We were greeted with a glass of bubbly sparkling – Waipara Hills Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough Cuvée NV, a fresh appetizing bubbly to boost our appetite before the courses started. Special occasion?! Well, it’s the once a while wine gathering that a friend of mine from Evergrape Wine Community planned, where we paid an amount of money to enjoy the wine and Japanese food pairing in Senjyu Japanese Restaurant.

***

Starter – Aigamo
Japanese smoked duck with wasabi yuzu sauce
A refreshing and appetizing starter we loved. The smoked duck slices alone were good; they went even better with the thin slices of lemon!

Zensai - Shiro Mahuro Aspara, Ebi KAraage Kushiyaki & Unagi Tempura
Grilled sliced butterfish with asparagus, deep-fried prawn with special sauce on top and eel tempura.

We had this paired with Vignerons de Caractere Vacqueyras Blanc Seigneur de Fontimple; love its creamy full body and it compatible well with our seafood. The unagi was a little oily to my liking, thanks to have the special strawberry sauce that washed down the greasiness of the tempura.

Osuimono – Kani Yasai Nabe
Crab meat, tofu and assorted vegetable soup in Japanese paper pot

Otsukuri – Muki Hotate, Kaki Akaebi Sashimi
Here comes something fresh from the sea. There were Japanese Scallop, Oyster and Hokkaido Sweet Shrimp and we kanpai with Hakitsuru Sake

First main course – Kinoko To Kobe Beef
Sliced Kobe beef roll with Enoki and Shimeji mushroom; the Kobe beef slices were done right, rolling up the crunchy earthy mushrooms. Love the art pieces decorated all over the plate. They were all edible.

Second main course – Foie Gras Wagyu Beef Steak
Wagyu beef steak with goose liver; the foie gras was a letdown as it was not as succulent and juicy one as we expected.

Or the Lamb which I forgot to take down the name.

Both the first and second main courses were paired with Chateau Mondorion AC Saint-Emilion Grand Cru 2009

Palate Cleanser – Nanko Shochu

The shochu was steamed and then flamed up to release the alcohol content in the shochu.

Makimono – Senjyu Yasai Maki
Senjyu Vegetable Roll; the refreshing crunchy rolls before the sweet ending.

Dessert – Homemade Japanese Oreo Ice Cream and paired with Vignerons de Caratere Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise Bouquet des Dentelles; a very fragrant dessert wine with a mix of peach and fruit and ended with a fresh hint of honey. Ahhh, lovely scented desserts wine but not the sweet ending as the ice cream was tad sweet to my liking. The ice cream was nothing very impressive. 

Senjyu Japanese Restaurant
G2 & G3, Ground Floor, e@Curve
No.2A, Jalan PJU 7/3
Mutiara Damansara
47810 Petaling Jaya
Selangor Darul Ehsan
Tel: 03-7727 9028

Yay… !!!

The famous Macau pork chop bun is now part of the family in my favourite food court Hutong Lot 10. Tai Lei Loi Kei 澳门大利來記咖啡室 is the must visit for tourists if you are travelling in Macau. Established since year 1968, famous for its pork chop bun which is usually sold out within 2-3 hours.

Signature Pork Chop Bun (Rm 11.90 for a la carte)
Flavourful and very well marinated pork chop in their secret sauce; sandwiched in between the freshly made crusty bun. I have not tried the real Macau’s version but this was really good to me. Their pork chop bun need no extra dressing or sauces; the simple, succulent, big and thick cut of pork chop gave us all fingers licking moment. Honestly, I can have this for lunch, everyday!!! Make it a set at Rm 13.90 which inclusive a drink with choices of Macau Milk Tea, Coffee or Soft Drink.

Polo Pork Chop Bun (Rm 11.90 for a la carte)
The same juicy and thick cut of pork chop sandwiched in between the soft and fluffy sweet polo bun. Prefer the original bun to this one.

Sawdust Cake Dessert澳门木槺蛋糕 (Rm 5.50)
Sawdust Cake or known as Serradura in Portuguese, a lovely dessert that is made of whipping cream, condensed milk and layered with crushed sweet tea biscuit (or Marie biscuit). Creamy and milky at the same time.

Check out other food choices available in Hutong Lot 10.

Tai Lei Loi Kei Pork Chop Bun 澳门大利来咖啡室
Hutong, Lot 10,
Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur

Scream for ICE CREAM!!!!

Chilling nitrogen gas, lab technicians all in lab coats, beakers, volumetric flasks….

