Champ's Express @ TTDI - Ummm, this is not for me.

I loveeeee Champs Bistro at Centrepoint, Bandar Utama, use to go there regularly up till they were closed for renovation several years ago. I haven’t been back there since and so, I was glad to see them opening a branch in TTDI, as it was closer to home.

I was excited to give this a go. However, lets just say that excitement dwindled down rather quickly upon my visit. I visited the TTDI branch ONLY because of the good impression its Bandar Utama branch left me with. It may not be everyones’ cup of tea as the price point with Champs is often high. You can buy the same dish elsewhere, equally as delicious and it being way, way cheaper. If you can afford it though, good food, good customer service and good ambiance is almost always guaranteed. However, the ambiance, service and food here was rather subpar. Hmm is there suppose to be a difference between Champs Bistro and Champs Express? I wouldnt think so as the price of food are all the same. Hmmm.

Champs is located along Jalan Tun Mohd Fuad 1, within the same row as Pebbles, llaollao, Secret Recipe. Parking was easy, we parked in the open carpark opposite the road, at an hourly rate of RM 3.

As soon as we entered, we were greeted, seated and orders were taken. That part of it was all good, the sucky part started after orders were taken. Two Filipinos handles the front of the shop and one of them, the lady, spent the entire duration I was there speaking on the phone and she was loud. Louder than my friend and I talking, louder than the music playing in the backgroud. LOUD. She only stopped in between calls once and that too to speak to the guy that took my order in their mother tongue. Just when I thought she stopped, she got back onto a call again, speaking very loudly. Considering that we were seated indirectly facing one another, I was able to catch her attention a few times in hopes of getting her to be quiet. While I appreciate her attempt to tone it down by covering her mouth with her hand, it was pretty much a useless effort. If one continues to speak loudly instead of lowering the volume, covering the mouth would only act as a loudspeaker. So yea, there was no peace and quiet despite the customers being only me and my friend. It was continuous chatter from the Filipino lady, from the time I sat all the way to the time I left. It does not reflect the expectations one would expect at a premium priced restaurant. It did not look premium, same can be said with the ambiance. Customer service, was good – this is solely based on the guy who greeted us and took our order, minus the chatterbox lady. All that is left now to rate is the food which when comes to this particular branch, is okaylah but way overpriced.

Hokkien Mee, RM 28 + Fried Koay Teow,RM 24 + Small bottled water, RM 5 + RM 5 ish tax = RM 63

The Hokkien Mee was okaylah and the Fried Koay Teow was decent. Between the two dishes, the latter tasted better.

I expected more when it came to the Hokkien Mee as it was suggested to me by the guy who attended to our table, apparently it is popular and a crowd favorite but it did not reflect in what I tasted. Both dishes were overpriced.

The Fried Koay Teow was pretty good, decent. It includes noodles, egg, prawns, chinese sausage, ‘kerang’ and etc. I’ve paid RM 8 for the same dish elsewhere though and taste alot better.

All in all, I paid RM 63 for a plate of hokkien mee, fried koay teow, a small bottle of Spritzer. Overpriced. The whole experience did not reflect on the premium price. Very noisy, no peace and quiet, food was okay but I paid RM 63 here while the same dishes + drink would cost me under RM 20 elsewhere. Oh, and lets not forget the RM 5ish in tax. The restaurant looks rather basic, I do not understand the high price point. I only visited this branch based on the positive impression I was left with at the Bandar Utama branch, hoping the same standard and quality will be retained here. I guess I was wrong. I honestly do not feel my whole experience here is worth the money I spent. I wont be back. Ugghh, I am going to go find myself a quiet corner to sulk for a minute, sulk because I gave away RM 60 for this. It could easily cover my meals for 2,3 days and it was all gone in a single seating. Serve me right. Dont mind me. Off I go to sulk and maybe shed a tear. Ugghh.