When You Are Served Cold Food

So. OK, I caved in and gave myself a cheat meal. I was feeling fatigued and light headed which I believe was the effect of carb restriction. Besides I did make some progress, my pants fitted better. This calls for a small reward does it not?

A couple of weeks ago when I walked past Mitsuyado Seimen@The Starling, I spotted this banner.

The Donburi lunch set looked very presentable and what caught my eye were the marinated soft boiled egg. Yeah, I'm a sucker for eggs.

So I made a note to try one of those rice bowls when I'm off my carbo curfew. Well, my self imposed carb restriction went well for the first week or so until I started feeling the effects which resulted in a major carb craving.

I. Want. Rice.

So on a Friday (my now designated cheat day) I walked into Mitsuyado Seimen for my rice indulgence. Among the three Donburi sets, the Roasted Pork & Taco Donburi (the middle bowl on the banner) looked the best to me.

But this was what I was served.

Now, I did not notice anything amiss as my memory is terrible these days. I could not remember the picture of what I ordered.

Did you notice that I got the wrong order? This is the third item on the banner, the Roasted Pork Negi Mayo Donburi.

I dug in eagerly (still oblivious) and when I had my first mouthful, I realized that the meat was cold. Cold as in fridge cold. The rice was barely lukewarm. Is this dish supposed to be served cold?

Not wanting to make a fuss (after all some dishes like soba are served cold), I proceeded with my meal. On the positive side, the meat serving was very generous. However, I did not like the sauce as it was too sweet. Way too sweet. The egg was marvelous and yes, I appreciate being given one whole egg.

I tried to spice up the meal with some chili flakes but they refused to come out of the shaker. Haiz....

The meal comes with green tea (you can choose hot or cold) and that helped wash down that cloying sweetness. Imagine cold sweet meat eaten with barely lukewarm rice. I'm afraid, this lunch which looked so promising was such a letdown.

When I went to pay at the cashier, I asked if the dish was meant to be served cold. I was informed that it should be warm and when I related my experience, the young lady assured me that she would inform the management. Hmmm...

It was only when I was outside taking the photo of the banner that  I realized that I had gotten the wrong order. Haiz....

Then the following week, I decided to test out another of the Donburi sets. This time the Chicken Tororo Donburi. It took much longer to serve, I guess since they have to grill the chicken.

Compared to the pork donburi, this was so not worth it.

Look at that. Only 4 tiny pieces of chicken, 2 sections of leeks and 2 wedges of green capsicum. Sure I like the egg and oh..oh... I forgot that tororo is that slimy yam thingy. Ugh! But I swallowed it. 

I'm afraid I did not like the chicken pieces as they had a very strong chicken smell. I don't know how to describe it but you might understand what I am saying.

The moment I was served, I put my finger to the chicken pieces and they were cool to the touch. And my rice, again was barely lukewarm.

That's it. No more of their donburi. I think the best bet is still their specialty, the tsukemen. And never trust pretty pictures.