2Ox, The Row, Chow Kit, Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia

Address:
54-56, The Row, Jalan Doraisamy, Chow Kit, 50300 Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Daily, 11:30am - 12am

Time Visited:
Saturday, 6:45pm

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Duck Leg Confit & Sangria (with White Wine)

After a long day working, I decided to unwind at 2Ox located at the Row which was famously known as Asian Heritage Row and is known for their notorious nightlife. By the way, 2Ox is not twenty x but rather 2 ox. LOL. I really thought the O was an 0 at first.

So I arrived there fairly early but of course parking over there was a breeze right in front of the restaurant, the catch is....you have to pay RM10 for the parking. Pfft. These scalpers. Anyway, since it's right in front of the restaurant, it's okay. Sitting outside, the menu was already on the table so I just need to pick it up and browse through it. It looks like they're just readied for dinner not too long ago since most of the staff were merely lingering around inside and I can't see anyone that's manning the outside of the restaurant. But there's 1 that comes in and out serving a tourist at a table where the guy seems to be busy with his Apple laptop. I soon made up my mind on what to ordered and signaled to a gentleman to take my orders.

Along came the bread as an appetizer with some greenish oil condiments to go with the bread. The complimentary appetizer was great with the bread being good just by eating on it's own and that dip that comes with it goes very well with the bread. I was asked if I liked more bread once I finished but of course I declined since I wanna save some space for my Duck Leg Confit and my Sangria.

The Duck Leg Confit was beautifully cooked and glisten along with the ambiance light and that it's carefully placed on top of some beans and the Dauphinois potato gratin. The beans and potatoes provided quite a crunch to the dish while the orange sauce that accompanies the Duck Leg Confit went very well with the meat. The end product of the duck is simply delicious and it may seemed like just a lovely looking dish but the taste did exceed what it looked like. It was delicious through and through and as I peel the layer of skin away to expose the inside meat of the duck, I was greeted with a steaming hot delicious, moist meat. Throughout my meal, the duck stayed hot and warmed throughout and so there was never a moment where it dropped in it's tastefulness. I was truly satisfied with it and so I would say the RM80 price on it is what it is truly worth. As for the Sangria, there was a many mixture of orange and apples in it thus giving it a refreshing taste. The white wine that was in the mixture was nice and all in all, a good Sangria nonetheless.

After I slowly enjoyed off my drink, I headed back home with satisfaction.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM108. RM80 for the duck, RM28 for the Sangria. There's 10% service charge involved and 6% GST.

Final Verdict:
7/10. Food was excellent and drinks were not bad. Service was okay.

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Breizh Up, Pantai Cenang, Langkawi, Kedah

Address:
Lot 1, Jalan Pentai Cenang, Pantai Cenang, 07000 Langkawi, Kedah, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Mon-Wed:
9:00 am - 11:30 pm
Fri-Sun:
9:00 am - 11:30 pm

Time Visited:
Saturday, 12:30pm

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Sugar Crepe and Hot Chocolate

It was the first day that I was in Langkawi and I've just checked into my hotel. Eager to embark on this solo adventure for the first time in my life, I started to make my way to my first food destination. At first, I wanted to try My French Factory Cafe as my first destination but I was too early and it shows in my phone that they were not open yet. Anyway, for some reason they weren't opened that day. And so I decided to head to Sun Cafe but along the way there, I stumbled upon this cafe called Breizh Up that caught my eye. Though it resides on the 1st floor, the bright red canopy that shades the pathway to the stairs were new and looks so eye catching to me. Due to this fact, I stopped my car and started to head my way over there to have a look at it.

I soon decided to go upstairs and try whatever they have at their cafe. The place was cleanly and as neat as can be with a clear indication that it's quite a brand new cafe. Mind you, I tried searching on TripAdvisor and to my surprise it wasn't listed so I figured it may be quite new. The place is run by a Frenchman and his partner where the Frenchman prepare the crepes while the partner prepare mostly drinks and some help in preparation of food. The menu consists of a French name and an English name but the description is in English. I thought I would just order a simple Sugar Crepe and that's what I went with with the hot chocolate.

The cafe being on the first floor has it's advantage as from the balcony area where they've converted it to an al-fresco dining area, you can actually see the sea at a distance since the shoplots opposite does not have a 1st floor. It took a moderate waiting time until my orders arrived. The Frenchman and his partner were very friendly (actually, culturally in Langkawi, most people are very nice and friendly as oppose to the harshness of the KL City) and chatted up with me a bit despite their still struggling on mastering the English language. I thought that was a very nice gesture from them.

