Revelations 7-8: Let there be value
Since opening in December in the old Browns spot, I have eaten lunch at Revelations seven or eight times. This place, to put it lightly, offers some heavy-duty value.Yes, Revelations is a ghost restaurant - I have seen no more than three tables of people, including my own, at any given time in this cavernous spot. Yes, management is already playing with the menu - a place that dabbles truffle oil in soup and makes its own chocolate has added to the menu “Hawaii pizza” (avoid it unless you like semisweet sauce, bland cheese and meat that looks nothing like ham with which I am familiar). Yes, the staff is still learning the ropes - The Flash and I had no fewer than three waitresses handle our table and, while polite, they still mixed up our dishes.
But for value, Revelations is hard to beat.
Consider lunch last week. My set menu included complimentary homemade bread, cream of cauliflower soup, and quiche with a side of warm potato and ham salad and a side of greens. Add a coffee, and the bill came to… RMB40! Best of all, the food was good.
The Flash had beef bourguinon and found it somewhat localized. “They’re definitely not using bean sprouts in this dish in France,” he noted. Even so, once he tucked in, he found it tasty. “It tastes like beef goulash with a stir fry. Actually, the flavor combination is good.” His meal, if I recall correctly, cost RMB58.
On Tuesday, I visited Revelations again, this time with MH. I had the spaghetti bolognaise set menu (RMB42), Belgian fries (RMB15) and a coffee (RMB8)*, while she had the grilled shrimp and pesto angel hair pasta set menu (RMB88). Good eats all around, though I am nearly at my limit for cream of cauliflower soup for the decade (Revelations, please bring back the oxtail soup). However, near beggars cannot be choosers and I figure I’ll be back at Revelations sooner rather than later.
Previous posts: Bye Browns, hello Revelations
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Dear editor,
Saturday night at Revelations proved to be as popular as you report for the lunch trade. We arrived there at about 8.30, sans reservation, and discovered a table of about 10 Chinese, a table of 4 foreigners, and a young couple who were just leaving. Another group turned up about 10.30.
Once seated, we wre given drinks menus, but no food menu. The book was a weighty tome, not exactly user-friendly. Two of our party are Australian, so we were a mite discappointed to find only two (one red, one white) wines on offer. We ordered a bottle and a food menu.
On one page of the menu was a set menu, offering a salad, a soup, a main and a dessert. One of our party ordered the duck l’orange from the set menu, but wasn’t interested in the salad. We decided to put the salad in the centre to share. That proved to be a difficult concept for the staff to grasp, but we were able to arrange it ourselves. The soup arrived, and within minutes, so did the duck.
Meantime, the other mains arrived. I had the mushroom-stuffed pork loin with mustard sauce. I was disappointed in it. the pork was tough, the sauce didn’t match, and the vegetables were cold. My friend with the duck reported it to be greasy and fatty.
Halfway through the duck, my friend was presented with her dessart. We had no room left ont he table, despite the fact that several of the plates were iempty.
That said, the trimmings were good. The aforementioned salad was excellent, and my friend’s mushroom soup was said to be deliciious. Shortly after we had placed our orders, a basked of pumpkin bread was brought to the table. It was wonderful.
As a regular at the former Browns, I was surprised at the extent to which the place has been modified. Very classy, well appointed.
The dinner, with a bottle of wine, came in at a little over RMB800 for three people. Personally, I felt the prices did not match the quality. The service, while attentive, just didn’t quite work. Food was served too early, plates were not cleared. But our wine glasses were constantly topped up.
IT was good to check it out once, but I can’t see any good reason for going back. For upmarket restaurants, I have too many better choices.
@ 8 Songs,
Thanks for the detailed comments.
The staff is struggling with service. A few problems when I’m having a RMB30 to RMB60 lunch is OK; it’s a different deal when someone is throwing down nearly RMB300 a person.
Cheers, Boyce