Fierce Curry House, Bangsar Utama, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia

Address:

16 Jalan Kemuja, Bangsar Utama, Bangsar 59000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Opening Hours:

Mon-Sun:

10:30 am - 10:30 pm

Time Visited:
12:50pm. Merdeka Day!

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
North Indian Thali Set, Mutton Masala and Mango Lassi

Holiday and no work to do, not even part time work and so I decided to head on down to Fierce Curry House to try it out. It started raining when I parked and was forced to carry an umbrella in order not to appear soaking wet when I arrive at the restaurant. I soon sat myself down on the outer area and I didn't go in to the air conditioned area which is indoors. Outside, there was a college student counselor being interviewed by one of the college students I guess with regards to suicide. She related on how society condemns the tortured suicidal ones and that society as a general just shuns them. She lost some family members to suicide and something about one of them was her brother who's very, very bright or something like that and that suicide is something that can be cured. I phase in and out of their very long conversation as I await for somebody to approach me with the menu.

It seems that one of them is the owner of the restaurant and is busy with something with another guy at the cash register. The other guy notices me that I've been sitting down for awhile and not being attended to and motion to me to wait awhile as he continued further to attend to his boss. After at long last, he and the owner finally finished up their business at the cash register and the guy hurried to me with the menu. I studied it quick and started ordering the North Indian Thali Set. He said that it was vegetarian and I said it's okay because I wanted to try the mutton masala as well. And for drinks I went for the Mango Lassi. This is a place that serves both North Indian and the South Indian rice set. When asked what's the difference he said the North Indian set is non-spicy while the other is. Fair representation. That's quite true in any case.

It didn't take long for it to be served. The Mango Lassi was quite delightful. Thick and creamy with good mango taste and not too sweet. It may not be as thick as Tetra House of Briyani which is a place that serves excellent Briyani rice that leaves you craving for it at times but it's just as good.

Pretty soon, the Thali Rice set arrived and the waiter who served me noticed that I still had not gotten my Mutton Masala and signaled to some staff to serve it to me. They put everything sitting pretty in the Thali with 5 different vegetables, Vegetable Curry and Dhal, Rasam for appetizer some Pappadoms, my fave Salted Fried Chili, a Chapati along with rice and oddly enough, Kesari is given together with this set straight away though Kesari to me is known to be a dessert. I guess it's like those set where it comes with dessert like fruits and they serve the whole thing all at once. Everything's handy dandy and nice except that the Pappadom disappointed me a bit. It wasn't crispy and already gone soft. The rest were what I expected it to taste like and was good especially the Mutton Masala which I could eat more off than just that small plate.

The service here is quite good too with the owner going around making sure that things are okay with his patrons by asking them and he even stop and have a chatter with some of them too. I find that to be quite nice of him to make sure everything's alright.  The rain stopped before I even started eating and the scorching sun came out again after that. I headed off as soon as I've finished my meal in satisfaction. Mmm, but my short recall of the time had Tetra has got me craving for there again. Maybe it's high time I go back to Tetra to try.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM29. RM10 for the North Indian Thali Set and RM12 for the Mutton Masala. Mango Lassi is RM6. GST 6% is required.

Final Verdict:
7/10. Not a bad place to eat instead of the overcrowded area opposite, this is a more quieter side of town.

Read More

The Pork Place, IOI Boulevard, Bandar Puchong Jaya, Puchong, Selangor, Malaysia

Address:
31, IOI Boulevard, Jalan Kenari 7,
Bandar Puchong Jaya, 47100 Puchong,
Selangor, Malaysia.

Opening Hours:
Tuesday - Sunday
Lunch : 11.30am - 3.00pm
Dinner : 6.00pm - 10.00pm
Fresh Meat : 10.00am - 8.oopm

Time Visited:
Sunday evening, 6pm.

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Fried Pork Belly, Apple Puff and Double Decker Pork Bacon Burger

One day, a colleague of mine mentioned that she most love eating pork food at The Pork Place and so this lovely Sunday where all I did was laze around in bed all day, I decided to give it a try.

I soon found out that they're actually a place that's under the same brand where I use to love going to eat for my pork fix way back called Sanbanto in SS2. That's a bit of a surprise for me. So they did very well and decided to opened up another pork meat mart with dining area at Puchong. I wanted to see how they fair and if they had lived up to how I envisioned them of how they use to be at the Sanbanto place so I set foot upon The Pork Place. In this outlet, it has a similar vibe to how I know of Sanbanto at SS2 and that it contains slightly posh and romantic vibe. The simple menu with few pages on it arrived at my hands and I took the time to study out the menu in and out. And yes, it was basically what my colleague had described, a place mainly on all pork dishes.

Since I was lazing in bed the whole day that Sunday, I was feeling a bit peckish and somehow my ordering went wild with me going for the Fried Pork Belly, the Double Decker Pork Bacon Burger and an Apple Puff dessert. I wanted to order an Affogato but they didn't have coffee so I just skip the beverage and just went with their water to drink. The wall at one end were splayed with pictures of weird pig paintings in different apparels and characters while the center sits a big flat screen TV playing some food channel that caught my eye. During that moment, the program that was on was Gordon Ramsay's Ultimate Home Cooking and the colors of the ingredients and food as he cooked away with some kids just had me glued my eyes onto it till my food arrives.

