Wine & Dine Dinner

Thanks to our dear CG member, we scored an invitation to a lovely wine and dine dinner at Oversea PJ. Chinese food and wine? It IS a thing, really. I am not a wine expert- so I can't really comment on the wines- but the food was yummy, and I have to say the wines went well with the different courses.

What a fun night with our CG members!

Posh menu

La Juiceria

So we finally had a meal here. It was surprisingly yummy, and yes- it felt relatively healthy!

The juices were delicious as well- even the ones with lots of vegetables in them. I think we will be seeing more of La Juiceria....

Nasi Lemak Wrap!

Yummy!

Dining in the Dark

I managed to get a good deal for this on LivingSocial, so hubby and I tried it out. It was a really unique experience, and I would recommend it to anyone who is keen on trying something different. This is not about the food at all.

Until I tried this, I did not understand how a room could be so dark, for a sustained period of time. We dined there for about an hour, if I recall correctly, and our eyes never 'adjusted'- so we were well and truly 'blind'. Our blind guide walked us to our table (we formed a train holding on to each other's shoulders), and showed us how to figure out where everything was on the table. He showed us how to run our fingers alongside the table edge, to pick up our drink.

Without our sense of sight, we experienced first hand how our sense of taste and smell tried to compensate. Every flavour and texture felt like it had been enhanced, and it was fun trying to guess what it was that we were eating. Some of it felt so familiar, but yet I couldn't recall what it was. Was that salmon? Or duck? Surely one could tell them apart, I thought. But it wasn't so easy after all!

Another thing we learnt was this - your fork or spoon doesn't find it's way to your mouth so easily when you can't see. Strange, but true. And what if you dropped some morsels of food on the table, or on the edge of the plate? I used my bare fingers a lot that night - had to do a lot of feeling around.

An interesting experience indeed!

Christmas chow...

I made smoked salmon pizzas for Christmas Eve dinner, and they turned out really well! Was so pleased :)

Blessed Christmas everyone!

Celebrating mum-in-law's birthday at Chyniis!

Chyniis.... where all the chinese go to eat (pardon the pun).

Anyway, we celebrated dear mum-in-law's birthday here back in August. Chyniis is in SStwo mall, this relatively new mall which hubby was involved in designing, and for which his company won an award, might I add! So proud of my hubby, heh :)

Back to the food. The food was good, as expected, but also rather pricey (again, as expected).

I like their Crispy Pork Belly with Rolled Chargrilled Cuttlefish. The textures of both main ingredients are quite similar though, i.e. both are crispy and sticky, so it might get too much for the palate after a while. Better in smaller portions, I would think.

We also tried their Baked Giant River Prawns with 'Dang Gui' and Butter; a rather interesting dish, but I'm not a big fan of anything 'herbal-ly' so I guess I'll stick to their 'sang har meen' if I dine there again. Now that, is REALLY good.

Overall, a great night out with good food, and good company.

Happy birthday mum-in-law! We love you! :)

Birthday lunch at Zipangu, Shangri-La Hotel

I have been dying to try out the Japanese buffet at Shangri-La’s Zipangu for the longest time, so we decided to dine there for my birthday last weekend. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that they were having a Sakura Spring Promotion from 4th April to 14th May 2011, and that the buffet was 50% off! What a steal!

We were a bit hesitant at first, given the recent situation in Japan, and any potential of consuming ‘radioactive’ foodstuff. We were assured by the staff that the hotel imported food from other countries, so we decided to go ahead.

Posters everywhere explaining that the food was not sourced from Japan...

I really enjoyed myself at the buffet. The selection was rather limited compared to other buffets, but the food was good. The sashimi was delicious and fresh; with a good selection available. The oysters were of a nice size (bigger isn’t necessarily better when it comes to oysters); and there were scallops as well! I didn’t see my favourite grilled eel- ‘unagi kabayaki’ until much later (after I had dessert!), so when I went back to try that, it tasted yucky! Not surprising, since I was virtually bursting at the seams, and grilled eel has a rather mushy texture which does not go down well on a VERY FULL stomach.

Other highlights were the teppanyaki dishes- in particular the lamb rack teppanyaki. That was really nice; tender and flavourful. The prawn tempura could have been improved; I felt that the batter was slightly too thick, lending it a rather chewy texture. I wouldn’t have said anything if this was any other establishment, but hey, this is the Shangri-La.

And ohhh… the desserts! Again, the selection was not extensive, but I really enjoyed them. Especially the HUGE strawberries! That was absolutely lovely with the cream… ahhhh, strawberries and cream- what a girly dessert!

The ice cream (which you had to order, but is included in the buffet) was delicious as well, especially the green tea flavour. I also liked the various cold fruit-flavoured teas that were on offer- there was cranberry, apple and lychee flavours. Nice and refreshing.

We’re going back again for lunch in May; am definitely looking forward to it!

Chinese New Year Goodies!

