Just Cakes

Our sprouted bread had run out and I had to go to Village Grocer, Bangsar, to replenish them. (Sprouted bread is good for diabetes and hubby takes them for breakfast daily.) Village Grocer is one of the few stores that carry the sprouted bread from Adventist Hospital's bakery (click here for more info). 


My sis-in-law was in Bangsar right then, and since I wanted to pass some stuff to her, we met up for lunch together with a friend of hers.


After lunch, we proceeded next door for cakes. I don't remember the name of the shop, but it shared half a shoplot with Klinik Chong at Lucky Garden. The space used to be occupied by a launderette. 


Carina, sis-in-law's friend, suggested that we ordered a cake each and shared them. My choice was the blueberry cheesecake.

It was one of the better cheesecakes I've had. It had whole blueberries in it, and the cake just melted in my mouth. Each bite was sheer bliss.


Sis-in-law let us picked a cake for her, and we selected the chocolate brownie with vanilla ice-cream.

Personally, I found the brownie not chocolaty enough. It didn't have chocolate fudge. There was one with fudge but without the walnuts. Since brownies without walnuts aren't brownies in my opinion, that wasn't an option. Sis-in-law loved it, fortunately.

Carina chose the carrot & pumpkin cake. Another good choice. It wasn't dry nor crumbly, and had a nice carrot-cinnamon flavour to it.

I like my carrot cakes to be moist with a distinct carrot & cinnamon flavour, and this one reminded me of the carrot cake I used to bake. The last time I baked any cake was when my mum was still alive and hadn't fallen sick yet. Perhaps one day I might start to bake again.

Hoofed @ Taman Tun Dr Ismail

Located above Tom, Dick & Harry, Hoofed specializes in pork. Yes, you got that right. There is a wine bar cum restaurant called Tom, Dick & Harry. And it owns Hoofed, too. At least, that's what the staff told us.


We had bought a Groupon voucher for RM18 each, for a pork chop meal that includes a roasted tomato soup, a choice of brownies or bananarama dessert. 


However, without a word of apology or acknowlegement, we were served with a dark green colour soup that tasted nothing like tomatoes, roasted or not. Upon checking with a staff, we found that they were out of tomatoes and had elected to replace it with spinach. 


Well, I understand that, but shouldn't they have said something prior to serving it to us? Doesn't good manners dictate that they apologize for having to replace a soup which we had pre-bought and paid for, but which they replaced at their own discretion??


And let's not go into diet and medical disorders. What if one of us had high uric acid (like my mum had) and spinach was an item we could not eat without further damaging our health??


Anyway, in the midst of the fuss, I forgot to take any pictures of the spinach soup. Bummer....

Pork chop

Despite being crowded on the second evening of Chinese New year, service was prompt. The pork chop arrived shortly after the soup bowls were cleared. Crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, the pork reminded me of what we had at Jarrod & Rawlins, at a fraction of the price, of course. 

Chocolate brownies with vanilla ice cream

Predictably, chocolate brownies was my choice of dessert. I could never seem to get enough of chocolate brownies (I even baked them at home some time in the past!). Very rich and chocolatey, the brownies were a sinful indulgence. Warmed and eaten with the vanilla ice cream, each mouthful was a totally wonderful ying yang experience.

Bananarama

Hubby opted for the bananarama on the basis that he wanted something different for a change (I always ordered either chocolate brownies or chocolate fudge for dessert, if not cheesecake). I had warned him that the caramel sauce and peanut butter crumble are going to be very sweet and not diabetic-friendly. My predictions turned out to be true. Hubby couldn't finish his bananarama. It was overly sweet for him.


My conclusions? Hoofed is a nice enough neighbourhood restaurant, a place to relax and nurse a glass of wine or two before dinner. Would I go back? Well, I'm not a big fan of pork, so it's possible I might not return. 


Address:
No. 18A Lorong Rahim Kajai 14
Taman Tun Dr Ismail
6000 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: (03) 7728-8567

Fish & Co @ 1-Utama

Two weeks ago, on the first day of Chinese New Year, with nowhere to go, we decided to hit 1-Utama in search of lunch and movie. My mother-in-law had told us not to visit anybody, including relatives, during Chinese New Year as my mum had passed away only a month earlier.


