Bangsar is one of the places I haven’t really explore that much as far as food goes, so it was a good opportunity for me to head there with my buddy Horng when I was informed of Ronnie Q restaurant and pub’s involvement in the Guinness-infused Christmas main course promotion.

Ronnie Q, a proper English pub

If you haven’t found out already, there are quite a few restaurants that are running the same Guinness-infused Christmas Menu (including Cafe Chulo at Jaya One I wrote about earlier, and more to come on this blog).

The promotion is pretty simple:

• 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 pint of Guinness Draught
• keep the other half the the voucher to get RM12 off 3 pint of Guinness Draught on next visit

order main course, fill in voucher, gets a free Guinness Draught and a RM12 coupon too

As a restaurant/pub, Ronnie Q carries a pretty small but sufficient menu. Shepherd’s pie, ribeye steak, chicken chop, fish and chips, chicken boxing, burger, fish fingers, all the classic English foods

For the promotion, there is the Guinness-infused lamb chop, pork chop, and Hainanese pork chop. Horng and I decided to skip the poultry and went for lamb chop and pork chop instead. We also ordered deep fried calamari as appetizer.

deep fried calamari and 2 pints of Guinness Draught

The combination of deep fried calamari with Guinness turned out to be excellent. The big, fat, and juicy squid ring’s saltiness paired with the slight bitter after taste of Guinness Draught brings out the flavor of the seafood even more. Brilliant.

Guinness infused pork chop and lamb chop

The pork chop and lamb chop didn’t disappoint either. The sauce clearly carries a pretty distinct and yet subtle hint of Guinness in it. I do think while being a little unorthodox, the extra ingredient does add character to the otherwise pretty simple dishes that were served with potato wedges, baked beans, green beans, and some sliced mushrooms. The portions were rather generous too.

Ronnie Q is located in the heart of Bangsar Telawi area

An appetizer, two main dishes, and two pints of Guinness Draught at Bangsar, I would think the bill might be a little steep, but when the server handed me the bill, it was only RM 60.95. I almost couldn’t believe it, a very, very good deal indeed.

Good food, great drinks, and of course, as an added bonus, you get to sit alfresco and enjoy watching the ladies walk by the busy street that is Bangsar Telawi 2.

Address:
32, Jalan Telawi 2,
Bangsar Baru, 59100 KL
GPS: 3.131721, 101.671815
Tel: 03-2282 0722

Tags:  Bangsar,  calamari,  guinness,  horng,  lamb chop,  pork chop

Posted by KY | 29 Comments »

Before stepping into La Cocina, I had never tasted genuine Spanish food other than a few tapas (that weren’t very good) during a wine session somewhere in Bangsar, hence I was delighted when the owner, Mr. Jeganathan invited me for dinner at his restaurant in USJ. After all, I am always a keen experimenter in food and never shun away from tasting new cuisine.

paella negres – seafood in Spanish rice cooked with squid ink

After giving us a brief tour of the 2-storey restaurant (wine club and cellar upstairs, dining on ground level), we were served a host of tapas as appetizers and a glass of sangria that was very fresh and undiluted. The main dish was the very interesting paella negres (seafood with Spanish rice in squid ink), and we rounded off the night with a couple desserts.

Throughout the night, Mr Jega played a very warm and inviting host, never lack in enthusiasm explaining each dishes as they are served as well as telling us his passion for Spanish food.

wonderful host, manager, and owner – Mr. Jeganathan

Appetizers:

• calamares a la romana – squid with home made garlic mayonnaise. I just can’t get enough of the myannaise mayonnaise, and the squid fried perfectly too.
• gambas al pil pil – garlic shrimps, pan fried with fresh garlic, olive oil & dried chili.
• champignones al ajillo – button mushroom, fresh button mushroom with garlic, onion, herbs & olive oil. This goes really well with the bread.
• tigres- mussel and shrimp croquette, breaded and deep fried, with garlic mayonnaise. The mussel and shrimp is mashed up and served on the shell, perfect for those who does not like the texture of shell fish.
• we also had meat balls and some very nice bread to go with all these.

five different tapas – squid, mussel, mushroom, meatball, shrimp

The main dish, paella negres, is a mixture of large prawns, shrimps, razor clams, fish fillet, squid, clams, and vegetables with Spanish rice in squid ink. I would have been hesitant looking at the completely black rice, but after tasting some of the best appetizers I have no doubt that the main dish wouldn’t disappoint. Furthermore, the TV show Iron Chef has had squid ink dishes as well. The ink actually provides a very subtle seafood taste, and with all the fresh seafood ingredients, it proved to be a delight to any seafood lover. You just had to try this at least once.

sangria and desserts

By dessert time, I was already pretty full. The crema catalana, spanish custard with caramelized sugar on top was very refreshing, while the tarta de santiago, almond tart with vanilla custard can be a little rich especially with a full stomach. It was a very good meal overall, and there is no doubt I will be there again.

Price wise, La Cocina is very reasonable, the tapas averages about RM7-10, the Spanish rice dish is RM58, but you can feed 2-3 person. Dessert is another RM 7 or so. The restaurant also offers set meals for 2 that are priced below RM 100. There are also more familiar dishes available, such as steak, lamb shank, pastas, and even fish and chips.

Address:
38 USJ9/5P,
Subang Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.046711, 101.587143
Tel: 03-8023 2395

Tags:  calamari,  spanish-food,  squid-ink,  taipan,  tapas,  USJ

Posted by KY | 10 Comments »