Everyone has been talking the liquid nitrogen ice cream which is the latest and hottest desserts in town. There are brands like Ooh My Gas and N Brew which often draw patrons to stop by and have a look on the process and ended up everyone’s hands are with a cup of N2 ice cream. I haven’t given a try, till… I found out there is one N2 ice cream in the mall near my house – Just Like It Ice Cream!!! Newly open its door to the Cheras folks, like the other N2 ice cream, this one too, using the liquid nitrogen technology to create super smooth ice cream from flavoured liquids. Pick flavours from their signature menu such as New Popcorn, Durian Durian, chocolate flakes or the Weekly Menu such as Tropicana Mango, Rum Raisin, Mandarin Ginger, Café Café, Double Cracking Pistachio and a lot more. I had mine Roxy Berries; filled with spices and berries, it was a little straight to my liking. Priced at Rm 9.90 for the small and Rm 11.90 for the large cup. Would be great if they are able to give out samples to try or else it would be ended up ordering blindly.

Roxy Berries; Rm 11.90 for a large cup

Just Like It
Leisure Mall, Level 1
(Next to Craving Lane)

Last Thursday, I suggested to my colleagues that we shall have the very last banana leaf rice meal at our favourite spot on Monday (which is today). But hell no. We received a call on Friday morning and asked us to report to our new places immediately. It was like ASAP!!! Panic attacked and our last banana leaf rice lunch was then gone.

***

Banana Leaf Rice is the traditional Indian vegetarian dish. White rice is served on a large sheet of fresh banana leaf and the staff will start pouring in assortment of vegetarian curry dishes onto it. Finally the rice will be drenched with some curries of your choice.

Curry Leaf Restaurant is one of the famous banana leaf rice places in Seremban, and a place I would frequent with my colleagues on Mondays. If you are ordering their banana leaf rice (Rm 6.50), you will get 7 vegetarian side dishes which are very well spiced and flavoured such as slow cooked pumpkin, cabbage, bitter gourd, spinach, super spicy brinjal, spicy tofu (yes, I named them both with super!) and long beans. I love most of them and will usually ask the staff to put more spicy brinjal and tofu on my plate/leaf. And then I will go for their dhal and chicken curry. Sometimes, we will order masala fried chicken to share among us. Not to forget the papadum, the crispy addictive side dish that is great to go with the rice. The best part of the papadum is… free flow!!!

If you find banana leaf rice is pricey , you can always opt for their “economic rice” type from the food counter. Pick 3 choices (depending on the amount also) from the food counter, it just costs roughly Rm 3.50 – Rm 4 for your plate of rice (with vegetarian dishes lar). One of the vegetarian dishes, the fried bitter gourd was very well battered and addictive. Garlic Naan and Cheese Naan are pretty huge and fluffy too. However, I have yet to try out their Tandoori chicken. By the way, they do have an outlet in Damansara Uptown.

Ahhh, I am supposed to have the banana leaf rice today!!!

Curry Leaf Restaurant
1274, Jalan Rasah,
70300 Seremban,
Negeri Sembilan.
Tel: 06-662 8758
Opens daily from 7am to 4pm & 6pm to 12am

I took a half day off from work, in order to join the tai-tai-s for tea. ahh, a tea session, was what I need. Friday afternoon, we picked a French House - Maison Francaise.

In this white house, laid the modern and elegant atmosphere; clean cut of table setting white and contrasting some black chairs, simple wall paintings, posh chandeliers, fresh flowers on every tables… I love the services they provided; with greetings from the main doors to usher you onto your seat, it was such a 5-star service.

Maison Francaise – Tea Time Menu

Smoked salmon sandwich with green salad
A tasty home-made treat made with smoked salmon in a crispy toast enriched with the flavors of caper

Apricot/ Figs delight
Roasted apricot / figs from Provence in butter sauce with vanilla ice cream

Cannele de Bordeaux
A cake with a rich custardy interior enclosed by a thin caramelized shell, flavored with dark rum

Raspberry tart
A shell of pastry dough stuffed with a wonderful combination of almond paste and juicy strawberries

Mini passion fruit entremet
A multi-layered mousse-based cake featuring a variety of textures with a delighful passion fruit flavor.

Crêpe with caramel sauce
A very thin French pancake topped with sweet caramel sauce

Doughnut with your choice of flavor
A Doughnut made from sweet yeast dough fried in oil, with a chocolate or chestnut filling

Butter, Jam and Honey
A small portion of fresh French gourmet butter and a selection of the finest jam and honey

Brioche
A highly enriched French bread with a rich and tender crumb

For the price of Rm 38++ per person (with a minimum of 2 persons), you will get above items or maybe some changes, sometimes. Our servings was slightly different from the menu above. For example, Apricot/Figs Delights and Crepe with Caramel Sauce were replaced with White Chocolate Mousse. All items are served on a single tier and prettily arranged. Teas are not included in their afternoon tea menu, so we ordered separately.

