Pietro Ristorante Italiano, Damansara Heights

What a year 2011 has been! And in a blink of an eye, we are in 2012 now!

Fantastic how time flies without us noticing it....

Well, I had a good wrap up year end, spending good time and fine meal with a group of entertaining friends..hehe

Mr Chardonnay arranged for us to meet at Pietro, a restaurant the opened its doors not too long ago, to try out it's italian fare.

We read some mixed reviews on this place, but decided to try nonetheless, who knows, we might just like it..

Started off our meal with some Warm Asparagus salad (RM30)

Though this looks simple but it was delish- the warm, young asparagus and the lightly melted shaved parmesan was a great pairing.

The Caprese Salad (RM28) was a more popular dish among my friends..

Fresh, sweet tomatoes neatly arranged with thick cuts of bufallo mozarella, a sprinkling of chopped basil and kalamata olives. A good combination that I cant complain.

The Salmone Pasta (RM32) did not take that long to reach..

Creamy al-dente pasta with generous amount of smoke salmon and a dollop of lumpfish caviar. This was scrumptious, I was glad the sauce was not too thick and enveloped the fettucine perfectly.

The D'antara Pasta (RM33) was not so popular..

Though the penne was cooked al-dente, the sauce was a mixed of tomatoes yet sligthly sweetish, which some find it a mismatch with the slightly salty smoked duck breast slices.  

The Lamb Shank (Rm52)

This had a better reception..hahaha..the lambshank was fork tender, served with creamy mash and sides of carrots and cucumbers. It was a decent dish.
But the Quattro Formaggio pizza (RM32) got my crown for deliciousness for that night..

The cheeses was so aromatic (or some may call it pungent :p) that i was salivating just by smelling it. And yes, it did not disappoint at all. The crust was thin, crisp at the edges and the cheese! oh need i say more...the mildly burnt top, the great melting flavours of 4 cheeses (parmesan, mozzarela and i cant recall the other 2 :p) was simply divine!

And the restaurant was sweet to prepare something for my BD..tee hee 

Yummy, fudgy chocolate brownie. Thanks Pietro..
We wanted to have other desserts, hence the classic Tiramisu (RM20)

I was glad that it's not too sweet, this dessert was satisfying with the cream cheese and the slight kick from coffee liquer.
Chardonnay loves the Panna Cotta (RM16)..

Smooth, velvety, melt in mouth.. 
Overall I had a great time dining there, a wonderful was to end 2011 :)


Bangunan ECM Libra, Jalan Damansara Endah, Damansara Heights, Kuala Lumpur.

Peter Hoe, Jalan Hang Lekir

I first heard of Peter Hoe when my colleague went there. And all I heard was it's expensive, the food was not worth it...

Obviously, I didn't have any urge to go there, until recently, when another colleague convinced me to try it.

Peter Hoe mainly is a shop that sells house decors. And tucked at the corner of the shop, was a few tables, which I assume was the 'restaurant'.

The menu was simple, some daily specials on the board (sans the price) and some cakes and quiches at the counter.

There were some choices of pastas, salads and noodles, but my eyes was set on the quiche.

The quiche looks fresh, thick and yummy. There were a few types to choose from..

SL has the Tomato and Chinese Mushroom quiche with salad (RM25)

While I had the Brocolli and carrot quiche (RM25)

So it may seem pricey, but the quiche was  huge, thick, yet fluffy in texture and extremely creamy. Both tasted fantastic, mine was filled with lots of shredded carrots, balancing the eggy cheesy filling perfectly. The crust was mostly soft, with bits of crisp at the edges, which I was fine with.

SL's mushroom, tomato quiche was equally delish, velvety egg filling and aromatic cheese makes this such a rich meal. Luckily the salad was light and fresh, wonderful pairing with the quiche.

I wanted something hot, so I ordered a bowl of mushroom soup (RM16)

It's not the thick, filled with cream types, this was more diluted but had loads of chopped fresh mushroom in it. It was quite tasty I must say, but I found it slightly oily.
I didnt have that bad of an experience actually. In fact, I rather enjoyed my meal there.
So, yes, I would return :).
One word of caution though, do ask for the price of your meal before confirming on the order. 


Peter Hoe is located at 2, Jalan Hang Lekir, 50000 KL. It's located above Popular Bookstore, use the side entrance.

The Khukri, Jalan Tun Tan Siew Sin

Nearby my office, there's an area so foreign that I would have thought I'm in another country instead of Malaysia every time I venture over.

It looks, sounds and heck, even smells different.. :p

If you are wondering where I'm talking about- it's Jalan Tun Tan Siew Sin.

But in the midst of all the hustle and bustle, I cant help but noticed a number of nepalese restaurants, tempting me to check it out.

It took some time, yet we finally did..

We decided on The Khukri as it seems more established compared to the rest (it's been in business for over a decade)..

