Even while staring at the huge signboard that spelled out WONDERMILK in large and friendly white font, I didn’t have an idea what they offer inside.
In retrospect, however, I should have guessed that it must have something to do with cupcakes or coffee, since I was meeting Mellissa who’s obsessed with them.
WONDERMILK – proper coffee served here
I like the concept of WONDERMILK, with its mismatching chairs+tables, quirky interior, and not-so-serious art works displayed on the wall. This place reminds me of Melbourne than Malaysia, probably quite a cool place to bring your first date. Great ambiance.
lotsa cupcakes and cute little cookies & marshmallows
If I’m not mistaken, WONDERMILK is started from a blog at cuppacakes.blogspot.com. Now at Uptown, they serve freshly baked cupcakes (4 for RM5 mini, 4 for RM 17 maxi) that comes in all sorts of flavors and colors, coffee, tea, milk, cookies, mush mellows marshmallows, and more.
Ryan and Mellissa, KY & Haze, coffee & cupcakes
We ordered half a dozen cupcakes and I had a latte (RM7) while Haze got a butterscotch milk. The milk was good and I too was very happy with the latte that rivals what was served at Cafe Le Passione (Hartamas Shopping Centre.) Haze also bought some cookies & mush mellows back home, and they were very good too.
Give it a try if you love coffee, or cupcakes, or both!
Address:
41 Jalan SS 21/1A,
Damansara Uptown,
47400 Petaling Jaya
GPS: 3.135653, 101.621121
Tel: 03-7725 8930
Cheng Leong of xes.cx, avid wall climber, the original Melbourne shuffler, and lawyer extraordinaire only goes to several places for food. Village Park, Pappa Rich, Yut Kee, restaurant O&S, and maybe Cristang.
So when we met up for breakfast a couple weeks ago, it was over one of these handful of restaurants.
Village Park at Damansara Uptown
This wasn’t my first time to Village Park, but to be honest it isn’t exactly one of my favorite places due to the fact that it is always packed on the weekends, and parking is a bit of a nightmare at Uptown.
They do, however, serves very good nasi lemak and really awesome roti bakar (toast bread).
nasi lemak – chicken drumstick, cuttle fish, sambal, peanuts and anchovies
The claim of fame for this place is their nasi lemak. A full set of this signature Malaysian original comes with beef, cuttle fish, chicken rendang, sambal prawns, and all the other typical nasi lemak ingredients such as sambal, fresh cucumber, anchovies, peanuts, hard boiled egg, and of course, fragrant rice cooked with coconut milk.
The ful set costs RM 15, but if you don’t include all the main ingredients, they do come a bit cheaper. While a tad on the pricier side, it is really one of the best high end nasi lemak you can get.
nasi lemak, half boiled eggs, soto ayam, roti bakar
The other absolute must-try dish from Village Park is their roti bakar (RM 2). The difference between their toast bread and those you get from other places is simple – the bread here is sliced twice as thin as typically done. Extra crunchy, and of couse twice the amount of kaya and butter over amount of bread.
Cheng Leong & Angeline, Haze & KY
I’ve tried their Soto Ayam (RM 5.70) and it turned out to be pretty decent. The restaurant also serves prawn mee, ipoh hor fun, curry mee, asam laksa, and other local dishes. Try those at your own risk, I’ve not heard very good things about them though.
Other notable nasi lemak include the one with minced pork at 6-10, the triangle nasi lemak at 223, the seapark nasi lemak with awesome fried chicken, and nasi lemak tangling.
Address:
5, Jalan SS21/37, Damansara Utama,
47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.137784,101.623358
Tel: 03-7710 7860
Sometimes late last year, some dude who probably shares our collective frustrations in calculating service charge and government tax when trying to split bills came up with an idea: Why not a restaurant that doesn’t include the 5% or 10% extra charges?
While at that, why not have it decorated decently, comfortable, and yah, price the food cheaply too? And that was how Kitchen Creatures was born.
Kitchen Creatures, no frill dining
Of course I made that up completely and never really talked to the owner, but I suppose the truth shouldn’t be too far from my conjecture.
Kitchen Creatures is located at the first floor BU Centrepoint on the lot that previously occupied by Manhattan Fish Market. You could mistake the restaurant for an Ikea showroom, brightly lit, with furniture made of glass, metal, paper, and plastic. Not exactly a bad thing.
chicken wings, baked mushroom
We went there recently for early dinner and had us some different dishes. The chicken wings (RM 9) was delicious, it seems like they marinate it properly with the flavor not only skin deep.
