bitch::about::food

Empayar Seremban Siew Pow

2007-08-25T17:07:00.001+08:00

I was down in Seremban two weeks back and this is kind of a delayed post. Work has been busy and me away from writing. You must be wondering, am I writing about the famous Seremban Siew Pow? Well, no I'm not. We decided to check out this place after watching Ho Chak, which featured the in-house breed fresh water prawn utilizing Japanese technology that leaves the prawn completely free of the usually found black tiny waste at it's back.

Let's get started with the food.

The entrance - it's a huge sign board that make it impossible for anyone to not notice this place, at least from the highway.

The place - dining place was as huge as the sign board outside. It easily seat up to 500 people with a stage for performance or entertainment.

The menu, that's it.

The live stock/breeding area.

The prawn.

The huge crabs.

Superior Soup Dipped Prawn (RM33 per kg) - we were recommended this dish as the starter. It was a simple dish, prawn that get awash lightly in Superior Soup to bring out it's natural sweetness. A quick dip in the soy sauce served alongside enhanced the taste and the crunchiness will keep your hand busy with another serving. Sweet!

The prawn, absolutely clean and you can see the texture that has that crunchiness you'd like for your prawn.

Fried Tapioka Leaves with Garlic (RM8) - The taste was alright but the portion is absolutely too small for 5 person.

Steamed Red Talapia in Blended Ginger/Garlic Sauce (RM22) - The sauce was superb. The fragrant of the ginger and garlic mix is so good that I forgot the last time I loved this dish. A definite must try if you're a fan of your neighborhood restaurant of the same dish. You'd come back for this the next time around.

Deep Fried Crab is House Specialty Sauce (RM 45 per kg) - Loved this dish. It makes me wonder why Ho Chak never feature their crab dish. The crab was huge, deep fried before tossed in the House Specialty sauce that came in a mixture of sweet and hot with a slight sour taste. Excellent.

Steamed Tofu and Egg topped with Minced Chicken in Soy Sauce - Not really a fan of this. It wasn't anything special and the taste was rather bland. I'd prefer the usual flair of just steamed egg which would taste better than this one.

How to get there?
Empayar Seremban Siew Pow is located in Kepayang, Negeri Sembilan. You should take the left turn once you pay your toll tickets at the Seremban Exit. Once you took the left turn, there's a left and right option. Take the left road and keep to your right to make a U-Turn before the traffic light junctions. Keep to your left afterwards and take the 2 left small road. Drive straight and you will see the Pasar Borong Kepayang where the restaurant is located.

Note:
Price do change based on season, the usual rules for Seafood restaurant so do expect differences in price when you plan to visit.

>> Click here to visiti my other blog.

Sushi Groove - One Utama

2007-08-14T08:27:00.000+08:00

Located just next to Bangkok Square Restaurant, you can't missed Sushi Groove if you were coming into One Utama from the Rain Forest section. It was a dining place set in dimmed lighting, Zen inspired interior, with very posh like waiting area - comfortable sofas coupled with Japanese styled coffee table backed with huge wall emitting warmth lighting to the area that also housed the drinks bar, constructed in such a way that you do not felt disturbed by their existence with high wall.

I had always wanted to try this place since the first time I saw it a couple of weeks back. Luck wasn't on my side each time I came about for dinner where dozen of people are already in line, waiting to be seated. This time around, I've decided to come for lunch instead and it definitely looks like the right time. We were here at around 1.15 PM, so the crowd wasn't as mad. I guess we're late for lunch?

We were greeted by the waiter (can't really remember his name) and he was very polite by having us to wait for a while so he can go on to usher a couple to their seat. When he's back, he show us to the waiting area, having us to take a look at the menu while waiting for available dining space. It was a good 20 minutes or so, before we have a seat for ourselves. What I can say was it's all good despite the wait as the waiters are generally very polite and accommodating. I had to say the same thing for the guy who took our order, very attentive and good mannered. He did realized that I'm a fan for raw dish when I'm asking for recommendations and go on to tell me what he think it's good. Unfortunately though, Dynamite Ball, which he recommended turned out to be a definite loser.

Let's just turn to the food shall we.

Plate Setting, this is what you get when you're at your table. A single triangular plate coupled with a saucer with 3 place holder and a chopstick.

The crowd, turned out to be quite a number of people during lunch. There are 4 long tables located in the middle of the restaurant while there are a scores of 4 person seating tables on the left side.

Seaweed Salad (RM 5.90) - Loved this one. A mixtures of greens with the dried fish flakes tossed in marinated seaweed and cherry tomatoes. The sauce was delicious but it proved to be a little salty towards the end. It makes perfect sense to eat this together with other stuff to wash down the salty taste.

Salmon Sashimi (5 pcs - RM 13.90, 2 pcs - RM 5.90) - We ordered the 5 pieces option and expected it to be thinly sliced Sashimi in regards to its really cheap price. We were in awe to look at the generous cut of 5 thickly sliced salmon, served in cold plate. A must try for any Sashimi fan.

Golden Gate Roll (RM 12.90) - Cooked tuna, avocado slice wrapped in a roll and topped with raw tuna slice sprinkled with fish roes. It was a good roll but I'd prefer if it was served cold instead as the warm raw tuna doesn't taste as good as I'd like it to be.

Rock & Roll - Beef (not sure what the cut is) rolled and stuffed with cheese and mushroom, grilled over fire and topped with their house sauce. There isn't anything special with this and I thought the beef was rather tasteless. It wasn't feel like it was marinated with anything. Apart from that, I felt it was slightly over grilled and it tasted a little bitter towards the end.

Fusion Dragon Roll (RM 14.90) - This is a killer. It tasted so good and I'm literally going "OMG!" when I had it in my mouth. "It's soooooooooo gooooodddddd!". Yeah, that's the expression I had to my friend. You just got to taste it for yourself. A very creative roll wrapping up prawn tempura, avocado slices and some other stuff, while the outer part of it was beef bacon torched with fire and a dab of cream cheese on top. Fabulous!

Takoyaki Croquette (RM 6.90) - Tako Tako. Like those you can find outside of Jusco of maybe your neighborhood "Pasar Malam". The only difference is that this doesn't taste as good as the others. Need I say more?

Agedashi Tofu (RM 5.90) - It came in 2 separate bowl which is unusual for Agedashi Tofu servings that I used to. Nothing to shout about, the usual dish. I just wanted to see if it taste any better. You can expect miracle happens all the time, can you?

Flying Geisha (RM 9.90) - This is the awful dish. All I can taste was rice. And yeah, that's about it. Nothing made you feel like you're a flying Geisha alright...

Dynamite Ball (RM 9.90) - Another disappointing selection. When I decided on this, my take was it's raw salmon coupled with cream cheese. That should make it taste fusion, raw fish with sour cream cheese, yummy. But it came out to be rice ball (really looked like chicken rice balls to me) topped with torched salmon and cream cheese instead. I'm not a fan for this one.

Tuna Capaccio Roll (RM 11.90) - You got to eat this fast. We leave it a little while later when the coldness were gone and it taste rather not as good. So take this while its cold, and you should savor the best of the dish itself.

Overall, I think Sushi Groove does a really great job in having a dedicated team of waiters that are well mannered and do know how to appreciate their customers. I'll definitely make a come back and take another go on their extensive list of creative sushi offerings. Give yourself a try.

Where?
One Utama Shopping Centre.
Ground Floor, Rain Forest Entrance.
Find Gap from Rain Forest section and you should be able to locate Sushi Groove.

Ms. Read - One Utama

2007-08-05T21:59:00.000+08:00

It has been a while since I last posted here. Work commitment has taken most of my time, and I hardly visit any food place that's even considered blog worthy in recent times. That sounds like a good excuse don't you think? First post after such a long time, I have the chance to try Ms. Read at One Utama Shopping Centre (New Wing) last night with a group of friends.

As usual, customer service is my priority in dining. We get a warmth greeting upon entering the eatery. The girl is kind enough to inquire whether we wanted to be in smoking or non smoking, which we chose the later (I ain't a smoker, but most of my friends are). We were told to walk out the glass door and there will be people that attend to us.

We chosen a table at the corner, where they have the sofa like seating on one side, accompanied by 2 steel chair. Environment was alright, the kind of rattan inspired settings - ratting windows blind served as the roof decoration while the sofa and low lounge were made of the same material, slightly Zen-ish.

The waiter that attend to our table was named Joe (not a made up name, I wouldn't be bothered). Why I'm writing with such a way already? We get sucked up service, again! So, this Joe guy came over our table - no greetings or smile, nothing in that nature. Put down the menu for each of us and walked away. We're feeling slightly belittled, trying to ignore his f**ked up manners, go on to choose our meal. To cheer you guys up a little while I continue to moaned on another of my bad dining experiences, here's the food we ordered:

Death by Iced Chocolate (RM 9.90) - It was just OK. Nothing that kills me. A blend of normal chocolate powder in milk served with Vanilla Ice Cream and a heavy dope of melted dark chocolate sauce at the bottom. Tends to get slightly sweet at the end.

