Where do I start. This place was so disappointing on so many levels…read more
Firstly, let me just say what a great location, on the edge of the botanical gardens. A thrive of activity with families, couples, young - old, local and visitors occupying and making the best use of a beautiful spring day. BUT that's where the dream ends, once you enter the world of Jardin Tan the clouds grow over and very quickly turn black.
Jardin Tan looks like it has three sections. The main restaurant, the cafe out the front and a very stylish ice cream cart. We opted for the cafe, for the reason that we thought it would be quicker, how utterly wrong I was.
The line was long, not massive just long. So we join the queue. This gave us an opportunity to look over the menu. Pretty basic but still looked inviting. Rice paper rolls, poached chicken coleslaw, Asian salad, pho just to name a few.
We waited and waited and waited and waited. The line was moving at a snail pace and I couldn't understand why. It wasn't until we got to near the front the picture was starting to develop and the story it was telling was one of complete mismanagement and lack of any type of team work.
Two staff working, sorry I should clarify that, one staff working and one staff member cleaning the coffee machine, wiping down a small section of the bench, then back to the coffee machine giving it another clean, not once doing any sort of customer service. The other staff member taking orders, getting drinks, getting food and taking payment.
If they had both worked as a team, with one taking the orders and the other getting the food (which is pre-packed) and drinks, then maybe the service would have been far quicker and they would have less disgruntled customers.
Service indeed, is a big part of any business but so is the product. We ordered the pork rice paper rolls to be told they had ran out so we order the tofu, the poached chicken coleslaw, the beef pho with a baguette and three Moo Brew pilsners (the pale ale also out).
The poached chicken coleslaw came in three seperate containers. The salad, the chicken and the dressing, which was a great idea if the ratios are correct. I would say there was a quarter of a small chicken thigh which was over cooked and a very small container of dressing and when you put it all together became a dry bowl of Chinese cabbage and a spring of coriander.
The beef pho lacked flavour. The beef looked like it had been processed at Coles and had little to no vegetables in it, it also was missing the baguette, but to be honest didn't want to join the queue and wait another 45mins to get my baguette.
On the upside the rice paper rolls did look and taste great. The beers, one word, FLAT
The third part to Jardin Tan is the ice cream cart. The ice cream looked great and people seemed to be happy with the taste so we thought let's save this lunch with a really good ice cream.
I'd really like to say the ice cream was creamy and full of flavour, but I can't and the reason being, unlike the cafe, had no one working it. Was it closed, had the staff member taken a toilet break, not sure and either was the group of people waiting to buy an ice cream. Who, like us, gave up and walked away.
Its a real pity because this place has so much potential.
