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/

42 East, TTDI

It's was one of our gatherings and inexplicably, we'll end up somewhere porky- it's just hard to skew sometimes :p

We decided to try 42 East, another porky place that sprouted at the TTDI neighbourhood. It was about 730pm when we reached, it was not too packed, but the dining tables were fully taken. Late diners would have to settle for bar stools and high tables I guess. Not too crowded, it was, surprisingly, a family place where most diners were with their children/ teenage kids..

The pigs in blanket (RM14)seems to be a hit here, I noticed nearly all the tables had a plate of it.

In the bandwagon we jumped and it was luckily, a right call :)

The bacon was slightly crisp, while the sausages was piping hot and well seasoned. Good with mustard, we cleared this in a minute.

The spicy crispy bacon (RM14) didnt turned out as crispy as I would like..

Some parts were crispy, while some ends were a tad hard/ chewy. Average.

Mussel Pot (RM16)came next, a good way to warm our bellies..

I expected mussel in white wine sort of combo, but nope, it was cooked in onions and the broth was just clear and sweet. I do feel that the broth was too light for the bread, I could just drink the broth without the need of bread to mop up or balance out the flavours.

The Fettuccine Carbonara (RM20)

I thought this was bad. The fettuccine was a tad hard and the cream sauce was salty.

The Ratatouille (RM18) on the other hand, was a stark contrast to the mild flavoured mussel.

It was rich and thick with tomatoes, in fact, I find too much tomatoes to the extend that the rest of the vegetables were smothered by it's flavour.

And then the big guns....the ribs...

There were 3 flavours- we decided to order all 3 to try (half slabs- RM36 each)

The Wasabi Ribs was up first..

Ok, this was not how I imagined it to be. Yes, they were generous- half slab feels really large, but the ribs, with wasabi paste smeared all over- looks rather moldy. Haha. The ribs was covered with a rather thick layer of paste, which clung on from the grill. The meat was slightly dry, the wasabi hits me straight, but didnt leave any lingering flavour while the marinade tasted rather localised (reminds me of rendang paste). The ribs was served with sides of vegetables, mash and more wasabi paste, for those who wants more kick.

The spicy Ribs was next..

Lo and behold, this looks similar to the Wasabi Ribs, minus the 'mold' :p. So, instead of Wasabi, this was coated with salsa sambal sort of sauce. The meat was more tender on this slab, but I'm still not a fan of it due to the thickish 'rendang' paste coating.

The last of the ribs trilogy, the Connor Stout ribs..

We were told this was the most popular of the 3...and with one look, we knew why too. This was nicely charred, and I noticed the pastie marinade was not there. A different marinade was used, the ribs was sweetish- caramelised from the marinade and had a wonderful smoky aroma. The accompanying stout sauce went well with the ribs too.

Yup, I will only order the Connor's if I revisit.

42 East is located at 42, Lorong Rahim Kajai 14, TTDI, KL.