While I love to eat, I”ve also at the same time, known to be a relatively cheap drunk – ie: it doesn’t cost much to get me drunk. My usual tolerance is about 3-4 glasses of alcohol on a good night.
Then again, those who are regarded as connoisseur does not necessarily eat a lot, audiophiles aren’t someone who must have their music super loud, so why must a “good drinker” be one that drinks a lot? To me, it should just be one who knows how to enjoy their alcohol, be it beer, spirit, whisky, or tapai (ok maybe not the last one 
)
FA, Michael, KY & Haze at Craft Brews
Having said that, I don’t consider myself at all skilled in alcohol tasting, I can’t describe the subtle hint of chocolate aroma or certain type of truffle smell in some aged whisky, but I do know what I like and what I don’t like. In another word, like most everyone else, I assume.
A week or so ago I was invited to Craft Brews at Kota Damansara for their Rogue beer launch – there were altogether 8 types of beers, with four available on tap and the other four in bottles.
my favorite fried roast pork is awesome as always
The Rouge beers come with weird names - Brutal IPA, Mom Hefeweizen, Chocolate Stout, Dead Guy Ale, Juniper Pale Ale, Mocha Porter, OREgasmic Ale and Hazelnut Brown Nectar.
I can’t pretend to remember the tastes of all the 8 beers I’ve tried (of course some only a sip or two), not taking notes did not help either, but I remember I don’t care much about Chocolate Stout (still love my Guinness).
The Hazelnut Brown Nectar really does carry a hint of hazelnut aroma in it, slightly sweetish at the end and quite drinkable, if not tasted a bit unconventional.
8 types of Rogue beer, plenty to go around
The memory on other beer were a bit of a blur, though I remember enjoying most of them, and especially like the Dead Guy Ale, creamy and richer in flavor.
Oh, and there were food too. Craft Brews still serve one of the best tasting fried roast pork out there, I took quite a few helpings. The teriyaki style sausage were yummy too.
Haze and I also won a couple t-shirts (XL in size, WHY!?) in beer pouring contest after being push up the “stage” by host of the night – Linora.
It was a fun night, good beer, good food, and great company in Michael, FA, Deep and the like.
Adress:
Craft Brews
Jalan PJU 7/2,
Mutiara Damansara,
47800 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.161031, 101.613761
Tel: 03-7722 3000
Whenever Brussels Beer Cafe is mentioned, most people immediately think of groups of people drinking a variety of mostly imported beer. The name “beer cafe” certainly contributes to that impression.
However, Brussels is more than just a place beer, as I found out on this invited food review session organized Michael, the dude who is known for his alcoholic beverages review column.
Brussels Beer Cafe, at Solaris Mont Kiara
While waiting for the others to come, I noticed this little gadget they have at the bar – instant glass chiller (or whatever you call that).
This thing spews out really cold water and instantly chills beer glass to almost freezing temperature. Very nifty, there is no need to have tonnes of beer mugs kept in fridge all the time.
Brussels summer fruit salad, moules Hoegaarden / mariniere
The first dish was Brussels Summer Fruit Salad, fresh tasting but otherwise not particularly special. It is a salad dish for those who really want a low calorie meal (sans the cheese, of course.)
Then came moules Hoegaarden / mariniere (mussels marinated with Hoegaarden). I thought it is a bit of an overkill to imported beer for marinate, but the mussels really does taste very good. The serving isn’t exactly big though, and the dish came across a bit pricey (close to RM 50 if I remember correctly, well, did I say imported beer?)
prawn bisque, potatoe skin, blind finches, chicken waterzooi
I thought prawn bisque is like the poor man’s lobster bisque, but it turned out to be pretty much a thicker, cream version of Penang prawn noodle soup. It’s pretty interesting to be honest, but I reckon not everyone’s taste.
Potato skin goes well as beer food, I thought blind finches (beef with ham all rolled up, Dutch dish) was pretty good too, if not just a little bit too strong a taste in the beer gravy.
The chicken waterzooi, a traditional Belgium dish, did not click with me. I thought it was just buttery breast meat without much kick in it. Your mileage might vary.
roast pork – one of my favorites!
