We have been haunting this little bistro tucked away in Petaling Jaya ever since it opened last week. Run by private chef Isadora Chai, food here is wholesome and cooked with a lot of heart. Occupying Patrick Teoh's former Music Machine's premises, the place has been done up in a simple yet effective manner - suspended lightbulbs on closer look resemble flowers from below with their draping wires, hanging glass vases, French themed prints, black mosaic tiles and a quirky door frame with their name. Don't also forget the Francophile theme as the inside doors and the front step get a slick of the red, blue and white colours from the French flag.
Back to food. It's simple with a one page menu for appetisers, mains and desserts that does change accordingly to what's fresh in the market. While it does not rapidly change daily, if you dine here regularly enough you may find some favourites making way for other dishes that Isadora wants to introduce to you. In a way, it's a good thing as she's got quite a wide repertoire of yummy dishes. Do leave room for desserts as they're all divine. Being a good girl, I won't dive into desserts yet but start in a proper manner with appetisers.
Zoom in on the one-of-the-kind Caesar Salad Soup (RM18), Isadora's quirky creation. It's essentially a deconstructed dish - cos salad soup, soft egg hidden behind a wall of sliced toast, duck prosciutto slices, parmesan crisp with a dollop of cream. Simply divine and makes you feel happier to have eaten your greens with a spoon! We also loved the creamy duck liver parfait (RM19) that we hoovered quickly through with our soft and crusty topped baguettes. Equally good is the coddled egg with maple syrup served with an asparagus spear and crouton dust (RM16). For heartier appetites, there's also the seafood (mantis prawn and lobster) bisque topped with a gruyere souffle (RM35).
We move on the mains (and one step closer to desserts). Splashie Boy loved the gnocchi with burnt butter, tomatoes and zucchini (RM28). The gnocchi has a pillow soft texture that paired well with the fragrant brown butter, while the vegetables helped cut through the richness. A specialty here is the traditional duck cassoulet (RM48) - slow cooked duck for 8 hours with beans. It's a very hearty dish that you will keep spooning down your throat. It can be a teeny weeny bit salty though but I reckon it'll be perfect with a glass of white wine. For decadent palates, go for the slipper lobster and sea urchin tagliatelle (RM119) - a super rich concoction laced with a decadent lobster oil. The second time we dined here, the steak had been changed to a herbed crust lamb rack (RM96) that was cooked perfectly with a red wine sauce on the side and creamy mash potatoes. We had also ordered side dishes: truffled mash (RM12) and steamed French beans with hazelnuts in vinaigrette (RM10).
Finally we reach desserts, always a high point for me. We love the warm chocolate fondant with its oozing chocolate centre that melds with the vanilla creme anglaise (RM18) that hugs it. My other favourite was the dragonfruit coconut pavlova topped with candied ginger (RM14). The combination of the lightly coconut scented cream with the ginger is perfect with the crunch from the meringue. For a very rich end to your meal, you have two choices of tiramisu - an alcohol drenched one (RM29) or the deconstructed version (RM18) that is extremely chocolate-ly. Oh and don't forget one of my personal favourites, the kaffir lime and lemon tart (RM15), one of the best citrus themed tarts in town with a slightly soft centre.
The place is still very very new and feeling their way around. There's also plans to introduce a degustation menu. Do pop by and get a feel of the place and try the food. You'll find a friendly cosy place that reminds one of dining overseas. For the adventurous, try the long communal table in the middle. Who knows, you may end up chatting with your fellow diners and discover you know each other.
Bistro à Table
6, Jalan 17/54
Petaling Jaya
Tel: 03-7931 2831
(Pork Free. Place is behind Decanter at Section 17. Closed on Mondays. Open for dinnertime at the moment. Call for bookings. More pictures are in the Flickr set.)
*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. This review is time sensitive; changes may occur to the place later on that can affect this opinion. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from this place for writing the review.
One late morning, I found myself at uncharted territory i.e. Kepong. With a grumbling tummy, I knew I had to seek for some sustenance hence I vaguely remembered reading about De Champion Duck before. I did make it to the place but it was just way to early for lunch that the place was quiet like a church mouse. Instead what grabbed my attention was the crowd surrounding the corner pork noodle stall just a few doors away from it. I decided instead to throw caution to the wind and give the place a try.