It was a strange new year for me. It was the first time I celebrated Chinese New Year without my mum. Needless to say, while most people of Chinese descent were in a festive mood, I was feeling down and sad.


Anyway....let's move on with the topic. Despite the long weekend, many KLites remained behind in the city, and at 2-ish in the afternoon, many tables at Fish & Co were still occupied. However, the service was prompt and we didn't have long to wait.

Caesar salad with smoked salmon - RM10.90

Caesar salad was the first to arrive. They were generous with the smoked salmon, which went very well with the lettuce and blue cheese dressing. 

Soup of the day (mushroom) - RM4.90

The soup of the day followed at the heels of the caesar salad. Rich and full of mushroom slices, it had a nice, creamy texture. 

New York Fish & Chips with stuffed cheese - RM13.90

Not dory, the fish fillet was firm and sweet, while the batter was crispy. I loved the cheese in it. Each bite was simply divine. It's the best fish & chips I've had in KL.

Seafood Baked Rice - RM15.90

The seafood baked rice is actually a paella with cheese. Again, it was another savory and delectable delight. Truly scrumptious. My mouth was watering as I typed this. We must revisit the place soon.


Address:
Fish & Co
LG 350, Lower Ground Floor,
1 Utama Shopping Centre
Bandar Utama, PJ.
Tel: (03) 7722-4928

The Wok - Revisited

This is our second visit to The Wok @ The Strand, Kota Damansara after a lapse of 8 months. For the first visit's review (which gives a background and directions to the place plus the different orders we had), please click here.


I had a craving for some nyonya food and wanted to try The Long Table at Kelana Jaya, but we were running a bit late (read: hungry) coupled with the fact that hubby wasn't sure where the restaurant is located. (Google map failed to show the street number, or any of the landmarks nearby.) Since Kota Damansara is like a stone's throw or two away, it made more sense to revisit The Wok. Besides, we had wanted to try the other items on their menu the last time we were there.

Gulai Tumis Stingray - RM18 (S)

The first item I ordered was the gulai tumis. I am a die-hard fan of gulai tumis, so when I say it's superb, my opinion is skewed and biased. In Penang, it is pronounced as goo-lye two-mee, which means fried curry, literally. It is a sourish curry, and the freshly blended paste is fried till fragrant before water is added to it and boiled. 


I love gulai tumis so much that I took the trouble to learn how to make it from my grandma. This reminds me that I have never blogged about it....*note to self: must remember to blog about my gulai tumis*.

Perut Ikan - RM10 (S)

Ever since I introduced hubby to perut ikan, it has been his favourite nyonya dish. At each and every nyonya restaurant we go to, he must have the perut ikan. Even if we had ordered this at our earlier visit. The dish hasn't changed from when we last visited, so I shall refrain from repeating myself. To find out what it tasted like, please visit my earlier blog post by clicking here.

Lor-bak and tau-knua - RM12 (S)

The lor-bak (deep-fried meat wrapped in spring rolls) was excellent. It's not what you get from coffee-shops. The skin was crispy and fragrant while the pork inside was tender and moist. The tau-knua, which is a hard tofu, was great, too. I'd say this item is a must-have.

Jui Hu Char - RM12 (S)

Jiu Hu Char is another favourite of hubby's when it comes to nyonya food. It is fried turnip slices with cuttlefish. It is eaten wrapped in lettuce leaves. 

Dessert, clockwise, from top left: 

Mango chendol x2 (RM5 each), jelly (complimentary) 

and sago gula melaka x2(RM4 each).

Hubby and I had the sago gula melaka while my MiL and SiL had the mango chendol. Hubby tried to get some feedback from them by asking them to compare it with the durian chendol we had in Melaka. Unfortunately, MiL and SiL did not remember what the durian chendol in Melaka tasted like. Since we had the sago gula melaka at our previous visit, I shall not blog about this item again. 


The complimentary jelly was unexpected and a very nice surprise. Nice as in the gesture and the taste.


