Engka Portobello, Changkat Bukit Bintang

It was Alicia's birthday and she requested to have dinner in KL. After giving her a few choices, she settled for a place that serves mushrooms and pork, both her favourite :p

Engka Portobello is still considered a new kid on the block, since it just opened about 3.5 months ago. The walls were adorned with posters of many types of mushrooms, giving us another topic to discuss on while waiting for our food.

Since we were the first customer, the service was excellent- the staff were attentive, but not overbearing.

Started off with some drinks

Alicia with her margarita(RM19)

She seemed to like it..

I had Vanilla rum and raisin shake(RM12).

Slightly too sweet and lacked rum taste. Plump raisins though.

We began our meal with Grilled Mushroom salad (RM10)

The type of mushrooms depends on the variety they had in the kitchen that day. Our platter was a mix of portobello, shimeji, enoki, button and oyster mushrooms. Each type of mushrooms were cooked with different spices which heightens it's flavours. We enjoyed the oyster and portobello mushroom most.

The grilled Portobello Mushrooms with pork belly and onions (RM15) sounds sexy, so we gave in to temptation..

Gosh, this was so delicious. The portobello was wonderfully succulent, bursting with woody flavour while the pork belly gave some saltiness to this else sweet dish.

The grilled pork bacon with onion rings and halumi cheese (RM13)

I find this dish very greasy. The halumi was slightly hard and dry, the onion ring's batter was so oily that I could not even detect the onion. Did not like this.

For mains, the birthday girl ordered a pork burger (RM35)

Steep price for a burger, but this was absolutely scrumptious. The thick pork pattie was moist, layered with ham, bacon, sliced portobello mushrooms, mayo cheddar cheese and sliced tomatoes; definitely able to fulfill anyone's craving for a yummilicious pork burger. It was delightful watching Alicia enjoying this so much.

Our surprise came in the form of the chips.. guess we didnt read the menu description properly..The chips were actually served on melted smoked cheese. So artery clogging but tasty indeed..

BL had the Grilled Pork Steak (RM33)

Came with a generous 2 slab pork steak, it was served on a bed of potatoes, bacon and warm apple. The pork steak was glazed with rum malt vinegar, but I could not really taste it. The steak was a tad over cooked though, but the rich sauce helped eased the slight dryness of the meat.

Mine was the charred pork steak (RM33)

The huge pork steak had a wonderful smokey flavour but again was slightly over cook. That aside, I love arranging each pork cut with a slice of portobello and smother it with the black pepper hickory sauce. Delicious.

We were so stuffed by the time we were done with mains, we wanted to skip desserts.

But Alicia wanted her BD cake and her BD wish, so we ordered her a tiramisu (RM15)

Hahaha and this was the longest tiramisu we have ever eaten! I liked the fact that this was freshly made, the cake base was still warm and moist with warm espresso. The novelty aside, it was an ok tiramisu for me as I didnt like the peanut butter slathered in the centre. Alicia enjoyed it tremendously.

The sweet manager of Engka Portobello, Sly, decided to treat us to an additional dessert..

The churrous with warm chocolate dip

Served piping hot, the churrous was crisp on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside. The accompanying chocolate sauce was slightly bitter, which complemented the slightly sweetish churrous nicely.

Overall we had a great time there, would definitely pop by for another meal (I want to try the pork ribs). But would remind them not to over cook the pork steak :p. Sly showed us their lunch set too; there's 10 mains to choose from with soup and drinks. All for 19.50++. Good value indeed.

Engka Portobello is located at 32, Jalan Changkat Bukit Bintang, 50200 Kuala Lumpur.

Elcerdo, Changkat Bukit Bintang

SL was down in KL for work, which was pretty rare..so we decided to go for a good dinner to wrap up the hectic week.

And when SL asked for my suggestion, well, you can be assured that it wont be vegetarian! :p Some porcine goodness? I suggested..

That was easy to decide.

We reached rather late, the restaurant was already packed with customers; boisterous crowd, loud laughters, random clappings to the breaking of plates everytime a suckling pig was served..warm welcome indeed..

Had some chef complimentary soup which was served at every table..Some sort of bean and pork sausages soup. Creamy and tasty..

Though the Rock Melon and air dried ham combo appetizer is very popular there, we decided to have another appetizer recommended by the waitress..

We had Boquerones The bacons were stuffed with white wine marinated anchovies and fried in olive oil. This was absolutely scrumptious; the bacon was crunchy and the delicately flavoured anchovies complements beautifully...I couldnt ask for more. The salad and onion rings were good, but the bacon rolls were definitely the star..

Next was the Pork Belly Grilled on Lava Stone

I have always loved pork belly meat texture..And Elcerdo did a wonderful job in this. The pork belly was grilled to perfection; slightly charred and smoky on the outside, while the meat was juicy and springy. Loved the fatty bits that gives the pork belly steak a more refined texture. Served with cajun rice and BBQ sauce, this was breathtaking. Sharing this is recommended, else it just gets a bit too sinful..heh

The Marinated Pork Shoulder steak was equally delicious. The pork texture was definitely different from the pork belly; coarser and more chewy. Marinated with paprika, herbs, garlic and onions, each slice of pork was lovely. And those bonito flakes look-a-likes? Are actually fried leeks, in which the manager explained, had high source of fibre to balance out the very meaty meal. Goes well with the bacon mash and salad too..

The manager apologised when the second main was served; she mentioned that the server was new..we would have enjoyed the porky mains better if we had the pork steak before the pork belly; it's was gross injustice to the pork steak. We assured her that we enjoyed both mains; though it was not served in her preferred order.. :D

The desserts looks tempting, sad that we were too stuffed to have it..

Total bill was RM141. Good time, great company and fantastic food (not forgetting the excellent service)..i will be back soon :)

Elcerdo is located at 43&45 Changkat Bukit Bintang, 50200, KL. Tel: 03-2145 0511. Do make reservations especially on fridays and weekends.