Iced Cappuccino (RM 9.90) - shall I say more? Don't think so.

Wild Mushroom Soup (RM 9.90) - HUGE portion! Yes, the bowl is huge. We end up sharing this bowl and I got to tell you that the soup is very thick and full of flavor. I loved mushroom soup and I can said this one does not let me down. It tends to get very salty at last, just share this soup if you decided to order as eating this on your own could caused severe blood pressure increment (I'm just kidding).

Spicy Seafood Spaghetti (RM 21.90) - Spaghetti tossed in spicy olive oil and seafood mixture of shrimps, squids and mussels, sprinkled with coarsely chopped fresh parsley leaves on top. Mr. D goes on to complain throughout the meal of his tasteless spaghetti, it doesn't taste anything for him, neither does it salty or spicy. Poor guy that keep on picking up the salt & pepper grinder. Get the idea? Tasteless.

Shepherds Pie (RM 17.90) - Minced Beef in Tomato Sauce, Oven Baked with Mashed Potato on top served with coral leaves salad in cream mustard sauce. Good portion, it may looked small but it's fulfilling. Despite the fact that the minced beef patty below tasted almost like those you find in lasagna, it is still a tasty item. Loved the cream mustard sauce in the salads. It gives a nice combinations of vinegar, mustard and slightly sweet lingerie taste.

Duck Confitt Spaghetti (RM 21.90) - No, don't mistaken this as the previous one. I know they looked alike, but believe me, it's Duck Confitt. I'm not exactly sure what it is but well, I loved duck. So there you go, another spaghetti. This one tasted just like the one earlier. I'm lucky that this one came in a mixture of sun dried tomatoes and duck meat in olive oil. The tomatoes lend a little of the sour bits to give the dish a little appeal, failure to which this is just as bland as what Mr. D had. Just an OK dish again.

Classic Beef Lasagna (RM 17.90) - Like the dish name suggest itself, it's pretty much self explanatory. I tasted better lasagna before, so this one get just an OK from me. Try it for yourself and see if you agree with me.

(The bitching continues...)
Joe came back to our table, standing there - again, not smiling or any greetings. Just stand and look at us, signifying he wanted to take order. See, I'm saying "signifying". This freak just doesn't bother to greet his customers! I'm already at my furious level, still trying hard to contained myself while looking at his eyes throughout his presence at our table. Still, I didn't managed to cracked his conscious that he's serving an angry customer already. Incredible service we had in Malaysia, don't you guys think?

Once he's done with his order, my friends already sensed my furiousness and suggest that we just let him alone. "Let's not let that kind of jerk that doesn't get laid last night to spoiled the night". And you're safe - you son of a bitch.

I guess we, Malaysian are too kind and tolerate with such low level of customer service and such people goes on to demonstrate their frustration at work towards their customers. This is definitely unacceptable and most of the time, I'll do a complain directly to the Manager, doesn't matter if it works or not. I'm paying 10% customer service and exorbitant (maybe not that exaggerating, but still..) price for comfort food, I deserved better customer service.

Moral of the story:
Don't think I'll go to Ms. Read again. On another note, my friend told me that his friend had the same kind of experience that we had tonight. Go figure yourself alright mate?

Old Town Kopitiam

2007-04-18T22:32:00.000+08:00

Kopitiams are like a trends these days. No longer do they look shabby and dirty but Kopitiams can be found in mostly all major shopping malls and they definitely do look good. One of the most agressive player in expanding their business is Old Town Kopitiam. Their latest opening located in Sungai Wang 3rd Floor (along the walk way to the entertainment zone).

The usual fare of Kopitiams made up their menu offerings. Their specialty is of course the brown coloured Butter & Kaya toast.

The famous brown bread Butter & Kaya Toast

Curry mee - loved this, soup are thick and you can literally taste the coconut milk richness.

Lum Mee - looks like school-days canteen Mee Soup, and tasted like one too, but at the price is not 50 cent like in old school days la..

Prawn Mee - tasted alright but I felt the soup are slightly watery. Add in the "Sambal" given does compensate the soup texture.

Madam Kwan Mid Valley

2007-04-14T12:17:00.000+08:00

Madam Kwan gave me a very bad service experience about 5 years ago. That was when I first dine in their KLCC's branch where I find their waiters are extremely snobbish. From that experience alone, I told myself not to ever, ever stepped in to dine here again although I remember how good their Nasi Bojari was.

Why they are snobbish? For me personally, I think the waiters look at us as though we're a bunch of kid that do not have a lot of money to spend, or maybe do not have the money to spend and decided to served us last and not attending to our request. Located in KLCC where tourist are lots abound and our service industry performing double standards in their customer service, totally unacceptable. Undeniable however that their food are still of top quality as I decided to tag along with my friends to have dinner in the Mid Valley branch. If I am to choose where to dine, Madam Kwan will not be the first choice ever. Customer service is very important for me and if you tried to served me like I don't have the money to eat, I keep that close to my heart.

Nevertheless, let's spread a little joy of the tasty food but suck-iest customer service of Madam Kwan:

Nasi Bojari

Nasi Lemak

Nong & Jimmy Seafood

2007-04-10T23:58:00.000+08:00

It was exciting to be here as this is the 3rd attempt we tried to dine here. The first time was last Monday, where Derrick planned to spend us for his birthday but they were closed and we head to Unique Fisherman Seafood instead. The second time was last Saturday. Ben, Noel and myself came for dinner at 9.30PM, the place was packed and by the time I found my parking space and get out of the car, we were told that their kitchen had closed as all the seafood sold out!

We're here today for Noel's birthday and got to taste the food at last! Happy 24th Birthday Noel. Footing the bill wasn't so bad the deal as I got to write review, something I loved but hardly have to time to do so these days.

Fried rice with prawn - golden coloured plate of fried rice, thanks to the generous amount of eggs with 3 huge prawns in each serving. I find the rice are slightly oily but the taste was superb. Couldn't beat my very own mom's prawn fried rice though.

Grilled Squids with Thai Chili Sauce - loved this. The squid were grilled just right to retain the moisture without sacrifying the springy texture. The smoked taste from the grilled process blends in perfectly with the Thai Chili Sauce .

Kangkong Belacan - the usual Kangkong Belacan dish but I find they have a very spicy version here. The could also consider throwing in another sprinkle or two of Belacan powder as I find this is rather bland.

Seafood Tom Yam - the review in FriedChillies.com says that the Tom Yam here tasted closest to the authentic Thai Tom Yam but I personally think the other way round. The Tom Yam was extremely spicy and the sour taste was over-powering while the lack of texture made the soup rather watery. Perfect balance of taste is definitely a lack of quality in this soup but well, we could always blame the crowd for the drop in quality. "We're too busy!!" (just kidding!)

Steamed Talapia Fish in Thai Sauce - this dish was alright but the lack of sauce leave us a huge fish without much of dipping to go along with. This could due to the rather big flame under the portable plate candle heater below. The sauce was a mixture of sweet and sour with a little mixture of Thai Chilli Sauce in clear colour, that explains the overall dish that looked rather pale. The sprinkles of fried shallots and chinese coriander definitely added a little colour and fragrant to the dish.

Grilled Crab - house specialty and this is what Nong & Jimmy are famous for. We ordered 2 crabs which was huge enough to serve 4 of us with the additions of other side dishes we have. The crab was huge, but Derrick says that those we are having now are considered small as it was quite late already (around 9PM where we're here). Get your imagination wild on how big it could be if we're here says 7PM? The grill however are slightly too long as the crab's meat are slightly lack of moistures. Their house sauce of Thai Chili Sauce with lime and crushed peanuts tasted really good with the grilled crab.

Although it wasn't the most mind blowing seafood meals, I do look forward to come back here and tuck in more of their grilled stuff instead of those that don't really fancy my tastebud.

How to get to Nong & Jimmy.
From KL and along Jalan Ampang, turn right at the traffic light after Ampang Point towards Kg Pandan.

Unique Fisherman Seafood Restaurant

2007-04-02T23:47:00.000+08:00

Brand new seafood restaurant along Jalan Cheras (the road opposite Leisure Mall, slightly further down). You will not missed this new place as they are very brightly lit and a big sign that says "Unique Seafood" that will definitely have you glancing their way each time you passed by the road.

Greeting you by the road side.

Of the food we ordered, I liked the mussel best as well as their house specialty kailan dish, Fried Kailan with Anchovies. The kailan leaves was sliced finely and deep fried to crunchy texture together with anchovies spreading on top of a plate of fried kailan. The result was superb, the crunchy leaves blends very well with the shrimps and it gives a slight taste similar to those of arrow root. Love this dish very much.

Fried Kailan with Anchovies

Fried Mussel in House Sauce - a sauce mixture that claimed to made up the 4 main taste - Sweet, Sour, Bitter and Spicy. Mussel was fresh and juicy while the sauce is not over-powering.

