Ipoh Cafe Series – Ben & Lynette
January 31, 2014 | 26,028 views
Ben & Lynette Maison Patisserie opened its doors barely two months ago; owned by the same people of Secret Garden
Happy Chinese New Year dear followers of Motormouth From Ipoh. The moment that I set my gaze upon the huge IPOH sign greeting travelers along the North South Expressway, my heart instantly melted. The body felt energized, the mind working into overdrive compiling a list of MUST-EATs this time around, and the sheer joy of reuniting (not that we were apart in the first place) with families and friends set the pulse racing.
The recent surge of cafes dominating the food and beverage scene has kept many foodies excited; some embarked on cafe marathon while others proudly embraced the shutterbug spirit in them and clicking away and sharing them through social media platforms.
I have to admit that Motormouth’s a bit rusty in this department. Once a month excursion back home could only rendered me with so much (or little) time for cafe runs; especially when you know this local Ipoh boy soul is still very much endeared by old school, straight up, no frills Ipoh hawker food.
Lest we need to remind you once again, the New Year belongs to the Horse. Stallions. Ponies. Unicorns. Or whatever you wish for your year to be represented by.
The list was compiled in a half-hearted manner though. This list of cafes (and by cafes I removed our delightful coffee shops from the list, obviously) consisted of almost a dozen names. Though I don’t reckon that I can achieve grand success of trying them all and writing about them this round (also contributed by the fact that some may be closed for the season), I shall try.
Here’s the first chapter on Ben & Lynette Maison Patisserie ….
A Sandwiches and Salads counter for your DIY ensemble for a lighter meal, and the relatively sparse counter (for a patisserie) displaying breads and various pastries
A new kid on the block so to speak, Ben & Lynette is run by the same group that manages Secret Garden and MyGopeng Resort. This refurbished bungalow occupies the plot of land adjacent to Secret Garden; sharing the same parking space even. Stepping in into the retro-fitted, minimalistic decor populated by vintage paraphernalia and mono-toned furnitures, the cafe did manage to bring back a sense of nostalgia; akin to stepping back in time when this could be the exact emotion that our grandparents felt upon setting foot in English mansions.
The menu on the board displaying the entire range of fares offered at Ben & Lynette, while some of their specials (including the probably more popular All Day Breakfast selections) are written at the counter.
It was clear that Ben & Lynette (let’s call them B&L) capitalizes more on the current popular trend of all-day breakfasts, breads, pastries, cakes and coffee. Dishes with more substance like pastas, pizzas and soups do not come in pages after pages of details but instead displayed on the black board hanging by the counter. Since you must order and pay at the counter, this probably saved them the hassle of compiling a menu anyway.
The two signatures at B&L denoted a significant need to bring a party of people and share; the Sandwich Train (RM38.90/USD13) and Charcoal Burger Tower (RM48.90/USD16) brought fun, party food back to the table.
Smoked salmon, poached eggs, boiled asparagus, baby tomatoes and lettuce on a thick toast (RM17.90/USD6)
The All Day Breakfast selection was tempting; and we settled for the girl’s recommendation of the Salmon rendition of their breakfast platter; consisting of a few streaks of smoked salmon, two poached eggs, boiled asparagus stalks, halved baby tomatoes and lettuce on a piece of thick toast. Complete with a dash of black pepper, the presentation appeared passable at a glance.
Digging in further into the ensemble of relatively guilt-free materials; the smoked salmon slices were evidently chilled for quite some time. The poached eggs were alright, but the asparagus tasted bitter and fibrous. Still, the portion justified the price paid and could be more than enough for a light eater.
The hanging light bulbs concept has been done to death over in the Klang Valley; yet is still relatively fresh over in this part of the country. They retained the mosaic tiled floor, yet should not have blocked all natural light streaming in through the large window panels.
Cutlery, sauces and serviettes are available at the self-service counter. So this is generally a DIY cafe except the fact that you don’t have to carry your own food or drinks.
The latte and mocha (about RM12/USD4 each) came with coffee art at the very least, but both were not stellar in their classes. The mocha was a tad too sweet according to my dining companion, while my latte was not as smooth and could do with a little bit more milk.
A point to note here was that the girl spilled the mocha and made a slight mess around the cup, apologized profusely while serving the drink yet made no effort in wiping the plate dry or change it. And to add salt to the wound, when we asked for a piece of serviette to clean it up ourselves, she mentioned that serviettes are self-served items and we should get them from the counter. Ahem. So much for pleasantries. We did not spill the coffee in the first place, remember?
Hawaiian Pizza (RM22.90/USD7.50) – Chicken, Pineapples, Capsicum, Onions and Olives.
Then, after a good 20 minutes or so (thankfully time flies when you’re catching up on grandfather stories), we noticed that the pizza we ordered reached the next table. And we were the first to arrive. Without even noticing anything amiss, nobody attended to us despite the lengthy wait. Thus, I walked up and checked with the same girl.
“Oh, okay … maybe it was our mistake. Let me check with the kitchen”
Good thing was that she did check, come to our table and apologized again. She said it will take them another 5 – 10 minutes to serve our pizza. Expectations did run slightly high that moment, though the pizza was barely worthy of the wait.
Served on a chewy dough base, the cheese and tomato salsa sauce made a really salty combination; to a point of over-the-top. The chunky bits of chicken and juicy pineapples saved the day, at the least. But we did not polish the 8″ pizza off though; the wait must have exhausted our patience and somehow satiated our appetite.
