Joyce J.
Yelp
Honestly, I was disappointed; a little bit by the food but majorly by the service I received. I had booked JL Studio even before it got the Michelin stars. I became a fan after going to Chope Chope Eatery in Taipei (another restaurant by JL) in July and the positive experience made me decide to take a day trip to Taichung to dine at JL Studio. Between booking and the actual dining, the Michelin Guide announced JL Studio winning two stars and I was glad that I had the foresight to book the restaurant. Although the price went up from the time of booking to it gaining the stars.
Service:
I wish the wait staff would be more open to having a dialogue about the dishes and the food. In general, the wait staff didn't live up to what you would expect from a 2-star restaurant. They weren't particularly knowledgeable about the food and also didn't seem experienced. For example, one of the explanations included a note that the milk used was from Miaoli. So I asked, what's so special about milk from Miaoli. The wait staff simply said it's a local small farm. (But how does it enhance the food? Do they use any special method like the milk from Chulu? Is it particularly creamy or has any kind of selling point?) And I would have hoped for a little bit more story. Later on, we asked about the origin and taste of after-meal coffee, the staff member also didn't have an answer (it's from someplace in South America but she wasn't sure where and made no explanation on the flavors we would expect).
Another service incident was upon entering we were seated at the table by the wall. And since both I and my friend are the analytical types, we began to talk about the different details about the restaurant. As we were chatting among ourselves, some of our conversations seemed to be overheard by the wait staff. My friend who was facing the door noticed that our two wait staff got called over by the lady who appeared to be the maitre d to the kitchen. And upon returning, the lady glanced at our table. The look made my friend uncomfortable since it was obvious to her that they were talking about us. I don't know if our analysis made it seem like we were tough customers, but we were not causing any trouble by making unreasonable requests.
Yet another service incident was since my friend has a highly sensitive stomach, she is extra careful with what she eats. So she asked a question about whether if the flowers used in the dishes were organic. Later, when the Hanan chicken rice since it appeared pink-red, my friend asked whether if the chicken was cooked all the way through. The maitre D said it was so we left it at that. But since my friend has prior trauma about raw chicken, she left the reddest part. The maitre d came by and insisted again that their chicken is sous vide so it is cooked. To which my friend said that it's really her own personal discomfort, yet she felt slightly disturbed the wait staff felt the need to challenge her personal definition of the cooked level of chicken that she wasn't even asking a replacement of.
Food:
Some of the dishes were quite creative. I thought the appetizers were quite nice. Little India was also particularly well done (other than my Indian doughnut being doughy in some parts). But perhaps because of the price going up, the last dish before the desserts was artisan bread with butter. I asked the wait staff that since every dish had some Singaporean tie, what's the significance of the bread to the overall meal. She said it's just in case you still weren't full then you can munch on bread. Somehow the bread just seemed like a last-minute add on with no particular stories to the overall set. The overall storyline was interrupted by bread, if they want to ensure the guests left feeling full, would not some spin that fit the theme like laksa or Singaporean fried rice not work? Putting bread at the end just seemed out of place.
Beverage:
We ordered the non-alcoholic pairing which the only highlight was the first cup. The subsequent cups went from worse (cucumber juice) to worst. The last cup was fermented pineapple juice which my friend thought it was a particularly bad fermentation and she would have preferred fresh. And the pairing could use some refinement since for 980 NT one would expect some chemistry between the food and the drink.
Overall, there were highlights in the food, but some other finer details made the experience unpleasant. The wait staff needs retraining in knowledge and in customer service. The food should stick more consistently to the theme and half hazard throw in an unrelated bread. And if you want to talk about the customers, please at least do so discretely or wait for the customer to leave then talk about them.
