Doma Korean Restaurant, Mont Kiara Shoplex, Mont Kiara, Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia

Address:
21, New Wing @ Mont Kiara Shoplex, Jalan Kiara, Mont Kiara, 50480 Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia

Opening Hours:
 Daily, 11am-12am

Time Visited:
Sunday afternoon, 3:30pm, when it started to get hot with the sun finally coming out.

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Iced Latte and Bacon & Egg Burger

As I stopped for break from work for awhile, I went over to Doma at Mont Kiara. Haven't not eaten anything at all for the day, this was my first meal of the day though it's at around 3:30pm in the afternoon. LOL.

Hence explains the bacon and egg burger choice because I craved for some bacon and eggs which is always my choice for breakfast. Though this place may not be a self service cafe, I helped myself to everything because I was impatient of waiting for them and the only guy that's supposed to attend to customers seems to be busy with something behind the cashier. But he did greet me welcome as I entered the vicinity. I helped myself to a menu at the cashier there and took it to my seat nearby to browse through. After making my choice, I stepped over again at the cashier area to make my order.

It didn't take long for my drink and food to arrived. I'd say probably in less than 5 minutes! It's really a wonder how they churned out that burger in such a speedy time. But I have no complains. Though the latte wasn't to my fancy due to a still yet very bitter taste that lingers on the latte and the milk never really penetrated through to mix with the other players in the drink and seems to be as a standalone.

The burger though small was done in good taste although RM17 for that burger would leave me feeling the price to be a little steep for such a small burger. Anyway, it tasted good. After all, bacon and eggs can hardly go wrong. LOL. As for the fries, it was done very well. It was crispy throughout my entire meal even though I've finished with my burger. The fries still remain as crispy and was a delight to munch on. I guess their specialty is frying since I've heard they're great in their Korean Fried Chicken as well which I didn't try. LOL. Anyway, though the seasoning of the fries were inconsistent, it's forgivable with such a lovely crisp texture on the fries that stayed on for such a long period and never got soggy. Simply delightful.

As for the ambiance, it was really a place that seems to be hidden within nature though it's just next to the main road. The many greeneries around had made a blockade of barricade from it so it really is like a fusion of jungle meets city. As for the Korean part, well, I'm not sure what elements of Korean that it has since I saw none at all apart from the Korean that's playing in the background. I think maybe the owner is Korean since I saw a Korean like guy sitting at a corner which is the boss of the place. Yeah. I guess that might be it. LOL.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM28.60. 6% GST inclusive.

Final Verdict:
6/10. Not a bad place. Perhaps may garner another revisit from me again since I frequent this area. Other than that, I won't go out of the way just to go back again.

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Kotakotak Cafe, Accentra Glenmarie, Seksyen U1, Glenmarie, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia

Address:
8 Jalan Presiden F U1/F Accentra Glenmarie, Seksyen U1, Glenmarie 40150 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Tuesday - Sunday, 8am-7pm.

Time Visited:
12:30pm, Tuesday afternoon

Attire worn:
Business.

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Grilled Chicken Burger and a Flat White

DISCLAIMER: This was not a lone dining experience.

It was a colleague of mine from my department that was leaving and so some of us assembled and gathered here to have a farewell lunch for her.

This place was at an area where I passby everyday after work to get home but I've never gone inside this area in my life. There was once that I wanted to try Urban Delight having seen it from outside while passing by but they've since closed down and the place has turned into Jios Pizza now which I have no interest in trying. But as for Kotakotak Cafe, it's more towards the inner portion and so it's shaded away with the shrubs and bushes and therefore unseen by me as I passby from the main road.

The place had it's very squarish demeanor and quite a minimal appearance from the seating area but cluttered when it comes to the shelf and such. The walkway with tables from both sides make it look like narrow pathways which makes me a little claustrophobic. Other than that, the minimal appearance with white walls that bedeck the place presents itself at a more vibrant nature to me. With us being a big group of us, it's normal to assume that things that we ordered will be sent out to us at a much slower pace. But I did however received my Flat White above most people's order. Unfortunately, the server himself does not know what he's serving so I have to safely assume that it's a Flat White and it's mine. The coffee artwork is not one that's impressive and a little vague in how it looks. Blurrish features but do not let the looks fool you. It does taste quite good. It's satisfactory enough to be akin to my taste and to quell my caffeine fix demons.