It was a lovely meal and it looked like I might never get to try The Long Table as at the end of the meal, hubby said "The Wok is great, there's no need to travel so far to Kelana Jaya."


Address:
The Wok Cafe
26-G, Jalan PJU 5/21
The Strand Damansara
Kota Damansara
Tel: (03) 6142-7388
(Turn left at the junction behind CIMB bank)

Dragon-i @ Pavilion Bukit Bintang

Ever since Dragon-i opened its doors for business a few years ago, hubby has wanted to try their food. The restaurant specializes in food from Shanghai, Szechuan, Beijing and Lanzhou. But each time, a walk past their many outlets in a number of shopping malls would see a long queue of customers waiting to be seated. We have never felt a desire to get in line.


But last week the Dragon-i outlet at Pavilion, Bukit Bintang was relatively empty. That was the week of the Chinese New Year. Many KL-ites have taken the opportunity of the long holiday to get out of town. We seized the chance to try the food.

Three stringed instruments, without their strings, were exhibited on the wall.

A couple of rather strange concoction, some peculiar tea with what looked like corals. Tasted a little unusual, too. I wished we had simply stuck to the more traditional Chinese tea like Jasmine or 'Heong Ping'.

I ordered the La Mein (handmade noodles) in Szechuan Hot & Sour soup. I adore the spicy and vinegarish flavour of the soup. The taste was right up my alley.

Hubby wasn't so fortunate in his choice, however. He ordered the Szechuan La Mein in Hot & Sour Soup. Note the difference in the name of this dish and the one I had ordered. It sounds more or less the same, right? Wrong. It couldn't have been more different than night and day.


The Szechuan La Mein in Hot & Sour Soup was neither hot nor sour. It was nothing like the Szechuan Hot & Sour Soup. Instead, it was sweet with peanut-butter flavour, something we had had before at Low Yat Plaza. 


At that time, we had thought the restaurant in Low Yat Plaza made a mistake in naming the sweet peanut butter soup as 'hot & sour soup', but they must have gotten it right, for Dragon-i produced an exact replica of the soup with the same name. To say it tasted yucky would not begin to describe it. 


I am sure the other items on the menu must be good, though, and that hubby had just made a wrong choice (even though this item had the restaurant's specialty and chef's recommendation on it.) How else do we explain the crowd?? Unless....the majority has no discernment when it comes to food?? Surely not. 

One Sweet One Night @ Solaris Dutamas

The name does not sound promising. One Sweet One Night sounds more like a shop specializing in dessert and any main course on the menu is suspect. But at only RM11.80 for a set of 1 spaghetti dish, 1 set baked scallops, 1 French style cream pumpkin soup and 1 chrysanthemum tea with jelly, it's too good a bargain to pass.


At that price, our expectations weren't high. Even though the deal clearly spelt out that the set was worth RM56, and RM11.80 was a 79% discount promotion. 


While waiting for our orders to be served, we looked around the little setup. It's a cozy little cafe with live music at night, and the menu is in an iPad. You surf the menu on the iPad and place the order yourselves. The order gets transmitted to the kitchen. We looked around to see if elderly customers would have difficulty placing their orders, and saw that a couple, in their late 50s had to depend on their son to order for them.

They had an interesting version of Mona Lisa on their wall. I must admit I prefer this tubby Mona Lisa to the original skinny one.  :)

The French style cream pumpkin soup had a hint of curry powder in it. Hmmm....if I hadn't known better, I'd have thought it's Malaysian style cream pumpkin soup. I didn't know the French add curry powder to their cream soup?? It made me wonder if this is the current fad, as it's not the first time I had pumpkin soup with curry flavour in it. Perhaps it's part and parcel of fusion food.....

I wasn't too taken with the baked scallops. It would have tasted better without the onions, in my opinion.

The soft shell crab spaghetti was superb. The crab was crunchy on the outside and soft and sweet on the inside. Simply wonderful. The pasta came in a carbonara sauce, hmm....a rather ordinary sauce for me. But I just loved the soft shell crab. 

