West Winds Gin X Time Out Masterclass

A very hot day that day. It was a Saturday where I was invited to join in on the West Winds Gin Masterclass in collaboration with Time Out KL. Unfortunately, I couldn't get anyone to join me (So what's new? :Rolls Eyes:) but I decided to go for it anyway. Afterall, it's not usual anymore that I get a break from the cruel world and to reprieve myself with some much needed chill time without the burden and pressure of stress from this monstrous world. Ya, thanks to my unwitting self on committing social suicide and now everyone treads carefully around me and does not want to see me. Oh well. That's life for me. So then I decided to head over to it on my own and savor some great tasting gin of which I've never heard of the name before, West Winds.

It was just a short session but nobody wanted to join me, but this did not deter me from joining in. When I arrived at the venue, it's actually at one of those houses at Section 14 but it's a training centre in disguise I guess. As I enter into the venue, it had already started. The guru and mentor at the front was already talking away about how to appreciate the gin more and some history on it. He has a strong Australian accent and it seems that I was the only one who has problem grasping in what he's saying. Most likely because I may have developed ADD and I tend to phase in and out of his ramblings. But after adjusting myself for awhile, I'm able to catch on to what he's saying and pretty soon, it's not a problem for me understanding him.

Inside the room, there sits just a few other participants around and it was an intimate and up close session where we can comfortably concentrate upon the mentor. After some time spent on the history of it and talking about the tasting notes on some of the gins, they started to pour the first bottle of gin into our tasting glass. Overall, there were 4 gins savored, The Sabre, The Cutlass, Broadside and Captain's Cut.

The teacher taught us on how to nose the gin in a proper manner and that is to keep the mouth open a bit and whiffed the gin away from the glass first. After scenting on the liquid solution, it is time to taste it up.

The Sabre has a Citrusy taste to it while The Cutlass has a much grassy flavor to it. Both of which has sweet undertones to it and has a tropical mulch to it. At which the last 2 gin has me noticing that they had carefully crafted this tasting session well with the last 2 gins being of much of a savory taste. This will much help with the tasting as I can clearly distinguish their very dissimilar taste and it's much intricate characteristics.  The Broadside was savory and a little salty while the Captain's Cut is also salty, but woody and vivacious as well. The Captain's Cut has the most alcohol content in it as well with 63% of it in it. That's also an indication as to why they served that last. This is so that you won't be too drunk to taste before you hit the last glass. LOL. To me, it is also the most intense among the four and burns the most as it enters into my throat. But the taste of it was magnificent and I love it a lot. That was also my favorite.

I was so glad that I joined this masterclass despite me going on my own because it has helped me to appreciate gin way much more. I so love it a lot. I now look at gin at a different light and though I'm still a whisky lover first and foremost, my love for gin has been propelled as the 2nd type of hard liquor to go for when I have a chance. I went home satisfied and hope to join more of this type of alcohol tasting event. An hour well spent. :)

Read More

Antipodean Cafe, Bangsar Baru, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia

Address:
20, Jalan Telawi 2, Bangsar Baru, 59100 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
 Sun - Thurs: 8am - 10pm
Fri - Sat: 8am - 11pm

Time Visited:
I think 2pm? Sunday afternoon for sure.

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Tolaga Bay Sunrise (A type of Mixed Fruit drink) and Blueberry Bagel with Berry Mascarpone + Strawberry

Just another boring Sunday where I felt so tired. Didn't really wanted to move out of my house but I figured ah, what the heck. Let's get to work and while I'm at it go get some food to eat.

