Tom & Jerry's has been replaced by Moulin Rouge, which is a bit of an odd name considering the type of restaurant… but oh well. Looking for a late night dinner, we remembered that Moulin Rouge offers nothing over $10.00 and were curious to see if the restaurant is better compared to the former Tom & Jerry's. After taking a look at the menu, every item as well as the description along with the prices are exactly the same as Tom & Jerry's. Perhaps the new owners and management decided to keep everything the same?
Well, what is not the same is the interior. The restaurant has plenty of booth seating arrangements and even a stage. However, something that has not changed is the red carpet. For a restaurant to spend so much time renovating the whole place, why not change the carpet? The carpet is old as well as dirty compared to the rest of the interior. Why not go all the way?
BOSTON CLAM CHOWDER, LOTS OF TENDER CLAMS AND SWEET CORN IN A HEARTY CREAM BROTH, CUP ($4.95).
We paid an additional $2.50 for a side of soup with an order of entree.
The chowder has a nice creamy consistency (more creamy than buttery) along with a dried clam flavour. As for the ingredients, the chowder is loaded with celery as well as carrot, but there are only a couple of clams. Asides from the lack of "lots of tender clams," the chowder is not bad. If anything, there were more ingredients in the chowder at the former Tom & Jerry's.
CHICKEN WINGS, 1LB OF CRISPY WINGS SMOTHERED WITH HOT SAUCE ($8.99).
The wings are lightly fried (without the slightest hint of crispiness) and have a vinegary spicy hot sauce. In addition, the wings taste moist and again if comparing to Tom & Jerry's, the hot sauce tastes a bit more weak and lacks that nice stronger vinegar flavour.
CHICKEN QUESADILLA, GRILLED WITH CHEDDAR AND MOZZARELLA SERVED WITH HOMEMADE SALSA AND SOUR CREAM ($9.99).
When the quesadilla arrived, it did not look so bad. There is a nice crisp exterior along with a somewhat fair amount of sliced chicken, red and green pepper, as well as onion. However, the bottom is extremely soggy and dripping oil.
Honestly, I did not mind it that much because the oil is from the cheese rather than the frying pan… but, the whole thing is not very appealing. As for the condiments, sour cream and housemade tomato sauce are available. The tomato sauce tastes fresh and quite refreshing, along with a hint of spiciness. The sauce definitely helped cut some of the oiliness and I like it.
8oz NEW YORK STEAK ($9.99) AND SUBSTITUTE FRIES FOR BAKED POTATO ($2.50).
Too bad we did not come here on a Monday because the steaks are only $5.99!
Asides from the ugly looking steak, there is a beefy flavour and the meat tastes slightly tender, but more chewy and dry. Fortunately, the steak is fairly thin or it would have tasted rubbery. As for the requested medium rare, it arrived medium well.
Every entree includes a side of vegetables, which are nicely cooked and have a crunch. As for the additional $2.50 for a baked potato, there are no complaints. The potato is neither mushy nor too hard, and there is a good amount of toppings along with sour cream.
BC SOCKEYE WILD SALMON, 6oz FRESH SALMON FILLETS OVEN ROASTED WITH LEMON BUTTER SAUCE ($9.99).
The salmon is overcooked and the fish tastes dry as well as chewy. However, the salmon does not taste as bad as the one from the seafood bowl at Sockeye City Grill. As for the lemon butter sauce, both the lemon as well as butter could have been more flavourful and tastes fairly bland.
Furthermore, since I did not want to pay an additional charge to substitute a side because it sort of defeats the purpose of coming here for an "under $10.00 meal," I stuck with the fries. The fries are nicely fried, not greasy and despite not having any crispiness, is fine.
Looking back at my notes, I have no idea why the tip was $8.00 because there was no service. As for the food, it is unfortunate the entrees are overcooked and the appetizers could have been better. The concept of "everything under $10.00" can actually work and Moulin Rouge has the potential to be a busy restaurant. However, the restaurant needs to hire two cooks to ensure consistency because only one cook cannot get the job done. Furthermore, why spend so much money renovating if the food is worse than the former restaurant? Moulin Rouge should serve decent food for a reasonable price. Not cheap quality food for a cheap price. Having said that, the food and beverage industry is not like a decade or two ago, cheap prices are not luring if the food sucks.
POSITIVES
- Open 24 hours
- Daily $5.99 deals
- Some items are average
- Everything is under $10.00
NEGATIVES
- Entrees (1/5)
- Food took a while to arrive and was not worth the wait
LITTLE THINGS
- For an extra $20.00 (in our case), a chain restaurant would be a better value
- If majority of the food was average, I rather come here for a late night dinner over Denny's
Food: 2/5
Service: 2.5/5
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