The roast pork at Brussels has got to be my favorite dish. The style differs from traditional hawker version (ala Wong Kee), the skin is a lot less crispy but instead the overall texture much softer. Flavor is quite intense and I love it with mustard, very lovely actually!
pork knuckle – fit for a group!
The pork knuckle, ironically, tastes pretty close to traditional roast pork instead of what you’d expect from normal pork knuckle ala German style. It was pretty good! Though I think the gravy could be improved a bit, perhaps chicken rice style chili paste?
brussels style pork bacon cheese burger, grilled baby beef ribs, the big one
I didn’t try the pork bacon cheese burger, but those who did liked it. The grilled baby beef ribs was juicy and sumptuous, and the big one brought really did make a big impact on its size, but I think you’ll need about 4 hungry souls to finish one serving.
we were obviously having tonnes of fun at Brussels
As for beverages, Brussels of course never disappoint. We had Hoegaarden, Blackthorn cider, and Paulaner Konig Ludwig and Franzkainer too.
It was overall a very enjoyable session, chef Pele (what a name, right?) and Mike Chang the manager were very friendly chaps whom I’d hope to meet again.
Address:
Brussels Beer Café, Solaris
Lot K-OG 13 & 14, SoHo KL,
No. 2, Jalan Solaris, Mon’t Kiara
50480 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.174689, 101.659595
Tel: 03-6205 2999
A few weeks ago my buddy Terence called up and then passed the phone to Colin, and I was invited to a food tasting session.
At first I thought it was for TDH (Tom Dick and Harry’s), the popular watering hole at TTDI, but when I reached there with a hungry stomach a couple weeks ago, it turned out to be the restaurant right upstairs of TDH – Hoofed.
interior of Hoofed is tastefully done
To be honest, I hadn’t know there’s a restaurant above TDH despite the numerous visits there. I guess it doesn’t help that one rarely gets to leave TDH with very clear vision at the end of the night.
Hoofed is a tastefully decorated restaurant, with an ambiance that rivals many a five star hotels. I particularly love the old school subway style ceiling (Colin had to personally put them on one by one).
Hoofed at TTDI food review session
In order to maximize the number of dishes we get to try, Hoofed prepared the dishes in small doses. I thought this is a pretty good way of handling food review, much better than having a bunch of people splitting several dishes and everyone ended up having to fight for the good stuff.
The night started with a plate of pretty interesting duck salad that comes with duck breast, century egg, 7/8 boiled egg, and fresh vegetable in vinegrete dressing. A refreshing taste that I haven’t had before, it was pretty good actually.
Hoofed prides itself in serving pork dishes, and they have suckling pig too! (whole piglet at RM 170). I was given a portion, and it was really as good as they come.
roast pork, tenderloin steak, pork ribs, pasta with roast pork
Other pork dishes I tried when I went there again for a little xmas gift exchange session last week were the really awesome roast pork, pork ribs, and pasta with fried roast pork.
I’m hesitant to say that it is the best roast pork I’ve had, but it is tough to rate it any lower than the one at Wong Kee, Pudu. They are essentially different, the version here is softer and goes well with mustard, while Wong Kee’s roast pork has a crunchier skin and fatty midsection but slightly tougher meat. They’re equally good in their own way.
Same can’t be said about the pork ribs I ordered though, while it was tender and juicy, I thought it was a tad too sweet for my liking, that kinda masked out the savory part of the meat a little.
Those who had the pasta with roast pork though, swore by it. I didn’t manage to steal some from Winnie, but boy it sure looked good.
lamb shank, grilled fish, tenderloin
Since I didn’t bring the bigger camera for the session, these two collages were actually hand-me-down photos from Hoofed.
The lamb shank is best enjoyed by two person as Horng ordered and couldn’t really finished it all by himself. Haze had the tenderloin steak that turned out to be slightly more cooked that she would have liked it.
I had the grilled fish during the review session and it was very good though.
dessert, fried rice, pasta with roast pork
To me, the most surprisingly dish at Hoofed has gotta be the fried rice. Though this place doesn’t really concentrate on a particular cuisine, fried rice seems to be an unlikely entry in their menu, and it is a damn fine plate of fried rice at that. This, and the pasta with roast pork, should be the must-try dish at Hoofed.