Antipodean Cafe isn't exactly a new name and has etched it's mark into the cafe scene with many outlets around. The only one that I've ever been to was the one at Mid Valley Megamall and that too was quite nice in my books. But this day, I decided to try the one in Bangsar. I know, it's kind of silly to put myself in such a pickle in this very much jammed up area especially when it's already on a late afternoon. Blame it on my tiredness and laziness, the deadly combination which resulted in me moving out of my house late. LOL. But I've pushed myself and there I was at the very predicted awful jam at Bangsar Baru. After awhile, when I'm not stationary, I managed to find a parking spot right outside of Subway which is a public parking so there's no need to go inside Bangsar Village 2 to pay for parking anymore. XD

Walked towards Antipodean and by the time I got to it, it was already 2pm. It was very vibrant and the staffs were very nice, friendly and welcoming. It made me feel as if they're very happy to serve me and see me there. Hence, their warm and genuine looking greeting really made me felt happy to be there. Never in my life had I felt so welcomed in my life despite a party of 1. LOL. The place was full of people but they still have a few empty spots left and so they seated me at a table. The arrangement of the furnitures were well optimized with the middle portion being filled neatly with a small table and 2 chairs while both sides of it is the walkway and over at each end were rows of bigger tables to accommodate at least a party of 4 and should there be more, a little arrangement with the tables will do the trick. Very smart indeed. Like how it is at the Mid Valley branch, the "writings" on the wall. LOL. They don't really print their menus and so whatever is available is written on the wall. I went for what's called a Tolaga Bay Sunrise which is a mixture of Orange, Banana and Strawberry and their Blueberry Bagel with Berry Mascarpone and Strawberry.

With this being their peak hour and you can see 90% of their tables occupied, my orders took a little longer than expected. Most people though will just go with their Big Breakfast and I can see why. It's the first thing you see on the food menu and it occupies quite a lot of space. Most people will just not spend so much time looking at the menu and so they will more often and not go for the Big Breakfast. But the good side of this is I saw this item being served quite fast. I guess their kitchen really did expect the Big Breakfast to be a lot and so they're able to churn that out to their customer quick. But as for my Blueberry Bagel, it took quite a while.

The Tolaga Bay Sunrise's predominant taste goes to the banana but with a taste of celery like taste in it though there's none in the mixture. Anyway, it concocted a sort of unique taste that's great and I quite like it. Though this place serves quite a lot of coffee types, today wasn't a day that I went for it. Haha. The Blueberry Bagel has a pretty presentation and is nicely done to appeal to the eyes. The swirl of the cream on top was aplenty and is really more than enough. It may look like a very sweet delicacy but in actuality, it's not. It's nice but a little too rich for my taste and I actually would like it to be a little more sweet because the strawberries were sour. Nonetheless, it's okay and good enough for consumption.

Although it's quite a crowded place, they're really efficient and do have adequate staffing. I also like the human touch of going over to the tables and asking is everything good? This is what I call a good service. They really genuinely do make sure that you got it good and there's no complains. All their staffs are also well trained to explain the menu should anybody require some assistance. Everybody was also very well efficient and will quickly clear your plate once you're done. They will also serve you a bottle of water with a glass as soon as you sit down. No wonder people like this place. Definitely a very good place for brunch.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM39.60. There's 10% service charge and also 6% GST. But in this case, with a service like that, I don't mind paying for it.

Final Verdict:
8/10. This cafe at Bangsar is really an inspiration. Efficient layout of the furnitures, very attentive staffs and very well trained, very warm and friendly welcome which makes you feel good to be there even though I'm just a person on my own dining which they made me feel that they're happy to see me there. With such a great atmosphere, it doesn't matter if the food and drinks are secondary and I can say their food and drinks are above average to me.

Read More

O Banh Mi, New Wing, 1 Utama Shopping Centre (1U), Bandar Utama (BU), Petaling Jaya (PJ), Malaysia

Address:
Lot LG 328, New Wing, 1 Utama Shopping Centre, Lebuh Bandar Utama, Bandar Utama, 47800 Petaling Jaya, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Daily, 10am -10pm

Time Visited:
Around 1pm, Saturday afternoon.

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Fried Beef Vermicelli with Spring Roll and Vietnamese Coffee (Iced) with Milk

I've been meaning to try O Banh Mi for the longest time but never get to go about it. So this day, I took the time out to go to 1 Utama but this time it's not for a movie at all but rather just to come to O Banh Mi to try out. Since nobody wanted to try with me including my buddy, I've decided to go about it on my own.

