Makan — Restaurant in Mexico City

Modern Singaporean restaurant in a chic setting.

What I liked: Complimentary soy sauce marinated beans (reminds me of the marinated peanuts that I have with porridge) Achar (mildly spicy, refreshing vegetable starter with nice touch of peanuts) Pollo Makan (the meat is very tender and tasty, though the sauce was a bit overwhelming towards the end) Pickled green chili on the noodles were nice (though could be even more sour)

What could be better: Escargots XO (it was a mix of mushroom and escargots, and the XO sauce did not have enough kick for my liking) Laksa (unfortunately it was served lukewarm.. and I was hoping for more spice and citrus notes) Pollo Makan and Pato rostizado essentially have the same sauce, so the dishes tasted repetitive Cerdo charsiew (did not have the texture nor flavor that I was looking for. The meat was dry and the flavor was the same as Pollo Makan and Pato rostizado, as opposed to the carmelized bbq sauce I was expecting) The side of rice served with the meats could be even more aromatic (e.g. ginger, shallots, etc)

Overall the food was good, though I would not order three different meats in the same seating because they taste too similar. Having lived in Singapore for almost a decade, admittedly I am probably more critical about the flavors due to my personal cravings for authentic Sg dishes.

Service and other comments: Shockingly underwhelming service given that it was not busy when I went. Perhaps the servers were new and not trained, but they were not particularly helpful when asked about gluten allergy and the wine selection. It felt like the team was disorganized and lost, and we had to ask several different staff for help, because the requests kept getting dropped. The signature chili crab was not available when I went, which certainly added to the disappointment. While they have a fairly extensive wine menu on paper, they did not have many sparkling wine options. The server also appeared inexperienced in serving wine. There is gluten in Pollo Makan and other meats given the use of soy sauce.

Given that the price point is fairly high, I was definitely expecting...

I am Singaporean and everything about this place is a disgrace. We visited the restaurant on a Saturday afternoon, and told the service staff in SPANISH we want two bowls of Laska. The service staff then asked if we wanted one or two bowls. I was like? He heard us and knew that we wanted two bowls, so the question made me think that they have big portions in this restaurant.

When the Laska arrived, it turned out to be a total joke. I think the restaurant tries to serve dishes in small portions to make us think that the dishes are exquisite so as to justify the high prices. The dish was such a complete disappointment. The broth of the laska was thin and watery and they did not put in effort to make the dish good at all. And who tf puts lime in a bowl of Laska. It was a very pale shadow of true laska in Singapore. And I feel sorry that this restaurant came all the way to Mexico to throw Singaporeans' face. People are going to think that this restaurant is representative of Singaporean food when it is faaar from good. Any hawker center in Singapore selling dishes that cost 3sgd (45 MX pesos) will taste better than whichever dish they have. And it is not a joke that on average the dishes they have like Chicken Rice etc is around 45 to 60 pesos in Singapore so imagine how much they are jacking up the prices here in Mexico (on average prices range from 245 pesos to 310 pesos) for unwitting foreigners in return for subpar food. Perhaps it would be justified if they import the ingredients like lemongrass and laska leaves etc but no they don't even include them in the dishes so I don't even know why the dishes here are so expensive. This is certainly not fine dining and other restaurants of a similar level do not charge the same prices, even in COVID times.

Also, the restaurant is pretentious af. Everything from the Dragon and Phoenix chopsticks (which is so cringe) to the small portions (a common complaint) to the bad service just IRKS me. This was my first time there and...

Very dissapointed. We were received in a rude manner. My girl who is Mexican did the talking so (not that it would be an excuse) this was not a gringo treatment. We ordered two dishes to share with cocktails to start. We received a little appetizer followed by the first dish. Then the cocktails came. Having a drink before our food was not an option apparently. The broth of the first dish lacked flavor. The noodles were of mediocre quality. The wontons were good but only 3 for the most expensive noodle dish feels cheap. 20min later our second dish came. Noodles with shrimp. The plate had 2 shrimps… Daring to serve this as a restaurant is shameful. Over half the time of the dinner the waiter was standing next our table staring out our plates. It was an utmost rude, unprofessional and uncomfortable experience. I am a chef myself so I understand that the last plates (we were the last) are not your best although that is not an excuse. I understand that people from the other side of the restaurant want to night to end. However this quality, this service was unacceptable. On top the music was way too loud making it impossible to have an intimate conversation. Every 5 sentences we had to lean even further across the table to verify what the other said. On top when booking I was asked if it was I special event. I replied it was my girl’s birthday. However nothing happened connected. It makes you wonder why they even asked. I was looking forward to this experience but on all levels you dissapointed greatly! I don’t know if this is a case of a restaurant being hyped and not feeling the drive anymore to deliver. As a chef I can’t understand this. I don’t recommend this...