 
The Trencherman
has returned from a long summer vacation to find that there has
been a bit of a miff concerning his opinions. Please, let us all
remember that a critique of a restaurant should not be a self-serving
advertorial piece, but an objective observation and individual opinion
based on that restaurant’s strengths and weaknesses. It is
done for the benefit of the public so as to know what to expect
in terms of taste, experience and expense. And it is meant for the
restaurant to enjoy the quality of its strengths and improve on
its perceived weaknesses. Enough, let us enjoy our next gastronomic
experience.
A new restaurant has come into town with an exciting and bold agenda.
The Travelers Restaurant offers a combination of “fusion”
recipes varying from Mexican, Chilean, Indian, Thai, German, Italian
and Hungarian (among others). I can best describe the experience
as a “sampler” of a variety of foods.
We were first served slices of wheat bread, with a homemade butter
and parsley spread. For appetizers I tried the a hot Thai spicy
soup from Koh Samui, called “Tom Yam Krung”, with shrimp
and vegetables; the stock had an additional lemon flavor (possibly
from lemon grass with some added chili spices) and it was truly
delicious. My lunch partner tried the Roma salad. Basically a Capresse
salad, with sliced tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and basil, drizzled
with balsamic vinegar and a light olive oil, again, fresh and enjoyable.
 As
for main dishes, my partner tried Sungai Kolok, the masman chicken
curry from the south of Thailand, and I tried the other Thai curry
chicken dish “Ayutthaya” a red chicken curry with coconut
cream. Both plates came with jasmine rice and were fine; the curries
may have been slightly too mild for our palates, but very delicate
and tasty. The only problem lay with the chicken morsels. Some of
the tendons, ligaments and fat had not been completely removed,
taking a bit of the delicate consistency away.
We ended our meal sharing the Italian Bolognese spaghetti dish (mainly
because there were no attractive desserts from which to choose)
with a classical tomato meat sauce, which was quite tasty.
The ambience was very relaxed and informal. On the day we visited
the main dinning area was full and the additional room had not yet
been opened. Thus, we dined on one of the three outdoor roof tables
with minimal shading, having to continually adjust our seats to
try and avoid the hot afternoon sun.
The service was courteous, and the young ladies who served us were
very nice, but they did not know the menu very well, and had a very
hard time explaining the dishes to us. The time it took to serve
us seemed to bother the owner more than us, but it did take a while
to receive the plates in a timely fashion. One of the owners actually
approached us and expressed apologies for the delay, stating that
the unexpected crowd had thrown off their timing a wee bit.
The idea of sampling all these cuisines under one roof is a unique
and bold idea for SMA.
Suggestions: Train your staff to be able to answer
questions concerning the menu. We realize you just opened in the
last month, but your menu is so varied that your clientele will
have no choice but to ask questions in order to make informed decisions.
Pay attention to the details. In the preparation of meats and poultry,
a tendon sheath can change the entire texture of a delicate chicken
morsel. A more exciting and attractive dessert menu would accentuate
the adventuresome main menu, which you have splendidly brought to
San Miguel.
Observations: Appetizers varied from $40-45 pesos.
Soups went from $40-70 pesos. Main dishes ranged from $50-90 pesos.
There were sodas and beer available but we did not see a wine list.
Again, we welcome this new restaurant, and its exciting and varied
listings, for those who would like an additional variety of tastes
under one roof.
|
 |
|
