I had a food review at Bruno’s last week, and pinkpau Su Ann was the partner in crime. The appointment was on 8pm, and knowing how well this girl is with punctuality, I had told her to make it 7:30pm, but it didn’t deter her from arriving at my place only 5 minutes before 8 though…

Anyway, lets get back to the topic.

Bruno’s is one of the new Western restaurants that serves non-halal food, a trend that is slowly emerging in the market, following the good receptions of places like Jarrod & Rowlins and Bermuda &Onions. A trend that I particularly welcome! The restaurant actually shares the same owner as Food Foundry (one of the only places that sells Mille Crepe)

classy deco, and Su Ann, the very hot and cute thief of time

The unique thing about Bruno’s is the Iberian pork they serve. The black Iberian pigs are allowed to roam in the oak forest and raised with a diet of grass, herbs, acorns, and roots. A few months before slaughtering, the animal is fed only acorns. As a result, higher level of oleic acid is found in the meat, which is supposed to be a good thing that lowers your bad cholesterol (LDL) while increasing the good HDL.

Now who said eating pork is necessarily a bad thing?

Spanish ham, glorious pork ribs

Our host of the night was none other than the famous Daphne Lee (who hit off with Su Ann in a long and amusing gossip session) of the Drams Project. We started our dinner with a plate of Spanish Ham and Sausage Platter. The meat were slightly salty and tasted something between dried meat (bak kua) and ham, they go very well with some bruschetta in between. A good selection as appetizer, though a taste that needs a bit of acquiring.

Then it was our main dish, the BBQ pork ribs. I’ve had BBQ ribs with beef, but nothing came close to having it original, pork, as it was meant to be. The portion was huge and it came with potato, french beans, and salad. The side dishes were meant to give your taste bud a chance to refresh, alternating between the juicy and meaty ribs and the freshness of vegetable. We finished the entire rack without much trouble at all, it was good. I think next time I should have some beer to go with this.

Zarzuela (soup), dessert, and linguine with prawns

Zarzuela, the name of the soup I probably won’t remember in the next 5 minutes, was very nice. There’s scallops, mussels, clams, squid, and prawns in the clam and tomato broth. Very sumptuous, very delicious, and probably nullified the effect of the whole oleic acid business.

We also ordered the linguine prawn with spicy white wine butter sauce, unfortunately it was a too spiced up and the prawns were a bit overcooked to my liking. Despite the very nice presentation of this dish, it was a disappointment for the night.

the dessert, the girl, and the wine

Dessert was the very sinful Valrhona chocolate lava cake, with this little orange fruit that I absolutely love. The chocolate cake went very well with the white wine we had.

It was a very good dinner, and with the most gossips I’ve heard since forever. I’m sure I’ll see you again somewhere, Daphne!

Jaya 33 is just a couple minutes off Federal Highway

While not cheap, prices at Bruno’s is still fairly reasonable. Entrees are from RM 30+ onwards and you can have gourmet sandwiches or salad for RM20+. Of course, that huge rack of pork ribs costs a bit more than that. They also serve steaks, seafood, paella, and a selection of tapas.

The review session was arranged by foodstreet. More pictures can be found on my flickr set

Address:
PG-01 A, Ground Floor, Jaya 33
Jalan Semangat Section 13
46100 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.110274, 101.637139
Tel: 03-7960 2663

Tags:  delicious,  gourmet,  iberian,  jaya 33,  Petaling-Jaya,  pinkpau,  pork,  review,  spanish,  su ann

Posted by KY | 26 Comments »

Earlier this month I was invited to the Wild Rice restaurant at Mid Valley Boulevard hotel for a food review session courtesy of foodstreet. I looked through the list of my MSN and found a dinner partner in Ringo to go there with me. (you know, a fehmes blogger to increase my street cred.)

wild rice restaurant, with indoor and outdoor seatings

The wild rice restaurant is situated on the 9th floor with nice indoor seatings as well as the open terrace with a beautiful pool view.

We were greeted by the friendly communication manager Mr. Huang, and shortly after that the dishes started coming in. The good chef prepared eight dishes for just the three of us for the night. Other than their weekend buffet, Wild Rice restaurant serves Malaysian food as well as Western dishes.

clay pot chicken rice, char kueh teow, Penang seafood hor fun

Our first dish of the night was none other than Char Kueh Teow. I usually have my reservations when it comes to this dish, but the chef (who has a very strong Penang tie) actually pulled this off rather well. The good size prawns, chives, bean sprouts, and egg combined to deliver a dish that tasted pretty good.

Similarly, the Penang Hor Fun was very nice as well. I like the way the egg is done with the yolk still half cooked while the white spread over the flat noodle. The hor fun comes with prawns, squid, dory fish fillet, and vegetables.

The chef also prepared two versions of clay pot chicken rice for us, the more usual recipe with salted fish, and a version with century egg. Although I love century eggs, I think the combination is a little weird though, this little experiment from the chef didn’t turn out very great (the dish is not on the menu). Then again, I always applaud chefs who are willing to experiment.