Stepping in, we were the 'foreigners' as its customers was Nepalese working in KL..

Ignoring the stares, we took our seats and the waitress was quick to take our order.

We started off with a hot pot of Nepalese tea..

It tastes like ceylon with a hint of herbs. I find it ok, but some of my friends found it "smelly"

John, who didnt want to have rice, decided to order a plate of 'chow mien'.

Basically, it's fried noodles with pork and vegetables. Though it look like any typical fried noodles, The Khukri's version was surprisingly lip smacking. The noodles was full of wok hei and filled with garlicky taste. It was so yummy that I felt bad picking on John's portion :p

There's a number of Nepalese lunch set to choose from, which comes with rice, vegetables and a choice of meat..

JA chose the Khukurako Masu Ra Bhat (RM8)

The set comes in a big metal plate- we get a large serving of rice, nepalese curry chicken, dhal, stir fried spinach and sides of deep fried bitter gourd and potatoes. The curry was quite nice, not as rich as malaysia version, but still good to go with rice. But what got my vote was the vegetables! The greens was simply delicious, though a tad oily, I just love the taste. Wonder what was the secret flavoring it used- so tasty.

I ordered a Sadheko Khasi (RM10)

I only knew it's nepalese mutton- as the description in the menu was "taste of home specially in nepal".

Didnt help much eh?

The mutton was tough and gamey, though smothered with thock tomato based sauce with a squeeze of lime juice, I still find it gamey. Yicky.

SG had the same set as JA, but he chose Pork curry instead.

Here's a shot of the curries..

The pork was absolutely fatty! But SG assured us that the meat was tender and tasty.. 

Some snacks to go with our lunch..Steamed and deep fried momos..

The steamed momos were filled with juicy mince pork while the deep fried counterpart was filled with mince mutton. Both were good and provided different texture and flavour. The dipping sauce was tangy, which complemented the momos..
And interesting find, we do plan to return to try other stuff in the menu. A note of caution though, if you are in a rush, please dont try this place. It took them quite a while to serve our food even though we were the only customers who ordered at that time.


The Khukri is located at 26, First Floor, Jalan Tun Tan Siew Sin, KL. Tel: 03-20720663.

Es Teler 77 Juara Indonesia, Central Market

I noticed Es Teler 77 when I was over at Central Market a couple of months back. Though I kept reminding myself to try in soon, I never had the time, and when I did, none of my friends were keen to try.

And finally recently, the stars aligned and I went! :p

Unlike the usual Penyet restaurants, Es Teler 77 actually serves non-penyet meals..similar to Bumbu Desa, but in a fast food setting..

With surprisingly rather large selection of food- we only managed to order 2 mains, since the portion does seem huge.

Some Jus Apukat(RM7.80) to quench my thirst..

Different from what I expected- this blended avocado juice was laced with gula melaka, instead of chocolate. I'm fine with that combo if they didnt add in coconut milk/ cream too. The strong coconut flavour totally enveloped avocado's light taste and texture. It felt like I was slurping creamy, blended cendol..

Paket Ikan Goreng (RM11.90 or RM12.90..cant recall :p)...

The 'paket', if you're wondering, refers to the rice- akin to nasi lemak, with tiny fried anchovies premixed into it. The fish was slightly overfried- the meat was a tad dry. The good thing was, the dish was freshly cooked- we could hear them deep frying the fish..hahaha. The sambal was mild and the kicap was plain. A waste.

The Nasi Jelimet..

A generous amount of rice served with barbequed chicken, sweetish gulai and an extremely thin omelette. The gulai was too sweet and santan-y, and the chicken was dry at some parts (some section was ok). 
Overall experience was just average, no wow factor. Am not in a rush to return to try other stuff on the menu...


Es Teler 77 Juara Indonesia is located at Kasturi Walk, Pasar Seni, KL.

The Warehouse Cafe Art, Jalan Tun HS Lee

With the rising popularity of online deals, we do get a myriad of choices of deals, one of them, F&B. That's how I got to know about Cafe Art, which was having an online deal recently- my friend bought a few coupons to be redeemed there.

Cafe Art is located in The Warehouse, an art gallery. The same establishment houses Ril's at the first floor, a steakhouse which only opens for dining.

Located at an old area of town, the gallery is a breath of fresh air to this side of town, not looking odd at all..

It's well lighted, splashed with colourful art pieces adorning the walls, emanating a cheery mood.

Cafe Art serves very simple meal- a choice of coffee/ smoothies/ juices/ tea, yoghurt (wth fruits and muesli) and sandwiches.

For our sandwiches, we had a few types of meat to choose from- chicken, roast beef, tuna, turkey ham etc.

Can you tell which is chicken breast, tuna and beef? We could not at first glance too. I actually thought there's some difference in the sandwiches that we ordered, but I guess not.

