Spanish Buffet @ La Gomera

Last Sunday afternoon saw us at La Gomera, a Spanish buffet & dining restaurant in Damansara Perdana. It has been a long time since I've had Spanish food. Spanish restaurants, for some reason, don't last in this country.


My first Spanish food was back in the 1990s at a restaurant in Park Royal Hotel. The restaurant no longer exists. 


There was a joke flying around then, about how when the bull lost the fight, its balls were sold to restaurants. But what happens if the matador lost?? With a straight face, the waiter replied that the balls served would be smaller.....


Anyway....we arrived at 12:30pm and there was a large crowd already seated and chomping away (the buffet starts at 12 noon). Spanish food is mostly meat, so it was no surprise to see the crowd eat-n-go....you couldn't really devour a lot of meat in one sitting. By 1:30pm the restaurant was almost empty.

The all-Spanish beef tripe, lamb stew, meatball (I think it's a human's size!) and some Spanish-beef-something (forgot what's the name) was truly delicious. The Spanish spaghetti was different, too. I loved it all.


Unfortunately, many of the patrons there did not know how to appreciate authentic Spanish cuisine. They put the ladle into the pots, pushed the food around and left empty-handed. Some even scooped up the food to take a closer look at it, then dumped them on the side plate with comments like "don't know what's that" in Cantonese. I guess they must be illiterate, since there were tags on each pot. They went for the less authentic Spanish fare, opting for the grilled stuff and salad. 


We tried the grills, too.....they were good, but anyone who goes to a Spanish restaurant should try the Spanish food at least once. How do they know they don't like it if they hadn't tried it?

The grilled salmon was lovely

The grilled tenderloin was ok, it was a bit too fibrous for me

The girlled lamb and squid were fantastic, while the Spanish pizza was a tad too salty for me.

Hubby's mess....paella, mussels, Spanish spaghetti and I don't know what else. He doesn't believe in ladling his food into neat little categories on the plate.

More of hubby's mess

La Gomera is not big on dessert. There wasn't much variety, with only a limited selection of fruits and ice cream. There were two puddings....egg pudding and mango pudding. And one type of cinnamon rolls and butter cake with raisins.


Still, I enjoyed my sojourn there very much. 


Address:
La Gomera
Block E-LG-1, NeoDamansara
Jalan PJU 8/1,
Damansara Perdana
Tel: (03) 7710 0262

Friendscino @ Damansara Perdana

Located in Damansara Perdana, Friendscino is a family pub restaurant. When we were there two weeks ago, there were several families with children in tow.

Board games for the whole family are available on the mahogany shelf

This guy can really croon

Hubby had bought a 4-course dinner package from one of those online prepaid promotions for RM27 each. It was really value for money. They did not shortchange on the quality of the food at all.

The Ceasar Salad with cheese was creamy and has a strong cheese flavour. Yummy.

Next came the wild mushroom soup. I enjoyed the home-made soup to the last drop, and putting the chutney on the garlic bread was an ingenious idea. The sweet and tangy chutney went very well with the garlic bread.

The Norwegian salmon was grilled to perfection. It was accompanied with baked baby potatoes, sauerkraut, sweet peas, brocolli and the barbecue sauce had a slight tang of chutney, too. Two thumbs up.

The bread and butter pudding with ice cream and raspberry sauce was not too sweet. It was just right for me, and acceptable by diabetic hubby. Although he did say that his blood sugar has probably spiked.

They didn't have wine on the menu so I opted for a glass of Pina Colado. I almost didn't get that, as they had run out of coconut milk, but before I could make up my mind what to order instead, one of the staff came up to our table to say they could rush out to get the coconut milk if I really want Pina Colado. Yes, I do, thank you.  :)

Chocolate Lounge @ The Curve

After spending an entire day at The Curve and Ikano (hubby needed more T-shirts while I needed a pair of Nike shoes as my 10-year old pair fell apart at the gym the other day), we were bushed and decided to have our dinner at The Curve.


We were walking to Bubba Gump when a menu displayed outside Chocolate Lounge stopped me in my tracks. Spaghetti in Pesto sauce screamed a picture. A dish I can't turn down. I love pesto sauce, especially when it comes with pine nuts and almond flakes. Or at least, that's what the description was. And it was only RM19.90, and came with either tea or coffee. Without a second thought, I stepped inside Chocolate Lounge and forgot all about going to Bubba Gump.


