Bistro a Table, Petaling Jaya

As stated in my previous post, I would like to share an unfortunate food incident that occurred a few weeks ago.. Left quite an impression, I must say..

It was Chardonnay's belated BD dinner, and we decided that Bistro a Table seemed a perfect choice- cozy, tucked at a quite area, great for catching up..

This place has been popular in recent months, with many raving reviews, we thought this would serve a good venue for dinner.

Serving french cuisine, we started off the meal with some baked escargot in horny goat weed(RM24)..

Prepared ala mini pie, the pastry was fragrant and the escargot was of firm texture. The weed (herb) was rather light, I cant really taste it except for the olive oil and salt..

Decided to have a side of truffle mash (RM12)

This was delicious! The mash was velvety smooth, with aromatic truffle oil lingering after a mouthful. We were told a lot of effort was put in this mash- the potatoes were not boiled (no H2O involved), it was roasted, then hand mashed and slow mixing of cream and truffle oil. 

BD boy had the Lamb Rack (RM85)

Juicy and pink on the inside, we all agreed that the lamb was cooked well. But there was no surprise to the palatte, the sauce tasted familiar per other western fare.

MC had the NZ King Salmon (RM58)

This was quite an eleborate main compared to ours, the salmon was wrapped in baking paper ala calzone shape, it was cut open before us..then a small sauce pan of champagne sauce was poured over it and topped with a spoonful of herbs. The salmon was fresh and sweet, the sauce not too rich, complemented the fish nicely.

WM and I decided to go for the Rabbit Stew (RM58)

The rabbit, which was cooked in red wine, came out rather coarse in texture. The sauce, Chardonnay commented, was too sour. I find the sauce ok, akin to the sauce for coq au vin. The potatoes cooked with duck fat was yummy though.

Desserts were Gauva Tart Tatin (RM19)

The warm tart was served with balsamic ice cream, which paired well in terms of texture and flavours. I liked it though it had mixed feelings from the rest.

Chocolate Fondant (RM18)

A safe and hard to go wrong choice, the cake was moist and slight crisp on the outside while the chocolate lava was thick and slightly bitter. Enjoyable.

Hmm, things sound find, right? So, what was the dreaded incident?

At 430am, I woke up with a start and started a series of severe vomiting and purging. It was horrendous and I was also worried that my friends suffered the same. Two were find, while Chardonnay, who ate a portion of my main, suffered light diarrhea. Yes, we pinpointed the source- it was definitely the dreaded rabbit.

And my food poisoning developed into a traveller diarrhea, which took me almost 2 weeks to recuperate. 

So, would I return? I really dont know. It was also unfortunate that we were seated near the kitchen, we could hear the chef screaming at her staff- rather disturbing for us. She came out a few times, looking angsty and sulky, maybe she had a bad day. I'm not sure. 

Bistro a Table is located at No 6, Jalan 17/54, 46400 Petaling Jaya. Tel 03-79312831. Reservations recommended.

Restoran Kuala Lipis Noodles, Sunwaymas

Aaahhh, finally I can muster some energy to write....hahaha

Ok, being a drama queen here- guess I was darn lazy after a bout of food poisoning and now still on antibiotics, to start blogging again.

I shall share that disastrous makan experience in another post, for today, it shall be a simple, short and sweet post.

I once got a comment from a friend, saying that I only write about makan places near where I'm staying. But hey, if the food is nice, even if it's just a stone's throw away from my home, I should share right?

So after that statement, I held on to this place- didnt want to share since it's ' close to home ' and potentially very boring.

Yet, I do enjoy it's food and I feel my other readers would really appreciate this... :p

Opened a couple of months back, Restoran Kuala Lipis Noodles serves very basic stuff- home made noodles, roast pork, char siew and poached chicken. Oh, you can have it with rice too. 

We were told that their home made noodles was without alkaline and a must try.

Comes only in dry version, the noodles looks like a cross between laksa and egg noodles..