After a long while of awaiting for my food, it appears to be one of the last items to be put out since it's a burger which took them longer to prepare and cook it out to us. The burger buns were of charcoal and instead of lettuce and the usual vegetable suspects in your normal burger, this contains coleslaw as the vegetable supplement which put me off a bit since I'm not a keen taster of coleslaw. The grilled chicken patty is wrapped in egg and it's both cooked nicely without much imperfection to find. The fries were just your normal regular ones and nothing fantastic about it. Just your usual ordinary fries. The burger was satisfactory also to me and nothing too out of the ordinary and a safe bet in taste.

All in all, it's quite okay for a lunch session but it wouldn't be a spot that I would like to just chill and hangout when I have the free time. Maybe I'm a little bias as the place reminds me of work when I'm around here. LOL.

Total Wallet Damage:
I'm not entirely sure of the total bill since I wasn't the one paying in the beginning but according to the menu, the Grilled Chicken Burger costs RM16.90 while the Flat White costs RM10.90. Unsure if they charge GST or service charge.

Final Verdict:
I'd give it a 6/10. Not a bad place for a drink and a quick lunch.

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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.

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

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

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

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

Attire worn:
Casual

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

DISCLAIMER: This was not a lone dining experience.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Patty & Pie, Aman Suria, Petaling Jaya, Selangor

Address:
40, Jalan PJU 1/45, Aman Suria, 47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Tue-Sun:
12:00 pm - 3:00 pm
6:00 pm - 10:00 pm

Time Visited:
12:30pm, cruising on a Saturday afternoon

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Cheese Burger and a hot Latte

After getting ready for the Chinese New Year celebration, I head on over to Patty and Pie in Aman Suria for a quick lunch meal. Parking over there may be a little bit of a hassle even though it's Saturday because of the cramp road and the many car wash and car accessory shops around. You may need to go further down for a parking spot but just a short walking distance away.

I walked in excitedly to try out their food and was surprised that they had a Tripadvisor sign and a TV3 Jalan-Jalan Cari Makan sign on their front door. And yet, I've never heard of this place before until one day me and my friend went driving around to hunt for food around Aman Suria. Patty and Pie had the charm of a wooden coffeeshop/cafe/bistro appeal and yet the sound system is blaring songs of yesteryears like a diner. It didn't look like a diner but sounded like one. Their staff at the moment of my visit consists of mainly foreigners and gives me the impression as one being lazy while the other one hardworking. The hardworking one obviously is always busy attending to the needs of the customer while the other mainly sits on his ass and didn't see me signal until the other guy saw me and indicated to him to attend to me.

I originally intended to try out their pizzas since my friend is interested in wood fire oven pizza to gauge whether it's worth the visit for a second time around but due to me having something to eat in the morning when I sent my car to wash, I decided to eat something lesser which is the burger. I looked upon the typical clipboard menu which contains not many things to see. The main things to order would only be the Pizza and the Burgers. And so I decided on a Cheeseburger - simple and hopefully delightful for easy test. Their burgers are all served with "herb tinged fries" and "house sauce" and you have the choice of beef or chicken whereby I went for beef.

After a waiting period of around 5 minutes, my latte arrived on my table. The art was "pretty" as quipped by a boy on the next table and it looks well concocted. Served in a warmed up saucer and cup, I am well pleased it was so because this will ensure that my coffee will remain warm a little longer. The latte was a joy to drink, good coffee beans profile and a right amount of milk for a latte. It produced moderate coffee flavors with a slight chocolatey aftertaste. This is one that I simply enjoyed.

After much awaiting later, my cheeseburger finally arrived to the delight of my growling tummy. It's placed in a holder that advertises their joint just like KGB and as mentioned with a side of fries and a pale yellow tinged colored sauce to accompany. The fries can clearly be seen that it's sprinkled with some green garnish on top to provide some taste. The fries are straight cut fries and is lukewarm, good to consume without being too hot. The garnishing of some salt, pepper and some parsley taste envelops the fries lightly giving it a more savory taste. Dipping into the house sauce heightens it unexpectantly. The house sauce tasted to me like a cheese + mayo dip which I adored very much due to the cheesy nature of it.

After finishing off the fries, I went ahead to tackle the burger. The burger as promised, is the beef patty burger with huge lettuce chunks and 2 slices of pickles. The cheddar cheese melting atop the patty. Mayonnaise seems to be blotted upon the pickles. However, I detected no signs of caramalized onions though. In my opinion, it wouldn't have matter anyway because the biggest factor on taste would be the beef patty and the pickles. Other than that, I couldn't taste anything else. The patty seems to have a very strong beef taste while the pickle barely manage to compete but eked out faintly some of it's taste. I didn't even get any taste of cheese at all. This should be called more of a beefburger than a cheeseburger. LOL. Anyway, it was rather nice to consume. Aside from my wish for more cheese taste, there's also a slight annoyance of the patty a wee bit too flaky for me. It's not a very big problem. It holds pretty well together overall but it's just a little bit flaky which I prefer my patty to be more solid when being compressed together and grilled.

