LewisGene, Solaris Mont Kiara, Mont Kiara, Kuala Lumpur (KL)

Address:
Lot 2-1 (first floor) , Jalan Solaris 3, Solaris Mont Kiara, 50480 Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Mon-Thu:
10:00 am - 12:00 am
Fri-Sat:
10:00 am - 1:00 am
Sun:
10:00 am - 12:00 am

Time Visited:
12pm. Sunday morning.

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
American Breakfast with Flat White

I've been wanting to try this again for the longest time. Can't remember when was the last time I did so nor why was I doing here but finally, this was the Sunday I manage to revisit it.

The place is located on the first floor directly above the current Japanese restaurant below. Well, I wouldn't really call that restaurant below a Japanese restaurant cause it only says it's a Japanese restaurant. Many of it's elements of Japanese is missing. Even their Japanese food don't taste Japanese. Sigh. Anyway, yeah. LewisGene is located on the first level so you'll need to take the staircase beside to get to it. Their doors are locked so you will need to ring the bell if you want them to release the door. I didn't know that and I tried to force my way through. LOL. The staff there quickly ran to the door to open it for me and welcome me in. XD

Their menus are all on the board everywhere written in chalk and so after looking at their very extensive menu of food and drinks, I finally decided upon the American Breakfast and a Flat White. LewisGene is a place where it's so hidden, I barely see any customers around. In fact, I'm already surprised that I saw 4 tables of customers there when I was present. I'm not sure how they manage to stay in business all these years when I don't see a lot of customers there. Probably go by their sales of coffee products at wholesale or something. In fact, they even have another outlet just down the street called My Feelings Coffee by LewisGene. Looks like this guy is trying to make his name into a brand.

It didn't take long before my coffee was served and it was in a very cute looking cartoonish giraffe cup. The coffee was more bitter than I usually take it and it comes with 2 lovely biscotti complementing it. The biscotti has a sweetness to it along with it's nutty taste and makes the coffee a much more nicer version for me to swallow. But I must say that their art has great staying power. Even after leaving it on and drinking till the last drop, the art is still intact. LOL. Splendid. They soon served me a glass of water and then came apple juice with some bread and butter. A nice value for money for the American Breakfast since it comes with so many items. I truly didn't expect a glass of apple juice to be served with 2 nice bread with 2 generous slabs of butter on it. The Apple Juice was made from fresh apples but somehow it developed a lot of foam on it. Even if that's the case, it didn't deter a nice taste of apple in the juice and wasn't too sweet nor too sour. Just right to stir some appetite going.

Soon came the big breakfast plate. It consists of 2 eggs, some mashed green peas at the side, baked beans which tasted fresh, and 2 sausages (one beef and one chicken) and a beef ham and a chicken ham. Oh, there's also 2 droopy tomatoes on top. I have no idea what they did to the tomatoes but it's been soggy to bits though it retained it shape in the beginning. All of the things were heartily smashing with just the exception of the tomatoes. The mashed green peas were a refreshing good change since I've never had those served in a western breakfast before, the eggs were done right with a runny yolk center and the chicken and beef sausage and ham, well respectively, they've done their job. The chicken being the more softer type while the beef carries a more tougher texture and is spicier like a salami. So it tasted very much like salami. Anyway, a very good breakfast that will definitely fill you up especially with the mashed green peas. I'm totally please with it.

It's quite a nice quiet place to chill with songs that I adore blaring on the stereo that consists of songs from the 80s till the 2000s. Just lovely. I soon had to head home to attend to my household chores. That's the downside of living on your own and you're unwilling to outsource the cleaning to other people. LOL.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM35.80. Though it may seem expensive, with the portion they gave on the breakfast, it's actually very reasonable. There's 6% GST charged but I don't see any service charge. Oh. And the place is run by mostly Filipinos but they were very friendly and nice and speaks good reasonable English.

Final Verdict:
7/10. These past few weeks has been fantastic with me hitting all the right places to try. Maybe being sick did make everything taste better. LOL.

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Straits Food Company, Bangsar Utama, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur (KL)

Address:
2 Jalan Abdullah, Off Jalan Bangsar, Bangsar Utama, Bangsar 59100 Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Daily, 10am - 10pm

Time Visited:
About 5:30pm. Saturday evening

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Breakfast Set, Mee Goreng Sejuk and Kopi Ice

After being down with the flu and sore throat for about a week (and still counting), it finally has taken a physical toll on me and it was such a hectic week. Started the working weekday with the HOD getting in my face and scolding me out of nowhere just because she has a bad mood. It's not enough that I'm able to complete my task at my own stipulated time? Also, is there even the need to rob me of one more day when I actually mentioned that I will complete it by Monday which means Monday should still be the day left for me to finish off my work but she didn't allow me? Anyway, so the working week finally came to a close and I collapsed exhausted on my bed on Friday night at midnight.

Due to my health issues, I'm always unable to sleep soundly throughout the night and will always wake up at around 3am once and around 6am once. I can't remember if that happened at all on that Saturday but most likely it did. I'm just too exhausted to recall it happening. I finally awoke once at 10:30am. That's the one time I remember waking up exhausted still and went back to bed before finally rising for good at 2:30pm. I tried going back to sleep because I was still so sleepy and groggy and just don't feel like doing anything including arising from my bed and get out. I finally succumbed to it because it didn't seem like it's working in getting back to sleep at all. And so off I went to Bangsar to find something to eat. Might as well eat if I can't sleep. LOL.

At first, I really wanted to try Huck's Cafe which is a restaurant that's in a house but I'm unsure of it's opening hours and am only sure of the 7pm opening time and not the 3pm opening time and so I decided to go for the safe choice which is Straits Food Company. Straits Food Company is a Baba Nyonya eatery which though the name may sound like some conglomerate business entity, it really just resembles the style of a Chinese Kopitiam. That's just it. The drawings on the wall may just seemed like a tactical gimmick for a muhibbah Malaysian style place of refuge with writings of the Indian, Chinese and English language all around. Surprisingly for me, though it's way before dinnertime and it's just past tea time, there's plenty of people filling up the place having a chit chat with their friends around with me as the only lone diner there for the moment. LOL.

I was so hungry having eaten only half a bag of chips for dinner yesterday that I decided to order their Breakfast Set which is the combination of their 2 half boiled eggs and Kaya Butter Bun and also their Mee Goreng Sejuk in addition to a Kopi Ice. The orders came in quick, very quick. Everything was at my table within 5 minutes time and the only thing that's the slowest was probably the half boiled eggs that needs to came with the bun that's already lost it's heat awaiting for the eggs to boil. LOL. The Mee Goreng Sejuk looks delicious but do not be fooled by the name Sejuk which means cold. That carried no real meaning to the temperature because the mee goreng was hot. The only reason for the Sejuk word added to it was because of the generous portion of cucumber strips added into the noodles and a twist of some lime in it. Other than that, there's nothing cold about these noodles. In fact, I would say it's fiery hot! It was very spicy having coated with their sambal coherently with the noodles but it was downright delicious to me. So a word of caution for those who can't take spicy, this is NOT a dish for you. The half boiled egg was done proper and the Kaya Butter Bun was just plain Jane to me. Nothing special. The thing I like the most - the Mee Goreng Sejuk. Awesome! The Kopi Ice is just one of those kopitiam style. In fact, wasn't even close because it tasted very diluted of water and is very sugary.

