Hajime

To welcome the year of 2011 I decided to go to Hajime for dinner...

Our meal was kicked off with a Fried Octopus Salad which was not really my choice of salad because of the baby octopus but surprisingly it actually taste quite good.. It was not gooey which was a definitely a plus point for me.. The salad itself was ordinary and the house dressing was ordinary as well.. The fried baby octopus really stood out in this dish.



Next was a salmon maki which was simple and nice... There isn't much to say about this as it was pretty standard fair.



We also ordered a spider maki with caviar on top which was also a standard dish with a slight twist but not enough to make it any way more special.



Of course the sashimi is never forgotten.. It also marks how fresh the food is in a Japanese Restaurant this was really good...

Next we ordered a mixed mushroom dish which consistend of 3 different mushrooms cooked in butter and garlic.. I obviously loved this dish because I love mushrooms but without being biased it really was good... Everyone at the table concurred.

We also ordered bake scallop with cheese... it was very flavourful but a tad chewy around the edges.

Another dish we ordered was the Kaki Furai which was fried oysters. The batter was too thick and the oyster kind of dried out a bit and was not as juicy as expected.

Next came the grilled salmon... This was really nicely seasoned. It was tasty by itself without the sauce.

Last dish of the night was the 3 types of cold noodles. They served chasoba, zarusoba and inaniwa all in one boat.. I definitely liked the fact that they offered this combination to give more variety. It was  a refreshing way to end a meal.

Hajime

No. 64,
Jalan Damai Off Jalan Tun Razak,
55000 Kuala Lumpur

Tel : 03 2143 0073

Nerovivo

Had my Christmas dinner at Nerovivo this year since mum was back and she likes Italian...

As usual they serve the customary bread which in this case was really customary as it wasn't anything special...

Then we ordered the Antipasto casalingo di terra per due o quattro persone (2 persons) which consisted of Vitello tonnato, beef carpaccio, zucchini parmigiana, tomato caprese, smoked duck. Surprisingly although the platter looked a tad messy it was quite good... the beef carpaccio was fresh, the zucchini parmigiana was a tasty combination of flavours, the tomato caprese was pretty normal. I didnt quite care for the duck, it tasted okay but nothing great and the vitello tonnato was a tad too drenched with the sauce for such thin slices but it did taste quite good after you scrape some of the sauce off.



:) I like the fact that a small pot of chilli flakes were placed on our table... I like them with my pizza.



Next item we ordered was the Pizza Quattro Stagioni which was a quartet with tomato, mozzarella, turkey ham, beef pepperoni, mushrooms, artichoke. I am not an artichoke fan so I shall not comment on that since I didn't eat that quarter. The crust was not the standard thin crust that quite a number of places serve but it wasn't too thick as to taste too much of crust and not enough topping. The 3 other quarters were simple but tasted good.



We then ordered a special of the day which was a Tagliatelle with White Truffle Sauce which was essentially a simple brown truffle flavoured sauce served over handmade tagliatelle finished off with a few shavings of white truffle. The taste was pretty subtle and a tad too muted for me. Perhaps I have a preference for more bold flavours but this was just a moderate dish for me. I also prefer the taste of black truffles to white so maybe that's why I wasn't jumping with joy over this dish.

Our last main for the night was the Risotto ai porcini con scaloppa di fegato grasso e spuma al Reggiano which was Porcini mushroom risotto with seared foie gras and parmesan foam. It was also topped with some white truffle shavings. The risotto actually tasted quite good but its falling grace was that the it was a tad too al dente to our taste. It could use a couple minutes more on the stove and maybe a couple of ladle of broth to get it the right texture but it was still pretty good tasting.



For desserts I was the only one with some space left so I ordered a Martini ai quattro cioccolati which was described to be four different type of chocolate in martini glass. I personally only taste 2 and of the 2, one was really bad. The top layer was a chocolate mousse combined with a panna cotta which I felt had too much gelatin making to too chewy and just yuck. The based a chocolate cake/brownie which was a bit too dry. All in all the dessert was bad.

