Petit Mary Pattisserie, Taman Teh Teng Seng, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia

Address:
 83, Jalan Langsat, Taman Teh Teng Seng, 31400 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Daily, 9am - 8pm.

Time Visited:
11:13am, Wednesday (Public Holiday)

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Mary Breakfast (set)

Public holiday. Wesak day to be exact. Not working much on this day, I decided to take a spontaneous trip down to Ipoh on this day. 2 of my colleagues asked why didn't I say earlier? Else they would've joined me. LOL. Yeah, right. Like that 2 family men has time to accompany this lone soul down to Ipoh. I shall ask you guys the next time around but then again, if it's just a local trip, it's most likely short notice so you guys won't be able to go too. LOL.

After dilly dallying a bit in the morning, I finally departed from Klang Valley towards my hometown in Ipoh. Once arrived at the cafe, it was just almost lunchtime which was perfect for me. From the outside of this cafe, it says nothing that it's a cafe. The giveaway was more of it's looks and an open sign hanging by the gate. This place looks like some part of a palace, Englishmen style. As I walked in, I'm pretty sure I was in the right place with a person greeting me by the door. The guy explained to me that ordering of food takes place downstairs while the seating is upstairs. This place is a Mandarin-centric place where people talk and order mostly in Mandarin. A little queer for me because I'm so used to Ipoh being a place where they just mainly speak Cantonese. Since I didn't make any stops on my way here, I decided to head upstairs to the toilet first before descending back down the stairs to take a look at the menu. This place seems a little cramp downstairs which I guess it's why they don't have seatings downstairs. However, I'm just wondering what happens if you're coming with older folks who has bad knees? Guess they would have to slowly make their way up the stairs. There's a Breakfast set menu which reads available from 9am - 12pm and that comes with coffee or tea and since I've been on a long journey all the way here, I thought of giving the Mary Breakfast a try instead of just the croissant which was what I was thinking of ordering at the beginning.

I made my way up the stairs and chose a table to sit down at. Being a cafe that doesn't have any signboard but is a house of it's own, it looks pretty popular. By the time I was halfway through my breakfast, it had already turned into a full house of customers. This place just didn't do much alteration from it's original house design. You still see the layout like a house where there's just the front of the house and the back of the house as places to sit and eat. One thing I always see the staff struggling with is that they have to find where the patron who has ordered is sitting. You see, once you've ordered, you're given a number and you're to display that on your table so they know the food belongs to you. But without a camera to monitor the upstairs on where you had sat down, the waiter will always go to the front of the house all the way to see if there's a number around before heading back to the back of the house to continue finding the number. But I guess it's merely a minor inconvenience. In this cafe, there's also a fake fireplace to spruce up the ambiance which I hardly see these things around. I remember seeing one at one of the hotels in Europe.

Anyway, the Mary Breakfast came and I was surprised by the number of items they gave to me. The guy put the plate of breakfast on my table and then the coffee, and as he was about to turn and leave, he said this belongs to you too, right? And put a basket of bread with butter down. I was surprised. This is definitely way worth eating if you want bang for your buck because with that amount of food given, you're definitely gonna be full finishing the whole thing. I can imagine some girls saying unable to finish the whole thing. LOL. So what I think all in for just RM18, that's considered cheap in my books. Taste-wise, well, it's just your regular tasting breakfast. Nothing superb nor out of the ordinary for it. As you can see in the picture, besides the 2 croissants and coffee, the breakfast platter consists of baked beans, a sausage, hash brown, ham (I think it's turkey ham), some salad on the side and scrambled eggs. I just wish the salad and it's dressing were separated because it did interfere with the taste of the eggs. It gets soaked in it's sauce and didn't really go well with it. But eating the whole thing got me quite full and as I mentioned before, it's very well worth your money. I wonder if cafes around Ipoh is all this cheap in price. The coffee leans towards more of Italian coffee where it's bitter through and through and so I needed to sweeten up it's taste by adding the provided sugar sachets. Though I don't normally drink coffee with sugar, I just couldn't with this and needed the sugar.

After awhile of resting I departed from here to my next destination nearby.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM18. Just RM18 all in. This includes the 6% GST. A very much worth breakfast set for that price. Highly recommend if you're looking for something cheap that's a cafe.

Final Verdict:
6/10. Well, price-wise I would say is excellent but taste-wise will need to be better if you want it to be memorable for it's taste as well. Ambiance, not bad. Homely.

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TWT Cafe, Bandar Baru Medan Ipoh, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia

Address:
30, Jalan Medan Ipoh 1D, Bandar Baru Medan Ipoh, 31400 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Closed on Tuesdays
Other Days 12pm - 10pm

Time Visited:
12:30pm, on a Public Holiday Wednesday

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Chocolate Lava with Vanilla Gelato and Peppermint Tea

Straight off the bat from a hefty meal at Petit Mary Pattisserie, I don't think I would be able to eat another round so soon. Should've planned for some other things to do in between meals. LOL. But anyway, I headed to TWT Cafe straightaway. Although there were others I was planning on going in the beginning, seeing that it's a public holiday and most of it were closed, this was my next of choice after seeing the others closed.