It didn't take long till a bowl of Fried Pork Belly was plonked on my table. I gather it's due to the lack of crowd during that period where they've just opened for dinner but still it's a very commendable effort that they're able to produce that Fried Pork Belly in such a quick time. It was delicious to say the least and despite it being pork belly, you can't really taste fat part in it and was all meaty parts which makes it really good without the guilt and remorse of getting fat psychologically and without the greasy feel of the fat upon your mouth. The sweet and tangy type of sauce that comes with the Fried Pork Belly was quite a good and provides a different taste to it if you decide to dip in it. When I was almost done with the bowl of Fried Pork Belly, my Double Decker Pork Bacon Burger came for me to consume.

It did look huge and somewhat of what I remember eating at Sanbanto with the plating different. It used to be in a row with the salad on one side and the fries on the other and although it's still the same layout basically, the plate has now been a bigger one instead of the "sitting-pretty-in-a-row" kind. The chips were okay and but the burger is a little too dry for me. But it's full of porky goodness and I quite love it but not as much as I used to before. Maybe because I overdose on the pork with the Fried Pork Belly earlier. LOL.

They cleared off my finished dishes and brought me my Apple Puff without me telling them and that is quite a nice service to me. They also refilled my water cup a few times even without me asking them which to me is quite a good service. The Apple Puff were a little disappointing because generally it's a small piece of apple pie that's halved with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream and some cinnamon on top. To me, it was merely ordinary and a little overpriced at RM10.90 for that. That's the only thing that had disappointed me.

I left 2 hours later after I was in there with my meal complete and a very full tummy. I seemed to have gone overboard on the ordering but managed to finished everything anyway so all's good. LOL.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM63.25. GST 6% is charged but to my surprise, service charge isn't and yet they gave such excellent service. I should've left a tip had I known better.

Final Verdict:
7/10. Sanbanto, SS2 was my favorite go to place for pork last time and it's where I brought some friends to eat last time. But over the years, I staved off it due to me going always going for Nasi Kandar Pelita whenever I'm in SS2 but it was about high time I revisit with their renovated place. The Pork Place has some resemblance to the memory of Sanbanto in my mind but there are many points of difference as well. But I think my cravings for pork has finally diminished and at best would occasionally spur me for a visit or two but never the I just gotta have some today kind anymore.

Read More

Poh Kei Roasted Duck, Taman Mayang, Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor

Address:
2, Jln SS25/16, Taman Mayang, 47301 Petaling Jaya (PJ), Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Mon-Sat:
10:30 am - 2:30 pm

Time Visited:
Saturday Afternoon...well, almost, 11:30am

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Roasted Duck Rice. 

PLEASE NOTE, THIS IS ACTUALLY NOT POH KEI. THEY SHIFTED DOWN TO RESTORAN 328 WHICH IS BESIDE ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH

I've always love eating roasted duck and so far I've always fancied eating at Sunrise and Loong Foong Seafood which both are by far still the best that I've ever had. But eating at those location were only when I'm with someone and looking at the ever crowded place usually puts me off in going on my own. So then on this day I decided to try out Poh Kei Roasted Duck which is very near my house.

Housed in a typical shoplot that looks more like a house, it sits at the corner on it's own and from the outside, you wouldn't even know that it's a place to eat since it does not carry big signage to indicate that it's a restaurant. Rather, it's more towards the hearsay of people that you would know what this place is. Arriving at near lunchtime, the place was almost deserted with 2 groups of patrons there to have their share of rice. The only thing that's known to me at this place was the rice stall which carries a good number of different meat. It was only after I sat down awhile and started glancing over to the other side of this place is that I saw a forlorn noodles stall there which is actually opened for business. But today's mission was to try out the roasted duck rice and so that's what I went for. There really wasn't that many people who came by when I was there but they have an optimistically great number of meat displayed at their stall. I must say wow.

Pretty soon my Roast Duck Rice came and I got to tasting it. To tell you the truth, I don't see it as a really good roasted duck and to me it was only average. It didn't have that crispy skin texture that I so love nor the great tasting duck with it's sauce that would make me craving for me. All I'm getting is a decent average tasting duck. But the rice portion was quite big though and that's probably the best plus point of it all. Other than that, I don't see anything else really good to this and to me it's just another average rice stall.

I wonder what happen to the time where it boasted many people lining up for their roasted duck meat? I guess, this day just wasn't it. Maybe it's due to the long holiday that had people travelling away from their home but all I saw on that day were trickles of customers who's some are not even there for roast duck. Oh well. I guess it's time for me to return to Sunrise or eat at Loong Foong Seafood for roasted duck again. I probably should do it on my own one day should I be able to defeat the crowd. :(

Total Wallet Damage:
RM7. Quite expensive for a Roasted Duck Rice but that was the price that I was charged.

Final Verdict:
5.5/10. Price is high, duck is average. The rice portion is big though so that's probably the only plus point to me. I think I prefer the one at Glenmarie more where it's cheaper and the duck tasted better.

Read More

Li Restaurant, SS22, Damansara Jaya (DJ), Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor

Address:
47, Jalan SS 22/23, Ss 22, Damansara Jaya (DJ) 47400 Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Sundays: 10:30AM–5PM
Mondays: Closed
Tuesdays - Saturdays: 11:30AM–9:30PM

Time Visited:
7pm, Saturday night

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Pork Toast, Go All Out, Blistered French Beans and Earl Grey Tea and Soy Milk Panna Cotta for dessert. My friend drank the Lemongrass Water

DISCLAIMER: This was not a lone dining experience.