Topped with a concoction of mince meat paste, give the noodles a good toss and....wait....
Forgotten about the 'special' sambal...

We were supposed to mix a generous amount into the noodles to make sure it's tasty..

I took a bite pre-sambal, the noodles was firm with a slight chewy texture, the mince was fragrant, enveloping the noodles lightly. 

Adding in the sambal changes the taste of the noodles quite drastically- it's not as spicy as it looks, I could taste some sweetness and flavour of tomato, making this a ' sweet and spicy ' noodles.

We ordered a mix platter of char siew and roast pork..

The char siew was average, the meat was firm, solid, cut into thin slices. It's not melt in mouth type, this was old school char siew I used to eat in kampung when I was a child. The sauce was too sticky-sweet to my liking. Anyway,char siew was the side kick.

The bomb was actually the roasted pork!

I was taken by surprise- the roasted pork was served warm, the fat was melting when you take a bite, the skin was crackling goodness that matched fantastically with the juicy layered pork. Every mouthful was bliss, I can finally stop hankering for the famous roasted pork in Pudu. This was on par. (and the people running it are way friendlier!)

Am definitely returning for the roasted pork, once the germs in my stomach clears! Cant wait :)

Restoran Kuala Lipis Noodles is located 26-1, Block B, Jalan PJU 1/3B, Sunwaymas Commercial Center, 47301 PJ. Oh do note, they are only open for breakfast until tea time if I'm not wrong. Roast pork are served much later, 11am or 12noon.

Coconut Grove, Bandar Utama

How's your Raya break so far?

Hope it's been good :)

Weather's been sweltering recently, makes one yearn for a cool drink or dessert, don't you think?

I stumbled upon a dessert place whilst out and about- it was just so hot that we needed a "chilled" break.

No surprise on what they serve here- coconut jelly.

You can have it plain or with toppings suggested in their menu.

There's coconut jelly with green tea jelly (RM5.50)..

The ultra smooth coconut jelly went well with well chilled green tea jelly. The green tea gave a nice aroma and a light bitter after taste which we enjoyed..

For double cooling action (and perhaps smoother skin?), we tried the Coconut jelly with Aloe Vera (RM5.50)..

The jelly was drizzled with gula melaka and a generous amount of Aloe Vera. The match was surprising tasty. Very nice indeed.

For a bit more texture, Coconut Jelly with Q-Jelly might be a better choice (RM5.50)

The Q jelly had a nice springy texture, a good contrast with the melt-in-mouth jelly..

Coconut Grove also serves other basic thong sui and kuihs.

Coconut Grove is located at Oasis Business Centre, Bandar Utama, PJU 6.

Craft Brews, Mutiara Damansara

It was a belated BD dinner for Alicia- since it's for her, I asked her to suggest a dinner place instead.

She was missing calamari rings served in a certain restaurant in Mutiara Damansara, so we agreed that should be our dinner venue.

At the beginning, I didn't know where was dinner.

She recalled it's near somewhere-somewhere- yet she could not recall the name of the restaurant. Luck was on our side, we took some turns and Alicia excitedly exclaimed, "This is the place!!".

I see, it's Craft Brews.

Unabashedly direct, the restaurant main draw is, well you guessed it, brews. There's a large variety of ales, beers to choose from, to satiate most drinkers.

The menu was sufficient to please most diners- a good range of snacks and appetizers to pair with the beers and mains for those who are hungry.

Since it's only 2 of us, we cant order too much :(

Complimentary soup which tasted like minestrone..

They've got some cute paper placemat though :)

Alicia's favourite at Craft Brews..

You should see the glint in her eyes when this was served. But it's calamari rings (RM18), what's so special? Well, it was crunchy, the squid rings was springy, and this was tossed with bird's eye chilli, garlic, salt and pepper. Really addictive and went well with beer. It's salty though if you're just snacking on this without beer.

She was craving for the pork burger (RM26) and she got her wish..