The meal definitely started on a good note but ended not so great and this was disappointing considering I was there a few weeks prior to christmas and I enjoyed my meal hence the decision to have our christmas dinner there... Dishes to try if you do go is would be the pappardelle with lamb ragout (only if you dont mind the taste of lamb as it is quite apparent) and the seafood pizza both of which were good the last time I tried.

Nerovivo

3a Jalan Ceylon,
50200 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 03-20703120

Hidden Treasure...

Tucked in the corner of Jalan (more like a lorong) Hang Kasturi along Jonker street in Malacca lies an unassuming little teow chew restaurant called Teo Soon Long Chan.... From the outside, you would think it no different from a normal hawker coffee shop... but step inside and you are welcomed into this cosy little air conditioned restaurants lines with liquor bottles all around... There was only 7 tables in the room, which is why reservation is highly recommended...

To one side is a display of the fresh ingredients/seafood for the day... This uncle here takes your orders and when we asked what is their Signature Dish? His answer was simple "No signature dish, all is good. No need to ask where the source of the ingredients are from, as long as it taste good, that should be good enough!!" ..... and he was right.

On the other side was a counter and the liquor cabinet lining the walls.... That guy on the phone, is no ordinary guy. He got skills... you will know what I mean further down this post.... :)

To start of the dinner... let me introduce you to the sauces... haha!! This is a traditional teowchew tauchu with chilli sauce which is best eaten with the steam fish...

Next up is the sambal..and this is no ordinary sambal which you get at other regular restaurants... This has ikan bilis in them... plenty... It was Yum....!!!

Okay... to start the night off we had the Oyster Noodles which was highly recommended and every table seems to have ordered one... it was just yellow noodles fried hokkien style but with Oysters in them... Unless you are an oyster fan, this is nothing to shout about... Too oyster-ish for my taste....

Next we had the steam fish teowchew style... what other style can you order in a teowchew restaurant right? haha!! This was definitely the highlight for me... It was steamed just right... not over nor under done and the fish was fresh... the broth has just the right level of saltiness that made the whole dish work... It was so good I ordered another one at the end of our meal...

Oh ya... remember the guy at the counter... well he is highly skilled at cutting the fish up... he cuts and debones the entire fish in 22 precise cuts... Cool huh?

Another dish which was recommended by fellow bloggers was the fried soft shell crab... Although not a traditional teowchew dish but this was really well done... the batter was crunchy and the sweet sauce which accompanied the dish just complimented the taste of the crabs...

We were recommended the Bitter Gourd and Pork Ribs stew by the uncle and we gladly agreed... This was an extremely small dish but it tasted really good..the bitter gourd has just a slight twang of bitterness to it and it was soft to the bite... The pork ribs were small little succulent pieces of meat and the sauce was heavenly... Best eaten mixed with rice (which my eldest sis refused to the dismay of the owner)... It was thickened with yam instead of starch so it has a slight hint of yam in the aftertaste...

Next up was the fried mince pork balls.. This was pretty good... It was not spectacular but it was pretty good for pork balls... :)

Now, the final and apparently most popular dish which the uncle insisted we should end our meal with... Ohnee! Or better known as yam paste served with ginko and pumpkin... I need to say upfront that I am not a chinese dessert kinda person (especially when they are pasty) but I gave it a try since it was highly recommended... I am now a convert... This ohnee was soooo good.. the texture was smooth and taken with the pumpkin it gave just the right balance of yammy gooey-ness and sweetness from the pumpkin... Really good.. no wonder this was their one and only dish which has been commercialised.

Look at the consistency of the yam... beautiful....

This is definitely one restaurant I would highly recommend if you are heading to Malacca... I am a malaccan and I only knew of this place recently.. How embarassing... :( Forget about the satay celup or the chicken rice balls... those are just hyped up food.. This is the real deal... just simple delicious teowchew dishes done very well...