It was the last day before my friend flies off to UK to further her studies. I very much wanted to spend one last time before she do so and with the great stroke of luck, she had this Saturday night free to meet up with me for a meal. :D

The decision that she made was to go to Li Restaurant to try and that's what we did. Being eager to see her, I arrived right on time at the stipulated time of meeting. Initially, I wanted to pick her up and go together but she was already out with friends that day and so we decided to just meet up with each other and I'll fetch her home. Around 15 minutes later she walked in and I was glad to see her. Though I had failed to rope in others to meet up with her that day, at least I found the satisfaction of me being able to see her.

The staff at this place was chirpy and very friendly. I can see that they're very dedicated with their job and their creation. Though it carries a Chinese connotation to it's restaurant, it's far from it and is actually a cafe. The design of the cafe is a modern meets antique items and reality meets fantasy with quirks like a sign indicating Narnia on it's store room door. Once the menu was passed to us, the overly enthusiastic waitress decided to explain the entire menu to us which we allowed her to do so. I can see her passion in it and she kept on explaining away on the items one after another with suggestions on what we should have. I see that it's a common practice for her and that's what she did throughout. Pretty soon, I decided to go with what she had recommended and that was Go All Out, a dish that's rice with Chicken and Pork Belly. My friend had earlier ate something and decided to go lighter and so she ordered the Pork Toast and some French Beans and we were to share everything.

With the many unique dishes that they've named up in their menu, I can see that they put some care into making the things because it took longer that I anticipated for their things to arrive. The Pork Toast came first and that's basically their homemade sourdough bread with Chili Mayo Sauce zig-zagged on top and some herbs (read: coriander leaves). Does it contain any pork? Mmm, I don't think so. Or maybe there is. But either way, I can't tell nor taste if there's any. The biggest taste among all would be the Chili Mayo which gives off some spice heat as you dig into the bread. The Coriander wasn't helpful in the taste department but overall, the pork toast mostly taste good with it's Chili Mayo. But does it have to be that expensive? RM9.50? Anyway, a good experience on eating that.

The French Beans tasted exactly how it should be and was seasoned fine. But other than that, nothing out of the ordinary. Moving on to the Go All Out, it is how it is described and that is Rice with Chicken and Pork Belly. The Pork Belly feels a little too fat for me to consume but the grilled chicken in it was nice. I like how they added a soft boiled egg into the mix which to me, anything with eggs make things greater because I love eggs. And putting in the soft boiled egg in there just makes it more wonderful. Me and my friend chatted the whole evening away with her very tired self showing on the occasional yawn. LOL. Sorry. But I just wanna make the most of this.

Later on, the waitress again appeared before us and asked if we would like to go for their dessert to which I obliged. I went with they Soy Milk Panna Cotta. It was okay. Sometimes I find it a bit too sweet due to the Gula Melaka but it does have it's tasty moment and I like the soft texture of the Panna Cotta. We later on adjourned to somewhere else for a drink and after that, we were surprised when we saw the same waitress as we were walking back to my car, she smiled and spoke something to us. I didn't think much of that at that moment and thought that it was my friend's friend but when she said to me that she's friendly, isn't she that's when it hit me that it was the waitress at Li Restaurant. A very friendly person indeed. I just wish I can always have an ounce of that happiness in me like her.

Total Wallet Damage:
All amounted to RM75.15. RM10 for the French Beans and so was the Panna Cotta, RM9.50 for the Pork Toast, Earl Grey Tea costs RM8 while my friend's Lemongrass drink costs RM5.90. Go All Out is the dearest in the list amounting to RM24.90 and there's a 10% service charge involved.

Final Verdict:
6/10. Nice friendly staff and good environment. Bright and cheery even though it's night time. Food is kind of so-so only to me though but above average.

Read More

The Nightingale Bar, Spitalfield's Gastropub, Atria Shopping Gallery, Atria Damansara, SS22, Damansara Jaya (DJ), Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor

Address:
Spitalfield's Gastropub, C37, Concourse Floor, Atria Shopping Gallery, Atria Damansara, Jalan SS22/23, Damansara Jaya, 47400 Petaling Jaya, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Mon-Thu:
4:00 pm - 2:00 am
Fri-Sat:
3:00 pm - 3:00 am

Time Visited:
Saturday night, 9:30pm

Attire worn:
Casual

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

DISCLAIMER: This was not a lone dining experience.

It was the last day that I get to hangout with a friend of mine before she flies off to further her education and I just wanted do so one last time before the time comes. She indicated that she's free on that Saturday night and that's where I organized to make it possible. Unfortunately, as my usual self, I'm unable to get anyone else to join in so it was just me and her for dinner. It doesn't matter. She's just gonna be away for a year only and then she'll be back again to make more memories with us again. LOL. So we headed to a restaurant that she suggested called Li and that's where we had our dinner. After much talking, we decided to proceed further with a drink and so we walked around Atria in search of a bar/pub to quench our alcohol cravings. It was late that time and the Shopping Mall was closing and so were all of the restaurant and shops in it. We were about to give up hope when we reached one of the entrance end of the Shopping Mall and we saw Spitalfield's Gastropub. Upon glancing on their opening hours, we saw that it opens till late and so we headed on in. Since we already had our dinner, we were just there to have a drink and that's when we were told to go into their bar area.

