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 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.

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.

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.

Ben's, Suria KLCC and Pavillion

I reckon I should blog about Ben's before it got too stale- the photos have been sitting in my album for some time now :p

The first time I noticed Ben's was at KLCC- it took over CPK and refurbished to a 'darkish' corner. Somehow, it didn't pique my interest at all, until Diha told me to check it out- she had a good time there.

And so I did went to have a look.

Went there for dinner (heard lunch's ultra pack), Ben's at KLCC has a relaxed ambiance and jazzy tunes in the background to sooth a hectic day at work. The spacing between diners was at a comfortable distance, compared to Ben's at Pavillion, which had a cosy, cheery concept, diners sitting rather closely to be able to hear next table's gossip..hehe..

I digress, lets get back to the food instead, shall we?

Some mocktails to start...

Muddled Mary and Berry Freeze..

Mary's too spicy to my liking, berry was ok..

We had the soft shell crab salad (RM20.90)..

A lighter version of somtum, they were generous with the soft shell crabs and papaya. Not too sour nor spicy, the salad had a good crunch and eating it with the piping hot crabs does give a nice oomph to this dish.

I always have a soft spot for duck and I zoomed in straight for the Duck Confit Spaghetinni (RM22.90)..

And yes, in case you're wondering why the dish looks so familiar, Ben's owned by the same people who started Delicious. Alas, similar in look does not translate in taste- this was ultra greasy and salty.

The Portobello Mushroom Sandwich (RM22.90) fared much better..

The mushroom was juicy, filled with smoky, woody flavour. The accompanying side kicks were commendable too- the grilled capsicums was juicy, the rocket fresh and nutty and oozing melted cheese completes the picture. Yup, this is a vegetarian dish.

Ben's at Pavi had something that KLCC didn't...

Think it's perfect if you are in the company of introverts and shy people..haha

And the desserts- hits and misses..

The chocolate banana cake

Compact, dry, fudgy. I feel like I was eating Winnie the Pooh, and not in a nice way. Dont like it at all.

Blackforest was way better..

Dark chocolate mousse was fantastic with the moist cake, the meringue bits gave a bit of excitement to the else melting cake.

Not a cake person? Maybe you should try the Banofee Sundae..

Lots of bananas, vanilla ice cream, butterscotch, choc fudge, short cake with chocolate and roasted almond slivers. A delicious combination, what can I say?

I feel that Ben's food was not the main attraction (it's pretty decent, dont get me wrong), but it's the ambiance, target market crowd that draws in the like minded.

There are a few branches around town- Ben's KLCC, Ben's Pavillion and Ben's Bangsar Village 1. I heard that the menu differs slightly between these three branches.

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.

Halia, Singapore Botanical Gardens

Ahh, I'm back from a hiatus..taking a break, making a short trip to visit a friend who has recently relocated to Singapore. We had good time catching up, doing things at a relaxed pace..and enjoyed the Lion King musical (do watch if you have the opportunity to!).

I thought I should see a different side of Singapore this time around- well, there's more than just sales and shopping arcades right?

And so we did a lazy sunday outing- we went to Botanical Gardens, to take pleasure in what nature had to offer :)

But of course, it is Singapore, even the Botanical Gardens was crowded. Full of tourists and locals. Sigh.

Though I'm not too impressed with certain parts of the garden, there were a few areas that was certainly picturesque..

And all the strolling left us hungry, and we made our way to Halia restaurant, located right in the middle of the ginger garden within the Botanical Gardens.

There was a choice of indoors or outdoors dining- we chose the former, as we were all sticky and sweaty from all that walk! :p

I felt like I was eating in a greenhouse, which provided a wonderful reprieve from the sweltering heat.

We were seated quickly, the service was attentive yet not suffocating.

Though the brunch menu had a good range to choose from, all of us opted for sandwiches.

I've worked up a hearty appetite by then, so I decided on the Grilled Steak Sandwich (SGD22)..

This is certainly a generous portion, the steak was sufficient (not too thick), served on ciabatta with sauteed brown mushrooms, onion marmalade, roasted tomatoes and a side of salad. The steak was juicy, paired will with the rest of the ingredients.

Jun, who's still in the breakfastie mood, went for the Poached egg on brioche (SGD22)Served with crisp bacon, roasted tomatoes, mushroom, spinach and dill hollandaise, this was quite a mouthful, but satisfying so.

Amy on the other had, decided on the Chef's brunch special (SGD23)- the list of ingredients was so long that I cant even recall..only a few things stuck on my mind- it had truffle, ham, cheese, tomatoes.... And this is how it looks like..She was a tad disappointed with her portion after seeing ours, but the combination of flavours and texture was excellent. The bread was crisp and warm, the filling- almost pate like, had a discerning rich flavour which was satisfying. The virgin bloody mary provided on the side was to cleanse our palate with every bite of the sandwich, so that we can enjoy the playing of flavours of this combo. And yes, it does fill you up although the portion is genteel :p

Halia Restaurant is located at 1 Cluny Road, Ginger Garden (enter via Tyersall Avenue, Singapore Botanic Gardens.