An ugly looking Deep Fried Talapia covered in Sambal Sauce. I was about to take photo when the waiter eagerly wanted to served us the fish and began cutting the poor fish into portions. On the dish itself, the fish is very meaty and not overcook, the skin is crunchy while maintaining the flesh moisture, covered in a palatable sambal paste.

Crab with Salty Egg - another house specialty, not quite to our taste bud. The first thought that came into my mind once I had it in my mouth was "Mooncake". It's funny but yes, that's what ran into my mind. Perhaps the salty egg yolk was a little bit too heavy.

Fresh prawns in Premium Soy Sauce, a little too salty to my liking and prawn size are too small.

Seafood galore:

Stairs of seafood in aquarium.

Ugly sea monster - Snow Crab

Fresh bed of mussel

Old Time Memories

2007-04-01T14:12:00.000+08:00

I know it''s very long since my last post, work has taken off most of my time and I had barely enough time for myself to rest, what's more about blogging.

I'd like to share with you today, something that I read on my Friendster Inbox today, forwarded by one of my buddy during my schooldays. I hate chained-mails, but this one had me finish reading and to think about how fast time has passed. I hope you enjoyed it, and take a moment to remember the friends we had, some that we have long not heard from.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We grew up watching Transformers, Thundercats, Woody Woodpecker, Chipmunks, Mickey Mouse, Jem, Mask, Ninja Turtles, Voltron, Baja Hitam, Ultraman.

We had to brush our teeths during recess at primary school? We had to hold plastic cups, line up with your classmates side by side and start brushing our teeths at some open area... or maybe near some drain??

Do you still remember that we had 'dentist' rooms where we had to have our teeths check?

Not to forget our 'program minum susu' in primary school.. everybody is suppose to buy like cartons of milk that costed 30 cents.. and you would see everyone drinking it everyday...

The teachers who would want to punish us must use yellow rulers to hit us on our palms??

That a bowl of mihun soup or some soup only costed 50 cents at the school canteen...

We went to some sundry shop near the school or to the 'roti' man waiting outside our schools so that we can buy junk food like chickedees, mamee, ding dang with some toys in it, 'Ti Kam', ice-cream and we would play games like monopoly, uno, old maid, and all other card games like that...

Another fun time would be during Pendidikan Jasmani. the boys would play football while the girls would play netball... and it would be like we were playing in the world cup...

But of course. the best would be main guli, batu seremban, bottlecaps, ice-cream sticks, 'Pepsi Cola one-two-three', Cops and Robbers, main kejar-kejar duduk.. and for the not so active, those kind of 'book games' where we would use buku latihan to draw and ask our friends to play...

Do you remember the ice-cream tubes which are actually ice and colouring that are sold for 10 to 20 cents.. the colourful ones.. where you usually bite off the top to glup it down...

What about days when we felt like doing naughty things such as folding papers so small to make 'lastik' and shoot each other... how about throwing chalks??

Back then, micheal jackson was just turning white.. and still had albums coming out.. compared to CD's, we were listening to tapes that sold for RM9.90...

In computer class, we were still using black and white computer moniters.. played 'Atari'... maybe SEGA or NINTENDO...

Well, are we all getting older or what?

1) if you understand what you have read and you are smiling...

2) we have friends from school that are already married...

3) we shake our heads everytime we see high school students fussing about their handphones in school..

4) we don't hang on phone with our friends for hours a day talking about nothing...

5) when we meet back with our friends from time to time, we feel excited and happy talking about old times, the funny 'adventures' or stories that we experienced as a kid..

6) last but not least, that when you read this, you would think of all the happy & sad memories that you have experienced when you were still a kid and would think of forwarding this to your old friends that you have known since forever... i'm sure they would have a huge smile on their face after reading this...

Food Culture, Low Yat Plaza

2007-03-14T08:04:00.000+08:00

I was here with my colleagues for lunch so the review here was not of a thorough one. Food Culture in Low Yat Plaza provides a good selections of food on their menu, the usual suspects you can find in typical chinese restaurant such as Overseas Restaurant and Tai Thong Restaurant but of course, the ambience here were not as good as the other two. This shop is located at the end of the lower ground floor of Low Yat Plaza, if you happen to pass by the road behind Sungai Wang Plaza, there is a small shop besides the small entrance into Low Yat Plaza selling Hongkie snacks, follow the steps down, and you'll find yourself in Food Culture.

Here's the food we sample:

Duck Breast Rice - Personally, I loved the duck meat here. It was roasted just nice and the skin are slightly crispy while the meat still tender and juicy.

Ginger and Spring Onion Fish Fillet in Soy Sauce - My colleague said that it OK and there's nothing to shout about this.

Minced Beef Fried Rice with Shredded Egg - Typically fried rice, what else can I say.

Mango Sago Lolo - Loved this. Right now it's the best Mango Sago Lolo I've tasted mainly due to the amount of real mango in this dessert. The usual Mango Sago Lolo that you find gave you chipped ice topped with mango puree and mango pieces while this gave you a bowl of chilled mango puree topped with sago and chunky pieces of mango. They could have done better if more mango chunks throws in, nevertheless, still gets my vote.

Recipe : Mandarin Orange Baked Dory Fillet

2007-03-11T16:11:00.000+08:00

served on bed of Honeycomb Cornflakes Caesar Salad and poached egg
- 2 serving

What you need:

2 piece of Dory fillet
4 large mandarin orange (Honey Lokan preferred)
3 tablespoon of mayonise
2 tablespoon of full cream fresh milk
2 tablespoon of mandarin orange juice
1 teaspoon of mandarin orange skin, sliced finely
2 egg for poaching
1 box of lettuce for your caesar salad, chopped coarsely
1 handful of Honeycomb Cornflakes
Finely grated parmesan/paeseno cheese powder
Dill flakes
Black pepper
Salt
Sugar

Here's the preparation:

Mandarin Orange Caesar Salad

Get a peeler and peel the skin of 1 orange (only the orange colored part, avoid cutting deep into the inner white part that will cause bitter taste). Finely chopped the skin and put away 1 teaspoon
Get the juice of 1 orange, squeze with your hand and put away 2 tablespoon
Mix together 3 tablespoon of mayonise, 2 tablespoon of full cream fresh milk, 2 tablespoon of orange juice, 1 teaspoon of orange peel, 1/2 teaspoon of Dill flake into a cup or small bowl and stir until the mixture form a consistent texture
Get a huge salad bowl, mix together your coarsely chopped lettuce, handful of Honeycomb Cornflakes, Parmesan/Paeseno Cheese Powder and the Mayonize sauce. Store the salad in your fridge while you move on to prepare the fish.

Mandarin Orange Baked Dory Fish Fillet

Lay your oven tray with aluminium foil
Peel off the remaining 3 orange, make sure the skin is of big chunk when peeling
Lay the peel off skin on your oven tray, orange colored side face up
Season the fish fillet with Dill flakes, pinch of salt, black pepper and finely chopped orange peel. Put the fillet on top of the orange skin bed
Squeze the juice of 1 orange onto the fillet
Cover your tray with another layer of aluminium foil
Put in your oven for 15-20 minutes, depending on your fillet thickness

Poached egg

Simply put 2 eggs in a pan of water and boiled for 3 minutes
Take out and put them in a bowl of cold water and peel

To serve, put your salad on the plate to form a bed, taking about 3/4 part of your plate. Split your fillet vertically and lay them slightly on top of the salad bed. Poached egg on the side.

You're done!

Disclaimer:
This recipe is created by MiuMiu and tested/cooked before.

Bali - Day 4 : Heading Home

2007-03-10T03:00:00.000+08:00

Sunday, 4th March 2007

3 days passed and time flies real fast when you're happy and enjoying what you're doing. Noel was complaining when the trip started as to whether or not we do have things to do in 4 days. I guess it turned out there are still a lot more to explore in Bali if we did have the time but it's our last day in Bali.

We don't exactly have a plan today but the idea was to just walk around town, starting from Kuta where we stay and check out places nearby we have not been. I've made it clear to both Ben and Noel that we will get our breakfast at 7am and hitting the street 45 minutes later so as to not waste the last few hours we have in Bali.

Poppy Lane - The backpacker street, we didn't really know it until today, lots of small shops including cyber cafe and 24 hours convenient store. It also lead us directly to the beach instead of walking a huge round using the main street.

Salon Babi - I don't think anyone in their sane mind will choose this name for their salon in KL .

The Beach Boys, couldn't get enough of the beach. It felt good to just walk the beach and do nothing but stares into the sea, enjoying every minutes of the seabreeze.

At the end of Kuta beach, there's this temple that we're not aware of and some sort of stage with 2 dragon guardian leading up the steps

Daily offerings are common sights throughout the day in Bali.

Artist at work.

It reads "Sekolah Dasar Nomor 4, Kuta" and my guess is, it's definitely a school.

Blue Bird's taxi are everywhere in Bali, make sure you do ask whether or not they run by meter before you hop in.

I'm intrigue with this tree that has sort of wheat straws in red color growing downwards. It might look eerie at night but well, it's still interesting for me.

