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.

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.

Jaya One Foodcrawl, Part 1

An invite from Ramesh led me to join a large group of bloggers for a food crawl at Jaya One recently. Been ages since I joined a food crawl with bloggers, so why not eh? Met a number of new faces (not all were food bloggers) and a big bunch of food bloggers.

We all congregated at Brisik to begin our crawl..Starters at Brisik consist of satay serai and satagor. The satay serai was very much like satay lilit; Brisik's version was moist and good with the sauce. The satagor, which looks like begedil, was actually a mash of bean curd, potato, mince chicken and veg deep fried. Satagor is a blander and softer version of begedil, which you'll either like or dislike. I find it ok, but would have given my vote for good old begedil.

Kerabu Mangga added some zing to the mild flavoured starters..

The chilli padi was fiery and complemented the sour mango well. The shredded mango was slightly soft, the extra crunch in the kerabu would have been better. Taste wise, it was very appetizing.

We adjourned next to Bar Madrid for some tapas..

It was highly strung compared to Brisik, maybe having so many bloggers visiting the establishment on the same night added the tension. Anyways, we got to try some tapas prepared for us..

The tortilla espanalo was served first..

This was a more lavish version of the spanish omelette, this was filled with ham, cheese and a scattering of herbs. A compact version of an omelette, it was quite nice.

The Jamon Serrano Croquetas was a bane for some of us..

Jess and Mike, whom I had the pleasure to share table with, had a strong dislike for cheese. And this croquette (fried potato balls) was filled to the brim with creamy, cheesy, bechamel like sauce and chopped serrano ham. It had a rather strong porky flavour, which might put some diners off. Else, it's actually a rather yummy treat.

Iberico Confitado was served last..

The Iberico pork was slow cooked till tender and served on baguette. This tapas tasted rather asian, the flavour tasted almost like the pork filling for seremban siew pau :p. Delicious nonetheless, a mouthful of goodness that I enjoyed.

After the starters, we moved on to Divino for some wine..

Dawn was there to greet us almost immediately- we were slightly late and guess she was expecting us. We were brought around the restaurant and also to the adjoining Pristine Wine Shoppe which carries an extensive selection of wines from both Old and New Worlds.
For our night, Dawn had selected 4 wines from New World..

Frm L-R: June Shiraz, Ken Forrester Petit Pinotage, Black Cottage Pinot Noir and Lobster Reef Malborough Sauvignon Blanc

Lobster Reef Malborough Sauvignon Blance 2009: The only white wine for the night, the wine was light in flavour as its a young wine. Easy to drink and would be good with seafood.

Black Cottage Pinot Noir 2008: Slightly spicy, this wine was quite easy on the palate too. This wine is recommended with red meats and pasta.

Ken Forrester Petit Pinotage 2008: I find this rich with strong tannins. Think will suit heavier flavoured food.

Juno Cape Maidens Shiraz 2007: Another spicy based wine, this Shiraz carries hints of nutty flavour too. A deep flavoured wine, this goes well with more intense flavoured dishes (red meats).

Brisik

10-1, Palm Square Jaya One, No 72-A, Jalan Universiti, 46200 PJ.

Bar Madrid

12A-G, Palm Square, Jaya One.

Divino Restaurant

6-1, Palm Square, Jaya One.

Ayam Penyet Ria, Singapore

I was in Singapore for the Great Singapore Sale a couple of weeks back..

Since looking for bargains was my main motive of being there, the search for good food sort of fade away...

Luckily for us, adeline's sister is working in Singapore and I bugged her for some decent food in Orchard road..

What about ayam penyet? she said
Ayam pen...what? Whatever, as long it's good..
And off we went, towards Lucky Plaza a place akin to Sungai Wang..

As we took the escalator to higher floors, I was starting to doubt if there's any food at all.. Took a left turn, then another left, and we see this. There were people queueing outside and it was full house. And it's just 6:45 pm. Gosh..

Got our seats promptly and we ordered...

Keropok udang and emping malinja (malinja crackers)for snacking.. Pretty good as it's freshly fried...

Next, the Sayur Asam (indonesian sour soup) was served...I must say that this soup is definitely acquired taste as I thought it tasted different. There were peanuts, cabbage, long beans, salted vegetables, some other preserved stuff that I cant really identify all thrown into the soup. It's sour but at the same time very sweet. I really cant find the words for it. Just weird. I didn't like it.

Finally, we got our Ayam Penyet..

Ayam penyet literally means smashed chicken, in this case, the meat was tenderised using hammer. It's then deep fried, served with sides of fried bean curd, tempe, some raw vegetables and a generous amount of fiery sambal. The chicken was very tender, juicy and crunchy. Extremely tasty, we were also given a bottle of thick, sweet dark soy sauce (lookalike) that's really addictive. I drizzled it all over the chicken, on my rice. yummy. The sambal was very tasty too, fragrant but very very spicy! Set my mouth (and belly) on fire!

For drinks, we ordered Teh Botol Sosro (Indonesian Iced Tea). I didn't take a picture of that as it looks like any ordinary iced tea. But, by golly, that is one of the most funky, vile stuff I've ever drank!! Tasted so bad, and it lingers!! Tasted like tea mixed with 2 week old coconut oil washed off from someone's hair. eeeewwww. Our total bill was SGD31

I noticed lots of people ordering Pecel Lele (fried catfish). Must be good too. Ayam Penyet Ria also serves Empal Penyet (smashed beef steak), Ikan Bawal Penyet (smashed pomfret), Udang Penyet (Fried prawns) and other indonesion dishes.

Ayam Penyet Ria is located at 304 Orchard Road, Lucky Plaza #04-25/26. Tel: +6562357385.

Too far for you? There's a Ayam Penyet shop in PJ too, check out Boo's post on it. It does not serve the addictive sweet, thick dark soy sauce though :-(