Fig & Olive has arrived in JB!

My family and I really appreciate good food. We wouldn't mind parting with our big bucks if the food being served fulfills our standard. Knowing Baba, the standard is of course bukan calang-calang ;)

Being in Johor Bahru, we couldn't experience much fine dining. Oh yes, there are plenty of upscale cafes or bistros. But we are always dissapointed with the dishes. The reasons range from the prices being too expensive , small portions, serious tak sedap which sometimes even Kak Supi and me could prepare it trillion times better. Yang paling menyampah, ada dalam menu tapi bila nak mesti dah habis.

There's another category, restaurant perasan upscale. They are trying sooo hard to sell western, mediterranean or mid-eastern dishes but FAILED miserably. I could easily give you an example. Chismosa at Jln Kolam Ayer. They can fool others, but not us.

Their Shatsuka is baked beans, too much onions and meat. Where's the spices? fenugreek, all the jintans and everything? and baked beans? geez. Nek Wan could easily taught them how to cook proper mid-eastern dish. When arwah Nek Aki was still alive, he would brought his Arab friends and they just loved Nek Wan's cooking. Just like back at home.

Their Fajita? Macam lempeng kering served with black pepper beef on hot plate. Out of 5 stars, I would give Chismosa only 1 star. 1 sahaja. Sebab kesian.

Mama chops and Papa grill? My dad tak sebut2 pn nak go there again, so I don't know how they fare (according to piawaian Baba).

Sometimes those upscale restaurants also serve liqour. Some of the dishes also being cooked with liqour (when requested). Therefore, we would have our was-was. Eventhough the chefs are muslims, and they stated that the ingredients used are Halal, what about the utensils and everything. They gave us our assurance, but still.... We always wonder why could not they just serve 100% Halal Food? Could not they survive if they don't serve liqour?

So, imagine how excited we were when we found out about Fig & Olive opening a new branch in JB. They are located on the 2nd floor, City Square JB. Beside Se*dap Corner. Originally from Singapore, Fig & Olive is an upscale, cafe and bistro serving food items representing a blend of European and Mediterranean origins. Come and indulge yourself with Fig & Olive healthy, nutritious and delicious meals. - quoted from Fig & Olive website.

Everything they say and show on their website? Bukan cakap-cakap kosong. Confirmed.

And the pictures of the dishes would not do justice of the real thing being served. Confirmed.

The prices are very reasonable. Wait until you see their portion. For the Chicken BBQ, 3 scoops of mashed potatoes. mane mau dapat 3 scoops? sedap pulak tu.

Healthy and nurtritious? Bet they are. They would give you healthy portions of salads, ni bukan salad bodoh setakat timun sekeping, tomato sekeping, daun salad layu sekeping tau. It's really good quality salad sebanyak2 nya.

Delicious? Tok sah cakap lah. Go there and eat. Experience it yourself.

Apa yang kitorg makan ek?

1. Chicken BBQ Pepper (Kak Supi)- 1/4 roasted chicken swimming in BBQ-ish pepper-ish - not sweet sauce, with carrots and broccoli, and 3 scoops of mashed potatoes = RM12.90.
   
2. Fish Melted Cheese (Adik) - Fish and chips with a twist - 3 big chunks of dory fish with melted cheese on top (we wish for more cheese! hehe), carrots and broccoli, coleslaw, fries selambak-lambaknye = RM 14.90.
   
3. Grilled Fish Romesco (me) - grilled dory with romesco sauce - spicy and sweet - sambal tumis with a twist ;), with salads (huge portion. I LIKE!), plenty of fries. recommended for orang yang kalau makan, x pedas x boleh go, like me! hehe = RM21.90
   
4. Zafirah Zaytoon Steak (Baba) - TWO piece of steaks (dua tau!), with baked potato and salad and olive. nyum nyum. recommended for those who doesn't like pepper-ish meal. = RM23.50
   
5. Fiqo BBQ Pepper Steak (Mak buyung aka Kakak) - TWO pieces of steaks and 3 scoops of mashed potatoes berenang-renang dlm kuah. and salad = RM22.50

Our comment would be:

1. Appetizer should be served first instead of last. Same problem with other restaurant too. We ordered Moroccan Chicken Drumlets but it was too salty. Very salty indeed. Upon receiveing our complain, they offer to cancel it from our bill. Masin-masin pon, 2 out of 6 drumlets hilang.
   
2. The cashier needs to be more efficient with the transaction. They have to familiar themselves with the credit card machine - both with chip or magnetic strip. Since most foreigner use the magnetic strip version.
   

We are the example of VERY satisfied customers. We give Fig & Olive 4 and a half stars! terpaksa deduct half for the 2 comments above.

Kak Noha, bila mau turun and sample Fig & Olive? ;)

Disclaimer : All images are from Fig & Olive website.