After having rojak opposite Taman Bahagia LRT station at 5pm (I really should blog about that stall) on Saturday, I kinda forgot about dinner till it was past way past 9 pm. Logged onto MSN and saw Haze online, so I asked what she was up to. Her reply “emoing cos no one eating dinner with me“.

So I asked her to join me for late dinner, and by the time we got started it was already way past 10pm.

While most restaurants have closed and started cleaning up already, the night is still young at Berlin Biergarten. That was the first reason I chose to go there, secondly, they sells non-halal bratwurst, and thirdly, the Guinness promotion is on-going.

Having the promotion is definitely one of the biggest reasons I chose Berlin Biergarten instead of other outlets. I’ve done quite a few Guinness food reviews and they’ve always been good experiences.

Berlin Biergarten German Bar & Restaurant

Berlin Biergarten is located on the first floor at Solaris, just a stone’s throw away from the now pretty famous Tenji Japanese buffet. While the name translate to beer garden, it actually does offer a pretty comprehensive food menu too.

While there are some tables inside the smallish outfit, almost everyone chooses to dine al fresco style here, and like most outlets of this type, there’s a projector screen showing live sports too. A pretty chilling environment.

free pork balls with Guinness, Farmer’s Bratwurst

The Guinness promotion at Berlin Beirgarten is pretty simple:

• 4 perfect pint (330ml) of Guinness for RM 60
• get a free finger food/appetizer from the menu

I chose the pork ball (worth RM 19.90 if I remember correctly). They were pretty firm and rather flavorful, the sweetish sauce and the pork went really well with the slight after taste of bitterness of Guinness that I love so much. It was the yums!

Berlin rosemary lamb

Upon recommendation from the server, I chose the Farmer’s Bratwurst (RM 28). The two German sausage doesn’t look big here, but they were actually quite a decent portion. It was a good thing I didn’t ended up ordering the Berlin Sausage Selection (RM 59) that comes with 7-8 bratwursts.

The pan fried sausages were very very good, with the accompanying gravy and dill potato salad being very good side kicks. However, I have to say that german bread dumpling (looks almost exactly like wedges) did taste a bit weird to me though.

Haze the awesome artist, and KY with some Guinness

The other dish we ordered was the Beriln Rosemary Lamb (RM 48). Stripes of lamb with plenty of mint sauce resting on mash, steamed vegetable, and surrounded by chili paste and bits of bell pepper. The presentation definitely scores an A. Thankfully, the taste department is in sync with how well the dish looked.

Other than the carrot being a bit raw, the lamb was soft and flavorful, with plenty of mint sauce to give it that aroma and if you so prefer, the spicy chili sauce to add some kick too.

There are interesting dishes in the menu like Scotch Egg (with pork!), carrot in beer, and sundried tomato with mussels that look pretty promising. I shall return to this place for a second round.

The Guinness promotion of St Patrick’s Finger Food Festival runs from now until 31st of March, 2010 with more than 100 outlets nationwide, don’t miss out! Other outlets that are participating in this promotion includes, but not limited to:

• Jarrod & Rawlins
• Meson
• Cafe Chulo
• Muse
• Delaney’s
• Ronnie Q
• The Magnificent Fish & Chips

Besides Finger Food Festival, there’s also the St. Patrick’s Hat promotion. A 13oz pint is a stamp, and 20oz pint 2 stamps, collect 12, send the redemption card in, and get a free St. Patrick’s Hat.

If you can’t wait, the Instant Reward gives you a Guinness St. Patrick’s luggage lock with every 3 pints of Guinness Draught or a bucket of Guinness Foreign Extra Stout. There are three designs in all!

There’s also the St. Patrick’s Day celebration at 1 Utama on the 19th of March from 6pm onwards! Check out guinness.com.my/stpatricks for more.

Address:
Berlin Biergarten
Lot J-01-04
Solaris Mont Kiara
50480 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.174689, 101.659595
Tel: 03-6203 0958

Tags:  bratwurst,  guinness,  haze,  lamb,  sausage,  solaris

Posted by KY | 29 Comments »

One little perk being a food blogger is that every once in a while, I get to sample the lifestyle of the slightly more privileged. Last Wednesday was one of such occasions, I was invited to a dinner at Opus Bistro hosted by Millennium Associates and Pernod Ricard Malaysia.