Teo Soon Loong Chan Restaurant55, Jalan Hang Kasturi

75200 Melaka, Malaysia

Tel: 06-2822353

Favola

*Update*

Erm... just got a call from my fren BP, and the complimentary wine was not exactly complimentary... It was compliments from him... the restaurant botched up the order along with a cake which was suppose to appear. Apparently they decided to just use the cake my sis bought... Hmm... no wonder the service was so good... hahaha!! Now I got to re-think my re-visit.

Anyway, thank you BP!!! It was a really nice gesture eventhough it kinda got lost in transition... :)

******

Yups... I turned 29 yesterday.... my last year in my twenties... I am officially aging...hahah!! Luckily there are still ppl who mistaken me for being younger than I really am... :)

This year my family decided to go to Favola in Le Meridien Hotel to celebrate my birthday... The place looks more like a Jester's court than an italian restaurant but oh well...

Upon taking our seats the waitress asked whether we would like to have wine as it was complimentary. We could not believe our ears and asked again... Complimentary? and she said yes! How odd, it rarely happens in Malaysia... but anyhow we decided to pass on it...

Now here begins the food... Of course we had the customary bread... bread was quite good...the dip was not as good as the spread in Prime but not too bad either.. :)

Then came the starters... We ordered Garlic and Thyme Roasted Portobello served with Spinach and Lombardi Tellegio Cheese... When it came it looked like oysters to me... doesnt it? and the taste was nowhere near a mushroom...the pile of spinach and cheese on it overpowered the mushroom totally... I was not a happy camper... Come on... I like my mushrooms, mushroomy!!

Luckily they redeemed themselves with the next appetizer. Fritto Mistro de Mare which was basically deepfried seafood with a spicy tomato dip... This was good..the sauce tasted really good and they had a combination of calamari, prawns, fish and scallops..Next my sis wanted the Zuppa de Pesce ala Marinara which was a seafood with saffrom soup... Urrrgghhh... I did not like it..it was waaaay too clamy tasting for me but my sis liked it so oh well.. to each its own... :)Then came our mains...First up was Bianco Pizza which was sauteed beef strips with wild mushroom and this was pretty good I must say... my mum liked this dish the most... It had good flavours...

We also ordered the Risotto ai Funghi Selvatici e Parmigianno which is risotto with wild mushroom and permesan cheese... This was quite good too.. texture of the risotto was spot on but they were a tad too heavy handed with the cheese in my opinion....

Last main of the nite was the Manzo e Patate Ravioli which was essentially braised beef and potato ravioli served with smoked black truffle butter sauce... I liked this dish... I thought the texture of the pasta was good and the filling was nice albeit the potato was a bit too crunchy for potatoes...

and lastly we ordered the famous Illy Coffee Tiramisu... this was the ultimate disappointment... It was really not good... It just made me miss the tiramisu in Neroteca... :( they really should not say it is their speciality when it doesnt taste all too great...

I need to tell you this story before I proceed... somewhere towards the end of the meal the waitress came up to us again and said... "would you like me to pack the wine to go? We can put it in a bag for you to take home" and we were like thinking .... Wow! they are really desperate to let us have the wine... It was virtually like forcing it down our throats... They must have never had anyone said no to a complimentary wine...hahahaha!! So we said yes... Just an additional bottle for us to bring for house warming parties then... :D

So back to my birthday celebration.. when the tiramisu came we were stuffed... we had actually decided not to cut the cake and just bring it home but lo behold while we were having our tiramisu the manager and a few of the staff came over with the cake and sang me a birthday song..that was really nice and unexpected... Top marks for service definitely!! :D Thoughout the nite they were pretty attentive but this was one step up from just be attentive.. They were proactive... :D For that itself, I might just come back and try the other things on the menu... Since the dinner had some hits and some misses..