The Nightingale Bar area from it's non-opening times will have a bookcase door to hide behind of from the world and will not be seen from the restaurant side of the place. But since that time it's opened, you see it's dark lit area from within and the DJ spinning tunes of a very easy listening way with the bar and their mandatory display of alcohol upon the shelves behind to indicate the amount of alcohol that they're able to churn out for you. The Nightingale Bar do have another entrance that's straight from the Shopping Mall area and that's the Telephone Booth facade picture above. The door just sits snugly at the left side to open to enter and that facade hides the entrance somewhat. When we were there, they indicated to us that Saturday nights are Ladies Night and ladies get free cocktails which was such perfect timing for my friend to pop in here. So that's what she had to drink, the free cocktail. As for a male like me, I glance through the menu to select my choice of poison and I just picked the first thing on their menu which aptly suits me too because it's called Tropical Depression. LOL. Well, also because I'm lazy to skim through the long list of alcohol available at the place and so just went with the cocktail.

The place had very few people around and so it was quite a quiet enough joint to chat with friends even with the DJ blasting some tunes but it wasn't loud till you can't speak. But over at the restaurant section, there's more people over there celebrating certain occasions with their family and/or loved ones. The free cocktail came in a jiffy while my Tropical Depression took some time to come. As we were talking, the bar suddenly caught my attention because I saw a very unique looking mug that's being placed on the counter with a golden skull like ornament beside it. On top of that, the bartender started to place something brown that look like a small cigar on it and started to light it up and it started smoking like an incense. The waiter pretty soon, collected the things and started his merry way. To my surprise....that was my drink! I didn't expect it to be this fancy and they took me by a very big surprise on their presentation. As he laid the cocktail drink in front of me, he also laid that gold skull ornament beside it and told me that this drink comes with Edamame beans. So that's what they were and they were taken out of it's pod and squirted with some tomato sauce on it. I'm impressed.

The big stone head mug was barely enough to be on top of the coaster. The lit up item that looks like an incense of some sort turned out to be cinnamon. The strong taste of alcohol was within the concoction but it also brings out a breezy minty feeling and taste once you drink it down which keeps with the tropical theme. It also contains citrus fruits in em to further on the tropical theme. The list of things that are inside as indicated in the menu are:
Sailor's Jerry Spice Rum, Martell VSOP, Bombay Sapphire, Falernum Syrup, Fresh squeezed lime Juice, Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice, Pineapple Juice & touch of Homemade Pineapple Honey Syrup. I'm impressed. Not by the list of ingredients but how they actually made Sailor's Jerry Spice Rum to work. LOL. As I recall, I hated that taste when they were one of the sponsors for MTV World Stage and I just took one cup and decided to go for other alcoholic beverages when I tasted it. Haha. My friend didn't even finished his cup that time. But as for this mixture into this cocktail, it all blended well together and created a very refreshing and easy to drink cocktail. I could take long sips of it without the feel of alcohol in it. The only thing that kept me from continuing my long sips was actually the very cold feeling. Once it hit me, I can't sip on it anymore. First time it wasn't because of the alcohol sensation that stopped me.

I enjoyed the drink and the edamame beans for snack very much. Not to mention the ambiance is lovely too. The tunes were not too over the top. This is really a splendid place to chill with friends for a drink. Too bad I usually don't have people to bring along. Else I would definitely bring them here for a drink if they're ladies on Saturday because it's ladies night. LOL. Else, the TAPS beer bar has always been on my mind to frequent due to the vast amount of Craft Beers they carry. It's also the place I tasted the best beer I've ever had which probably is why I fell in love with that place as a watering hole aside from it's also very nicely done meals. So yeah. The Nightingale Bar on a Saturday night for the ladies over here would probably be my first choice now.

Total Wallet Damage:
Get this, the Tropical Depression is supposed to cost RM38, but I was charged RM31! I don't know the reason but they gave me a 30% discount and I don't know what's that for. There's 10% service charge and 6% GST too though.

Final Verdict:
9.5/10. Okay. I know this is extreme and over the top to give it a 9.5. But c'mon, free cocktail for ladies on a Saturday night, a nice mysterious hidden environment that's lovely for a chat with your friends, a most excellent presentation with my cocktail that comes with a snack that surprises me a lot? The cocktail was a tasty nice drink too. They passed me a feedback form and here's what I put in there that I'm putting here, of course I would definitely be back again for a drink. It's an almost perfect, ideal place for me to chill if I were to bring a lady friend to drink. Hence the high score. Oh, the service was not bad too so it's worth the 10% charge.

Read More

Ah Sang Bak Kut Teh, Seri Setia, Sungai (Sg.) Way, Sungai Way New Village, Selangor, Malaysia

Address:
No. 531, Jalan SS9A/12, Seri Setia, Sg. Way, 47300 Sungai Way New Village, Selangor, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Operating hours :: 7:30am - 2pm
Off day :: Alternate Monday

Time Visited:
Saturday morning, 11:30am.

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Bak Kut Teh, of course! Fatty meat with lean meat and all the bells and whistles that come with one claypot bowl. To drink, Chinese Tea Ice.

