La Bodega

Met up with a friend the other day at Empire and since we were both not very hungry, we decided to have some tapas for lunch at La Bodega.

We ordered a sundried tomato pate just cause I like sundried tomatoes and it sounded like a really good spread and I was right.. It tasted good by itself and it also taste good with accompanying the other items we ordered. We also ordered grilled sardines which I wasn't too enthusiastic about just cause I wasn't a fan of sardines but boy was I proven wrong.. the sardines were beautifully seasoned and grilled  (despite looking a bit too charred) which made them really tasty.. Yum.. It also went well with a bit of the pate. We also ordered some champignons cooked with some garlic and butter just because both of us love mushrooms... It tasted pretty good although it was a tad too oily for me considering we like dipping our bread into the sauce.I then decide that we could try something new on the menu which was beef patties served with tomato sauce... This we didnt like... It was actually beef patties breaded and fried but it didn't have much flavour to it except the beefy taste coated in tomato sauce... this is definitely not recommended although it looks good.Last item for the day was a standard order for me... I have always ordered the grilled lamb cutlets every time I go to La Bodega but since my friend was not a lamb fan, I ordered a single cutlet. Tasted good as usual. :)

 

La Bodega - Empire

LG25, Lower Ground,

Empire Shopping Gallery

Tel: 603 5022 2098

Du Viet Restaurant and Cafe

Wanted a light dinner the other day with my sister so we decided to try out the Vietnamese restaurant in KLCC. We started the meal off a Mixed Grill Platter which was essentially a combo plate of Sugarcane Shrimp, Fried Springrolls, Grilled Beef and Chicken served with some fresh vege and rice vermicelli. It came with 4 pieces of rice paper to wrap the goodies with.  The whole platter was better than expected. The grilled beef and chicken had a slight charred and lemon grassy taste to it which I liked. The springrolls and sugarcane shrimp were pretty run off the mill but it still tasted good. What I liked best was wrapping the rolls since I like interactive food. :)

Then we ordered another appetiser which was the Steamed Rice Wrapped Rolls which was similar to a chee cheong fun with chicken, shrimp and mushroom. The fish sauce which the rolls were served in was a tad too salty but it tasted real good. The rice wraps were nice and thin and the filling was tasty.After that we decided to share one main just to keep it light so we ordered the Hue Style Beef Noodles which was beef fillet and brisket served with rice noodles in a mildly spicy broth... It came with some raw bean sprouts and lime which I didn't bother to put in since I didn't like my bean sprouts raw but it definitely tasted as advertised. Mildly spicy the broth had a nice body and depth that you could taste that it was made from a pretty good stock. if I had one complaint it would be that the chilli sauce could have been better but then again that was not the main component of the dish.

Overall a very satisfying meal.. Wasn't expecting much when I stepped into this restaurant but I was pleasantly surprised. Will definitely come back to try what else they have to offer.

Du Viet Restaurant and Cafe

Lot 416, Level 4,

Suria KLCC

Tel: 603-2166 3630

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