We were glad that we ordered the seafood spaghetti rather than the salmon spaghetti cream sauce. After looking at the pictures on the iPad menu, we felt certain that a tomato-based spaghetti would better complement a cream-based soft shell crab spaghetti (we like to share the dishes instead of having one to ourselves). And we were right. The piquant tomato sauce gave a 'variety' to our tastebuds that would not have been there had we gone with the salmon spaghetti cream sauce. 

The chrysanthemum tea with jelly was just a long fun (glass jelly) drink. No chrysanthemum taste was detectable.


Will we return for a regular-priced meal? Hmm....I don't think so. But if there's another promotion deal like this, we will. 


Address:
One Sweet One Night
A2-G2-3A, Solaris Dutamas
No. 1 Jalan Dutamas 1
Kuala Lumpur

Authentic Penang Koay Teow Soup @ Old Town, Petaling Jaya

Born and raised in Penang, I grew up eating and loving certain quintessential Penang hawker food. Koay teow th'ng (soup) is one of them. When I was growing up, the best koay teow th'ng was found at the Kuantan Road market. But the stall has since ceased to operate, and there isn't any other stalls in Penang or KL that could match its quality. Until a friend recommended the koay teow th'ng at Old Town, Petaling Jaya, that is.

What's so special about the Kuantan Road koay teow th'ng, or, the one at Old Town, PJ, for that matter?


For one, the soup is made from duck meat. Others used only chicken, and the taste isn't quite the same. This stall hires a lot of workers, as they are very busy. We've been there a few times since I got to know this place a few weeks ago, and almost every table would order at least one bowl of the noodles. Some tables saw 5 or 6 people slurping away at this delicious noodles.


Besides the koay teow soup, I've tried the popiah and prawn mee (on different occasions). Hubby and I would order a bowl of koay teow th'ng each, and shared another bowl of something else.

The popiah was not bad, but the koay teow th'ng was the star. On the occasion when I ordered the prawn mee, I did not have my camera with me, so no pics. That said, the best prawn mee is still in Taman Tun. (Best for me is defined as being comparable to the best ones in Penang.)

The coffeshop is located at the road facing KK Mart. It is usually very crowded, and to find a parking space at Old Town is like looking for a needle in a haystack. So be prepared to park very far and walk, or waste half an hour or more circling the block waiting for someone to leave so you could take over the vacated bay. Yes, it's a hassle, but it's worth it.

Onepot Paper Grill @ Kepong

Updated: 30 June 2012
Onepot has closed its doors and is no longer here.
*****************************
Onepot opened its doors for business in mid-December last year. It serves dim sum, papergrill and steamboat. Papergrill??


Curious, hubby and I checked the restaurant out a couple of weeks ago.

There! That is a papergrill. A baking sheet placed over the grill. Those who bake would know immediately what purpose this serves. 


To prevent the batter from sticking to the baking pan, we could choose to grease the baking pan before pouring the batter in, or we could line the pan with a baking sheet. In this scenario, lining the grill with the baking sheet eliminates the need to grease the grill. Such a simple method for healthier food.

The waitress grilling the food for us

Watching the food cook

There is a selection of 27 sauces to choose from. I don't remember what I took....I chose the more exotic names, but they were all great. Look at the spread of sauces below. Amazing!

That was the Papergrill set, at RM29.90 for 1 to 2 pax. Do not order this if you're dining alone. You won't be able to finish the food. There is more than enough for two people, and hubby has quite an appetite.


We also ordered a pot of clear sweet corn soup, at RM4.90. The soup was refillable, but we were too full to ask for refills. 

Our conclusion: it's a place we will frequent often. Not only is it healthier, but the food is fresh, not those processed food like fish balls, meat balls, etc., that you find at most other steamboat and barbecue grill restaurants. 


Incidentally, they serve dim sum in the morning. And they're opened throughout the Chinese New Year holidays, so no worries about food!


Address:
Block C, Fortune Avenue
Jalan Metro Perdana 3
Taman Usahawan Kepong
Kuala Lumpur
Tel: (03) 6252 1277

New Year Eve Dinner @ Jarrod and Rawlins

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.

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