TWT Cafe is just very near to Petit Mary Pattisserie, just 5 minutes drive away. Hell, in fact all the things that I ate at Ipoh on that day were so near to one another with just 5 minutes drive away. TWT stands for Tea Warmer Treats apparently. I decided upon dessert instead of another main course meal since the breakfast of Petit Mary Pattisserie was quite filling. So I ordered the Chocolate Lava with Vanilla Gelato. I was warned that it will take about 10-15 minutes to prepare so I would had to wait. I chuckled and gave them an okay sign. When I was there, there's not a customer in sight. I was the only customer there. Later on, there were trickles of customers that went in with the first one after me also just going for dessert while the rest were there to have their lunch on this fine public holiday.

True to their word, it did take about 10-15 minutes when I was shown this nicely plated dessert that looks very dark in it's color. Beside it was the contrasting yellow tinge of vanilla gelato. A poke on the lava cake revealed a spillage of chocolate sauce that didn't stop flowing and harden as it cooled till a very much later period. The gelato sits atop cornflakes while the plating shows more chocolate sauces upon it. This dessert to me is awfully sweet. Way too sweet for my taste. For those who have a sweet tooth, they may enjoy it. The chocolate part with the pastry part was sweet beyond means and the gelato didn't help much as it's also sweet on it's own though at a much milder level compared to the chocolate sauce. It was so sweet that it permeates upon the cornflakes as well and the only way that I manage to lower down the sweetness meter is to drink some tea with it. It accompanies fine with the tea. Taste-wise is okay. It's just that it's so darn sweet and not enough balance in the whole dish. I guess you're suppose to eat it and take a sip of your tea. LOL.

After the dessert here, I went to walkaround the area. The area here is filled with so many eateries. Whatever tickles your fancy, you'll sure find it around here. Kopitiam? There's some here. Fancy some posh foreign food? There's some Japanese restaurant and it looks like they tried to open some Korean restaurants here too but look like it's out of business. Cafe food aplenty as well. All in all, every type of food that covers I believe all of the general population. LOL.

Total Wallet Damage:
Strange. I think I lost the receipt. But dessert stands at RM15.50 according to the menu while the peppermint tea costs RM7.50.

Final Verdict:
6/10. Well, for a place that calls itself Tea Warmer Treats, I expected the dessert to be more appealing but generally, it's not bad lah.

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BreadFruits, Desa Sri Hartamas, Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia

Address:
No. 17, Jalan 26/70A, Desa Sri Hartamas, Wilayah Persekutuan, 50480 Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Daily, 8:30am until 9pm

Time Visited:
Sunday, 12:30pm

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Yellow Mellow Cheese Omelette & Wild Honey Latte

After spending my time preparing for my upcoming Korea trip with my family, I head on over to BreadFruits in Sri Hartamas to try their food there. I have to say, at times like this if even such non-simple things that would literally delight anybody who has such things to look forward to is something I find kind of apathetic to and am just bored to my bones and still thinks that life is not worth living, why do I even bother continuing on? Why the stupid stipulated time I have set for myself?

Anyway, this place looks packed on the inside though I have to say, this place seems quite small. But there's still some places to sit and dine at. They have some fruits and stuff on display for purchase and can be made into juices for you there as well. However, I chose to sit outside instead of with the cool air-cond breeze on the inside. When I was there, I approached the counter and one of the staff said,"Yes?" I asked for the menu and she pointed to me where it is so I helped myself to it and start glancing through it. Mind you, this place is a full service restaurant so you can actually just sit yourself down or have them show you an available table and they will bring the menu to you. But with the amount of people there and how busy the staff looked like, I decided to not wait for service and helped myself to the menu instead. After deciding, I told one of the waiters my order and he pointed me to a vacant place inside but I told him I wanted to sit outside.

Surprisingly, outside was a lot more quieter than the inside. I guess the small place had the diners chatter bounced and echo off the walls. Over on the outside, it wasn't really that hot but there are construction nearby which you can hear low humming sounds of machinery and what they're doing and also the traffic from this busy area from a distance, but it was definitely much more quieter than the inside that day. This area here has always been known for it's lack of parking and so I parked a little further having seen a shady place at the main road.

