasting it at all before serving it. Both our food was salty, Bee Hoon too oily and the Pasta too creamy. I couldn’t even bring myself to finish half of it.
With the slow service and bad cooking, my appetite was completely gone by then. I’m sorry to say Dunes Café is certainly not to my liking. I'm guessing they only have one chef to handle the orders. But that is still no excuse. So perhaps we came at the wrong time or day but for sure, our dining experience was very disappointing. The only benefit of the doubt I could give to the lousy service is that they are still new, but again that is no excuse for customers to leave unhappy, when you're new, you need to leave a good impression. The café obviously could use a big uplift in the service quality (hire another chef?) and food department. Perhaps your take could be different from ours, who knows.
Submitted by: FNAN
36 comments:
same goes to bridal cafe @ the mall, gadong. Take an hour to 4 the drinks to arrive..
hello i happen to work at the cafe you commented on. i am very surprised to find out that the food and drinks took that long to arrive. are u sure u timed it accurately? can u show more evidence? can u show in your posts how many people were there? show the time and place that u went there.
about the "mediocre" menu, Dunes cafe is a newly opened cafe, we have planned to increase the number of food and drinks to the menu after the actual grand opening. as for now, we and our customers are happy with what we already have to offer.
yes everybody is entitled to their own opinion, but nobody is perfect. there could be many reasons as to why the service was "unsatisfactory" that you as a customer weren't aware of. also, the way u wrote your "review" is very one-sided, in my opinion. did u purposely write down all the negative things? i thought a review is supposed to be fair, telling the good and the bad, and then a conclusion that sums up everything. for an example of a review go to trustedreviews.com and themovieblog.com.. THAT is how to write a review. not an objective opinion based on your own feelings.
and to add, if the food REALLY took that long to arrive, why did u not inquire to the waiter or waitress working at the moment? do u expect me to believe u "patiently" waited for more than half an hour for your food without wondering what took so long? or did u purposefully waited just to put some substance in this review? for as long as i have worked at this cafe, never have i seen food that took 45 minutes to finish preparing. a carbonara pasta takes approximately 10 to 15 minutes to finish preparing, and the bee hoon a bit faster. are u sure the 45 minutes was from u ordering at the waiter until the food came to your table? or was it from u coming out of the car and going into the cafe. if that is the case, i believe u. but seriously, if it WAS really 45 minutes please at elast show some evidence to prove your point.
thank you for reading. for any replies to my comment, please hit me back at blunt_x@hotmail.com.. looking forward to your reply
Note: neutral opinion.
i guess its only normal that a worker would be protective about his work place being criticize, especially when it's not a positive one.
i find it funny though if every review that people wish to put online must have evidence of this and that. i believe no one goes to a restaurant with the actual intention of timing the service provided.
i own an eatery too and to me, the customer is always right, as much as i hate to admit it. to dunes operators, don't be dishearten and also don't be too confident that you are doing a good job, what we perceive doesn't necessarily look good to our customers. take it easy, remember, word of mouth from an insulted customer can make you lose more business.
above all, we need to respect customers and not accuse of them not clever in giving a review. but the question is are you qualified to give a review? there is no one correct way really, imho. by the way, a review is related to opinions and feelings of the reviewer, be it good or bad.
remember, humility goes a long way. good luck to you guys at dunes, nanti tah singgah. if you see someone with a stop-watch, that'll be me *kidding*
to basicly,
kalau inda berapa nyaman, and obvious menu like carbonara and bee hoon... so what, thers italian and chinese... lack of concept perhaps.
so maybe ppl will start to critisie. unless the food was so damn good as to compensate supposedly "bad service". Ping, brunei has yet to have chef owner runing a restaurant. to me most restauranter are non food lover or passionate.
so i give it another 3 - 5 months how ur restaurant will tick off. all the best.
wow, an over protective worker? waitress, chef or cashier? probably the owner themselves posting a defensive comment. Don't take it so badly lah, Ping. And lash out at the people giving the comments does not show a profesionalism in your attitude. Everyone is entitled to their opnion and a review means an honest opinion of what the person thinks. Insulting someone's opinion does not make you sound clever or justified and neither does it discredit the other person. It only bodes badly on yourself. Personally i found the review to be very well written and not one sided at all because the writer did say it could be because the cafe was new thus not totally condemning it. There are other more damning reviews than this. It is up to the restaurant/owner/worker to take any comment positively and continue to improve, not by contending that you are already too good for improvement. As the saying goes, there is ALWAYS room for improvement.
not need to explain so much lah....salah mean salah, so much excuse there. I do still wait for the food to come if they took me to wait for 45 minute and no complain to the waiter or waitress.
i agree to what blady blah said... if i really do own a restaurant or any business, i would like to have customers opinion... no matter it's good or bad... we should look positively and from their comments for sure help us to improve our services, food, extra...