After being appeased by the lovely meal, I finished up my coffee and headed on my merry way.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM29. Here's another thing good about this cafe, it does not charge GST nor service charge. At least it's not stated in their receipt nor menu. RM11 for latte and RM18 for the Cheeseburger or shall I say beefburger. LOL.

Final Verdict:
7/10. Food is good, coffee is good. Ambiance wasn't much but I'm not there for the ambiance.

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Betty's Midwest Kitchen, Aman Suria, Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor

Address:
Jalan PJU 1/43, Aman Suria, 47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Tue-Sun:
11:30 am - 3:00 pm
5:30 pm - 9:45 pm

Time Visited:
Around 7:30pm. Tuesday night.

Attire worn:
Business attire

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Jucy Lucy and Stewart's Key Lime Float

DISCLAIMER: This was not a lone dining experience.

Me and my friend were planning on heading to 6 2 10 Grill to test whether if their quality was still as good as back in the days of Section 17 but since it was a Tuesday, they were closed. And so, we decided to head to Betty's Midwest Kitchen instead.

It's been a very long while ever since I ate at Betty's Midwest Kitchen and the last I remember dining here was eating the Pulled Pork Burger which patty's were strands of the pork hence it's called Pulled Pork. Betty'e Midwest Kitchen is a place I usually avoid going to due to the heavy traffic of consumers patronizing this diner where peak hours means full house every single day. But on the day me and my friend visited, there were many empty spaces for us to sit ourselves down and be served comfortably. This time around, still craving for some burger, I decided to go for their Jucy Lucy and seeing the Stewart's Key Lime drink as part of their menu, I craved to have it which I made it into a float. My friend followed suit.

It didn't take long for our dinner to arrive and it was a pleasant surprise that they dish out dishes that quick despite it being a burger. The Jucy Lucy was enticing. A very power packed meat patty that's almost spherical that's sandwiched between two burger buns looking a tad small due to that but trust me, it's not that small because it's fat. There were some lettuce greens to provide you a wee bit of a balance diet and the Jucy Lucy comes with some fries on the side with a small dish of condiments to dip your fries in. The fries were thick and nice to consume which whet my appetite further in anticipating the succulent level of the burger. As I cut through the juicy beef and pork patty, the cheese though not very memorably visible in my mind has it's taste permeating through. The Jucy Lucy was ever more delicious than I can remember the Pulled Pork Burger was. This is a burger that my taste buds favor and would pull me back to try again once more when I get the chance.

The night grew later and patrons getting off work started to crawl towards the joint to have their dinner with their loved ones and family or friends. The area of Betty's Midwest Kitchen feels a little cramp with their small one shop outlet but does create a burger joint atmosphere. Although Aman Suria over at this area may be a quiet area but Betty's Midwest Kitchen and that Original Kayu Nasi Kandar mamak stall further down the street kept their place bustling with people.

We finished our meal and decided to head for dessert and coffee nearby.

Total Wallet Damage:
Again, something that I couldn't remember as I don't have the receipt with me and I didn't pay for this meal but the Jucy Lucy costs about RM19.80 and the Stewart's Key Lime Float costs RM8.50. 6% GST I guess is compulsory so it's charged.

Final Verdict:
7/10. Don't remember Betty's Midwest Kitchen's food tasting this good but it does. Service was average from the respectful staff but tend to be less attentive when the crowds come in.

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Kaw'd by Kaw Kaw aka Kaw Kaw Burger Bakar, SS15, Subang Jaya, Selangor

Address:
47-G, SS15/8A,
Subang Jaya,
47500, Subang,
Selangor.

Opening Hours:
Monday-Sunday
Lunch: 11.00am-3.00pm
Dinner: 6.00pm-12.00am

Time Visited:
Around 6:45pm. Sunday evening

Attire worn:
Casual

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

DISCLAIMER: This was not a lone dining experience.

Fresh from returning a trip all tired and sunburned, I met up with my friend to discuss on how I can further offer my aid to him since he's in need of a car. I won't go into details on that on how and what and when it happened. All there is to know is I met up with him and he said he wanted to eat burger. I then thought of Kaw Kaw Burger whom many were glorifying at one point where there were lines of people awaiting and you'll only get your order in 1 hours time. LOL. I couldn't be bothered trying such ridiculousness.

Now that the hyped has toned down very much, I now decided to go and try it out with my friend and so I head on down to Subang Jaya to try it out. When we spotted the place, it has completely transformed into something else and is much different than when it used to be. The outlet was a very bright looking place that indicates it's Kaw'd by Kaw Kaw and no longer known as the Kaw Kaw Burger Bakar. Upon walking up to the cash register counter, we looked at the menu and it seems to have transformed from what it used to be. In the end, I ordered something called "Say Japan". I had the choice of either the beef or the chicken and I chose the chicken.

We sat down, we got to talking, we waited for our food to arrive (which is pretty darn long to me. Even with my friend as a distraction, it seems like forever before it came out) and then we chowed down.

The burger was presented in a manner where the knife where you'll be using to eat the burger should you so desire is stabbed right at the center of the burger. A few fries were at the side of the burger sprinkled with some chili powder on it. The fries does nothing much in terms of taste and just proves to be ordinary or merely a step below par level. One thing I must say is that the burger was huge in portion but of course it's not to say I'm unable to finish it up.

I dug into the big burger and the crispy outer layer of the patty hits me. The inside of the patty were fragments of the burger and were flaking all over as did the burger bun on top. The taste of the burger was alright, kind of like a normal chicken burger until the "Special Japanese" sauce hits me. It's actually sweet teriyaki sauce which I find it a bit weird to eat together with the patty somehow. It just didn't jive well with my taste buds.

Me and my friend hurried along with our dinner and proceeded to move on to Flingstones cafe for some coffee and in turn, proceed with our plan of action.

Total Wallet Damage:
Not really sure how much did the set costs but Say Japan on it's own costs RM16.90.

Final Verdict:
5/10. Burger may be okay and with that price for that huge looking burger, it's pretty decent. It's just that, without the charm of their burger of how it used to be, there's no way these new creations are gonna create the hype that it used to be.

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Killer Gourmet Burger (KGB), Taman Tun Dr. Ismail (TTDI), Kuala Lumpur (KL)

Address:
107, Ground Floor, Jalan Aminuddin Baki, Taman Tun Dr. Ismail (TTDI), 60000 Kuala Lumpur (KL)

Opening Hours:
Tues - Sun: 12pm - 3pm and 6pm -10pm.

Time Visited:
6:45pm, Tuesday evening

Attire worn:
Business

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
The Shack - Chicken set with Salt & Pepper fries and a coke.

Actually, I accidentally deleted the photos of what I took from here and have to retrieve it back through my Instagram. I only posted one, hence the one and only photo I have of it. LOL.

Arrived at this place quite early without a hitch of a jam because most were still off on a holiday or something and so there I was 45 minutes just after they've opened for the dinner session. Feeling pumped up and ready for some noms which consists of burger, I walked up to the counter and gaze upon the illuminated board menu. Kinda have that McDonald's feel. Just that at that time, it was really empty. I soon went with The Shack and decided on Chicken over beef and seeing the many flavors of fries on offer, I decided upon one that I'm most comfortable with which is the Salt & Pepper one.

I sat myself down at the very empty venue with just staffs all around. The diner has a canteen sort of feel for me with it's booth seating and wooden tables. As I sat down for awhile, the restaurant manager approached me and asked me what was my drink again to which he checked against my receipt and saw that it was coke. And so he went to the fridge and took a can of coke with a plastic cup filled with ice to serve to me.

"When the cats away, the mice came out to play." That was all I can think of as I observe the going-ons in the restaurant. The staffs were all playfully joking around and chatting with one another, even taking selfies and stuff. Most clumped together at the kitchen area there and some were on their phone busy fiddling with it. The mood immediately changed when the boss of the outlet stepped in from the kitchen door. From a very noisy, playful environment, it immediately changed into a serious, quiet one in a mere one second.

My burger finally arrived after much waiting but the fries were nowhere to be seen. Since I was very hungry, I decided not to wait for the fries and start eating my burger. About 2/3 of the way in finishing my burger, the fries finally made it's way to my table. It was such a long wait for the items. Simply baffles me on why that happened. They squirted out some mayo sauce on a sauce dish and served it with the fries basket. The fries were unimpressive. It's soggy, lukewarm to cold with most and lacks the salt and pepper flavor that it's supposed to give out. such a sad basket of RM6.30 for some fries.

The burger on the other hand tasted good. The bun is branded with their KGB sign on top and was fluffy but flaky though and falls apart easily. But the patty was nice. Filled with shack sauce oozing off from the burger itself and mouthful of cheddar cheese taste, it clearly works for me. Very much. At least some saving grace from the long wait and the awful fries.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM19.20. It's a set so the drink is free. The burger costs RM12.90 and the fries - RM6.30. No service charge just 6% GST.

Final Verdict:
6/10. Well, it is a burger joint and the burger did tasted good. Just that the branch at TTDI seemed to be run by playful people and the food took quite long to arrive.

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Moonlight Cake House, Sri Petaling, Kuala Lumpur (KL)

Address:
No. 1, Jalan Radin Bagus 9, Bandar Baru Sri Petaling, 57000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Daily, 9am-2am

Time Visited:
2:15pm, Wednesday afternoon. Which was scorching hot.

Attire worn:
Business

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Lady Violet Cake, Regular Frappuccino Coffee and Bamboo Charcoal Smoked Salmon Burger

I got a little lost while trying to find my way here. This place's road name sounded familiar and as I approach the area, I remembered that it's a place that I've been for a review on one of the restaurants before.

Moonlight Cake House is actually an established franchise that has a few branches in Johor hence when it opened up a branch in Sri Petaling, it has a hype of crowd since they have a membership system that affords 10% off for it's members.

Parking in the area during the days (and as I recall also in the nights) is a nightmare since it's a very crowded area with the place teeming with cars and crowds and a department store nearby. However, right opposite of Moonlight Cake House is a private car park where they charge RM3.20 per entry which is cheap to me. There's plenty of parking space inside this parking lot. Of course if you manage to find those public car park it would be considerably cheaper if you only parked for less than 5 hours in the day and in the night it's free.

When I caught sight of Moonlight Cake House, I was in awe as I wasn't expecting such a large place for just a bakery. A 2 story building spanning of a corner shop lot.

The downstairs area is the main bakery place where people congregate to buy pastries on display while the upstairs area consists of the dine in area where patrons can have a meal there or just a cup of drink if they so wish. The downside about this is that if you fancy having a cake that's on display downstairs, you'll have to buy it first and carry it upstairs because it's not gonna be listed in their menu. This was the case for me when I ordered the Lady Violet.

Actually, in the beginning, I wasn't aware about their arrangement and went to the counter to order a drink. The guy told me in Chinese that I can order my drinks upstairs if I'm having it there. I somehow managed to understand what he said. I also somehow managed to muster up enough of my Chinese to tell him that I also want a piece of the Lady Violet cake which he annoyingly attended to me due to my imperfect Chinese. LOL.

The Lady Violet is an Almond Sponge Cake that has pastry cream filled with yam cubes enveloping it. It kinda reminded me of another yam cake that I've ate before at Tokyo Pastry in Avenue K. That one was better. But for this one, you can taste the yam cubes and can even see it when you scoop into it. The taste is not strong but more of a neutral feel. It should go well with some coffee.

During my time upstairs, I was attended to more properly than the busy cashiers downstairs with a full menu. Their tables are huge and mostly catered for 4 people. Only a few that are against the wall that's for 2 person and that's already fully filled. I felt a little guilty for taking up the big four person table but I had no choice. They closed off an area by putting reserve signs on tables over at the bar side. Despite being after 2pm which is after lunch hour, this place still has a lot of people visiting be it sitting around and dining or downstairs people busy buying their preferred pastries.

Halfway through my yam cake, my Frappuccino arrived but after my burger was served.

The burger looks nice and inviting. The charcoal bun was tasty and wasn't flaky nor falling a part easily. It was proper. The onion rings had 2 piles (in my case). One fully stuck on to each other making it a little difficult for me to eat since I need to break it while the other was not bad. In it's own respective pieces. The onions were small in pieces inside while the batter surrounding it were huge. The chicken floss I felt was a nice touch because it added some sweetness to the bun making it a little more nicer to the taste. The smoked salmon though was a little too salty and too much in it's fish taste for me which is too overwhelming. But all in all, it was okay.

The Frappuccino was good. A nice coffee taste to it with the syrup not being too sweet but sweet enough for an average joe.

The ambiance of the place was soothing. The shades hides off the interior from the scorching sun outside and the lighting gives off a mellow and cool feel to it. One thing I have to say is that the place is way too big for the staff to manage. Many people need to flag down the staff several times to get their attention. Those sitting at the corner or blocked by the pillars would suffer the most. Water is self service should you require some. Although I was provided with the WiFi password, I did not manage to get it working and gave up and use my data instead. The place had Kenny G's saxophone melodies playing on repeat and made me feel as if I'm in one of those 80s Canto-drama. Pretty soon, I felt a very great sense of sleepiness and kept dozing off during my 2 hours stay. The coffee had zero effect in keeping me awake and the annoying music that I every so often hear the same tunes fail to do the same as well. I occasionally had a violent blast of cool air from the air cond unit above starting from 30 minutes before I leave helped me to maintain an alert state. This is one very unique bakery to me.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM7.30 for the Lady Violet Cake which I paid downstairs and RM30.40 for the rest including GST. No service charged imposed.