While having attended a few of their Friday wine lunch series, this was the first time I attended such event for dinner. Lunch with wine is always a bit of a compromise between how much one can eat, the weather, and the level of influence you are comfortable with while the sun is still out. No such restraints for dinner, which was what made this event even better.

Opus Bistro with Montana wine

Opus Bistro is located at Jalan Bangkung, a part of Bangsar (actually Bukit Bandaraya) that doesn’t challenge your sanity when it comes to looking for parking space. The restaurant is simple yet posh, an ambiance fit for the cuisine it serves.

While waiting for 7:30 pm dinner to start by our standard Malaysian lag time, we indulged ourselves with some asparagus smoked salmon roullade canape (a fancy way to say rolled up food) and Montana Classic Sauvignon Blanc 2007. I wans’t complaining, it was a good start to the evening, my taste buds agreed.

homemade ravioli porchini in wild mushroom sauce, sauvignon blanc & pinot noir
scampi lettuce green cappucino in tomato broth, raw tuna carpaccio with caviar

By the time our first dish, the lovely scampi in tomato broth is served, it was already 8:30pm. Malaysian timing does not spare anyone. While the scampi isn’t exactly lobster, it did not disappoint, I especially love the savory broth.

Next up was the marinated albacore raw tuna carpaccio that comes complete with caviar, soy chili, and aragula (rocket salad). I tasted a hint of truffle oil in the marinate, and the tuna was fresh, smooth, and tasted awesome. I was more than happy when Suan gave me most of her portion since she doesn’t exactly eat raw fish.

Those two dishes were paired with Montana Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2008, white wine with seafood, never goes wrong.

The homemade ravioli porchini in wild mushroom sauce didn’t taste too wild, the walnut did not stand out either, but the truffle oil, ahh, that really gives this dish a very distinct class. I loved it. We had the Montana Reserve Pinot Noir 2006 with it.

marinated wagyu skewer, Montana terraces pinot noir 2007
fillet of carribbean red snapper with poached scallop , cheese platter and fruits

The forth dish was fillet of caribbean red snapper with caramelized port sauce accompanied by poached scallop. I thought the fish was alright but not particularly special, perhaps overshadowed by the previous dishes. The scallop was fresh and sweet though.

We switched to Montana Terraces Pinot Noir 2007 for the next dish, the marinated wagyu (marbling no. 7) skewer. Using wagyu beef of this quality on a skewer is perhaps a bit of a luxury, but none of us complained. I could have easily consume another portion if it was presented to me.

Finally, we had cheese platter with fresh fruits to conclude dinner. Aged cheddar, goat, gorgonzola, and my favorite – brie. We switched Montana Brancott Sauvignon Blanc 2008, the sweeter green grapes compliments the cheese well, we were well satisfied.

Sue Lynn, Suanie, KY

This event cost RM 150 per person, with the excellent foods at Opus and free flow Montana wines, I’d say it is quite a good deal. I met Sue Lynn of bangsarbabe for the first time, and had the opportunity to catch up with familiar faces I haven’t seen since last Friday Wine Lunch. It was a lovely evening.

I need me some grapes now!

Address:
Opus Bistro
67, Jalan Bangkong
Bukit Bandaraya
59100 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.138116, 101.669197
Tel: 03-2092 4288

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Blackberry is really taking off now. As of today I have 46 contacts on BBM itself with Horng being the latest addition to the gang. Xpax was the first to offer blackberry services to prepaid users, and now the pioneer just got better with Big Freekin’ Sale.

Activate BB 250 everyday from Monday to Friday, and you get to enjoy free blackberry access all weekends. Now isn’t that a great deal? This offer lasts till the end of March, 2010. Don’t miss out!

