OVO Kitchen. Bistro. Club: 7000 sq ft of party and dining space

Mike invited us for a review of the newly opened OVO in Uptown 2.

7000 sq ft sounds good for a "party and dining" experience in PJ. I was excited. And I was hungry (again since when am I not hungry?)

Arrived nice and early at almost 630pm. Just in time to shoot a little with my humble Lumix LX3.

Went up the escalator...the place looks promising. It was spacious. And being in Damansara Utama, I reckon this would be a good place for people to chill before they head home after work. There is the comfy indoors with couches, sit at the long bar or hang around the pool table. Alternatively head out for fresh air with your drink.

Started taking pictures of the food. Honestly they look good. Serving portion looks impressive. And they looked like they would taste good.

The outdoor area is a nice place to chill after work. And perhaps a nice candid shot of a pal too. Like this of Andrew.

Drizzle begins...

Chef comes out and commented that we left the good food in the rain and of oysters drowning in melted ice. He bitches on and on and on. Now that makes a horrible first impression of him. Admittedly the food was in the rain. But no need to repeat again and again and again.

In that midst of bitching, he says the scallops are fresh scallops from Hokkaido. Hmmm, that sounds awesome.

We head in and while some wonder around taking more pics. Some have a game of pool. 7 plus...I'm hungry and thirsty. Still no sign of any food. I take a couple of pics of OVO and continue people watching.

When we're finally seated, waiter comes up to us and asked us what we would like to drink. "Coke or Sprite". That's it. Coke or Sprite. Excuse me, didn't someone just tell us to order whatever we wanted to drink? Miscommunication perhaps from the management to the waiters? My pals ordered Coke or Sprite. Hehehe this is one strange place. They serve Coke and Sprite at room temperature! I don't think we look like we're having coughs or were kids who are not allowed cold drinks at night.

Then Mike orders Guinness that sounded awesome to me. I order the same. A bomb is dropped. We have to pay for our own alcohol. Hmmm what happened to "order whatever drink you want"? I ordered nevertheless. Strange thing is Mike and Marcky's Guinness arrive. So did the next table's. But where is my Guinness? I order again. And I am not sure if I looked underage or ladies are not allowed to have an alcoholic beverage because waiter ignores my order. Marcky repeats my order and it finally arrives. Gerammmmmmss

Mocktails arrive first. I've never been a mocktail fan. They did look vibrant and colourful. Some interesting but corny names e.g. First Love. Took a sip from each mocktail that was served. Hmmm I just didn't like them. Reminded me of the syrup medications that I took as a child. A few pals felt the same. To be fair, we're probably all not into mocktails?

Food finally arrives. First dish was lamb, pasta and salmon on a plate. Pasta was OK tasting but a tad salty for my personal liking. Mouthful of salmon could hardly tell me anything.

But the lamb was good. This dish receives a full thumbs up!

Dish 2 arrives. 2 plates of sushi. 10 pieces and there's 12 of us:-( This avocado one looks promising but turned out dry inside.

I love cabbage and was looking forward to the cabbage one. Alas 10 pieces for 12 persons. You can work out the maths easily. I didn't get to try it and obviously can't tell how it tasted.

Dessert arrive. Didn't look promising. Neither did it taste good. Ice cream was a wee frozen that you can bite into bits of frozen ice bits. Cake was chewy.

When we sat down, they asked us to raise our hands if we ate oysters. Strange thing we were never served oysters. Or did the oysters all drown in the melted ice outside during the shoot?

We're ushered out to join them (management and other guests for the night) at the lounge area. We declined. Had to have our hungry stomachs fed elsewhere.

Summary?
• OVO is located in a nice place if you're working in or around Damansara Utama.
• Food is so so only (well from the items I tasted) with the exception of the lamb that I declare 6.5/10. Warm food needs to be served warm. And cold food to be served cold not room temperature or frozen.
• Service needs some fixing from the chefs to the waiters.
• I'll return to OVO only if friends want to go there. Sorry OVO but after the bittersweet experience, I'll not want to return on my own accord.