After having rojak opposite Taman Bahagia LRT station at 5pm (I really should blog about that stall) on Saturday, I kinda forgot about dinner till it was past way past 9 pm. Logged onto MSN and saw Haze online, so I asked what she was up to. Her reply “emoing cos no one eating dinner with me“.

So I asked her to join me for late dinner, and by the time we got started it was already way past 10pm.

While most restaurants have closed and started cleaning up already, the night is still young at Berlin Biergarten. That was the first reason I chose to go there, secondly, they sells non-halal bratwurst, and thirdly, the Guinness promotion is on-going.

Having the promotion is definitely one of the biggest reasons I chose Berlin Biergarten instead of other outlets. I’ve done quite a few Guinness food reviews and they’ve always been good experiences.

Berlin Biergarten German Bar & Restaurant

Berlin Biergarten is located on the first floor at Solaris, just a stone’s throw away from the now pretty famous Tenji Japanese buffet. While the name translate to beer garden, it actually does offer a pretty comprehensive food menu too.

While there are some tables inside the smallish outfit, almost everyone chooses to dine al fresco style here, and like most outlets of this type, there’s a projector screen showing live sports too. A pretty chilling environment.

free pork balls with Guinness, Farmer’s Bratwurst

The Guinness promotion at Berlin Beirgarten is pretty simple:

• 4 perfect pint (330ml) of Guinness for RM 60
• get a free finger food/appetizer from the menu

I chose the pork ball (worth RM 19.90 if I remember correctly). They were pretty firm and rather flavorful, the sweetish sauce and the pork went really well with the slight after taste of bitterness of Guinness that I love so much. It was the yums!

Berlin rosemary lamb

Upon recommendation from the server, I chose the Farmer’s Bratwurst (RM 28). The two German sausage doesn’t look big here, but they were actually quite a decent portion. It was a good thing I didn’t ended up ordering the Berlin Sausage Selection (RM 59) that comes with 7-8 bratwursts.

The pan fried sausages were very very good, with the accompanying gravy and dill potato salad being very good side kicks. However, I have to say that german bread dumpling (looks almost exactly like wedges) did taste a bit weird to me though.

Haze the awesome artist, and KY with some Guinness

The other dish we ordered was the Beriln Rosemary Lamb (RM 48). Stripes of lamb with plenty of mint sauce resting on mash, steamed vegetable, and surrounded by chili paste and bits of bell pepper. The presentation definitely scores an A. Thankfully, the taste department is in sync with how well the dish looked.

Other than the carrot being a bit raw, the lamb was soft and flavorful, with plenty of mint sauce to give it that aroma and if you so prefer, the spicy chili sauce to add some kick too.

There are interesting dishes in the menu like Scotch Egg (with pork!), carrot in beer, and sundried tomato with mussels that look pretty promising. I shall return to this place for a second round.

The Guinness promotion of St Patrick’s Finger Food Festival runs from now until 31st of March, 2010 with more than 100 outlets nationwide, don’t miss out! Other outlets that are participating in this promotion includes, but not limited to:

• Jarrod & Rawlins
• Meson
• Cafe Chulo
• Muse
• Delaney’s
• Ronnie Q
• The Magnificent Fish & Chips

Besides Finger Food Festival, there’s also the St. Patrick’s Hat promotion. A 13oz pint is a stamp, and 20oz pint 2 stamps, collect 12, send the redemption card in, and get a free St. Patrick’s Hat.

If you can’t wait, the Instant Reward gives you a Guinness St. Patrick’s luggage lock with every 3 pints of Guinness Draught or a bucket of Guinness Foreign Extra Stout. There are three designs in all!

There’s also the St. Patrick’s Day celebration at 1 Utama on the 19th of March from 6pm onwards! Check out guinness.com.my/stpatricks for more.