It didn't really take long till my omelette arrives in all it's vibrant colors as I await for my latte to come along. About few minutes later it started to come and it's time to chow down. The Yellow Mellow Cheese Omelette has bacon in it and mushrooms and of course cheese while at the side there, they put some rocket leaves and a toasted bread with some butter on top. To start off, the bread was good even by eating by itself and slathering the butter over it increases it's viability. Rocket leaves though weren't looking so great and a bit shabby yet tasted pleasing enough and on to the main star. The perfectly cooked omelette contains mostly the mushrooms being the most prominent among all the ingredients and the cheese provide some gooey gummy feeling. The bits of bacon were a clever and ingenious addition into the omelette as it provided some salty bits and as a person who loves bacon, it certainly went well with the omelette and cheese, The wild honey latte is exactly what you think the taste would be with the honey providing a peculiar sweetness to an already quite mild coffee. Nevertheless, it was enough to satisfy me and I left for my next course of action after enjoying the cup of coffee.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM38.15. RM13 for the latte and RM23 for the omelette. 6% GST is charged here.

Final Verdict:
7/10. Well, it has it's upside on it's dishes and some good enough beverages, but the ambient just left a little claustrophobic inside and that's where I preferred the outdoors.

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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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Artisan Coffee, Section 13 (Seksyen 13), Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor, Malaysia

Address:
Jalan 13/2, Section 13 (Seksyen 13), 46200 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Daily, 8:30am - Midnight

Time Visited:
2:30pm, Sunday afternoon

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Creamy Tomato Beef Bacon and a Latte

Why haven't I heard of this place before??? It was such a rare gem of a find and it took me so long but finally, I had took a notice of this place and I'm glad I did.

Little did I know, I have visited their counterpart branch before which is the Artistry by Artisan Coffee at Atria but yet I never knew that their HQ was this delightful cafe hidden from the busy roads of Petaling Jaya. Going inwards in roads that leads to a very quiet area, Artisan Coffee is far from the busy road and caved in from the quiet streets where warehouses resides. It's housed in a former warehouse as well and I totally love the ambiance here. Since it's in such an inner road, the parking here are aplenty with nothing opened all around except for this bustling cafe. I parked right beneath a big tree which provided a very cool shade for my car since the weather outside turned from air-conditioning cool to scorching fiery hot since 10am.

Though outside may seem quiet but inside was filled with patrons all lazing around without any signs of them going off. Looks like everyone's in here for the long haul. The upstairs area overlooking downstairs is simply mesmerizing to me but I opted to sit outside and enjoy the heat a little. LOL. The toilets are separated into male and female but the male toilet is located upstairs while the female toilet is downstairs.

This place is actually fully self-service so after you've done your ordering and your payment, you're supposed to pick up your own drinks and food. The receipt will have your number and when your number comes up on the sign, you're to pick it up from the kitchen. As for the drinks, you're to pick it up at the end of the drinks bar. It's near where you can take some water as well.

The kind barista actually took my drink to me when I failed to notice that my drink was ready and awaiting for my pickup. Bless her soul. But I took my plate of Creamy Tomato Beef Bacon Pasta on my own. The coffee is on the lighter side and a latte would prove to be too milky. I should've ordered something less of a milk ratio. Perhaps a flat white would be better. But it's not to say the coffee's not good. Oh, no. It's quite fantastic just that my preference has leaned towards having a much bolder coffee taste.

As for the Creamy Tomato Beef Bacon, they weren't kidding when it says Creamy Tomato. It's very very creamy and rich in it's cheese taste. The tomato wasn't a dominant character in this plate but does provide it's significant flavor to it. All of it cast off a much balanced in taste that I very much like. But due to it's creaminess, I must say that anyone eating this would need to take precaution so as not to spurt any sauce onto your shirt.

After finishing my meal, I head on home to rest awhile before continuing on with work.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM29.70. RM11 for the Latte and RM17 for the pasta. 6% GST is charged.

Final Verdict:
8/10. I'm loving this place. I just like how it's hideaway from the busy streets and how marvelously serene in such a warehouse and factory like surroundings. I'm told that there will be mosquitoes around and I can see why with some greeneries around hence outside, they had mosquito coils at the ready down at every table. I would love to visit this place once more but I'll need my GPS again to locate it since I'm a little confused on how I got in here. LOL.

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Sage Restaurant & Wine Bar, The Gardens Residences, The Gardens, Mid Valley City, Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia

Address:
The Gardens Residences Level 6,
The Gardens, Mid Valley City,
Lingkaran Syed Putra,
59200 Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Lunch (Mon-Fri): 12pm-2pm 
Dinner (Mon-Sat): 6pm-10.30pm 
Closed on Sunday

Time Visited:
A day after New Year's Day, Monday (Public Holiday)

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
The Discovery Seasonal Lunch Set which consists of my chosen 
1) Cold Somen Noodle with Boston Lobster, Avruga Caviar and Baby Cress 
2) Aged 120 Days Black Angus Beef Striploin with Truffle Mash
3) Belgian White Chocolate Glace with Raspberry Coulis and Ciku
and end it all with coffee

I usually have my reservations in visiting fancy upscale restaurants as this one because being a lone diner of one, it kinda feels odd dining in places such as these and sometimes you just have to wonder whether do you need a reservation to dine at these places or can you just walk-in. But on that day after New Year's day, I decided to take my chances in being a walk-in diner of one.