Ping supposed to say sorry first of all to the customer who had the bad experience at Dunes. My view is he is over protected and so much denials.
you guys don't know anything...hahahaha...
make your own cafe then,if guys wanna commen so much....
Assalamualaikum,
Tekajut jua me mendangar ada masih ppl yg post komplain nda baik2 di blog ani. Iatah pasalnya blog ani speatutnya di tutup. Banyak udah resturant di brunei ani affected by this blog. Ialah... title blognya pun ada name 'Brunei'. Ntah ah... sapa yg appoint this blog to be representing the whole of Brunei. Banar tu cakap the worker di Dunes atu.... most comments di blog ani one-sided. So my advise.... dari dulu udah plng ni.... agatah panggil durang blogger yg famous (mun paham bisai) di Brunei atu and give free food. Banyak jua examplenya udah. Liat saja tah comment comment yg bagus bagus dlm blg ani.... semuanya ada yg dapat free food. Bagi durang kanyang and then... tutup tarus mulutnya tu.
Me nda jua paham urang brunei kitani ani ah.... pengomplin. Especially if ownernya atu urang kitani. Banyak hasat dengki.... Banyak jua inda berpikiran panjang.... nda durang tau kah siapa yg affected becoz of durang punya bad comments atu... Bukan saja the owner.... tapi pekerja2 nya. Kesian if becoz of the comments bisnes affected... mana lagi durang kan bayar loan... kan bayar staff... durang ani buka bisnes kan bagi pekerja durang mata pencarian. Ada jua me liat... some pekerja especially urang kitani yg keraja di restaurant ani bukannya urang sanang. Ku dangar gaji pun nda jua banyak... Iatah... ani kalau ada tia urang yg nda berfikiran panjang atu..... pandai2 tia jadi pengkritik. Apatah effectnya arah pekerja and owner atu. Bukannya sanang kan bayar loan di Brunei atu.
Kalau kan mengkritik atu... cubatah tegur tarus masa atu jua.... nda payah kali sampai masuk blog. Especially blog ani.
Dui... me harap urang kitani ani sadar tah sikit. Cuba tah di UK or mana2 negeri lah.... ada berani kan komplin? Ada jua me liat some ppl... urang kitani jua masa me di UK.... makananya di restaurant urang putih atu nya jua nyaman tapi nada me dangar seorang pun komplin. Tapi udah balik bunai.... pandai komplin itu ini. Paning me urang kitani ani.
Harap cafe di bunai ani maju.... ksian bah.... terlampau banyak udah tapi customernya sikit.
By the way.... me harap this blog be more careful in accepting any comment from other bloggers. Be professional if you wanna be a good blog. Learn from other blogs from other countries.
Bah... kan ke subway me dulu.
Wasalam
well, ani org bagi komen bukan sebarang komen. mun banar makanannya inda nyaman, indakan dikatakan nyaman. mun servicenya teruk, indakan dikatakan bisai. berdosa plg tu berdusta ah. lagipun, kalau banar2 restoran atu nyaman and layanan bisai, walaupun ia kana buruk-buruki arah blog ani, masih jua org kan ke sana kan merasai sendiri banar atau inda tu. inda jua org brunei ani paloi sangat. mau jua kan mencuba sendiri. mun banar, nah salah siapa tah tu, indakan disalahkan blog ani. mun inda banar, pandai jua org menilai sendiri. customer bukan sorang saja. jadinya klau sorang berucap inda nyaman kononnya kan memburuk-buruki, mun bagi org lain nyaman, panuh jua restorannya lakat, kan. ada org atu saja kan memburuk-burukkan blog ani. who's the one being a negative 'orang kitani'? pikirnya org yg pernah ke UK and naik subway selalu ani arif tentang perihal blog memblog ani. di UK ani nada food critic kah? di newspaper news straits times lagi ada section org mengritik makanan. baik buruk pun di gitaunya jua. inda jua kan bagi komen yg bagus bagus saja walaupun ia dibayar. ani apatah lagi comments from the general public bukan org yang kana bayar. yg banarnya org kitani ani harus pandai menerima criticism and not react negatively to every single thing. bah kan masuk dlm keta kancil me yg parking arah tempat larang polis ani dulu.
