Monday, January 24, 2011

Craft Brews @ Mutiara Damansara


It was a weekend when I went to Craft Brews @ Damansara Utama with my lovely family members. This place was introduced by my second sister who sometimes enjoy her lunch there with her colleagues. She claimed that Craft Brews serve some succulent pork ribs and also PORK burgers which you don't always find in Malaysia.


The MUST-TRY in Craft Brews would be their home brewed beer!! These are rather unique which you can hardly find in other places, especially their Monster Green Lager! Second from left is Wei Zen which is said to be light, so for those who can't take richness of malt taste, try to choose this! The next one would be the English Ale which tasted slightly more bitter, and full. Cheng Cheng Cheng Cheng, the last one would be Lime Wheat which I personally like the most! As per recommended, this beer carries slight sweetness and thus more soothing when it flows through your throat. Also, I like the fragrant which lingers in my mouth.

Look at these rather cool place mats. Me and my family were attracted to the place mats once we got onto our seats. Each of the place mat has different quotation related to alcohol.
One of it says, "Always remember that I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me." quoted from Winston Churchill!

Guess what is in my little cup? Coffee? Tea? No!! It's actually a cup of complimentary soup! YES BELIEVE YOUR EYES, it's actually complimentary to everyone who steps into the restaurant! The little cup was actually filled with Russian Borscht soup to fill your empty stomach!

We ordered the meat platter which could serve up to 4 pax. It comes together with 2 flavors of pork back ribs and 2 quarters of Carribean Spice Chicken. As per recommended, we have chosen the Honey Mustard Ribs and Tex-Mex Hickory BBQ Back Ribs. I LOVE the Honey Mustard ribs due to the strong fragrant of honey which comes together with the mustard dressings. They are also very generous in their sauce!! You can actually ask for MOREEE honey mustard especially for your wedges. Oh ya, the meat platter served with corn cobs and whole loads of wedges!


SALAD!! Yes, I don't remember the name of the salad, but this is really good. The dressing is very delicious together with the FRESH GREENS. I'm emphasizing on the word fresh because sometimes I do find root rot on the vegetables served.

Last but not least would be the long awaited PORK BURGER!! Haha, one word to describe - D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S

All of us were satisfied with the food served. I will be back XD



Craft Brews G3 Podium, Ground Floor,
Menara KLK,
No.1 Jalan PJU 7/6,
Mutiara Damansara,
47810 Petaling Jaya, Selangor

WICKED HOURS:
Mon - Sun: 12pm - 6pm

HAPPY HOURS:
Mon - Sat: 6pm - 8pm
Sunday: 6pm - Closing

Kitchen closes 2PM - 5PM daily. Bar remains open. Please make sure you go earlier for your lunch or you'll be missing the juicy pork ribs or the burgers =p

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Food Security in Malaysia?



Is food security existing in Malaysia? According to WHO, The World Food Summit of 1996 defined food security as existing “when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life” .

As mentioned by the reporter Mani Ramakrishnan at the start of the video, he claimed that there are at least 850 million people in the world today that are considered as being chronically hungry due to extreme poverty. There is another 2 billion others that are considered as lacking in food security from time to time due to a varying degree of poverty. There are various reasons for that from the environmental, economic as well as social all the way up to outright political ones and governments throughout the world are dealing with this in their own ways but mostly through preparation if not prevention.

The embedded video is a cut from the TV program, Reporter's File which is regarding to the current Malaysia Food Security Issue.

Malaysia is said to be one of the richest in South East Asia (SEA), with a creditable record of economic development and also shown a significant decline in poverty over the years. Despite being blessed with rich natural source, Malaysia's economic is still vulnerable. Looking back to year 2008, the citizens of Malaysia were severely affected by the Fuel and Food Crisis.

In 2011, prices of fuel and many essential items have been increased. Malaysia could possibly face another food crisis where the government needs to work seriously to ensure sufficient food production as well as boosting the food security. This is especially crucial when the world suffers climate change now, which might possibly affect the yield of rice in Malaysia.

Malaysia government has got to work on this issue!! SAY NO TO FOOD CRISIS ~~~ My tummy is still in need of all these treats!


