After having some porky goodness at Jarrod & Rowlins Hartamas, we decided browse the neighboring DVD store. I was happily browsing, and suddenly my friend stopped me from walking so that I don’t step onto iSulk on the floor there..

i wanna go home!

According to the mother, this kid was just too tired to walk and hence decided to just lay down on the carpet sulking. Interestingly, other member of their family didn’t quite give a crap about this big baby.

a close up on the sulking baby

What do you think would have happened if you pull such a stunt when you were young?

Tags:  hartamas

Posted by KY | 23 Comments »

Every once in a blue moon, I get to be invited to sample a restaurant, this is one such occasions. Brian (Thanks!) from All dat Jazz contacted me via email and told me about Groove Junction, I immediately agreed to the free food. I had initially thought that there would just be myself and a couple of other friends I bring a long, but it turned out to be a bigger occasion with Riz, masak-masak, and Lemongrass there as well. This is also the first time I met the friendly bunch.

nice place, good food, bloggers at work

Groove Junction is actually a rather new place that has been in operation for only a couple of months. The Bistro and Cafe sat right on top of Karma in Sri Hartamas, just a stone’s throw away from the ProJet petrol station. The ambiance of the place is very nice, slightly darker compared to normal restaurants, but fits perfectly with the stage up front where live bands play Jazz nightly. A very relaxing and rather classy setting, perfect for bringing your special ones there.

Ellena’s Lamb Steak, Sonny Rollins (chicken), Billie Holiday (fish), Dexter Cordon (chicken corddn blue)

But when it comes down to it, the most important thing for a restaurant is still the food, so how does Groove Junction fair?

Since this was a food tasting session, we actually got to try quite a number of dishes from their extensive menu. Starting off with Yam Nam glass noodle and a piece of mushroom bruschetta as appetizer. These two items actually made me even hungrier than I had started out, they were actually very good, the glass noodle was spicy and has a tangy taste, while the creamy mushroom bruschetta offers contrasting texture and taste that fits perfectly.

lamb curry with toasted bread, and some desserts

For the main dishes, we sampled a total of six dishes. A (Ellena’s) lamb steak that is one of their best sellers, the really excellent chicken with orange seasoning wrapping some asparagus that they call Sonny Rollins, Dexter Cordon (Chicken Cordon Blue), pan fried sole fish named Billie Holiday, and Beef Panne – the grilled beef prepared with herb sauce. Of these 5 dishes, I like Sonny Rollins and the beef the most, but the other three were very good too, it’s just a tragedy not having a big enough stomach to eat more than a few bites from each dish.

Being a Bistro, Groove Junction offers some finger food as well. We had the Chickalina’s, marinated chicken in black sauce, and the lamb curry with toasted bread. These stuff will go down very well with some beer.

And as if there was any space in my stomach, we had desserts. The Roll Morton (hot banana “pohpiah” with ice cream) was actually very addictive with its contrasting temperature and texture, Riz ended up having like 3 or 4 of those. The cheese cake and tiramisu were reported to be very good by the ladies, but I just couldn’t fit another bite by then.

The price of food at Groove Junction is pretty much in line with any restaurant of its class. Finger foods at around RM 15 and main dishes from RM 20+ to RM 30+. Considering the great atmosphere and the accompanying fabulous live Jazz, this place offers pretty good value for some really good food. I’ll return as a paying customer for sure.

address:
Groove Junction
1-1, Jalan 22A/70A
Desa Sri Hartamas
Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.162777, 101.652557
tel: 03-6201 8990

Tags:  bistro,  hartamas,  Jazz

Posted by KY | 12 Comments »

Of all the different types of meat available for consumption, my favorite has got to be pork. The versatility is second to none, from dried pork and bak kut teh, to siu yok or even using the fats to accentuate and compliment the taste of steamed fish, I can’t think of any other meat that tasted so good in so many ways.

After trying Jarrod & Rawlin’s pork sausage as dessert the same day I went to Bonjuk , I just had to go there for more. In my book, they serve the best western style pork sausages thus far.

burger, pork sausages, and choices of cheese

The second trip to Jarrod & Rawlins was for supper as well, just a couple hours or so after having dinner in KL. I ordered 2 sausages while Kelvin, who has a bottomless stomach, ordered a gourmet beef burger with bacon, blue cheese and mushroom. Obviously, with these kinda “yum char” session, teh-o-ais doesn’t suffice, I actually ordered a beer (beat it, suanie & FA!).

if you’re not drooling over these stuff, find a doctor

Though this place has less than a dozen tables, they really take their time to prepare the food. Everything is cooked meticulously without any rush. This is not to say that the wait was boring, but it’s probably not an ideal place to go if you’re starving to death.