I took quite a while before I braved myself to walk in there. Over at the front, there were no maitre d to greet me and so I walked on further in. At the bar area, there's a mixologist making drinks and as I was approaching the dining area, a waitress started to attend to me. I said I wanted a table for one and they ask me under what name? I said I didn't have a reservation. They then ask me to sit at the front there and wait a moment while they prepare a place for me. After a little while of waiting, they showed me in and it was all prepared for with 2 small pieces of Set menus to choose from as well. I then decided to go for the seasonal menu as my choice with the preferred items as listed above before the pictures.

Aside from a little awkwardness felt at the beginning, the rest of my dining experience here was excellent. I never felt out of place after I sat down. They attended to me every step of the way and were very hospitable and attentive. Your glass of water will never be empty and you won't have a finished plate in front of you for more than 5 minutes. When I sat down, a welcome drink was already served and present in front of me. Can't really recall what the drink was since it was a while since I ate there and I have a really bad and faulty memory but it's definitely a very refreshing drink.

Before any of the items on the menu was served, like any upscale restaurant, I was given bread to eat while I wait. I was even asked if I wanted a refill of the bread and of course I declined. If I were to eat more bread I'm sure I wouldn't be able to enjoy any of my meal any longer since I'll be stuffed. LOL.

The appetizer that I went for was the Cold Somen Noodle with Boston Lobster, Avruga Caviar and Baby Cress. Though small in size as it may look, yet it's enough. The presentation as expected was impeccable and certainly is eye catching. Every ingredient in it seems to be vital for the dish. If you just take away one of the ingredient, I'm sure it would taste differently and not as nice. Caviar provided a bit of a sweetness to it and the lobster some chew to it with the smooth somen complementing the ingredients well.

Next came my main dish which is the Aged 120 Days Black Angus Beef Striploin with Truffle Mash. It tasted heavenly and produces a succulent feel on the meet. Not very chewy but just a little bit of bite to it and it's juicy. I think they've put some wine in it. It has some sweet taste to it. Certainly a great experience in eating it. I can't remember how the Truffle Mash was since again, my memory had failed me on that. LOL.

I ended the meal with the Belgian White Chocolate Glace with Raspberry Coulis and Ciku as dessert. Though it may look simple with just a cup mountain with some red sauce at the bottom (which is the Raspberry Coulis) yet it's flavors were complex when I dug into it. There were chunkful of White Chocolate Glace hidden, blending well with the ice cream factor. Eating on it's own already proves to be heaven sent yet if you scoop it up with some raspberry coulis, it will give off a different taste with the sweetness of the raspberry being the stronger taste. And when you eat it with some Ciku as well, you'll get another type of taste where it provides a more excellent unique mixture. All of it really worked well together and it's like a well oiled machine that you can taste each individual ingredients even though together yet taste differently if there's one of it less. Also, altogether, it's a really well balanced taste. Not something overly sweet nor too bland/not enough sweetness.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM176. Though the price may seem dear, if you take a look at what they gave, it's actually quite a bargain. And the taste and dining experience of this place was well worth the RM176. There's 6% GST incurred. Wait a minute. I just realized I was charged the 1 liter bottle of water called Sole Still which costs RM24.53. Should've finished the RM26 bottle of water and take it home. LOL

Final Verdict:
9.5/10. Okay. Aside from that sneaky RM26 bottle of water, this place is well worth visiting especially for an occasion. The food was more than great, the service was tip top, and the ambiance was nice. Price-wise may be expensive for an everyday meal, but for a once in a while treat, it's perfect. In fact, if you scrutinize on the items, you'll fine that it's worth the money. I would highly recommend eating here for a once in a while treat. Currently, it's Chef Daniel that churns out these delectable dishes for the Set Lunches.

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Hutton Mansion Wine Haus, Georgetown, Penang Island (Pulau Pinang), Malaysia

Address:
149, Jalan Hutton, 10050 George Town, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
6 pm to 12 am. Closed on Sundays.

Time Visited:
Saturday, 7pm

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Their Set Dinner, I chose the Amber Chin's Signature Aglio-olio with Pork Belly and to drink, White Wine. Tomato Soup.

"So what are you doing in Penang?" That seems to be the theme of my visit there. Many seemed to ask me this question and each time I'm at the receiving end of this question during that day, I pause for a moment and my mind will just be slated blank. To tell you the truth, I don't even know why I drove all the way to Penang at such a late time of the day just to have a bite and depart back to PJ on the same day. I guess all I wanted to do is distract my mind by keeping myself busy.

