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HAVING MY CHECK OUT AT CLINIC CAFE

Posted by crizlai On March - 20 - 2010|

Well, you did not read wrong in the title. I’m checking out and not checking up at the Clinic Café, another new themed cafe located just two blocks away from the Sunway Carnival Mall, Seberang Jaya, Penang. The last time I visited such themed cafe was at a jail house themed cafe, just opposite the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, Penang and it was real fun there. At the first glance, you might think that the red and white walled café with a big cross would be just another of those labs such as BP Lab or PMS, an outlet selling medical supplies but what caught my attention was the “Heinekken” sign up there. Hmmm… Medical products and alcohol? They won’t match at all. LOL!

Standing right at the outside window area, you would see some wheel chairs being turned into dining chairs. Those were what gave many passer-bys the wrong impression of the place being a medical supplies shop. As you move inside, you can see the walls covered with display frames of the human body functions posters and some medical instruments. Some of the sofas have been reconstructed to look like hospital beds and you have some operation theatre lamps above your head. On top of that, there’s also a screen for your karaoke session (4.00pm until late) and a corner for a 2-pc band to perform (10.00pm until late)

Don’t you love it too to have sexy nurses (hmmm… I wonder why she’s in a sailor’s uniform here… more revealing? :P) and handsome male nurses and doctor to serve your meal?

Since this cafe is running on a bistro cum pub concept, you would expect to have lots of beverage choices such as non-alcoholic, cocktail, bottled beer and hard liquor. I managed to try out the Mix Fruit Yogurt Shake (RM7.80). It had some orange and strawberry cordial, blended with fresh banana and yogurt. It was not a bad combination in taste except that the ice could have been a bit smoother. The Iced Lemon Tea (RM5.80) was somewhat presented in a different style. Instead of the normal iced tea with a few slices of fresh lemon, it had lemon syrup at the base and topped with iced tea.

As this is a newly opened cafe since 4 February 2010, choices of food here were still a bit limited. There were only a few selections (20 plus choices) on Western cuisine, Rice & Pasta and Snacks. Anyhow, the kitchen would be planning to widen the options within the next few weeks. But with the limitation, the restaurant can have some great blessings too as the Black Pepper Prawn with Pasta (RM11.80) turned out to be real delicious with a generous amount of fresh prawns and greens. The spaghetti had the right biting texture and taste. It was cooked somewhat like the Aglio Olio style with some freshly grounded black pepper sprinkled on the dish. The only two drawbacks were that the black pepper was a bit too much for non spicy food diners. A separated bottle would be great for the diner to adjust to his level of spiciness. Secondly, it would be the amount of oil used. Somehow, there was a small pool of oil present right below the provided vegetables.

Please take note that you can order this black pepper dish with either prawns or chicken slices from opening time until 6.00pm and a complimentary Iced Lemon Tea would be provided – all for only RM11.80.

My next order was the recommended Kampung Fried Rice (RM7.80). It was indeed good with the right wok hei (high heat frying), generous amount of prawns and the flavor suited my taste bud. The dish came with some smashed bird eye chilies and sambal belacan for that extra kick.

Snacks wise, there would be quite a number of choices to choose from. We ordered the Buffalo Chicken Wings (RM12.80 for 4 wings). The wings tasted like yogurt marinated tandoori chicken with added sour cream. Although they were quite tasty in their version of marinates, I preferred those with the presence of some sweet and hot sauce with a crispier surface. Maybe the kitchen might consider adding in some black pepper or praprika and a coat of honey to give the wings the extra flavors.

There were also the Money Bags (RM7.80 for 6 pcs). The snacks had some minced chicken, prawns and mixed vegetables wrapped in wanton skin. These would be best taken when served as they would become a bit hard when taken cold. It had a syringe filled with chili sauce as a dip. I’m not sure whether the supplier had used the right version of wanton skin as I found these to be a bit too thick. There are actually two kinds of skins for wanton. One would be the deep fried version which would be thin and crispier, whereas the other would be meant for soup base wanton. The filling should be a bit more too as there were hardly much bite in each of the money bag.

Overall, the café would be a great place to chill out and some of the food can be quite tasty too. Let’s hope that there would be more options during my future visits. Well, I did find some parts which needed some improvements.

Firstly, it’s the food options. There should be more main courses and set meals rather than snacks and beverages. Roasted baby bird might be a great choice as you could have one of the staff dressed in the green colored operation attire to perform some surgical cuts in front of the diner. This would surely add some magical touches in setting the atmosphere right.

Secondly, it’s the utensils. The only few things that captivated my attention here were the stainless steel kidney tray, stainless steel container to hold the dining utensils and the syringe filled sauces. There should be more hospital like utensils such as the serving trays with compartments for set meals, dish cover for dish served or even a trolley to push the dishes out just like those in a hospital. Somehow, the serving style looked rather common. So were the beverages. They could have had a syrup filled syringe in the glasses to allow the diners to adjust their level of sweetness as I found the drinks to be on a sweeter side.

Thirdly, the café lacked a shelf for some reading materials while waiting for the food to be served. It could be on entertainment or some medical journals or pamphlets on some medical awareness. If they were to be more adventurous, a mock skeleton would be quite fun to play with. I won’t mind shooting some shots with a skeleton for my Facebook profile. LOL! Well, I won’t suggest more as the management would be in a better position to set the mood right for their themed café.