Just another typical Saturday where I anticipate in starting my work. But with the hot weather creeping in on this day and the lethargy of getting out of the house, I needed some boost of energy to get through the day.

Bak Kut Teh is one of those early traditional Malaysian Chinese dishes that originated from Klang and is said to have been a breakfast meal for the laborers just so that they can have the energy to do their tedious job and last through the entire day. Hence the very heavy type of meal consisting of rice, full of pork meat and the herbal soup that it comes in. And so this was my breakfast meal for that day to help me last through me day hoping that it will bring me the energy I needed to last. LOL.

At Ah Sang Bak Kut Teh, their Bak Kut Teh is the same type as the ones that you find in Klang. Dark herbal broth soup with your pork meat in it that's served in a claypot. Unlike the one at Kelana Jaya which has a clear broth soup that's certainly unique, this is the traditional type. The people who run the place are said to be originated from Klang and they do speak the Hokkien that's from Klang.

As soon as I sat down after being shown to my seat for a party of one, the guy at the counter immediately got up and walked towards me to take my order. He was so quick and efficient that we were done within seconds and within 5 minutes, my order was already at my table! Unfortunately, being just a party of one, the claypot that I was served in was small and since I ordered everything to be in there, you'd only get a little of each since it's such a small pot. LOL. But what I got was the aromatic herbal bak kut teh soup which I think is the main draw to this place. It was a nice thick broth and was very delicious. The meat to me was nothing out of the ordinary. Tender enough but a lot of other Bak Kut Teh places had better meat. It's delicious enough to consume. Rather nice.

Since it was such a small pot, I finished it in quite a fast amount of time. Though it did not make me full enough, it's enough to provide me the sustenance for the day. Press on ahead towards the day!

Total Wallet Damage:
Altogether RM16. Reasonable I guess? Oh well. Since there were no receipt, I don't believe they charge GST.

Final Verdict:
7/10. Though not the best I've tasted, still it holds up. The best thing is their soup which I guess is the main draw.

Read More

Thirty Seconds, Bandar Sri Damansara, Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia

Address:
7-G, Jalan Margosa SD 10/4A, Bandar Sri Damansara, 52200 Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Mon-Tue:
8:00 am - 9:00 pm
Thu:
8:00 am - 9:00 pm
Fri-Sat:
8:00 am - 10:00 pm
Sun:
8:00 am - 9:00 pm

Time Visited:
Monday (Public Holiday), 12:50pm.

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Whatever the nice old man at the counter recommended me, the Fatty Rice and the Shakerato.

Public holiday on this day and I've decided to lay off work today because it just isn't worth the money for today. But what I did decide to do is to go to this place called Thirty Seconds to have a try. The area over here was crowded with people and on the street where Thirty Seconds is, there's no parking left and I was left with needing to go on the next road where the houses were to park there. From the outside, it didn't seem much, a little hidden if I may say because the place didn't stand out much. But when I enter, I was surprised to find a lot of people right inside.

To my amusement, a little girl walked up to me and said "Welcome!" LOL. That was so sweet of her and that little girl was actually in no way related to the cafe staff. Just with her family in there for dining and yet she jovially came up to me and said welcome. LOL. I gave em a smile as her mother walks over and tries to beckon her back. I then walked up to the counter and took one of their clipboard menu to have a look at it on what to have. The uncle who works there (probably is one of the owners) sees me and goes over to the cash register ready to take my order and says a hearty welcome to me. I smiled and told him to gimme a moment with the menu. He then starts asking on am I here to dine as well? Without waiting for an answer he starts suggesting things like I can go for their pasta or their breakfast or their rice. Then when I flip over to the other page, he starts suggesting that Fatty Rice which is their version of Nasi Lemak. Go figures. Fatty Rice is direct translation of Nasi Lemak. LOL. So that's what I went for. As for the drinks, the Shakerato caught my eye and so I asked him what it is. He told me that it's coffee with ice that's shaken up like a cocktail. Interesting. So I went with that. He friendly gave me my table number and said where would I like to sit? Then he also started suggesting on where I could sit. LOL. He pointed to a table that's for 2 person in the middle of the aisle in front of the counter and I said that would be perfect. He also gave a mentioned of a table at the side which uses bar stools and tables so it's higher than normal and I said the seating at the middle of the aisle is good.

I sat over there and awaited for my orders. The place was buzzing with many people mostly families all there with their children to have their lunch. So the newer family generation goes to cafe to have their meal, huh? LOL. For beverages at this place, it will not be served to you. Rather, you'd have to pick it up at their pick-up counter. Good thing it was just behind me. Haha. As I was asking for their WiFi password, my Shakerato was done and was placed in front of me to take it. Perfect timing!

The Shakerato was as what was described to me, black coffee that's been shaken like a cocktail with ice. It's very foamy and I would much described it like a cold Cappuccino without the milk. Really, it really is just black coffee with plenty of foam on top. But I quite like their coffee. A little bitterness to it though. Before I was able to take a sip of my drink, I felt a tap on my hips and it turned out to be the little welcomer earlier. Haha. The mother told her to stop bothering me and I was so intrigued that she's so interested in me to get my attention. I gave her a smile.

