Disappointing Dish at Pancake House

I try to avoid writing negative reviews, but sometimes I just can't. I like Pancake House and, having dined there on several occasions and being satisfied with the food, I come back to try other items on their menu. In fact, I raved about their Black Forest Gurt a couple of months ago, although I mentioned in the same blog that I was slightly disappointed with the Healthy hunger-buster Spicy Chicken Fillet on Brown Rice Pilaf.

Now, another dish that is supposedly delicious has become for me a big disappointment. I was enticed by it's huge appealing poster...

A dish inspired by the Junior MasterChef Pinoy Edition show...

Fish Burger with Malunggay Sauce & Caramelized Ginger served with Brown Rice Pilaf. P235.


The poster picture and description looked appetizing, so that's what I ordered.

Here's what the dish looked like when placed before me... not like the poster picture at all~  The fish burgers looked pale and had the same color as the brown rice, and they scrimped on the caramelized ginger and malunggay sauce.

Now for the taste... I didn't like the fish burgers at all. It tasted sour, like it was doused with too much vinegar to mask the fishy taste. I couldn't recognize any fish flavor, though I'm sure there must be fish somewhere in between the batter... they were fish burgers after all. It was just slightly fried, probably to keep the juices intact, but it would have been better if they fried it more to reduce the vinegary taste. 

The malunggay sauce was also a disappointment. I was expecting the slightly bitter taste of malunggay, which I love... but it didn't taste like that at all... just a regular cream sauce colored green, and not even enough to dip all the fish burgers in. The caramelized ginger tasted okay, though there was just too little of it to add flavor to the dish.

I think this dish calls for a major makeover... I wonder if they really followed the recipe from Junior MasterChef Pinoy edition. This one would give the show a bad reputation. 

Picture taken from Pancake House facebook page

Would go back to Pancake House? Yes, but this dish is definitely out of my list.

Here's what a negative review could do... either turn you off, or spark your curiousity to try it... 

Had this dish at Pancake House, SM Marikina. Has anyone tried this dish at other Pancake House branches? I would love to hear from you.