Tag / cindy
January 12, 2009
Remember at the post on Guinness Gastronomy Workshop with Chef in Black Emmanual Stroobant, I suggested that Western food places should look into adopting some Guinness inspired dishes? Well, about a month back I had some Guinness dishes, but instead of Western, it was something of an opposite: Japanese food at SOMO Mont Kiara.
SOMO mont kiara, dinner for two
I went to SOMO with the infamous Cindy, who happened to stay around the area.
The restaurant is basically fully alfresco with a smallish set up, a dozen or so tables under a retractable canvas. The ambiance is pretty comfortable and actually a bit unique as far as Japanese outlets go: outdoor, a bar, LCD tv player sports, and music.
two Guinness inspired dishes
The Guinness inspired dishes were not actually on the menu, so I spoke with the friendly manager and requested for them. The grilled beef set and seafood set was suggested, and I also ordered sashimi for two, shisamo (grilled pregnant fish), and a pint of Guinness as good measures.
SOMO was not among the restaurants that ran the Guinness-infused Christmas main course promotion like these below. However, like many restaurants, you can sometimes get the chef to cook up something different, if only you ask nicely.
the girl, the sashimi, the seafood, and the soup & chawanmushi
The chef did probably take slightly longer than usual to prepare the dishes. While it was tough to find the hint of Guinness from the grilled seafood Cindy ordered, the beef I had was excellent. The slight bitterness contributed by the black beer was clearly present in the meat and actually adds character to the otherwise sweetish dish. It was really good, I think SOMO should consider making this dish a permanent fixture on their menu.
Cindy, Shisamo, and yours truly
The sashimi for two consists of squid, sweet shrimps, octopus, tuna, salmon, and a generous portion of salmon roe. They were fresh, served on ice, and made for very good appetizer. The grilled shisamo too was done properly even as first time eater of the fish, the girl said it was good. And of course, the Guinness drought was excellent.
SOMO is a stone’s throw away from Plaza Mont Kiara
The sets also come with miso soup and chawanmushi, they are priced at RM 35 and RM 45, sashimi was RM 60. Together with drinks and shisamo, the dinner came to just a little over RM 200. It was very satisfying though, good food, great atmosphere, and of course, a very good company.
Address:
Lot 2B, The Shoplex@Mont Kiara, Jln Kiara
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
GPS: 3.166571, 101.652696
Tel: 019-312 6528
January 9, 2009
If my memory serves me correct, this should be the third time Cheesie and I went for a seafood dinner. Together with Cindy, we decided to give South Sea Seafood a try instead of Lala Chong, which we went on the first two occasions.
There are a few more seafood places in the vicinity and I have a feeling it’s only a matter of time before we sample all of them.
South Sea Seafood, very big selection of live seafood
South Sea Seafood is located just next to the runway of the old Subang Airport, parking is a relatively painless affair as the restaurant has a dedicated free car park right across the road with friendly parking attendance ever so eager to assist you. Definitely a plus point.
There are plenty of aquariums with live and some pretty exotic seafood on display at this restaurant, snow crab, abalone, mantis prawn, geoduck, etc. Pretty similar to Pantai Seafood in this regard.
baked crab, steamed red snapper with ginger, two-style kailan
For the three of us, we ordered a couple kilograms of baked crabs, a pretty good portion of steamed red snapper, and a two-style kailan to go with some rice. Crustacean, fish, vegetable, balance and complete.
The size of the baked crabs was very good. The top half of the claws were as big as Cheesie’s oversized shades, and most importantly, they tasted so succulent and flavorful. By having crabs prepared this way, you get the natural flavor of the seafood, and thus freshness is most important since there are no strong spices and other ingredients masking the original taste. For good quality crabs, avoid having them with fancier preparation methods.
Cheesie, Cindy, and Yours Truly having a crabby time!
The steamed red snapper is topped with a layer of finely chopped garlic and spring onion. The greenish sauce goes well with the fish and gives it a slightly spicy and fresher taste.