Address:
Berlin Biergarten
Lot J-01-04
Solaris Mont Kiara
50480 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.174689, 101.659595
Tel: 03-6203 0958

Tags:  bratwurst,  guinness,  haze,  lamb,  sausage,  solaris

Posted by KY | 29 Comments »

BU Centrepoint has always been sort of a meeting place for the only reason that Suanie stays only a stone’s throw away, and when she says we meet there, we meet there. An argument with Suanie is an exercise in futility.

We have been to the BigWateryAmericanCoffeeChain numerous time but strangely enough, last Tuesday was the first time we went to Cagayan’s right next door.

pork ribs at Cagayan’s, Filipino Cuisine

Cagayan’s is one of the very few restaurants that serves Filipino cuisine. Now personally I’ve never been to the country nor have I heard a lot about the food there. I must confess that the only thing about this place that attracted me was the rather big “Non Halal” sign and the pictures of pork ribs and nuermous other pork dishes. Kerol had the same sentiment.

I’m quite clueless when it comes to Philipinno food, but luckily the menu comes with description as well as photos of each dish, making our job much easier.

pork adobo, caldereta (lamb curry), pork binagoongan, french rivera

For the five of us, we ordered a medium rack of pork ribs (RM 36.50) with original sauce to share (6 pieces) as well as  individual dishes. To be frank, I thought the ribs were average, Tony Roma’s at Bangkok’s pork ribs was better than this, but this wasn’t bad either.

My dish was pork abodo (RM 11.00) with rice. Abodo apparently is a very common Filipino cooking process that involves stewing with vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, bay leaf, and peppercorn. The wholesome pork belly with the slightly sourish and salty marinate tasted better than I had expected, I could eat it with rice even without any chili, but with the chili padi that they have it was even better.

rachel, suanie, KY, kerol, and horng at Cagayan’s

Horng ordered Pork Binagoongan (RM 12.00), which is a bowl of pork belly cooked with fermented fish paste bagoong based soup. Like fish sauce popular in Vietnamese cuisine or shrimp paste in our local sambal, the soup carries a subtle but distinct taste that might not suit everyone, but we love it!

Rachel’s lamb caldereta (RM 12.50) actually tasted like a mild version of lamb curry with slightly different spices, I find it very delicious too. Apparently this is also a popular method of cooking for dog meat in Philippines, hmm, I wonder if that would taste even better?

The French Rivera spaghetti (RM 9.00) was alright, Suan didn’t complain nor compliment, so I guess it was just average.

Cagayan’s is located at BU Centrepoint, just next to Starbucks on ground floor

With the ribs and drinks, dinner came to RM 20+ per person. Though not everything tasted super awesome, the few rice dishes we had was impressive enough to warrant many visits in the future.

Address:
Cagayan’s
G107-108 Centrepoint
Bandar Utama
47800 Petaling Jaya
GPS: 3.137988, 101.610124
Tel: 03-77241022

Tags:  centrepoint,  curry,  filipino,  horng,  kerol,  lamb,  pork,  rachel,  ribs,  suanie

Posted by KY | 24 Comments »

Cafe Italia must be one of the most uncreative names for an Italian restaurant to assume, especially one that is tucked in a small lane connected to the little Italy of Melbourne, Lygon Street. Fortunately, it is also one that serves up very good authentic Italian cuisine in for pretty reasonable prices.

alfresco dining at Cafe Italia when weather permits

Incidentally, this is also one of Mell’s housemates, Jun Wei’s favorite Italian restaurant in Melbourne. The eatery is located on a rather small 1-way University Street (between Melbourne University and Carlton Garden) and only has a small 3′x3′ sign on the outside. Pretty easy to miss especially since the place sorta look like a green house from the outside during cooler months.

Together with Zehan (who also needs a bf, a good Muslim boy perhaps?), the four of us went there in the middle of April during my last trip to Melbourne.

spaghetti frutti di mare (seafood), fish special (barramundi)

The restaurant has three different area, conventional dining, private rooms, and court yard (which, as mentioned, converts to green house like area when it’s colder). Interior is tastefully decorated with a bar, wine racks, and plenty of plants. Very comfortable and yet not overly done.