Tags:  bistro,  bukit bandaraya,  caviar,  pinot noir,  sauvignon blanc,  suanie,  sue lynn,  truffle,  wagyu,  wine

Posted by KY | 18 Comments »

Almost 4 years ago, I went to Tokyo as a stranger in strange land. The city was so packed with people it felt like rush hour at LRT station at all times. The language was incomprehensible, fashion was weird, everyone was so courteous and everything was uber orderly.

I arrived there at late March partly to coincide with the Hanami season (viewing of cherry blossom, or sakura). A friend had to reserved a spot at Ueno park from a night before just so that we get to picnic under the trees at the most famous hanami spot in Tokyo. We had loads of fun (despite my inability to communicate with most of them), it was an experience.

iketeru Japanese restaurant at KL Hilton

With that experience, I knew exactly what Hanami meant when Jean of KL Hilton contacted me for a food review at Iketeru for their Hanami Bento promotion. As to what would be in the bento, I had absolutely no idea.

I’ve heard good things about Iketeru, but this was the first time I went to this Japanese restaurant located on the 8th floor at Hilton. As you would expect from a 5-star hotel, the restaurant is beautifully decorated and has a very nice ambiance.

shrimp, octopus, and tempura, sea bream & tuna sashimi

Anyway, lets get on with the Bento.

There were nine dishes in all on the rather big bento box. As a rule of thumb, you should always start with dishes that are more subtle before moving to the stronger tasting ones. This applies to all sorts of cuisine and not just Japanese food.

The Tai (sea bream) and Toro (tuna belly) sashimi were of the finest quality and served with grated wasabi. That opened up my appetite pretty good.

The shrimp, green bean, egg custard, and octopus were very delicious too, but that little bowl of marinated something next to the shrimp (I couldn’t quite remember, a type of seafood it must be) was a bit too strong tasting for me, I’ll place that in the “too authentic” category. The small portion of tempura were just nice, and includes one of my favorite items, the Japanese pepper.

spring chirashi sushi, chilled sesame bean curd, teriyaki trout

The chilled sesame bean curd with bonito soya sauce tastes as exquisite as the way it was presented, and I love the little bowl of simmered bamboo shoot, eggplant, and especially the Japanese yam too.

The only grilled item on the bento was the teriyaki trout, and while trout isn’t exactly my favorite fish for grilling (I love salmon belly), this was rather good too.

Spring Chirashi Sushi serves as the main dish. I could taste plenty of tuna, ikura (salmon roe), amaebi (sweet shrimp), and even mushroom and a bit of vegetable in it. Very good combination.

nanohana blossom (vege), soup with bamboo shoot, mochi & fruits

The unsuspecting plate of vegetable is actually boiled nanohana blossom with mustard sauce. Nanohana has the unfortunate name in English as “Rape”, it tasted similar to “kai lan flower” but smoother and more refined.

Instead miso, we had clear soup with bamboo shoot and seaweed, subtle tasting, but a very good way to cleanse the palate before moving on to the final item, dessert, which consists of  mochi with red beans that tasted as good as it was presented, and some fruits.

KY & chef Ricky Kamishi, Li Zhi & Jean from Hilton

Chef Ricky Kamishi joined us for a while and told us about the idea behind this Hanami Bento. I shouldn’t bore you with the whole experiencing “four season” through food and philosophies like that, but the guy is cool, and with a sense of humor too.

The bento is available all throughout March this year as some of the ingredients are seasonal. Priced at RM 220++ per box, it might come across as a bit steep for the common salary earner, but that is pretty much average for something of this quality and setting.

KL Hilton is located right next to KL Sentral

These shots were taken with my aging and pretty bulky SLR, Olympus just launched their latest micro four third camera – the Olympus PEN E-PL1 which combined the portability of a compact and prowess of an SLR. I’m gonna be getting one for review, but in the mean time, check out their microsite at evolvewitholympus.com.my

Address:
Iketeru Japanese Restaurant
8th floor, 3 Jalan Stesen Sentral,
50470 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.135631, 101.656476
Tel: 03-2264 2264

Tags:  bento,  hilton,  hotel,  Japanese-Food,  li zhi,  sashimi,  tempura

Posted by KY | 19 Comments »

When it comes to Japanese food, you can’t really find a higher concentration of restaurants than Hartamas and Subang SS15. With the former, there’s at least quite a big community of Japanese expats living around Mont Kiara area, but with Subang, well, there isn’t an easy explanation.