As for the Fatty Rice, it didn't take long for it to arrived. It is what it is, Nasi Lemak which is their version of it. Well, to me it's a Chinese style kind of Nasi Lemak. The sambal tasted like the ones that are served with Pan Mee and it's quite spicy. The egg was instead a sunny side up egg while your usual Nasi Lemak don't usually serve with a sunny side egg. The closest you'll get would be a fried egg. The fried chicken also looks like a Chinese version of a fried chicken. This ones a little too salty for me but the taste was nice. The egg complements the fragrant rice well and the sambal is the best part to partake. Overall, it was nice and delicious, a cafe Chinese version of nasi lemak.

Soon, the cafe got filled up till there's no place left for newcomers to sit and so I left off in a hurry and went outside to have a look at their residential mascot - the orange cat in front. Yes, just like VCR and Milligram, this too has a residential cat that stays around and sleeps outside of the cafe ignoring the customers around em. LOL. It started drizzling when i left which perfectly help perked my mood up further.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM17 with 6% GST. RM10.38 without GST for Fatty Rice and RM5.66 for the Shakerato. Simply superb. I didn't know their prices can be that affordable. No wonder families flock to this place.

Final Verdict:
9/10. I love this place very much. Maybe it was the added mood booster of the gloomy rainy weather that helps alleviate my aching body of it's tiredness or the fact that it was a public holiday or maybe because there's that adorable little girl that kept being so friendly to me. But I can't deny the fact that despite the busy state of the cafe, they're still efficiently churning out orders, the staff (especially that uncle) were very nice and courteous to me and saw me through from the moment I looked at the menu till I sat at my place and that they even made sure that my food was alright by asking me how was it at the end. All this added up to the nice ambiance of the cafe in addition to above average food and nice coffee. Definitely a want to visit again for me. :)

Read More

Restoran Hakim, Seksyen 7, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia

Address:
Jalan Kristal J7/J (Seksyen 7)
40000 Shah Alam, Selangor
Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Daily, 24 hours.

Time Visited:
12:45pm, Sunday. Hot hot afternoon

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Nasi Kandar with Hakim Fried Chicken

For Nasi Kandar, I have never ventured beyond Pelita and Nasi Kandar Penang but this time around, I made a special visit to Restoran Hakim to try out the Nasi Kandar there. Kinda sick of hipsterish cafe food. Besides, I'm not a popular fellow and visiting cafes on my own will probably just bring down the value of the cafes with my presence alone. LOL.

What is Nasi Kandar? Nasi Kandar is steamed rice usually with mixed curries and ingredients of your choice that's displayed around the stall. Is a dish that seems to be started from Penang and now everywhere around, it exists. It's a mamak dish or Indian Muslim.

Restoran Hakim used to be from the same part of Shah Alam, Seksyen 7 but has since moved to a very big location where it prominently can be seen from afar now. I'm not sure whether the old place still exist because I saw something called Restoran Hakim lama. Anyway, for this current location, it's huge! Possessing a corner lot, it seems to be as if they've taken over the whole building at the corner. When I arrived, there were plenty of people flocking into the place to get their lunch. Already for the Nasi Kandar, there's people lying up awaiting their turn to sink their teeth into their afternoon meal. I got to my turned quite fast and having a quick lookaround, I saw how their system seems to work. There's 2 person behind the counter that's serving the Nasi Kandar. First, you get to the person where he will have your plate of rice ready and will scoop whatever ingredient you prefer to have with your rice. I chose their fried chicken which they famously named it as Hakim Fried Chicken. Before I got to the fried chicken, I was asked whether I wanted vegetables with my rice and I said yes. Naturally, this will be the cabbage that's fried till yellowish contains a little bit of carrot for some places, some mustard seeds and in this restaurant, there's green chili in it. Once you've picked sufficiently for yourself, the guy will set the plate and hand it over to the next guy. This 2nd guy will then mix all the curries for you and will write down the price on a chit of paper to indicate the price for you to pay later at the cashier once you've finished eating.

Their fried chicken is juicy red and compared to Pelita, it's definitely bigger and of normal size. Pelita's fried chicken is way small but it's more tastier than Hakim's Fried Chicken. Although it may not contain some spice flavor in it and it's rather plain compared to Pelita, Hakim's fried chicken is still nice enough to eat on it's own. It's not dry and juicy enough but minus the oiliness and fat. Their chicken is nice and full of meat and it's a lot more cheaper than Pelita too. No wonder people tend to flock here to eat their fried chicken. Their mixed curry that goes with the rice is well addictive and just as good as Pelita's though Pelita has a slight edge due to one of their sweet curry that always gives me the addictive factor. This too is good and well addictive and will surely get me craving for it again one time or another but it's just not as nice as Pelita's.

If Pelita were to go head to head with this Restoran Hakim's Nasi Kandar with fried chicken, I would say Restoran Hakim would win due to their cheap price and their big piece of chicken even though Pelita tasted slightly better. But for that price, I would say it's just not worth as how they priced it.

I heard that their Cheese Naan is good too and one day I might wanna try it but I guess it will have to be nighttime. Since Naan are usually served in the night at Mamak stalls.

Total Wallet Damage:
Though no one can definitely beat Anuar's Fish Head Curry Rice with fried chicken price, Restoran Hakim can be considered quite cheap as well and well worth the price. My plate of Nasi Kandar that consists of one juicy, succulent fried chicken costs only RM6.90. Cheap.

Final Verdict:
7/10. It is definitely one of the place to go for lunch if you want a cheap and good meal if ambiance is not a factor.