The day ended for me over at Straits Food Company after an hour of being there and I curiously scouted out Huck's Cafe as well. Like I said. Huck's Cafe is just a house. No sign saying that it's a restaurant but it sure is that place.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM11.50. Food is quite cheap at this time and age but of course it's not for those people whose looking for a very solid meal. It's more of a snack for those big eaters but is excellent for those who are light eaters. Oh, and 6% GST is charged.

Final Verdict:
7/10. Not a bad place to chill and eat and watch the world go by. I certainly love this stretch of neighborhood which is quiet and also brings back quite a lot of memories for me.

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LN Fortunate Coffee, Solaris Mont Kiara, Mont Kiara, Kuala Lumpur (KL)

Address:
16, Jalan Solaris 4, Solaris Mont Kiara, Mont Kiara 50480 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Tue-Sun:
10:00 am - 10:00 pm

Time Visited:
5:30pm. Sunday evening

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Since there's a buy 1 free 1 on their cold brew, I went for that and their pizza Tozza Sunny Concerto

After cleaning my house, I decided to go for an early dinner so that I can knock off to bed as soon as I can seeing that I am under the weather with a flu in place. I was initially heading to LewisGene but spotting this place which I never noticed it before, I decided to give this place a shot.

LN Fortunate Coffee (LN stands for Loving Nature) is a healthy eats place and only serves hand brewed coffee. They don't have a coffee machine nor do they serve it with milk. They only serve it black. The place is very soothing and has a very calming effect. The background music resembles that of a spa place to sooth your inner soul or something like that. LOL. Anyway, I first wanted the hand pour coffee but they recommended me to get the cold brew because they're having a buy 1 free 1 promotion. At first I rejected it since I wasn't feeling well so I don't want to drink so much coffee but he mentioned to me that I can take it home which is a good suggestion since it is cold brew anyway and you can just keep it in the fridge. And so I decided to go with that with the Ethiopian Beans being tried first and the Kenyan beans cold brew to be taken home.

They unusually serve the cold brew with a wine glass which is the first time I'm seeing. Of course, it's housed in it's own branded bottle as well so pouring it into the wine glass containing ice is optional and entirely up to you. The cold brew was lovely. Nice floral taste to it and some sweetness in it. Very nice coffee. Suits my taste very much. Although I'm not a fan of cold brew because having it chilled hides certain characteristics of the coffee, this one is still very nice and it tasted just like a hand poured coffee instead of purely cold brew. There's still a lot of taste that goes on in the coffee brew and certainly didn't disappoint me.

The Tozza took some time for them to prepare and when it's served, the very nice and friendly staff warned me that it's hot and to be careful. It's nicely cut up in canape bite size pieces. The Tozza wasn't as hot as I expect it to be and the taste of it I have to say is a little bland. The tastiest ingredient in this dish is actually the sourdough bread that the use as base. That actually emitted the most taste of all. Not even the apple exhibit any strong taste whatsoever and the cold brew can easily beat the apples taste in sweetness. I know it's supposed to be healthy eats but I think they can further improve by adding more sweeter apples. I have a hunch that they bake it along with the apple when put in the over which kills of the natural sweet taste of it. Hence it's much drier and doesn't flow out it's apple juices at all. The rest of the ingredients were red and green capsicum and in their menu they stated almonds. I guess it must be crushed up and sprinkled on it. I did provided my feedback to them and they were so nice and gracefully accepted it. They also told me that on the top is actually their own made soy-based cheese which has a yogurt like texture through my observation on top.

However, their ambiance is good, their service is excellent and their coffee is very good. I wouldn't mind coming back for those. Oh. They also seems to be like a bakery where they sell some bread stuff as well. As I said before, their sourdough bread that was used as the base of the Tozza was quite nice. So I don't really mind the bread as well. :)

Total Wallet Damage:
RM31. RM15 for the buy 1 free 1 cold brew and RM16 for the Tozza which is quite reasonable for their price.

Final Verdict:
8/10. The ambiance is what I like the most followed closely by their nice coffee. Something that I would surely want to have again one day.

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Dr. Inc, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur (KL)

Address:
8, Jalan Kemuja, Bangsar, 59000 Kuala Lumpur (KL), Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Mon:
9:00 am - 7:00 pm
Tue-Sat:
9:00 am - 1:00 am
Sun:
9:00 am - 7:00 pm

Time Visited:
About 11:45pm in a Sunday Afternoon

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Presso Bomb and Bella's Nasi Lemak

Much hype has been heard about this place but I still refrain from visiting this place until one Sunday, I had no idea where to go and that's where I just head out to go here.

Although currently there's a heat wave ongoing and this is a place that's not air conditioned, it's not a problem when I sat inside. It's pretty breezy with an industrial fan blowing at one end and circulating the air around making it quite okay and cooling. It was just after the Breakfast Set session and too soon for the lunch one but I didn't mind since I had my eye in trying out the Presso Bomb. And for something to eat, I went with the Bella's Nasi Lemak which is only available on Sundays.

The Presso Bomb is a unique and interesting drink where it's served with a shot of espresso and a bottle of locally made Ais Krim Soda (Ice Cream Soda) drink. The friendly staff showed me how to drink that and that is you first pour in the Ice Cream Soda into the cup provided and once you've filled it up, you just drop the whole shot cup inside that filled cup! I watched it as it instantly changed from the clear color of the fizzy drink to the darkness of the coffee when it's mixed together. The drink is very delicious and just like what they mentioned, when the two common drinks are fused together, it didn't taste like either one. It's neither like Ais Krim Soda nor coffee. To put it simply, it tasted to me like the taste similar to that of root beer. There's some sweetness in it but there's also elements of coffee taste that's in it as well. Kind of like Nitro coffee only thing is this is fizzier and it's sweet while Nitro Coffee taste smooth and creamy like stout.

As for the Bella's Nasi Lemak, the wrapping that contains the food is in a wrapper that has some sort of pattern design on it. This indicates to me that it looks like the wrapping is more expensive than the normal ones. The thing about this nasi lemak is that it comes with fried chicken that taste savory with some saltiness in it's taste. Along with that, there's of course the Ikan Bilis (anchovies) an egg and their sambal has some sweetness in it along with it being a little spicy. It somehow worked and came together as the chicken seems to be the main featured ingredient in that nasi lemak.

I didn't stay long there as I think I'm not feeling so good with a sore throat and my body muscles aching and so I left as soon as I've finished off that really good Presso Bomb drink/

Total Wallet Damage:
RM29. RM14 for the Presso Bomb, RM15 for the Nasi Lemak.

