McDonald's

The portions at McDonald's have been shrinking consistently recently. A Filet O Fish doesn't look like much nowadays. The Chicken McDeluxe also has shrunk to the size of a normal McChicken. The menu prices have also gone up. The only consolation? They make their burgers fresh, so at least the food is piping hot! Especially good with the melted cheese. But having said that, eating at McDonald's is fast becoming a luxury!

Aseana Cafe KLCC - it sucks!

Some internet reviews of this cafe seemed to suggest good food and great ambiance. Well, my recent visit there proved that both of these attributes do not exist.

Let's start with the ambiance. The entire outside area is so crowded and full of smoking people. The inside was cramped and there were actually flies buzzing around! Jeez...

Moving on to the food. The menu was very limited and super expensive. Malay style prawn noodles cost RM12 and comes with 3 measly medium sized prawns. Nasi Lemak cost RM22 and came with dry beef rendang and the other standard condiments. I asked for extra sambal and unknowingly was charged extra RM4. Craps.

The taste? Nothing to shout about at all, and bordering on bad.

I paid almost RM80 for the crappy food and lousy ambiance. Let this be an advance warning to all prospective diners: do not eat at Aseana Cafe KLCC!

Foie Gras - what it really tastes like?

Referring to this letter from a concerned animal rights activist, the writer is protesting the visit of celebrity chef Bobby Chinn, presumably because the latter often uses foie gras (goose liver) in his cuisine. According to the writer, foie gras is made by force feeding geese to the extent of great suffering and even bleeding and death.

While I do not have the authority to comment on this, a quick check in Wikipedia reveals that several countries have banned production of foie gras by force feeding method, or even enacted a total ban on foie gras production and sales.

Having said that, I believe that there are still those connisuers who believe that true foie gras taste can only come from geese which have been force fed.

Nonetheless, I have not tried foie gras, and I don't think I'll enjoy it (I generally avoid any livers in my diet...)

My Chef Experience...

I played chef on 14th February... spent a morning in Mydin shopping for my ingredients: nicely sized lamb chops, tomatoes and tomato puree, bell pepper, carrots and oranges, bananas, baguettes, spaghetti, chicken ham...

My menu:

Starter

Carrot and Orange Soup served with Garlic Toast

Entree

Moorish Lamb Chops served with Spaghetti Amatriciana

Dessert

Brazilian Coffee Bananas

Surprisingly, my meal turned out quite superb! Hehehe... not bad for a beginner :)

Too bad I didn't take any photos!

Ipoh food

I suddenly had this craving to make a road trip up to Ipoh to savour all the famous Ipoh foods... hmm, maybe I'll do that on my next trip up north to Penang...

Oh crap, talking about Penang made me salivate, thinking about all the glorious Penang foods...

*DROOOOLLL*

Dinner @ Pizza Uno

Pizza Uno, formerly known as Pizza Italia, recently moved to a spanking new 3-storey unit in USJ Taipan. Along with the move a significant price increase accompanies...

Anyway, we had an enjoyable, surprisingly not super filling dinner there. We started with Gambas con Ajo (shrimp in garlic) and cream of mushroom soup. The gambas was super fresh and springy, and the delicious drenching of olive oil over finely chopped garlics, chili, and other herbs brought out the superb texture of the shrimp. The musroom soup was normal, nothing fancy to shout about.

We had 2 main courses: Fettucine Napolitana (tomato based vegetarian pasta) and Aussie Pizza (salami, pepperoni, peppers, egg and cheese). The hand made fettucine was amazingly fresh as usual, while the pizza was just the right texture to hold in the hand. Not as wet as those made in Marco's, not too thin such as those from Brava Pizza (Asia Cafe). The parmesan was kind of "musty" smelling, but I suppose that's how cheese is supposed to smell like.

We finished with a lovely strawberry cheese cake dessert, which was quite small in size, but generously filling. The bill came up to RM80 for 2, quite reasonable I believe. Next time I'll try their other tapas (the crostini platter sounds delicious :)

Crostini Platter

toasted bread with garlic aioli beef bacon, smoked salmon with cream cheese, sauteed mixed mushrooms & mini bruschetta

McDonald's Prosperity Burger

This year, it really sucks because:

1) The value meal no longer bundled with Orange McFizz!

2) The burger size has shrunk!

3) The patty is too small!

4) The fresh onions don't come in slices; rather they are minced up :P

5) The price has increased!

6) It's not as spicy as I remember before!

Miyako Japanese Restaurant, Sheraton Subang

We were attracted by the 40% discount promotion with Citibank credit cards for the buffet dinner, that's why we decided to try it out.

Upon arrival, service was prompt because we were practically the only customers in the place. The initial spread of sashimi, sushi and fresh seafood was quite tantilizing. But moving further to the hot food proved to be disappointing - limited selections and no unagi! Can you imagine it: no unagi in a Japanese restaurant?!

The tempura shrimp was pretty OK, but the teppanyaki was salty to the hells. I suspect it's the salted butter they use to grill the seafood. The desserts were weird too. The only saving grace I suppose was the 40% discount. Would I go there again? I highly doubt it. Dining in Shogun would have been a better offer indeed...

Cupcakes...

