With mum having just passed away on 17 December 2011, I wasn't in much of a mood to celebrate Christmas or New Year. I wasn't even aware that it was Christmas eve until I asked my neighbours what festival they were celebrating when I saw them barbecuing skewers of food.
Similarly, I wasn't aware that it was New Year's eve on 31 Dec until I was wished "Happy new year". I remember being stumped, and just stared at them with a puzzled look. That was in the late afternoon.
Hubby, who has been very supportive all this while, then took it upon himself to get me out of the home for a nice dinner. Being an eleventh hour decision, we were faced with a rather limited choice. Most restaurants were fully booked. Just as we were about to give up, we got lucky with Jarrod and Rawlins. No, it's not a law firm, it's a restaurant.
We ordered one each of the starter to share.
Left: Pumpkin soup with curry essence, coconut cream & crouton
Right: Rocket & walnut salad with feta cheese & citrus vinaigrette
The curry flavour made an interesting change to an otherwise regular pumpkin soup. I did not detect any coconut cream flavour. The feta cheese was superb, and went very well with the citrus vinaigrette salad. I wish they had given more of the cheese.
Jarrod & Rawlins is famous for pork. The gratinate grilled pork loin was tender and moist with a light, crispy top. It reminds me of the Chinese siu yok (seoh bak in Hokkien) skin. Heavenly.
The tomato salsa was great, but we found the seared fish fillet a little wanting. It's not bad, but after we've tasted the pork loin, the fish just paled in comparison. Rather ordinary, was our conclusion.
The homemade creme brulee was creamy, soft and sweet. It tasted a bit like egg pudding. Yummy.
We proceeded home to watch the fireworks after tea and coffee. We have a panoramic view of the city and have been watching the fireworks at Petronas Twin Towers, Bukit Bintang and Dataran Merdeka from our balcony since we moved into this apartment four years ago.