It was a lucky strike as this place specialises in pork noodles that came with everything in it...i.e. those spare parts including rare objects such as kidney and cubes of pig's blood. Since I was eating with an empty tummy, I did get a little greedy and ordered everything on the table for RM11. Just a little bit of something to give it a try. Hence I ended up with a huge bowl of minced pork, pork slices, liver, kidney, pig's blood and etc. The soup wasn't too sweet with not much MSG. Really wholesome food and I really enjoyed the mince pork they shaped into flat patties - very juicy and slightly sweet. I reckon the next time I'm here, it is the normal bowl of pork noodles for RM4.50 instead since it already contains my favourite minced pork patty. The stall also does pork balls served with bittergourd slices that sounds super yummy. I guess if you want to sniff out good food, just trust the locals to pick a winner.
Pork Noodle Stall
16, Jalan 3/62
Medan Putra 3
Bandar Sri Menjalara
Kepong
Tel: 016-204 1276/012-671 2797
(Non Halal. Open from 7am to 3.45pm daily. The flickr set is here.)
*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. This review is time sensitive; changes may occur to the place later on that can affect this opinion. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from this place for writing the review.
Colour my world. Isn't that a lovely statement if we lived in dreary super gloomy British weather? In my case, I wasn't too pleased last week when someone decided to "colour my world" yellow at dinner, which resulted in these less than stellar pictures. Don't get me wrong...the food was great and so was the wonderful company I was keeping but my pictures looked horribly jaundiced from the sunshine yellow tablecloth.
Back to food as that's why you all read this blog. I was introduced to this place by a newly found friend J. Like good children, we flocked to this place just off the busy MRR2 from different directions...some from KL city centre, Cheras and me from far flung (and maybe another country where passport is required) Shah Alam. Being super efficient, J had got us all kitted up with maps hence we had no excuse to be lost. Incidentally, J also paid for dinner (thanks again) so this meant that I don't have any prices to quote.
Dinner started off with a home cooked chicken soup. Boiled for 4 hours, the soup was sweet from the use of white cabbage, chicken feet (including one whole chicken) and Chinese ham. We slurped the boiling hot soup together with silky smooth homemade wantans. The whole dinner was served like a Western meal, course by course with individual servings. Once the tummy was well lined with the heartwarming soup, we moved on to the aromatic garlic pork rib. The meat had a lovely brown crusty exterior that hid succulent layers of meat and fat. I enjoyed this tremendously with the spicy and slighty tangy green chilli dip on the side.
Next course was pomfret cooked two ways - the slices fried with vegetables, while the bones (nothing is ever wasted) were deep fried and coated in a sweet tasting soy sauce. I enjoyed the bones best as they were cut in small pieces and well fried to be so crunchy that I didn't get any large pieces. Really enjoyable with the not overpowering sweet but aromatic sauce. We moved on to the crustaceans, the classic soy sauce pan fried prawns. While the prawns were fresh, I felt the sauce was a little lacking of its sweet caramelised taste I usually associate this dish with. As the tummies were quickly filling up, we finished off with a fried yee mee with crab meat. Luckily they had shelled them, as I can imagine I'll be darn lazy to spend the later part of the evening doing the hard work. The noodles are paired with a deep fried kailan leaves, shredded to resemble seaweed.
We end the meal with dessert in the form of a tong sui (sweet broth) and some complimentary gui ling gao. It was a pretty satisfying meal that had me thinking I should return to do justice to their crabs. I wonder if they do a mean salted egg yolk crab version or a luscious butter coated one. Oops, my mouth is now watering and my tummy starts to rumble for some crab action.
SKH Riverview Seafood Village
No. 6 & 8, Lorong Embun 2
Kuala Ampang
Hulu Klang
Ampang
Tel: 03-4252 3166
(Non Halal. Open from 11.30am to 3pm, 5.30 to 11pm. Place is just off the MRR2, the turning is on the left after the Flamingo Hotel and the road to Mei Keng Fatt. Follow the signboards to get here. More pictures are in my Flickr set.)
*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. This review is time sensitive; changes may occur to the place later on that can affect this opinion. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from this place for writing the review.
The heat has been stifling especially the afternoons before the rain clouds break into a request for Rihanna's Umbrella song. It has been so hot that I've been craving for some cold relief in the form of The Last Polka's ice cream. The dynamic gal power of May Yee and Ee Vee are my go-to gals for innovative flavours that remind me of my good ole school days...Horlicks, Nutella, Teh Tarik and the best ever lusciousness, their new flavour Salted Gula Melaka.