The amount of fresh vegetables was commendable, but the side of salad looks exactly like those on the sandwich... So, how was the sandwich? I had the roasted beef- it was tough and extremely chewy. The meat was bland and to top it off, the bread was hard and dry. I did not like my order.

Those who ordered chicken breast was served with chicken sausage and ham instead. Only ok customer was those who ordered tuna.

Our meal includes a cup of Illy Americano....

Overall, it was not a satisfactory meal, I definitely will Not be returning. 

I went upstairs to have a peek at Ril's...

No wonder it's not opened for lunch- this place was absolutely scorching! It felt like we were in a furnace, we ran down quickly..

And while we were preparing to leave, the manager enquired about our meal. I honestly shared with her my experience on the tough roast beef, hoping that they will take note to improve. However, my hopes was quickly doused, instead of acknowledging and to improve in future, she just thought I had a tired old cow. It's not funny at all in such situation.

The Warehouse Gallery Cafe is located at 198 Jalan Tun HS Lee, 50000 KL.

The Coffee Bar, TTDI

WF told me of Coffee Bar recently, her boss told her of the place, purportedly good for coffee and nasi lemak bungkus. But her boss has iffy taste, we were not too certain if we should try. Then again, she went there based on a recommendation of a customer, so maybe the customer's taste was better.hehehe.

Finally popped by on a Sunday morning, very quiet, we were the only customer for the morning. Though it's forte is coffee, none of us seemed to crave for coffee, and settled for teh tarik and milocinno instead..

Teh tarik was fine, not too sweet..

The Milocinno has very little hint of coffee, it was predominantly milo. 

Nothing fancy nor surprising.

We wanted to try the nasi lemak bungkus, but was told that the first batch was fully sold off, we would need to wait as they were still cooking the second batch.

So, we agreed to wait and while waiting, we were recommended to try the Chicken Curry Laksa (RM7.50)

Generously filled with shredded chicken, see ham, tau pok and beancurd, it does look inviting. However, taste wise was mediocre, the curry was not fragrant and had the 'powdery' feel to it.

Finally, we got the piping hot nasi lemak bungkus (RM1.60)

A rather small portion, I was immediately disappointed with the lack of banana leaf with the nasi lemak. I always prefer my nasi lemak bungkus wrapped in banana leaf- the aroma of the leaf permeated into the hot, steamed rice further enhancing the overall nasi lemak experience. The rice itself was ok, the santan's fragrant, slightly wet (i prefer dryer, distinguishable grain type). The sambal was chinese sambal type, with a lot of onions. The accompanying peanuts and fried ikan bilis was undeniably fresh, gives a nice texture to the nasi lemak. 

The Coffee Bar's Address located at 35, Lorong Rahim Kajai 13,Taman Tun Dr Ismail, 60000 Kuala Lumpur. They also offer western fare, cakes and pastries. http://thecoffeebar.com.my/

Happy Meal, Jalan Tun H S Lee

I'm always a savoury person...

:-)

What I meant was, when it comes to a person's palate preference, I simply divide the group to 2 kinds- a sweet or a savoury person.

Though I enjoy sweet delicacies, but if I had to choose say, something to snack on, my first  choice would always be a savoury one.

Yet recently, I've been treated to sweets that I do admit, it's hard to resist :)

One such gem can be found at Happy Meal.

No, not Ronald's sundae, but a small bakery located at Jalan Tun H S Lee...

Though they serve many kinds of cakes, tarts etc, only One caught my eye..

The durian cream puffs (RM3)..

The cream puff that was filled to almost bursting point with velvety, creamy durian delight..

Each bite was such sinful pleasure, the cream was not too sweet, the aromatic durian flavour burst in my mouth the moment I popped one. You can still taste bit of durian fibre in the cream. Come to mama my baby! :D aherm..

Ah, I see durian cream puffs and me will be fast friends, for many years to come...
If you are around Petaling Street area, do remind to look for this Happy Meal!


Happy Meal is located at 143 (right at cross junction), Jalan Tun H S Lee, KL.

Restaurant Betel Leaf, Lebuh Ampang

A change in work location allows me to try many new places recently, thanks to my friendly new colleagues and friends who works near this area.

One of the first place that most of them mentioned was Betel Leaf, a place that serves Chettinad cuisine. Lo and behold, I got to visit the place twice in a week...haha

Located right in the heart of busy, boisterous Lebuh Ampang, Betel Leaf is a popular restaurant, fully packed with patrons by 12:30pm..

So if you want to ensure a table, do go early.

The menu is extensive here, I've yet to try most of the food there, but here's what I had on a recent visit..

Mango Lassi to quench our thirst (RM7)

Smooth, rich, thick, slightly sour. Yums.

