Meng Shiang @ Taman Cheras, KL

Our first Charsiew Wantan Mee lunch for the year at Meng Shiang, Taman Cheras, had us gasping for words…
The girl who took our orders told us
“Don’t worry – very fast today because less people”…
When we were served our plate of noodles in just under 15 minutes we were surprised, to say the least…

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The portion looked substantial in size but once we took a bite, we were really disappointed. The Charsiew was tasteless, as was the noodles.. What happened to our one time favourite wantan mee shop?

Thinking that perhaps we were just having an unlucky spat with Chinese coffee shop food, we decided to try Western for dinner instead.

Revisiting MM Cafe at Section 17 PJ, we found that the quality in food had dipped as well.
The lamb chop you see below was burnt, small and had salt clumps on the top surface.
The Fish and Chips I had was 50% smaller than usual!

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What is becoming of the quality of food in KL/PJ? I read an article somewhere that eating good food (i.e. food that is prepared well and tastes great) triggers a chemical response in our bodies that sets off endorphins into our bloodstream. This gives a pleasurable response.

Eating a large meal, to the point of satiety, can also set off endorphins.

Both are different – and both can make us feel good.

So it goes , some restaurants give you a HUGE meal, and compromise on quality, so you may still get that pleasurable response… not from the taste, but rather the size of the meal. (one good example is comparing a BIGMAC meal, to a small but fresh plate of sushi).

My question is this… what happens when restaurants cut back on BOTH portion size as well as quality? Is there a negative response in the body? what is the reverse of endorphin release?
I don’t know the technical term/answer to that one but I will say this… it should be the opposite of pleasurable. It should be the opposite of a feeling of well-being and a feeling of satisfaction…

Granted it is pure speculation on my part, and I am no rocket scientist, but if we lack endorphins we will soon become very unhappy, sick puppies… ! What do you think? What are the long term effects of eating lousy/sub-standard food?

Feel free to post a comment. Cheers!

Restoran Meng Shiang
1 & 3, Jalan Kas Kas 2
Taman Cheras (Taman Yulek)
Kuala Lumpur

MM Cafe,
Happy Mansion,
Section 17, PJ

28 Comments

  • kampungboycitygal says:

    ouch..yes the same ques that ive been asking kgboy everyday..somehow i just hate it when eateries compromise on the fd quality n portion

  • Nic (KHKL) says:

    errrr, the comment above was frm me. forgot to sign in..hehe

  • Nic (KHKL) says:

    hmm, i wonder if my first comment got thru.

    niways, was saying that perhaps it the best time to make full use of the kitchen. ;D

  • "Joe" who is constantly craving says:

    ahah lack of endorphins = shit sex life..

    maybe its a conspiracy to screw up the ppl sex lives.. u know after all, our neighbouring country has a problem with conceiving..

    Or everyone is just cutting corners so they can continue to make bigger margins..

    2 days ago, i went for korean bbq, my my, how the portions have shrunk..

  • CUMI & CIKI says:

    kbcg:
    yea,we are in the same camp

    nic:
    r u planning to start cooking and invite us all.. yay! lol:D

    joe:
    so, you mean it’s all just a conspiracy to ruin our sex lives. hahaha… a hungry man is an angry man, is a SAD man, is a sex deprived man… 😛

  • Tummythoz says:

    Times are really that bad?! Pray tell you just had a bad day and things turn around d.

  • thule a.k.a leo says:

    it seems that not every places keen to maintain their standard of food..
    I don’t know about quality… but I agree that they cut down on the portion of food rather than increasing the price… for the fear of losing customers I guess.
    I’m not really a fussy eater… as long as the food can be put into my mouth.. should be OK.

  • worldwindows says:

    I have a bad ‘teh ice’ day which is supposed to be the best in my favorite coffee shop this morning. Their beverage price is also higher than others in the vicinity. Expensive and quality down 🙁

    But I have nice marble cheese cake in DePastry Chef for tea and a very thick, sweet and zesty concoction of ice lemon tea for RM7.00. Cheap and good quality 🙂

  • Jackson says:

    hu hu hu.. sad to hear that… well, with the increase of raw food material, sometime they compromise on the quality….