When I started tasting the crepe after my photo taking session, I got the shocked of my life. Though it was merely a simple sugar crepe, it's the best damn crepe I've ever had in my entire life. This tops my list as the best crepe I've ever tasted. Though I've yet to taste My French Factory's crepe which is just down the road and rated number 1 in TripAdvisor and also verified by my friend, I knew I've stumbled on to something really very good. The crepe was soft and has a fluffy texture. Though the fillings were just sugar, they purposed on it perfectly adequate to make it not too sweet and just right. The perfect amount to make the simple crepe pop and delicious. Over at the side of it lies 3 squirts of whip cream which also is the perfect portion to eat with that size of crepe. The day after this, I did try out My French Factory and my decision still stands for this to still be the best crepe I've ever tasted. This should deserve the no. 1 spot on TripAdvisor.

It's profile is actually almost the same as My French Factory. Both are run by a Frenchman and his partner, both specializes in crepe, both crepes are done by the Frenchman himself and both use their own home made batter. The only difference I would say besides Breizh Up tasting slightly better would be Breizh Up selling cheaper and their place is bigger with a view of the ocean from the balcony. So I would say Breizh Up takes the cake (or in this case the crepe) for me. :)

Total Wallet Damage:
RM22. Sugar Crepe costs RM8, Hot Chocolate RM12 and there's a 10% service charge imposed.

Final Verdict:
9/10. Just lovely. The best damn crepe I've ever tasted in my life. Next time when I visit France again, I must try out a crepe there to see if it can beat the ones in Langkawi.

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My French Factory Cafe, Langgura Baron Walk, Cenang, Langkawi, Kedah

Address:
Langgura Baron Walk, Jalan Pantai Cenang, Cenang, Langkawi, 07000 Kedah.

Opening Hours:
Saturday - Thursday, 1pm - 11pm.

Time Visited:
Around 1:15pm in the afternoon on a Sunday

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Chicken slices with cheese + homemade tomato sauce and fresh pineapples and a Latte (hot)

My French Factory Cafe has been ranked as the number 1 restaurant in Langkawi by TripAdvisor and so I made my way there to have a try at it.
Though the day before I had tried to head on over but seems that they were closed that day for some unknown reason but I'm glad that happened because it led me to discover a really really good cafe. That cafe was an unexpected gem that I found that wasn't even listed in TripAdvisor.

Anyway, so this was the Sunday that I had planned for my Island Hopping tour and so after that, I took the opportunity to grab my bags and head on to try My French Factory. This time I was in luck. They were open.

My French Factory is located at the busy tourist street of Jalan Pantai Cenang. Right next to the Cenang Mall, there's a Pizza Place during my visit. My French Factory is just right next to it. This place is run by a Frenchman and his partner just like another crepe cafe I visited the day before. The guy is all serious business when it comes to creating his crepe with his specialized tools for creating his crepes. And like the cafe I visited the day before, this place uses their own homemade batter for creating their crepes. The place is quite small. In fact, I saw indoors may seem a little cram and stuffy to be in there and so I decided to sit al fresco style. Every table has a menu in a holder and so I panned through it to see what should I order. Their menu was quite thick with their laminated pages and every item has a picture for you to know what you're ordering.

Since I tasted a sweet crepe the previous cafe, I decided to go for the savory one in this cafe. So chicken slices with cheese and tomato sauce and pineapples it is then. They have a local to help work for them and so talking to this lady wasn't that difficult. But as for the owners, they seemed to not be fluent in English but surprisingly friendly just like the other Crepe Cafe I went to the day before called Breizh Up. Gosh. Everything is just so darn similar between the two cafe's repertoire. The guy was full of concentration while preparing my crepe but spotted me observing him and decides to flash a friendly smile my way. LOL.

Pretty soon, I have my latte in front of me. Their coffee seemed to mimic the way of the Europeans do and had this bitter undertone to it but not as strong as those European ones. Still, it's stronger than a lot of the coffees that I've tried. The latte was served in a typical drinking water cup with it filling halfway of the cup just so that the ratio of espresso and milk is good. It was rather foamy and even more so than cappuccinos I've tasted before and seemed to be in a category of it's own if I were to put it. Pretty soon, the much anticipated crepe arrived at my table to enjoy. Spotting that I was to take pictures of the crepe, the waitress asked me to wait and hurriedly back with an Eiffel Tower prop and said that's for taking pictures with. LOL. Hence you can see that prop in my pictures.