Deep fried shredded kailan leaves topping the more conventional sauteed vegetable of the same kind looks like a pretty weird combination, but they actually tasted rather nice. The crunchy deep fried leaves carries a texture not unlike dried Japanese seaweed and gives the normal kailan dish another dimension. I liked it.
South Sea Seafood is located by Subang Airport runway
The girls had some ice cream as desserts to conclude the dinner. Everything came to a total of a little over RM 100, a pretty average bill for what we ate. Cindy also wrote about the experience here, where she tried to play with a small boy during our dinner (small boy didn’t want to layan her).
Address:
No 229, Jalan 2A,
Kampung Baru Subang,
40000 Subang, Selangor
GPS: 3.140688,101.54691
Tel: 03-7846 1401
December 26, 2008
First of all, I want to thank everyone for coming and made the fifth installment of our annual Xmas Eve Party a blasting success. There were some 40 people who turned up, quite a few bottles of liquors and wines brought by you, and again, Tuborg sponsored loads of free beer with their beer girl Siao Ling joining the party as well. It was awesome.
Due to the hectic schedule a week (including a trip to Singapore) prior to the party, my housemates and I only managed to put up some minor decoration and set up the place in the last 2 hours. I bought some x’mas lights for my two x’mas trees, reuse the deco, got some snacks, mixers, a Coleman huge ice box filled with ice from 7-11 and we were good to go.
free Tuborg beer, and lotsa socializing
The party got started at around 9pm with Terence, Chris, and Anthony arriving first. Sheryl, Cindy, and Simon arrived there after, and joined by Eiling, who managed to fetch Huai Bin to my place despite being already 3/4 drunk before the party even got started.
Erna, Michael, Elfie, Reta, Cindy, KY, Siao Ling, Huai Bin, Mohan, Firdy, Simon
Suan, Alan, and Wei Yi were around when our favorite Tuborg girl Siao Ling showed up with all those beer just as my new ice box was yearning for some attention. We quickly set things up and the party really got started right after that.
Chan, Huey Fang, Kelvin, Sheryl, Terence, Yee Hou, Aireen, Chris Tock
As the resident alcohol pusher, Terence was doing a fine job ensuring everyone a fair chance to get royally drunk by mixing 2 huge glasses of alcohol laden concoction named Life and Death. Erna was very fortunate to have a few gulps and ended up missing half the party by passionately hugging my gate with a really stoned facial expression. Elfie was embarassed that her fellow Sabahan can’t hold her drinks.
Naufal, Gareth, Shamsul, AC, Faye, Kim & chef, Adrian, Alan, Wei Yi, Suanie
There were some new faces in this year’s party, Shamsul, AC, Faye, Chris, Anthony, Rebecca, Jenson, Aireen, Daniel, and Debra are friends of friends or people whom I got to know via the blog but never met prior to this party.
Cindy, Selina, Siao Ling, Tock, Yee Hou, Firdy, Huai Bin, Elfie, Michael, Eiling, Erna, and Zoe are certainly are friends who attended the party for the first time. I got to know some of them via blog, random events, and via other friends.
Chris, Anthony, Zoe, Horng & Eiling, Amanda & Rachel, Enoch & Alice, Jenson, Rebecca, Daniel, Debra, Selina
There are also those who are no stranger to our little yearly celebration, Reta, Naufal, Nicholas, Alan, Adrian, Rachel, Kelvin, and Mohan all came to the party at least once before.
Then there is the group of my closest friends who were here since the get go. My housemate Horng, Suanie, Gareth, Kim, Huey Fang and Chan, and Terence. I am glad that my exgf Sheryl was able to make it after being away in Europe for post graduate studies for the past two years.
some of the more embarassing gift exchange moments
We didn’t actually have a dress theme this year. Instead, the legendary gift exchange has a little twist in it: It has to be something you can wear, and you must wear it after opening. This idea came from Horng, blame him if you were one of the victims.