The menu is not any different from most Italian restaurants, offering pasta, beef, lamb, fish, pizza, and of course, a variety of appetizers, desserts, and wine.

lamb chop, rigatoni ragu (pasta with eggplant)

I ordered the lamb special ($27.90)- a generous piece of char grilled lamb chop marinated with lemon and wine served on pea mash. The meat was tender, juicy, and the taste of the lemon and red wine marinate was just right. I was so glad I ordered it. The pea mash was interesting and I actually liked it better than mashed potato by quite a bit.

Mell had the pesce del giorno (fish special $28.90)) – a piece of barramundi (I think) fillet served with fire roasted peppers, brocolini, and lime saffron sauce. The seafood was fresh and sauce went well with the whole combination, no complains at all there.

Jun Wei, KY, Mell, Zehan

Zehan and Jun Wei had the rigatoni ragu (spaghetti with eggplant, $17.90) and spaghetti frutti di mar (seafood spaghetti $22.90) with both of them expressing approval for their dishes in terms of taste as well as presentation.

Comparing to the more student friendly (budget wise) places such as Cafe Notturno, Cafe Italia is 30-50% pricier, but if you look into the place, service, as well as food quality and taste factor, then it is a very worth while place to visit.

At the end, our bill came to just a bit less than $100 for the four of us (we only ordered water). Dollar to dollar, an excellent value don’t you think? Now I think I might need to go back there again for the next Melbourne trip.

Address:
Cafe Italia
56/66 University St,
Carlton Victoria 3053,
Australia‎
GPS: -37.799366,144.967926
Tel: +613 9347 0638‎
Website: cafeitalia.com.au

Tags:  italian,  italian food,  jun wei,  lamb,  melbourne,  mellissa,  spaghetti,  zehan

Posted by KY | 29 Comments »

Despite working at KLCC (a stone’s throw away from Ascott) and having heard good things about SevenAteNine, I have never been to the place until this. I invited Michelle to join me for dinner. Michelle is actually one of the first persons I got to know through this blog from more than three years ago, and it had been quite a while since we last play catch up over a meal.

very posh interior, Guinness-infused menu

As with Cafe Chulo at Jaya One, Ronnie Q at Bangsar, and Gypsy WIne & Bar at Changkat Bukit Bintang I reviewed recently, SevenAteNine is running the Guinness-infused Christmas main course promotion until the end of the year. It works like this (just in case you missed the previous entries):

• 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

KY, Guinness, and Michelle

SevenAteNine is a rather posh restaurant with very tastefully decorated interior, there are proper dining tables as well as sofas (more for drinking) arranged in fully indoor or semi alfresco settings. We picked a quiet corner upstairs and started browsing the menu.

Curiously, a plate of papadem with chili sauce instead of chips and salsa as tidbits, a little closer to home I suppose.

papedem and warm salad with foie gras

We ordered a serving of warm salad with foie gras as appetizer, lamb cutlet and Guinness-infused beef ribs as main, and a creme brulee as dessert to share.

I have been ordering foie gras whenever I have a chance since I first tasted the delicacy at Zipangu. The simplistic appetizer came with 2 slabs of fattened goose liver, salad, balsamic vinegar, and a few slices of strawberry. The foie gras was pretty good, though it could be served slightly less cooked, but still it did not disappoint and went well with the salad and balsamic vinegar. The bitter after taste of Guinness Draught complements the rich and creamy taste of foie gras perfectly.

lamb cutlet and Guinness-infused beef ribs

The lamb cutlet is prepared with a choice of medium or well done and served with potato, bell pepper, long beans, and some herbs. The taste was certainly pretty good and at least on par with those I had at Gaucho Grill. Juicy and full of flavor.