Final Verdict:
8/10. Nice place to chill even though it's not air conditioned and superb unique drink and food.

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KoHi Coffee + Meal, Nu Sentral, KL Sentral, Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur (KL)

Address:
LG.39, Lower Ground Level, NU Sentral, KL Sentral, 201, Jalan Tun Sambathan, Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur 50470 

Opening Hours:
Daily, 10am - 10pm

Time Visited:
7:10pm, Saturday Evening

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Chili Bean Paste Mackerel Bento Set and Double Shot Natural (Sun Dried) vs Washed Coffee

Unmotivated and down, I was unable to move out of my bed for the whole of Saturday. But when nighttime came, I thought to myself that this is bad and that I really oughtta drag myself out of bed and into the open to search for food. And so that's what I did. I soon ended up in Nu Sentral before finally deciding to try at this place called KoHi.

A Taiwanese style kind of cafe, KoHi is very pleasing to the eye and seems to give a lot to aesthetic value. Everything just look nice and pretty. Their signboard consists of letters resembling that of Scrabble tiles with numbers as a subscript on the alphabet. Manned by all foreign workers (I believe all of them are Myanmarese), they struggle to communicate with me with their limited command of English but I finally got their message of indicating to me that the Chili Bean Paste Mackerel is a Bento Set and that it comes with 2 side dishes on it and a drink and he also finally got my message of still insisting in wanting their coffee of Natural (Sun Dried) vs Washed Coffee. Mind you the Bento Set drink has 2 choices, either the iced lime juice or the ice cold brew coffee which of course I chose the iced lime juice out of pure impression of not to be thought of as a lunatic, even though I am one. LOL.

The lime juice was an easy pour and serve method but from what I tasted, it seems pure to me in using real lime instead of the syrup mixture which I'm well pleased with. Soon, the Bento Set arrived. As I mentioned earlier, everything in this cafe has to be beautifully served and that includes the presentation of their drinks and food. The iced lime drink that was served earlier, though it's just a simple drink, it's served in a coaster made out entirely of ice cream sticks. As for the Bento Set, they put it in a pretty tiffin container where the top portion will hold the mackerel along with the 2 side dishes which are vegetables and a half salted egg. Below of that would be the rice all pretty equipped with black sesame sprinkled on it and a cherry tomato on top. The food was not bad in it's taste but the mackerel is kind of a choking hazard to me because there's bones in it. It's been so long since I've ate fish with bones that I forgot how to properly eat it without accidentally swallowing some fish bones. LOL. Anyway, the taste was okay but then again, this is a dish where you can easily get from Chinese Kopitiam style restaurants as well for cheaper price but of course over here you'll get it served in a nice package and a very eye pleasing ambiance.

As for the coffee, the Natural (Sun Dried) vs Washed Coffee is served in 2 separate cups with a crate like coaster made entirely of ice cream sticks. Also, they ensured that it's colored red/orange on one side and blue on the other to give you a clear indication of which is which. Along with that, there's a card served together that tells you what the coffee is and how it should taste like. For the Natural (Sun Dried), they indicated that it's Sumatra Arabica from Indonesia and should taste like Red Grapefruit with floral aroma while the Washed Coffee is also from Indonesia and is the West Java Arabica coffee and should taste crisp and integrated acidity and buttery texture with long sweet tone. Lets just ignore those because I got nothing of that sort from their coffee at all. The only consolation is the great presentation. Other than that, it holds nothing much in terms of coffee taste and only tasted like diluted coffee drinks. I find that I tasted more of water taste than coffee taste. At the end of the cup, I did get a slightly stronger coffee taste on both with the Washed Coffee a much more whole and stronger taste but overall, it still is a very weak coffee with no sweet nor fruity taste to it. It's just that the Washed Coffee has a longer lingering taste due to it's stronger nature. Other than that, there's nothing to shout about. I wonder is it because it's Indonesian beans? I rarely drink Indonesian beans but would've thought that those are more bitter ones. I do however at times had tasted Sumatran beans before. Which is kind of Indonesian beans right? I don't know.

Anyway, the rest of the time that I was there were quite quiet inside the shop with the bustling noise of the shopping crowd outside echoing throughout the outlet. After a hearty meal, I headed back home in continuing my relationship with my bed.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM45.10. The coffee is much more expensive than the bento set. LOL. Coffe is RM21.20 while the bento set is RM20.03. There's 10% service charge and 6% GST imposed.

Final Verdict:
5/10. Aside from the beautiful decoration of the place and the not bad food, there really isn't much to it to this place. Go here if you like a nice picture of your food (which I didn't manage to capture due to me not concentrating well in focusing my camera phone. Ish!) with pretty presentation or that you miss these kopitiam style Chinese dishes infused into some Japanese element into it.

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Siam Coffee and Dining, Subang Parade, SS16, Subang Jaya, Selangor

Address:
G28, Ground Floor, Subang Parade, Jalan Ss16/1, 46500, Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
I assume 11am - 10pm.

Time Visited:
Around 12:30pm (lunchtime) on a Friday afternoon.

Attire worn:
Business

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
The Spicy Beef lunch set and a Hot Latte

DISCLAIMER: This was not a lone dining experience.

Out of nowhere, I was asked along to join my colleagues for lunch and we started going to Subang Parade since they said it was so hot and needed a place that's air conditioned. So they all hopped into my car and off we went to this nearby destination for our lunch feast.

The initial plan was to eat at Uncle Lim's but when we passed by this place called Siam Coffee and Dining, one of them said he wanted to try this and so we went in. It was there and then I was suddenly surprised by my other colleague with her dropping the news that this is actually a farewell lunch for the guy. Not only was this surprised spring on me, the guy himself whom we're giving farewell to were not even told about this. LOL. Going along with this plot twist, we finally settled down on a nice round table.

Although I don't even know this place existed, there's plenty of people who's of the working crowd lunching there. They have this lunch set menu with many choices and it comes with Lemon tea (hot or cold) and a free soup on top of your main of choice. I went with the Spicy Beef rice set and ordered a Latte as an extra drink.

The place has a Chinese restaurant feel to it but to me hardly seemed well maintain with a bit of a dirty look to me and a little run down. The consolation to the ambiance would be that it had sunlight beaming in from their wall windows at the side which is covered up. Still, ample brightness from the sunlight are able to penetrate through. The place is fully run by foreign labors that are dark skin and none of any Thai element can be seen by me. Although the staff speaks English well enough, it's hard for me to understand their accent for some reason.

The drinks came first and foremost. After all, there's only a choice of either hot or cold Lemon Tea. Then, the guy later came with a tray of soup to distribute out to their customers. The free soup that was dispense was the Red Tom Yam Soup. It was spicy and pleasantly nice to drink. A quality soup which was proportioned in a small bowl to give as complimentary. This led to a good start. My Latte too came quite soon and I was surprised to see the ergonomic cup that I adore which is used at Coffee Sprex. Unfortunately, the coffee does not reflect the same level of goodness as Coffee Sprex as I felt that this coffee was bitter and seemed dark roasted. Though there's lots of milk being filled in with the coffee, it did little to downplay on it's bitterness. I fail to imagine how it would taste like espresso-wise.