Read More

Take Eat Easy, Wisma Fiamma, Bandar Sri Menjalara, Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia

Address:
Ground Floor- 2, Wisma Fiamma, 20, Jalan 7a/62a, Bandar Sri Menjalara, 52200 Kuala Lumpur (KL), Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Daily, 8:30am - 10:30pm

Time Visited:
Sunday evening, after 7pm

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
For the portion I ate, Deep Fried Tempura Calamari with Wasabi Mayo Dip, Spaghetti Aglio-Olio, Smoked Duck and Shrooms, Quadro Cheese Pizza, Disco-lato (ice cream) for dessert and Hazelnut Cafe Latte.

DISCLAIMER: This was not a lone dining experience.

It was the last day that I get to see a friend of mine. After this, it will be a year before she returns so what I've decided was to go to the airport to send her off. Along with me, I brought along another friend of mine since she missed our gathering the night before and this was her last chance to see the other friend off before her only returning after a year. So I picked her up and off we went to the airport. But unfortunately, when I arrived, there was a long line of cars awaiting to enter the parking area and my friend's parents were anxiously calling her to depart to the departure gate. So I forsake my need to see my friend off for 1 last time before it will be a year till her return and straight went to the departure area and let the friend who was with me to see her off instead. When she returned to my car, she said it wasn't a good feeling sending people off. Ya, not a good feeling isn't it? That's why I cried when I was being sent off by my host family in Japan when I was there. We grew so fondly attached to each other. But then again, I'm a guy who has trouble interacting with humankind in general and that's why I can safely say that I lost most if not all of my friends when I committed social suicide by not being an events blogger anymore. Now that's why I dine alone most of the time because nobody has the time nor the interest to do so with me. Oh well. I guess I brought that onto me. Can't wait to say goodbye to this godforsaken place about 5 years from now.

Anyway, so I duped the friend who was with me to have dinner with me since just sending our friend off would be a waste of an opportunity coming out all the way. Haha. So she suggested that she wanted to try Take Eat Easy which is at Bandar Sri Menjalara. So I just drive according to how Google Maps take me. I was quite down and a little antisocial that day so I mumbled when I replied my friend that night and she had to strain most of the time to understand what I'm saying. LOL. I apologize. I instinctively did it and it wasn't my intention to make it hard to converse with me but I was feeling down. But she kept on talking to me and so I made an effort to reply and talk to her more and more to keep the conversation going. LOL.

We arrived at the place after a long drive and that place looked awfully familiar. It was then I realized that it was Wisma Fiamma with the familiar looking Tesco opposite. I remember coming here a long time back to review Overtime outlet here a long time ago way back. I see that it has now turned into Take Eat Easy. LOL. A big sign indicating Take Eat Easy greets right at the front of the building and since it was Sunday with the many shoppers and people coming out to eat here, I went over at Tesco and parked at the side where it's not a designated parking spot but I made sure that I didn't block anybody's way. So we proceeded indoors to Take Eat Easy.

The place is huge with three entrance doors that upon entering with come to it's bakery section for people to just buy bread and pastry stuff at that area. But since we were there for dinner, we went to beside it where the dining area is with loads of chairs and tables and we were seated by one of the staff. Unlike the Bakery section where it's brightly lit, the dining area has pocket areas of light above each of their tables creating a quite romantic atmosphere because other than your table area, there's darkness on those areas that aren't on a table. We decided on what to order and awaited for our meal. Their juice are contained in a bulb shape container so it's as if you're drinking out of a lightbulb. LOL. And because the shape of a lightbulb can't stand on it's own, it's put in a tub of ice. That is the quickest of them all to arrive. A moderate waiting time later, my Hazelnut Cafe Latte arrived. It gives out quite an overtly weird taste to me and the mixture of the hazelnut syrup taste together with the coffee taste didn't seem to play well with each other. It's as if they were at war. The coffee taste was very, very mild while the hazelnut taste was the most prominent. It however, gives out a smidgen of a sweet taste coming out to play occasionally and that's what weirds me out and bugs me. It's not the kind of coffee that I like.

The food came at a slow snail's pace and it slowly trickled in. The Pasta were the first to arrive but I decided to wait for all of the food to take a nice food shot of everything before I proceeded to dig in. That contributed to a deterioration in taste since a lot of it went cold as we await for everything to arrive. With the last item (or should I say mains since my ice cream is served as a dessert) which was the Pizza arriving at our table, it's time to dig in.

The Pasta which is the Aglio Olio with smoked duck and mushrooms on it was okay and didn't really gave much of an excitement. The smoked duck wasn't the taste I was expecting, It had an oriental taste to it and resembles much of duck that's served more at those Chinese dining locations (think roasted ducks) rather than the smoked duck western version counterpart. The mushroom gave off a very strong taste and it overwhelms the pasta. The pasta in itself were a little spicy but it's just right for me. Their coating with the oil wasn't too much and just right. That's the part that they did right the most. It also comes with 2 breadsticks on it which tasted fine.

The Fried Calamari wasn't much of a squid because I can barely taste the squid. All I tasted was a quite doughy sensation and that envelops the whole taste of this item. Though the condiment that was supposed to be to accompany the Fried Calamari was wasabi mayo dip, I got nothing that tasted like wasabi at all. All I got was mayo and I ate the rest on it's own without the condiment. This wasn't one that I would recommend to order.