No too thick pattie sandwiched between 2 pineapple rings, topped with cheese, fried egg, slices tomatoes and lettuce. Nicely buttered sesame buns complete the picture. I must admit, it's quite tasty, the porkiness was not overly heavy, just nice. Thought it was rather steep in the price though. Alicia did complained that the corn was way too dry.

The Honey Mustard ribs (RM35)

Quite a generous portion, there were 4 pieces of meaty ribs thickly coated with pungent mustard and honey. I rather enjoyed this, for those who never like mustard, please stay away from this! I find it slightly rich meal for 1 person to finish this plate of ribs, better to share. The wedges, though they used the wonderful powdery potato types, had a very salty batter. Again, guess it's to go with beer.

Overall ok meal here, as long as your beverage is beer. Else, I do find it a tad salty.

Craft Brews is located at G3 Podium Ground Floor, Menara Batu Kawan, 1 Jalan PJU 7/6, Mutiara Damansara, 47810 PJ, Selangor.

I'm Spicy, Petaling Jaya

We were on our way to Seksyen 17 to deliver some goods, but it was lunch time, we were darn hungry but not too willing to detour in search of food..

So what's on the way and should be ok (traffic and parking wise).

I recalled I'm Spicy, a place my boss told me 4 months back, but I've yet to try. Like the name suggested, the restaurant serves spicy Thai street food.

Sealed the deal, we were there in a jiffy.

Obviously new to the neighbourhood, the restaurant was rather quiet (no we were not the only customers).

Menu was not too extensive, yet sufficient to satiate Thai food cravings.

We settled for quick set lunches..

Quenched our thirst with their pandan lime concoction.

Cooling and nice.

We decided to try the fried somtum, a variation to the original som tum.

Reminds me of a cross between kakiage and onion rings, the fried som tum was pretty decent when eaten fresh. But after a few more bites, it's just oily. Should have opted for the good old fashioned som tum.

WF had Seafood Padthai..

This I must confess, looks very much like what I've just had in Bangkok. Taste wise, tasted very close to home. Would have tasted even better if it was laden with more crushed peanuts. I figured one flavour was lacking, but for KL standards, this was considered tasty.

AT decided to have the Thai Belacan fried rice..

Not very Thai? Regardless, I thot this was yummy- great wok hei and enjoyable. The mix of ingredients with the rice was very satisfying (Note: a friend tried this dish a week later and said it was just mediocre. No QC?)

I had the Stir Fried Basil Pork with Rice..

Was warned that it's spicy, yet alas, it was just averagely spicy. Still, I cant deny that this was delectable, the basil was aromatic, the juicy mince pork went deliciously well with the fluffy white rice. If only it was spicier...

Would I return? Yes, coz I've yet to try it's ala carte dishes- the curries and pork stuff are next :p

I'm Spicy is located at 1, Jalan 17/45, 46400 Petaling Jaya.

Restaurant Andes, Aman Suria Damansara

To follow up on my promise of more porky post, I've decided to write on Andes.
Andes is located in a spot which I called "cursed" spot.
Why? The same location have been changing restaurant (owners) for many years and when Andes took over and opened it's doors, I felt it may just share the same fate.
The skeptic in me just refuse to try the food..since it always looked quite empty (in the evening). One day, Alicia told me that when she googled "Best pork burger" in Klang Valley, the most talked about place was Andes.
Really? Well, it still didnt motivate me to try it :p
It took another post in the papers and Ho Chiak on it's burger that I finally decided to pop over.
Ordering was prompt, since our main aim was the Pork Burger (RM13.90).
The menu offers mainly pork dishes, with a handful of fish, beef and chooks mains.
We were extremely hungry, but a mistake in ordering by the waitress costs me a 35 mins waiting time for my burger (and we were the first customer to order- a couple came later). :(

What caught my immediate attention was the thickness of the pattie. Almost 2 inches in height, this must be the thickest pork burger pattie I've seen. The shape of the pattie was rather rotund, there was no way I could take all in with one bite..