Darjeeling (Rm 14)
This Darjeeling tea comes from the foothill of Himalaya with the taste of the ripe fruits.

Earl Grey Tea (Rm 14)
With a traditional oriental blend of smoked tea

You may be surprise to see us having the mains after the tea; well, there were still plenty of rooms for more as all of us had not have the lunch.

Complementary French Bread

Le magret de canard glacé au miel et épices
Seared glazed duck breast with honey and spices (Rm 62)
Perfectly seared duck meat and drenched with the sauce that infused with mushroom flavours and honey. Oh boy, I love the sauce so much. Love the idea of potato that was made into the case for the minced button mushrooms, it surprised us!

Soufflé à votre convenance: Citron, Chocolat, Grand Marnier, Mangue, Vanille
Soufflé of your choice: Lemon, Chocolate, Grand Marnier, Passion fruit and Vanilla Crêpe with caramel sauce (Rm 40)
This dessert is kinda expensive, but you won’t regret for ordering it. Grand Marnier soufflé was what we had. The light orange flavoured brandy liquer soufflé was airy and fluffy, perfectly bloomed and rose up high. Photo away the precious few minutes before it sinks down and digging in. Beautiful.

Maison Francaise
5 Jalan Changkat Kia Peng
50450 Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia
Tel: +603 2144 1474
Tuesday to Sunday: 11.00am – 11.30pm (last order)
Closed on Mondays

Used to locate opposite the Brickfields police station has now situated at Lorong Syed Putra Kiri, Kheng Heong is the no frill restaurant that serves Chinese dai chow fares which is priced affordably. I find their dishes are pretty good, pretty homey (on those we have tried). Price wise, it was really affordable and cost us about Rm 160 for total of 8 pax.

Tit Gong Gai 铁公鸡 or known as Boxing Chicken is one of the signatures in Kheng Heong.
Presented in a mini drumstick-liked, the drummets were very well marinated, tender and juicy.

Another signature of theirs is this Spicy Braised Carp 鳙鱼头.
Fresh fish heads were braised and made in a Saucy way. Personally I don’t quite like it but the family loves it.

Tofu Soup (?) 豆腐羹
Very much like the braised shark fin soup except it was made with tofu. It was very well flavoured and a touch of vinegar did make a different to the soup, the sourish bits did boost up our appetite for the other dishes.

Oyster omelette
The eggs were stirred in with Oyster, crabstick and covered with chopped spring onions. Fragrant but slightly on the saltier side.

Sweet and Sour Pork Ribs

Vegetable

Medan Selera Kheng Heong
1, Lorong Syed Putra Kiri,
Jalan Syed Putra,
50460 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-22733233

***

Singaporeans are blessed with a lot of good desserts around such as cakes, pastries and ice cream. That is why I can see that they love hanging out and having supper in the dessert house/café. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. So, I too, had my supper in by ninethirty by Awfully Chocolate during my visit to Singapore.

We were there by 10.30pm and there weren’t a lot of choices left. We had the White chocolate Crème Brulee Tart (Sgd 6) which was the white chocolate custard topped with caramelized glaze. My first impression on white chocolate, it must be sweet. Well, to my surprise, it wasn’t really that sweet. Love the fragrant buttery tart crust that compatible so perfectly with the creamy white chocolate eggy tart.

Single scoop hei 黑Ice Cream (Sgd 3.80) to pair with the Hazelnut Crumble (Sgd 6.90)
Hei 黑Ice Cream – their signature’s premium ice cream; made of the blend of their own chocolate and Belgian dark chocolate was seriously rich, dense and dark. As for the Hazelnut Crumble, it was the chocolate cookie base with hazelnut filling inside and topped with a generous amount of buttery hazelnut chocolate crumble. Superb!

Sadly, wasn’t able to try their signature chocolate cake as they were all sold out that night, so Chamomile Tea for a good night sleep.

Awfully Chocolate
East Coast Road
131 East Coast Road
Singapore 428816
Tel: (+65) 6345 2190
Fax: (+65) 6345 9106
Opening hours:
Mon – Thurs: 12pm – 11pm
Saturday: 9.30am – 1am
Sunday: 9.30am-11pm
Fri and eve of public holidays: 12pm-1am

or check out the other outlets opening hours at their website

Not if my BFF brought me over, I wouldn’t know there is this warmth cheerful café hidden here at this corner.