  • PureGlutton says:

    Aaww..sorry to hear about the dismal meal. Sigh… the damage is done – even tho’ petrol prices hv come down somewhat, the hiked prices in consumer goods, food incl, aint gonna come down anytime soon 🙁

  • babe_kl says:

    me on the same camp as you guys! very dissappointing indeed. one of my fren said it was me, always complain quality drop but i know it’s not only me heh :p

  • backStreetGluttons says:

    we dunno much about endorphins and things like that but we are sure the invasion of the Burmese food snatchers have done Malaysia in

    We feel great remorse when we no longer see proud Malaysians serving us food , only dvd and samsung 12 mp camera phones !

    the end is nigh…

  • Big Boys Oven says:

    heheheheh luckily we still manage to get some quality food . .. . but thanks for informing us this places! we will visit them some other time! 🙂

  • Jason says:

    Oh my… even this wantan mee place gone bad? 🙁

    I haven’t really encounter some quality drop scenario yet but higher pricing, yes. Guess Jackson’s right.

  • 550ml jar of faith says:

    That unusually speedy wantan mee was an ominous sign! Jeng-jeng-jeng! It’s too true though, the decline in quality and serving size is such painful assault to our overall well-being. The question is, do we bite the bullet and order two of everything instead?

  • Julian Si says:

    Welcome back to the land of blog 🙂 See u soon!

  • J2Kfm says:

    probably once we tasted REALLY good food, our expectations run way high, and expect the same quality and quantity the 2nd time around.

    but problem is, where got QC one?! in such small stalls, and new cafe? so, better give them some time then go again.

    case in point, I went Pun Chun in Bidor., the duck noodles can be good, sometimes so-so, sometimes HORRIBLE! same with their wu kok.

  • vkeong says:

    I think this is going to become common soon.. But my main worry is when one day the good taukeh/cooks decide to retire.. then the foreign helpers will take the place.. omg

  • fatboybakes says:

    oh noooo, more posts about the decline of food standards at previously good places….
    maybe they had a bad cut of meat for the charsiu that day la…what about the noodle itself? good?

  • mimid3vils says:

    Sad huh….. 🙁

  • Life for Beginners says:

    Urgles. Just had HUGE company luncheon at Tony Roma’s so I’m wondering if too much of something good is a good thing at all! 😛

    *bURpS!*

  • Maya says:

    I am drooling for those wantan noodles!

  • CUMI & CIKI says:

    tummythoz:
    agree!

    leo:
    non fussy eaters are the best ppl to cook for.. especially when you cook like ME! hahahaha

    ww:
    oh no! bad ice tea day.. boo hoo:(

    jackson:
    agree!

  • CUMI & CIKI says:

    pureglutton, babe , BSG:
    we are in the SAME camp.. 🙂

    bbo:
    cool

    jason:
    ditto that

    faith:
    yea! when they serve you that fast, it’s not good news i tell ya

    jules:
    cheers!

  • CUMI & CIKI says:

    j2kfm:
    really? I have been lucky at bidor everytime, but cumi says sometimes not up to par… now i know!

    vkeong:
    yar man.. only foreigners serving soon.. how?

    fbb:
    noodles bad also.. no taste.. but i will give them the benefit of the doubt and try again at a later date, because it IS one of my fav charsiew wantan mee places !

  • CUMI & CIKI says:

    mimi:
    Sad:(

    LFB:
    so, you had that endorphin rush .. didja.. wink!

    maya:
    where do u normally go?

  • sc says:

    sad to hear that both of their quality dropped tremendously..long term effect of me eating substandard/ lousy food? you’ll find me being way slimmer i guess :p

  • CUMI & CIKI says:

    SC:
    lol! slimmer than THAT, and you will disappear girl!

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