Some of the more messed up gifts include a purple bra (I hope the size fits you, Elfie), disposable undearwear, a few boxes of condoms (Huai Bin wore one in public, scaring off all the girls), numerous underwear, socks & stockings, headgear, and lipsticks. The gift exchange was pretty intense, very dangerous.
the Heineken hat exchanged hands 5 times, stupid Michael!
The most saught after gift item was this Heineken hat brought by Michael. The hat was snatched up 5 times and ended up back to Michael just because Elfie wanted it (that’s wh4, stupid Michael). I think we should make it a rule that you can’t pick your own gift next year onwards.
some of the things people do when they are slightly influenced
Things got a little wilder after the gift exchange session as the blood alcohol mixture gets a bit out of hand for a few people. There’s this particular “Patrick” who can’t seem to walk properly and ended up passed out all over the place. The best thing was he kept saying “careful! careful! the earth is moving” and “are you guys ok?” everytime right before he passed out. Patrick is seen sleeping in two places with “James” sitting in both places in the collage above.
There were also some toe licking actions by Faye and Huai Bin, Siao Ling was, tragically, being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The party was great, and it was only appropriate that we had to end it after the cops came at 3:30am saying we were a bit too loud. Some of us then headed to Ming Tien for an early morning breakfast where Rachel promptly vomit out the wan tan mee after consumption. I think she was eager to join Patrick and James as the third person to throw up.
Again, thanks for coming, Merry Christmas and see you guys next year!
More incriminating photos can be found on facebook.
KY’s album 1, album 2, album 3
Suanie’s album
Horng’s album 1, album 2
Reta’s album
Kim’s album
December 24, 2008
Last weekend I went to Singapore for the 2nd time in a month, and instead of being on a mission to do Malaysia proud like the last one, this trip is all about having fun. I went to the V-Post Nuffnang Christmas Bash thanks to the invitation from Nuffnang. Chartered bus, hotel room at Marriot, party with a bunch of bloggers from both sides fo the straits, all expense paid. What more can I ask for?
The costume party has a pretty, er.. unique theme. We’re each assigned a letter V, P, O, S, or T and are supposed to dress up as something corresponding to the letter. For example, in the picture below you see Jolyn as Tape mesure / Tailor, Vivien as Student, and Ginni as Playboy Bunny. I was the Potong Stim Pirate with very minimal effort spent in fixing up my so called costume.
Jolyn, Vivien, and Ginni in the taxi on the way to the party
The other traveling bloggers include Suan as a Trekker, Huai Bin as Osama (who changed his letter to P, as I shall explain later), FA as the Shopaholic, Eiling the Vampire, Cindy as Venus, Audrey the Virgin Bride, and Ninie as probably another Vampire.
party people at the place to be
The party was hosted at DXO, which was quite a distance (in Singaporean term) from the hotel. Now one thing about this city-state I can do without is the 2,500 traffic lights you have to go through to get anywhere.
Outside the club Nuffies such as Tim, Nicholas, Pinky, Firdy, Yee Hou, Robb, and Ming were already waiting. Curiously, I also met Mike Yip, who seems to appear in every event regardless of location or organizer. Kenny was lurking around as an old man as well.
myself and Jolyn, the old man who’s hairy and bald at the same time
The whole place was rather packed with people and with the MC, Randall, running the show. There were several games and prizes to be won, and I walked away with an Osim pace counter after being the first one to name all the Nuffies in order of their letter to spell out the word NUFFNANG.
Audrey won the best costume with Cindy as runner up, and Mike Yip got a pair of tickets to Manila as the first prize in lucky draw too. I guess we didn’t do too bad at all.
While the party was pretty eventful, I thought it’ll be nicer if we were given more actual party time to dance and shake what our mamas gave us. However, there were only myself and a few other fellow Malaysians doing that during the limited party time given.