Final Verdict:
6.5/10. It's not very lone diner friendly not because of the staffs attitude, but because of it's popularity and the lack of 2 seater tables. They should also implement a cake menu for dine in customers or have a separate display case above so that people can sit in and just have a cup of coffee with some cakes without the hassle to travel down and up just for it. Other than that, it's soothing surrounding got me dozing off at times.

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Namoo Grey, IOI City Mall, Putrajaya

Address:
L1-72, First Floor, IOI City Mall, Lebuh IRC, IOI Resort City, Putrajaya, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Daily: 10am - 10pm

Time Visited:
Around 11:30am, Sunday

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Yuza Tea and Bibi Rice Burger

 Suffering from a very bad case of depression yesterday (which I averted it by forcing myself to be distracted by games), I wanted to go out today and savor some of my "Things to try" list.

I ended up at IOI City Mall after 2 tolls and 30 minutes of driving. For me, IOI is the iconic mall at Puchong but this is a completely different mall that's located at Putrajaya. Hence, the distance from my house is really very, very far!

So there I was for the first time being at the mall and it blew me away. I didn't expect it to be this big. It has a cinema, a skating rink and bowling alleys! It took me quite awhile before I manage to remember why I was there and located Namoo Grey. IOI City Mall to me has the architecture that's quite similar to Festival City Mall. Geez, all the names of the malls began to sound the same and it's starting to confuse me. I'm beginning to think I'm too old to live in this era.

Namoo Grey has a lot of natural light beaming in from the sides and it overpowers the incandescent lights that glimmers above. I initially saw a large crowd upstairs and was wondering what's up there that people are starting to line up for? Then I later realized that it was just the line from the cinema above.

Namoo Grey's concept is Korean cafe. I've heard of so many people starting this Korean cafe business but had yet to see what distinguishes them from a normal cafe? Namoo Grey did exactly that. Their menu are teeming with items that are of Korean dishes and some fusion ones as well. I initially was thinking of ordering a Carbonara Pasta but later decided against that since this is a rare occasion that I stumbled upon a cafe that's actually Korean in their dishes. And so I opted for the Bibi Rice Burger instead.

The Yuza Tea came not too long and my first sip immediately gives me a tangy feel to it. The Yuza tea is mostly concentrated on the Mandarin oranges taste hence giving out quite a powerful citrus taste. There's also some sweet taste in it but I'm not sure what it was. I didn't really realized it because the cup was quite big but when I drank till the end, I only got to know that they put in some citrus peel at the bottom of the cup. No wonder the taste was so strong.

The Bibi Rice Burger came at an acceptable amount of preparation time and the presentation was nice. It had a flag stabbed onto the rice burger stating "Happy Father's Day!" Though I'm no father, I find it amusing that they presented it that way to me. The Grilled Rice Bun looks like brown rice to me but it doesn't taste like it. It holds together really well unlike the Rice Burger that I tried from Sushi King that falls apart easily. I see that in their Grilled Rice Bun, there's seaweed in it and I believe some sauce to help it stick really well together. The taste was very Korean and I'm immediately reminded of why I never liked Korean food. It's hard to describe the taste that I didn't like. It's quite close to Chinese style but not quite, strong and forceful and full of that wet sour taste. I don't know how to really describe the taste but all I know is it's very apparent in Korean food especially their vegetable side dishes and Kimchi. they also served two sides with the burger and fries very much like Korean food. One is the Kimchi and the other is the Salad. The salad taste  is nothing like a western salad and taste very much like a Korean dish that belongs mixing with rice to eat. Initially, it was kind of hard for me to swallow the food but then I discovered that the Grilled Chicken was nice, tasted just like your normal grilled chicken and you can't go wrong with the fried egg. So eating them all together with the Grilled Rice Bun was not bad. Acceptable to my taste albeit slower in my pace of eating. LOL.

I finished off my slow meal and headed off to walk around the IOI City Mall. This is kind of a nice place to hang out. Pity it's so far away from my house.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM37. 6% GST included which was RM2.09. Tea was RM10 and the burger RM27.

Final Verdict:
6/10. Despite me not liking Korean food much, it is a nice place to chill. Great ambiance, hidden away from the public where not too many people pass by. I just wish their service to me was a little better. It's not very crowded hence a lone diner like me can easily get a place without much of a hassle.

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Johnny Rockets, The Curve, Mutiara Damansara

Address:
Lot G52, The Street, The Curve, Mutiara Damansara, PJ

Opening Hours:
Daily, 10am-10pm (or later), I guess? Since it is at a mall kind of area.