The Spicy Beef Rice finally came to me and I dig in with my hungriness at an already alarming level. Basically, the Spicy Beef Rice is Kong Poh Beef Rice like the Chinese. But unlike the Chinese style which leans more towards spiciness, this one is sweeter in it's sauce rather than savory. Along with the meat, there's a side of salad placed beside the rice for your balance meal which as usual, I leave those things untouched. The taste is quite okay and I don't mind trying their other type of rice or even noodles from their ala carte menu. Just that the ambiance does nothing to impress me.

Total Wallet Damage:
Again, not sure. LOL. But I think their set lunch amount to RM13.90 while the Latte is RM7.50? Didn't take note of it.

Final Verdict:
6/10. It's nice to have something different like this once in a while. I also see a lot of Malays coming to this place as well so I guess their pork free ways are clearly very acceptable with them. Didn't see any Halal certification though.

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Madeleine Bistro, Oasis Square, Ara Damansara, Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor

Address:
D-G-3A Block D, 2 Jalan PJU 1A/7A, Oasis Square, Ara Damansara, 47301 Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Tuesdays to Sundays:
8am to 6pm
Closed on Mondays

Time Visited:
12:30pm, Wednesday afternoon

Attire worn:
Business

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Spaghetti Beef Bolognese and Hot Latte

Oasis Square Damansara seems to be dying down on many eateries while some new ones came up. Madeleine Bistro was one of it that came up last year.

Having the cafe versions inside Sunway Medical Centre and Sunway University, they finally branched out of the vicinity and opened an outlet at Oasis Square which they call it a bistro. I'm not sure what differs between these outlets and whether their cafes contain any food since I've never visited it before but all I know is that this Oasis Square branch consists of proper solid meals.

Visiting it on a weekday afternoon, like many eating places around here, they do offer set lunches as well which costs only RM10nett but I chose to opt for the ala carte menu because I want to order coffee to quell my addiction and to calm my nerves and also to explore the freedom of a full menu at my disposal in choosing my main dish. LOL. I soon decided upon the Spaghetti Beef Bolognese and as usual, a cup of Latte.

Madeleine Bistro (which is also a Patisserie and cafe at the other two outlets in Sunway) has really big tables and chairs giving you ample space but that leaves them limited in their seating arrangement. Not to mention their display of some cakes in the middle of the outlet which has taken a huge chunk of space in the middle. Their almost full house has got me a little worried and intimidated when I saw it not having much of a place for me but the maitre d' assured me the seating and I felt like a king sitting a rather large area that's for 4 person but contain space enough for 8 people. LOL. The place gives out a calming sense to me and the decorative bookshelf that's filled with lots of random items reminds me of Talent Lounge.

Their staff gives out really excellent service where they appropriately ask whether you like dessert at the correct time and in a non-intrusive way. They're also attentive to your needs so calling them was never a problem. But getting my lunch to me took a little longer than I expect. After all, it's just Pasta and the simplest one to boot but still it took around probably 10 minutes. Still, I wasn't in a hurry so no harm done. They specify in their menu that they use Agnesi pasta from Italy which is the oldest pasta manufacturer and although I do like it's texture, I don't know how to taste the difference between this and other pasta. Of course in addition to it, the vital role of the sauce also place a very huge contributing factor. In this case, the tomato base sauce with a herb taste finish tasted fine but I can't detect anything that's over the top fantastic. Nonetheless, they meet my standard taste requirement which is acceptably edible.

As for their coffee, they're using Coffex Coffee, the 100% Arabica blend that's medium roasted. The coffee tasted very mild in it's coffee taste and the milk balance with the coffee seems a bit off to me with the milk taste overpowering the coffee a little too much seeing that the coffee has such a mild taste. But then again, the coffee only costs RM8.50 which isn't quite a big deal for me. In addition to it, there's also a nice cookie that's given along with your coffee but the choice of flavor is a little unusual in my opinion. The cookie tasted great and has a buttery lemon flavor to it. Although the taste was nice, it has no semblance with the coffee and it's better as it's own entity than to be taken along with the coffee because they just don't mix together.

This place seems to be quite a hit with the lunch crowd with many visiting it and occupying most of it's seats. I would like to return again seeing that it has such a nice environment and such attentive staff. A nice alternative to MiniMe.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM22.50. As mentioned before, RM8.50 for the coffee; RM14 for the pasta. 6% GST is subjected.

Final Verdict:
7/10. A nice place for me to hideaway from the outside busy world and leave my worries behind.

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Kumar's, Oasis Square, Ara Damansara, Petaling Jaya (PJ)

Address:
R-03 Central Piazza 
2 Jalan PJU 1A/7A, Oasis Square, Ara Damansara, 47301 Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Mon-Sun:
11:30 am - 3:00 pm
6:30 pm - 11:00 pm

Time Visited:
After noon, a Tuesday afternoon.

Attire worn:
Business

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Sotong Thali Set and a cup of Bru Coffee

DISCLAIMER: This was not a lone dining experience.

Before the last day of working with my company for my colleague, my department gathered for a farewell lunch with her. Kumar's was the decided place of destination for that occasion and quite unfortunately, it was a day that she and I weren't feeling all that well but decided to go anyway.

Kumar's at Oasis Square has always been seen by me many times since I used to frequent Oasis Square for lunch but am always afraid to go in and try due to it looking pricey. But since this was a decided day to try that restaurant, it's a good opportunity for me to see what they have on the menu for me to try. The surrounding ambiance of the place has always scared me to bits as it looks like some upper class posh restaurant and so I expected it to be pricey. And sure enough some of the items in the menu do reflect that but there are also items that are fairly reasonable in price for consumption. Since it was an afternoon lunchtime, the ideal of it would be the Thali Lunch Set which costs only RM19.90 for your choice of meat (with chicken being lower priced) with rice. If you prefer vegetarian, of course it would be cheaper at RM17.90 but I find it not as value for money as with meat due to the inherent nature of less items on the set in addition to having no meat in it.

The Thali Set comes equipped with 2 vegetables, Raita, Rasam, Sambar, Pappadom, a Banana as dessert and a soft drink of choice. But here's something that they also serve with that I find it unusual and that is that they serve Chapati with it! I find it unusual because it comes with rice and with a Chapati serve with it, it just seems the odd one out. The Thali Set also has one that is with Naan and no rice and that's where I find it pointless in having the Chapati there as well since that would mean it contains 2 floury items in it that resembles bread. Oh well. Anyway, I'm not complaining having something extra to eat. I used to love eating Chapati when I was small and I have this weird request to eat it with lots of butter/margarine spread all over it. It's just super delicious with it to me instead of just a plain one to serve with Dhal and curry. Nowadays, I never eat Chapati anymore because nobody understands where I'm coming from and what I'm talking about when I request for a Chapati to be spread with butter/margarine and so I just gave up eating it altogether. LOL.