Saturday, January 22, 2011

Real Kung Fu @ Taman Connaught





One of the new food eatery at Taman Connaught, REAL KUNG FU. I went in because it claims to serve the authentic Klang Bak Kut Teh. It would be great as I can save all the kilometers but to enjoy the authentic ones at my doorstep.

This photo shows the menu which is placed on every table. If you're going to this restaurant alone for lunch especially, you can order from their mix menu which mixes two parts of the meat in a bowl. By that you can actually enjoy both parts.

Actually I'm not a big fan of meat especially the ones with fat layers. what I can comment would be the soup. The soup is rather thick as compared to the ones I previously had. I would rate it 3 stars if given 5 stars. What I like is the generous amount of green vege they served, that is considered quite a big plate with only RM8.00. Not only that, the green leafy is very fresh too, without much seasoning, it tasted real good. Last but not least would be the Yu Za Kuei aka the Deep Fried Devils as shown in the photo above, it was a bit soft lacking the crispiness in it. Also it has very apparent raw flour taste and even with the dip of Bak Kut Teh couldn't cover the raw taste.

Overall, if you're just hungry and craving for Bak Kut Teh, you could probably eat at this shop. But if you're looking for the authentic Klang ones, please go to Klang or you would probably be disappointed.

Add:
No.30, Jalan Cerdas,
Taman Connaught,
Cheras 55100
Kuala Lumpur.


Operating Hours:
Mon - Fri: 10am - 3pm & 6pm - 10pm
Wed: 10am - 3pm only
Sat & Sun : 9am - 3pm & 6pm - 10pm

For more details, check out at their official website
http://www.realkungfu.my/

Lavazza Cafe @ Cheras Perdana


Its again the MAKAN(which mean eating in English) time for my family. No doubt everyone loves good food, so do my family!! Checked in at Lavazza Cafe @ Cheras Perdana which is rather famous for their designer cake!! But we went there for DINNER instead of those pretty looking cakes :)

Look, so these are some of their cakes displayed in a glass wall shelves. Look at all those pretty designs, you wouldn't even bare to eat them.

Back to the food, I ordered BBQ marinated chicken whole leg @ RM 15.90 before tax. Although the portion is quite small for a big eater, the meat itself was fresh and juicy. Most importantly, it wasn't oily!! I personally don't quite fancy the slight honey sweetness in the BBQ sauce but all my family members said that this is good!


Last but not least would be my side dish CHEZZY WEDGES. I know I'm fat but it doesn't really matter when it comes to good food, I just can't help and control myself. This chezzy wedges is real CHEESY, it was served hot and you can actually see the cheese dripping in my photo!! Oh ya, this is only RM 6.90 which can satisfy my cravings for both cheese and potato on the same go. What a good budget!!



Check into Lavazza Cafe @, (the same row at Cosway)
No 1, Jalan Perdana 2,
Segar Perdana Avenue,
43200 Malaysia.

Working Hours :
Mon - Sun
12:00 pm - 1:00 am

http://www.lavazzacafe.com.my

Friday, January 21, 2011

Lovely Heart Shaped Chocolate Cake ❤


I have spent FEW HOURS in the kitchen just to bake this.
My Lovely Chocolate Cake with Strawberry Filling topped with Belgium chocolate
Valentine's coming, you can actually bake a love shaped cake for your loved one.. =D

You have to be patient to bake a cake or perhaps, a few mini cakes =D LOL
It is pretty complicated as you have to cook the chocolate, cool it, prepare the meringue, mix in flour, mix in this and that and that and that and finally you get to bake it. After baking, its not the end of it. You have to shape it and then prepare the strawberry filling, fill it, and chill it in the fridge for ONE HOUR. yes, one hour of waiting time. Then, you have to top them with the Belgium chocolate. And Blah blah blah....Never ending works.

Topped with Belgium chocolate =D *Shiny shiny *

A clearer view of my LOVELY CHOC CAKE =D

A little decoration before I serve this to my LOVELY MUM, muackss...


Check out this video to learn how to prepare chocolate ganache!! You need to skillfull so that you don't burn the chocolate.