The baked stuffed mushroom (RM 7.80) ordered by Suan must be at least decent, as the lady proclaimed “ohh it’s good!” after the first bite.
beef stroganoff, seafood cream sauce pasta, big daddy burger, aglio olio prawns
I chose one of the less common dishes from the menu – beef stroganoff (RM 14). It was a semi curry/cheesy sauce with beef, a bit of mushroom, onion, and rice. It wasn’t exactly great, I found the beef a bit too tough, but the sauce was pretty alright though.
The pastas ordered by the ladies: seafood cream sauce (RM 15) and aglio olio shrimp (RM 13) were both reported to be satisfying, and Gareth’s big daddy burger (RM 18) that came with 2 thick meat patties, egg, ham, cheese, and a side of chips was good enough to meet this mat salleh’s expectation.
Suan, Horng, Kerol, Gareth, Kim
Kitchen Creatures definitely offer great value for what you get, if you stick to seafood, chicken, or pretty much everything that doesn’t involve beef or lamb, they usually turn out pretty good. The problem with beef/lamb on a budget is that they’re usually of inferior cuts/quality, and I’d usually rather not have them.
Address:
Kitchen Creatures
Lot F110, Centre Point
3, Lebuh Bandar Utama,
47800 PJ, Selangor
GPS: 3.137988, 101.610124
Tel: 03-7729 8039
When the dragon OBC lady was still staying at BU, we used to go to Centrepoint quite often. Yes, we often caved into her insistence, arguing with suanie is often an exercise in futility.
Which led to this blog covering disproportionately high number of entries on restaurants in this little shopping mall. Bernards, Champs, Cagayan, Jade Garden, Momo (changed name/owner), and Shanghai 1930 (closed).
the Straits Cafe at BU Centrepoint
I had no idea when the Straits Cafe first appeared at Centrepoint, it has the look of one of those restaurants that I usually wouldn’t stepped in to try until being suggested, in this case, by Jaclyn, who has been quite a regular customer.
Tucked at the inside of Centrepoint, most tables are al fresco. No air conditioning, but there are quite a few big fans blowing about. The menu is filled with a mixture of local and Thai delights – char kueh teow, phat thai, various types of fried rice, mee goreng, even steamed siakap and daging masak merah. Quite a variety.
Char Kueh Teow, Prawn Mee, Crab Meat fried rice, Mee Siam
I had the prawn mee (RM 8.90) on my first visit with #porkgang, and char kueh teow (RM 8.90) on my second visit with Val (who was passing the Corica Apple Strudel from Perth). While both dishes weren’t the best that I’ve had, they did not disappoint at all, and probably one of the better halal version of these dishes I’ve had from anywhere.
Others were happy with mee siam (RM 7.90) that looked a bit uninspiring, and the crab mee fried rice (RM 8.90) Val ordered was actually quite tasty too, despite not seeing much crab meat in it. But it’s less than RM 10 per plate anyway, and crab meat’s expensive.
Lorbak, Ais Kacang, and Roselle drink
I didn’t particularly like the chicken lorbak (RM 7.90) which was a bit too dry for my taste, I still believe this is one of those items without a good substitute for good old fashion pork meat in it. Their fried chicken wings (RM 6.90) though, was very tasty!
The Straits Cafe offers quite a few choices for desserts, ais kacang (RM 5.00) wasn’t disappointing, and there were also penang rojak, cendol, logan jelly, and even Thai steamed tapioca. My personal favorite drinks at the place would be the Roselle ice, I last had it years ago during a food review at Coca restaurant and never seen it on any menu since. It’s a pretty special drink, try it when you have the chance.
Kim, Gareth, KY, Jac, Eric, Horng, Suanie, and Val (separate visit)
While not exactly the best food you can find, the Straits Cafe does offer pretty decent food at a price that is acceptable for the type of place it is. This would be one of the places I should keep in mind especially when bringing Muslim friends for food.
Address:
The Straits Cafe
Centrepoint,
Jalan Leboh Bandar Utama,
47800 Petaling Jaya
Selangor
GPS: 3.137988, 101.610124
Xpax Advert:
One of the offers Xpax Blackberry users enjoy is the on going Xpax Big Freekin’ Sale promotion that runs until the end of this month is the Free Blackberry Access.
The mechanic is very simple, as long as you subscribe to BB 250 for weekdays, you get the weekends free! That works out to be RM 2.50 x 5, or RM 12.50 per week, which is only about RM 60 per month for the prepaid Blackberry Access. A pretty good deal for the best network coverage, I’d say.
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:
It is that simple. 