Let me start earlier. The day started off with me working from morning till after lunch time where I can't really recall whether I did eat my lunch or breakfast or not but one thing's for sure, I started heading for Penang when the clock surpass 3pm. I stopped by at Sungkai to refuel my car and after that, it was all the way straight to Penang non-stop. When I reached Penang, it had already turned 7 o'clock. Just the perfect time for dinner. And so I headed to Hutton Mansion Wine Haus. It started to rain heavy when I arrive but that didn't deter me.

Hutton Mansion Wine Haus is actually the restaurant that's associated with the Hutton Mansion boarding hostel. I guess that's the main business as oppose to this F&B side. When I was there, I was the only person to enter for food. I was hospitably welcomed and been shown the menu. The sofa area of the place looks congenial, cozy and tones you down a notch. The lighting gives me a sleepy feel and puts me at ease. They allowed me time to look at the menu and I went for their Dinner Set which consists of many main course choices....just different pricing. LOL. As I await for my pasta, I gazed out of the window and get lost in the rain. Over on the opposite side, there's a wine shop and there wasn't much of anyone walking by the road except for a few tourists.

Pretty soon, I was served my wine. The wine was easy on the throat and wasn't heavy on the alcohol level. It provides a certain sweetness syncing with some soft touch of sourness. It certainly was a very pleasant to the mouth feel. I was soon served the appetizer which they name it "Duck Salad with Orange Sauce". Okay, so it's more of a descriptive name rather than an intriguing one but at least you know what you're getting. LOL. Though there's merely 2 peels of mandarin orange on top, the citrus taste permeates throughout the whole of the salad due to it being splashed with the orange sauce and the strong taste only is rivaled by the duck's salty taste. The duck is thick in it's slices and was tender. A nice combination in all even though the greens merely provided a crunch rather than it's refreshing leafy taste.

The next dish is the Tomato Soup. It's served together with a garlic bread which proved to be an odd combination. Without the garlic bread, the Tomato Soup taste way better so I much prefer separating the 2 to eat. The tomato soup was rich though not too thick. Enough for a satisfying slurp that I lapped up the whole dish.

Next came the main course. Garnishing includes some olives that provided some taste of sweetness and I can see sprinkles of cheese but my tongue fail to detect any of it when I put it in my mouth. The pork belly was delightful and some has a crispy texture outside and provides a somewhat chewy taste. It can also sit there for awhile and the pork belly is still warm when I ate it even to the last bit. It was a little too spicy for me since they spruce it up with cili padi but nothing a little water can't combat.

The staff of the place was very hospitable but also gave me ample space I need and only approach when necessary and occasionally just to get my feedback. Not bad even though I was the only one there, they still made sure that everything's alright with me. With a little wine, low lighting and the rain outside, it made me feel rather sleepy and so after that, I decided to go grab some coffee at The Safe Room down the road instead before heading off home. Thanks for the hospitality, Hutton Mansion Wine House.

Total Wallet Damage:
Just RM48 all in. Pretty sweet! No mention of GST nor service charge anywhere so I guess they don't charge.

Final Verdict:
7/10. The food was good and the selection of wine was nice. The only thing is the Tomato Soup does not go with Garlic Bread though you can just eat it separately. Although all the food is good, I just felt as if somethings missing. It's like it could've been perfect if something is added to it. Or maybe there could be dessert? LOL. Or maybe it's just because I had one of the most awesome set lunch ever at Sage Restaurant & Bar, The Gardens not too long before this and I just can't stop comparing that to this. That's not a fair comparison. Haha.

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The Safe Room, George Town, Pulau Pinang (Penang Island), Malaysia

Address:
42, Lebuh Campbell, George Town, 10100 George Town, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
12pm - 11pm on Tues, Wed & Thurs
12pm - 12am on Fri, Sat & Sun
Close on Mondays.

Time Visited:
8:30pm, Saturday night

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Dragon's Breath Popcorn and a Rose Latte

Just after my dinner from my moronic trip to Penang for no apparent reason, I decided to sober up from that one glass of wine and went for some stimulating coffee before I depart back my long trip to KL after a very, very long day.

I simply pick around and ended up with The Safe Room which is just down the road from where I was for dinner. Over there, I got a parking just in front of Hong Kee Wan Thun Mee which I now regret a bit for not taking the opportunity to try it after going to The Safe Room since it seems to be very popular and loads of people were there to savor it even after I've left. So then I walk across the street and The Safe Room was just right there. Initially, I didn't notice it since the sign was partially hidden by it's canopy but I still spotted it after a purposeful look around for it. It's directly opposite of Hong Kee Wan Thun Mee.

I immediately enter the cafe and the barista greeted me and seemed to be busy with something. She told me to have a seat and they'll bring the menu to me. So this cafe is not a self-service place. In fact they charge 10% service charge as well. But I just took the menu at the counter with me and sat at the nearest seat there. It didn't take me long to know what I'll be ordering and that was the Dragon's Breath Popcorn and the Rose Latte. Of late, there's been a recent craze on Dragon Breath snacks where it's made with liquid nitrogen and people immediately popping it into their mouth to have a smoking effect coming out of their mouth. It also seemed to have made into the newspaper once from some teenage kid buying some snacks like that from the pasar malam  (night market) and having burnt badly from it. Probably from the improper method they did it? But then again, he was the only one who suffered from the burns badly. LOL. Anyway, I'm just here to try it out.