I've seen several blogs writing about those cupcakes which are all the rage nowadays. All of them mention that they taste really good. I bought half a dozen today just to try. Indeed, they look very nice and colourful. But they taste really too sweet and after a few bites, it feels very "jelak".

Cupcakes are not so tasty after all...

The Apartment @ The Curve

Sorry. No photos here, because nobody brought camera. The food portion is so small. The music started off as some pseudo techno music, but luckily they changed it to soothing easy listening music. Then the water is not being refilled!

OK lah. Other than that, it's a novelty to have this place modeled after an apartment. Bedroom, kitchen, light room, etc. But otherwise, the food is nothing special.

Craving for Penang food?

The next time I'm craving for authentic Penang food, I won't have to find an excuse to drive 350km north to the food paradise. Instead, I can now head over to The Gardens @ Midvalley and have a satisfying meal in Gurney Drive! Yes, it's really authentic Penang food sourced from various hawker stalls in Penang. Apparently, the cooks are also originally from those stalls, so really WYSIWYG!

We had lunch last Sunday there, and we ordered Curry Mee, Cha Hor Fun, O-Chien, Sotong Kandar and Ais Kacang. The curry is simply fabulous and the soup is rich and creamy and spicy together with the chili oil. The Cha Hor Fun is simply superb, each mouthful inviting yet another. The O-Chien is kind of expensive (RM18!) but the amount of oysters more or less compensates for the crazy price. The Sotong is also soft and juicy, the spices really complement the taste of the sotong. Finally, the Ais Kacang is such a big bowl and full of the "liao" until the entire bowl is literally covered in colour! The entire meal cost RM50+, and with a 15% opening discount, it came up to just under RM50. Of course, the entire meal can also be consumed in Penang for less than RM20. Ah well, it's the price you have to pay if you don't want to drive 350km north.

The next time I go there, I'll try the Hokkien Mee, Cha Kuey Teow, Asam Laksa, Nasi Kandar, and other fabulous food there.

I finally found...

... good Tom Yam nearby!

It's in Green House Thai Restaurant along Jalan SS18/6 (same row as Farmland Porridge Steamboat). It has a nondescript green coloured signboard. It may not look like much, but serves one of the best clear Tom Yam I've tasted in Subang Jaya. The seafood Tom Yam comprises of squid, shrimp, clams and scallop. Really tasty and authentic. Hopefully the restaurant can survive long for me to satisfy my cravings for good Thai food ;)

A summary of the foodies I had in Penang

Asam Laksa
This is a hot, sweet and sour food that should not be eaten if you want to sleep after your meal. Powerful pungent tamarind based soup, large chunks of fish, generous servings of onions, pineapples, mint leaves, red chilies and of course chili padi! Sourced from the local Jelutong Market.

Hokkien Mee
This is a noodle dish with a shrimp based soup. Hot and sweet, it comprises of small shrimps, pork meat, taugeh, hard boiled eggs, and fried onions for that extra zing. Sourced from the stall downstairs.

Cha Hor Fun
Something like Wat Tan Hor, but not so eggy. It's sweeter and more easily eaten compared to Wat Tan Hor. Eaten with the sambal, it's heaven!

Cha Kuey Kak
This is Cha Kuey Teow but without the Kuey Teow. Instead, radish cakes are used. A smattering of garlic and Chai Poh is added to the oily mix. The owner is an old man, and his helper was probably his wife. They operate a small cart in front of the coffee shop fronting the main road, and his customers never seem to wane. A small packet is less than RM2. Where to find this? This was bought from the coffee shop just nearby.

Jawa Mee
The soup is a potato based concoction. Into this is added taugeh, hard boiled egg, vegetables, some Indian kueh, crispy "Heh Chih" and a generous dollop of sambal. Mmm. This is comparable to the Mee Rebus, but is really a different recipe. And best of all, this was home cooked!

Apom Telur
Sweet and fragrant pancake, typically made by the ethnic Indians. Normally sells for very cheap too. Something like 6 pieces for RM2 if I'm not mistaken. This was eaten in the car on the way back home to Subang.

Ban Chien Kuey
Comfort food, it's also a pancake but it's peanut based and thicker than the Apom Telur. Had this for breakfast. Sticky and nice, but would be better if it was eaten while it was hot.

Ais Kacang
Sinfully sweet cold dessert. Comprises of shaved ice and topped with corn, red beans, various jellies, and a flood of brown syrup. Strangely, the red syrup was missing. Anyhow, this dessert is a perfect companion to any hot and spicy food eaten in Penang. This was sourced from the Batu Lanchang Market.

Su Ko Teng (?)
I've never tried this before. It basically looks something like Leng Chee Kang, but the ingredients used are different. There's the assortment of jellies, atap chee, longan and white fungus. This was bought from the pasar malam just in front.

Taiwan Sausage
No need further elaboration. Same as what you can find here in Subang. Also bought from the pasar malam.

Siew Mai
These siew mai were huge! 3 pieces for RM1, but they are more like the size of giant fish balls. Definitely delicious, but would have been better if it was really hot and steaming. Also sourced from the pasar malam.


YUMMMM!!!!!!

Craving for Thai food...

Help! I've been craving for good Thai food ever since my Bangkok trip last November. Anyone who knows any place for authentic Thai food in PJ/KL area?