Aria, Bukit Damansara

It was not my intention to eat at Aria at the beginning. We were at Bukit Damansara during one of those packed festive season and could not get a place to eat. We settled for some pub grub, which left me sorely disappointed..

But didn't you try Aria? The food's pretty good.. My friend told me the next day when I complained.. Actually, I didn't really notice Aria, as it was at the quiet end of the block. Keeping that in mind, I decided that I should try it the next time I'm over at Bukit Damansara. A couple of months later, I did managed to made my way there. Aria's a cozy little place, service was just ok. We started the meal with Black Mussel with White Wine sauce (RM22) This was a fantastic starter, the mussels were thick and fresh, the sauce was thick, aromatic with white wine and very sweet. The crisp bread were perfect to mop up all those yummy sauce..

The Grilled Portobello mushrooms Salad (RM22)Came out rather skimpy. When they meant mushrooms (plural), it means 2 pieces. And it's the smallest portobello I've set my eyes on. Well, to be fair, the mushrooms were grilled to juicy perfection, with crisp cheesy top. Just that its so very little to satiate me.

The Seafood Zuppa (RM25) was next..

The amount of seafood stacked on the bowl was generous- but we were not impressed by the seafood, it was the flavour of the soup that got our votes. It was light, not heavy with tomato flavour, filled with sweetness from the seafood and a hint of smokiness in the soup. Very satisfying.

The pastas were next.. Linguine Aglio Olio Smoked Duck (RM28)

Though the pasta was cooked al-dente, the pasta was a tad too oily and salty. Eat it with smoked duck and olives added to the saltiness. Only order if you like your food salty.

Spaghetti Alla Opus (RM32) was next. And yes, if you find the name familiar, Aria is run by the same management as Opus, hence some similarity in dishes..

Though this dish scored low for finesse (seems like they just dumped the whole thing on the plate), again they scored high on the flavours. Fantastically addictive, sweet sauce, seafood fresh and springy, the pasta nicely al-dente. Delish.

And lastly, our meat for the night..

Pecorino Lamb Cutlet (RM55)

This dish didn't leave me impressed. The lamb rack was deep fried and the crust tasted suspiciously akin to KFC batter. The lamb was fully cooked, while I prefer ed mine still pinkish and juicy.

Of the dishes I've had, I feel that Aria does well in seafood dishes but average on the rest. I'll definitely pop by again, there's still a number of dishes which caught my eye, but didn't have the stomach space to try it this time ;).

Aria is located at 44G&44M, Plaza Damansara, Jalan Medan Setia 2, Bukit Damansara, KL. Tel: 03-20950016.

Pork Place, Bandar Puchong Jaya

It was for my belated birthday treat.

A couple of my friends decided to feed me pork, somehow I exuded porkiness and keenness for porcine... haha

And so we trooped over to Pork Place, brought to us by the same owner of Sanbanto.

I expected a rather similar menu per Sanbanto's but nope, not the same at all.

Pork Place seems to focus towards fusion Japanese, which we ordered a few to sample...

The Sliced Pork Belly Salad..

A rather generous portion of greens served with slices of pork belly, ebiko and topped with goma sauce. The goma sauce definitely heightens the otherwise mild flavoured salad. It's enjoyable, but I still prefer Sanbanto's Pork belly salad.

The Grilled Pork belly with linguine (RM24) was served almost immediately with the salad..

Served alfredo with peas, the pasta was pretty decent. I do find it a tad bland, but hey, less salt in our diet is always good, no?

The Breaded Pork with Japanese curry served with spiralini was the least popular..
Sounds adventurous but the flavours just don't gel together. The curry was runny, the breaded pork was a dry and the pasta just cant absorb any of curry sauce to it.

Luckily for us, the Pork Loin steak was the saving grace..

Though it's the most expensive dish on the menu (RM45) the pork was wonderfully prepared- slightly crisp and charred on the inside while the meat remains succulent. It was served with black pepper sauce which I find absolutely redundant as the pork loin was well marinated and tasted lip smacking on its own. The side dishes were tasty too, an added bonus.

We actually had the bacon and cheese burger too, which, for the life of me, could not figure out why I didnt take a picture of. The burger pattie was not the usual coarse ground pork version, but smooth pattie ala pork sausage. It was quite nice, but not as fantastic as others raved about.
If I really had to choose between Sanbanto and Pork Place, I'd go for Sanbanto. Though it paled in ambiance, I prefer Sanbanto's menu.

Pork Place is located at 31, IOI Boulevard, Jalan Kenari 5, Bandar Puchong Jaya.