The Guinness-infused beef ribs, however, is another animal altogether (I apologize for the pun). A rather generous slab of ribs served cooked with a good deal of influence from Guinness Draught served with beetroot, coriander, and balsamic vinegar. Certainly a signature of the Chef in Black with its more complex and sophisticated taste. I like it.

the excellent creme brulee

The dessert picked by Michelle made a perfect conclusion to the excellent meal. A generous amount of some sweet liquid that smells of alcohol is poured onto the dish and set alight just prior to serving. The creme brulee came in three flavors, sweet, creamy, chocolaty, with a pretty strong taste of alcohol. It was very, very good, a must order if you are there.

SevenAteNine is located at Ascott KL

SevenAteNine is a proper fine dining restaurant, and thus with the good food and nice ambiance come the slightly upper class pricing. The two main dishes were priced RM 49.70 each, warm salad foie gras at 39.70 (pretty decent price for the ingredients), and creme brulee RM 19.70. With other drinks (Guinness comes free with the meal), service charges and taxes, the bill came to just under RM 230.

Address:
No. 9, Jalan Pinang
50450 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
GPS: 3.154967, 101.710589
Tel: 03-2161 7789

Tags:  creme brulee,  foie-gras,  guinness,  lamb,  michelle

Posted by KY | 45 Comments »

I was invited to an exclusive Guinness St. Patrick’s day Food Creation event at Nikko Hotel last Thursday thanks to Celine. All I knew about this event was that I get to sample a Guinness infused food, I was quite intrigued, as the only type of Guinness infused food I’ve ever had was Guinness pork ribs served by many Chinese tai chau places.

Guinness infused Lamb Shank

For the uninitiated, St. Patrick’s Day is an annual feast day which celebrate the patron saint of Ireland. It is traditionally observed on the 17th of March every year. Since this is a celebration of food and drinks, and Guinness is from Ireland, they came up with this Guinness infused Food Creation contest that runs until the end of the month. There are 9 outlets participating in this contest judged by celebrity Chef Emmanuel Stroobant of Chef in Black. The results will be out on the 25th of March.

chatting up with Chef Halil

This particular food tasting event was held at Bentley’s pub on first floor, a very cozy English pub setting with classy deco that seems so fitting for this occasion. I was greeted by Azira, the communication person at Nikko (who incidentally worked at the same place I am working now), the resident manager Ron Brooks, and of course, the very friendly Chef Halil. Besides all sorts of drinks (alcoholic or otherwise), they serve dishes such as fish and chips, steak, shepherd’s pie and so forth. However, until the 30th of March, the special addition to the menu is the Guinness Braised Lamb Shank on Sauteed Arrow Root Chips with Onion Jam, the very dish that is the competition. Best thing is, I get to eat it!

Christian from KL Lifestyle and Celine enjoying their lamb shank

As we were waiting for the lamb shank, chef Halil explained to me how the dish is cooked. First marinated with salt and pepper, the lamb shank is browned with vegetable oil on a flat pan. Then came the celery, carrots and onion, and then garlic cloves, tomato paste, then a whole bottle of Guinness stout. After that there’s the brown sauce and so forth. 1 hour and 15 minutes later, the dish is done. (I actually have the recipe from this friendly chef, but I guess I am in not hurry to try this myself just yet).

The lamb shank was very tasty and very tender, with a very subtle hint of bitterness from the stout but masterfully balanced with the sweetness of onion jam. The use of arrow root (ngaku) and other vegetables compliments the texture and taste of the lamb. It was very gastronomically satisfying, I think it’s a winner! Naturally, I had the lamb with a glass of Guinness Draught.

I just had to have a glass of this!

To try this dish, you have until the end of this month. It is available at RM 30++ at Bentley’s pub, Nikko Hotel (just right next to Citybank at Ampang Park).

GPS: 3.159767, 101.718045

Tags:  dining,  draught,  eats,  guinness,  lamb,  pub,  st. patrick,  Western

Posted by KY | 24 Comments »