So anyway, that's what the Thali set comes with. They also have that salted chili stick right on top of the rice. Love eating that. Just can't recall where was that place I used to eat at that I love having that. The Raita, Rasam and Sambar were not bad and so was the vegetables, but I find my sotong (squid) tasting a little weird. I guess sotong isn't what I should've ordered. LOL. I just find the whole Thali Set kinda a weird combination with bananas, Chapati all in the mix. Well, it's certainly unique. I'll give it credit for that. LOL.

I also ordered the Bru Coffee because the previous lunch indulgence in alcohol and pork ribs has left me feeling queasy and foggy head till this meal. They seemed to use maybe powdered milk? Or probably condensed milk? Because I find there's a layer developed on top of the coffee which is milk due to the temperature. Anyway, the coffee weren't that bad after all and quite a decent cuppa though it tasted almost tea-like due to the odd milk base.

We finished off the lunch session and went home after my colleague explored the other 2 levels in this restaurant.

Total Wallet Damage:
Well, all I can say is that my Sotong Thali Set amounted to RM19.90 and my Bru Coffee is RM4.90. There's a 10% service charge and a 6% GST imposed.

Final Verdict:
6/10. Despite it's outlook appearance of a posh upper class restaurant, there are reasonably priced dishes in it as well. It just looks swanky but it's just the same as a normal mamak. Only thing is this comes with waiters that are more refined than mamak standards. LOL.

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Yamagoya Ramen, Publika, Solaris Dutamas, Kuala Lumpur (KL)

Address:
A2-G2-08, Publika Shopping Gallery,
Jalan Dutamas 1, Solaris Dutamas,
50480 Kuala Lumpur

Opening Hours:
Mon-Sun:
11:00 am - 11:00 am

Time Visited:
7pm, Saturday evening

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):

I ventured into Publika and hunted high and low for something new to try. But after walking around aimlessly for almost 2 hours with a purpose but without a direction, I finally grew tired and decided to enter Yamagoya Ramen to try instead.

During my entry, it's already almost peak dinner hour and that was the mistake that I made. They were nearly full house and this place isn't lone diner friendly. Contrary to how Japanese establishments are, this one didn't have seats catered specifically for single diners. What's more is since it's peak hour, there weren't many places left and I was shown to a 4 seater table to sit at and since they showed me to sit there, I obliged. Their tables are quite unique covered in leather coverings that encourage your dishes not to slip and slide at all. This is great and I can only imagine the amount of effort put into maintaining these coverings. The owner of this place seems to be a Japanese as well whom I saw her approaching one of their customers whose a family and started speaking with the Japanese family. The rest of the workers seems to be foreign labor with them being well trained to greet properly in Japanese instead of the usual Malaysian type where they lazily slur the Japanese words and only say out the last 2 syllables in either a shouty manner or a very softly spoken way where only the person saying it can hear or if you're super close to their proximity.

At first, I wanted to try their curry rice to compare with Okonomi but then decided since this place is supposedly a ramen shop, I oughtta order a ramen and decided to typically order their signature which is the Mukashi Special Ramen along with an ice cold green tea. They took quite a long while to serve my order and when it finally arrived, it's presented in a manner that's a typical layout of ramen ingredients on a bowl. In the Mukashi Special Ramen, the ingredients consists of a seaweed, an egg, 2 chashu, bamboo shoots, strips of mushrooms and this is a rare sight for me but they serve bean sprouts in it too. There's also spring onions tossed in the mix. Their broth is soy based broth and I find that they've sorta localized the flavor a bit and it's quite tasty. On top of that, it does emanate saltiness but not to the level of how Japanese usually take their broth. Hence my take on why it seems localized along with the bean sprouts too. Their ingredients is a tad smaller than how I'm used to seeing in a Japanese ramen restaurant. Another indication of how it's sort of Malaysianized a bit even though it seems that it's run by Japanese.

Here's another thing why I felt it wasn't lone diner friendly. Halfway through me eating, they asked me to move to the table beside me to make way for other people to sit at my place. While I don't mind doing so, they could've at least helped me move by taking my bowl and drink and placing it on my new table instead of just keep asking me to move. I've given them ample time to move for me by me nodding in agreement that I will move but they did totally nothing and just showed me to the new table. -_- In the end, I have to move it my own self. Embarrassed being there, I hurriedly finished up my meal and headed to MORCO for a cup of coffee and cake.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM30.15. RM 24 for the Ramen, RM2 for the drink. Service charge of 10% and 6% of GST is charged.

Final Verdict:
6/10. Though their ramen may be quite nice, I don't think I'll be returning since it's not really lone diner friendly and I'm usually alone. I don't wanna be embarrassed and stressed again especially when it's a time for me to unwind and enjoy.

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MORCO Coffee, Publika Shopping Gallery, Solaris Dutamas, Kuala Lumpur (KL)

Address:
Publika Shopping Gallery
A2-G2-3A, Publika Shopping Gallery,
Jalan Dutamas 1, Solaris Dutamas,
50480 Kuala Lumpur.

Opening Hours:
Sunday – Thursday
9am – 11pm
Fri – Sat & Eve of public holiday
9am – 12am​

Time Visited:
7:30pm, Saturday. A gloomy one.

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Red Revenge and a Hot Latte

A little down in the dumps on this Saturday evening where I decided for an early dinner.

After that, it came down to dessert and so I decided to try this place called MORCO Coffee Cafe. MORCO's main place is at Subang Jaya in SS15/4 but since I'm in Publika, I might as well try it here. The place has an upper gentlemen's club appeal to it in it's appearance and as I step in, there's a sense of classiness that envelops the place. Basked in soft lightings that made it somewhat like a whisky bar, there are glimpses everywhere that all reminded me of a little something of somewhere. The coffee reminds me of Whisk Outpost, the soft ambiance lighting reminds me of The Whisky Bar, the comfortable chairs that seemingly belongs more in a gentlemen's club reminded me of The Rabbit Hole for some strange reason and the cake, well, that's unique on it's own and didn't remind me of someplace else. LOL.

The guy at the cash register was bored out of his mind waiting for customers and was distracted on his phone till he noticed that I had walked in and was in front of him and so he quickly greeted me as warm as he could. I peered into the display case that consists of some cakes and pastries and decided quickly upon the Red Velvet cake which was labeled as Red Revenge. Not sure if the guy was a Malay or Bangladeshi but all I know is that he could hardly understand what I'm asking him and so I gave up and just go with simple orders without asking too many questions. I actually wanted a single-origin coffee that was pour over but he didn't understand what I was saying at all and so I go for the usual latte instead. They seem to have two types of blend in their burr grinders but the guy didn't ask on which blend I wanted to go for. Oh well. He didn't understand me anyway. I sat right down at one of those chairs that's in front of the cash register area and await for my order.