As they served it over to me, it was still heavily covered with steam vapor coming out from the bowl of popcorn. After a short while later, the steam vapor had all dissipated from it and there were no more of that effect. I didn't pop it in immediately as I want to make sure that the liquid nitrogen on it has completely evaporated as ironically as a cynic like myself sounds. Anyway, it just tasted like your normal caramel popcorn. Just that it's a cold version. LOL.

The Rose Latte came a little later and the presentation was pretty much standard. A little disappointed on the very few sprinkles of rose onto it till I took a sip of it. The taste of rose on this was very strong. After being a little more alert from that tiring day. I started to notice that they put a lot of effort into beautifying the cafe. There's different interesting decors around from the popcorn machine cart to the games section telephone booth and the gigantic Lego character one on the wall scaling while the was next to a room door where that room I guess was solely for the purpose of photography. The toilet was strangely enough located on the first floor where you had to climb a flight of stairs to access it but the games section caught my eye and I started working on a faded off with some missing colors Rubik's cube. I finally got all the colors together after making a few mistakes (brain totally about to shut down from the tiredness) and that's when I'm off to journey back home when the night was getting late.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM27.30. As mentioned earlier, there's 10% service charge but no GST.

Final Verdict:
6/10. Nice place to chill and coffee is decent.

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Gridz Cafe, Plaza Danau 2, Taman Danau Desa, Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia

Address:
( 1st Floor), 31-1, Plaza Danau 2, Jalan 109f, Taman Danau Desa, 58100 Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Daily 11am - 10pm except Tuesdays

Time Visited:
New Year's Eve, Saturday, 4:30pm

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Porkie Pasta, Flower Tea (combination of 3 flowers which I chose Lavender, Globe Amaranth, and Peach Flower)

After working for some time, I decided to go for a break and head off to Gridz Cafe for a meal. As I arrive at the venue, the lunch crowd has just disperse from the place and I was the only one there. LOL. Being on the first floor of a place that seems a little quiet, they tend to lock their doors for safety so if no one notices you at the door, you'll have to ring the doorbell for them to open for you.

This place was still stuck in Christmas mode with decorations still in the Christmas spirits and delightful Christmas melodies filled the air. They run the business as a family and so you get that homely feel to it when you're there. It's always a pleasure to see older folks interacting with younglings as if you were in their home. They even converse and entertained me as a guest of a family instead of a customer. It's rather amusing having to receive a cookie to try as they try to promote it that they're gonna make and sell it soon for the Chinese New Year.

The food and drink items that I ordered materialized onto my table a little longer than I expected. However, the owner apologized to me when she refilled my teapot with hot water saying that the lunch crowd had just left and they were so busy just before I came. I felt as if I came to their house for a visit and that I'm a family friend of theirs. Haven't had such a homely vibe for such a long time, not since the Pig Out Cafe at Parklane Commercial Center, Kelana Jaya.

Anyway, the food was okay. The Porkie Pasta is obviously a porcine dish that consists of Minced Pork and Lap Cheong (Chinese Sausage) which it is quite unique in itself since it fuses the Chinese elements into this western dish. As for the Flower Tea, that was a delight to me even though I just simply pick and choose 3 different main ingredients as my tea. I ended up staying longer than I wanted to due to the need to wait for the rain to stop. Once it did, I was off to continue my work that day till it started to rain and being lazy, I decided to go home to sleep instead.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM21. RM13 for the pasta, RM8 for the tea. Quite cheap and there's no service charge nor GST as well!

Final Verdict:
6/10. There's much room to be improve for this place ie the food could taste better and more memorable. The environment was lovely and the people were friendly and homely. But being just newly opened not too long ago, it's definitely a good start to improve on.

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The Glass House - Specialty Coffee, Metropolitan Square, Bandar Damansara Perdana, Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor, Malaysia

Address:
Metropolitan Square, Lot C109, Center Wing, Jalan PJU 8/1, Bandar Damansara Perdana, 47820 Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Weekdays: 9am - 7pm
Weekends: 10am - 5pm

Time Visited:
3:20pm, replacement public holiday for Christmas on Sunday

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Flat White, Chocolate and Sea Salt Cake

After a slow day of work and taken my late lunch, I started to depart to this place called The Glass House over at Metropolitan Square. I was here the day before on Christmas day to try it out but they were closed on that day and so I had to make the effort again to come over here to have a try.

