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

Xpax Advert

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 »

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 »

Earlier this month I had an invitation from Hsu Jen to a beer tasting session at Craft Brews, a new pork and beer joint at Mutiara Damansara.

Due to the pesky little organization in this country that is the government, Craft Brews got their beer from Red Dot Brewhouse in Singapore instead of brewing them on location. That whole “license” thingy sure annoys quite a few people out here.

see the pipes? they are purely for decoration purposes only

Craft Brew is located just right across the North end of Tesco (the side that isn’t facing Ikea) in a building curiously named Batu Kawan tower. Parking is a relative breeze, and if you’re familiar with the area, using the Mutiara Damansara exit on LDP would save you the trouble having to navigate through the Curve/IKEA.

The restaurant has a pretty simple yet elegant set up, with plenty of seats alfresco style as well as indoor. Behind the bar counter there’s all these pipes simulating an actual microbrewery, but unfortunately, a simulation is what they are.

multicolored beer, crispy eggplant, deep fried bacon

We were served four different types of beer on the day, the rather bitter English Ale, Czech Pilsner, Weizen wheat beer, and the Monster Green Lager, which was actually .. well, green.

Being not much of a beer drinker, I am not going to pretend that I’m an expert and advice you on which one to go for. That being said, I kinda like the green lager, relatively smooth and the whole spirulina thingy is supposed to be good for your health too. Making the whole pairing of deep fried bacon and beer less guilty for the consumer.

The other two beer were quite good as well, but I must say that the English Ale isn’t really my cup of tea glass of beer. For bitter beer I love my Guinness.

the porkgang each got our own VIP card to craft brews

As for the food, well, kitchen wasn’t fully open on that night, but we were served with some pretty yummy pork dishes. The two types of ribs were both delicious and wholesome, and I particularly love the crispy egg plant too. They also served us one of the most delicious wedges I’ve had.

The best dish of the day though, had to go to the deep fried bacon. Covered with a light layer of batter, the bacon is so sinful and yummy I couldn’t have enough of it. Deep frying really does usually make a dish even better. This one went very very well with any beer.

We were also given a VIP card (valid till June 2010) worth 30% discount on all food items and happy hour all day/night long. Thank you Craft Brews!

Adress:
Craft Brews
Jalan PJU 7/2,
Mutiara Damansara,
47800 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.161031, 101.613761
Tel: 03-7722 3000

Xpax Advert:

Good news again for the Xpax Blackberry users. For those who are subscribing to the RM 2.50 Blackberry Advance plan, right now as part of the Big Freeekin’ Sale by Xpax, there’s free access weekends.

How this work is very simple. If you’re subscribed to the 250 plan every weekday from Monday to Friday, you get it for free during the weekends. By utilizing my amazing mathematical skills learnt from primary school, this works out to be less than RM 1.80 per day over the 7 day-period.

Check out the Xpax Big Freekin’ Sales website for more. There are other deals including 50% off calls and 50% off downloads too. Offer lasts till 31st March, don’t miss out.

Tags:  bacon,  beer,  pork,  porkgang,  the-curve

Posted by KY | 26 Comments »

Early last month boo of masak-masak called me up for a year end dinner with a few other food bloggers at Favola. As it turned out, it was a food review session at the new Italian outlet of Le Meridien KL. Thank goodness I had my newly acquired S90 handy with me.

the capable chef Antoine at Favola

The restaurant has a very cheerful mood with its spacious tables, comfortable chairs, and light music further compounded by a very jolly chef Antoine who loves to mingle with diners. Meena, Ciki, and Fatboybakes were among the bloggers who were there.