Hainanese chicken chop, avocado burger, pan fried salmon, oxtail soup

Then there’s the very crispy and juicy Hainanese chicken chop that I wish I have a bigger stomach to eat more. The chicken chop consists of 1/4 quarter chicken with thigh and drumstick, fresh button mushroom in brown sauce with some mixed vegetables, and of course, fries. (I wonder if they have fries in Hainan, but lets not digress)

The pan fried salmon was good as well, but I think the most interesting dish for the day goes to the avocado burger. This vegetarian dish has beet root, cheese, butter, and a generous serving of sliced avocado. If you had California Roll, you know how avocado tastes like. The combination of avocado relish, and cheese in the bun was actually delicious.

the good chef and Ringo

Ringo’s favorite dish, if my memory serves me correct, was the Malaysian oxtail soup. It wasn’t too spicy nor tasted too strongly. The soup was just nice with the meat tender and the carrots soft, serving it in a clay pot does help by keeping the temperature.

Boulevard Hotel is situated at the North Court of Mid Valley City

The best thing about Wild Rice restaurant is the fact that it is open 24 hrs a day. To me this spells the end of mamak after midnight show especially if I’m at Mid Valley.

As for price, I think they are pretty reasonable for a hotel. Soup is RM15; the burger and other local dishes are around RM 18 to RM 22. Expect to pay slightly more for western dishes, but the portions are pretty big. The good news is that the prices are nett, no extra 10% or 5%. I like that.

Address:
Mid Valley City,
Lingkaran Syed Putra,
59200 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.119262, 101.677802
Tel: 03-2295 8000

Tags:  avocado,  char-kueh-teow,  chicken-chop,  chicken-rice,  ckt,  claypot,  local food,  mid valley,  oxtail soup,  salmon,  wild rice

Posted by KY | 32 Comments »

A couple weeks ago baby Marco’s father invited me to have a food tasting session at this curiously named Bermuda and Onion at Cangkat Bukit Bintang. Since I was bringing a couple guests, he reminded me that this place serves pork, more pork, and nothing but pork! My drool started flowing just from hearing that magic sentence.

love the decoration of this place

During the weekend, parking around the area was surprisingly easy to find. We were greeted by this absolutely beautiful interior decoration the moment we stepped into the restaurant, the lime green wall, egg shaped lamp on the curvy ceiling fan, the patio, the bar, the chairs; this place looks like something out of a romantic movie, a striking contrast from the nearby Jalan Alor kopitiams.

bruschetta, parma ham with asparagus, prawn, and okra on skewers

As 2 of my buddies and I waited for TBG and her lesser half, we were served some bruschetta with olive oil and balsamic vinegar to start the day off. Very nice.

Then the pork dishes began, in a small way at first. Out of the three skewers we had, two of them had pork in it. The prawns and parma ham was absolutely fantastic, the asparagus and bacon was equally delicious with it’s contrasting texture and taste of vegetable vs meat. Ladies fingers and tomato gave a pretty good balance to counter the meat just a little. It was a very good start, and I was quite impressed already.

cold cuts, caesar salad, parma ham with rock melon

To warm up our stomach further before the main dishes, we were presented three other appetizers: cold cuts, caesar salad, and prosciutto and melone.

The cold cuts came with three different types of meat with some olives. I love two of them but find the harder type a little bit too much to handle with it’s dryness and more pungent smell (purists would love it though). Caesar salad came with plenty of prawns, bacon, Parmesan cheese and egg. It was very refreshing and delicious!

However, my favorite of the day has to go to the prosciutto and melone. I never knew parma ham could go so well with rock melon, the saltiness of the meat and the sweetness of the rock melon was absolutely brilliant! You must order this when you go to Bermuda and Onion, do not forget this!

wild boar fettuccine, bread dumpling soup, pork chop ala mustard

Then came assault of main dishes. The wild boar fettuccine was pretty strong tasting, with generous chunks of wild boar meat and mushroom cooked with fresh herbs. The speck ‘canedarli’ gnocchi is a homemade Italian bread dumpling served in double boiled chicken broth and Parmesan cheese. The chef explained that they’d have made this bigger in Italy as compared to here.

Then of course, there’s the pork chop ala mustard that came in a huge plate. A generous slab of pork chop is pan seared, and served with creamy Dijon mustard sauce and plenty of mash potato. Very rich and creamy but really good.

sea bass and roasted pork belly

Just as we thought the lunch session is coming to an end, two glorious dishes appeared. The interesting looking sea bass and roasted pork belly.

The sea bass, as with most dishes from this restaurant, didn’t escape the influence of pork. Mantled with parma ham and served with mixed sauteed vegetables, it gives you a false sense of enjoying “healthy” seafood but of course, with a more satisfying experience through the taste buds.

As for the pork belly, what can I say? Proper and glorious layers of pork skin, fat, and meat served in a thick brown sauce with mashed potato and Lardoni bacon, I can’t help myself but to continue slicing it up and chew em down despite already being very full.

hot restaurant manager Sharmini, and good Chef Max

We capped the day with a hot cup of cafe latte, it was definitely the best lunch I’ve had in a long while. Chef Max and restaurant manager Sharmini were very friendly, as with baby Marco’s parents as well.