Parking on that day was still free somehow even though there's the confusing part of needing to take a ticket but the machines aren't in working order so paying is not necessary that time. The Glass House is just a small cozy cafe that has very few sitting places with 2 on the outside and 2 on the downstairs inside. I think there's also only 2 upstairs but I'm not really sure since I didn't have a peek upstairs so this place has very, very limited place to enjoy your coffee. This is also a place where it doesn't serve food but they do serve cakes where you can have a look at their display case underneath the staircase. A really small place but managed well to maximize the minimum space.

The owner of the place which I presume is the Australian guy seems a little stuck up and I didn't see him smile at all. I think he's incapable of that. LOL. But as for the local Chinese staff there, he was friendly and welcoming enough to me. As I ordered my Flat White with the friendly guy, he asked me whether would I like any cakes to go with my Flat White. This piqued my interest and so I went over to see what cakes they have. The guy recommended that since I'm having a Flat White, it would go well with the Chocolate & Sea Salt Cake. But all I saw on the cake tray was an empty tray. But he said, oh, we had a new batch in today and so he took it out of the fridge and so I ordered 1. I paid for my order and sat on the outside awaiting my order.

It soon came after and looks promising. I like the Flat White, though it wasn't a strong blend of coffee, it's aromatic and I quite like the taste. The Chocolate & Sea Salt Cake wasn't too much of my fancy but what he recommended was right enough because it did go very well with the Flat White. Complemented each other fully and gave a very full bodied taste to both that enhances each other. On the top was merely the chocolate part but the base I guess is where the Sea Salt lies since there's a slight tinge of salty taste. But otherwise, it's quite a sweet cake and I was told that it's gluten free. Not that a person of my framework needed to lose any fat. LOL.

It was soon raining when I was about to leave and I got a little lazy to continue on with my work and so I headed home to do my laundry instead.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM25. RM10 for the Flat White and RM15 for the cake. No other additional charges mentioned so I guess there's none.

Final Verdict:
6.5/10. Nice place to chill and relax with a very good vibrant vibe to this cafe. Only thing is it's quite limited in it's space. But they do deliveries as well around the Metropolitan Square area with a minimum order of RM20.

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The Fat Fish, Shoplex Mont Kiara, Mont Kiara, Kuala Lumpur (KL)

Address:
15-0-5, Shoplex Mont' Kiara,, Mont Kiara, 50480 Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Close on Mondays. 
The rest of the week 11:30am - 10pm (According to Google)

Time Visited:
2pm. Tuesday afternoon

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Smoked Salmon Salad and a Tapping Tapir Pineapple Calamansi soda

Long time I didn't post anything. Of late, I've been working non-stop even throughout weekends and public holiday and so I'm a bit lazy updating this blog. I'm thinking of revamping one of my old ones to put in encounters of the people I met with many quirky experiences or lessons for me to remind me one day should I decide to read back but I'm just too busy to do it. Besides, when I do get the free time, I'd rather laze around and do nothing before plonking myself to bed. In addition to that, I have also lost all of my photos from before in my phone along with whatever data that's inside. I've also lost all but 30 of my newest contacts which seems to have been saved somewhere else for some reason. I didn't bother getting contacts back from people except for my immediate boss' because why bother. People won't be looking for me nor expecting a reply from me anyway. LOL.

So this was at a day where my company was on holiday while KL is still working. I still worked a fair bit but it was a slow day so I didn't do much and so I decided to take my lunch here. When I was there at 2pm, already all the seats outside were taken and only left with seats inside. Why mainly people prefer to sit outside instead of under the air conditioned area indoors is because people are afraid of the fishy smell inside. But when I was there, there were not much of such odor inside since the air condition units were all on and the ventilation fan towards the back were all on to carry all the smell away. Displays of seafood on ice were all prominently placed up front for you to pick and choose to have and to be cooked too if you want to. Oh yeah. Besides serving as a restaurant there, it's also partly a fish/seafood mart where some people go there to just buy the meat to cook at home. The meat all looks oh so good and fresh but the price too packs a punch even in their raw form. I decided to go for something simple and healthy and so I ended up with the Smoked Salmon Salad. As for my drink, I just pick a Tapping Tapir soda.

Initially, when I entered, there's still the lunch crowd there preoccupying the tables outside and so the staff were all busy and such to attend to me. This led me to picking the menu myself and returning to my table to glance at it. When I was ready to order, I had to signal someone's attention to come. Anyway, wasn't much of a big deal.

Even though it's just Smoked Salmon Salad, it took a while before it finally came to my table. I can see why as they took care in the presentation of the salad. But that was all there is to it, a pretty presentation. The greens were bitter to the max with only some olives as saving grace. But the real savior came in the form of the smoked salmon. That truly was delicious and was really fresh and if it weren't for it, I wouldn't have finished off the salad. They do live up to their reputation of supplying fresh produce and just wish that I had the salmon as a sashimi to eat up. However, I must say that the greens were awful max. Bitter like no business. Must be store bought at the supermarket nearby, all packed in a box and they just put it in a dish. Yuck. I resumed a little bit more with my work before finally calling it quits at 5pm and had a tea break at Uptown.