Chocolate Lounge is an eatery outlet that 'specializes' in chocolates. They have a few outlets in KL and PJ. There are various types of chocolate bars and chocolate cakes at the counter. But they are not just a chocolate house. They also offer main courses.


Hubby ordered the Spaghetti Olio-olio, and a cup of coffee while I had Spaghetti Al Pesto and a cup of tea, both at RM19.90 each. 

Hubby's Olio-olio was great. It was neither oily nor spicy, and the seafood was fresh. It had a subtle taste, and was not overwhelming like some other Olio-olio that we once had somewhere.

My Al Pesto. See the layer of oil at the bottom? They were definitely generous with the Extra Virgin Oil when they made the pesto sauce. But that's fine, extra virgin oil is healthy, so no complaints from me in that department. The shitake mushrooms and chicken cubes went well with the pesto sauce, I must say, even though I'm not a great fan of chicken. However, there were no pine nuts nor almond flakes. Oops, sorry, they lied....the description was for the non-promotional price, at RM22.90, without any of the beverages, which would have cost RM9 each. Considering that I had thoroughly enjoyed my meal I could overlook that little misrepresentation. Yum-yum.

Fruit-Land @ Ikano

Not long ago, a new eatery outlet opened at Ikano. It has a windmill at its entrance, and pictures of shaved ice with various types of fruits were displayed on the wall. Other than that, it didn't make much of an impression on me.


However, this afternoon, as we were walking past the shop (on the way to Ikea), there was a huge banner showing a rather tempting picture of a Tempura Fish and Chips. It was unhealthy and a definite no-no for hubby, but we decided to try it anyway as it is just too difficult to find anything to eat outside nowadays, with hubby's special needs diet. 

Before we placed our order, we asked what kind of fish they have. Ikan Merah was the reply. Fine, as long as it's not Dory. It turned out that it was the WORST Fish and Chips we had ever had. 


First, it was a frozen tempura fish which the staff heated up in an inferior quality oil. It had one of those very thick oil taste, and the tempura batter, since it was a frozen product, had a rather weird floury flavour. 


Second, the fish itself did not taste like a fish. It had no flavour at all. And the staff's favourite response to any queries was: "tempura fish is from supplier". I suppose they were trying to tell me that the poor quality of the tempura fish should be laid squarely at the supplier's door, and they are not to be blamed?!!


Third, the chips. Surely this can't be laid at the supplier's door, too? I am sure the supplier did not leave them with an instruction to be over-generous with the salt when they're adding it to the chips??!!


Needless to say, we asked for the bill after a couple of mouthfuls. I know it's not good to waste food, especially when we ate only less than a quarter of it, but it was really not edible. Seriously. We were puzzled at why they had such a crowd, and a number of the customers were ordering the same tempura fish and chips, too. Could it be that they love frozen tempura heated up in poor quality oil, and extremely salty chips??


And the staff didn't even try to compensate us. At Sushi King, when we were served with an extremely poor quality food, they asked us if we would like to replace with another order of a different item, and when we declined and asked for the bill, they gave us a discount, without our asking for it. That is what I call excellent customer service. Make your customer happy, and they'll return. We are never going to go back to Fruit-Land. It's a waste of RM34.40. We paid an additional RM10 more in the evening, and got a more satisfying meal for RM44.40 at Chocolate Lounge.

Ikea Serves Horrid Meatballs Now

After looking at Cazz's cat balls and reading of Lupie's balls in tupperwares, I had a sudden craving for Ikea's Swedish meatballs. So off I went to Ikea with my hubby in tow. Yes, my hubby works in Selangor and so it's a public holiday for him today.

I think everybody in town must have the same idea, or all the eateries in town are closed today and they have nowhere else to go. The line at Ikea's cafetaria was a mile long, despite it being already 2pm. And for once, surprisingly, my hubby was rather patient and did not grumble at the long wait. Maybe he was in need of some balls, too?  ;)

At long last, just before my legs gave way, we got to sit down and chomp on the balls. Eeek!!! Why does it taste different? I cut up 1 ball into half to take a closer look. Oh man, instead of the regular meatballs that I'm used to, Ikea has now chosen to make Malaysian local meatballs.....balls made primarily of flour (those fish balls like bouncy texture). It's no longer minced beef shaped and formed into balls.

We felt so ripped off. Ikea has not only lowered the standard and quality of their food, they have also raised their price from RM8.90 to RM10. Shame on you, Ikea.