Audrey sleeping like an apek, and Huai Bin missing out the party
Overall it was still a very fun trip, we managed to catch up with a few buddies and met quite a few new friends at the same time. In the last picture collage you can see how Audrey doesn’t sleep like a Virgin Bride, and the only picture I snapped at the party, of Huai Bin missing out 75% of the event. So Huai Bin’s P stands for PASSED OUT
Next up would of course, be the fifth installment of X’mas Eve Party at home! See you!
December 22, 2008
Before heading to this somewhat ridiculously named restaurant for my last review on Guinness-infused Christmas main course promotion, I was a little apprehensive and thus I did a bit of research online. The reviews are certainly positive for The Magnificent Fish and Chips, so I brought Cindy of MDG fame (I know, overused line) along with me on this particular mission.
Magnificent Fish & Chips bar, with menu on the wall
The restaurant is situated at Changkat Bukit Bintang, just directly opposite Gypsy Wine & Bar, and a stone’s throw away from Bermuda & Onion, the other two places I have visited along the stretch of shops that is frequented by more expats than locals.
The owner Paul James is from England and a season ticket holder of Hull City Football Club, a friendly figure who made a quick escape when I tried to take a picture of him, possibly being not comfortable with his almost tragic hairstyle. He explained that all the fish served is from fresh stock except for the Atlantic cod (frozen), and that the name of the restaurant was invented after a particularly heavy drinking night.
the little cup Cindy holds is a Guinness miniature glass premium, comes in 4 different designs
The very helpful waiter, Zam, came to our assistance as we sat down, and politely explained that there is no “small” menu available. Everything they serve is written on giant blackboards hung on the walls inside the restaurant, which is not exactly very convenient if you happen to sit alfresco, or upstairs.
I ordered the Guinness steak pie from their Guinness-infused Christmas main course promotion, which carries the following deal you might have read from my previous posts:
- 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
Cindy got the grilled butter fish, we also asked for gaujons as appetizer, with the Guinness ice cream and sticky date pudding as desserts.
Guinness steak pie, a Guinness-infused dish
The Guinness steak pie comes with a choice of mash potato, chips, salad, or these mini potatos soaked in buttery sauce. The pie itself was steamy hot and cooked with beef of very tender cuts. The taste of Guinness used to make the sauce and beef adds character to it and provide a very appetizing aroma, coupled with the crunchy skin of the pie, it was very delicious. I liked it a lot.
grilled butter fish and goujons
Cindy’s chose to have salad with her grilled butter fish. Both the salad and grilled fish is draped with balsamic vinegar, the fish with some black pepper on top too. A healthier choice I suppose, but certainly not lacking in the taste department either. Personally I love balsamic vinegar with salad and never understand the whole fascination on Thousand Island dressing (which is basically mayonnaise and ketchup.)
Goujons is basically a fancy name in French for fish fingers. We had some ten strips of deep fried fish served with tartar sauce and a slice of lemon. They were as tasty as they are hearty and went well with my Guinness Draught.
sticky date pudding, Cindy, and Guinness ice cream
For dessert, the Guinness ice cream is a must order item. Just slightly different from the sorbet made by Chef in Black during the event I attended but certainly offering the same character and unique taste of that thin bitterness and caramelized sweetness. Do try it.
The sticky date pudding though, was a bit of a disappointment with too much custard. I wish that it comes with more fruits and ice cream that is a lot more sour too. The message has been conveyed to Paul James and he said they will be working on improving it.
Magnificent Fish & Chips Bar is located along the stretch of restaurants/pubs at Changkat Bukit Bintang
The final bill came to RM 138+ with the steak pie at RM32, butter fish RM28, goujons RM20, a couple drinks, and two desserts. I would say that the price is pretty reasonable considering the fresh ingredients, nice ambiance, and very good service we enjoyed. I have a feeling I am going there again to try out some of their other stuff.
Address:
28, Changkat Bukit Bintang,
50200 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.147749, 101.707209
Tel: 03-2142 7021
Other restaurants running the Guinness-infused Christmas main course promotion reviewed in this blog:
