It is seriously unacceptable to still find restaurants that are below average in 2013. In the era of technology, culture, competition and sophistication… Average is not allowed.
Every time we want to hang out, one of my close friends insists that I try Qube, a cafe/restaurant in Kaslik. The way he marketed the restaurant made me believe that I would be trying the place of a lifetime. I was expecting Qube to be something out of this world...
We arrived to Qube, located next to Crepaway Kaslik, for lunch. The first impression was not good for me. Smoke haunts the place from the Arguile followed by disastrous service from the waiters and below average food. Jack of all trades and master of none best describes the chef at Qube. The menu boasts a bit of everything from French to Italian to burgers and platters, all served in one place. I always laugh at those Mechanics who say they can fix all kinds of cars. In some restaurants, it is the same: One chef pretends to master all kinds of food. It's not always a given.
- Appetizers
- Salads
- Pizzas
- Sandwiches
- Burgers
- Pastas
- Platters
- Desserts
- Drinks
- Shisha
- A neglected rectangular place filled with sofas and tables which all need to be changed
- The floor needs much more cleaning
- Tables are old and are breaking into pieces
- Arguile is allowed everywhere, indoors and outdoors
- Restrooms are a mess and badly maintained
- A trash bin in the middle of the restaurant with black nylon bag
- The stairs leading to the restrooms are dirty
We Ordered:
- Duo of Beef and Chicken: Grilled beef and chicken, topped with mushroom sauce, served with wedge potatoes, boiled broccoli and carrots.
- The French Toast: Topped with caramel and chocolate sauce, served with fresh fruits and caramel ice cream.
- Sugar Candy: Scoop of caramel, vanilla and Oreo ice cream, Oreo biscuit, sugar candy topped with whipped cream.
The culinary experience:
- Beef and Chicken Platter: My friend said it's good as he orders it every time he visits. The cooking time of the meat is good and the plate is super generous and appetising.
- The French Toast: This is a total mess. An unpleasant journey. 1- They should call it Pain Perdu. 2- It tastes nothing like one. A large piece of thick square bread, too hard on the sides, too sweet from the inside, burnt black at the bottom and too crowded on top. Strawberries, bananas and caramel ice cream. The fruits don't blend well with the sweetness of this preparation and to top this all up, synthetic caramel and chocolate sauce is added. Imagine: Chocolate, caramel, ice cream, strawberry, banana, bread, milk, sugar and butter all together in one bite? This is an instant killer for any diabetic person. It's beautiful to look at for 14,000L.L but it stops here. The difference between hard and soft, sweetness and crunchiness, hot and cold, chocolate and caramel... Too much emotions that I couldn't handle.
- Sugar Candy: I was not aware that this plate contains Ghazel EL Banet (famous white Lebanese candy). The waiter should have explained it to us. The low quality plate we received was broken. The taste: A disaster. Low quality melted whipped cream covering a mix of ice cream and sugar candy. It is not appetizing at all. It's too sweet, too much sugar and milk topped with low quality caramel sauce. The ice cream colour is bizarre covered with only one Oreo biscuit broken in three big pieces making it unpleasant to eat. Next time use more than one Oreo and crush them in smaller bits. The only positive thing about it is its reasonable price: 10,500L.L
Some interesting stuff:
- The valet parking is a living disaster
- When ordering, the waiter that is standing next to the second table, just looks at you and nods his head. He expects you to shout out the order
- The desserts, as the pictures reveal, were served with no service - no place mats and with one spoon, although we said we will be sharing
- Pictures on the menu are not appetizing
- Check out the dirty check file
The needed changes:
- The external sign board needs to be fixed. Half of the letters disappeared
- The tables need to be changed
- The restaurant needs cleaning
- If the waiters do not feel like coming to work, let them stay home. They are unprofessional and seem sleepy.
- The staff requires a lot of training. I haven't seen anything so bad in a while
- Do something about your Pain Perdu: Make it thinner, remove the bread sides, make the bananas disappear, use vanilla ice cream, use less sugar, keep the strawberries on the side for those who want to add it, choose between chocolate or caramel sauce, usually chocolate is not the right choice here
- The ice cream should be served in a bigger bowl to look more appetising. Change the low quality whipped cream and change the broken bowl.
- We deserve a non-smoking area
The pluses:
- The portions are generous
A total disappointment I surely won't repeat. The place is always packed, it seems that people like it. Try it, you might as well fall in love with it.