Have to use the knife and fork to cut it into dainty pieces....

And wahlah, gooey, melting cheese flowed freely and quickly- I hardly had time to snap a picture. So, was the purported 'best pork burger' really that fantastic? Well, I must say that the pattie was extremely juicy- quite a feat since the pattie was so thick. The pork was minced, not too finely, so we still get bits to chew, which I quite enjoyed. The cheese on the other hand, added more richness and flavour to the burger.
I wont say Andes makes the best pork burger- I find the pattie too thick with so much pork that it took quite an effort to finish it (Alicia cant even finish her portion- she said it was very 'jelak').
Will I order again? I doubt it.
But I'll come back and try other dishes which caught my eye..
We ordered dessert to 'cleanse' our palette..
Cookies and Cream cheese cake (RM7.90)
The base was too hard and the cheesecake had too much gelatine in it. Not that good.

Restaurant Andes is located at K-G-11, Jalan PJU 1/43, Aman Suria Damansara, 47301 Petaling Jaya.

Loving Hut Cafe, Kota Damansara

Sick of eating meat, meat and more meat? Well, that was me anyways.
And no, dont want to just have plain old salad?
What about chinese vegetarian instead?

What comes to mind immediately would be chinese vegetarian ala 'chap farn' (mixed rice) or pricey vegetarian restaurants, which with those price, you'd rather eat meat, right? :p

Fret not, Loving Hut seems to fit in nicely..with it's cafe concept and serving some healthy 'fast food' alternatives.

Loving Hut is a simple cafe, which we stumbled upon recently.

A quick glance at the menu may not give us a feel of a vegetarian restaurant- there's a selection of asian ala carte dishes (noodles, rice, snacks) and western food (burgers, chops, salads, finger food). But upon closer inspection of the menu (pictures), yes, we realised these are definitely vegetarian.

We placed our order..and while waiting for our lunch, we were reminded that many Hollywood honchos are vegetarians and vegans too. Ahh, conscious effort to get us to join the stars?

I was starving and went straight for the Basil Delight Rice set(RM10.90).

Served with brown rice, vegetables and corn soup (which was delish, by the way)..here's the 'basil delight'..

Looks suspiciously like stir fried beef slices with basil, I can guarantee you that this is definitely vegetarian. The 'meat' is soy based, wonderfully prepared to have a slight crisp skin and coated with sticky, sweetish basil infused sauce. Went perfectly with the rice.

WF on the other hand, opted for Chao Zhou Rice Noodle soup (RM7.80).

Prepared Teochew style with preserved vegetables, beancurd, taufoo, seaweed, mock fish slices, this was more mild in taste compared to the Basil Rice set.

I ended my meal with a hot cup of Green Tea Latte..

While I was satisfied with my meal, WF still felt "empty"- quite a common behaviour amongst my friends who avoids vegetarian. To them, vegetarian meal just cant fill as much as meat.

What do you think?

Loving Hut Cafe is located at 19 Jalan PJU 5/6, Dataran Sunway, Kota Damansara, PJ, Selangor.

Arisu, Kota Damansara

Lots of birthday eats recently...
Getting really remorseful with the additional food but still with the lack of exercise :p
And yes, this is one of those BD post, a belated one in fact.

I thought Arisu would be fitting, since she's a hallyu fanatic :D, she'll take korean overdose anytime. And we got korean food, korean setting, korean MTV and korean staff serving us. Happy happy joy joy for SL. hehe.

We had some marinated beef ribs BBQ (RM48)

Sizzling rolled up ribs...

Unroll it and we got juicy slabs of ribs with nice fat marbling..Well marinated beef ribs, each piece was scrumptious, especially eaten tightly wrapped with fresh lettuce, garlic slice, spicy beanpaste..delish!
The banchan (side dishes) were sufficient, but nothing too interesting that pique my interest..