After waiting for awhile, he served to me with a smile. I was taken aback to see such a huge cup of coffee being served to me. I would fail to imagine those that are 12oz or 15 oz that's listed on their menu. Anyway, despite of the size that it comes in, the taste was lovely. It tasted of sweetness and of chocolatey taste and a pecan nut finishing. There's not much of an aftertaste at all. In fact, having that cup of coffee eased me a lot and makes me feel sleepy. With the very comfortable chair that I'm lazing on and the soft trumpet jazz music background that reminds me of Thelonious Monk's type of music lulls me to nearly dreamland state. I managed to ward my heavy eyes from closing and dropping off to sleep with the busy state of occasionally scooping cake to my mouth and sips of the coffee.

As for the Red Velvet cake, it wasn't to my liking. The taste may be okay, but the texture was very rough and can liken to me like eating a rough sponge. There's some fruity taste in it that acts as an after effect but other than that, there's nothing much to this red velvet cake. The cream was smooth and contributes little to the taste, but I just can't get past the rough texture of the cake. It's probably the roughest type of cake I've ever tasted in my life. Oh, one more thing. The redness of the cake was very striking. When I looked from the glass casing, it didn't seemed that way but when it was served right in front of my eyes, only did I realized it was so red.

After lazing for so long there fighting the sandman, I finally muster enough strength to haul myself up from that comfy state and drag myself home.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM30.20. RM11 for latte, RM14.90 for cake. 10% service charge and 6% GST imposed.

Final Verdict:
6/10. Very comfortable place. The cake was horrid to me but the coffee was good. A bit pricey though.

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PCLO Cafe @ Modvier, Bangsar Utama, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur (KL)

Address:
PT392, Jalan Maarof, 59100 Bangsar Utama, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Tue-Sun:
11:00 am - 10:00 pm

Time Visited:
Around 12:30pm, the peak of the sunny, scorching Sunday afternoon and god only knows why I chose such an hour to go to an outdoor cafe.

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Iced Latte (because it's so hot) and Churros Classic (Salted Caramel)

At first, I was up for Garage Monkey Cafe which is on the opposite side of the road of this cafe. But when I passed by, it's not opened. So I gave up and started searching for another place to get my coffee fix on this Sunday morning.

I chance upon PCLO Cafe @ Modvier. PCLO Cafe has since then already opened another branch at The Curve, Mutiara Damansara but during my visit over here, it was unknown to me and I just wanted to grab a coffee at a place which I've never tried before and that's about it. I had no idea what got into me to visit this outdoor cafe on a very hot Sunday afternoon where the scorching heat of the sun rays burns the skin and turns the whole earth into a furnace or oven of some sort and yet I headed on there anyway.

As predicted when I got there, there's not a soul to be seen except a lone car on the parking lot (mind you, that's not mine. Mine was parked in the shade just opposite Volkswagen Building.) As I approached the counter, a lone foreign worker was seated at the cash register area manning the place. I have no idea, how he can withstand sitting in that hotbox in that sizzling heat. It's probably escalated the temperature to 40 degrees Celsius just being in there even with a fan blasting circulating the hot air around that area. He greeted me and I took to ordering. Feeling as if I could melt at any moment, I ordered my latte with ice instead. Yes. I'm breaking my own rule on drinking third wave coffee with milk has to be hot because I couldn't stand the heat and drinking a hot coffee in this heat could downright kill me. I wanted to order their Churros that comes with ice cream and stuff but the staff mumbled something to me and I couldn't quite understand what he's saying even when he repeated twice. I gave up and just assumed he meant there's none available except the classic Churros and that's what I ordered instead. I wanted to try a Shepherd's Pie also but again he mumbled something and pointed to something else that looked quite pathetic as a pie and so I gave up on that too. Paid the price and looked for a place that's most coolest in this location. Obviously it wasn't where the counter was because that's the hottest place of all even with a fan there. In fact, it's even hotter than directly standing under the hot sun and so I took to sitting beside the Boutique building.

Yes, Modvier is a place where the Malay fashion is sold and it does look quite trendy. The side retractable awnings is a very thick dark sheet and so it's most coolest sitting underneath that. Aside from the heat, it does looked quite a nice place to just chill and watch the world go by as the cars zoom pass at the adjacent busy road. Being a Sunday, there's naturally less cars passing by. Pretty soon, more and more cars coming in mostly to have a look at the boutique shop of Modvier but surprisingly, there's also a number of customer buying cups of coffee and Churros at this place as well. The wait for my drink was moderate as with the Churros. When my drink was ready, he signaled to me to collect it at the counter. Guess this place is very self-service oriented. LOL. As I collected my drink, the guy mentioned that Churros are currently frying and will be ready soon. Or at least that's what I imagine him saying since I can't really understand what he says. LOL.

By this time, it was a good thing to have a cool, ice drink in hand even though the drink has caffeine and will dehydrate you. On another note, the sun has been kind and has went into hiding to make the planet cooler for me which had changed the setting of the weather from sunny to cloudy. I took sips of my iced latte after failing several attempts in getting a good perspective view shot of it with what I see as a backdrop. I gave up and needed to cool down considerably. The latte was not bad having a decent above average coffee taste with some creamy milky taste indicating of his ratio almost right if it weren't for the ice getting in the way.

Pretty soon, my Churros was ready and a bell was rang to grab my attention. I feel like a waiter in this place. LOL. There were five fat fingered Churros with a glass shot of Salted Caramel for you to dip in. I've read that this place serves really good Churros and they weren't kidding. This really is the best damn Churros I've ever tasted. But to be fair, I rarely eat Churros. The only one other time that I can remember eating was at 1 Utama and I can't even remember what's the shop name. (OK. After investigating, it was LAVA). The fact that it was made to order means they're giving you fresh out of the fryer. The hot hot temperature of the Churros was a testament to that and the crispy exterior simple makes it fun to it. The nice texture of the inner part may be a bit doughy but I didn't mind because it tasted good and the inside part feels a bit like a doughnut texture. The sugar coated on top of the Churros was sufficient but didn't really sweeten it way too much and just nice. Dipping the Churros onto the Salted Caramel sauce provided made it much more appealing. It goes very well with it but you just don't want to dip too much or else it will drowned out the Churros taste since it's quite powerful.

I hurried along finishing it up and move on to lunch since the Churros has actually whet my appetite to eat further. This is one time my dessert turned into an appetizer. Haha

Total Wallet Damage:
RM19. I can't remember which costs RM10 and which costs RM9. It's either one or the other. LOL.

Final Verdict:
5/10. Okay. The Churros were fantastic. Best I've ever tasted. The Latte was above average. It's just that it's really hot for an outdoor cafe and I can only see it befitting as an evening cafe or a rainy day or cloudy day cafe. In any case, I would visit the The Curve branch for a much cooler climate though you won't get such peaceful and nice view setting like the one at Bangsar.

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PULP by Papa Palheta, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur (KL)

Address:
29-01 Jalan Riong, Bangsar 59100 Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Mon-Fri:
7:30 am - 10:00 pm
Sat-Sun:
9:00 am - 11:00 pm

Time Visited:
12:30pm, Saturday.