O Banh Mi has always struck me as a sandwich place so I always had to think twice of whether I'm talking about the same place when I asked my buddy about it and he said he didn't like it's noodles because it's sweet. I never thought of O Banh Mi as a noodle's place so even when I walked in on this day and saw noodles on their menu, I had to think twice of whether I'm in the right place. LOL. I've heard very much of how this place authentically sells Vietnamese sandwiches and now it looks like they serve their Phở which still tickles me of hearing it's pronunciation because it sounds like fur and it reminds me of the joke about the pronunciation done by Russell Peters.

O Banh Mi's outlet at 1 Utama is small and can't really accommodate for many people but it's quite sufficient because there's not really a crowd swarming into this place to eat their Vietnamese food. It's self service so you'll need to approach the counter to order your food where you're given a number and later on, the staff will bring you your food at where you're sitting. The food came almost at a very quick pace which to me was slightly ranging in the average timeframe.

A sip of their coffee really does remind me of Vietnamese coffee though aesthetically, it wasn't with those drip cup coffee paraphernalia and just serve to you all ready and in a glass that resembles our local kopitiam rather than the shorter latte glass like how a lot of Vietnamese coffee places serve. Nevertheless, the coffee sparks my interest and does indeed remind me authentically of Vietnamese coffee that I had tried in a lot of places including Vietnam, strong, sometimes bitter and with condensed milk. They did it well and was very much according to my liking.

As for the Phở, the noodles was very nice to eat as well. Sure enough, my friend's word rang true and it was indeed a sweet dish rather than a savory one. The fried beef was a bit dry and tough but the vermicelli more with all it's nutritious ingredients in the mix more than makes up for it. It's tasty, but at the same time, it's a healthy dish as well! With all the fresh vegetables and some nuts in it, it reminds me of Lui Cha. LOL. At the bottom you can actually see all the sauce that's making the taste sweet and adding in the condiments at the table increases the yummy factor, according to my taste-lah. The condiments at the table is a chili sauce and I believe the other one is a soy sauce so on top of the sweet factor of the dish, adding the salty condiment kinda plays around with your taste buds and is tantalizing. I love it. Sweet, salty, savory and spicy. The esses involved. LOL. As a location to hangout, it pretty much isn't that good a place to hangout due to it's small interior though adequate and so I headed off to O'Briens nearby for a cup of coffee. Oh, their staff were very much efficient in cleaning up the place as well. They're constantly clearing dishes and can see them actively walking around the small outlet.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM14.75. Coffee was just RM1! I'm not sure if it's a set thing or not but that's cheap. Like Kopitiam. LOL. But then again, Kopitiam already requires 2 bucks for a cup of iced coffee.

Final Verdict:
6.5/10. I quite like their Vietnamese dishes and though I find the spring roll (which I forgot to mentioned) in the Vermicelli not much resembling of Vietnamese because I'm so used to those that are very thin in it's texture, it's still quite a nice authentic tasting dish. From the coffee to their Phở.

Read More

VCR, Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur (KL)

Address:
2, Jalan Galloway, Bukit Bintang, 50150 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Daily, 8.30am - 11pm

Time Visited:
7pm, Saturday evening

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Squash Toast and a Cappuccino

I'll be brief about this review because I'm recently under a slump of writer's block this past week. Motivation at an all time low and rethinking on whether I should go ahead and move up my 5 year plan.

In a nutshell, this place has a good ambiance, good coffee but okay food. Well, at least for my squash toast with my tastebuds. This place is situated right in the heart of KL and it's parking place is unforgiving because it has very, very, limited place to park. In fact, you can consider it as none at all. But most people just park up front at the cafe there which fits what, 1 car? LOL. 2 If you squeeze it in and the rest usually park alongside the side alley which is actually illegal. The most legit parking spots are all behind and those are actually in front of other people's resident place.

