When #porkgang was first initiated, we met each other almost exclusively only over dinners, and there were almost always pork involved. One of our earliest dinner meet was at Ribs@Oasis. This happened late last year, but I had somehow forgotten to process the photos until now.

Better late than never anyway.

Ribs serves a variety of Western food with a strong dosage of swine, just the way we like it. Situated just a couple minutes away from 1-Utama shopping complex, parking spaces aren’t hard to come by. However, getting there can prove to be a bit of a hassle on weekday evenings due to traffic.

Seating areas are mostly indoor, but there are limited tables near the sidewalk for those who prefers alfresco dining.

grilled pork loin chops

Anyway, lets get on with the food.

My eyes were fixated on the grilled pork lion chops (RM 30.50) when I saw it on the menu. It simply says “Chef Lee’s special recipe, served with braised cabbage and tangy apple sauce”

When the pork chop came, it did not disappoint at all. A huge slab of pork with a layer of fat around the edge, grilled to perfection with the fatty layer glistering and the leaner part still juicy, add a bit of that apple sauce, perfecto. I’d order it again on my next trip, no question.

grilled ribs, deep fried pork chunks, pan fried butter fish

Since the name of the restaurant is called Ribs, it goes without saying that we had to give it a try. Kim ordered a big slab of grilled belly Oriental pork ribs (RM 32.90) that came sitting on a generous serving of mash potato. I took a bite, and while it was pretty good, it wans’ t really overly impressive to be honest.

The deep fried pork chunks (RM 12.50) though, was really awesome and would serve as perfect beer food. The taste a little similar to the deep fried “nam yu” pork from Pan Heong at Batu Caves, but slightly more batter and crunchier, it was really good.

One of the ladies ordered the pan fried butter fish (RM 21.90) instead of something porky and gave the dish a huge thumbs up. Good to know Ribs@Oasis knows how to please your friend who wants to maintain her figure.

Eric, Horny, and Gareth ordered the bacon pork & reverse pork burgers

Then there are the pork burgers.

Ribs@Oasis offers quite a few types of pork burgers.  The usual, with bacon, with grilled pineapple, or if you so prefer, the ultimate reverse pork burger too (RM 20-29.90).

The shiny bacon, caramalized pineapple, and that big juicy home made pork patty ought to make any pork burger lover droll like a hungry puppies. Gareth rated this as good as the Cristang’s pork burger but totally different at the same time, with a completely different taste and texture too, but equally agreeable to the taste buds.

banana fritters, ice cream, molten chocolate cake with haagan daaz

Then there’s the desserts. I can never really understand the idea of over stuffing yourself at dinner, and yet still order desserts, but apparently suanie , jaclyn, cheesie, and kim do, and that’s why they ordered desserts.

The ice creams were from Haagan Daaz, and hence they were pretty good. I had a bite of the banana fritters and found it to be too huge, it was not exactly great. The molten chocolate cake though, was quite delicious. Forgot how much they were priced, but I remember them to be pretty reasonable.

founding members of porkgang, and 2 of horng’s lady friends

Ironically, the ribs at Ribs@Oasis might not be the dish to order, but the other pork dishes – especially the pork chop and burgers, does make the place worth a visit or three despite the traffic.

We had wanted to hang out at the place a tad longer, but unfortunately they observe the “normal” closing time by around 10 ish at night. I’d wish they open later and sell more drinks though.

Address:
Ribs@Oasis
2 Tengkat Bandar Utama,
1-1 BU4 Oasis Complex,
Petaling Jaya, SELANGOR 47800‎
GPS: 3.150219, 101.609912
Tel: 03-7729 8921‎

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Tags:  burger,  cheesie,  eric,  gareth,  horng,  jaclyn,  kimberly,  pork,  pork chop,  ribs,  suanie

Posted by KY | 27 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 »

I guess this whole food thing is starting to run in the family. My sister became the restaurant manager at Roadhouse Grill Gurney (Penang) just a few months ago, so naturally I had go to there to taste the food, snaps some photos, and tell you guys all about this place!

My sister the restaurant manager at Roadhouse Grill

Before I start, lets just give you a good news. By mentioning that you read about this place from this blog, or telling my sister (Mei Fang) that you know me, she will give you a 10% discount on the bill (only in Penang branch). Just like that, now isn’t that great?

As the name suggests, Roadhouse Grill specialized in no nonsense American food. Main dishes come with some excellent yeast rolls baked fresh everyday on location. The warm roll with lotsa butter is really addictive.

nachos, yeast roll, (golden) fish and chips

Plenty of peanuts is served at every table despite what you order. The best thing is, you can just throw all the shells on the floor and let the waiters do the cleaning later. My sister won’t mind at all since she said she doesn’t need to clean them, and it’s sort of a Roadhouse style anyway. The peanuts do go very well with cold beer.

bbq onion burger, roadhouse burger, teriyaki chicken, black pepper chicken

I have tasted a few dishes here, the ribs, fish and chips, teriyaki chicken, and nachos. So far the dishes were all rather tasty, and the nachos really up to par with what I had when I was in the states. Plenty of cheese and actual Jalopeno peppers! The fish used for fish and chips are sourced at local markets (with the help of my mom), so I know they are actually fresh and not some stuff that are frozen for months.

kid’s menu, endless peanuts, and my gang in Penang

Rest assure that quality control, as far as food goes, is pretty good in my family. My sister will not disappoint you with the dishes at the restaurant she is managing. The menu is pretty extensive, you can dishes from mouth watering burgers to juicy steaks to pizzas and pastas here. The interior resembles a cowboy bar and there are tables outdoor as well, a pretty nice set up.

Roadhouse Grill is situated right at Gurney Hotel

Price wise, it is actually pretty reasonable. Entrees are from RM16.90 and there’s even kids menu (like the howlin hotdog on the picture for only RM5.90). Set lunch goes for RM 17++ with an entree, soup, coffee or tea. Pretty good deal for the quality of food served.

Give it a try!

Address:
18-G-E Persiaran Gurney,
10250 Penang
GPS: 5.430192, 100.318887
Tel: 04-370 1872

Tags:  american food,  beef,  discount,  ribs,  western-food

Posted by KY | 39 Comments »