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Espresso + Milk (Regular which is 5 oz.), actually, a Latte (hot) but they categorize all as Espresso + milk, Baked Cheese Cake and later when I realized why I was there, Nitro Black Matter (generally, Nitro Coffee)

I drove around quite awhile before I finally realized that PULP by Papa Palheta was just next to NST.

Set in a warehouse type building, I guess it took over one of the printing press location and with a lack of signage, you will never spot it if you're not looking for this place. The only sign is the small word PULP next to the entrance which is only visible when you enter the premise. But the design do look nice and keeping it minimal from the front. They had barricaded the windows so you can't see the outside world except through the front door but sunlight still can penetrate through especially from the top. So despite having air conditioning units around, it's still quite hot from where I was sitting which is near the front door. Partially due to the massive indoor area with high roof as well.

Who's Papa Palheta? Beats me. I have no idea. Upon investigation on the Internet, only do I got to know that it's "an independent coffee boutique, specializing in roasting and purveying specialty coffee in Singapore and Malaysia" that's located in Singapore. Although it's hidden in the sense of not having any signage and looks like your ordinary warehouse due to it's location, inside seems to be brimming with loads of people in it.

"Can I help you?" Asked the barista doing a pour over as I was reading the different coffee beans available at the hand pour section. And then he started explaining to me about the many intricacies about coffee. "Was he helpful?" Having a cheerful smile, another of the staff asked me as I made my way to the cash register section. I then started to order a Latte which is my usual as always without consulting the menu. It seems that they don't seem to list it as Late, Flat White, Cappuccino, etc. etc. but rather as Espresso, Espresso + Milk and so forth. I didn't venture my eyes much on the drinks menu at the cash register and fixated my eyes over at the glass casing displaying the pastries that were there. I then proceeded to order the Baked Cheese Cake. They served it on a plate immediately and passed it to me after I've paid up and received my receipt and change as I made my way over to the coffee machine where there's a tray with an empty saucer laid out.

"Your coffee is ready" speaks the guy behind the coffee machine and so I waited over at the tray and put the cheese cake on the tray as well. Once they laid the coffee cup on the saucer, off I went in search of an empty spot on this full of people cafe. "You can sit over here." Another invitingly showed me an available place and so I moved to that desired location. They were certainly very helpful and verbally friendly in this place. I like that. The staff were very attentive as they peer towards me from time to time to ensure that I'm taken care of but the funny thing is that they failed to inform me where the water is placed should I need a glass. By the way, it was next to the display of taste testing mugs that allows you to have a taste on some of the different beans that they have for sale should you become curious into thinking as to how it taste like and am interested to buy.

Over on the left of where I sat facing the pour over counter, there's a "C-Platform" class that educates people on coffee and during that day, they were having the Espresso Redefined Level 1 class and I can see it teaching them on what's an espresso and what's the difference on a latte, flat white and so forth judging from the things that were written on the board. I then started to take a sip from the Latte in front of me. It tasted more like those pourover coffees that contains a usual dose of more acidic taste that consists of a slight sourish tinge but was downplayed very much by the milk in the latte. The milk didn't emit much of it's taste and the coffee had it's more predominant caffeine taste in it to me. The Baked Cheese Cake had a tougher texture enveloping it with a softer one inside. Taste wise didn't had much cheese taste on this cheese cake, partially I guess it's because there's no icing nor cream on it at all. Just the bare pastry for you to have. I deemed it as moderate. My pairing with my latte is quite off and it didn't produce a finer different taste from having the two together. Oh, well. Can't win 'em all. It was then later that I remembered what's my mission going to PULP by Papa Palheta.

As one of the woman staff was clearing my finished plate, I asked her whether they have Nitro Coffee and she confirmed it for me. So then I went over to purchase the Nitro Coffee which they called it Nitro Black Matter to see how it fare against the other Nitro Coffees I've tried which are Brewmen, Artisan Roast Coffee and Underground Societe. With this under my belt, that just leaves Bean Reserve left to try. I eagerly await in anticipation while the staff pours it for me. It looked very much like a stout when handed to me. LOL.

As she place the glass down in front of me, she dispense a card as well detailing on what it is, the type of bean it uses and how it should taste like. These cards are dispensed when you order for the hand pour coffees as well. It's indicated on the card that they use Brazil Ponto Alegre and India Thippanahalli Estate beans to make the Nitro coffee. Tasted very much like a cold brew which coffee when chilled, hides certain characteristics of the coffee. It's very smooth and is probably the smoothest I've tasted among all Nitro Coffee. But one thing is that it has a very strong bitter aftertaste to it. I guess the beans profile are so. I still love Brewmen's Nitro Coffee the best but then again, that was done by the talented barista himself. This do come in second after that. Whereas Artisan Roast Coffee's Nitro Coffee has a little of that kopitiam coffee type of taste in their Nitro Coffee. I guess that's why they called it Nitro Kopi. Hmm.

After being there for awhile, I took off home since it's kinda warm sitting there. I just wanna hide in the darkness of my room at home after that. LOL.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM24 for the latte and cake while the Nitro Coffee comes to RM18. 6% GST is charged with their items.

Final Verdict:
6/10. Although I know a lot of people love this place, it somehow is still a little lacking to me in terms of coffee and cake. Maybe I'm just not into third wave coffee after all. LOL.

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A&W, PJ Palms Sports Centre, Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor

Address:
PJ Palms Sports Centre
No 1, Lorong Sultan
46000 Petaling Jaya Selangor

Opening Hours:
I presume 10am - 10pm, daily.

Time Visited:
Sunday evening, about 7:30pm.

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Went with a friend so gonna list only what I ate. Mozza Burger, Coney Dog (beef) with cheese and Curly Fries and Root Beer Float.

DISCLAIMER: This was not a lone dining experience.

Been on a fast food binge that weekend because I had this massive cravings for fast food that weekend.

It all started with me going to Bukit Bintang to shoot some videos for a friend and also at Avenue K on a Saturday night. Feeling this very big urge to eat fast food, I decided to stop by at Nu Sentral's McDonald's outlet to have my Spicy Chicken McDeluxe fix. Looks like McDonald's Spicy Chicken McDeluxe has shrunk considerably in size. It didn't even fill me up at all. :( After eating that I was still hungry but went home to sleep anyway.

Sunday morning came and I went to Tesco Ara Damansara for grocery shopping and before doing so, I went in to KFC to try out for the first time the Ayam Kicap Meletup for the first time. I was the first customer to enter the place during that day. Initially, I thought it wasn't opened yet but thinking to myself that it's near noon already, they should be opened and sure enough, I was right. Minutes after my entry, a lot of other people followed suit in going there. The Ayam Kicap Meletup this time didn't disappoint as it tasted great and finally something that's new that isn't a total disappointment. I felt cheated with the last one which was called Cheezy and Hot because it's just fried chicken with some cheese dip sauce given to you. They even asked do I want original or hot and spicy chicken. Erm. Isn't the word Hot in Cheezy and Hot stands for spicy? Or does it stand for the temperature term? I thought it should stand for spicy since the advertisement does it like so? Oh well.