Yes yes, I know Chinese New Year is looong gone, so this post is seriously outdated. Ah well, it's ok- this is to remind me of all the wonderful food we had during the festivities.

Cute bunny cookies from sis-in-law :)

Mum-in-law also cooked up a storm on the 2nd day of the new year; there was SOOO much food! We really stuffed ourselves silly... *burp*

We also had dinner at The Ming Room (Bangsar Shopping Centre); and the food was really quite memorable! We opted for the set menu and here are some of the highlights...

Loved this- Braised Coral Shark’s Fin Soup with Crab Roe in Pumpkin

(felt bad about eating shark's fin though... :p)

Pan-Fried Chilean Cod Fish with Pomelo Sauce

(interesting dish.. but truth be told- what a waste of cod!)

Braised Imperial Beancurd with Spinach & Seasonal Vegetables

Experience Italy at Favola, Le Meridien

Thanks to the heads-up we got from CP and CE (I call them the 'buffet hunters'.. haha) we heard about this lovely dining experience at Le Meridien hotel. We managed to make time to give it a try; my mum kindly agreed to watch the kids for us while we took some time off to enjoy lunch (in celebration of hubby's birthday).

The selection was not extensive, but the food was really delicious. Aside from the cold starters and the dessert, everything else was served to our table. We placed our orders from the menu, and they arrived freshly made and piping hot!

White Bean and Mushroom Ragout with Pan Seared Scallops

The scallops were incredibly delicious; plump, fresh and sweet. They went really well with the mushrooms and even though I thought the white beans would make the dish too 'heavy', it somehow gave a nice balance to the scallops. The dish came drizzled with a really tasty sauce on the side; I could not tell what it was- something containing balsamic vinegar maybe?

The next dish that I absolutely loved was the clams. The broth... oh... the broth- thinking about it just makes my mouth water. Yum. It was so delicious I was literally drinking it- oil and all! I dipped pieces of bread into the broth, and enjoyed every last bite. I would have ordered another helping, but hubby probably could not help me with it so I decided against that and saved space for something else.

Clams and Crab Cooked Vongole style with Garlic and Italian Parsley

Chicken and Spinach Crespelle with Smoked Tomato Coulis

The crespelle was really nice too. It looked like a single lasagna sheet, rolled up and stuffed with chicken and spinach. Simple and delicious.

Next up was pasta; we chose only to try the non-vegetarian ones, and this one came with smoked chicken pepperoni, giving the pasta a nice, distinct flavour.

The next dish was not great, despite the yummy-licious name. The fillings did not stand out- a shame considering it was supposed to be prawn and lobster. The edges of the ravioli were a little too thick for my liking as well.

As for dessert, there were only a few choices. The tiramisu wasn't memorable; the same went for the tiramisu-flavoured gelato. The other gelati flavours available were straciatella and rum & raisin, which were delicious, fortunately. The fresh fruit compote was light and refreshing, and the bread and fruits pudding was quite nice as well.

Spaghetti Pizzaiola

Homemade Prawn and Lobster Ravioli in Spiced Crustacean Cream

All in all, a spectacular meal! And at 98++ for two (thanks to my Starwood Privilege Card), it was a real steal!

Weekend at Le Meridien Hotel

We stayed a night at Le Meridien Hotel recently, with baby in tow, and it turned out to be quite fun! Tiring, but fun.

We checked in around 2 pm, and the little one was so excited checking out the new environment (looking out the window, bouncing around the bed and fluffy pillows, poking the reading lights, etc), that he refused to settle down for his afternoon nap until about 3:30 pm. We took a walk around the poolside when he woke up (it was a bit too cold to swim), gave him a bath and then fed him his dinner before we headed out for ours.

We had dinner at Prime, which was a pricey affair, even after a 50% discount with my Starwood Privilege Member card. Hubby tried a ‘combo’ main course, which featured the following:

4 oz / 110 g Australian Black Angus
200 day’s grain fed center cut filet mignon
Grain mustard sauce, grilled tomato and warm porcini salad

4 oz / 110 g Australian Black Angus gourmet pasture fed beef ribeye
Chimichurri sauce, sea salt and green asparagus tips

4 oz / 110 g Wagyu sirloin
Béarnaise sauce, roasted baby potato

Sounds really yummy right? Sadly, the Wagyu sirloin was really disappointing as most of that particular cut of meat was virtually inedible (you know how it is when the meat is so chewy, filled with the tendons or whatever it is, and you can’t bite through it?) Terrible- I had a half a mind to complain, but we were too busy rushing through dinner while minding a fidgety toddler, to bother.

I had the Prime Surf and Turf, which was quite nice. I also had a side order- Truffles Mashed Potatoes, which were simply delicious!

We tried the Venetian Seafood Buffet Lunch at Favola the next day, and that was quite nice, although I had expected a wider selection for the main courses (which they freshly prepare and dish out to diners instead of us taking it from the buffet table). The pasta was lovely and the dessert (cassata) was refreshing and not too sweet. We ate our fill, but I suppose we didn’t really enjoy it as much (how to when the little one just can’t sit still?)