Perhaps the best thing of them all that we ordered was the Quadro Pizza. Though it's supposed to contain 4 types of cheese in em and it's supposed to be a "cheesy" pizza (LOL), the cheese taste wasn't that strong at all. But it balances well with the thin crust that's resting upon the hot place. I guess what of the reason why it was best was probably because it's the last item to arrive and therefore the warmest of the food since we started off eating only when everything arrived. LOL. But of course, it is the best among all. Much more worth than the pasta since it's the same price.

Finally, they brought me my dessert which was the ice cream Disco-late which has assorted Mini Gelato Balls with strawberries, peaches, whipped cream and an Oreo cookie on top. Well, it's normal ice cream lah. :)

Ambiance-wise, I would say it's a nice place for a date since it looks so romantic and the lighting above tables beautifies the food's appearance. Other than that, service wasn't all that fantastic but I guess it's cause they had to cover such a wide area and it was dark at certain places so it may be harder to spot a person calling for service when night comes. The armchair seat was really comfortable and to have a pillow for back support as well. You could really fall asleep after a meal if you were to slouch and let yourself slump on the armchair. LOL.

Total Wallet Damage:
Well, altogether including the Juice and Mushroom Soup which I did not try amounts to RM133.75. RM23 for the pasta, RM23 for the pizza, RM16 for the lightbulb looking juice (LOL), RM17 for calamari, RM14.80 for the ice cream, RM12 for the coffee and RM15.80 for the mushroom soup. 10% service charge and 6% GST imposed.

Final Verdict:
6/10. Though it's not a place I'm likely to return since it's at an area where there's loads of different eateries around, I'd still give it a 6 out of 10. It is average and may considered pricey for that kind of taste, but it does have a very nice looking ambiance and with some great company, this is a nice place to have a chatter and get to know someone better. :D

Read More

13 Cafe, Tropicana Avenue, Tropicana, Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor

Address:
Tropicana Avenue, Persiaran Tropicana, Tropicana, 47410 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
11am - 10pm, Tues - Sun. Close on Mondays.

Time Visited:
7pm, dinnertime on Sunday.

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Creamy Thai Curry Chicken with Lychee and Flower Tea

One day, I was passing by this area to get to Sunway Giza and I noticed for the first time, Tropicana Avenue. It's a new business centre cum apartment and retails and 13 Cafe stuck out with it's striking look to capture my attention that I told myself I gotta try this place. Today, as I was venturing towards Dear Azalea, I found out that it's already close for the day. I'm not sure of their opening hours. I'm not even sure whether they're a cafe that serves food and drinks but I just wanted to try my luck today. But when I passed by, I saw that it wasn't opened and so I decided to head to 13 Cafe to try. It has limited parking at the front but you can park at the basement level where I saw that it's free since there's no barrier gate. Just don't go into the resident parking which needs an access tag. Anyway, since it was getting dark and the basement parking looks creepily deserted, I decided to wait for a parking spot up front. There's some parking at the office area but I didn't wanna park that area and so I waited near the retail side. After awhile, I got one and off I went to 13 Cafe.

Night time wasn't wise for me to sit outside because there were some mosquitoes abound awaiting to suck whomever's blood that they can find. Anyway, I guess the mosquitoes bred from the greeneries at the front where there's shrubs and trees that separates the main road but still visible enough to see. I ordered from the waiter and await my orders. It took a normal waiting amount time for my food and tea to be served.

The Flower Tea resembles those of the Chinese Tea kind with a transparent teapot and a small tea cup for you to pour into. It was fragrant and full of it's tea flavors but wasn't as floral as I expected though to a certain degree it was. Afterall, you do see the flower inside the pot. LOL. As it got deeper and deeper into the pot, the tea got more and more bitter and stronger in it's tea taste. The bottom level was very concentrated and I wish to pour more water onto it but then again, I wouldn't wanna waste drops of water since I don't wanna drink more than 2 teapots.

The Creamy Thai Curry Chicken with Lychee was very bright and vibrant in it's colors. It looks considerably spicy but somewhat, it wasn't. The lone lychee in the dish just didn't belong in there since the sweetness of a lychee taste didn't jive well with the savory spicy curry taste. The same goes to the side salad which consists of some sweet taste with also some sambal like chili paste on top of it but it just tasted weird altogether. It would be best in my opinion if all of those were a separate dish. To me, it just doesn't go well together. It's not like those Thai curry taste where you get a little sweetness in it like lemongrass which those worked well. This was just plain weird. Anyway, it did satisfy my hunger pangs and the chicken was okay.

Overall, I would recommend going for the drinks instead of the food and as for the ambiance, the outside was okay if it weren't for those pesky mosquitoes. As for the indoors, there's not much room downstairs and I'm not quite sure how the upstairs looks like since I didn't have a peek there. But one things for sure, it's a very quiet place to hangout and do your work like 2 ladies over there with their laptops. It's mentioned in their menu that their signature is their angus beef steak but I'm not quite sure. Maybe it is good. But not my Creamy Thai Curry Chicken with Lychee.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM23.80. RM16.90 for food, RM6.90 for my drink. No GST, no service charge. Awesome.

Final Verdict:
6/10. It would be too harsh I feel if I were to give it a 5 because their drinks are quite decent and afterall, they are a cafe.

Read More