I've been meaning to blog about this place for quite some time but I never got around to it. Kevin and I were in Jersey Garden Mall (yes, AGAIN!) last month and as usual, we were shopping until dinnertime. We didn't want to eat in the mall so we decided to drive around Elizabeth to see what there is to eat. Kevin remembered going to this diner with his colleagues for lunch once and it pretty good. So, he suggested that we go have dinner there.
When we walked in, Kevin said it looked somewhat different. I later found out that it was recently renovated and under a new management. The decor was pretty errrmmm different, compared to all the other diners that we have been to. There we fake palm trees and tropical themed murals throughout the whole restaurant. I guess that's why it's called Tropicana? :P
After sitting us down and taking our orders, our server brought out two tiny slices of cheese pizza. Instead of serving us rolls, I guess they want to be different? I don't know. I find it a tad bit weird. The pizza was rather greasy and not really that great tasting. Maybe they made too many cheese pizzas during lunch and they were trying to get rid of it? Who knowsss...
Our meals came with a choice of either salad or soup. We both went with the Cream of Turkey soup. It was pretty good actually. Really creamy and good. There were also big chunks of turkey in it. I enjoyed it and I think Kevin did too.
For Kevin's main, he ordered the Virginia Ham Steak ($12.95). He chosen mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli as his side. The ham steak was really huge and it also came with three slices of grilled pineapple. Kevin said that it tasted alright, not too bad at all.
I got the Chopped Sirloin Steak ($11.95) with grilled sweet potato and steamed broccoli. When my meal arrived, it didn't have any sort of gravy on it. I remembered that it's supposed to come with mushroom sauce. Nevertheless, I took a small bite of the chopped steak and it tasted horrible! The meat was totally tasteless! I have never tasted anything so bland before. So, asked the server for some sauce (which should have been served in the first place). Instead of bringing me the mushroom sauce, he just brought me a bottle of A1 steak sauce!! For real??? I couldn't eat another bite, cos it was just too horrible. So, I just packed it up and planned to make my own gravy when I got home.
Since my main totally sucked, we decided to share a slice of cake for dessert. They have quite a large selection of desserts and we went with the Carrot Cake ($4.65). Now, this is really good. A slice of really moist carrot cake, with some caramel drizzled over it. Very very good.
The owner/manager was at the register when we were paying our bill. I mentioned to him that there wasn't any sauce with my chopped steak when it was served. He looked at me like he didn't know what I was talking about. I had to actually open up my take away box to SHOW him. He then went on to say, oh we don't usually put sauce on our chopped steak. By then, I was already a little bit upset with him. I said if you don't usually put sauce on it, why mention it in the menu? It clearly states that the chopped steak is served with mushroom sauce. Instead of admitting that they made a mistake, he went on to say "oh you will be surprised how many people don't like that with their chopped steak". It seems they only put it on if you ask them to. I said well, I did ask the server for some sauce but all I got was A1 steak sauce! He then just shaked his head and said no no, we don't usually serve sauce with chopped steak unless you ask. Man, are you dumb? I just said that I asked for sauce but wasn't given any. He then proceed to 'explain' to me that many people don't even know what chopped steak is and blablabla. I told him I know what chopped steak is and I know that it's supposed to come with sauce. I then mumbled under my breathe to Kevin that I will definitely blog about this on my blog and guess what? Mr No-We-Don't-Serve-That suddenly became Mr Nice Guy. He suddenly smiled, apologized and even offered to get me some mushroom sauce, so that I can take it home to eat with my chopped steak. I guess he only cares when the reputation of his diner is at stake. Too bad, damage has been done. There are many other good diners out here in Jersey, so I don't think we will return to Tropicana anytime soon (not even for their carrot cake, which by the way was very very good!).
When we walked in, Kevin said it looked somewhat different. I later found out that it was recently renovated and under a new management. The decor was pretty errrmmm different, compared to all the other diners that we have been to. There we fake palm trees and tropical themed murals throughout the whole restaurant. I guess that's why it's called Tropicana? :P
After sitting us down and taking our orders, our server brought out two tiny slices of cheese pizza. Instead of serving us rolls, I guess they want to be different? I don't know. I find it a tad bit weird. The pizza was rather greasy and not really that great tasting. Maybe they made too many cheese pizzas during lunch and they were trying to get rid of it? Who knowsss...
Our meals came with a choice of either salad or soup. We both went with the Cream of Turkey soup. It was pretty good actually. Really creamy and good. There were also big chunks of turkey in it. I enjoyed it and I think Kevin did too.
For Kevin's main, he ordered the Virginia Ham Steak ($12.95). He chosen mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli as his side. The ham steak was really huge and it also came with three slices of grilled pineapple. Kevin said that it tasted alright, not too bad at all.
I got the Chopped Sirloin Steak ($11.95) with grilled sweet potato and steamed broccoli. When my meal arrived, it didn't have any sort of gravy on it. I remembered that it's supposed to come with mushroom sauce. Nevertheless, I took a small bite of the chopped steak and it tasted horrible! The meat was totally tasteless! I have never tasted anything so bland before. So, asked the server for some sauce (which should have been served in the first place). Instead of bringing me the mushroom sauce, he just brought me a bottle of A1 steak sauce!! For real??? I couldn't eat another bite, cos it was just too horrible. So, I just packed it up and planned to make my own gravy when I got home.
Since my main totally sucked, we decided to share a slice of cake for dessert. They have quite a large selection of desserts and we went with the Carrot Cake ($4.65). Now, this is really good. A slice of really moist carrot cake, with some caramel drizzled over it. Very very good.
The owner/manager was at the register when we were paying our bill. I mentioned to him that there wasn't any sauce with my chopped steak when it was served. He looked at me like he didn't know what I was talking about. I had to actually open up my take away box to SHOW him. He then went on to say, oh we don't usually put sauce on our chopped steak. By then, I was already a little bit upset with him. I said if you don't usually put sauce on it, why mention it in the menu? It clearly states that the chopped steak is served with mushroom sauce. Instead of admitting that they made a mistake, he went on to say "oh you will be surprised how many people don't like that with their chopped steak". It seems they only put it on if you ask them to. I said well, I did ask the server for some sauce but all I got was A1 steak sauce! He then just shaked his head and said no no, we don't usually serve sauce with chopped steak unless you ask. Man, are you dumb? I just said that I asked for sauce but wasn't given any. He then proceed to 'explain' to me that many people don't even know what chopped steak is and blablabla. I told him I know what chopped steak is and I know that it's supposed to come with sauce. I then mumbled under my breathe to Kevin that I will definitely blog about this on my blog and guess what? Mr No-We-Don't-Serve-That suddenly became Mr Nice Guy. He suddenly smiled, apologized and even offered to get me some mushroom sauce, so that I can take it home to eat with my chopped steak. I guess he only cares when the reputation of his diner is at stake. Too bad, damage has been done. There are many other good diners out here in Jersey, so I don't think we will return to Tropicana anytime soon (not even for their carrot cake, which by the way was very very good!).Tropicana Diner - Elizabeth,NJ
537-545 Morris Ave,
Elizabeth, NJ 07208
Tel: (908)351 7775
Web: www.tropicanadiner.com
Eeeee! So salah from the start to serve you pizza till the A1 sauce. Their world has gone crazy there. LOL
ReplyDeleteYa lor...some more don't want to admit their mistake. The moment he heard that I want to write a negative review, WAH! His attitude changed 180 degrees! Suddenly become the nicest guy in the whole world. So terrible!
ReplyDelete