And so, I started to dig in. The crepe itself was really delicious. It's well cooked and crispy all the way. There's never a moment you find it not crispy at all! It just maintain it's texture even though it has been left for awhile. As for the combination of chicken slices, cheese, tomato and pineapple, it works very well altogether to form a nice savory crepe. I can safely say Langkawi has the best crepes if compared with the ones we have in the Klang Valley. 2 out of 2 crepe cafes and they're leaps and bound above the closest best I've tried in the Klang Valley. I particularly love how it's cheese taste was so strong and robust and feels a little like eating a pizza on this savory crepe. I lapped up the whole dish with whatever scraps of crepe I can get once finished and was deeply satisfied of the satiating taste of it.

Though I still prefer Breizh Up's crepes, this is still miles apart from our finest crepes in Klang Valley. The al fresco atmosphere along the busy streets of Jalan Pantai Cenang wasn't much of a sight but who cares. It's the crepe that deserves the attention than the surroundings.

Total Wallet Damage:
Well, I can't seem to find the receipt. Or was I given one? I think I wasn't given one. Anyway, I think in total it's RM35? It's cheap in it's price for crepe and didn't seem to have any extra charge. RM20 is for the crepe, RM13 is for the latte and RM2 is because I ordered a bottle of water to go.

Final Verdict:
9/10. A highly recommended place to try should you be in Langkawi. Crepe done by an authentic Frenchman and is one of the finest that I've tried in Malaysia so far.

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Franco, The Curve, Mutiara Damansara, Petaling Jaya (PJ)

Address:
Lot G49, Ground Floor, the Curve, No. 6, Jalan PJU 7/3, Mutiara Damansara, 47810 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Opening Hours:
Daily 10am-10pm

Time Visited:
Around 12:15pm. Sunday afternoon with the Subaru Challenge over yesterday and today is the open to public to win mini prizes but nobody has put their palm on the car yet. LOL

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Iced Coffee (it's mentioned it's hand-dripped), Squid Ink Rice with Assorted Seafood and Omu Egg and Cheese Souffle

 Came in on around noon time to avoid the problem of some restaurants not opening that early hence I figured around lunch time will assure my certainty of it opening.

Went in through the door and told the person there that I'm a person of 1 and he showed me the table nearest to the entrance. Feeling the heat from the outdoor and seeing that they had no air curtain to prevent cool air from the air conditioning unit leaving, I told the person that I want somewhere further in because it feels hot and the person told me that there's no place even though there's clearly a lot of empty tables inside. Then another guy ask the 1st guy (who shall now be called '1st guy' henceforth) what's wrong and the 1st guy said 1 person. The 2nd guy did the same and showed me the same table to my dismay and walked away. I forced myself to have a table at a much cooler area by asking the 1st guy "Can I sit over there?" pointing to a place indoor and the guy reluctantly moved inside and showed me to a seat that's near the exit that's clearly a very big table that's for 4 persons. I don't mind that place since it's much cooler having the exit door closed for most of the time. I'm not here trying to cause any disruption to their business but can't they just separate a table that's joined together to create a seating for four and let me occupy a table for 2 instead? I'm not sure what's their difficulty in doing this and I can't fathom why this cannot be done but I don't care. I like that big table anyway. LOL. Furthermore, there's no crowd there and there are loads of empty tables.

Anyway, after sitting myself down, I glance through the menu and a separate one that promotes their breakfast. There's also breakfast items that are only available until 12pm which I don't understand why they wanna try doing those items since it's just a 2 hour time period of selling those after opening. Having a cash voucher of RM50 that's about to expire, I wanted to make sure I order up till that amount and don't mind topping up a bit more. This was the sole purpose of me visiting this outlet anyway. After a quick glance around, I decided to try out the surety of their Squid Ink Rice which I heard was delicious. The waiter input my order in a smartphone-like device and showed it to me one final time to confirm my order. I also showed him my voucher and told him I'm gonna use that and after reading out the terms written at the back, he handed it back to me without saying a word and proceeded to key in my order.

A while later, I was served my Iced Coffee which is in a pretty tin cup and 2 tiny pouring jug that 1 contains milk while the other has syrup in it. I see they know what they're doing by serving syrup. Sugar would prove no value since the beverage is cold and it wouldn't melt the sugar but syrup sweetens it just the same although taste-wise would prove different. A sip of the coffee indicates to my palate that it taste great but has a bitter after taste. Pouring in the milk and syrup makes it better.

