Prego - The Westin Desaru Coast Resort — Restaurant in Johor

Went for dinner at the Prego restaurant on 5th August (Friday night) with certainly a tight squeeze and almost no space left for the dining, basically squeezing 4 persons in a table that is meant for 2 persons. I have pre-booked a table for 4 pax at least 2 weeks before via phone call to the restaurant, and I personally went to the restaurant on the 4th Aug (Thursday) to confirm my booking of 6 30pm on 5th August for 4 pax. The receptionist at the restaurant front confirmed my booking, but she didn't have the courtesy to tell me that I need to specify the table I want to sit for the dinner on the 5th August. I have pre-booked the table at least 2 weeks before but I was given a small table for 4 big adults. Upon asking the supposed restaurant manager, he told us that other tables are booked by other customer already, apparently I should have specify which table I want to sit when I was making the reservation, never heard of this especially since I have pre-book a table for 4 pax at least 2 weeks before. Shouldn't the normal practice be to prioritize the customer who book as early as possible? And not to mention the restaurant front didn't have the courtesy to inform me that I could have picked a desired table to sit when I came to confirm my reservation a day before. Anyway, to make things worse, I asked the supposed restaurant manager if we can sit at a "normal 4 person" table because we are obviously in a squeeze since the restaurant was pretty empty at the time of 6 30pm. The supposed restaurant manager rejected my proposal and insisted that other tables have been designated to other customer because the other customer has book specifically for those tables. Despite the fact that we notice the restaurant was pretty empty up till 7 30pm, and it was not full up till at least 8pm which was about the time I left the restaurant, we asked again if we can switch to those empty tables, but the supposed restaurant manager insisted that those table were meant for someone else...The funniest thing was the flexibility he showcased on another customer (Customer A), but somehow he didn't exhibit the same quality to me when I am asking the same question. Beside my table, there was a table for six, the Customer A did not make a reservation in the first place, but the supposed restaurant manager manage to squeeze him in for that table despite the fact that the 6 person table was already booked by another customer (Let's call this Customer B). When I asked the restaurant manager again why he is giving special privilege to Customer A who did not even make a reservation there, his answer really disappointed me and my family. His answer was that because Customer A was from another hotel, and Customer A promised him that they will finish their dinner quickly in an hour. I am amazed by how flexible he is to Customer A, but apparently he couldn't showcase the same flexibility to me and my family. Not to mention that I am a hotel guest but Customer A wasn't even a guest in Westin in the first place, I could have try to finish my dinner in an hour if he showcased the same flexibility to me. But the supposed restaurant manager did not, so it kinda ruined our experience at Prego. We didn't even order too many dishes and food, because we are uncomfortable sitting at the table and seeing how he show privilege to another customer has further ruined our appetite and our day. Honestly speaking, the food was only so so as well. Tried their famous dish such as the Portobello mushroom, I have to say it is "Unique", but unique doesn't...

I should have known better - don’t eat Italian food out of Italy. I lived four years in Italy, food at Prego is seriously quite bad, not average Italian food but bad Italian food.

Having only two choices of restaurants at Westin, we had to give it a go and the pictures I saw online looked quite legit.

For pasta, I ordered risotto funghi, risotto frutti di mare and linguine frutti di mare.

Risotto frutti di mare came looking like nothing on their menu photo and what’s worse, cheese was added to the risotto. Seafood and cheese… 🙄and I tried the cheese it’s the supermarket cheap dried grated cheese and not freshly grated from Parmesan block cheese.

Risotto funghi was just edible.

Linguine frutti di mare wasn’t using linguine pasta but was more like fettuccine. That isn’t quite the problem If the dish tasted good. There was no seafood taste, the pasta was boiled and cooked and covered with olive oil and some seafood just added onto it. And pasta wasn’t al Dante.

For secondi we order the roast chicken which is a dish I have never ever seen in Italy but nevermind, it was the more reasonably priced meat dish.

For contorni I picked the spinach, it tasted ok (maybe because I opted the resins out of the dish) but for some 30 ringgit the portion was pathetic.

Also ordered pizza margherita, why oh why must they add oregano into the pizza? This isn’t norm in Italy to have anything else than mozzarella and tomato on margherita.

Didn’t order wild mushroom soup but always puzzled me why every Italian restaurants in Malaysia has it on their menu and all over Italy I have never seen it on their menu, along with giving balsamic vinegar as bread dip.

We did asked for extra virgin olive oil for bread dip for my child and that’s about the most tasteless olive oil I have ever tasted.

Focaccia, there are many foccacia’s recipes online, pick one! Look for Genovese focaccia where focaccia originated from. It isn’t so difficult for any baker.

What I would suggest for the restaurant to improve, send your cooks to Italy, eat some real Italian food to know what it should taste like. Anybody who knows what the dishes should taste like will not serve what you are serving.

The biggest disappointment probably is with Westin hotel to allowed suck fake Italian restaurant operating in...

Dear Westin Desaru Team,

I am writing to express my deep disappointment with a recent dining experience at Prego, which regrettably fell far short of expectations for a restaurant positioned within a premium resort.

To begin with, the wine list was underwhelming — limited in range and quality, with selections more befitting a supermarket than a hotel of your standing. For a bottle priced at over RM250, we had anticipated a wine of significantly higher quality.

The food quality, unfortunately, was no better. The carbonara was served at room temperature — not even lukewarm — and when we flagged this to the wait staff, the chef’s response was to simply microwave the dish. This resulted in a watery, overheated pasta swimming in a broken sauce of cheese and egg on an overly hot plate. A freshly prepared replacement would have been the more appropriate course of action.

The bread was served cold and hard, reminiscent of what one might expect in an economy class airline meal — certainly not what we would expect from a restaurant under the Westin banner. The mushroom risotto was equally uninspiring: bland, lacking aroma, and depthless in flavour. At nearly RM100 per plate, the lack of culinary finesse was glaring.

For a dinner that cost close to RM500, we walked away thoroughly dissatisfied — both with the quality of the food and the lack of care shown in its preparation and service.

I hope you will treat this feedback with the seriousness it deserves. A dining experience at your property should reflect the Westin’s reputed standard of hospitality and quality, and unfortunately, this...