Dinner @ Tang Shifu

Please spot this restaurant in one of the most famous shopping mall in Petaling Jaya! If you are Chinese educated, you would know what the restaurant serves by looking at the name itself! Namely Tang Shifu, carrying the meaning of "Master in Soup". Being a Chinese, I'm not doubt a soup lover. Since young, soup would be my all time favorite on the dinning table, I just can't stop myself from refilling and scooping another bowl. So, this is the reason why I have chosen this restaurant instead of the others in 1 Utama.

After flipping through the menu, I'm much tempted by most of the dishes there and I have chosen this healthy package of Dried Mee Suah with Dried Scallop and Abalone Sauce. The Mee Suah tasted nice with the abalone sauce and dried scallop. My little advice here would be eating this QUICK, or the Mee Suah would tend to be very sticky and starchy when the temperature decreases.

Besides the much delicious Mee Suah, the set comes together with a little pot of soup. Given 5 points, I would only give 3 points for the soup as it didn't taste as rich and thick compared to the ones I had in other restaurants / home. By the way, there is a big chunk of meat in the soup, so I guess that would be good for the meat eaters out there!

Not only that, this set of meal comes together with two side dishes, which are black beans and braised meat. The beans were a bit too hard and thus I don't like the mouth feel. As for the braised meat, I found it very OILY and wasn't as delicious as the ones I had before. There is another cheaper set which costs RM 14.90 without the side dishes. I would probably be taking that set during my next visit!!

I would end the post with the address, and hope you can enjoy your meal there. Till here.

LG321, Lower Ground Floor,
1 Lebuh Bandar Utama,
Bandar Utama City Centre,
Bandar Utama, 47800
Petaling Jaya



Lou Yao Kei @ Inanam Taipan

Lou Yao Kei aka the Friendly Restaurant is a Chinese restaurant. As the name suggests, it would be a great place for you and your great old buddies to gathher and pass time. No, it wasn't furnished like how the cafes are. It looks exactly like one traditional Chinese restaurant but slightly modernized. This is probably due to the big wall banner with all te food photos served in the restaurant. However, wooden stools and tables as well as chopsticks were maintained in the restaurant.

We're not locals from Kota Kinabalu, so this restaurant was actually recommended by my neighbour in Kuala Lumpur who moved there for quite some years. He placed the orders and we patiently eagerly waited for our food to come!!

When the food were served, it looks exactly the same like the one you would find in the normal Chinese restaurants. I started trying on each of the dishes and hooh-la-la, all the dishes were very tasty. It wasn't very oily nor salty but moderately seasoned in a way which satisfied my tastebuds!! Thumbs up for the "fish in claypot", you just can't stop but to add more rice so that you could enjoy more of the gravy!! As well as the fried cuttlefish covered with salted egg yolk, its soft and chewy, and what I observed was that the bottom of the plate was seen the quickest! I swear that you would love this instead of the tough ones which is so chewable like a piece of chewing gum! :p

If you like home cooked food, you would love this restaurant.
It would say it worth a try! If you're staying at Kota Kinabalu or you're going to travel there, why not give it a try and tell me what do you think about this restaurant?


Leave your footsteps @
Friendly Restaurant (New shop lots @ Inanam which is also located same row as KFC)
Lot f 0-6,Ground floor
KK Taipan, Inanam,
88450 Kota Kinabalu,
Sabah.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Darabif Burgers @ Damansara Uptown



I bought some food coupons from GroupsMore the other day, forcibly asked my dad to drive the whole family to Darabif Burgers before the coupons expired!! Darabif is more famous for their Moo Burgers as compared to their Chick Burgers. However, I don't take beef, so the review lies on my rather picky and choosy parents :p I ordered beef burgers for my parents, Malaysian Moo for my mum and Moo for my dad. My parents said that the Malaysian Moo which is more expensive tasted better than the Moo. My dad claimed that Malaysian Moo comes with an additional slice of cheese, so that would be good for cheese lovers out there. Oh ya, almost forgotten to mention about the meat, you can choose either mean or lean for the patties! Isn't this great for the girls who would love to avoid the fats??