While I've been indulging in their cool rescue packs available at Jaya One's The Bee, Marmalade's outlets (Mont Kiara and Bangsar) and now Whisk Expresso Bar at Empire Subang, I've never been to their scoop shop. Thus, one weekend we made our pilgrimage there to discover cool epiphany.
Their scoop shop is located within the trendy and minimalist confines of The V Cafe. Here you get to satisfy all your greedy cravings since they offer you double scoops (RM10.80 for the regular flavours, RM12.80 for premium flavours). Twice the fun I reckon as we both debate on what to pick. He ends up with his new cool love, the Salted Gula Melaka and a newbie to us , the Coconut Kaffir Lime. I reach for old favourites like Nutella and Horlicks. The whole set up at the cafe is kinda quirky with all those whimsy college touches like a love messageboard and even a shoutout Post-It board. Even though it had a new school feel, there was old school touches with Bon Jovi blaring away on the speakers.
For those who love the gals' ice-cream, rumour has it (just like how Adele sings it), they're also venturing into the tea business as they'll be supplying tea flavoured ice creams (satu Teh Tarik and one green tea please) to The Tea Republic at Bangsar Shopping Centre. Another great reason to hangout at that cool quiet cafe tucked in one corner at the mall to indulge in some tea madness. I reckon this calls for a revisit to indulge some more...so stay tuned for more cool delights.
In the meantime, if one can't break into The Last Polka ice cream for emergency cold relief, I guess we should all become vampires...sleep during the hot days and emerge refreshed at night to party away. Not sure about that blood sucking part though but I'm sure you'll figure it out. Catch more pictures in my Flickr set.
The Last Polka Ice Cream @The V Cafe
Syopz @ Boardwalk
Lower Ground Flr (below Starbucks)
Taylor's Lakeside Campus
Subang Jaya
For order enquiries, check their website and their facebook page. Flavours include Salted Gula Melaka, Coconut Kaffir Lime, Mango, Strawberry Cheesecake, Guinness, Nutella, Horlicks, Malt and Peanut Butter, Teh Tarik, White Coffee, Green Tea and Black Sesame.
*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. This review is time sensitive; changes may occur to the place later on that can affect this opinion. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from this place for writing the review.
Thus a bright Monday morning and I'm greeted with this laughable headline in the Star's newly revamped paper..."Malaysia ranked world's 10th largest consumer of alcohol". Delving deeper into the story, it goes on to state that the WHO (nope it's not the dreaded Dr. Who but the World Health Organisation) claims that "Malaysia has been named as the world's 10th largest consumer of alcohol despite its small population and size". The article goes on to quote that Malaysians spent over USD500 million on alcohol. Strangely enough after combing through the WHO's website and the official report for 2011, there is no sign or indication of that particular startling fact. Even as I looked through the world's alcohol consumption figures, there's no way Malaysia could make the top ten since the European countries' figures were in double digit. Incredibly strange but since I'm no authority on this, I won't be making any press statements on my discoveries! One does hope that a higher authority comes forth to set the truth right on the facts.
One fact does remain evident from looking at those statistics, Malaysians seem to have an hefty appetite for beer, followed by spirits and only a small percentage of wine. I guess I must be one of the exceptions since I do prefer wine over beer. This love for wine saw me make one of my rare exceptions to take up Aly's Wonderland's invitation to savour New Zealand's Astrolabe wines. I admit I envisioned images of Astroboy or some cosmic adventures. Turns out the owner Simon Waghorn took up the name because astrolabe refers to a navigation tool and coincidentally it was also the name of a ship that travelled on the Marlborough coast where the vineyards of Astrolabe are located.
It was the Kiwi wine's debut in Kuala Lumpur orchestrated by its Asian distributor, Singapore based Rubicon Reserve Wines. They aptly chose Senses at Kuala Lumpur Hilton for their debutante dinner since the wines will only be available at that hotel. Good for us too since dinner was concocted by the brilliant Michael Elfwing. I was looking forward to tasting the wines, since they had already swept many awards for its Sauvignon Blanc.
Starting off the dinner was an informal cocktail hour to break the ice, where we (tried) to elegantly juggle champagne flutes while we slurped down freshly shucked New Zealand Pacific oysters drizzled with a tangy passionfruit dressing. Joining the fun for that night were A Whiff of Lemongrass and Fatboybakes, familiar faces from the floggers' circuit. As Astrolabe does not make any sparkling wines, Rubicon served one of their other labels they distribute, an Austrian Szigeti Gruner Veltliner. I liked the slightly floral notes and the tiny bubbles of the wine.