I noticed that time management is very important for Franco because even the serving time notice is stated and reiterated when you order it. They told me that the Squid Ink Rice has a waiting period of 20 minutes on preparation time and the Souffle 15 minutes. This is great for office workers who has a time limit on their office lunch hour break and will know what better to order to lessen the waiting time for their food. As for me, I'm not in a hurry so that information proves useless to me.

Sure enough, the Squid Ink Rice did had a waiting period of approximately 20 minutes and it looks presentable in that small pan-like dish. The Omu egg provides the brightest color contrast of all whilst the rest of the item of the dish is a big black bunch. The Omu Egg was somewhat fluffy, soft and a bit like a scrambled egg texture but more smooth, creamy and rich. It's seasoning were perfect. The squid ink rice provided the same constant. Although not as yummy as La Cocina in Subang Jaya USJ9, it holds it's own. I detected some hints of concentrated saltiness and am wondering are there salted fish in there or merely just clumps of salt? Either way, the saltiness does not disrupt the overall pleasantness of the dish and am not overpowering enough to declare annoyance. Being such a small dish, there wasn't a lot of seafood in there but enough to cover the dish. There's about 3 shrimps, 3 squids and 2 mussels. Due to the portion of this dish, it's not really that filling.

After finishing off my Squid Ink Rice, the waiter came to clear it off and that's when I indicated to him that I would like my Souffle now. After checking for it, he told me that there's a 7 minutes waiting time. Indeed. A place that emphasize on timing.

Souffle like the other two items I ordered were very presentable. The Souffle rose up beautifully although not perfect but that's how their Souffle is, a little tilted to one side probably happened when they were cooling it off for a bit. Opening it up inside shows a well cooked Souffle and the interior just like the Omu Egg was soft and rich. The cheese flavor permeates through the entire Souffle but all the more so on top with cheese clearly sprinkled atop. It taste great and the cheese were never too much to handle having balanced well with the other ingredients.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM65.35 for the whole total. Iced Coffee comes to about RM10.19, Squid Ink Rice RM29.06 and Cheese Souffle RM16.79. 6% GST amount to RM3.70 which leaves a rounding up of 1 sen. Minus my cash voucher of RM50 and that brings the total that I needed to pay to an amount of RM15.35.

Final Verdict:
6/10. However, it's not lone diner friendly, at all. You will need to ask at least twice in order to get a place and be firm about it. Even with a party of 2, they'll think twice before reorganizing tables to fit your requirement. A party of 2 walked in and they instruct the couple to sit further in at a table of four so that later on they can separate off the other table for another couple. I'm not sure why they can't do that before seating those people but that's how things are done here. They'll welcome you with open arms if you're a family with kids and will give you extra good service when they know you're a foreigner. Another lone diner came and ask for a table of one as I was leaving and the guy at the door asked one of the wait staff and the wait staff said no place even though there's clearly a lot of unoccupied tables. The guy at the door after speaking to the customer of 1 for a while, then proceeded to put him at one of the booth seats where the table fits 2 person.

Bear with me on this longer than usual final verdict as I have more to add. When the wait staff brought back my change for my bill which I paid, he asked me for 35 sen. I guess their cash register is low on change, eh? Didn't mind that. Took my change and off I went. As I was approaching the entrance for my exit, the wait staff again ask me for money and this time he's asking for 65 sen. I thought to myself that this is a bit odd. And ask him to show me the bill. Apparently, he mistaken the change section as the total to pay section since they didn't input in the 35 sen I gave earlier. Pfft. Guess the guy need to go to counting school. The guy who greets people at the door and usher them in just looks on without even bothering to do anything.

Do you know what I think? I think this place is missing a restaurant manager. a good restaurant manager. I'm not sure whether the guy in front is suppose to be it but I would say no since he's of no help at all. All the staff ever do is consult each other for solutions when faced with a problem and all that can easily be resolved when they can just go to a restaurant manager on how to proceed further.

I'm sure the intent of the workers (which clearly all are foreigners whose main language are not English) are not to disrespect the customers but clearly they don't know what customer service is. It should go beyond just conveying pleasantries and knowing when to clear the table.

I can see that they follow instructions that they were taught down to the tee since they're very good in time management (dishing out the food and serving on time) and when to greet the customers and be attentive to when they call you, but that also meant that they're unbending in their ways of seating a customer and rearranging tables to fit the amount of customer seems like something that will get them into trouble. They also don't know how to speak well with a customer with them talking as if they had a problem if someone asks a little bit more. I guess this may stem from not being well-verse in English or how to speak with a customer.

At least they don't have service charge. Despite that, it's still a very pricey place to dine in.

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