Whimsical Cafe @ Publika, KL

Whimsical gives me a feeling of dreamy and happy. The set up of the cafe somewhat shares the similar impression that I got, from its name. 

Having first entered the F&B market though its Cielo Dolci gelato, it has now spanned to a full fledge cafe, serving food, and apart from some interesting gelato flavors, they have also infused selected flavors into their food offering. 

Logo that represents gelato 

The drink preparation and gelato section at the forefront of the cafe 

The gelato flavors are listed on the wall, and I thought, how would it be possible to have a Nasi Lemak gelato flavor. Upon sampling it, its indeed like I was eating Nasi Lemak, as the gelato was made with sambal. Overall, I see that their price is very reasonable, with only RM7.90 per scoop, RM13.90 for double, and RM18.90 for triple. 

Other flavors include cookies & cream, dark belgian chocolate, jackfruit, salted caramel, rum & raisin and coconut gula melaka. 

I suppose the brief to the person to come out with the gelato flavors, was "let your imagination run wild!"

Door to enter is below the guy. Cute! 

I was tempted to try their new offering, the Salmon Gelato & Rosti. A dish that totally led my  curiosity to tinkle. I can't imagine how would salmon gelato taste. 

When served, I was pleased with the presentation of a sunny side up egg and the salmon gelato on top of the rosti. The rosti tasted extremely good, with slight crust, while using loads of potatoes within. I'm a potato lover, thus, this would be the food to feed me. 

The salmon gelato totally took me by surprise. It has just enough taste of salmon, but not fishy in that context, and the texture of gelato was so creamy and yummy. 

Salmon Gelato & Rosti. Price-RM17.50

Working with Artisan Roastery, Whimsical created some specialty blend. They also inspire to come out with variety of intriguing pairings combining gelato and coffee. 

I went for the safe option by having Latte. It was indeed a good cup of coffee, with just the right amount of milk with espresso. 

Latte. Price-RM10

Whimsical Gelateria & Cafe 
(shoplots outside Publika, facing Namoo)
D2-G3-05, Solaris Dutamas, 
No 1 Jalan Dutamas 1, 
50480 Kuala Lumpur 

Tel : 03-6419 0966

Business Hours : 11am-11pm (Mon, Wed, Thu), 11am-12mn (Fri), 10am-12mn (Sat), 10am-11pm(Sun) 

Facebook page, here

Restoran Muar @ Tengkat Tung Shin, KL

Having some relatives in Muar, we have always known how delicious is the food from Muar. And when the craving kicks in, the closest place to savour similar food is at Restoran Muar, located at Changkat Tung Shin, KL itself. 

Located in a refurbished pre-war shop house within the Golden Triangle, one may missed it, if they don't pay close attention. Its actually located at the shoplots just right after the famous Ngau Kee beef noodle. 

Yummy home cooked cuisine in the house

The simplicity of the restaurant will makes you feel at home, and to top it, the food served is in fact very home cooked style. The owners having lived in Malacca, thus decorated the restaurant incorporating Malacca's Baba & Nyonya style deco, whilst serving authentic Muar cuisine, but with their own twist. 

Malacca styled deco

Restoran Muar Cuisine in fact has long been established and have received many media exposure in the past. 

Articles published in the past 

They have 2 order portion for each dishes, and we opted for the small size. 

For one that has visited Muar, one would know that otak-otak is one food/snack food that is especially popular. We ordered Restoran Muar's otak-otak to find out how theirs taste. They used fish cake paste made with tenggiri (mackerel) paste, and chunks of prawns, and seasoned with dry chilli, salt and curry powder.

It tasted so delicious. It was so soft inside and juicy, with a minimal layer of skin felt as the top the otak-otak.  There are lots of fish chunks/meat found within, and is strongly fragrant due to the spices used. The sambal used for the otak-otak also add credit to their this version of otak-otak. Extremely yummy dish that would work right just as appetizer or to go along with rice.  

Otak-Otak. Price-RM12

The other specialty in this restaurant is the fried Kai Lan. I've tried this same dish in many other restaurants, but this certainly tops it all, in terms of taste. 

The fried Kai Lan when served gave us a pleasant surprise, as it looked totally different from the original vegetable looks like. The Kai Lan leaves and stems were cut till very fine,mixed with butter and Carnation milk, then stir-fried till crispy. 

They were so crunchy that it doesn't quite carry the vegetable taste. Its as though a vegetable has transformed to another form. The part of the dish that we initially thought were garlic was actually the Kai Lan's stem, which tasted a slight bitterness, similarly as how it would have tasted on the original vegetable. 

Taste wise, excellent! The butter used to cook this made it extremely fragrant and tasty. And the crispiness does enhance the overall taste. A must-have dish that actually feels like snack.

Crispy  Butter Kai Lan. Price-RM10

We wanted something with gravy to goes with our rice, thus ordered the fish fillet fried with ginger and spring onion. Another good tasting dish. The thickness of the fish fillet was just right, while the natural taste of the ginger and spring onion blends in just right. The combination of ingredients to the sauce was just right to make this dish just oh so tasty! 