Bistro Fiore

A humble Japanese Italian café, hidden at one corner end of the building in this area; the person behind this was the friendly Sakashita san,-cooks and serves delicious homey Italian food which infused with Japanese flavour.

Set meals are priced at Rm 20++ which we found it is very value for money. Since there were three of us, we shared a set meal and an a la carte. We had the Mini Set A which consisted of a drink, soup, appetizer, salad and two types of main course. Priced at Rm 25. The appetizer was simple and healthy. The salad came with a refreshing dressing that boosts our appetite for the coming up main courses. Both fried rice and the pasta we had was pretty light and hearty, very homecook-feel I would say. The Seafood Pizza was pretty good too, crispy and cheesey with fresh ingredient such as prawns and squids.

Soup

Appetizer came with broccoli, squid rings, potato salad and onion rings. Simple and healthy.

Salad came with a refreshing dressing; sweet and sourish that increased our appetite for the next course.

Fried rice with bacon, lettuce and tomato; very oriental.

Bacon, Mushroom and Tomato Sauce Pasta was light and hearty.

Seafood Pizza (Rm 21) was cheesey and the ingredients they used were really fresh.

Bistro Fiore
H-0-11, Plaza Damas
Jalan Sri Hartamas
50480 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03-6211-481

Touching my belly and shout Belly Good, very good.

Belly Good is a non halal Western restaurant that is specially catered for pork lover; serving signature dishes such as grilled pork bellies, grilled pork ribs, back baby ribs as well as pork chops and pork burgers. On one Sunday, I decided to shower my family with a good meal and this place just came across my mind.

Passion Fruit Smoothies (Rm 8.50)

Baked Portabelli Mushroom with Bacon and Cheese (Rm 16.80)
One of the signature dishes and also my favourite. Imported fresh mushroom with melted cheese and chopped bacon. 

Grilled Bacon Salad (Rm 23.90)
Delicious pork bacon on a bed of fresh greens serving with sweet honey mustard dressing.

Bacon Platter (Rm 16.80)
Pan fried pork back bacon slices served with salad

One must not missed out their Grilled Pork Belly (Rm 27.90)
Grilled pork belly marinated with chef’s irresistible in-house sauce and served with homemade mashed potatoes and fresh coleslaw. Love the evenly proportionate fats and lean meat of the pork belly, succulent and juicy with the sweet tinge of secret sauce. Much like char siew, but in the western style. Their Pork Ribs, Pork Belly and Baby Back Ribs are marinated for a day beforehand and then tenderized by braising for a moment before touching up with smoky grill to give it the smoky grilled flavour.

Baby Back Ribs (Rm 29.90)
Succulent grilled baby back pork ribs served with tantalizing spicy brown sauce accompanied by homemade mashed potatoes and fresh coleslaw

Grilled Pork Medallions (Rm 25.90)
Grilled pork chops that drenched up with homemade brown sauce. However, it was a little too dry to my liking.

Belly Good’s In House Sausages (Rm 34.80)
Sticks of homemade sausages which are Garlic sausage, black pepper sausage, classic bratwurst and spicy pobiano served on a bed of fries and salad. I myself fancy the classic bratwurst the most.

Sautéed Bacon Spaghetti (Rm 25.80)
And finally some carb. The spaghetti was prepared in an al dente way, tossed with garlic oil, onions, sliced sausages and mushrooms and came in with a spicy hint.

Belly Good
No. 20, Jalan PJS 8/18,
Dataran Mentari,
Bandar Sunway,
46150 Petaling Jaya
Tel: 03-5630 1699

We stepped out from East & West Rendezvous café and spotted this pork satay stall. Pork Satay… running in our minds and all of us decided to give it a try.

This stall is located in Lung Ann Refreshment kopitiam; just across the road, not too far away from East & West Rendezvous café. Aside from pork satay, they offer chicken satay and the most interesting one would be the liver and intestine satay. All of us were not into the offal that afternoon and hence, we ordered only the pork satay.

Marinated chunks of meat lined prettily on the skewer sticks, grilled on the charcoal stove and furnished with the fragrant char. The satay are quite good to be eaten alone or along with the peanut sauce provided. Love the crispy charred edges and I myself prefer the peanut sauce here to the Xiang Ji’s one as the peanut sauce here was on the nuttier and spicier sides.

Rm 0.70 per stick

Lung Ann Refreshment 隆安茶室沙爹
93/807, Lorong Hang Jebat,
75200 Melaka