It just seems like there are more and more new Japanese restaurants opening at the area every year, Jyu Raku being one of the newest kids on the block that already packed no less than some half a dozen outlets.

Jyu Raku, with classy deco and a rather extensive menu

Incidentally, the first Japanese restaurant I blogged about all the way back in 2005 was Rakuzen, situated right next door to Jyu Raku. In fact, it was the former Japanese head chef from Rakuzen that opened this restaurant.

an extensive sushi bar with grilling area at Jyu Raku

You can really see the resemblance in the menu as well as the restaurant layout between Ryu Raku and Rakuzen. An extensive sushi bar with grilling area connected to the kitchen, about half a dozen tables on the ground floor, and bigger dining area on first floor as well as a couple private rooms.

Photos you see from this blog post were taken from two separate visits, but I have been to Jyu Raku probably at least half a dozen time since. Quality of food has been pretty excellent, and there is a wide selection of dishes to choose from.

sashimi, jyu raku roll, Sheryl

The sashimi (kame, RM 48) has always been very fresh and served with grated wasabi. Wasabi makes a heck of a difference when it comes to enjoying sashimi, and once you had freshly grated wasabi to go with the raw fish, there’s no turning back.

Their signature Jyu Raku roll (RM 28) is something not to be missed too, unagi, prawn, and sashimi and lettuce wrapped with a very thin piece of cucumber and topped with salmon roe. Really luxurious and positively delicious.

ebi maki, cha soba, gyu tan, and that grated wasabi

The cha soba (cold green tea noodle) here is as good as anywhere, smooth silky, and absolutely delightful especially on a hot day.

One of my favorite parts of cow – the tongue, is served at Jyu Raku too. The tongue has a slightly firmer but smoother texture compared to meat, and carries a slightly different taste to it that to me, equals some of the best cuts of meat. A place for cheap gyu tan is at Daidomon (buffet style), but quality aren’t as good as Jyu Raku.

Cheesie with her mentaiko (marinated pollock roe)

Mentaiko, or marinated pollock roe, is available on the menu but somehow aren’t available most of the time. The Ebi Mentai goes for RM 15, but when Cheesie asked for a bowl of mentai without the prawn, the restaurant obliged too. Mentaiko is quite a lot smoother than the more common ebiko (shrimp roe), and usually has a bit of a spicy kick to it. I love it.

cold inaniwa udon, beef with shimeji mushroom, green tea ice cream

Other dishes I’ve tried here include the inaniwa udon that is consumed much like cha soba, but a lot more subtle in taste (doesn’t come with wasabi). Beef with shimeji mushroom was pretty delicious too, but I’d imagine if we had ordered wagyu instead, it’d be even better, but alas, I don’t have a limitless wallet.

Jyu Raku is located right across from SJMC

Since the menu is rather extensive, there’s quite a lot more that I haven’t tried from Jyu Raku, yakimono, kushiyaki (skewed grill) wagyu, salad, and so forth. Those that I tried hasn’t been disappointing, but according to masak-masak, the tempura should be avoided though.

Address:
Jyu Raku
13, Jln SS15/5A
47500 Subang Jaya
Selangor
GPS: 3.074770, 101.586370
Tel: 03-5633 3819

Tags:  beef,  cheesie,  Japanese,  mentaiko,  sashimi,  sheryl,  soba,  subang,  udon

Posted by KY | 30 Comments »

When #porkgang was first initiated, we met each other almost exclusively only over dinners, and there were almost always pork involved. One of our earliest dinner meet was at Ribs@Oasis. This happened late last year, but I had somehow forgotten to process the photos until now.

Better late than never anyway.

Ribs serves a variety of Western food with a strong dosage of swine, just the way we like it. Situated just a couple minutes away from 1-Utama shopping complex, parking spaces aren’t hard to come by. However, getting there can prove to be a bit of a hassle on weekday evenings due to traffic.

Seating areas are mostly indoor, but there are limited tables near the sidewalk for those who prefers alfresco dining.

grilled pork loin chops

Anyway, lets get on with the food.