Found this shop was rather cute and cheeky. Pinked colored prawn monuments greeting you into the restaurant.

A horse carriage in the city

Discovery Shopping Mall - a new shopping mall in Bali. The Lonely Planet guide book describes it perfectly, an ugly white blot overlooking Kuta.

The huge spiral monuments outside the mall.

Not sure what this is called, its the sort of thing that let you sits in and send you to the sky and send you have back on the ground in seconds and up again. Not for the faint hearted - like me.

Getting some rest in Bebek Angsa Cafe - cute name for a cafe.

Last minute shopping.

Checking out and ready to go home.

That's all about our Bali trip. It was a blast and we loved every minute of it, or rather not some of it. Hope you loved the pictures I posted up. Let's get back to work people!

Bali - Day 3 : Ubud & above

2007-03-09T02:30:00.000+08:00

Saturday, 3rd March 2007

Ubud - Art Market
Our day started pretty early, by 7.30am, we're having breakfast in the hotel's cafe. Our 3rd day in Bali looked promisingly interesting with our destination today; Ubud Art Market, Kintamani - The Volcano, Tegalalang - Rice Fields Terrace and Gunung Kawi - one of Bali's oldest and mysterious monoliths.

We're informed by Dandy that the journey towards Kintamani will be long and it takes approximately 2 hours to reach from Kuta. We will be heading to Ubud - Art Market first as it is on the way up to the mountain. He also gave us options as to whether or not to stop at some locations along the way to check out locals carving workshops such as silver, stone and wood; each of which is very famous in Bali for their quality finishing and cheaper price compare it back in our country. We're not particularly interested but decided to give it a try to visit the silver carving workshop. I've got to say that I'm very much disappointed because the place was small and the products that the displayed are pretty much outdated and not as polished as it should be. I've been to better one in Thailand but we won't go into detail here. We spent about 20 minutes here, and bought nothing from the place.

We continue our journey heading to Ubud and Dandy asked if we're still interested to check out the stone and wood carving, collectively looking at each other, we told him to skip those two.

It took us another 45 minutes to reach Ubud from the last stop at the silver carving factory. The view of rice fields along the way was amazing. I had the momentary serenity feeling at peace and happy to see the green fields. It was great not having to think about my work or stressed myself out over applications that do not work the way they should but just enjoying the view of rice fields.

We start walking our way down from the main Ubud Market where Dandy drop us. These figurines was on display outside a shop along the Art Market Road in Ubud.

Ben suggested that we stopped by Ibu Rai Cafe, just spending some time having drinks and enjoying the scene in Ubud.

Interior of Ibu Rai's Cafe

Ubud street - Rows of rental vans awaiting tourists to buy their service. It was a common sight in Bali that everywhere you walked, there will be people offering you transportation service, be it motorcycles, vans, SUVs or taxi.

The Art Market in Ubud, colourful and assorted rattan weaved baskets. I'm tempted to buy one but gave it a second thought as I couldn't think of a reason to get one. Maybe they reminded me of my late god mom, she loved this kinda stuff to store eggs or maybe her sewing kits.

There are a lots of interesting art pieces in Ubud. I'm having the thought that perhaps the next time I need an art piece as part of my house interior, I'll revisit Bali again and come here to get one. Apart from that, they do sell other hand made items such as batik, silver accessories, wood carvings, scented oils, candles and coconut shell carvings.

We leave at around 12.15pm and continue hop on the van towards Kintamani.

Kintamani - Active Volcano
The road to Kintamani was still long and rain starts pouring by the time we reached the place. We're not actually at the foot of the volcano but rather on the other side of the mountain which have a restaurant for us to dine in while enjoying an absolutely clear view of the volcano and the lake beside.

It was a fun experience to dine on top of a mountain while overlooking the volcano, enjoying the cool wind over a spread of Balinese buffet lunch. The food served here was not especially interesting or out of this world. Perhaps the the sticky rice with mango/jack fruit served over brown sugar syrup and crated cococut was worth to mention.

The lake besides the volcano came into view once the rain stops for like 10 minutes, only to get heavier later.

The beautiful view of the volcano from where we were seated before the rain starts pouring again.

Enjoying the buffet at the hill top restaurant while eager tourist like us kept themself busy snapping photos to show their friends and family of how beautiful Kintamani was.

Tegalalang - Rice Fields Terrace
We get to stops by the famous rice fields terrace in Tegalalang on our way down from Kintamani. It was a small area with a cafe serving light snacks and drinks in their rattan hut seated on the hill terrace, allowing their patrons to enjoy the food served over the green fields.

The rice field terrace

Patron in rattan huts on the hill terrace, enjoying their time.

More rice fields along the hill terraces.

We stopped here for a brief 15 minutes, couldn't resists a personal snap.

Gunung Kawi
Ben initially resisted the idea of getting into Gunung Kawi. Yes, it was raining cats and dogs but it wasn't like a 10 minutes drive down Bukit Bintang everyday that you get to see an ancient mountain with hand carved monoliths. I insisted that we go ahead as we are already here with umbrella and it wouldn't take too long to walk a few steps more to see what's ahead.

I'm very interested to come here and check out what it looks like in real because the photos shown in the Lonely Planet guide I had was beautiful. I'm not a very outdoor person but sight seeing like this just have my votes.

The main entrance to Gunung Kawi. We put in our donations and dorn the sarong and waist band as required before ascending a flight of stairs into the monolith area and the main temple.

Looking absolutely funny (or ridiculous) in sarong. The colors remind me of high school girls pinafore dress while the green one looks identical to the those that Muslim's boy wears on Friday.

Towards the monolith area and main temple.

Keeping memory, one of the tower in the main temple.

Ben and Noel playing shy school girls in pinafore dress met paparazi MiuMiu! Oh, don't forget the amazing view behind, please do not let them both distract you too much of the real subject.

The beautiful view of the monolith in Gunung Kawi.

I'm very pleased to have come here although the way back up to where we came from literally took the life out of me, and reminder to those planning to come here; make sure you do get yourself mosquito repeller as there are plenty of hungry Balinese mosquitoes here.

Our trip of sight seeing today ends around 4.30pm when we begin heading back to town. We have in mind to visit massage parlour at first but upon reaching Seminyak, the price was rather steep and we made our way back to hotel instead.

We thanked Dandy for his help these past 2 days and hand him his fees besides additional tips that we collectively agreed he deserved. Another handful advice for you on your next trip to Bali, it is considered a normal gesture to give tips for whatever services you received here. Quite unusual for Malaysian, I know :)

With nothing much left to do for the day, we get some rest and shower before gather back in room and play some cards. I had initially suggested that we visit the clubs in Seminyak but after flipping through the event brochure we got from the convenient shop, we found out that the cover charge was rather steep - RP100,000 (around RM40) to get into the famous Double Six Club. It would cost us a total of RM120 to get in the club and it is not guranteed we will have a good time as we're not sure of the crowd and the kind of music plays there.

We scrathed the idea although occasionally Ben would play with the idea of hitting the club and scrathed it again and revisit the same idea which at times pissed me off. No we didn't hit the club but rather just get on the street in sandals and do some night shopping before arriving at Adi Dharma Restaurant for dinner.

Sort of "tuk-tuk" kinda bike, put on display in Rip Curl shop along Kuta Street. Bali have very good selections of surf wear and the Rip Curl here are definitely cheaper than KL.

Tomorrow > Heading Home

Bali - Day 2 : Jimbaran Bay

2007-03-08T15:15:00.000+08:00

Friday, 2nd March 2007

Our day trip around Bali today was quite amazing with yet to have bad encounter. It was finally broken when we realized we have not enough Rupiah with us and needed to change the USD we had. Dandy drove us to one of the Money Changer along Legian Street and reminded us to count the money before leaving. Here's what happened:

1) We asked to exchanged our USD100 to Rupiah
2) Exchange rate was USD1 to RP9600, so total would be RP 960,000
3) That guy gave us 9 stack of RP20,000, each amounting to RP100,000 and another RP60,000
4) Count to us 3 times, and kinda pissed off with Ben when Ben started to felt agitated and getting the feeling something is wrong
5) Final count - the fourth time, we gave him back the stacks that we counted
6) He gave us back the stacks and ask for our USD100
7) Exchanged money

The next thing we know when we're in the van and starts to count while Dandy starts to move, we're short of RP300,000!! That's about RM120! Dandy was slightly furious and make a U-Turn at the small street heading back to the shop and repeatedly apologizes for not going down with us.

The second time around, the Money Changer's boy referred us to his "boss" and we told him that the amount we received was not right. He oblidge and counted the our exchanged money and gave us back our USD100 instead of giving us the short amount of RP300,000.

Dandy reiterate to us that no wonder the rate was so high, it was a fraud shop. The USD exchange rate to Rupiah was only around USD1 to RP9,000 this week.

So we got back on the van, head to another shop to exchange our money and Dandy came down with us. We were told then by this shop that our USD not was an old note, dated year 1996. Damn it! We got tricked again by the previous shop!! Our note should be of year 2003 as we've got 2 notes of USD100. We ended up getting RP880,000 instead of RP910,000. Total lost, RP30,000 - translated to around RM12.