Time Visited:
11am, Sunday morning

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Chicken Club Sandwich and a Root Beer Float

When Johnny Rockets first open in Malaysia at this outlet, they've created so much of a hype that there was a long waiting queue just to eat here. A friend of mine waited for an hour just to get a table.

Now that there's plenty more outlets opened, this place is not as crazy as it first started. Since I was really early and Ikea is the crazy place to be, I headed on here to have my meal.

Initially, when I passed by in the morning, there's nobody there at all. After having a walkaround at Ikea and returned, this place was already starting to fill with people.

I wasn't greeted at the front door and I think they're still not fully finish preparing for the day yet. There were no hostess at all and as I'm almost at my seat, only then a person greeted me a hi. I took a seat and another staff casually took his pace to pass me my menu.

I was quite excited to try this place and as I browse through the menu, I suddenly realized that it's not just a burger joint but rather a 60's diners concept. I simply adore their uniforms especially the hostess' pretty red dresses. But despite a really good appearance and outlook, the atmosphere there leaves more to be desired for. A little more on that later.

Since most of the staff just busily does something mostly around the counter, I had to flag one down when I was ready to order. There's only this one Filipino woman that's attentive to me and smiles at me, the rest just seem to walk around like zombies doing busy work which I have no idea what they're doing.

The layout of the place makes the area pretty few in tables and seatings hence the more seatings outdoor than indoor. This is probably also to make room for them to dance around at certain intervals to entertain the patrons (which isn't much space. LOL).

Despite having a diner concept with 4 bar stools at the counter area, I find it awkward being a lone diner in a place like this. Families congregate over here as well as some lovebirds but no lone diner in sight....except me. But then again, I'm not in my own sight so I can't spot me. If you catch my drift. LOL. There are a couple of flies hovering around the area despite being an air conditioned environment. But then again, they usually keep their doors open for some reason.

Soon my order of root beer float came. Wish the service was a bit more faster. After all, the root beer float is just like something I make at home, root beer in a can with ice cream scoops. However, I love their vanilla ice cream. It was absolutely delicious. Soft cream and you can tell that it's not exactly the ice creams bought at stores unlike the root beer. They would pour merely halfway of the root beer into the glass which is filled with ice cream and will hand you the other half of the root beer for you to pour it in later yourself.

The Chicken Club Sandwich also came later than I expected it to be. The fries that came with it tasted okay, although few in numbers but sufficient. Since any more of it and I will be unable to finish it off anyway. The coleslaw has a pinkish hue to it and tasted a notch better than the KFC's coleslaw. That already has set it a part better than a lot of places. The good setting of a piece of lettuce underneath the coleslaw makes it so that the juices from the coleslaw do not contaminate with the fries. The dressing also sticks pretty well with the coleslaw.

the Chicken Club Sandwich though, is a little bit of a let down. It didn't taste as tasty as I wanted it to be. The pieces of lettuce in the mix tasted bitterish at times and the tomato was a chore biting at it. Must be getting old to complain that a tomato is hard to bite at. The plain bread is just that, plain very slightly toasted bread. I wish they would slab it with butter but they put more mayo instead. The "thick" turkey bacon tasted mediocre and it wasn't that thick as stated but went well with the mayo and finally, if there's one thing great about the sandwich, that would be the grilled chicken thigh right at the bottom. Cooked right and juicy on the inside when you slice it. One more good point about it was it's plate was warm when served.

Total Wallet Damage:
All in all RM38.05. RM22.90 for the Chicken Club Sandwich, RM9.90 for the root beer float, and as usual 10% service charge and 6% government tax. This is considered pretty cheap. At the risk of sounding racist, I also notice that a lot of Malays like to dine in here. I noticed that this place seem to sell alcohol(?) because I saw signs of Somersby and some beer glasses on the wall but I didn't see it on the menu. Maybe it's only meant for nighttime.

Final Verdict:
5/10. I actually wouldn't bother coming back here again. The food isn't that fantastic, the ambiance no doubt looks good but environment-wise looks a bit of a dump even though they're opened not too long ago. Probably a drink would be okay but just being here alone makes me feel very self-conscious here and very out of place and the dancing in the middle of a service seemed forced when I was there. I was far more amused at the kitchen crew mockingly dance way better at the back when they weren't even part of the performance. Despite being a place that suppose to bring smiles, I very much didn't felt like it when I was there.