Anyway, being here at night, I parked behind where the residents' place is and I can tell you when it gets dark there, it looks frightening. It looks and feels unsafe due to poorly lit streets and a dark side alley and full of foreign workers living in those houses behind. To tell you the truth, VCR isn't a cafe that I've not visited before, it's just that I've never seen it at a darker light. Haha. As usual, there's a cat that lays on top of it's sign box which seems to be a signature landmark for this cafe. LOL. Once I walk in to VCR, I was greeted by the staff and they took my order after I indicated my preference of seating area which is the upstairs. I then proceeded upstairs and get myself settled in. Their service was incredibly quick. The food and coffee came pronto. I didn't have much time to settle in and already the stuff was brought to me.

The Cappuccino was quite foamy but it wasn't as a lot of other places that standardly puts half the cup as foam which in a way is good because that way, you get a nice standard cup of coffee. It does qualify as one because it's way too much foam to be a Latte so Cappuccino is aptly named. The coffee however, tasted liquorice in taste and fruity and I find that it would be much suited as a cup of espresso rather than wasting away the coffee profile of this sweet in taste to be mix in with milk. Still, it was uniquely nice to drink with.

As for the Squash Toast, well, it's toast is 2 slices of sourdough bread with squash in it and a Sausage on top of that. It's mentioned that it contains onion jam, I guess that's what those sweet and dark stringy things in the mix are. Overall, the taste of this dish is quite plain but as you eat more into it, it grows into you and you tend to like it better than when you started when you eat it.

Many people just love this place and even though it's dinnertime and the day is turning dark, it still churns out some average amount of customers coming in for a cup of coffee. Marvelous.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM31. RM20 for the Squash Toast and RM11 for the Cappuccino. Unsure if there's GST or service charge since I don't have a receipt to refer to.

Final Verdict:
6/10. Ya, I know. Many people love this place but to me it's just average. Many also hyped about the food and coffee but again I'm still feeling it as average. Unlike the time where my heart was captured by MiniMe Cafe at Oasis Damansara.

Read More

Doiffee, Taman Desa, Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia

Address:
10A, Jalan Desa Jaya, Taman Desa, 58100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Mon-Thu:
8:00 am - 11:00 pm
Fri-Sat:
8:00 am - 12:00 am
Sun:
8:00 am - 11:00 pm

Time Visited:
6:15pm, Saturday evening

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Vegetarian Aglio Olio and Crush Gua-Pel

These days are just painstakingly torturous and gruesome to continue on. But today, I get a nice short reprieve by getting home. Hopefully, will get a good night's rest. I'm so tired.

Anyway, last weekend, after watching Suicide Squad and Starbuck-ing with my friend, I went over to Doiffee at Taman Desa on my own for dinner since my friend needs to be somewhere else as he has an appointment. I never knew I'm familiar with Taman Desa's area till I actually got to the place. I never knew that it links nicely to Old Klang Road and that it's at a road that I'm used to fetching a friend home. This place is also near Wild Sheep Chase area which my friend whom I'm supposed to go with still haven't had the time to go with me there. Maybe it's time I should just go there on my own. I highly doubt my friend is interested in going with me. Nobody does. Okay. Sorry for that. Enough with the negativity.

This place has a lot of cars venturing there but for people-wise, there weren't many. The cafe itself were literally almost empty save for a couple tables but next door where the ToTo 4d is, it's teeming with people lining up to get their numbers in before the draw starts soon. The place has 2 different door entrance separated by a fake fireplace wall as decoration. I didn't realized that there were 2 doors until I actually sat down and saw somebody walked through the other door. LOL. The place was not dimly lit and has a rustic taste to it almost resembling of bars. As I walked to the counter, I was greeted by the owner who was initially sitting at one of the tables but got up and walked behind the cash register ready to take my order as she sees me approaching. She mentioned to me on the various foods that's available there and I chose the Vegetarian Aglio Olio and to drink, a cold-press juice called Gua-Pel.