So nighttime came and at first, my plan was just to stay and home and laze around. But since my best friend called and said he's around my place, he asked if I wanna grab a bite at A&W since he turned me down when I asked him on Friday night which he only replied on Saturday night. LOL. So I said okay and off we went to A&W.

I brought him to this PJ Palms Sports Centre outlet which is just 300 meters away from the iconic 24-hours A&W restaurant at Taman Jaya that was supposed to close down. Mind you, at the time of writing, they're still in operation despite having another outlet at PJ Palms having the construction deferred to god knows when. So we were there and we made the mistake of parking at where the PJ Palms parking were which costs RM5. But in A&W, they rebate back RM1 to you. If you want cheaper/free parking ie the goverment public parking, you just need to park at those parallel ones which I think that's the public parking since there's coin meters around. Those are free after 6pm, weekends and public holiday.

So we entered the PJ Palms' A&W branch and to my surprise, there were quite a lot of people on one side of the place for some reason. As we approached the counter there was another chap awaiting to order but there was no one there. So the guy rang the bell that's on the cash register and out pops one of the staff and took their order. It's been so long ever since I've stepped into A&W that I don't even know how to order anymore. Haha.

After ordering, I sat myself down and waited for the Coney Dogs and Burger to arrive. Looks like Mozza Burger ain't as good as it used to be because instead of the beef bacon that they put on it last time which made it taste so good, it's now substituted with some chicken crispy thingy which doesn't taste that good. The Coney Dog (beef) with cheese remains it's great taste while the root beer float is heavenly as usual. Just that the ice cream melts into the float way to quickly and you mostly just drink the ice cream up instead of scooping it to eat. As for the curly fries, that was wonderful but the normal french fries were god awful. Soggy oily mess that tasted bland when it meets your mouth. So people, stick to Curly Fries at A&W.

I've heard from some that the spicy chicken is nice too which are actually just fried chicken sprinkled with chili powder. One day I shall try this. The PJ Palms' branch of A&W may not garner as much customers, in fact A&W has been on the downhill for years now but one things for sure. It quelled my fast food needs and I just gotta have their A&W Root Beer Float with Coney Dog and Curly Fries. It's a must for me!

Total Wallet Damage:
Um, this always happens when I'm with someone. I always get distracted and even if I did take the receipt, I will always misplace it. This only happens when I eat with someone. LOL. Anyway, based on their website, I think the Coney Dog Meal combo was RM12.85 but I changed the regular fries into curly fries, so I'm not sure how much was needed to be added. As for the Mozza Burger a la carte, it costs RM9.85. No idea how much does a Root Beer Float costs to add on to the meal. LOL.

Final Verdict:
6/10. Although the one that's 300 meters away from this outlet is the one that holds many memories to me (and I'm sure for many people as well), this PJ Palms outlet should be a nice alternative though it's not as massive as the other one. It satisfied my cravings and should now be the one to create some memories for me should I visit once the other one closes for renovation. Teehee.

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Anuar's Fish Head Curry aka Bangsar Fish Head Corner, Lucky Garden, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur (KL)

Address:
No 2 Lorong Ara Kiri 3, Lucky Garden, 59100 Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Mornings probably around 10am or 11am till night.

Time Visited:
About 11:30am. Saturday morning.

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Rice with fish head curry minus the fish head, fried chicken

During the Chinese New Year week, me and my colleagues went over to this location in Bangsar to have the nice Apam at Om Shakti Chelo. During the time there, I was impressed at how the corner stall seems to have attracted a long line of people patiently awaiting for their turn at the stall. My colleague who's a vegan expressed to me that this is always the case. This corner shop always garner a very impressive line of people and she has no idea why since she's vegan and don't eat meat. Upon further investigation, I found out that it's called Anuar's Fish Head Curry also known as Bangsar Fish Head Corner. Although the name indicates that it's main selling point should be the Curry Fish Head, yet I didn't see many of people ordering it but instead having the norm of the curry being splurged on the rice.

So one fine Saturday morning, I eagerly made my way over there to see what's the fuss about. Being a weekend and not exactly lunch time yet, the long queue had not started. Although it's pretty early, you can already see many people filling up the seats over there and people packing away the rice lunches. It's just that they're up to speed and that the crowd were manageable to them. I took my turn and took my rice and curry that they filled up when I approached. I just took a piece of the fried chicken that's displayed alongside fried fishes and put it on the dish. In addition to that, I also scooped up some bean sprouts which was the only vegetable available there.

I then proceeded to sit down at a vacant table to the inviting arms of one of the staff and without me even saying a word, they laid out a Teh O' Ais (iced tea without milk) on my table. I soon find out that this is the default and if you don't want it, you would need to tell them. There's also no sign of any other type of drinks there besides Teh O' Ais except for plain water which is free. Seconds later, my table were filled with other individuals wanting to have their lunch and I quietly consume my food alongside them.

Their service is mighty impressive. You can even order food from your seat and they will bring it to you immediately without even needing you to tell them twice. This is something I hardly see especially for mamaks. They're also very quick to clear your table once you've indicated you're done and take your leave.

The food although simple, was fantastic. I've always argued the fact when people throng to a place and say their fried chicken is good that it's just fried chicken. How good can it get and how much can it deviate to tasting like a fried chicken. This place opened up my eyes. Their fried chicken IS very good. Very delectable although oily and small, yet it tasted good and coupled with the rice and curry it's a match made in heaven. The curry too is something to be reckoned with as well. It's sour tinge and thick flavor whets the appetite further and leaves you wanting more on it. You can easily eat the curry just with the rice. On top of that, they're generous by giving you some ladies fingers (okra) in the mix as well. Among all the customers that were there, I noticed that most will ask for more curry and some ask for more chicken. It was that good. People WILL generally ask for more curry maybe because partially they pour barely enough to go with the rice in the beginning in addition to the very good taste of the curry. In addition to that, it's at no extra charge at all! The bean sprouts tasted normal and more crunchy than what I usually get and crisp.

When I paid for my meal, I couldn't believe my ears! The price was so cheap it's no wonder people flock to this place. It's practically a steal eating here not to mentioned the very good taste of their fried chicken and their curry. This place is the epitome of cheap and good food.

Total Wallet Damage:
It's not much of a damage at all. More like a poke or a scratch. Imagine, rice with curry and vegetables with fried chicken and Teh O' Ais costs only RM4!!! Curry and vegetables are free which leaves them only charging the rice, fried chicken and the drink. In fact, the rice can be a big mountain pile and it still costs the same. What an awesome place this is.

Final Verdict:
7/10. Great food, very, very cheap and tasty. The only downside to this place is the ambiance. It's very hot especially in the afternoon since it's under the attap zinc roof of the makeshift stall place but one thing good is that it's still more hygienic than some mamak I know where you can see rats and cockroaches lurking around. None of that sort here though. At least, not that I can see.

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