Moral of the story, becareful when you do exchange money in Bali. Get a local to accompany you if you could.

We were a little frustrated in the van but do continue with our next destination, Jimbaran Bay; hoping dining by the sea side would cheers us up. It definitely does as we spend quite a long time enjoying our sea food dinner.

The row of seafood cafe along Jimbaran Bay, I'm told that your trip to Bali must be accompanied by a romantic seafood dinner by the sea in Jimbaran.

The sea breeze keep your cool while getting on with the hot and spicy seafoods served.

Our choice of seafoods - White Snapper, King Prawns, Squids and Clams. All were grilled with chili and spicies. The White Snapper was a little bit overcooked and Ben was complaining the prawn is not as fresh. Not particularly amazing dinner but the ambience by the sea can very well give plus point to the dining experience.

Ready to eat!

Err.. what's going on at the back there?

Next > Bali Day 3 : Ubud and above

Bali - Day 2 : The Floating Temple

2007-03-08T15:00:00.000+08:00

Friday, 2nd March 2007

One of the most prominent landmark in Bali that you should not missed, The Floating Temple in Tanah Lot. It was an amazing view and you wouldn't believe the crowds here even during this low season. I can't imagine how packed it would be if we were to be here in July or August.

Along the road heading to Tanah Lot, paddy field that you can't see in Kuala Lumpur.

Welcome to Tanah Lot, the main entrance.

Overview of the main floating temple on the hill top.

Say cheese, we're here in Tanah Lot!

The main floating temple. The temple is said to be inaccessible when the sea water rise, thus the name Floating Temple.

One of the art gallery on the hill top.

The other side of Tanah Lot, further up the hill from the main temple. We're heading here to take pictures, as close to the sea as possible!

A little frighten standing on the edge, the wind is strong while the sea waves just won't stop splashing!

Absolutely loving the place and of course, the camera. Reminds me of how happy kids would be when given candy... do they still buy those tricks?

We're shooting the next Ayumi MV... starring... Noel Hector! Stop dreaming ok!

We're leaving already? Arrghhh... I wanna stay here!

Next destination > Jimbaran Bay

Bali - Day 2 : Monkey Forest

2007-03-08T14:53:00.000+08:00

Friday, 2nd March 2007

We were in doubt initially as to whether or not to go. It doesn't quite jive with us, city boys visiting forest to see monkeys? Kinda funny to think about but well, looking at our itinerary without much choice and the fact that it's on our way down back to Jimbaran later on, we go ahead with the idea suggested by Dandy.

Getting to the Monkey Forest in Alas Kedaton was about 30 minutes drive from Taman Ayun. It turned out to be a different Monkey Forest that I thought off. There is another Monkey Forest that is located in Ubud, famous for it's deep forest and having 3 very distintive temples that would really take sometime to explore, but well, ours was not as bad. It turned out that monkeys are actually quite cute and indeed very clever. There were occasional fights for peanuts and I gotto say that the scene was rather scary.

Entrance is quite expensive for Bali standard, RP10,000. We were informed by our park guide that there's roughly 500 monkeys in the forest. I'm not counting though.

Ben feeding the monkey "leader". All other monkeys went running away once this "elder" come for his peanuts and wouldn't let you go until you empty your peanuts bag!!

Look closer, this is not ordinary tree. There're more than 50 bats getting their day nap. Imagine when the night approach, eeww!!

Baby monkey - looking absolutely adorable.

We were lead the park tour's shop at the end of our visit. She suggested us to look around her shop and check out the souvenier items offered. I'm not sure how true the story was but she's iterating to us that they (all shops in the park) are put on a 1 week queue to have chance to guide a tourist (or group) and bring them to their shop once they finish touring the park. We did not reject visiting her shop but there's really no interesting item that catch our eyes. We actually offered her cash as a token of appreciation of the short tour instead of buying anything but she rejected. Ben ended up getting a small figurine that cost around RP40,000.

Next destination > Tanah Lot, The Floating Temple

Bali - Day 2 : The Royal Temple

2007-03-08T14:18:00.000+08:00

Friday, 2nd March 2007

After discussing about where we should be going and how to go about Bali, we decided to go ahead with hiring a driver that will drive us to our itinerary instead of paying for those organised tour where they had a fixed plan for us on the entire day. It took us more than an hour comparing prices from brochures Noel got from the airport yesterday before deciding to kick off our 2nd day to Taman Ayun - The Royal Temple, Monkey Forest, Tanah Lot - Floating Temple and to have our seafood dinner at Jimbaran Bay.

We took on Dayu advice to give a ring to her recommended tourist driver, Dandy who offered us his service on Day 1 for RP250,000 while Day 2 will cost us RP270,000.

Standing right in front of the Bali Bombing Memorial. Yes, our hotel is right at the end of the small road across the 2nd Bali bomb attack location, right behind ESC.

Walking up ESC to have our quick lunch. Nice place, serving American style sandwiches similar to those of O'Brien and other stuff as well.

Getting nostalgic in ESC, looking down the busy street of Kuta.

Hop on and aboard! In Dandy's van and heading to our first location, Taman Ayun - The Royal Temple.

Entrance of The Royal Temple in Taman Ayun, it took us about an hour to reach here.

Paying for tickets into the temple, around RP6,000 - if i'm not mistaken :P

Getting into the temple compound, obviously I'm not holding the camera and looking a little.. i don't know.

One of the statue hanging, or rather sticking on one of the tower's corner. Could be any of the Hindu deities but well, we didn't really bother to play tourist and ask.

Two very willingly volunteers doing their "thang" for the camera.

I'm not quite sure what this suppose to be but it definitely look like some sort of lion or some sacred animal maybe.

The main entrance to the main temple compound. Prohibited area though. We're allowed to just walk around it, which pretty much allowed us to see what's in there.

One of the statue guarding the entrance into the main temple's compound.

The inner part of the temple, with a lots of pagoda styled structures with multi-layered roof made from wheat straws.

Pomelo tree. Never seen one myself, what about you?

This little bug caught my attention, sitting still and looking beautiful.

Guarding the tree maybe?

Lotus growing along the small waterpath surrounding the temple.

Hoping for some catch today.

Next destination > Monkey Forest

Bali - Day 1 : Happy Birthday

2007-03-07T15:52:00.000+08:00

Thursday, 1st March 207

It has been a long time since I update this blog. Work has taken lots of my time and well, I just got back from holiday and it was a really really fun one. So I decided to update the blog with my Bali trip instead of the normal food spread. I'm also growing to like taking pictures. Got this Canon 300D SLR camera from my colleague for this holiday and I'm sure I do love taking pictures with this baby! I'm thinking on getting one SLR camera myself but well, that's beside this post. Let's go on to my holiday photo journal, and Happy Birthday to me!

Boarding plane to Bali, LCCT. Bali here we come!

Noel doozing off on a 3 hours flight, KLIA-BALI.

View from our 3rd floor rooms, Dewi Seri Hotel, Kuta.

Down to beach, 10 minutes walk from hotel.

I miss the beach so much - Ben.

Noel, Miu and Ben. We're here at Kuta Beach!

Huge air conditioning unit - RipCurl.

Huge rain pouring down at night. Just at the right time when we're ready to hit the street for dinner and some nite site seeing. Lasted almost an hour and never stops for the night.

Wild Ginger Restaurant along Jalan Laksamana in Seminyak. It was 9.30pm when we reach here. This place look awesome and their tasting menu sounds reasonable enough with the amount of food we got to taste. We ordered 3 set of tasting menu which gave us a chance to taste 3 appetiser, 3 Seafood dish, 3 meat dish, 3 dessert and each person with a bowl of mango sorbet (did I mentioned their sorbet are excellent?).

Ms Dayu, the Restaurant Manager is courteous enough to explained to us and introduced us on what's good on their menu. She is so friendly that she's sitting along with us and tell us about what's hot and not of Bali besides passing on some tips on getting around and making most of our time here.

Here's the delicious food we had, go knock yourself out!

Thai Squid & Mushroom Salad
Fried squid ring and mushroom, garlic, shallot, red chillis and lemon grass. Tossed in lemon soy sauce dressing with pieces of fried peanut.

Grilled Beef Salad
Spicy Beef sliced thinly served with cucumber, onion, tomato and baby racula on mustard and Suna Cekuh dressing sauce.

Sate Lilit Campur
Mixed Sate Lilit sticks consists of Sate Lilit Fish, Sate Lilit Seafod and Sate Lilit Lamb served with "Peyek Kacang"; a kind of Indonesian crispy peanut crackers. Dip with Sweet Soy Lemon Sauce.

Chili Crab
Fried Crispy Soft Shell Crab with Spicy Home Made Chili Sauce, Cai Sin Cabbage and Baby Corn
Personally, I felt the sauce can use a little more chili as it taste slightly sweet.