Total Wallet Damage:
RM29.70. Salad costs RM18.50, the soda costs RM9.50. No service charge but there's 6% GST.

Final Verdict:
6/10. Never go for the greens here. Their seafood and fish are the freshest around town and that's what to go for. There's also a new outlet in Desa Parkcity which is opened 7 days a week!

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Lavo, Menara Lien Hoe, Tropicana, Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor, Malaysia

Address:
No. 8, Persiaran Tropicana & Jalan Tropicana Utama, Tropicana, 47410 Petaling Jaya (PJ), Selangor, Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Sun - Thurs: 12pm - 1am
Fri & Sat: 12pm - 2am

Time Visited:
Saturday, 6pm

Attire worn:
Casual

Item(s) Ordered (Photos taken as inconspicuous as possible with my phone):
Beef & Onion Soup, Sirloin Steak, Banana & Chocolate Bread Pudding and a Strongbow.

A retreat from glee, that day with the gloomy weather looming around, I get to moving towards Lavo to have my dinner that day after a day of working.

I've been given a hefty amount of vouchers to use and with only me dining at that time, I decided to lavishly spread on my dining. I ordered a full course dinner with soup, a main course and dessert to finish off with a Strongbow just for kicks though the Strongbow will be coming out of my pocket as it doesn't include drinks to be used with the vouchers. The wait staffs were friendly especially the head staff and I was received very warmly and welcoming towards me. I was shown to my seat and were given ample amount of time to make my decision. The staff were very attentive and everytime when I was ready to signal them they already knew I was about to call them and head towards me. They served me with a smile all the way, cleared all my dishes when I was just done and even ask if I needed anything when I was about to have my dessert. Kudos to the very good service that I was given. They're way on top as one of the best service I have received in my life!

So there I was awaiting for my food. It actually didn't take long for my food to arrive and they did it really proper. They really followed through the course by course given to me instead of one shot coming out everything. I really loved the treatment I received. The first of course came the soup. When I received the soup, I then remembered that I had it before when I attended an event here. But of course, the beef and onion soup. No wonder it sounded so familiar. However, I can tell you that it was leaps and bounds better than the time I had it during my attendance of the event. The soup was full of flavor and was given a nice garlic cheese bread which went really well with the soup. The soup, full of it's glorious flavor was brought further to live with that superb piece of tender beef in it and chewing on that as I savor on the broth really had me lapping up every last drop of it. As oppose to during the time of the event, the soup gave out a lackluster and dull taste which were really as if opposites ends to this time of tasting, like night and day.

Once I've finished, a little bit of wait on the Sirloin Steak but wasn't too long a wait. I've asked for medium well which was cooked till right and initially, I didn't quite like how it tasted. I soon found out why, I was only eating the fatty part! As I got to the meat, I soon found that it was proper and decent, a fine meat to eat. Though it wasn't the best, but still good enough to be eaten and with each bite, gradually the taste grows on me and I kind of liked it. The peppercorn sauce too was a grower. It tasted a bit weird to me in the beginning, but I gradually eased into it and soon quite liked the taste. The mashed potato and sauteed vegetables were a little bitter and bland, but that only highlights on the meat more.

And finally, the dessert of Banana & Chocolate Bread Pudding was brought to me once I'm done with the main course. Unfortunately, presentation-wise, the ice cream had melted quite a bit but it didn't deter the good taste of the overall dessert. The bread pudding did mix well with the banana at the center and having the chocolate contributed significantly to it's sweetness, it all came together as a medley of a well orchestrated dessert. I took delight in eating that and though I would say there's room for improvement to it like a much stronger tasting ice cream or instead of the banana just dead center of the bread pudding and could be spread out more with more slices of banana, it did sufficient of it's duty as a dessert and I'm much pleased with it.

The ambiance on the outside was quite a nice chilling and relaxing environment that I meld into. I soon needed to check the bill and take my leave though I could just laze around there all night long.

Total Wallet Damage:
Well, I had RM100 vouchers to use for the food which had knocked off the total of RM87.45 for the food alone. RM15 for the dessert, RM15 for the soup, RM45 for the steak. 10% service charge and 6% GST imposed. Totally worth the 10% service charge with the service they rendered to me. As for the Strongbow, it costs RM23.30 inclusive of again the service tax and GST.

Final Verdict:
8/10. A very nice place to get some drink and the food is delicious as well. I can also testify to during that time of the event that they do know how to pour a lovely silky smooth perfect pint of Guinness. It's definitely a place worth visiting again in my books. They don't discriminate me as just one person coming in, neither did they skimp on their service just because I'm using vouchers. Instead they treat me very nicely and I am well pleased with their service, food and environment.

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