Food review: Isthmus @ Northpoint, Midvalley
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(3 votes, average: 2.67 out of 5)
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I had dinner with M & ES last Friday as hubby had to attend some company dinner thingy. We went to Midvalley as M wanted to get a dress from TopShop, and we decided to try out Isthmus. The restaurant is helmed by Chef Beh, who opened Isthmus of Kra in Melbourne as well as a vegetarian outlet called Shakahari. I was eagerly anticipating a good dinner as I’d read quite alot of good reviews on this place.
We arrived at the restaurant close to 8.30pm. There were still a good number of tables available, and we chose the one next to the glass windows. As we were all pretty hungry, we decided to order the Wow Platter to share first while we contemplate over what we should order for our mains. I finally settled on Poussin “Ayam Sioh” while M and ES ordered the Din-Kum Duck and Spring Chicken Medina respectively.
The starters arrived and we eagerly dug in. The Wow Platter consists of five different starters: Stolich Oyster Shooters, Salmon Gravlax, Lentil As Anything, Simply Avocado & Lotus Blue Dumpling. After reading such good reviews about the Lotus Blue Dumpling, I was really eager to try it out.
Hmmm… 
It was really bland, and the dumpling skin was thick and pasty with a slight flour-y aftertaste. Didn’t like it at all.
The rest of the starters (I didn’t try the oysters and the salmon) were so-so only. Nothing special, and it definitely did not ‘Wow’ me.
As for the mains…
ES’s spring chicken and my “Ayam Sioh” was ok. It tasted nice, but that’s about it. Again, nothing really much to shout about.
On to M’s Din-Kum Duck…
Now, this dish has been called ‘utterly delectable’ by a local magazine. I guess they must’ve gone on a good day. The dish that M had on that night should’ve been called “Pepper with duck on the side“. The whole dish was literally liberally (try saying that 20 times!) sprinkled with black pepper. The duck had pepper. The soba had pepper. The sides had pepper. What gives?!? Poor M couldn’t eat most of her dish, it was that bad…
By the time we finished, none of us were really in the mood for dessert. I’m not sure how much the bill came up to as ES paid first, but it should be about RM170+ including tax.
Was the chef having a bad day? Or has the quality dropped? Who knows. The point is that every restaurant has only one chance to make a good impression to their first-time diners. If you dislike the food the very first time you visit a place, it’s highly unlikely you’ll go back when there are so many other restaurants to try out there. And in this case, I doubt any of us would venture back there again.
To be fair, if you haven’t tried Isthmus, do give the other blogger reviews listed below a read before making your own conclusions…
Other blogger reviews:
Comment by Garrett on 25 June 2007 @ 1:53 pm
Well..this review is rather timely. I was supposed to try Ishtmus on Wednesday. I’ll think of something else! Thanks, Soo Yin!
Comment by MeiyeN on 25 June 2007 @ 3:40 pm
1st time, bad experience cause it was a klue event and i was sitting with strangers!
we tried for da 2nd time and find da food so-so only 
Comment by lotsofcravings on 25 June 2007 @ 3:56 pm
ouch..no wonder M kept asking abt my ding dong duck wahaha..it looks ok though..
and yes..can u get me the camera models for me to start getting quotations for?? please?..u after all want another dslr convert rite?
Comment by Kenny Mah on 25 June 2007 @ 4:00 pm
First time to your blog, Soo Yin!
And wow, I love how you design the photos… very “clean” feel to it. And it doesn’t hurt that I’ve met you in person first last Sat at the Just Heavenly launch… must be the first time I met a blogger in person before visiting her blog — rather weird but cool at the same time.
You take care, me come back here soon…
Comment by M full of pepper on 25 June 2007 @ 9:30 pm
you’re too nice!
i won’t even bother to rate it. bleaahhhh.
and…it’s not just a dress…it’s the white Prom Dress!!
Comment by sooyin on 25 June 2007 @ 10:44 pm
Garrett: Haha…what a coincidence! Well, like I said, they might be having a bad day, so don’t write the restaurant off just yet. Afterall, most of the bloggers liked the food there…
MeiyeN: Ya, I read about it on your blog. Abit hard to enjoy when sitting with strangers, right?
Lotsofcravings: Haha…I like what you called it…dingdongduck! Ya, poor girl, could only eat a few bites! Have emailed you on the camera models oredi…sorry for the delay!
Kenny Mah: Hello, you! Thanks for dropping by, and it was nice to meet you on Saturday!
Haha…my photos ah? I did it this way because the rest of the ’side-shot’ photos didn’t come out nicely…
M full of pepper: Ok ok…sorreee…THE white prom dress that cost…*ahem*
Comment by M on 26 June 2007 @ 4:48 pm
hey….that is a low blow..
i don’t tease you about how much u spend!
Comment by Yunarie on 26 June 2007 @ 4:58 pm
I don’t think the kitchen had a bad day when you were there, I was there about a few months ago, and the food is so ordinary even though they had a good review on newspaper. i wonder why they are so famous in Australia, i guess we are much more luckier than Australians when it comes to good and cheap food
Comment by sooyin on 26 June 2007 @ 10:42 pm
M: Hey…sorry, girl! Was just teasing…*hugs*
Yunarie: Hmm…that says alot about magazine reviews, huh? Coz I’ve read some pretty good ones about Isthmus, that’s why I was really looking forward to trying it out…
Comment by Huggy M on 27 June 2007 @ 12:27 am
*hugs back*
feel bad now! 
Comment by tankiasu on 13 July 2007 @ 10:38 am
Hmm..most of the other floggers seem to like this place. I’m going there tonight, but now that I’ve read your review. Hmmm……
Comment by sooyin on 17 July 2007 @ 9:23 pm
Tankiasu: Well, I hope you don’t let my review put you off…best is to try it for yourself…
So did you go, in the end?
Comment by Zara's mama on 23 July 2007 @ 2:03 pm
Just tried it last Friday.. so so nia.. Especially it’s located in Midvalley, a place we tried to avoid because of the jam and crowd.
Comment by sooyin on 24 July 2007 @ 11:31 pm
Zara’s mama: Ohh…Midvalley jam is getting worse and worse nowadays…
Comment by tankiasu on 16 August 2007 @ 2:51 pm
Nah I did not!
Comment by Poppy Scott on 23 June 2010 @ 11:45 am
prom dresses from JC Penney are great looking and cheap too.”.;