Favola

Le Meridien Hotel

Kuala Lumpur

"Reunion" Dim Sum

Yesterday was Malaysia Day (another public holiday!!!) and I was about to have brunch with Ching Yee since we just finished being Chee Muis for Vivien... Suggested we have dim sum at Reunion; Bangsar Village II. It was highly recommended by many and I soon learnt why... :)

We started off with some "Siu Loong Pao" and "Char Siew Pao" which as usual, I forgot to take picture off... hahah!! But the Siu Loong Pao was really well done... the skin was just right to hold the juice in but still thin enough to not be flourey... :) The char siew pao was really fluffy... nice!!! :D

So now with the pictures... There is the standard "Siu Mai" and "Har Kow" which was good for sui mais and har kows standards but they are afterall just standard items...

Then we had egg tarts which were really nice... Not too sweet and the crust was thin and flaky...

Next was the "Char Siew Sou" which was also really good.. what I really liked bout all the dim sum is the amount of filling..the skins were always thin making room for plenty of fillings...

Next up was "Wu Kok"... Jae likes it but me not so much..felt the yam skin was not well done and the filling was not so great as well. Oh well, to each its own....

We also ordered some fried carrot cake.... It was definitely tasty...liked it that it was a bit spicy.... :)

Another sweet offering.... "Ma Lai Kou"... direct translation would be Malay Cake but then it isnt malay at all.... haha!! This one was a bit of disappointment... The taste was there but the texture I felt was not fluffy enough... Definitely not as good as the restaurant in Bangsar Shopping Centre..

Oh and we had some barbeque meat... Yum yum!!! the "Char Siew" was melt-in-your-mouth good.. texture and taste... :)

We also had "Siu Yok" which I felt wasnt crispy enough on the skin... :( but once again Jae liked it...hahah!!

All it all it was a really really good... It does live up to its recommendations... This same restaurant actually has a great menu for normal chinese dining as well... Highly recommended except that this place is a tad pricey...

Reunion

2F – 17/18,

2nd Floor Bangsar Village 2

No. 2 Jalan Telawi Satu,

Bangsar Baru

Tel: +60 3 2287 3770

Happy Birthday Ai Li!!!!

Celebrated my sister's birthday 15th Sept 2010!!!

I was a nice sister this year... Got her a birthday card which cost me RM30... Then I ordered a Durian Mousse cake to be sent to her office to surprise her... :) No pictures though coz it was eaten up by her colleagues... Haih...damn expensive cake.. :( But I got a slice and I could taste why it was so costly.. It was no mousse my fren... It was Durian... literally... durian just slathered between layers of vanilla cake... yum yum!! :D

So for dinner we initially wanted to try this place which says Korean Fine Dining which we came across at Pavillion... see see when we went in and opened the menu. It was the same (or maybe with less variety) as any other korean restaurant in town..and probably less authentic... So what is so fine dining bout that? Cheh! So we walked out back... hahah!!

Decided to try out Angus House - Japanese Charcoal Steak instead. It was definitely a good choice.

Initially the menu didnt give us much confidence and it was sparse... All you get to choose was which part of the cow u wanted and whether you wanted the full course or ala carte. So we went for the course and this was what we got....

For starters it was a fish with potato thingy... tasted not too bad...

Then came the soup, it was pumpkin soup that day.... not too shabby as well...

Then came the salad... forgot to take picture so I let u see the empty plate.. Obviously the japanese dressing was really good or else u would not see my salad plate so empty...haha!!

Then came the main course... jeng jeng jeng!! This is my sister's 250gms tenderloin in japanese sauce... It was pretty good...

But nothing compared to my 250gms sirloin which was cooked to perfection... still juicy but not bloody and it was really tender and tasty... Mmmmm.... nice!!! As u can see from the picture, I dugged in before I could take the picture...hehe!!

Look at that...doesnt it look yummy?

So after that cam dessert which I (oops) forgot to take a photo of... but it was just an okay cake... so nothing to shout about compared to the Durian Mousse... Each course was about Rm150 so it wasnt too bad.... but since I have to foot the whole bill... "Ouch!!!"

Angus Steak HouseLot 6.44& 6.45
Pavilion Kuala Lumpur
Jalan Bukit Bintang
Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03 - 2145 6015