Mixed Grill Seafood
King Prawns, Squid and Snapper filet with Herbed Butter Lemon Sauce. Served with mixed salad and baby potatos.
The fish is excellent and the lemon sauce was fabulous. The squid are slightly overcook but of acceptable taste and the prawn was tender and sweet. Loved this too.

Udang Bakar
Grilled King Prawns served with Young Jackfruit and Fern Tip Lawar style.
This was served with the same Herbed Lemon Sauce as the Mixed Grill and the prawn are just fresh and grilled to just nice condition.

Saute Beef in Wasabi Sauce
Button Mushroom, Onion, Capsicum, Chive & Wakame Seaweed in Cream Mustard Wasabi Sauce.
The seaweed provide a chewy texture to this dish while the beef used are of tender quality. The cream mustard wasabi sauce could use a little bit more wasabi though as there's a heavy mustard and cream taste and less of wasabi. Maybe they're catering more to western taste which is not used to getting too hot stuff.

Bebek Betutu
Slow roasted Half-Local Duck in Famous Ubud Betutu Sauce. Served with Saute Spinach and Grated Coconut.
Ben noted that it taste like Pork Leg Vinegar while I think of it has sort of sherry vinegar with orange peel taste. It was cooked very well and the meat literally teared off from the bones. We generally think that if this is to be our main dish alone (since we ordered tasting menu, the portion are smaller), it would be too heavy as the sauce are strongly absorbed by the meat and you will just felt it is over-powering.

Gingiskan Lamb (no spelling mistake, this is how the menu is written)
Grill Australin Lamb leg marinated in Japanese Gingiskan Sauce with saute Asian mixed vegetable.
Bite size pieces of lamb grilled perfectly and juicy. You can definitely taste the sweet taste of the lamb once you bite it in your mouth minus the usual lamb odour. Great!

Strawberry Cake
Sponge Fill with Blended Strawberry Pastry Cream served with vanilla ice cream.

Brem Chocolate Tart
Compound chocolate tart, flavored with Balinese Black Rice Liquer, served with Coconut Sorbet
This one is heavenly. The chocolate tart that look as if it was a solid piece of pastry simply melt in your mouth within seconds, making you ponder - how the hell did they make this so good?

Black Rice Panna Cotta
Indonesian Black Rice Prridge & Jack Fruit, in Gelatin Flavored with Coffee Liquer, served with Orange Sorbet.

Getting a photo with the Restaurant Manager, Ms Dayu who is definitely helpful and friendly, one of the best thing to happened on our 1st day in Bali. This place is highly recommended for dinner and we will definitely come back to dine here.

Next > Bali Day 2 : The Royal Temple

A Fung Baso Sapi Asli

2006-09-19T21:11:00.000+08:00

I've decided to visit this new outlet after reading a post about it at boo_licious blog, masak-masak. I must say the place is not inviting at all, having a not so fancy signboard (it actually looked like a warung sign board, than a cafe), tugged in the last corner of a block and interior setting that looked as if you're gonna dine in a canteen (sorry, yes it's that bad). If it ain't for review I read, I'd just turned away and head for another restaurant nearby. There's so many new restaurant sprouting in Hartamas, and they do looked nice (from the outside of course).

So, I can't really write this visits the usual way I did, short and crisp. I just need a place to complain, just bear with me. I've been complaining non-stop during the meal and my friend was like "Shhs... that's enough.". The food is NOT NICE!

We enter the shop, albeit with a "GULP!" feeling. Saw the boss (really bossy face, like those really mean boss).

Me: Hi, what's special here?

Boss: MEATBALL - full stop

My Inner Voice: WTF? Do you sell VEGETARIAN BALL you idiot!

Me: Oh, so which of these are good? (pointing menu item 1 to 5)

Boss: Number 1 to 5 - full stop

Me: I see, erm... give me item 1 (Beef Ball soup - RM5.80)

Friend: What other nice one you'd recommend?

Boss: Item 1 to 5 - full stop

Friend: Oh, ok. Erm what is Beefball Special?

Boss: Its mixture of Item 1 and 3 - full stop

Friend: Oh... (like very fascinated like that...), give me that then

Boss: Drink?

Us: Sosro tea please.

Customer service sucks, BIG TIME. I figured the boss really should hire some friendly waiter to serve his customers. I'd never wanted to come in this shop again, with this kinda sucky service. And about the food, nothing to brag about, apart from the fact that they are specialty shop selling Indonesian themed Beefballs noodle (as well as chicken and fish). The noodle was soggy, not springy at all; the soup was so-the-wanton-mee-soup, like those you can find in kopitiam (literal translation: ajinomoto soup).

I'm so not gonna step into this shop again, but anyway, here's the pictures.

Teh Sosro - RM 2.50

Fireball - Flour ball with chili slices, "seafood" and lots of deep fried oil (can't taste anything besides flour and oil)

RM 3.00 for 3 balls

Beefball with Tofu - RM 8.50

Beefball Special - RM 9.80

Beefball Soup - RM 5.80

Dont bother to ask for the address, I ain't gonna post it here either. My advice is, don't go! Anyway, second opinion is always good. I know my post is mean to this shop, but it's very disappointing for my visit. Get over to boo_licious blog to read her review, if you're keen to taste the food yourself ;)

Hot Mama Sg Wang

2006-09-19T13:21:00.000+08:00

Cheesy Chanai Roll wrapped with chicken and vege.

One of the special item in Hot Mama, wrapped with cheddar cheese, roasted chicken, romaine lettuce and thinly sliced cucumber and carrot in chanai sheet. Not bad, but the sauce are the usual ready made Thai Chili Sause with hint of lemon juice.

RM 5.90 for 3 slice.

Hot Mama Sg Wang Level 4

Mdm Wong Cafe - Sg Wang

2006-09-18T07:19:00.000+08:00

Found this photos in my phone, guess its been there for sometime and I just forgot to post it up here. Not a lot to write of, at least it does justice to me for not updating my blog in 2 weeks. Anyway, here's the food we dug ourself into at Madam Wong Cafe. Its on the same floor with the Game Zone, 2nd floor, right in front of the escalator.

The interior was kinda funky, rounder white chair, those contemporary kind. And the waiter was actually quite friendly. Food, its was just ok if not worst, but I like their "tong sui".

Dessert - Chocolate pudding.

Tong sui - Honey sea coconut with white fungus.

Fried Bihun with Fried Chicken Wing - Don't you think it looks like a better presentation of canteen version of Bihun Goreng, yeah, something like that; but they add a little bit of extra flavour by dropping in some "daun limau purut".

Seafood Asam with Rice - Not really the kind of asam I'm expecting. It taste more like over-sour tomyam and ingredient wise, kinda stingy.

Restoran Arang

2006-09-02T00:43:00.000+08:00

In Short:
Malay owned restaurant serving a mixture of food selections of chinese, malay and western cuisine. Price and food are of average value while it does not take too long to have your food served.

The menu book.

The Food:

The usual suspect you can find at any gerai or kopitiam:
Fresh Orange - RM 2.80
Ice Lemon Tea - RM 1.80
Carrot Milk - RM 2.80

Nasi Goreng Belacan - Gotto loved this. The rice are fragrant, thanks to the generous amount of belacan and it was not too spicy as well. Served along with fish crackers.

RM 4.80

Nasi Goreng Cina with Salted Fish - Fried rice with prawn and fish cake slices, topped with salted fish crump alongside fish crackers. Nothing outstanding, it just the usual fried rice.

RM 4.80

Nasi Goreng Pattaya - Chinese style fried rice with prawn and fish cake slices wrapped in egg omelette. Basically it's the same fried rice as above without the salted fish crumble.

RM 5.80

Tofu in Oyster Sauce with Egg - Deep fried slices of Japanese egg tofu served in oyster sauce and egg's white. Tofu are fried golden brown but the sauce are a little bit disappointed, lack of taste and quite bland.

RM 3.50

Deep Fried Buttered Prawn - Literally, you can see what's been served here. Really disappointed with this one. I was expecting something more presentable than a plate consists of 6 little prawn on top of coarsely chopped cabbage without any effort to make it look good at all. Served with bottled Thai sauce.

RM 6.80

Sup Tulang - I was caught by suprise as it was served in a huge bowl although I ordered the small one. It was the usual sup tulang concoction and the meat was tender enough to just slip off from the bone. Overall, this is a good one.

RM 5.20

Where?
19G, Jalan Melati Utama 4 Melati Utama, Setapak, 53100, KL.
Phone: 012-279 2651

Its located along the road towards Genting Highland, near by TAR College. You can't missed it, its a new row of bright yellow building just besides the main road.

Gasoline - Sg Wang

2006-08-28T09:22:00.000+08:00

In Short:
Very nice environment, spooky setting, a great place to hang out with friends to have drinks and play cards (uno card, uno stacks and poker card are provided free). Drinks are excellent, at least those that we ordered and their finger food are really really tasty (am I lucky or what today?). Gasoline does gets my vote, definitely will return to hang out here.

The menu, spoooookky.