When the sausages came, they were simple and no frill. Just 2 sausages on an empty plate, I ordered a pepper and a dynamite chili variety. They were seriously good stuff, the fillings were from good quality pork, with some chili padi in the dynamite chili version and some white pepper in the other. The taste was just glorious, with the chili version particularly addictive, especially if you are a person who loves hot food.

comfortable ambiance, and wide selection of wine and other drinks

As for the burger, it was ridiculously thick, with the beef patty at least 5 times thicker than Ramli’s version, a portobello mushroom as big as the bread under the beef, and a generous slice of blue cheese on top, with bacon and pickle in it as well, you can’t really ask for more. Of course, it’s nearly impossible to just pick the burger up and start biting unless you have a mouth as big as Steven Tyler’s. The beef was very juicy, and the mushroom, bacon, and cheese combined to be a really great gastronomical satisfaction.

Jarrod & Rawlins is located at the heart of Desa Sri Hartamas

The sausages came to only around RM 7, and the burger was RM 18, drinks are priced competitively with other restaurants of this sort. For the quality of food (all the sausages and meat patties are made there) and the taste, I’d say this place provides good value. Will definitely go there many more times.

address:
No. 36 (ground floor)
Jalan 27/70A
Desa Sri Hartamas,
50480 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.162777, 101.649638
tel: 03-2300 0708

Tags:  hartamas,  KL,  pork,  suasauge

Posted by KY | 16 Comments »

In an attempt to eat healthy for once, we decided to head to this Korean Porridge place, Bonjuk at Desa Sri Hartamas. I had thought that the parking situation would be pretty shitty on a weekend, it was. After a round of unfruitful hunt, I decided to just pay for it at the commercial car park just a block away for RM 3.00 that was totally worth it.

some seriously healthy food

Like most franchise, Bonjuk does not offer a very wide variety of dishes in their menu. There are, however, over a dozen types of porridge, and an equal amount of Bibimbobs (mixed meal), as well as some Korean pancakes to choose from. The pancakes aside, all the dishes were not fried nor BBQ, so far so healthy.

After scanning the offerings, I decided to go for the mid size seafood combination porridge. Since the porridge is cook to order, it did take a while before I get to start satisfying the stomach, luckily, the wait was worth it.

now you see it, now you don’t

The porridge was cooked with squid, shrimp, mussels, dried oyster, and octopus. It was actually very good, the taste of the seafood mixture blends into the porridge very well, if only some dried scallop were used as well, it would have been perfect. Then again, that ingredient would drive the price up by quite a bit.

Free flow kimchi and a plate of marinated beef came with the dish, a salty and slightly spicy chili paste accompanied the porridge too. The kimchi and beef were pretty good, I had like 4 plates of kimchi as it was just at the right level of rottenness for me. However, I gave a pass to the cold soup, that thing tasted like a mixture of vitagen and vegetable soup served cold, not exactly to my taste.

Bonjuk is just opposite Breakers and Soda

The porridge was an economical RM 14.95, and if I remember correctly, no government nor service charge added. I’ll definitely go there again, and I think you should give it a try too. The young and friendly Korean guy who run the place scored an A+ for customer PR skills as well.

Address:
No. 18, Ground Floor, Jalan 25/70A
Desa Sri Hartamas 50480 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.162584, 101.650164
Tel: 03-2300 2302

Tags:  banchan,  beef,  hartamas,  kimchi,  KL,  Korean,  porridge,  seafood

Posted by KY | 12 Comments »

After driving around PJ not knowing what to have for dinner, we somehow ended up at Sri Hartamas. Since the density of Korean restaurants at this area is probably only second to Ampang, we decided to include Kimchi for dinner.

note: this place is no longer in operation

quiet little place just above 7-11

After scouring around for a parking spot, we finally deposited the vehicle next to the 7-11 convenient store. Since there is a little Korean restaurant situated right above this place, we decided to give it a try instead of going to some of the bigger and more lavished competitors.

Mu Gong He is just like many other Korean restaurants, offering numerous grilled meat dishes but not a whole lot of other stuff that does not use the burner. The interior decoration is simple and actually a little dated. Since it was a weekday evening, the restaurant was rather quiet too.

the soup and side dishes

We ordered 2 soups, a Kimchi jjigae (Kimchi soup), and a Hae Mul Soon Dubu (Seafood tofu soup). The two soups (more like stew) came with banchan (side dishes) that is typical of Korean food. Two metal bowls of steamed rice were served too.

The two stews were surprisingly good, the Kimchi stew very strong in taste and packed with quite a lot of kimchi, as well as meat, tofu, and other ingredients. The kimchi served here were more fermented and thus more flavorful. Just the way I like it. The seafood soup though, was even better, generous amount of shellfish, squid, and prawn gives the soup a good base. The tofu used was very smooth and tasted awesome soaking in the spicy soup. There was even a half boiled egg, just perfect.

situated in Sri Hartamas, pretty easy to find

It was a very satisfying meal, 10 different dishes with rice. The banchan comes free and the soups each cost RM 15. Including tax, the two of us only needed to shell out RM 16.50 for a very satisfying meal. This place is a little underrated, but I would happily go there again.

Address:
Jalan 23/70A
Sri Hartamas
(above 7-11)
GPS: 3.161674, 101.649756

Tags:  banchan,  cuisine,  hartamas,  kimchi,  korean-food,  seafood

Posted by KY | 16 Comments »