Chettinad Mutton Chukka (RM13)

Wonderfully aromatic dish, the mutton was tender.The dish was cooked dry, the taste was slightly sweetish and had a faint tomato flavour.  

Gobi Manchurian (RM9) is a must order, on all my visits here (request from different group of friends)

Betel Leaf does a slightly different version, the Gobi Manchurian is not heavily tinge with red, it's spiced up with bird's eye chilli and sweet from all the diced onions. Addictive stuff, do order this when you are at Betel Leaf.

The Brinjal Masala (RM6) on the other hand, was a very savoury dish..

Not the usual purple aubergines we see in the market, these were small green ones. Just the right amount of heat to complement the rest of the dishes.
The Fish Curry (RM10) came as a surprise.

It just tasted slightly different from the usual ones that we are accustomed to. More sour? An extra something? We, just ordinary souls, could not guess the secret ingredient. MC didnt really fancy it. I actually thought it was interesting and tasty.

There's a range of carbs to have the dishes with, we opted for Pudhina Paratha and Garlic Naan..(RM5 each)

The mint was rather mild in the Paratha though (my first gripe)

 Restaurant Betel Leaf is located at 77/79A, Lebuh Ampang, Kuala Lumpur. Tel: 03-20325932.

Durians!

Have you satiated your durian cravings recently?

We are reaching the tail end of durian season, so if you have not enjoyed the sumptuous king of fruits yet, maybe you should do it soon!

Here's some of the durians I've had this season..just to share :p

(we went to a stall where the owner advised we eat in accordance to his arrangement, in order to savour different types of durians)

X.O (Durian susu)

The name of this durian implies that it gives an 'alcohol' after effect to the taste buds. In cantonese, we'd say it's "fu kam"- a rich bitter but fragrant after taste. This was creamy and very bitter, all of us enjoyed it. Why durian susu then? I was told that if it was described as X.O, some muslim friends wont eat it.

Hong Har (Red Prawn)

The obvious reason for it's name- the red tinge on the durian flesh. The flavour is a mixed of sweet and bitter while the texture is smooth and creamy.

Bamboo ( Jook Giok)

Was purportedly under the 'bitter' category of durians, however, this one was sweetish. Texture wise, it's slightly wet. Think we didnt get a good version of this.

Musang King (Mau San Wong)

One of the most popular range, also one of the costlier. Was told there's different grades of Musang, the one we had here was "A" grade.

What's the difference? This was almost peanut butter thick in texture, so creamy thick that you feel full after eating just one piece. And the seeds are all tiny, the size of 20 sen coins. As for the taste, I didnt find it as captivating as X.O nor Red Prawn. Worth the "A" grade price I paid? Nope.

What's my fave amongst these few? I like the Red Prawn :)

Bumbu Desa, Mid Valley

I first came across Bumbu Desa when it was first opened at KLCC.

I wanted to try the food, but the queue and wait was long, I was hungry and so I left...

But Bumbu Desa opened it's doors at Mid Valley, and maybe it's still unknown to many, getting a seat was a breeze.

So what's the fuzz with Bumbu Desa?

First thought- no, it's not the same establishment as Ole Ole/ Bumbu Bali/ Waterlily.

Bumbu Desa is purportedly a leading restaurant chain in Indonesia which has finally decided to make it's debut in Malaysia.

Bumbu serves "masakan Sunda", a good variety of Indonesian dishes was either ordered (per menu) or we can choose the dishes directly from the counter.

We had Gado Gado to start the meal..

Fresh crisp vegetables smothered with peanut sauce and generous amount of crunchy emping. Good way to start our meal.

Gepuk (fried beef) was next..

Very small pieces for the portion we order..It was crunchy, yet luckily, the beef was not chewy nor hard. I kinda liked it, but BL said it was tasteless. hmmm.

A fiery looking terung sambal (spicy brinjal)

The soft brinjal paired well with the hot sambal paste- wonderful with white rice.

Cumi Bakar was a disappointment though..

3 tiny squids (maybe 2 inches in length) for RM16. Rubbery and not worth your RM. Try something else.

The Ayam Bakar fared better..

Tender chicken meat with smokey flavour and nice charred bits. The sauce was a tad sweet for my liking though.

Our vote for the best dish of the night was the Gurami Goreng..

Served piping hot, the fish was fresh, crunchy and addictive to bite into. Eat it with the spicy sweet soy sauce, this was absolutely scrumptious.

We had all the dishes with white rice and nasi liwek..

Yes, I ordered wondering what it was. It came in a 'steamed' packet- almost like nasi lemak, with anchovies and the rice had the coconut milk aroma.

Total bill was RM72 for 4 pax (we had 20% discount), which I must admit, was pretty reasonable.

Bumbu Desa is located at Mid Valley Megamall. Same area as Madam Kwan's, just a floor above it. The first branch is located at KLCC, highest floor.