MOF - Japanese Sweets [KL-Pavillion] Review

MOF Japanese Deserts and Sweets @ Pavilion Kuala Lumpur

Picture courtesy of other bloggers.


Overall (personal) Review:
MOF no Japanese Deserts (S: Ministry of Food) was visited and reviewed today and the restaurant is themed after a modern Art de Couture type of setting with modernized carpeted floors and matching wooden set up of beige complimented with dashes of maroon red and chocolate oak as the setting decoration theme.

It has a very good overall feeling, clean, efficient in service with the Chef being particularly helpful in informing of choices. Decoration wise, it is not too bright, not too dark, with handsome overall structure but basically, a bit tight due to store space being largely taken up by the rather large counter which encases the kitchen area, and dessert as well as pay counter.

Menu selections are very good, pictures below indicated that they are good at using color choices, with a selection of tasty desserts and even a card that arrives with my order of Macha Imo (Japanese Green Tea Imo) that tells me how to best enjoy the dessert I just ordered.

Large signature items lined the walls in billboard like presentations and were further complimented with the promise of no artificial ingredients in their desserts gives even the most sinful of eaters a good overall image for taking in all the calories, basically cause it is better than a deep fried Mars Bar.

The experience was pleasant enough if not for the terrible music, and being a bit to the open restaurant concept, the surrounding crowd diminishes plenty of the magic of enjoying a luxurious dessert and going “Oh god, that is pretty damn good” inside in the stall.


Service:
Poor would be said the least for the most part, but not really all that bad, the problem would be the rather tiny voices of the employed staff, at the time, I realized a majority of which are foreigners as the service staff, although I believe there was only one on the waiter’s position.

Considering the set up of the restaurant covers nothing more than 70 or so seats, the lack of staff on the roll call of a waiter was rather lacking, but what is more daunting is the method of ordering.

The order system goes by a Carte Menu, there is no du jour menu of course, but menu as explained by the managed or counter staff contains a number for each specific item, write the number on an order sheet which the waiter gives, go to the counter, pay up and sit back down and wait for the waiter to deliver the food. (I find having to sit down, get up and pay and sit down again is dumb though. Can't the waiter just take the order and get on with it? It is not like he or she has anything better to do anyway when i was the only one there.)

My question would be this:
Why would your concept be an open restaurant type, if you can’t even have the customer, sit down, order (order sheet or whatever else), pay the waiter (if you so desire immediate payment before enjoyment), and just well, sit down?

I rather sit down and enjoy all the way before I have get up, go to the counter pay up and so on. I feel insecure of leaving my belongings in a chair, which unfortunately, there was no one to look over it, given the security measure, it felt unwise.

Nonetheless, the tolerable pleasantness of a good ‘thank you, please come again’ was more than enough reason for me to forgive the general inefficient system. My other concern would be this: there are three ridiculously out of place rattan bowling pins at the staged seating area made of wood, which far as I could say, is rather obstructing, since at the time, I had a rather large wheelie bag on my side.


Food talk:
While the food was limited to nothing but sweets, hence the name, MOF has done a very focused and excellent job at introducing the A la Japanese specialties, with red bean paste and green tea sauce being their repeated choice on the menu. Sitting in the back row for me, I was rather curiously onlooked as I took pictures of the menu and my dessert of the day, an Almond layered coffee and cream drink with an ice cream soft serve inside (OH THE CALORIES), the feeling on the tongue was well to be said… “excellent.”

My other order was a Macha Imo, said chef from earlier recommended it as a house special, and it was special, being that I never placed Sweet Potatoes as a dessert choice, the green tea sauce on the soft serve was delicious, while the compliments on red bean paste with the Japanese sweet potatoes to go with my green tea sauce soft serve makes the experience a wonderful cavity inducing trip to the heavens.

All in all, I spent 24 on the trip, a bit on the expensive side for desserts, but well worth it. Yet again, my only probable complaint comes on the system, the food is too good.

Ambience: 2.5 / 5
Service: 2.5 / 5
Food: 3.5~4 / 5 (because I think there are even better selections available.)