The stir fry pork with kimchi (RM25)

This was an interesting dish. The pork was piping hot and salty with the kimchi, but paired with the cold, compact taufoo, the combo was excellent. The pork portion was too much, by the time we were done with the taufoo, there was still plenty of pork..which was too salty to eat it on it's own.

And here's the Nam Meon (cold noodles, RM20)

I always liked korean cold noodles and this was no exception. The noodles had a wonderful springy yet slightly chewy texture, which went well with the very spicy sauce. Served with a few slices of beef, sliced vege and boiled egg. Simple yet satisfying.

We had a good time of OD-ing on korean at Arisu, will be back again, soon.

Arisu is located at 32/3, Jalan 5/16, Dataran Sunway, Kota Damansara, 47810 PJ. The restaurant is located at the second floor, corner shoplot.

Ice Room @ The Strand

We were having dinner at Kota Damansara, when my sweet tooth kicked in.

The dessert selection was almost non existence in the restaurant we were dining in, hence we popped by Ice Room for a quick fix.

Ice Room, as it's names suggested, serves snow ice desserts. If that's not your cup of tea, there's still a range of desserts, mains and snacks to choose from.

Both of us wanted snow ice..

There's the Tropical Mix Snow Ice (RM9.90)

Topped with a mixture of local fruits (and some non local ones), the vanilla based snow ice was drizzled with pureed fruit and syrup. The combination of the tangy puree, sweet fruits and chill from the fine ice makes each mouthful enjoyable.

The Durian Snow Ice (RM8.90) was a surprise..

I expected durian flavoured snow ice, but the real durian fruit pureed smothering this dessert catapulted it's aroma many notches up. The basil seeds added a slight crunch to this tasty treat. Yums.

Ice Room is located at 27, Jalan PJU 5/20E, PJU5, The Strand, Kota Damansara, 47810 PJ, Selangor.

Bone and Pot Steamboat, PJ

When Bone and Pot opened it's doors last year at SS25, one could not help noticing it while driving along LDP at night.

While I did notice it, but was never really drawn to check it out..

Dragongirl however, did suggest for us to try it one fine (and rainy) night..we thought it would be a perfect timing to. And guess everyone else thought so too..it was packed and we had to wait for a table.

We ordered while we were waiting- a blessing as we got our food rather promptly after we were seated..

The condiments for the steamboat..

Btw, if you are a fan of steamboat sets- you'll be sorely disappointed..

You'll have to pick your choice of broth, fresh ingredients, vegetables, noodles etc...And pricing were also charge per broth and dish, which obviously costs much more...

Our broth was a mix of Corn&Pork Ribs, and Century eggs & coriander (RM16). I had a nagging suspicion that the base were identical- just that they popped corn n ribs in one side, while the other - with century eggs and coriander. I took a sip and I was right. I felt cheated already.

Saving grace though, was the fresh ingredients..

Enoki bacon roll

Enoki was fresh and had a wonderful texture against the bacon.

Beef slices..

This was just ok. A tad fatty and stringy..

We were, nonetheless, very satisfied with the cheese ball, prawn balls and pork balls..

Not your usual run of the mill freezer ready balls, these babies were freshly made from fish/ prawns/ pork base. It's fantastically springy, luscious to bite into. Only thing not so luscious was the price...each plate costs us between 6.90 - 8.90, rather steep for the portion (and size).

The yam, which we waited donkey years for (ok my exaggeration)- they were still frying it when I ordered- was so very scrumptious!
Aromatic, powdery soft and melt in mouth, this yam was worth the wait.

And of course we had our fill of vegetables and noodles.

Overall, I enjoyed the fresh ingredients they serve at Bone &Pot, but for 2 pax, we paid RM90 for our meal. Rather steep for some, I guess.

Bone & Pot Steamboat is located at 7, Jalan SS25/12, 47301 PJ, Selangor. Do note, there's a few Bone & Pot branches in PJ.