I then went to chose a seat and awaited for my meal. It came in a quite comely manner and wasn't at all a long wait. The Gua-Pel basically came in a small bottle and contains 3/4 guava, 2 red apples and a teaspoon of lemon juice. I'm sure you can imagine the taste from just the name and description alone that it's a combination mixture of guava and red apples. Sweet and citrusy in it's taste. A tasty beverage but coarse as it goes down my throat.

As for the Vegetarian Aglio Olio, it tasted of a typical one and it's also full of extra virgin olive oil on it so it's quite oily. Other ingredients in this dish was Capsicum, Cherry Tomatoes, Olives, Zucchini, Garlic, Parsley and mushrooms for that lovelier taste. Basically, to me, this is merely a food to get you full and yes, this Vegetarian Aglio Olio can make me full despite it having no meat. It's pretty much a basic Aglio Olio. No deviation or anything that spruce up considerably that makes it stand out.

I'm nor sure whether their coffee is good but maybe I should try it at another time.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM27.80. The Crush Gua-Pel costs RM9.43 and the Aglio Olio costs RM16.77. GST is imposed here but no service charge.

Final Verdict:
5/10. A quite somber place to be in where it gives me the impression where old hats gather and those who don't wanna be bothered much comes here. But don't let my comment put you off from coming here. Maybe, just maybe their coffee is good. (hopefully)

Read More

123Gasing Cafe, Jalan Gasing, Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor

Address:
No 123, Jalan Gasing, 46000 Petaling Jaya, Malaysia

Opening Hours:

Mon-Sun:

8:30 am - 11:00 pm

Time Visited:
7th August, Sunday, 3:45pm

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Flat White and Red Velvet Cake

DISCLAIMER: This was not a lone dining experience. 

I was wandering around aimlessly till my friend ask me do I wanna grab some coffee. So I agreed and met her here at 123Gasing.

Things weren't exactly great these past 2 weeks but this little reprieve from such a hectic and cruel world provided what little diminishing ounce of hope left I need to continue on in life. Anyway, enough with the mopiness. Arrived at 123Gasing and was surprised she was already there. This is probably the first time cause I can't remember a time this actually happen with her without anybody else accompanying already at a place before me.

The owner was smoking upfront at the cafe there whilst I parked my car. He looked at me with interest and with a warm smile as I walked all the way to the seat where my friend was and then walked back to my car as I'm unable to lock it with my remote somehow. Then, walked back to where my friend was. I then went to the counter and look at what they have to offer and decided upon a Flat White and a Red Velvet cake. As I walked in the cafe, the owner came back inside and proceeded to take my order. Then only I realized that he's the person in charge when he stepped behind the counter. No wonder he peered at me with such interest and such a genuine smile. LOL. There was a very big serving window that connects behind the counter and there's 2 sides to the counter. I'm not sure what's on the left side of the cafe, probably just the washing up place but on the right side where I placed my order, the cake display with the items for sale were written all around.

It took a moderate amount of time till they brought me my order. I didn't really timed it and in fact forgotten that I ordered something as I was distracted by my friend talking. The Flat White had a strong coffee taste and goes well with the milk that they use. Well balanced out and certainly had a sense that it's Flat White. It does have a slight bitter undertone towards the end but mellowed greatly from the milk and I bet there's more than one type of beans in there which certainly did balanced off the bitter taste as well. There's some slight fruity taste to it and it's very well according to my taste. It kinda resembles the Flat White I taste at Rekindle. I like it.

As for the Red Velvet, well, my friend didn't really like it but I kinda do. It's very creamy and that's the taste you get overall. The berry and fruitiness of many Red Velvet cake that I've tasted before is somehow missing in this though yet, I still like the cake. It's like a wedding cake due to just managing to taste the cream and icing on it rather than anything else. But I guess why I like it is because although it's the cream that you taste, yet it's not those very disgustingly overly sweet cakes which I hate. This is nice enough and drinking it over coffee matches well.

