A New Recipe

So, what's for dinner? Nothing special as we were still recovering from the Singapore trip and the boys were still grumpy from their first day back to school after a long break.

Irfan was happy to have his presents but we decided to have cake this weekend instead. Unfortunately, I'll be on call on Sunday.

Out of the blue, Anita decided to try a new recipe. It was fish cooked in the oven and some spinach. It turned out great, although the gravy was a bit lumpy. Can't complain really.

Dinner at Fullhouse

On one of the evening we were at Sunway, we had dinner at Fullhouse, a rather unique boutique cafe with branches all over town. The flagship was the spectacular converted bungalow at Jalan Yap Kwan Seng. For the past year, we had been wondering what the place was all about and since there was a branch here, we decided to give it a go.

The menu was in the form of a magazineThe drinks came in these large trinkets

The interior was very cosy, and the seating - especially the sofa was very nice. The boys enjoyed it, by the food was not so. The menu was eclectic, in the true sense of East meets West. The spaghetti had green "chili paid" in them for extra zing. My beef tenderloin had fruit bits as part of the gravy. The children menu was a bit more conservative however. The drinks came in large trinkets. All those small unique touches.

There was some cili padi in that mushroom speghettiAnita's croque monsier, with pineapplesSome raisins in the gravy. Not my kind of gravy unfortunately.

Unfortunately, we were left disappointed with the food. The past was not bad, but my steak was not great, to put in mildly. If this restaurant was a book, the cover was much better than the actual chapters if you catch my drift. However, I was sure it was a great place to catch a drink or snacks. But for a heavy meal, maybe one should look for an alternative.

The Loaf Bistro at Pavilion

After the trip for tea at The Loaf at Bangsar VIllage, we decided to give the Pavilion branch a go, as suggested by my friends. It was tucked on the third and fourth floor of the mall, just next to the Bukit Bintang entrance. Easily missed if you were not aware of it.

It was a narrow two-story lot. The lower one for the bakery. The bistro where we had dinner was on the upper floor, where you had to climb a rather steep set of stairs. Better head out and used the escalator just next to the shop if you have a dodgy hip!

The upper deck was cosy and welcoming. Despite the next day being a public holiday - Deepavali - the place was empty. There were plenty of activities at the bakery, but not on the upper bistro. Therefore, we enjoyed the best seat - the sofa - and my boys had a great time.

Kicking things off with some healthy saladGarlic bread with extra butterSo, what did we order? I had the carbonara, the boys had meatballs, Anita had salad. Before long, we went downstairs to have a look at the bakery and bought a few items, where the waiter picked up from us and put on a plate. The brownies sent my boys to sugarland, and they could not sit still afterwards.

I had my cocktail and the boys had their tea. The food was good, but I must say the Bangsar Village outlet is better. This being a bistro also meant that choices in terms of order was more limited. The meatball that Anita asked for was off menu. The outlet was also smaller, and was meant more as a cafe - hence the name Bistro - rather than a proper restaurant. But it was comfortable none the less.

Anita ordered meatballs for the boys. Off the menu here, but on them at the Bangsar Village outlet.My carbonara.Mocktails for me and Irfan.We then finished things off with tea and coffee.We would definitely be coming here again. I could imagine the place to be rather crowded during day time and late afternoon when people came over for tea. The service was also fast and friendly, although the price was relatively expensive.

Enak KL at Starhill Gallery

As I mentioned in my previous entry, we made another excuse to go out for a family dinner last weekend celebrating Mum's birthday. I was given the task of picking the venue. It turned out to be a tough one. Mum wanted a Malay restaurant, preferably buffet.

I searched online as well as taken out my restaurant guidebook. A few names came to mind. We did Rebung last year. Ibunda was full. Seri Malaysia and Warisan was closed on Sunday. We did not fancy going up the KL Tower or KLCC again. Hotel restaurants? None of them offer a real Malay treat, plus we did Le Meridien the other evening.

I wonder what Imran actually picked?The boys got their order of nasi goreng first. And a yummy one at that.In the end, we went to Enak KL at Starhill Gallery, Bukit Bintang. It came highly recommended, winning the best Malay restaurant accolades in the last couple of years. Plus we never been there before. I booked a table for the 11 of us, and we arrived at around 8.30. There was no buffet, so we picked items of the menu to share.

The food were surprisingly good. The ambiance was exciting, the children could not stand still, while being mesmerised by the dimmed lighting of the whole of the Lower Ground floor of Starhill. The service was excellent! The staffs there made us really felt welcomed, and Mum was happy.

The order has arrived. From left clockwise, asam pedas jenahak, ayam gurung berempah, daging hitam and gulai udang.Kerabu asparagus.We had asam pedas, prawn curry, daging hitam and kerabu asparagus, among other things. They tasted nice. I must warn you however that the place was not exactly cheap ….. but I supposed you would get what you paid for, and everybody had a good time.

Some of the items however ran out. I was told that the daging bakar was a specialty. Maybe net time ...

More information on Enak KL can be found here.

La La Chong Seafood, Damansara

Usually, we drove all the way to Kuala Selangor for our routine seafood feast. Yesterday was the first time we actually had something similar to this - a Chinese seafood meal - in town. And it was near Damansara, a place I was not really familiar with, but was glad to have come.

The occasion was Puan Anita's birthday. I wouldn't tell you how old she would be then, but there was a reason why all our cars carry the plate number 9972.

Earlier in the day, she was treated to a day at the spa in Ampang by my friends from the UK. After she was done, I picked her up from the spa, and we drove across to Damansara. The traffic was kind. The direction to the place was a bit tricky though, but I just followed the car in front.

There, we were joined by other friends - Amin and Syahril. In the end, it was a table for 13. We had the usual stuff - steamed fish, sweet and sour crab, soup, prawns etc. Azida, one of our friend, ordered lala - cockles - which was appropriate given the name of the restaurant. We were well bloated by the end of it.

My favorites were the steamed fish and crab. God knows how high my cholesterol went. The sauce went down really well with the hot steamed bun. All sticky and yummy. Unfortunately, I forgotten to snap pictures before we settled down for the food as there were plenty to catch up with the friends. And of course, I was busy stuffing myself as well.

The sight of my plate at the end of it. And this was my forst plate. I had two more after that ....I pity whoever having to clear the table after us .....I swore Syahril did this ....All the photos I had were of the damage that was done after the meal. I would definitely recommend the place again. Parking was aplenty, but the trick would be to find the restaurant in the first place. If you were keen, just enter these coordinates on your GPS - 3.124067, 101.607992 - and hopefully you'd be pointed to the right direction. Oh! And the Thai fresh coconut drinks were not to be missed as well!

I could see that the place would be packed for an evening meal. We actually arrived at the place after 3 pm, and there were hardly anybody there. The place were opened from lunch till late evening, and there was a separate air-conditioned area. The facilities there were clean, with plenty of places for handwashing as well. Refer at the photo above for the address and telephone number. Oh! They provide free wifi at the venue - albeit a slow one.