Price wise, I’d think this place is pretty reasonable. The skewers are RM 8-9, my favorite parma ham with melon at RM33, other main dishes are priced at around 30+ to 50+. Give it a try!

Bermuda & Onion is located at Changkat Bukit Bintang, nearby Jalan Alor

Address:
no. 41 Changkat Bukit Bintang,
50200 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.147592, 101.708100
Tel: 03-2145 8333

Tags:  belly,  cangkat bukit bintang,  delicious,  dining,  food,  italian,  mustard,  onion,  parma ham,  pork

Posted by KY | 40 Comments »

Ever since I came back from the States, I’ve been having a tough time finding good steak. The “western food” hawker stalls are usually pretty good with their chicken chop and perhaps fish and chips, but the steaks are about as thick as a notepad and tasted equally disappointing. I’ve also tried some of the restaurants like cafe chinoz at KLCC but the steak was not exactly up to standard, I couldn’t even finish the filet mignon there. I’ve heard that Le Meridien’s Prime Grill serves very good steak, but the price is a bit out of reach. I’ve almost accepted the fate that I shall just forget about having steak, until I went to Gaucho Grill at Chulan Square last week.

excellent interior, chef Kamaruddin and yours truly

Gaucho Grill is one of the very few Argentinian restaurants in Klang Valley. Chef Kamaruddin explained that Argentina is actually the 2nd largest consumer of beef in the world, just after US (with 7.5x more in population). Vegetable is not exactly popular, the south Americans love their meat. Gaucho Grill imports all their meat from herds raised by gauchos (cowboys) of Argentina.

starters: garlic bread, seafood soup, escargot, mixed crunch

The three of us that attended this review session by foodstreet were first served with some really nice garlic bread, Escargot, their Sopa Oceano (seafood soup), and the rather large portion of Mixed Crunch.

We managed to sample 2 desserts after all these food, the Choc Madeleine is perfect for chocolate lovers with apricot on moist choc, ice cream, and warm choc fudge. The Panna Cotta is similar to creme brulee, but served cold with dark cherry and raspberry stew. The desserts are made in house as well.

Chulan Square is adjacent to Pavilion KL

Steaks are priced at around RM 68-80, desserts are RM 13-16. There’s also a very good deal for set lunches on weekdays between 12-3pm, for RM 26 you get soup, salad, ice lemon tea, and a main dish (rib eyes, burgers, etc).

The food was really good, and I have no doubt I will go there again.

More pictures of this place at my flickr set

Address:
Block B, Lot 5 Chulan Square
92 Jalan Raja Chulan,
50250 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.148518, 101.716114
Tel: 03-2145 4268

Tags:  argentina,  cowboy,  delicious,  dining,  eats,  gaucho,  grill,  lamb rack,  meat,  steak,  Western

Posted by KY | 21 Comments »

Undoubtedly many of you has noticed that there is a renaissance in the fast food business in Malaysia. In the last few years, we have the introduction (or reintroduction) of chains like Carl’s Jr and Subway. I think this due to consumer’s acceptance to higher priced fast food, higher price in hawker offerings, and the general deterioration of hawker food standards in Klang Valley.

The latest that came on board would be Wendy’s at Sunway Pyramid, the restaurant opened on the 5th of April and I just came back from my 3rd visit this afternoon.

Wendy’s at Sunway Pyramid

During my stay at the States, Wendy’s was one of the few fast food restaurants I used to go on a regular basis. I would put it second on my list after Chick-fil-A, but above A&W, Arby’s, McDonald’s, Burger King, and Subway. The reason was simple, it was relatively cheap and the food tastes good.

juicy burgers with beef, chicken, and shrimp, fried chicken too

I was overjoyed when Wendy’s opened here, and the first thing I tasted was of course, the 1/2 Pounder Burger. Two patties of 1/4 pound beef (a big Mac has slightly less than 1/4 pound beef in total) with a cheese in between sandwiched by soft but firm bun. The quality was just as good as I remembered, very juicy and flavorful. In the subsequent visits I tried their Shrimp Burger and Spicy Chicken Sandwich, both the items were equally good and I do attribute it to the quality of ingredient used. The shrimp burger nullified my complain of McDonald’s not serving their shrimp burger in Malaysia (they do have it in Bangkok and Tokyo).

Wendy’s is in between Carl’s Jr. and McDonald’s when it comes to pricing. A small set goes for 7.99 (nuggets) to 17.99 (3/4 pounder), add RM 1 for medium and RM 2 for large, and additional RM 1 if you want Ribena instead of soft drinks. Not a bad deal considering the quality, give it a try!

check out my hand drawn wendy’s logo!

Wendy’s have plans for outlets in IOI Mall, Jaya One, and Berjaya Times Square.

Address:
Wendy’s Pyramid
(opposite McDonald’s)
GPS: 3.073297, 101.607576
Tel: 03-5637 1059

Tags:  1/2 pounder,  1/4 pounder,  beef,  burger,  fast-food,  shrimp burger,  sunway pyramid

Posted by KY | 38 Comments »