The Humble Food Company @ Desa Pandan

The Humble Food Company @ Desa Pandan happens to be a restaurant that I discovered recently through ShopeeFood.  With a name like Humble, I'm wondering if I should expect humble dishes, humble prices or humble ingredients?  Lol.

I'm also wondering if they were the same entity as Humble Chef once since their name and menu seems pretty similar.  However, if you check Humble Chef's Facebook, they specifically state that they have only two branches in Damansara Heights and Setapak (and that they've already closed their 3 branches in Desa Pandan, Damansara Perdana and Shah Alam).  Hmmm, we've seen this one too many times before...the parting of ways...very common when business partnerships don't work out.  So, I'm only making a guess here that the parting owners took over the latter 3 branches (only they, the owners, know the real story).

Anyway, for my first order from The Humble Food Company, I immediately wanted the Grilled Fish Set Meal @ RM24.90 as the deliciously looking promo pic of the fish convinced me to give this dish a try.  This was how it was packed (I had to pay RM1.50 for the packaging and requested for no cutleries).

My bad for not reading the fine print description of the dish carefully and was confronted with 4 pieces (two of them pretty small pieces) of pan-grilled dory fillet when I opened the box.  Adoi, I'm not a fan of dory fish (who is anyway!) because of its taste and texture...though I'm a fan of Dory in Finding Nemo (just because it was voiced by Ellen DeGeneres.....lol).  As expected, the grilled dory was pretty much tasteless.....and looked nothing like the nicely grilled fish in the photo! >_<

The grilled fish comes with two sides (a choice of fries, mashed potato, cheese omelette, fresh salad or coleslaw) but no pasta (misleading photo in the food pic again).  I chose fries and coleslaw, the latter of which was just sufficiently dressed and was cold and crunchy.  I can't say the same for the fries as they were no longer crisp (as some smarty-pants decided to pack the fish on top of the fries!).  I would have at least packed the fish on one side of the box and the fries on the other so that the hot fish fillets don't steam over the fries and make them soggy.  The set meal also comes with a free drink (mineral water only) though you can pay extra RM3 (for a can of Coke or Minute Maid Pulpy Orange) or RM1.90 (for Ice Lemon Tea).

Besides the nice coleslaw, there was this little tub of appetite-inducing tomato salsa (don't ask my why it needed to be packed in a separate plastic tub when there's still a vacant compartment space in the box). I would have packed the fries in that extra compartment and packed the salsa tub together with the fish. That's why I didn't realise that the salsa was supposed to be spooned over and eaten with the fish (I would have plated it differently if I had known).  I did eat the very refreshing tomato salsa, with chopped onions and bits of parsley and red chillies, together with the fish since the fish was so bland (sans any sauce) and it did taste a bit better that way with additional cracks of sea salt and black pepper.

Another time I tried the Laksa Goreng Set @ RM9.90 (not inclusive of RM1.50 for packaging) which comes with free mineral water.  This is the petite portion (but portion will not be enough even for a petite person), so better go for the larger portion @ RM13.90.

They use laksa noodles (the same ones as assam laksa), so expect it to arrive clumped together (I loosened it up) as the texture of these noodles are really soft.  It may look a bit uninspiring for its lack of ingredients. You have to treasure hunt for the bits of thinly sliced shiitake mushrooms (other options include minced chicken or chicken breast), finely diced green & red capsicum and daun sup (celery leaves).  It had lightly spicy and sourish notes as it was fried with a tamarind-infused shrimp paste.

Luckily, it tasted better than it looked though some will probably complain that the noodles have no ingredients (do bear in mind that this is cafe pricing after all...and any main dish below RM10 is not the norm).  You can opt to pay an extra RM1 to add-on either prawns, beef or smoked duck (that would hopefully make this dish seem less kosong...but RM1 is unlikely to get you much of anything).  In the end, it was an ok dish if you can look beyond the lack of ingredients.  I would say it's something different from the fried noodles I'm used to.

The Spicy Honey Chicken Wings @ RM14.40 (packaging costs a further RM0.50) came with 5 wings and 1 drumette (I'm not sure why they didn't give 3 wings + 3 drumettes equally...fortunately, I like wings more!). Portion size of 6 pcs is good value for the price.

One bite into the wings and I could only taste the crunchiness of the spicy sauce coating (in parts) as they arrived steaming hot/soggy in its packaging.  Perhaps they would have been sufficiently crispy if served on-site.  The amount of chilli oil left at the bottom of the paper tub was worring in the beginning as I thought it'd be very spicy....but no, the spiciness was very tolerable.

The wings were surprisingly very tender and juicy (not sure if it was because of the steam created in the packaging that made it that way).  Flavour wise, I had no complaints (though I didn't taste the honey or any sweetness).  But would it compete with 4Fingers for my affection?  Well, the answer is obviously no....at least not until they learn the secret of how to maintain the crispiness of their chicken wings in the recipe itself or when enroute to the customer (like 4Fingers)...haha! :D

My Personal Opinion

The menu is simple (nothing that'll wow you in terms of creativity) with the usual western food of pastas (some with local twists), chicken chop, grilled chicken, grilled lamb, mushroom soup, salads and snacks.

The food I've tried thus far are pretty standard fare with acceptable tastes (not sure the reasons behind their overly good rating).  The prices seem reasonable (if based on cafe prices) but portions can be a little small (for the lower priced dishes) with minimal ingredients.  Perhaps, it might seem a bit more worthwhile if you're dining in and able to take in the ambience of the cafe? ;)

Besides the one in Desa Pandan, they now have 4 branches including Damansara Perdana, Shah Alam and Bangi (with a new 5th outlet opening soon) if you're interested to try.  In the end, the dishes were certainly humble....the ingredients definitely humble.....the prices maybe not so humble (in relation to portions and ingredients)...lol.  The food experience was just borderline for me though I doubt I'll be wanting anything more from them.

The Humble Food Company

12-G Jalan 4/76c

Desa Pandan

55100 Kuala Lumpur