The Lemon Tree — Restaurant in Petaling Jaya

*Parking in the building is free on PH and weekends if you come so just head on in.

Ambience: As you can see from the pictures, the place really does look photogenic and it is worth taking some pics for the gram. It is a little busy and crowded however, which made the queue for a table quite a while. But that is to be expected for a place that is newly opened and I won’t hold it against them.

Service: Although there were some issues here and there in regards to miscommunication of number of people and payment, the staff were friendly enough and were more than willing to help sort these issues. As mentioned above all these kinks are part and parcel of a new cafe so as long as the staff have the right attitude I won’t hold it against them. *Note: if any staff is reading this please kindly consider serving water to seated customers as it really won’t cost much but will go a long way to build rapport with your customers.

Food: Now this is the disappointing bit. Frankly speaking, the food was really underwhelming, and I do think a revamp of either the food preparation or menu items are required because some of the food is really not acceptable for the price that you are paying. I’ll give 2 examples:-

1. The croissant that we got was not heated at all, which left the pastry really dry when we received it, and to make things worse the Nutella inside was congealed, which stuck to the insides of my mouth. For something that you are paying a similar price to Doudoubakes croissant for, the difference could not be clearer.
2. We ordered the morning fuel too (essentially the big breakfast). Now although I don’t normally go out of my way to order big breakfast sets (to try other signature dishes a place might have), there were no other interesting choices for hot food as the brekkie wrap was sold out. Even then as the avocado was already sold out, we were promised a larger portion to make up for it. But as you can see in the picture this does not look bigger at all. To make things worse, the ingredients in this big breakfast were really subpar - the tomato were really sour, the omelette was over cooked, the pomegranate was out of place, the sourdough was too tough and dry, the sausage felt like a cheap store bought quality etc. But you get the gist.

Price: Now you might be thinking that the comments I had for the food might be too harsh, but this was made in consideration of the price that you had to pay for them too. For example, for the big breakfast set, it costs RM38 to get a small plate of what I mentioned with the quality that was given. You are essentially paying a premium cafe food pricing that you can really feel had a lack of attention given to the details and quality.

Conclusion: The 2 stars I gave here are for the ambience and attitude of the staff. However, I am under no illusions that I would consider returning if there are no significant improvements done to the food. Because frankly for what you are paying there are much much better...

When life gives you lemon, make lemonade out of it.

"I wonder how, I wonder why Yesterday you told me 'bout the blue blue sky But all that I can see, is just a yellow lemon tree"

No, seriously this song immediately came to my mind when I first read about this much-hyped and wildly popular cafe. OK, I admit that I am pretty old ok? Been The Lemon Tree opened its door officially to the public, it quickly became a magnet for many foodies, influencers and KOLs who post in their social media accounts.

As you enter the cafe, you'd probably see the half-circle shaped glass display cabinets with all the pastries, cakes and patisseries inside joined by long counter where all the actions are. Tables and chairs are placed on the side and at the back of the cafe.

Lemon-shaped menu will be given to choose the type of breakfast you want, or just like me head to the counter and point at the pastries that caught my attention.

◾Breakfast - Truffle Mac & Cheese filled with the fragrant aroma of truffle when it was served. The macaroni was baked together with cheddar, parmesan, turkey ham and truffle essence. Kids love it. ◾Pastries - Cinnamon Danish; Smoked Turkey Ham & Cheese Tartine; Nutella Croissant; and Pistachio Croissant.. apart from the pistachio croissant which I thought a tad too sweet, the rests were quite good but my vote went to the savoury Tartine.. ◾coffee - safe to say that both long black and flat white passed the taste bud. ◾matcha latte - the princess never failed to order this whenever she sees one in the menu.

Given the mixed reviews, my initial worries were quashed as soon as i finished the breakfast session here.

The real lemon trees outside were unkempt - the first thing that we noticed when we arrived at the front door. Based on the mixed reviews that I read online, I gotta say that it was a wise decision to hit this cafe after the hype died-ed down. They are still doing good business on weekend though.. just come early to avoid...

Underwhelming and disappointing.

Arriving at the cafe, we were greeted with a short line of people waiting to be seated. Good sign so far (or so I thought). We were seated withing the next 20 mins, and given the menu. The pastries displayed looked nice and were definitely inviting. Once we made up our minds, we proceeded to place our order at the counter. Nothing unusual so far.

Staff 9/10: Staff were friendly, cheerful and able to joke.

Cafe Aesthetic 5/10: The look and feel of the place was nice. Bright Yellow furniture accented with rattan weave within a glass enclosure held together by Sky Blue coloured exposed metal beams. Inaudible upbeat music filled the lower end of the sound spectrum within the space - which made talking a slightly uncomfortable affair.

The utensils were definitely chosen based on Aesthetic value rather than utility. This was indicative of what was to come.

Food 1/10: We ordered the Mornig Fuel Breakfast, along with an ice Latte and ice Matcha. This was when things took a sharp downward turn.

The meal was served lukewarm at best. On the plate was a jumbo sausage, 2 hashbrowns, half an avocado, pan fried mushrooms, scrambled egg, topped with some pomegranate seeds.

The sausage and hashbrowns seem like something out of a supermarket frozen pack. I'd be surprised if it wasnt. Mushrooms were soggy, the pomegranate seeds added nothing to the flavour profile or textural value. Eggs were a little over cooked for my taste and everything was under seasoned. The croissant was nothing special either.

Drinks 3/10: The espresso shot for the latte was over extracted, a little too bitter with high acidity. The Ice Matcha was standard.

Final Thoughts: Aesthetically, you'll be able to feed Instagram. Food-wise, it was not a palate pleasing experience. In my opinion, for the price, it's...