Anonymous.. For me the issue here is not the blog or blogger but the management of the cafe in question. We are grateful for this blog to share on their experience in dining and I thought I was alone in my experience. The burger at Dunes Cafe no doubt is potentially the best in town tapikan talor bah service staff nya. We ordered and waited for 30 minutes. mana tia burger ani... Sekali d tanya. nada ia mengambil order. Iatah me and my friend checangang! Napakan nda perihatin waiter nya..
Unless proper training is given to the staff, walaupun nyaman makanan nya.. nda orang mengaga.
I think the owner should be thankful in getting these feedback. Bukan kan mengancurkan business tapi to make it a better business establishment. Jangan tah di pakai excuse hutang beutang. semua jua orang beutang masa ani. At the end of the day, there are more restaurants than customers, everyone fighting for the same dollar. Only the fittest survive!. Even without this review, those cafe that does not have good service staff and marketing, may not survive. Banyak jua cafe bukan dan tutup d Qlap atu, nada kana review sini ani.. tutup nya. So, please don't blame blog or blogger. Kalau service is good, no matter what people write here, there will be loyal customers to defend the establishment.
Ms Meow...
Hehe emosi tia pulang kamu ah. Nda lagi bagi Salam tu. Kwang kwang kwang. Btw bukan subway train station atu, maksudku subway fastfood kali ah. Wassalam.
i very much agree with 'ade ade aje' and the commenter after that. anonymous, you talk about being professional when giving your comments but seriously i don't see you giving (a reasonable)one, macam kalah-kalahan tah pulang talking pasal salam and subway which is besides the point. so what the person doesn't give a salam, maybe the person is non-muslim despite being able to speak malay. and about being emotional, look who brought up about loan lah, kesian this and that lah. I say, wake up and smell the coffee, it's all business. it's not a place where you ask people to kesian you so that you can survive. if you can't shape up and improve your service, then nobody can help you really.
restaurant owner too,
To Dunes Cafe owner, Don't be too obligated to your staff. The chefs are the main backbone and the server is suppose to sell.
Jan luan harap, orang brunei tani lagi.. once you beri muka durang ani... baik tah uruskan Quoata foreign workers. Don't forget, Excapade is opening soon. People are watching you. I really want to go to Dunes. I but i will wait when it is not too many people.
so sayang, manay poeple drink but no eating. esh esh...
we'll seee
to org yang membagi salam atu. ada subway bercap halal kah? di UK tah lagi. setau ku, durang ada jua serving bacon sub tu...
emosi jua
godness me.. you guys eat and crap alot. even from your mouth it stink. a mucha gente gorda y muda en este país!
arent they're better things to improvise in this "so much that we can criticise about country" rather than talking about burgers and and cream pasta. even to start a cafe takes so much hassle..
fatsfatsfats!.. eat! stuff yourself..shut up. not happy dont pay. sometimes, if you have nothing good to say.. dont say anything.
silly small things we eagerly jump in to condemn. and i do agree.. if you wana use a national name.. get a proper approval. bunch of fat geeks that have nothing better to do...wannabe food critics. stick it to your personal blog.. and complain as much as you want in your personal diary. now can you take that as a critic? bad or good we have to swallow huh... you can write about ppl.. but pll cant say anything about your so call group if food expert... cant even question your farting facts? where got fair.. anyway.. i went to dunes... nice windy afternoon... had burger.. lasagna.. latte.. tea tarek.. nice staff. good interior. no worries.. they're doing fine. now you complainers will never fine peace. will dunes be having a vip card? i want one.
