One of the worst restaurants I've been to in Beijing. Expensive for what it is, and a letdown in every way. First, it looks like it's supposed to be an American diner-style place where couples will come and share milkshakes and the like - except there are already other places that are much more appealing in Beijing. Maybe this would have worked in someplace like Changsha or Zhengzhou, or Beijing ten years ago, but Beijing in 2010 doesn't really need Prima Taste.

One enormous mistake they've made was to put such great-looking photos on the menu - if you're going to have nice photos, the food should at least look slightly similar. Clearly the art director and chef don't have the same idea about what a burger is supposed to look like. If the chef had some idea at least of what a burger is supposed to taste like, that might have been some consolation. Instead, I left wanting to go to McDonald's.

Having said all that, the ice cream looks nice. Then again ...

I'm referring to the new branch in the Xingfu area, where Mare used to be. The staff are very attentive but not hovering on you all the time, wireless Internet!, good food and ambiance. Very good for people who work in the Dongzhimen embassy area for lunch or those working w/ laptops who prefer restos instead of cafes for better food options. :)

Plus, since they opened like SEP, they've been having month-long promotions. OCT was half-off on very famous dishes. NOV is 39 kuai for set meals. I just love it!

To top it off, they have California's Swensens also in the same location. So, if you're not craving for Singaporean/Malay dish, the American counterpart is a great alternative.

I'm assuming the reviews are for the new brach on xin dong lu?

It's 2 restaurants in 1 - Svenssons(?), some american chain apparently, and the prima taste chain.

I've been twice because it's very close to my house. The first time the service was so bad I didn't get to eat anything at all, but that was when it first opened, I put it down to teething problems with staff and decided to give them another chance.

There are so many things wrong, it's a shame to see people invest so much money and just miss the mark so badly. I hope they can turn it around or some poor bugger(s) are going to lose a pile of their hard earned cash.

It's always going to be hard cooking 2 styles of food well(western and singapore) from one kitchen. People won't return just because you have different styles if they are not done well. The singapore food is ok, but then you have the hawkers restaurant just down the street which is well established and produces some excellent singapore/malaysian(i guess) food. The western food is awfull - I doubt any westerner would return their and eat that - especially when you think of all the other good western food options nearby. (village etc)

Specifically, here is what your problems are. Most of these will kill a restaurant quickly, I sincerely hope the owner reads this and takes some action.

1. Environment.

Flies - There were lots of flies buzzing around. Anytime you have flies in a restaurant it means only one thing - low hygiene standards. Flies are attracted to decomposing food and organic waste, the fact there are flies in the restaurant means someone is not cleaning out waste, and there is rotting food somewhere in the restaurant. If basic hygiene standards are not met, I dread to think what else is going on in that kitchen. That one is unforgivable, you need to respect your customers rather than seeing them as cash cows.

Deliveries - They take their deliveries during lunchtime, through the front door. This seems so basic you have to wonder what the owners are thinking. It shows such a lack of respect for your customers. While I was sitting eating there was 5-6 chinese delivery men walking in and out with boxes.

Groups of staff/owners chatting - there was a large group of managers/owners standing chatting, playing games, having a laugh behind the ice cream counter. When you want something you feel like you are disturbing people in their own home. The customer should not have to distract the staff from their games to get some service, it's not your house and we are the ones paying you, so act professional.

2. Service.

Staff are poorly trained and everything is quite slow. As I mentioned you have to interrupt their personal conversations and games to get any service in the first place. I had some fries, and asked for salt and vinegar. No problem they said. The condiments never came, I couldn't be bothered saying anything but when they gave us the bill my partner mentioned that and the waitress said "why would you need salt, I don't understand". Hmm ok. In a place serving western style food you would think the staff would be told that sometimes the customer adds their own salt and pepper. Again this shows the owners are not doing the basic things required to run a restaurant, ie training the staff.

3. Food

The singapore food is average, not really something you would return for. It tastes processed and has a fast food/chain feel about it. It's certainly not made fresh from nice ingredients.

Just down the road you have the hawkers place that has authentic dishes made fresh from good ingredients, it's going to be hard for prima taste to compete with them on food.

The kitchen has low standards(see flies above), further evidence of this was the sauce and fingerprints all over the outside of the bowl containing the shrimp noodles. From the chef to the waitresses to the many managers/family members milling around, no-one thinks to wipe of the mess and present the food nicely. If standards are this low, you can be sure there are a dozen other things you wouldn't like if you could see the kitchen.

The western food is not good. I had a BLT. How hard is that? My BLT was very small, made with that crappy chinese sweet bread and had.....pineapple and cheese in it. Pineapple and cheese in a BLT? What are you thinking? Whose idea was that? It's a terrible idea - anyone who orders a BLT does not expect those 2 ingredients - you are turning off anyone who orders that sandwich. A BLT has bacon lettuce and tomato - hence the name. You make it special by using really nice bread, good ingredients, not by sticking random things in it.

Hooters is also just up the road - they do crappy western junk food much better, I don't know who they expect will eat here.

All in all the place stinks of low standards and poor managment. You need to get the basics right and actually genuinely care that your customer has a nice experience. That means the owner needs to get set some standards and force the staff to follow them. If this is not happening then it's the owner's responsibility - the only reasons for not taking responsibility are laziness and disrespect for your customers. You can learn that now or in 6 months when you close the place after losing a big pile of your money.

Check the kitchen - eat the food yourself, seek honest feedback from customers, go eat at the places that do make money. Most of all - sort out the hygiene, train the staff and make it look more professional.

Spending time writing fake reviews is absolutely the worst thing to do at this point.

Good Luck.

After reading about the opening of Prima Taste Kitchen on the Beijinger.com, I was excited to try it out. Unfortunately, the restaurant was a major disappointment.

None of the items we ordered matched the picture on the menu (see examples 1-3 below). (Aside: I know this is a common complaint in Beijing, but restaurants always seem to do it. When will they learn that they can "trick" a customer only once?).

Example 1: Chocolate malted milk shake. What arrived looked like a milkshake, but not thick and creamy like in the picture. It was runny (too much milk or not enough ice cream), the chocolate was caked on the bottom and the flavor was chalky. It had the taste of a 'Slim Fast' shake, but (I assume?) with all the calories of the real thing.

Example 2: Bread bowl goulash soup. In the picture, the bowl looked big and flaky and the soup had large chunks of meat and vegetables. The bread bowl that arrived was tiny (although it tasted fine). The soup was clearly poured from a can (it tasted just like Campbell's Chunky beef stew).

Example 3: BBQ pork ribs. The ribs in the picture looked like a work of art, meat smothered in barbeque sauce with a large stack of steak fries and a bowl of cole slaw. It was like looking at a menu from Applebee's or TGI Fridays (and I mean this in a good way). What actually arrived was horrible. It was fat hanging off a bone, slathered in sweet-and-sour sauce. The fries were skinny (i.e. not steak fries) and there was no cole slaw. Additionally, it was clear that the ribs were in fact beef ribs (the meat was red) instead of pork (which is normally light-colored).