The Food:

Yam Samosa - Deep fried crispy popiah skin wrapped with mashed yam. Slightly sweet and crunchy, samosa filling are quite generous. Yummy!

RM 6.90(12 piece)

Marmite Chicken Wing - Deep friend chicken wing coated with Marmite sauce. Extremely delicious, hehe.. I just loved the balanced taste of saltness and sweetness from the Marmite sauce. Usually you get marmite sauce that either too salt or too sweet, or too bland, but this one is definitely of just enough taste. It's really finger licking good.

Small:RM 4.90 (2 chicken wing, cut into 4 pieces)
Large: RM 8.90 (4 chicken wing, cut into 8 pieces)

Strawberry soda - Strawberry syrup in soda, nothing special. Carbonated drink infused with strawberry syrup, full stop.

RM 4.50

Peace - Ice blended with Honey Peach and Peppermint. Very nice. Jelly give you something to chew on while the drink are ful of flavour, and the ice blended are very smooth.

RM 6.00

Virgin Honeymoon - Ice Blended with Honeydew and Orange. Similar to Peace, their Ice Blended range comes with jelly that gives you something to chew on while slurping down the glass. Another recommended item, this is very flavourfull and the ice blended are smooth and thick.

RM 6.00

Where?
Sg Wang, Root Top (Level 6). It in the old Cosmic Bowl area which gets an overhaul look and now spotting lots of trendy little shop. Gasoline sits at the end of the area.

Hooked - The Curve

2006-08-27T15:54:00.000+08:00

In Short:
Seafood based restaurant. Served a mixture of main course such as fish and chips, spaghetti, pizza. Food are of above the average, set meals from RM10.90 to RM15.90 give you a good start to try their food.

The Food:

Mezen Mango - Mixture of shredded young mango tossed in thousand island sauce topped with a single slice of prawn. Taste good, but my only complain is the single piece of prawn served with the salad. Not really worth the money, head to The Ship for better mango salad.

RM 7.90

Lobster Pasta - Spaghetti in Aglio Olio sauce topped with blanched Slipper Lobster. A steal at RM13.90 with real Slipper Lobster. The spaghetti is using the same sauce as Aglio Olio though. Tasty.

RM 13.90

Aglio Olio Spaghetti - Spaghetti tossed with Aglio Olio sauce topped with deep fried calamari ring and prawn. Spaghetti is excellent but again, the seafood portion served is very stingy, a single piece of prawn and calamari ring.

RM 14.90

7 Seas Spaghetti - Spaghetti tossed in bolognese sauce with prawn, squids and mussel. The usual bolognese you can find around town, Fasta Pasta in The Curve still served the best seafood bolognese spaghetti.

RM 14.90

Where?
The Curve, 1st Floor Western Food Court. Take the escalator up to the 1st floor besides Sakae.

iZZi - Revisited

2006-08-27T14:45:00.000+08:00

In Short:
Nice place to hang out at with bottomless Ice Lemon Tea or soft drinks selection and free wireless internet access. Food tasting this time around was above average and we got a steal for the the bill as they are still running their Buy 1 Free 1 main course promotions which ends on 31st August 2006.

The Food:

Chicken Steak with Linguini - Grilled Chicked Steak served with Mushroom sauce asides with tossed linguini in olive oil and freshly chopped parsley leaves. It was an average meal as I felt the chicken was rather over-cooked and slightly dry while the mushroom sauce was a little cakey.

RM 18.80

Clive Specials - Thin crusted pizza with hot spicy minced beef, smoked chicken and beef ham, mozarrela cheese and tomato paste. The minced beef is extremely salty and I've gotto combined this pizza with the Marinara version to balance out the salty taste. Personally, I do not like this for it salty taste but I guess this is what this version is about.

Regular : RM 24.80
Large: RM 31.80

Marinara Pizza - Shrimp, garlic, mussel, chili, mozarella cheese and tomato paste on a thin crusted base pizza. Toppings are generous and shrimps and juicy and fresh. Love this pizza, it looks good and taste like one too.

Regular: RM 25.80
Large: 32.80

Seafood Penne - Penne served with shrimps, mussels, sliced zuchini in Napoletana sauce. Nothing really to shout about except the shrimps which are fresh and juicy as the sauce are rather the usual Napoletana sauce you could buy off the rack or cooked up on yourself at home with good quality tomatoes.

RM 15.80

To read the previous post on Izzi KL, click here.

Cafe 69 - Drinks

2006-08-26T15:30:00.000+08:00

In Short:
Set in the world of 70s era, furnitures are retro funky on the inside and the usual silver square colored cafe's table settings. Staff are friendly and attentive while the drinks are of average quality.

The Drinks:

Vanilla Mango - Mixture of vanilla ice cream blended with mango in crushed ice. The presentation part of it had already failed my expectations. It looks nothing like a mango crushed nor does it taste like one blended with Vanilla ice cream. I could taste only a hint of mango, overall its a bland drink. Not recommended at all.

RM 7.90

Tropical Twist - Blended ice with kiwi and apple. Full of flavor, with enough hint of kiwi and the sweetness of apple. One of the best of what we have on the table.

RM 6.90

Minty Breeze - Mixture of Pineapple, Apple, Orange, Mint and Lemon Juice with Vanilla Ice Cream. Very sour and not enough thickness in consistency. This drink ends up broken into pieces as I accidentally knock it down on the table. Another point to make is that they use really cheap glass as once it lay on the table, the glass shattered.

RM 9.90

O'Briens Irish Sandwich Bar

2006-08-21T14:32:00.000+08:00

In Short:
Self service sandwich bar, lots of sandwich choices, average customer service attitude.

O'Brien in The Curve.

The Food:

Smoked Salmon Sandwich - Smoked salmon served in wholemeal bread coupled with romaine lettuce, cucumber and cream cheese. Tasty and filling. Potato chips as side dish kinda cool, but there's a banner in O'Brien that says "Guilt Free Food", is potato chips one of them? I don't know.

RM 11.50

Crambo Club Sandwich - Served in wholemeal bread and a slice of white bread in between, this one comes with turkey ham, turkey, onions, romaine lettuce, cucumber and cheese. There's a really crunchy texture in the filling which I suppose is turkey, very tasty. I'd give my thumbs up for this.

RM 15.50

Where is this?
The Curve shopping mall, in the Street area, 2 door from TGIF.

Gusto

2006-08-19T16:04:00.000+08:00

In Short:
Pronounced Goose-tow, great customer service, kudos goes to Amy who served us. She's quick to recommending house items and very friendly. Above average food, lots of choice for drinks, appetizer is a killer and dessert is amazing. Huge projector screen provides visual entertainment and their outdoor dining area was dimly lighted and windy. Very romantic according to my friend, for me it was cooling and soothing dining place, never a romantic at heart.

The Food:

Green Dream - Fresh celery combined with apple juice and kiwi. Refreshing and cooling, strong celery taste, sweet and source thanks to the combination of apple juice and kiwi.

RM 7.90

P.M. Shake - Vanilla Ice Cream blended with apple and roasted almond completed with cream and almond flakes topping. Sweet, strong almond aroma and easy to slurp texture. Almond flakes gave you something to chew on while gulping down this house shake.

RM 7.90

A.M. Shake - Combination of orange, cranberry and lemon juice. Reminds me of Dome's Cranberry Cooler but this one frizz free and slightly more citrus taste. A fresh change from my usual Ice Lemon Tea.

RM 7.90

Tropicana Shake - Vanilla Ice Cream with banana and pineapple juice. Great for banana shake lover. Flavourful and tasty, blended to perfect slurping condition.

RM 8.50

Creama di Funghi - Blended wild mushroom with cream, topped with toasted crouton. A little watery but it was still tasty. Coarse mushrooms gave you something to chew on, overall it's not disappointing.

RM 8.50

Calamari Fritti - Deep fried calamari rings coated in batter served with Gusto Salsa Picante sauce. Loved it, loved it, loved it! A great starter I must say and I'm a squid lover. It doesn't tasted chewy that you usually get from overcooked squids. This one comes in perfect deep fried condition, crispy and crunchy on the outside, tender and juicy on the inside, deep your ring in the salsa sauce, get it in your mouth and there you go, heaven! A little exaggerating I know, get over to Gusto and taste it for yourself.

RM 13.50

Roasted Duck Carbonara - Spaghetti in carbonara sauce topped with roasted duck. Tasted a little bland to me and I felt the carbonara sauce has a little too much cream in it.

RM 18.50

Aglio e Olio - Spaghetti tossed in garlic, herbs and chili olive oil. Additional toppings available in variations of Roasted Duck, Mushroom and some other items that I can't recall, each with a different price of course and this one comes with Mushroom (+ RM 2.50). I don't really like this one as it tasted only of Olive Oil while my friend was complaining it's not hot enough. Tabasco sauce and pepper does the trick for him though.

RM 16.50
+Mushroom (RM 2.50)

Lamb Shank - Braised lamb shank with vegetables and mashed potato. The normal lamb shank you'll get such as those in Secret Recipe.

