Orchard Central, Level 4

With all the hype going on about Dean and Deluca, and all the beautiful pictures of the food I saw on various food blogs, I headed down to check it out.

Let’s just say my experience at Dean and Deluca fell short of my expectations.

Even before I had gotten my food, I wasn’t impressed with the lack of seats (we ended up sitting near the lifts) and the fact that we had to queue up for our own food. In a place where the dining is expensive, I would expect to be served, at the very least. In fact, for some of the food items, you have to carry it back to your own table. Similarly, condiments and cutlery are self-service. Its almost like eating fast food, at more than double the price. The little service we had was mediocre too. We actually had to ask the staff to clear our table for us, as it had been left there for a quite awhile. 

Moving on to the food..

American Country Breakfast:

For $22.00, this wasn’t a huge portion, but it was reasonable. (the worst is yet to come) The eggs were too salty, and the food was mediocre. The tomato and mushrooms were not bad though. 

Mac N Cheese:

This cost $10.00, since it was ordered from the display. This was the best dish of the day, along with the unpictured lasagna (which wasn’t heated up very well, unfortunately). The pasta was nicely adorned with herbs and cheese, and it was pretty tasty.

Italian meatball and cheese Sandwich:

This was by far the most disappointing order. For $22.00, we were expecting a huge sub with lots of meatballs, generously topped with sauce. What we received was the completely opposite. This sandwich is merely a hot dog bun/roll filled with a few meatballs and topped with simple tomato sauce and cheese. I would rather go to Ikea to eat 3 hotdogs, for less than half the price. 

Caprese Sandwich:

Italian cheese, with tomato and basil pesto sandwiched between rosemary bread. Now, this was the right serving size for $22. Overall, the taste was not bad, but not great either. The bread was fragrant, and delicious. The problem? The sandwich was half warm and half cold.. (cold mozzarella cheese is not appetizing at all) they didn’t even manage to heat up food properly! Another problem? They FORGOT to add my basil pesto, but I couldn’t be bothered to return it to them since I had already waited for so long for this sandwich after they mixed up this order with the Caprese Salad. 

The food doesn’t look great, and it doesn’t taste great either. For such high prices, mediocre food and service, Dean and Deluca doesn’t score well on my list. I probably won’t be back again, or at the very most, I’ll give their freshly baked bread and cakes a shot for them to redeem themselves. 

Rating: 3/10