The atmosphere around this place looks rather artsy on the outside. The inside lightings are a lot dimmer and provides a somewhat romantic ambiance. Pockets of blasts of air-cond breeze hits me occasionally over from the big serving area hole that I'm in front of is what I can feel. This is due to them not installing any air curtain to prevent the air-conditioner from escaping through there. We ate a bit of some mains but they weren't that good (the Turkey Sandwich Breakfast) but the Watermelon Salad is nice and refreshing. To me, the best is still the coffee.

Total Wallet Damage:
I forgot to take the receipt but luckily, my picture above can clearly see it. LOL. RM22 in total. GST included.

Final Verdict:
6//10. It's not a bad place to hangout. The only problem is with this row of shophouses is it's limited parking space. Once dinnertime comes or lunchtime, the Chicken Rice shop at the same row will attract many people to come and you may have to wait for a parking spot.

Read More

Strangers at 47, Section 17, Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor

Address:
47, Jalan 17/45, Section 17, 46400 Petaling Jaya, Malaysia

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

Time Visited:
11:30am, Sunday morning. Last day of July

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Spongebob's Crib & a Matchoc

Strangers at 47 ain't really a stranger to me. I'm familiar with this place and I've been here several times. But what I didn't know is that they've expanded to 2 shoplots. Business is really booming for them.

For the unacquainted, Strangers at 47 is a cafe that specializes more towards crepes with their very creative and sometimes bizarre combination of ingredients and they were really successful with their ideas. Oftentimes, you'll see them with a full house of customers and that's why I guess they've expanded to 2 shoplots. The reason why they put 47 in their name is because their shoplot number is 47. I guess now that they've expanded, they're more than 47. LOL. Once they were the finalist for the best cafe in TimeOutKL's food awards. Since then, they soared and never looked back.

A little taken by surprise with their expansion, I decided to visit once again on my own to this place. This time my order consists of the Spongebob's Crib and Matchoc, something sweet for my breakkie. With the expansion of their cafe, they're definitely more spacious than they used to be and their team has gotten a lot more bigger than before. The ambiance somewhat feels better to me now. Though keeping the same kind of vibe, it somehow creates an atmosphere that invokes some happiness in me. Their service was really efficient too. Immediately after being seated and handed the menu, I was provided with a bottle of water and an empty glass for it as well. Good service. My order took a less than expected waiting period as well. Despite their good business with many visiting their cafe, I got my Matchoc and Spongebob's Crib in quite a quick time.

What's Spongebob's Crib? From what they describe in their menu, it's a Sweet Crepe with Pineapple Custard with fresh lime zest, salted caramel, toasted crushed walnuts, pineapple compote and a vanilla ice-cream. The main thing of course with this crepe is the pineapple. That's the fuller taste as oppose to the other ingredients. Of course that one scoop of vanilla ice-cream is quite a dominant role as well complementing fine with the pineapple but other than that, the rest just zoom past me without me really tasting any hints of it. It's quite delicious and for just RM10, it's well worth it. No wonder they're so successful.

The Matchoc as you may well has guessed it, is a combination of Matcha with Chocolate hence the term coined by them, Matchoc. A sip of it indicates a very powdery feel of the Matcha flavors while the chocolate taste permeates the entire drink and is what I tasted the most. But due to the dusted Matcha around the cup, you do get the Matcha taste playing a role as an aftertaste once you've past the chocolate taste.

Overall, I still stand by my decision as Breizh Up and My French Factory in Langkawi having the best Crepes I've ever tasted in my life, but for Klang Valley area, currently Strangers at 47 has proven that they've stood the test of time as being the place to be for crepes.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM23.85. Quite reasonable in it's pricing too and there's no service charge involved even though they serve you from the moment you walk in, till you pay off your bill. Good!

Final Verdict:
9/10. I use to think Strangers at 47 was just a good cafe and that's about it, now with their expanded area, it has elevated my feelings towards this place to a higher level.

Read More