My eyes were fixated on the grilled pork lion chops (RM 30.50) when I saw it on the menu. It simply says “Chef Lee’s special recipe, served with braised cabbage and tangy apple sauce”

When the pork chop came, it did not disappoint at all. A huge slab of pork with a layer of fat around the edge, grilled to perfection with the fatty layer glistering and the leaner part still juicy, add a bit of that apple sauce, perfecto. I’d order it again on my next trip, no question.

grilled ribs, deep fried pork chunks, pan fried butter fish

Since the name of the restaurant is called Ribs, it goes without saying that we had to give it a try. Kim ordered a big slab of grilled belly Oriental pork ribs (RM 32.90) that came sitting on a generous serving of mash potato. I took a bite, and while it was pretty good, it wans’ t really overly impressive to be honest.

The deep fried pork chunks (RM 12.50) though, was really awesome and would serve as perfect beer food. The taste a little similar to the deep fried “nam yu” pork from Pan Heong at Batu Caves, but slightly more batter and crunchier, it was really good.

One of the ladies ordered the pan fried butter fish (RM 21.90) instead of something porky and gave the dish a huge thumbs up. Good to know Ribs@Oasis knows how to please your friend who wants to maintain her figure.

Eric, Horny, and Gareth ordered the bacon pork & reverse pork burgers

Then there are the pork burgers.

Ribs@Oasis offers quite a few types of pork burgers.  The usual, with bacon, with grilled pineapple, or if you so prefer, the ultimate reverse pork burger too (RM 20-29.90).

The shiny bacon, caramalized pineapple, and that big juicy home made pork patty ought to make any pork burger lover droll like a hungry puppies. Gareth rated this as good as the Cristang’s pork burger but totally different at the same time, with a completely different taste and texture too, but equally agreeable to the taste buds.

banana fritters, ice cream, molten chocolate cake with haagan daaz

Then there’s the desserts. I can never really understand the idea of over stuffing yourself at dinner, and yet still order desserts, but apparently suanie , jaclyn, cheesie, and kim do, and that’s why they ordered desserts.

The ice creams were from Haagan Daaz, and hence they were pretty good. I had a bite of the banana fritters and found it to be too huge, it was not exactly great. The molten chocolate cake though, was quite delicious. Forgot how much they were priced, but I remember them to be pretty reasonable.

founding members of porkgang, and 2 of horng’s lady friends

Ironically, the ribs at Ribs@Oasis might not be the dish to order, but the other pork dishes – especially the pork chop and burgers, does make the place worth a visit or three despite the traffic.

We had wanted to hang out at the place a tad longer, but unfortunately they observe the “normal” closing time by around 10 ish at night. I’d wish they open later and sell more drinks though.

Address:
Ribs@Oasis
2 Tengkat Bandar Utama,
1-1 BU4 Oasis Complex,
Petaling Jaya, SELANGOR 47800‎
GPS: 3.150219, 101.609912
Tel: 03-7729 8921‎

Xpax adverts

For you Xpax, U.O.X./S.O.X. users out there, have you  heard about the Big Freekin’ Sale yet? From 11 Jan till 31 March 2010, the offers include 50% off calls, 50% off downloads, and free blackberry access weekends (I talked about it on this post)

Now lets look at the comparison on the rates you get during the sales period and some other telco.

Calls within the network as low as 19 and 7.5 sen per minute from 10pm-10am, whereas the cheapest from the other three providers is at 30 sen per minute. For Friends & Family within the same network, calls from the same time period are only 5 and 6 sen per minute, with the other providers pricing it at 15 sen per minute.  Don’t miss out! For more details check out the Big Freekin’ Sale site.

Just in case you forgot, the Free Blackberry Access Weekends work this way:

• Monday to Friday, reload the unlimited BB 250 plan for RM 2.50 per day
• Saturday and Sunday – FREE!

It is that simple.

Tags:  burger,  cheesie,  eric,  gareth,  horng,  jaclyn,  kimberly,  pork,  pork chop,  ribs,  suanie

Posted by KY | 27 Comments »