The last time I went to Changkat Bukit Bintang for a meal was over half a year ago at Bermuda and Onions for a very satisfying lunch. I had actually never been to that part of town at night, so it was actually pretty surprising for me when I went to Gypsy Wine and Bar to discover that the street is filled with quite a number of restaurants and pubs bustling with foreigners and locals alike.

Gypsy Bar & Wine at Changkat Bukit Bintang

The reason I picked Gypsy Wine and Bar, of course, was mainly due to the Guinness-infused Christmas main course promotion they are running. If you didn’t catch my previous posts on Ronnie Q at Bangsar and Cafe Chulo at Jaya One , lets just recap on how this works:

• order a Guinness-infused Christmas main course
• fill up a voucher with your details
• tear it in half and give the side with your details to the restaurant to redeem a small pint of Guinness Draught
• keep the other half of the voucher to get RM12 off 3 pint of Guinness Draught on next visit

Guinness Draught, the season of smoothness!

Amanda and I ordered entrees from the promotional menu, Guinness-infused lamb skewer, and seafood spaghetti. We also asked for half a dozen oysters (as it was still during happy hour) and mussels as appetizer to get the evening started.

half dozen raw oysters, mussels “kam heong” style

The oysters (RM 17.99) were very fresh and delicious (they somehow gave us 7 instead of half dozen). I like to have mine with just a little bit of lemon while Amanda loves to add a tad of Tabasco sauce with hers. We of course, washed it down with the smoothness of Guinness Draughts.

Curiously, the mussels (RM12) served was prepared in “kam heong” style that is usually associated with roadside stalls preparing lala, such as the stall at SS4. They actually tasted pretty good though.

lamb skewer and seafood spaghetti

The lamb skewer ( RM 23) was a proper Guinness-infused dish. Four pretty big chunk of marinated lamb skewered to perfection and sits on a bed of sauteed pea, mushroom, and tomato; served with brown sauce. The lamb was very juicy and you can actually taste the distinct Guinness influenced in it, which complements the bold taste of the lamb very well. A bit of lamb, a spoonful of sauteed peas & mushroom, and a gulp of Guinness Draught, perfect.

The seafood spaghetti (RM 22) came with a generous portion of mussels, squid rings, and prawns in tomato-based sauce. I like the fact that plenty of garlic is used in this dish and the taste did not disappoint at all.

Amanda & a couple of 1/2 pint Guinness Draughts

The dinner came to just over RM 80 for two of us. Four dishes including fresh oysters, a couple 1/2 pint Guinness Daught, very good music (80s during dinner time, you know Gorge Michael, Boy George etc), and excellent ambiance. I think I shall visit that part of KL more often.

Gypsy is located along Changkat Bukit Bintang

Address:
No. 33 Jalan Changkat Bukit Bintang,
55100 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.147749, 101.707209
Tel: 016-365 6113

Tags:  amanda,  bar,  Bukit Bintang,  guinness,  lunch money,  oysters

Posted by KY | 25 Comments »

One of the other places we dined at during the trip to Seremban was this very nice looking restaurant called La Esquina, or “the corner” in Spanish. Naturally, it specialized in Spanish cuisine. The interior of this place is modern yet very cozy, it spots a full bar and has seating areas both in and outdoor. The first Spanish cuisine in Seremban is also probably the nicest decorated restaurant at Era Square.

grilled asparagus wrapped in bacon

La Esquina doesn’t have a huge menu when it comes to food selection, they do, however, serve all sorts of drinks and a variety of tapas. As we were still half full from our very satisfying meal at Kensington, we only had some light dishes at this place.

a full bar and a nicely decorated interior

The grilled asparagus wrapped in bacon slice was a pretty delicious dish. I mean, you can’t really go wrong with grilled asparagus and bacon. The bacon, however, is of the beef variety rather than the non-halal version from pork. Though I think the later might have jazzed up the taste just a tad more, the beef bacon wasn’t a bad substitute.

tapas

We also had fresh button mushroom, mussel in white wine sauce, Spanish warm potato salad, and spicy chicken sausage. The tapas were served with slices of bread to go with the sauce that comes with it. I mentioned that the spicy chicken sausage isn’t exactly spicy for our taste, the owner Mr. Satwant explained that the level of spiciness in Spanish cuisine is a lot less than what we are accustomed to.

basque crab casserole

The last dish served was not tapas, but the pretty unique basque crab casserole. Generous portion of crab meat and some other ingredients I can’t name were baked in flowery crab shells. This dish carries a slightly salty taste that I imagine would taste pretty well with some red wine.

La Esquina is located at Era Square

Tapas at La Esquina ranges from RM8 to RM15, the crab casserole goes for RM18 per pair.

Address:
No. 49, Jalan Era Walk 3,
Era Square
70200 Seremban, Negeri Sembilan
Tel: 06-768 7405

Tags:  bar,  casserole,  dining,  era baru,  era walk,  food,  seremban,  spanish cuisine,  tapas

Posted by KY | 15 Comments »