Gosh, these days it’s getting really hard to take him out for meals when it’s just the two of us… How will we manage when our little girl comes along? I think we’ll probably never see the inside of a nice restaurant for a long, long time. SIGH.

Anyway, overall I think the stay was a nice experience- mainly for the little one! :)

Latest Recipe at Le Meridien KL

We recently took a day off from work to spend some time together. My mum kindly agreed to babysit while we had fun, so that was really nice.

We watched 2 movies- 'Legion' (which was errrr... rather strange) and 'Sherlock Holmes' (which was absolutely great). That was followed by a Thai massage, which was not too bad, but not relaxing enough. Think I should just stick to aromatherapy massages.

Anyway, we capped the day off with a fantastic buffet dinner at Latest Recipe, Le Meridien KL. A special seafood buffet was featured for the month of January, and we had a marvellous time tucking into the prawns, scallops, abalone, oysters, and so much more!

The fresh oysters were plump and juicy; I should have eaten more at the beginning of the meal because it's just impossible to enjoy something as raw and slimy as oysters on a full-ish stomach. Made me gag when I had some more later in the meal. I loved the tapas- not many choices, but there was one featuring a whole scallop coated with sesame seeds which was really nice.

The seafood teppanyaki was a little bit on the salty side (too much sauce I suppose); could have been much nicer if we ate it with the garlic fried rice.. but hey, eating too much carbo is a waste at buffets!

I was sold the minute I saw the 3 chocolate fountains- check out the plump strawberries!

Yummy!

I didn't fancy having salad (what a waste of stomach space) even though the dressings were creatively presented and looked oh-so-yummy. Talk about trying to get diners to eat their vegetables. Haha!

Test tubes?

Hand lotion, anyone? (The orange liquid is actually thousand island dressing..)

Although I didn't have rice, I succumbed to the call of the pasta station. A few strands of squid ink fettucine, with small chunks of all things seafood, served in a creamy pesto sauce. Nice. So much for the no-carbo rule at buffets. Sigh.

I loved the desserts at Latest Recipe as well. Having 3 chocolate fountains certainly caters to everyone (unless you don't like chocolate of course); after all most people usually prefer one type of chocolate to another. And the strawberries were large and juicy so that was a huge plus.

Also, the teppanyaki ice-cream counter was so much fun! You can choose all the different stuff you want to mix in with your choice of ice-cream flavours. There were all kinds of nuts, dried apricots, dried apple slices, raisins, wafers (remember those shaped like a fan?), M&Ms, marshmallows, chocolate balls, chocolate chips, sprinkles.... the list goes on. The teppanyaki ice-cream turns out a bit like 'rojak' but it's really quite nice tasting the creamy ice-cream with bits to nibble inside.

Spoilt for choice!

While waiting for the teppanyaki ice-cream I saw this.. so cute isn't it?

But should one just take the chocolate, or the whole spoon? Haha :)

We used the complimentary dining voucher from my Starwood Privilege Card so it was really worth it. Otherwise it would have cost us RM118++ per person!

We really really enjoyed ourselves at dinner. I was still thinking about the yummy seafood for days afterwards!

Celebrating hubby's birthday with dinner at Duck King

We celebrated hubby's birthday recently with a simple meal at Duck King. It was a weekday so a simple dinner was all we could do.

Food was relatively nice, but it was a bit tough to really enjoy the meal because the little one was fussing quite a bit. Fortunately my parents came along, so we managed to take turns eating.

Eating duck at Duck King is a no-brainer..

Frog legs- way too salty! And the photo is not blur- that's steam..

Loved this dish- I have a thing for 'tau kan'! =)

Got a lovely birthday cake from Fatboy for hubby, which was simply delicious. Nutty Boozey Spencer- so chocolatey and stuffed with macadamia nuts! Yum...

Strawberries were our own... :)

A home-cooked meal for Christmas

I don't cook much, so it was great fun (although it was a tad stressful) to do a bit of cooking for Christmas. Nothing fancy really, just some simple fare. I wouldn't say the meal was a resounding success, but I guess the food was edible. Or my family was just being polite. Hmm.

I made a Seared Scallop Salad, although the scallops were anything but seared. Darn. I think they just kind of 'boiled' in the butter. I always find it so hard to cook scallops (not that I try often; those things are much too expensive for me to keep getting wrong, haha). Anyway, the salad wasn't too bad- with scallops, walnuts, pears and rocket leaves, the different tastes and textures went quite well together.

For the main course I made pasta- with homemade pesto and bacon and mushrooms. Yummy! The pesto was a pain to make because I had so much trouble finding basil leaves, plus my blender was too small so I had to make them in batches.

With some simple cheese and smoked salmon on crackers plus a delicious 'cocktail' of Malibu rum and pineapple juice, I guess it was a decent meal after all. Ah well, by my standards anyway.