Subsequently, we adjourned to the table to start the meal. Firstly, it was a dish named Terroir that saw shucked escargots (so we didn't get to have any Pretty Woman moments), mingling with "soil", herbs, smoked duck breast slices and even an edible clay baked potato. Lovely especially when paired with the slightly sweet Astrolabe Pinot Gris 2009. Jason Yank, Astrolabe's general manager explained that they wanted an Italian styled wine with a lot more fruit.
Next came a flight tasting of Astrolabe's various Sauvignon Blanc with different types of seafood. We started off with the Astrolabe Kekerengue Coast Sauvignon Blanc 2010 that was paired with little neck clams cooked en papillote with garlic and parsley. Instead of paper, a high heat resistant cling film was used to wrap the clams. The wine is made from grapes from the Kekerengue Coast, where it grows on limestone soil. Jason explains to us that the clay in the rocks pushes up the pH of the wine. This creates a very dry wine with salty hints. Most of the bloggers preferred the Kekerengue Coast Sauvignon Blanc but I preferred the middle one of the Astrolabe Awatere Sauvignon Blanc 2010 as it was more aromatic with hints of capsicum. It paired beautifully with the snow crab. Quite similar in nature and just a shade below the Awatere was the Astrolabe Voyage Sauvignon Blanc 2010. This was paired with a piece of gurnard fish with parsley puree and a shucked oyster.
We follow up with a perfectly cooked New Zealand salmon quenelle with sorrel beurre blanc (butter sauce) that is paired with Astrolabe Chardonnay. I wasn't too enthusiastic about the fruity taste of the Chardonnay but loved the soft texture of the salmon. Next was the quail and veal paired with the earthy summer truffles and the only red wine for that night. The climate in this area only permits them to make Astrolabe Voyage Pinor Noir 2008, a pleasant red wine with loads of cherry flavours.
My favourite dish for the night was the brilliant dessert of pear & cheese with the Astrolabe Gewurztraminer 2009. The dish was a trio of items, a duo of two types of poached pears, a luscious brie ice cream topping a brie pastry and a blue cheese puff pastry. Simply gorgeous flavours that were mellowed out with the floral Gewurztraminer. Drank on its own, it would have been too sweet but it paired beautifully with the salty pungent notes of the blue cheese and brie.
After tasting the wines, I must admit there's definitely a big market for their Sauvignon Blanc here especially with our Asian palate for fresh tasting wines. Currently, the wines are available exclusively to Kuala Lumpur Hilton and American Express Platinum cardholders. You can also order them straight from Rubicon, which will arrange for shipment to your doorstep. More pictures can be found on my Flickr set.
* Camera note: We were playing around with the new Macro Arm Light for the Olympus (RM225 promotion price, usual is RM250). It looks like an alien with its movable antennas but we all love it since it is a big conversation piece. Moreover close ups on our food has hit another dimension. Get it now from Olympus shops since they're running a 10 week promotion till mid-July.
* Wine Tasting Notes:
Szigeti Gruner Veltliner - Austrian sparkling wine with well spaced bubbles. Contains floral and citrus notes.
Astrolabe Pinot Gris 2009 - Pale straw yellow, spiced pears nose. sweet to the palate, spice and honied. Priced at RM105 per bottle.
Astrolabe Voyage Sauvignon Blanc 2010 - Medium bodied wine with lemongrass, lime rind and elderflower flavours. Priced at RM105 per bottle.
Astrolabe Awatere Sauvignon Blanc 2010 - Medium bodied wine with red capsicum, white currants, and gooseberry flavours. Priced at RM107 per bottle.
Astrolabe Kekerengue Coast Sauvignon Blanc 2010 - Medium bodied dry wine with citrus rind and salty flavours. Priced at RM115 per bottle.
Astrolabe Chardonnay - Wine with ripe melon and dried stone fruit flavours.
Astrolabe Voyage Pinot Noir 2008 - Full to medium bodied wine with savoury, ripe plums and cherry flavours and a hint of smoky oak. Priced at RM127 per bottle.
Astrolabe Gewurztraminer 2009 - Medium to full bodied wine with turkish delight and rose petal aromas. Priced at RM123 per bottle.