RM 25.00

Italian Mix Platter - Grilled beef steak, chicken breast, tiger prawn, sausages and vegetable. Nice combination of everything grilled to perfection. I'd say the meats are tender and juicy especially the chicken breast. Prawn are fresh and the sauce are perfect to go with the grilled items. Portion are reasonable with the price as well.

RM 33.00

Panacota Pudding - My friend was giving me a rave review of how great and tasty this little glass of pudding in Gusto when he visited here last week. Of course I doesn't believe him and was saying you'd better be true. So here I am, scooping this red and white gem down in my mouth. It was awesome! Sweet, sour, creamy and milky soft pudding in strawberry sauce. A must try dessert if you come here and you'll immediately fall in love with this.

RM 6.90

How to get there?
If you came down from Penchala Link or the LDP into Mutiara Damasansara (you'll know when you see lots of RedBalls on the left side of the road), just head straight to the end of the road while keeping an eye for The Tropics sign board. Once you sees Tropics, you'll see Gusto along the road. Just park your car along the road side.

Contact:
Gusto Bar & Bistro
Unit PG-01, Tropics Shopping Centre
03 - 7724 2878

Thai Nudle House

2006-08-18T13:24:00.000+08:00

In Short:
Just another Thai restaurant with typical Thai infused dishes. Nice settings though.

The Food:

Beef Noodle - The soup is very sweet and I just don't like it. Added in some chili powder and tasted a little better, but it left me in fiery lips since I pour in a little too much chili. The beef slices was tender and nice though.

RM 12.50

Complete Meal Set B - Yeah, that's the name. Looks more like a nasi campur to me with a "sunny egg" on top of the rice. Combination of rice, egg, minced chicken in chili and kerabu mangga. The set also comes with a steamed banana dessert and Iced Lemon Tea.

RM 12.90

Steamed Banana with coconut milk - Easy peasy dessert, dripple with coconut milk. Banana was sweet and not too soft. I'll say it's OK.

Comes free with the Set Meal.

Where is this?
Level 3, Berjaya Times Square. Quite secluded, try find Secret Recipe and its just behind it.

Will I come again?
Guess I'm bored with Thai food already, don't think I'd come back any time soon.

Bumbu Bali

2006-08-13T14:55:00.000+08:00

In Short:
Crowded (we went there on Saturday night), average customer service, good food and great ambience. Balinese music was playing in the background while the restaurant is fully furnished will everything Balinese (at least that's what I felt).

The Food:

Ice Lemon Tea - Not the artificial one.

RM 3.50

Sate Lilit - 4 sticks of grilled combo of minced chicken and seafood wrapped around lemon grass stick served with BumbuBali Sambal. Lots of limau purut and lemon grass provide the strong fragrant aroma and taste rather sweet.

RM 11.00

Nasi Campur BumbuBali - White rice served with Beef Rendang, grilled squids, prawn, fish fillet, kangkung belacan and their very own keropok. The keropok tasted really nice, not sure if we can get this anywhere, does anyone know? Anyway, the food was amazing at first, but its tasted rather same as the Sate Lilit, I guess it's due to the fact that the same herbs mixture are used to marinate the meats. It still taste great for a first-timer.

RM 23.50

Nasi BBQ Chicken - Ayam Percik served with nasi kunyit, kangkung belacan and keropok. Chicken was juicy and tender, and the percik sauce was amazing. Again, it kinda got bored after a while as the herbs smells are rather strong.

RM 18.50

Bubur Injin - Bubur Pulut Hitam topped with banana slices and coconut milk. Served hot. Loved the added banana and the generous portion of the dessert as well as the coconut milk. Very full-filling.

RM 6.00

Where is this?
18 & 18-1, Jalan Persiaran 1, Bandar Puteri, 47100, Puchong.
03 - 8061 8699

iZZi - Pizza, Pasta & Coffee

2006-08-10T13:45:00.000+08:00

In Short:
Attentive and friendly service, very cosy and clean environment, huge plasma tv with enough volume to hear what's playing, above average food, and definitely will come back and hang out here with my lappy for the free Wi-Fi and bottomless Ice Lemon Tea @ RM5.90!!

The newly refurbished building besides Jalan Sultan Ismail, along the same row with Pizza Hut.

The Food:

Caesar Salad - Fresh and crisp Romaine lettuce combined with pickled anchovies strips and croutons tossed in Izzi's Caesar Dressing™, topped with shredded Mozarella cheese and black pepper. The dressing is a little too light and bland, definitely could use more texture to compliment the crispy lettuce.

Full Portion: RM 13.80
Half Portion: RM 10.80
Add on chicken: RM 6.50

Score: 3.5 out of 5

Baked Cheese Macoroni - Macoroni baked in creamy bechamel sauce with mozarella cheese and chicken bites. Tasted really good thanks to combination of the creamy bechamel sauce and cheese. Personally I'd prefer slightly more cheese on top and a bigger portion, perhaps they could consider using those deep plate to bake instead of the traditional lasagna bowl, still get my votes though.

One Size Only: RM 13.80

Score: 4 out of 5

Lasagna Bolognese - It's stated in their menu that it's layer of fresh pasta sheets served with cheese, bechamel, bolognese sauce and tomato. The menu image shows a lovely lasagna in a deep plate covered with tomato sauce which appear quite disappointed when served; no sauce to be seen. The lasagna looks dry but the texture happens to be just nice and not overcooked. Portion is ok but the chicken is too fine and lack of gravy makes me think twice before ordering this item again. Lasagna in Fasta Pasta is still the best.

One Size Only: RM 17.80

Score: 2 out of 5

Spicy BBQ Chicken Pizza (Chef Recommended) - Thin crust base baked firewood topped with smoked chicken, onions and sprinkle of coriander in rich and smokey Izzi Spicy BBQ Sauce™. Huge portion (we ordered large!) and very very very rich BBQ sauce. Not recommended to eat too much as the rich BBQ sauce tend to make u "jelak"! RM4 difference between a Regular and Large is definitely a value for money choice, go for Large!!

Regular: RM 23.80
Large: RM 27.80

Score: 3.5 out of 5

Spicy BBQ Chicken in action, waiting to be eaten.

Beef 'n Izzi Pizza (Chef Recommended) - Almost alike to the chicken version (read above), this one comes in Smoked Beef, Beef Salami, Spicy Beef chunks and Italian sausage covered in Mozarella cheese and Izzi's Spicy BBQ Sauce™. A very salty pizza due to the combination of BBQ sauce and the assortment of salt treated beef toppings. Half the pizza resulted in take away box, at least we didn't throw it away. Should have try their Marinara Pizza instead, it looks so yummy!

Regular: RM 21.80
Large: RM 31.80

The Drinks:
Izzi does serve bottomless drink with choices of Coke, Vanilla Coke, Sprite, 100 Plus, Sarsi and Ice Lemon Tea. Other than that, there's a variety of coffees and drinks that I'll just leave it for my next visit.

Will I go back?
Definitely, could be a great hang out place with its cosy environment and bottomless drink, nevertheless, their free WiFi is a plus point.

Where is this?
Jalan Sultan Ismail, same row with Pizza Hut. You will not miss this building as it is brightly lighten up with yellow and blue rectangle shaped neon covering almost the whole 4 floor building.

Phone: +603 - 2141 4111
Fax: +603 - 2145 4002
Website: http://www.izzikl.com

Cafe 1920 - The Curve

2006-08-07T08:27:00.000+08:00

In Short:
Modest ambience, extremely bad Ice Lemon Tea, unattentive service.

If you had ever attended school in your life, scrap back the memory of the old day orange cordial in your school's canteen, this is exactly how the Ice Lemon Tea tasted like albeit the fresh sliced piece of lemon dropped in. Awful!

Ceasar Salad, fresh vege with Ceasar sauce on top, coupled with fresh sliced olives, chicken chunks and croutons. Not bad for a starter.

Timbollo, Lasagna baked with pancake crepe in tomato chicken. Texture is rather too mushy, it was okay in the beginning but not so half way.

Pizza Magherita, tasted a bit like Cheese Nan from Steven Corners, if its without the tomato paste. All I could taste off it the Mozarella cheese, insufficient tomato paste to compliment the heap of cheese on top and there are no real tomato to be seen, is that what a Traditional Magherita looks like?

Jack's Place - One Utama (New Wing)

2006-08-07T08:04:00.000+08:00

In Short:
Snobish waiter, extremely long wait time for food to reach your table, unattentive supervisor, average food, expensive and unfavorable ambience.

Coffee, strong and smooth, this definitely gets my vote.

Garlic bread that comes with the mushroom soup, too moist, cold, not crispy at all.

Mushroom soup served with a splash of cream, definitely not fresh one. Tasted a bit bland, my friends suggessted to add a little salt and pepper, which I did, and it turned out even more awful!

Combo steak, Chicken and Beef, nothing special. Except for the type of meat served.

New Zealand Tenderloin, again, only the meat makes the difference.

Sirloin, so so food.

Comments? Are you kidding me, they sure ain't gonna read it, where's the dustbin?