FYI, i have experienced the same thing.. it took 45 mins for our food to arrive at our table. We arrived there at 1230pm during lunch hour, and the waiter took our orders right away.. and our food only came at 115pm.. We had to rush eating them as afternoon work starts at 130pm. Do you think that we enjoyed eating the food for less than 15 mins? And you what i ordered? Nasi lemak ayam. And that took 45 mins to prepare? think again.
This is what happens when an owner got robbed and ripped off by its own chef's.
When you take bunch of chefs ahow are mates. That is asking for a disaster. 45 minutes? is a joke! lunch time? if this goes on...
you will know what i mean..
To be fair - the management should take these comments and reviews as feedback to help improve their service and please the customers.
If the service was not satisfying and it displeases the customer enough to actually warrant a negative review, then the restaurant needs to look at itself and wonder what went wrong and try to sort things out.
On a positive note, Dunes burger is pretty good.
I've been to Dunes once and the food and service was okay. But then my friends went again and had to wait half an hour or more for their food (which included hot dog and fries). They decided to 'tapau' their food cos they had to work.
There are not many ways in Brunei where u can get food reviews, like in other countries. I don't think this blog should be shut down. If you don't like what u read, leave. But knowing haters, they'd just come back for more.
I have no problem at dune's so far. love to hangout there. You waited 45 minutes? indadaaaaa ku picayaa ko ah
i think pecaya or not, that's your choice. from what i read, it's not just one individual who experienced the slow service, there's more. unfortunately, i fell into the same category too.
i see no point for people lying in here about their experiences, it simply doesn't bring any profits to them. it's the restaurant owners who should listen and take note on what to improve, not bark back at paying customers about how bad their review is or how good their restaurant actually is that it's impossible for them to make a mistake.
Too much negative vibe in this blog. Too many people not satisfied with their life.
Hahaha funny how all the people who didn't believe other's bad experiences and who were rushing with praises for the cafe are all annonymous...probably all from the same person jua.
vice versa
I can't say anything. This is the positive and negative effect of the blog. Everyone wants to be a writer, commenter,photo-blogger, and internet celebrities.
For me being a food critique, one should have at least taken a masters degree or have background in food nutrition/industry, must be at least a cook or worked as a professional chef and the most important is have at least tasted varieties of menu from west to east. Not just one satisfying taste buds.
so meaning, if i was to make a comment about about a car, i should at least be an expert engineer or maybe an F1 driver? if i was to make a comment about a consumer product, i must have some qualifications in product manufacturing? i think it's really silly to kinda only limit people to comment when they have the expertise on it.
an opinion is a right for all and i don't think one can only voice their opinion when they have qualifications on paper to back it up or an experienced of worldly proportion - east to west huh? how about north to south?
i think whatever is said in here is open for all to take or ignore. the best cooks doesn't necessarily have the best of taste buds.
yeah, observer has a point. Limiting opinions to the "experts" only is just plain ridiculous. everyone is entitled to their opinion especially regarding experiences that they have been through, good or bad.
As'kum to all viewers out there.
I am currently working at Dunes Cafe and I'm not here to bash all of your criticisms and such, as we all know that we have our own rights to do so, but I'm here to chest out for you all.
As you have mentioned about our slow service and food mediocrity, the reason for all this is because we are currently lacked of staff and our chefs have been changing rapidly due to unknown conflicts.
Even so, we are still trying to give our best shot to serve you all we can and so far the cafe has improved steadily. With all familiar faces coming to the cafe, it shows that they are quite impressed how we serve them well despite our lack of staff.
So, to those who haven't visited Dunes Cafe yet, I suggest that you should come and we will prove how well our services are.
oh my.. haha. I went to Dunes today and I absolutely love the place. No problem whatsoever with the services. I was just google-ing that place tonight to see whether they have an official website but come across this blog instead. haha. silly comments up there... ada tia defensive, ada tia lagi yg inda kan picaya the 45 minutes wait. apa lah.. loosen up lah people! this is just a personal blog aka diary. Goodness me. I hope you all have read back what you (the defensive ppl) wrote and feel silly writing those things.
I was in brunei for a few days for a stopover, and honestly there is no good food in brunei full stop. everything is oily, bland and sweet. very disappointing
Obviously you went to all the wrong places ;)
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