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TGI Fridays, Paradigm Mall Outlet, SS7, Kelana Jaya

Address:
Lot GB 15 & 15A, Level G, Paradigm Mall,
No.1, Jalan Kelana SS7/26A,
Kelana Jaya, 47301 Petaling Jaya
Opening Hours:
Daily, 10am-10pm.
Time Visited:
1:30pm, Tuesday. A quite dead time.
Attire worn:
Casual
Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
1 pint Heineken and a Mushroom Chicken Mushroom Burger

TGI Fridays at Paradigm Mall is neatly tucked away at a hidden corner where it's partially on the outdoor area to cater for some al fresco setting.

The place seemed pretty dead with only a table of patrons and full of staff looking as lively as they can be. I found and took a seat on my own and were handed a menu about 30 seconds later. As I peruse the menu, the staff carried on in setting up some of the place and when I was ready to order, signaled the maitre d' for my order since she's the nearest to me at that point of time.

After taking my order, she introduce to me the Pinch of Salt card. I see that TGI Friday's at Paradigm Mall is still a strong advocate of the Pinch of Salt card. This was the place where I got my Pinch of Salt card too and probably were the first few to have it. But I never bothered to use it.

The beer came a few minutes later and the wait for the food was quite a drag. It finally came to me once it was ensured by the head chef that it was cooked proper and that's where he served it to me. The head chef looks European and am a jovial and friendly guy. Even offered to top up my beer 3 times but I said I was fine.

I ordered the beer today to again test my tolerance for alcohol. But still seems to fail miserably. It took me quite a long while to finish off that pint of beer and I awoke with a throbbing headache. I wish I could go back to the way I was and be able to consume loads of alcohol because life just seem so crappy without it.

Anyway, as usual beers on tap unfortunately, at places like this (Fridays and Chilis) serve it like those English Pubs where they don't care much about the taste as long as it's served ice cold on a chilled glass. Well, without pouring a perfect pint on Heineken's allocated glass, skimming it and instead on a beer mug with freezing temperature makes it taste very flat. It's okay. I'm just ordering it to test my tolerance and a crappy beer is a very good way to test it because you tend to get less tipsy this way.

The burger were described as crispy breaded chicken breast, melted Provolone cheese and horseradish sauce topped with sauteed mushrooms, balsamic onions and battered Portobello mushroom fries. The chicken breast were nice and the Provolone cheese tasted like Mozzarella. I guess, Provolone is supposed to taste like that. Mushrooms were sauteed nicely but I didn't taste any horseradish sauce nor balsamic onions. The fries were okay but as it grew cold, it's best to leave it. LOL. As for the Portobello Mushroom fries, it didn't give out much flavor. Didn't expect it to anyway. Overall, it was okay. It's what I expected from a place like Fridays.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM64.75. Burger is RM28.90 and a pint of Heineken on tap is RM26.90. 10% service charge and 6% government tax.

Final Verdict:
6/10. I find service is better at this outlet. Kudos especially from the head chef. Despite being a dead hour, yet they still manage to be attentive to me. It looks to me the staff really enjoyed working there because even after their work, they seem to be hanging round the back. Or maybe there's a party later on? I don't know. LOL.

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myBurgerLab, Sea Park

Address:
14, Jalan 21/22, SeaPark, 46300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor 
Opening Hours:
Tuesdays - Sundays: 5pm - 10.15pm
Time Visited:
Sunday evening around 5:30pm
Attire worn:
Casual
Item Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
None. I arrived just after a short drizzle and already I'm seeing an insane crowd inside the small confined space of the shop. Outside seats 2 person whom I believe are waiting for a seat or their meal and a group of around 6-7 people talking to one of the staff on their order.

Seeing that insane amount of people inside such tiny dining area is enough to deter me from even walking in. That's what happens when media get a hand on helping you promote. You get crazy amount of customers till you can't handle. Watching that level for just burgers has increased my level of stress significantly since I'm just a lone diner and queuing to order on an already full to the brim seating area just isn't worth my time to investigate. I don't care if it takes you to heaven and back and make you feel high like you're on drugs, I'd rather have a chilled and relaxed dining place with food that's good enough than a phenomenal gourmet burger with the stresses of dining. And so I decided to take my business elsewhere.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM0. Unless you count the petrol cost to drive there which I don't know the amount.

Final Verdict:
0/10. If you're a lone diner, avoid at all cost because you're never gonna have a good dining experience from such a famous, popular outlet. If you're determined to get a burger, you're definitely gonna wait long for one seeing the amount of people and the only way you're getting a seat is if you share the table with someone else while you cram yourself up with other people. Not to mention the stress of empathy seething on you (if you're the kind of person who's like me who is very well aware of your surroundings) seeing the crowd awaiting their turn to have a seat.

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