Review: emonique Cafe, Cyberjaya [CLOSED]

Why do I bother writing up about places that have since closed down? Well, at least my precious camera space isn't entirely wasted on them. The effort to take them while enduring mockery from lunch mates is good enough reason to put it down. Lest of all, let it be a reminder that nothing lasts forever.

Also possibly this is where cafes comes to die. So much so that tg wonders if we bring bad luck to the establishment(s). But that's the thing. The millennials are so full of hope, chasing after their dream, trying to get their big break after seeing their counterparts achieving success but of each success story, do we know how many failures there are?

And emonique just happens to be another one in a long string of failed food joint. You'd think that in this God-forsaken town, F&B is a profitable business. Truth is, it is not unusual to see restaurants either change hands or just close down entirely after mere months of being in operation. The only one that is thriving is mamak.

So where did emonique go wrong? Was the food bad? Not really but it wasn't exactly remarkable either. It just didn't have that one factor to keep the crowd from going back.

Curry sting ray rice. Rather generous with crackers and taste wise, it didn't do too bad.

Spaghetti meatball was pretty good. Apparently portion is commendable but it looked just right for me.

Deep fried chicken chop. I don't know how to fault on this one.

Curry mixed seafood. As we go along, I am just going to makeup the dishes as best fit .

Marinara pasta. This was rather cheesy which maybe a turn off for some people (not me).

All the above came with rice, drink and dessert which was a simple jelly. Nice to cool down.

It was a Friday afternoon and the rain started to pour so we were stuck for awhile. To pass time, we tried the banana cake which was OK though I think my (self made) version is slightly better. Just a wee bit :")

Since there is no recommendation to be given here, here is perhaps a lesson though bear in mind that it is from someone without any experience in running an F&B outlet. Only as a foodie:

• offer something spectacular. Be it in option or prices. Hey, the mamak is packed for a reason and good food isn't quite it 
• sometimes, the tried-and-tested method is your safe bet. Why waste money and effort to stand out in the crowd? Especially if you don't have the previous point. So what if you are doing another mamak? If the first one is packed, you get spill over business. Still getting paid, no?
• good marketing and PR skills will only get you so far. If your food is blah, no amount of socializing (in real life and on the Internet) is going to save your shop. Once people actually do go into your shop after the beautiful food pictures only to find that the real deal is quite the complete opposite, your business will eventually die a natural death