Seafood Paella and what you see may not what you get

Saw an ad in the paper this morning. Pizza Hut is offering a Mediterranean feast and among the dishes is Seafood Paella.

This is a picture from taste.com.au (click for the recipe). What I thought I would get!

(Photo by by Ben Dearnley & Steve Brown)

The last time I had this dish was in Barcelona, Spain during a class trip. It's been too long, I cannot remember how it really tastes like. I remember not being that nuts about it. So, I decided to try out the one from Pizza Hut for old memories' sake.

So, this is what happened:

What I saw in the ad!

Look at the size of the mussels and the garnishing prawns with the herbs sprinkled on top bringing out the myriads of colours there.
Looks good huh?

What I got!
Look. It was the mussel SHELLS that stick out like TWO sore thumbs.
I couldn't see the garnishing prawns and there wasn't a trace of greens on top, side or under!

Disappointing? Yes.

Taste-wise? First of all, the rice used wasn't the paella short-grained rice. There wasn't enough "fillings" for the price they charged me RM12.90 pre-tax and charges (see above picture). Then, the taste of the dish it self. Now I remember not being too overly excited over it back in Barcelona. Honestly, fried rice is the rice dish for me. This? Hmm...melted cheese on rice just doesn't do it for me. Hey, in fact, I have never come across any paella recipe with cheese in it!

I'm so not ordering this again. Next time, I'll just go for the pasta.