I’ve only tried the brownie with ice cream as far as dessert is concerned. It was good, but to be frank I’m not a big dessert person and would almost always stuff myself with more roast pork instead.
xmas gift exchange with TDH gang
To be frank, not everything at Hoofed is spot on. I love all the pork dishes with the exception of ribs, the fried rice and fish were pretty awesome too. Some of the other dishes however, are still a work in progress, but I am sure with Colin’s attention to detail and constant communication with diners, they will improve in time.
Dishes at Hoofed is priced at a tad above average, but the ambiance and the right dishes do make up for it.
Address:
Hoofed
No 18A, Lorong Rahim Kajai 14,
TTDI 60000 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.15455, 101.62289
Tel: 03-7728-8567
As far as birds go, goose is one of my favorites for consumption. For the rich and fehmes, you have foie gras; for the rest of us, there is always roast goose. Glorious glittering roast goose.
Yi Kee restaurant at Taman Connaught
Unfortunately for the goose lover among us, there just aren’t that many places that offers this glorious bird. More often than not, places like Canton-i or Soon Fatt at Pudu runs out of them rather quickly.
Yi Kee is an old establishment that’s been around for a while, I guess you can sorta count the experience of the chef by his wrinkles… (and perhaps the goose fat in between, anyway I shall stop talking crap and get on with the program).
glorious roast goose drumstick
We arrived at Yi Kee on the weekends just past prime lunch hours, and luckily there were still roast goose left. Haze and I ordered goose for two, a serving of roast pork, and rice. I’ve heard they serve some good steamed soup, but we tried not to over order that day for a change.
A couple minutes later we were served with a rather huge portion of 1/4 goose, dark meat with drum stick. I stared at it for a minute, admiring the glistering fats over the layer of crispy skin that screamed at me, teasing it a little.
Then a bite, oh my. Roast goose will be roast goose, I’m not sure how great they are in HK, but this one is tasty and this one’s available, that will be good enough for me.
roast goose & roast pork, Haze & KY
Goose and roast pork are served with plum sauce, dark sauce, and chili paste. All of which tasted authentic and home made. The plum sauce’s most definitely home made, not as thick as those off the shelve type but tasted quite a lot nicer.
The skin of roast pork here comes with super crispy skin, they are also fatty but the non fatty meat are the firmer type. Old style, nice, though not as addictive as the one at Wong Meng Kee at Pudu.
Yi Kee is situated along Connaught Highway just across from where UCSI University (stupidest name ever, since UC = University College). Our lunch coasts about RM 20 per pax, guess goose is never cheap, but it was worth it.
Address:
223, Jalan Sarjana,
Taman Connaught,
Cheras, Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.082398, 101.734021
Tel: 03-9132 9968
This is the last food post from the Redang trip last month. After stopping by for keropok lekor, our last item on schedule before heading back to KL was naturally, lunch.
Ed again served as the guide and this time he brought us to Restaurant Golden Dragon in Chinatown
a very straight to the point “non halal” sign
I knew that it had to be at least a pretty decent place soon as we arrived. The restaurant was absolutely packed even on a Monday, and we had to wait for a table. There was a big group of middle aged ladies with “I love Redang” t-shirts, which doesn’t bear any significance to anything but I just felt like mentioning.
long beans, eggplant, salted fish, roast pork and BBQ pork
Ed ordered a large portion of roast pork and BBQ pork, and I made orders of several other pre-prepared dishes to go with steamed rice. We had long beans, eggplant, omelet, bitter gourd, and some soup too.
Though the BBQ pork (char siu) was ordinary, the roast pork (siu yoke) was actually rather good. We actually ordered a second serving of roast pork to make up for going 3 days porkless on the island.
bitter gourd, omelet, soup, rice
While the other dishes were commendable, my favorite had to go to the salted fish fillets. The aroma and taste was just so “right” I used it to replace soya sauce. Omelet with salted fish, roast pork with salted fish, bitter gourd with salted fish, egg plant with salted fish, they were all awesome!
Terence, Kim, FA, Ed, Horng, KY & Joe, Kerol & Haze
Including drinks, we only had to pay RM 8 per person for the meal. It was really cheap considering the amount of items we ordered. I’ve read that they serve pretty good “tai chau” during dinner time too.
Address:
198 Jalan Kampung Cina
Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu
GPS: 5.333684, 103.132921
Tel: 09-622 3034
