TGIF

T.G.I. Friday's has been around for some time. I had never bothered about this place and it was only recently that we popped in to have a meal. I had this craving for some western. And since we had not been there before, we thought it was a good idea to give it a try.

I have always thought T.G.I.F. stood for Thank God It's Friday. But they have the ('s) after Friday. So I am somewhat doubtful now. "Thank God It's Friday's" makes no sense. Anyway, it is really not important. Their website boasts of more than 1000 restaurants in 58 countries, out of which 13 are in Malaysia and the majority of these are in the Klang Valley. We went to the outlet nearest to us - in Subang Parade, Subang Jaya.

The place was pretty empty and quiet when we were there. And it was a Saturday evening. I wondered how a Friday would be like. A friendly waitress greeted us and led us to a table. She introduced herself and told us she would be our waitress that evening. And then we did not see her again.

They tried to have an American feeling in the restaurant. The lights were dim. They had old pictures and gramophone record covers on the wall. They also had some old memorabilia on display.  But the ambiance they tried to establish was lacking. It was too quiet. It did not have the life and boisterousness of the yuppy joint they aspired to be.

As usual, we ordered a few dishes to share. The first on our table was the stuffed mushroom. There were 3 large baked mushrooms stuffed with minced beef and mozzarella cheese. It was served with some bruschetta sauce and a sprinkling of fresh herbs. The taste was alright. Th mushrooms were quite tasty and the stuffed beef was generous in portion.

The second appetizer was the fried mozzarella. The cheese was coated with bread crusts and deep fried. It was served with a marinara sauce. I found the mozzarella rather bland. It was not as rich and flavorful as I expected it to be.

The chili and garlic shrimp was one of our main meals. It was sauteed shrimps served with linguine. The sauce was rich and cheesy. The linguine was not spectacular.

The other main course was the sizzling chicken fajitas. I love fajitas. Used to enjoy them in Seattle where a restaurant named the Red Rooster served an awesome fajitas. The fajitas here comprised grilled strips of chicken breast in a hot plate, served with tortillas and a combo plate of condiments - guacamole (an avocado sauce), pico de gallo (a Mexican salsa), sour cream and Colby cheese. I particularly liked the tortillas which was not unlike our local chapatti. The grilled chicken was eaten wrapped in the tortillas with the various condiments. This fajitas did not wow me. It was like "did we order the right thing?"

The eggplant rollatini was our last dish. It was a last-minute added on. It was slices of eggplant (brinjal) rolled over a cheese stuffing and then grilled. It was served the same bruschetta sauce used in the stuffed mushrooms. I did not find this dish good at all. If only the eggplant were slices of bacon!

Desserts were the minis. There were 5 mini desserts to choose from. We opted for the mocha latte, snickers treat and tropical delight. They came in 3 tiny glasses. They did not taste great. Good thing they came in tiny glasses or we would have to waste them. Of the 3, only the mocha latte was just OK. 

This iced lemon tea was bottomless. I had 3 glasses of it. Greedy me.

TGIF is not a fantastic place. It used to be the "in" place for an American meal. But now I think it is a "has been". It is best summed up when my wife saw me updating my blog and asked me what my subject was. When I told her it was the TGIF, her reaction was "Chet (Cantonese expression of disapproval).. why bother blogging about that place!".