Like most proper Italian restaurants, we started off with some lovely breads. Other than the standard olive oil with balsamic vinegar, there were guacamole and the very flavorful potato truffle dips. I had to stop myself from eating more of these to save some stomach space, but if you’re on a shoe string budget…

cold (freddo) antipasti, bread with potato truffle dip, and crispy pizza dough

There’s a pretty good selection of antipasti available at Fivola. We had the sampler of five antipasti (RM 35) which had the following:

• octopus – with garlic and chili flakes
• caprese – buffalo mozzarella, tomato, basil, anchovies, garlic confit and oregano
• bresaola – shaved dried beef with rocket salad, figs, lemon and olive oil
• bruschetta – cured salmon, portobello mushrooms
• seafood salad – garlic, chili-olive oil, lemon juice and italian parsley

Of course, the descriptions and names were copied from the menu as there was no way I could remember all of them. I particularly like the beef as well as the octopus, they were tasty and had a nice texture to it too. This was sorta parellel to the old Chinese cold dish, I think.

warm (caldo) antipasti, Conchiglioni Marinara al Cartoccio

Warm antipasti came next, and we had these little curry puff look alike items that were made with pizza dough called panzerotti. They were filled with marinated mushroom, mozzarella and grilled bell pepper and makes perfect beer snacks.

We also had cod fritters, but my favorite has got to be the sardines. Unlike the canned version we’re familiar with, the sardine’s sauteed with onions, raisins, pine nuts, and bell pepper to a crispy texture. They were absolutely delicious.

For pasta, we had the conchiglioni marinara al cartoccio (RM 40), in laymen’s term – shell shaped pasta with seafood, extra virgin olive oil, herbs, and tomato sauce. I’m not a huge fan of conchiglioni, but this tasted pretty good.

lobster risotto, roasted lamb shoulder, wagyu beef lasagna, veal osso bucco

They were quite a few main dishes to share among us. For a taste of luxury, we had the risotto con argosta (lobster risotto, RM 45) and lasagna al forno (wagyu cheek lasagna, RM 40) and both dishes didn’t disappoint the ingredients used. The lasagna was especially the yums, Garfield would have approved.

The two veal dishes – veal escalope (one pan seared, one coated with bread crumbs, RM 60) and veal osso bucco (RM 70). They were decent, but to be frank I’m not a huge fan of veal and would probably opt for something else (the lasagna for example) if I had to choose. I prefer the pan seared veal and could give a pass to the bread crumb preparation method though.

veal osso bucco, scallop with cauliflower, mussels with chicken, veal escalope “due modi”

Another two antipasti dishes we had (in full serving instead of sampler) were roasted scallops (RM 20) and fresh mussels (RM 20). The scallops came on a bed of cauliflower and truffles and were absolutely delightful. The mussels had minced chicken stuffing, garlic and tomato sauce. I am quite sure suan would have loved to have this, they were quire good too.

The roasted lamb shoulder (RM 50) was the other meat dish we had. I remember it to be quite rich but couldn’t really recall much otherwise. I think my stomach was already over stuffed at this point.

panna cotta, fruitti di miso, illy coffee inspired tiramisu

Then of course, there were desserts. Illy coffee inspired tiramisu (RM 20) was nice, and the fruitti di miso (ricotta cream and mixed red berries RM 20) gives a jolt to the senses after the heavy meal. However, the panna cotta (RM 20) had to be the recommended choice – almond custard cream, minestrone of fruit sugar veil and orange wafer might not mean anything to me, but it was very delightful. The contrasting tastes of custard with the berries and sugar was just perfect.

Meena, KY, and ciki; potent Grappa

To finish off the dinner, we ordered some grappa, basically grape based pomace brandy (or distilled wine) with alcohol content as high as 60%. These drinks cost anything from RM 20 (Grappa Limonico) to RM 50 (Alexandar Red Rose Grappa). The red rose grappa was quite good, but I can’t say I’d be able to justify the price for it though.

The Grappa Platinum (RM 40) was especially nasty and left a grimace to anyone who’d tasted it. Perhaps it was an acquired taste, I don’t know, and probably wouldn’t ever order this particular type of drinks anytime soon.

By the time we wrapped up, it was already 11pm. I think I still felt full when I woke up the next morning. It was definitely a nice session and Fivola would make a pretty good place if you’re looking for some authentic Italian food. The ambiance is good, the food did not disappoint, and the price is fair too.

Address:
Favola
2 Jalan Stesen Sentral,
Kuala Lumpur 50470
GPS: 3.135631,101.686476
Tel: 03-2263 7753

Tags:  ciki,  desserts,  grappa,  hotel,  italian,  lagsana,  meena,  pasta,  scallops,  tiramisu

Posted by KY | 21 Comments »