Showing posts with label bagel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bagel. Show all posts

Sunday, August 28, 2016

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.

Friday, October 30, 2015

Brooklyn B Bagel Bakery & Cafe, SS15, Subang Jaya, Selangor

Address:
No. 41, Ground Floor, Jalan SS 15/8A, 47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Tues to Sun: 10am - 10pm

Time Visited:
12:30pm. Just in time for my lunch hour. XD

Attire worn:
Business

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Set C (Tuna Melts + Mushroom Soup + 100 Plus / Coca Cola. I chose 100 Plus)
DISCLAIMER: This was not a lone dining experience. My colleague decided that she needed a driver for lunch that day when I've already decided to try my luck to search for a parking at this dreaded area in order to try the bagels here.

With the disclaimer aside, my colleague advised me to head to Asia Cafe's awfully limited parking. Miraculously, we managed to find a very cramped parking but large enough for me to squeeze into and get myself out. With that we headed off to the opposite side to head on inside Brooklyn B.

Brooklyn B is a place that is self service so orders are done at the counter. The menus are also placed over there alongside the cash register. With that in mind, the set menu is actually a separate menu altogether and it's placed beside the full menu to emphasize on it. I took a quick glance on it and decided to go for their set menu. Set C in particular. This set contains the Tuna Melts, Mushroom Soup and 100 Plus.

After paying for the bill, I took the number that was provided to me and sat myself down. There's free WiFi available here and the speed is considerably fast with the password printed on the receipt and also on the waiting number that they gave to you. The mushroom soup came together with the 100 Plus fairly quickly and it's no surprise why. The mushroom soup to me tasted like Campbell Mushroom Soup. Only more watery. Probably is that instant crap that's why it's so quick to be served to me.

My fellow colleague weren't so lucky in that because even though we mentioned to the server twice to check on the order on why is it so long, they still didn't get the hint that my colleague was missing her 100 Plus drink and mushroom soup. Until the time came that my colleague got her bagel-wich. That's when my colleague asked the person serving, "Where's my soup and drink?" With that, only did they realized that they missed out on serving it to her. LOL.

To be fair, when we entered, it was almost a full house with only the bar stools and 2 tables left that's unoccupied. Perhaps that's the reason for their mishap. They were way too busy till they don't even notice on a missing order. Anyway, no harm done.

Being the person who ordered before my colleague, naturally, I got my food before her. The bagel-wich has a side of potato chips and coleslaw. The coleslaw tasted to me like the ones that are served at KFC, only a little milder on the dressing taste. The potato chips, I can easily recognize that it's Jack N' Jill potato chips which I had no complaints since that's also basically the chips served at O'Briens and I do like that chips. The bagel-wich though, is not up to my expectation. Neither was it up to my colleague's expectation. If I'm not mistaken, the tuna that's slapped on top of the bagel is out of a can due to the familiarity of the taste to me. So that only leaves me with their bagel to evaluate which should be their signature. But the bagel also disappoints me. It's too hard for my taste. Maybe I'm too old and do not have strong gums and teeth to chew anymore. LOL. But the bagel definitely isn't the taste I was looking for.

The atmosphere is a little cramped in that wooden shack-like kind of setting with faded sunrays beaming in through the front glass double doors, the only place that it could shine through. The walls are painted dark and fake bagels (I think) are hanged on ropes as decoration at the front board area.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM13.95. From 12pm - 3pm on Weekdays, they give 30% discount off your bill and that's exactly what happened to my bill. Original price is RM19.90 for the Set C. No GST nor service charge imposed.

Final Verdict:
4/10. I'm sorry. I'm truly disappointed with the food. There's just nothing I like about it except for maybe the potato chips which I can easily buy it from hypermarkets and convenience stores. Aside from the food, the staff are quite polite and young. Probably those college students doing part time since it's so near Inti. I really don't find a reason to come here at all even though their WiFi is pretty fast. Maybe their coffee is good but that's something I didn't try since it's not with the set. Pity.