The spilt Mocha; that had too much chocolate in it; rendering the drink with an inherent sweetness that may not be up to everyone’s taste.
The mansion looks elegant and inviting. The upper floor is an office, so the seats are limited to one side of the building (a crowd of 20 at most) and al fresco dining area under the porch.
Goes without saying that the experience was far below our expectations, though for new eateries in Ipoh, always take everything with a pinch of salt and let nature runs its course. Teething problems related to service can be solved in time should the management take heed and starts gaining grounds with the locals. However, the prospects of all day cafes in Ipoh still remains to be seen, with more than a handful of them over-charging and under-delivering in terms of quality of food and coffee.
A quirky, vintage or modern contemporary ambience can only get you so far in roping in new customers, but staying power should always be measured from a point of substance and service. Ben & Lynette has a long way to go, but here’s wishing them galloping success ahead.
BEN & LYNETTE (Facebook page)
No. 42, Lorong Cheah Cheang Lim
30350 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
Business Hours : 9am – 12.30am daily
Please read Secret Garden’s review for the map and directions to B&L. They are within the same compound.
The pastas are pretty good at B&L, although I’ve not tried the sandwiches or pizzas. The smoothies are also very good and prices are fair. However, service is too slow… I mean, its slow to the point that I cant imagine why, and the waiting staff is like so duh!!! Obvious lack of training….
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I agree! I waited more than half hour for my sandwich to come! I was pretty annoyed as there were no other customers.. And come on a sandwich! Does take that long?
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I made a visit to this cafe last week and I feel that B&L is overpriced and overrated. The pasta was overcooked, the pizza base was chewy, and the coffee tasted burnt and the foam was more of a bubbly froth than a proper silky smooth foam that a good coffee should be like. As a person having only returned from overseas I have a clear idea how these dishes should taste like, and they have not matched my expectations at all, and having to pay exorbitant prices for sub-par food is nothing short of ridiculous.
As an Ipoh born and bred I am constantly dismayed at the quality of restaurants being established in the city seemingly eager to compromise the quality of the food and drinks with fancy decorations in order to profit from this festive season. I sincerely hope the owners improve on the quality of food and drinks because this is not a place I would recommend to anyone at all.
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[…] the Ipoh Cafe Series 2014 (read Ben & Lynette and Something’s Brewing from the past two days), we ventured off to The Happy 8 Retreat Cafe […]
the food is okay. tried the rum and raisin cheesecake, not bad. but disappointed to have caffe latte and cappucino in paper cup instead. no pattern, no enjoyment. haih… somehow overpriced. coffee in ipoh coffee shops are much better…
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this cafe looks very nice but is this cafe halal for muslim or not?
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khairul Reply:
June 3rd, 2014 at 7:24 pm
B&L claims it’s pork free. It’s not necessarily halal as alcohol is part of its dishes ingredients. If really want to eat here, perhaps choose something vegetarian, and ask if alcohol is used.
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Came here with a friend for a late night coffee and ordered a cake. Was utterly disappointed. A coffee lover at heart and they literally managed to serve us something worse which came out of a packet. The cake was horrible. Only wanted to wash down the displeasure in my mouth with a sip of water. Only to find out it was RM8 for a gargle. Seems to me like a marketing ploy.
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Couldn’t agree more. Overprices and overrated. Food presentation was bad. And for the price you pay, you would have expected to leave with satisfied stomach.
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I wish that they would provide water free of charge for serious customers …
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I wish that they would provide a complimentary glass of water to serious customers. I am disappointed.
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I was there this afternoon and the cappuccino was one of the worst I’ve ever had in my life. The lunch set was deplorable. They even managed to make the Campbell mushroom soup taste horrible. Overpriced and overrated.
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Went there recently. Bad service. As we went in a group, we have ordered beforehand. Food was not tasty and served cold (at least, they could have micro waved before serving). Salad was just salad leaves – not fresh and without any dressing. The staff unable to answer our queries pertaining to the special drinks. Price of beverage – overpriced. Hope the owner will take action to rectify the service and food. No intention to go a second time.
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is this cafe halal ? cause im thinking of bringing my muslim friend here.
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I wish to express my horrible and terrific experience in Ben and Lynette Asian food which is located in Kinta city. I am writing this based on my experience and it was my mistake to choose this place to have my late dinner. Me and my sister came at 10.45pm and we ordered our food. Since the menu has limited choices, we had to ordered prawn spaghetti and ramyeon kimchi. The food came at 11.20pm. It took very long eventhough there are only 3 tables with customers. What angered me the most was the ramyeon kimchi and prawn spaghetti turned out to be tasteless and inedible. Next, the table that we sat on was unhygenic and has leftover food despite we asked the waitress to clean up. Not only that, the spoon, fork and napkin were not refilled. So I had to take it from another table. The floor is dirty with grease and unmaintain. At the end, we could not stand the food anymore so we left and pay. To my very big surprise, it charged me RM 46.80. I was at the point of speechless. However, I did not complain and pay it immediately. One more thing, they had no change and I stood and waited there for almost 3 minutes for them to give me back my balance as I paid with RM50. I can say that this is the far the worse food and experience I ever had. We expected more but it came to our disappointment and anger. At the end of the day, it ruined our day. I didn’t not exaggerate my comments. What i wrote is the experience i had.
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