I had categorized Mimolette's food quality to be inconsistent, the service patchy but the ambience, given the surroundings, has always made the dining experience somewhat pleasant. For the 3 occasions I have dined there, I found the meats to be quite good.

Still, nothing prepared me and my group of Singaporean and international friends last Sunday.

The restaurant informed earlier that it would only serve barbeque for Sunday dinner. Thinking that it was Mimolette after all, and the quality should adhere to certain restaurant standards, I thought it should be ok.

The whole experience was disastrous. They had a paltry self-service salad bar offering potato salad, garlic bread, muffins, cookies and jello in plastic containers. The meats came in a tray, some overcooked, some still cold and undercooked.

My polite Swiss friend said it was not quite what he expected of a restaurant. While a more blunt patron said that it reminded him of American dorm food with meats cooked by on a makeshift BBQ pit.

We have all concluded that we would never go back to Mimolette again, even if the usual Ala Carte menu is available. Chances are we will all warn our friends. I hope the restaurant owners and chef realize how badly such a sub-standard BBQ offering is hurting them.