Review: The Canteen, Da:Men USJ 1

 No.1, Persiaran Kewajipan, USJ 1
Petaling Jaya

https://www.facebook.com/damenusj

Gone are the days where food courts meant mediocre (if not bad) tasting food in a rather dodgy environment. If anything, the food court is the last choice for anyone in a shopping mall but Da:Men has changed that perception with the inception of The Canteen. Touting itself as a one stop center for variety of food, it did have quite a number of stalls offering from Western to Asian.

One thing that'll strike you as odd is there's a turnstile at the entrance and exit where they hand you an access card.

 Instead of paying at the stalls after getting/ordering your food, tap the card at the stall's machine and it'll be added into the card. This is quite nifty to avoid having to fish your purse out. It also means that you can lose track of your spending and go crazy ordering everything. Rest assured, there is a scanner machine to see how much you've spent.

When you exit, just pass the card to the cashier and pay one time. Quite a good system, right?

The other thing I like about this place is how bright and airy with high ceilings. Oh and the Wifi connection isn't shabby either. Food wise, I was pleasantly surprised. After ordering, collect the beeping UFO, the same kind from SnowFlake. When it beeps, your food's ready for collection. I think that's better than checking up again and again.

 Meatball pizza.
Freshly made and baked out of the oven, the crust was thin and crispy. Just the right amount of tomato sauce and adequate cheese. The pepperoni and meatballs were indicative of its price (below RM 20) so don't get too disappointed if compared to Domino's or Pizza Hut. Taste wise, happy to report that this is better than those franchises.

Grilled fish fillet with coleslaw and grilled carrot.
The coleslaw didn't taste like those from KFC but certainly a little too soggy for my liking. Grilled carrot (or any grilled vegetable as a matter of fact) had a nice touch of butter, salt, pepper and garlic. Both were pretty good as compared to the main component i.e. the fish. Dory fillet isn't always bad but they aren't always the best. This had a slightly crispy crust (that had since turned soggy from the coleslaw juice).