All In A Days Work: Waffle Mania

Before we headed out to get Myst running, we had a little waffle stall running for about 2 months as a little past-time project. It was certainly a fun experience, and considering that none of us had any experience with a waffle iron before - we actually only spent 1 day in testing the machine before rolling out to the market.

How things happened were certainly very interesting as the operator for the desserts shop had requested us to start within a 3 day's notice if possible. Up for the thrill of the challenge, we obliged and rushed over to get the machine we have been eyeing at the Boulevard Mall. The waffle iron was made in Malaysia (*grin*), and it was much cheaper than many other imported models that were being used in the market.

Well, there are some interesting quirks about this machine. Ours was of the same size, but the depth of the iron makes its waffles much bigger - which required us to come up with a new formula for making money other than copying the Magic Byte clones out there in the market. Soon enough, we came up with a recipe of our own that we believe is somewhat superior in many ways as opposed to a power-based batter. Well, that's the way we look at it - We believe that fresh and natural ingredients are always superior to anything that passes through the manufacturing process.

Business was booming initially - though ever since we moved the waffle machine to our waffles bar in Myst Cafe, it has somewhat slowed dramatically, probably due to its location that new guests are unaware that we do have waffles for sale unless they look into our menu. Nevertheless, we still retain its signature size and taste, with a new variety of flavours including ice-cream waffles to accompany your meal at affordable prices.

There is also another catch to our waffles - The art of removing waffles from the iron ROFL. Naturally, anything cheap is not too durable either, and I guess the same goes for our dear local made waffle iron. It has went through some heating problems, and the biggest problem is the wear and tear of the non-stick surface. Removal of waffles has evolved into some sort of art where you can actually observe the bartender performing world-class stunts of flexibility in an attempt to remove the waffle in once piece while avoiding the searing heat of the waffle iron. Truly a sight to behold :D

Another random article on some of our daily incidences with the crew :D

All In a Days Work: Homemade Ice-Age

When we first purchased a second hand industrial-sized refigerator for our stores, little did we know it had its quirks of its own. This fella built on ice on a daily basis thanks to some poor engineering design (Made in Malaysia - actually Kuching >.<).

For those in the know, a refigerator provides cooling via its cooling rods which channel coolant throughout. Interestingly, for this particular unit, it had only one motor (or condenser), which basically limited it to a one shot on/or off and similar cooling for both the chiller and freezer sections. Naturally, we would have some problems such as the chiller being too cold at times and such. Many household refigerators douse the problem by simply fitting in a fan called a blower which would eliminate the problem of ice forming in the chiller section while the freezer cools down. This works by distributing the heat or more accurate cold evenly to avoid ice-forming on the cooling rods that pass by the chiller section. Another side effect, we experience a literal flood every night thanks to the forming and melting of the ice.

Well, thanks to some genius who wanted to save a couple hundred of bucks, theres no blower, and the result a super thick ice-wall or what the crew calls the Ice-Age that occurs once every month. Annoying as it may be, it actually does generate some inhouse fun every month especially when the guys go around the machine literally 'breaking the ice'.

And yes, we actually need an ice-pick (small one la...) to break through the 6" or-so wall that forms over the course of a month. Clearing out the chiller is one thing, followed by about an hour of ice fun, and rearrangement right after. Honestly, I believe the guys have somehow managed to convert this annoyance into a good practice of management to keep the chiller maintained after all.

Another one of our little arcs that run around the cafe every month - Life can be fun and entertaining no matter where it is!

All In A Days Work: Quality Assurance

No matter how much we would like to be called a networking point or events business, Myst is still essentially an FnB operations that serves food, drinks, desserts and the like. As such our KPI's fall solely under one criterion:

Customer Satisfaction.

I'm not sure how people think. But then again, this guy is starting to look freaky.

One of our friends did advise us on referring to customers as guests - and it is something I really find interesting and applicable - simply because, by addressing our customers as guests, we automatically push up their statures at least by a little. Being in service line, it is only logical that we should treat our customers with utmost respect, thus they are guests. Little things in our patterns of thinking - but I realised that after spending some time addressing them as guests - I actually began to develop a little more respect for the people who dine in with us. And that is certainly a good thing for just about any field in actuality- because I believe the most important element of a business deal or partnership is satisfaction for both parties.

Well, we have other KPI's under the main criterion of course. Amongst them includes, quality of service, quality of food and beverages, quality of the environment and the like. Quality assurance in FnB is of course, ensuring quality of the dishes we serve, and drinks we make. Other aspects such as quality of service is more subjective - though there are base principles to refer to as well.

In ensuring that the quality of the kitchen is maintained, I myself (as the supervisor of the kitchen - I also develop the recipes for the menu) have to constantly conduct quality checks on the dishes coming out from the kitchen. In simple English, its called picking food (not with my fingers of course! Ahm) or in Hokkien (as it is always funnier this way) - 'nie chai'. Kids, don't try this at home - Or you might just lose your dinner :p

Leftovers: The bane of FnB

Then comes the bane of FnB, a taboo not to be uttered under the worst circumstances: Leftovers! And substantial amounts of it! I understand that everybody has different tastes, so there is a slight possibility that our excellent food and drinks did not quite match the guest's palate. On the other hand, the much more likely scenario (as our crew are well, bumbling !@#$ - Hey, I do respect them a lot - its just that they lack .... technical ..skills) is that some 'idiot' just screwed up the recipe or cooking procedure. At this point, I am informed by the server that the guest did not 'eat up'. Then there is only one thing left to do - Become a recycle bin lo..


Yes, yes.. I know the dangers of hand and mouth diseases. One of my crew even asked me if I could get AIDS by eating infected food ( -.-"). Well, lets just sat I guess I am willing to sacrifice my life for the future of Myst :P But what to do? I need to know if the food was up to standard bah.. Maybe we might have some sort of food testing technology in the future to determine the 'deliciousness' factor of a dish >.<. Disclaimer: When tasting leftovers, we still observe the golden rule: Do not do anything to to the food which would make you not want to eat it yourself. If were still willing to taste it - at the very least its from the untouched parts lah!

There was a time I was sharing this with a friend, and when I thought about it from the third person's perspective, we just bawled over on the floor laughing. Seriously - imagine the supervisor chowing down on just about every plate (and then downing it with a half-finished drink) than has more than a nibble left behind by a guest -.-

Ah.. well.. there is a always a price to pay for excellence. Hey, not every item left behind is bad! I actually realised how great our food was at times - so don't blame me for finishing good leftovers!