So now back to my choice of burger! I ordered hot chick for myself and chick for my sister. The hot chick wasn't spicy at all!! I felt that it tasted almost the same as the chick burger. I'm not one who would usually add chili sauce to my burger but I added in chili sauce so that my hot chick would get slightly hotter than usual :p Back to the taste of the burger, the patty is rather soft and juicy, what's more is the chunks of meats which were still visible in the patty! Also, the bread sandwiching the patty wasn't thick and Darabif did gave ample amount of sauce! Even my mum said that the "Hot Chick" tasted good!!

Darabif Burgers is situated on the same row as Public Bank and the Darabif's sign is red in color.

Damansara Uptown
No. 43-G, Ground Floor,
Jalan SS21/60, Damansara Utama,
47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Famous Amos @ Kota Kinabalu Airport

"The Famous Amos® Cookie Story (source)

In 1975, inspired by a passed-down family recipe, Wally Amos perfected the ultimate chocolate chip cookie. By using only the best ingredients, like semi-sweet chocolate chips and flavorful nuts, these homemade-tasting cookies became famous just by word of mouth. Today, Famous Amos® cookies continue to be enjoyed by true cookie lovers everywhere."


When you travel cheap by Air Asia, it is unavoidable to have flight delays! But what to do when there is a flight delay? In order to kill some time as well to fill my stomach, I walked round the departure area and I found this Famous Amos stall!! So yes, when you're hungry and you don't feel like eating heavy / fast food, you could probably buy a small packet of Famous Amos and munch munch munch :p Pick your favorite flavour and they would weigh it on the spot for you! My all time favourite - Chocolate Chip and Pecans!!



Whenever there is a Famous Amos cookie stall, the fragrance would probably be the one which reaches my nose first. I remember back then when I was a kid, getting a packet of Famous Amos would be so difficult especially when our parents restrict us from eating too much of junks!! I don't eat this very often, but I would say the the chocolate chip cookies tasted really unique for which you could hardly get the same flavor and taste in the other chocolate chip cookies.







Tuesday, January 18, 2011

The Spaghetti Farm TSF @ Mid Valley

Due to cancellation of lecture class, me and my friends went to Mid Valley for a movie as well as shopping This is girls' nature kay? hehehe I'm pretty much broke as I spent quite a lot on trips during the previous semester break. In the end, only one of us got a pair of sandals and that's it! MIRACLE =p

Alright, before our movie, we went for our lunch at one of the restaurant The Spaghetti Farm (TSF) the wholesome italian food located next to Jade Restaurant.

They WOWED us with these 4 slogans

  • NO Artificial Coloring
  • NO Preservatives
  • NO MSG
  • NO Transfat
Looking at the banners, the prices are considered quite affordable if you were to consider eating in a shopping mall. You can get their classic tomato which is vegetarian at RM5.80 and others such as bolognese 100% Beef, Panna Creamy Chicken at RM8.80 and Carbonara Turkey Ham at RM9.80. Sorry but I couldn't recall the others.

You can simply add on for a cup of carbonated drinks and a bowl of soup for RM3.20.
So the cheapest set adds up would be RM9.00.

They are generous in serving you with their the expensive seasonings, the parmesan cheese powder, tabasco pepper sauce as well as the chili powders.


DESPITE the slogans that succesfully wowed all the health conscious peeps out there
The food tasted BAD, seriously BAD. Even a can of Prego spaghetti sauce or any instant spaghetti tasted ways better. I did tried on both the tomato and white sauces of the spaghetti and their white sauce tasted AWFUL, oh gosh, it makes me lost my appetite halfway through my course of meal.


Next would be their soup, the chicken soup was alright, not so thick but you get to see small chunks of flour which are not well mixed into the butter batter. If you know how to cook soups, you would know what I'm talking about. I was truly disappointed as we first opted to go for either Italianies or Subway. Now all of us regretted choosing this.

My very first and the last time.
yes I swear =D


Don't step into this shop

The Spaghetti Farm
LG049 & 050 Lower Ground Floor
Mid Valley Megamall
Level 31 Lingkaran Syed Putra
59200 Kuala Lumpur