Finding Clinic Café won’t be hard as it’s just 2 blocks away from Sunway Carnival Mall within the Seberang Jaya vicinity. If you are exiting from Penang Bridge towards Alor Setar, just turn left besides the second flyover until you see the traffic lights (Butterworth-Kulim Expressway). Turn left into the highway and watch out for KFC on your left. Drive on until you see a junction on your left. Turn left in Jalan Todak and you would see the Sunway Carnival Mall not far away on your left. Drive further up and you would see the Billion Supermarket. Turn left into Jalan Todak 3 and you would see the brightly red and white colored Clinic Café on the right hand side. Try to maneuver your way for some parking spaces around here.

Name: CLINIC CAFE
Address:
7 Jalan Todak 3, Bandar Sunway, Seberang Jaya, 13700 Perai, Penang, West Malaysia.
Contact: 04-399 1991, 016 444 6118
Business Hours: 10.30am-3.00am
GPS: 5.396731, 100.397931

You can also check out their newest branch at Gurney Plaza, Penang.

RATING:
Ambience: 7.5/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 classy)
Food Choices: 7/10 (1-4 limited, 5-7 average, 8-10 many choices)
Taste: 7.5/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 8/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 9/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)

15 Responses to “HAVING MY CHECK OUT AT CLINIC CAFE”

  1. Min says:

    Lol…. dare you visited on it during weekday, working hours some more?? Anyway, it’s good that you be the first to give off the review. At least, i know that i should only go to visit after 1 month, at least the choice has been widen. =P

    Good… try them out later and give me your feedback.

  2. email2me says:

    This is so cute!

    Cute? 😛

  3. Duckie says:

    interesting concept and comments too!!

    Yup… something new but need further improvements. 🙂

  4. samlee860407 says:

    Criz…ini perempuan mana ada sui?? I was expecting beautiful one when you tell me :p

    You expect everyone to have ladies as great looking as Ms Malaysia to serve you ar? You would have to pay more. LOL!

  5. foodbin says:

    a novelty cafe-great!

    Yea… a new one too. 🙂

  6. ciki says:

    for a minute there, I thought you were sick! LOL

    kinda kinky the nurse LOL!

    I would be in deep trouble if I were to dress my maid that way.. haha!

  7. food-4tots says:

    I was really caught by your title. Whew! I think they need to have a weight scale too. Hehehe!

    Yeah… quite true. Get the “doc” to give some free checkup… Before & After Meal Checkup. 😛

  8. cariso says:

    I wish to try that prawn pasta! I will know immediately if they use fresh prawns! Hehe!

    When I had them, they were fresh. You have to try them out yourself to find out on their stock. 😛

  9. key says:

    Pricing: 10/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
    Service: 6/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)

    Hi there key… you should voice it out to the management instead. They are still new to this business. Suggestion would be greatly appreciated rather than having the rate voiced out. Thanks.

  10. buzzingbee says:

    I’ve tried it out. Felt that there’s still lack of variety and the table setup is too packed. Maybe they are trying to maximize the the space and customer intake.
    psstt….also the waitresses no more in such dressing la. Looked more like staff nurse instead.

    I would agree on the crowded sitting and choice of food. After all, it’s just a small cafe. As for the dressing… awww… too bad for the guys. 😛

  11. Clinic Cafe says:

    Thanks for the comments & ideas given to us. We will look into it seriously and improve it soonest possible.
    We are trying very hard to create more varieties and promotions to suit everyone of you !
    Due to most of our nurses are new, and the uniform is yet to ready. However, they all will dress up in nurses dress very soon. Your feedback / comments are important to us !

    I hope to see more improvements. 🙂

  12. mr ricky says:

    hi there …………clinic cafe is very interesting …is there any new out let opening KL side?if yes please contact me by email :rickyd72@gmail.com thank you.with regards ricky

    I’m sorry. They do not have any outlet in KL at the moment.

  13. billy tan says:

    Shame on this impersonators.A environment resembling a hospital is alright but dressing like a qualified ER doctor is asmack to us medical professional.Hang the stets on the neck well u need to go thru yrs of medical slogging to do that but seeing a guy with a stets n serving food in our rspected kidney dish it wrecks havoc n pain in our hearts.Furthermore the food is bad!!!Using a noble profession to make commercial gains like drs n nurses is so shameful to us who need to slog for hrs to heal people.

    I understand your concern here Dr. Tan. I’m just writing from what I have seen and ate. If you are not happy with what you have seen, I would suggest that you go directly to the management to say out your opinion. From what I know, it’s just a themed eatery with operation license approved by the respective authority. There are many themed eateries popping out in the world but at least the Malaysian version did upkeep the image of the medical profession in term of ethical dressing codes. I wondered if you are aware of other themed eateries of the same concept outside Malaysia? You would be surprised with their dressing codes as well as their high-cholesterol-killing menu. Just a hint here… go youtube “Heart Attack Grill”.

  14. billy tan says:

    Im not sure if the syringes tthey use r recycled ones as its easily available as throwaways.Most people will feel a little embarrasse to dress up like us qualified doctors if they r fakes but these people r impersonating like ER doctors so unashamedly n with arrrogance.Pls spare some mercy on the real doctors n nurses who have to treat the sick wholeheartedly.,with humilty.

    I have checked with the management. The syringes were indeed recycled… recycled not from throwaways but recycled to a maximum of 3 times from new purchases. As for your personal unhappiness with their dressing, again please approach them directly to voice it out. You can always call in to get their email address.

  15. Weniz says:

    May I know when did u set up ur Clinic Cafe branch in Gurney Plaza?

    Can you called up and ask about it as I do not represent them on this matter~ Thanks

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