Ginger & Spring Onion Fish. Price-RM18

Fried egg is one of the most simple item to cook, yet Restoran Muar made this most simple item to be  a specialty through their very own version of Crispy Fried Egg. A dish that appeared to be unique to my eyes, as I have never seen or tasted anywhere before. It is fried using 3 eggs, with the egg whites forming curls that is extremely crispy, while keeping the yolk a little runny. It is then drizzled with their special sauce. Indeed a fascinating dish, a taste that feels so familiar, yet able to distinct itself.  

Crispy Fried Egg. Price-RM5

With their simple and hearty offering, Restoran Muar does set itself apart from others, and makes one come back for more. 

Restoran Muar (Home-Cooked Cuisine)
6G, Tengkat Tong Shin, 
50200 Kuala Lumpur 

Tel : 03-2144 2072 / 012-219 2199 

Business Hours : 11am-3pm, 6-10pm 

Closed On : Monday 



  

Typica @ Shaw Parade Plaza, KL

For any coffee lover, I'm sure the name Typica is a familiar one. Typica in fact had existed way before the 'explosion' of cafes that happened in the recent years.

Having occupied a corner at the back of Shaw Parade Plaza for the last 6 years, the owners have decided to consolidate all their business into their only outlet at Ampang which began operation almost a year ago. Typica in Shaw Parade has seized operation with effect from w/c 16 Mar 2015.  

The prominent TYPICA for one that comes from the back of Shaw Parade 

Occupying just a very small space, Typica surely knows how to maximize their space. 

Having carry a very basic looking cafe, with Chinese touch, they mainly used old style wooden furniture. 

Interior of Typica 

Classic coffee brewer

Typica promotes mainly local made coffee, and works with a coffee farmer in Johor Bahru. Following which, their Ampang outlet, which operates from a bungalow residential unit will offer a much bigger space, and interestingly, will only be open for business on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Public Holidays. As for the other days, I was told that they will be in the coffee farm in Johor. This is what we call, balance of life and passion! 

Typica only sell coffee that is light to slightly medium roast, maintaining the original coffee taste as much possible. As coffee bean are one kind of fruit, and with its method of roasting, a more sour or rather fruity taste of the coffee is more apparent. To maintain the authenticity of the beans, Typica in fact keep all its ingredients to as natural possible, and interestingly, they do not offer sugar, as not to dilute the coffee taste. Speaking of purity of taste! 

Menu is as per written on their wall. 

What to order? 

I ordered their Coffee with Milk, and chose the lavender flavor. Lavender reminded me of Hokkaido, thus, I gotta order this. Hehe... 
The originality taste of the coffee immediately distinct itself from the coffee I've tasted.. The lavender was fresh flowers used to abstract the taste. Very fragrant in fact. And the few lavender flower use on top of the coffee made me wanna sip into this coffee right away. 

Coffee with Milk - Lavender. Price-RM16

This was the brewing method of my cup of coffee. The coffee bean was grinded, put onto a bag, water and milk boiled in front of our eyes. Definitely very freshly brewed. 

Process of my coffee in making... Done one by one 

Having heard much about their cake, yet, the main comment was its really expensive, we decided to find out, if really it was that good, and if it was worth it. 

The staff explained that they used the best of quality, in this instance, Philadelphia cheese for their cheesecake, and they source the best of standard of ingredients used, example usage of pomegranate, dragon fruit and cherry in their cake.

In all honesty, I have always not preferred chilled cheesecake, but this was has truly changed my perception. 

The cookie base was fragrant, soft yet firm enough to hold them together. The cheesecake itself was definitely one yummylicious slice of cake. It was immense taste of creaminess, dense and pure enough, yet not overwhelming. And pomegranate in fact is a very suitable fruit to be used for cheesecake.  Generous amount of pomegranate was visible within, and on top of the cake, making this slice of cake looked extremely gorgeous. 

Pomegranate Cheesecake. Price-RM20 

Another freshly baked Pomegranate cheesecake just arrived after I finished mine. Well, the one I had was equally fresh, as it arrived just a day before. I admire the passion and love felt, even just as the owner placed the pomegranate on top of the ready cake. 

So tempting 

For Typica's loyal customers, one could still visit them at their Ampang branch, and I snapped a few pictures of how the outlet looks. Was advised that those who visit will need to call them to open their door, as it operates from home. 

Gives you the right mood for coffee 

This will be the entrance to look out for. 

Bottles as decoration 

As the outlet in Shaw Parade will no longer exist, info provided below will be for their Ampang branch (was told its the Nine Emperor God Temple). 

This is surely one cafe that is run by truly dedicated and passionate team of people. Trust that their fans will continue to support, no matter where they are located, and how short their operating hours are. 

Typica 

342, Jalan Merdeka, 

Kampung Baru Ampang (Ampang New Village), 

68000 Ampang, Selangor 

Tel : 03-4280 1711 

Business Hours : 1-6pm, only on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Public Holidays

Facebook link, here

D'Italiane Kitchen @ Sunway Giza, PJ

Sunway Giza is so filled with F&B outlets, that the good ones may go unnoticed. Occupying the 1st floor within the mall, is D'Italiane Kitchen. Having to look for good western soup, we made the decision to give it a try. 

Clean interior was apparent as the interior used mainly white color. 

D'Italiane Kitchen

I liked the interior that is simple and elegant, one that suits formal, and casual meet up. 

Inside of the restaurant 

The norm is mushroom soup offered by most Western/Italian restaurants, but D'Italiane's range of soup is highly impressive. I'm pleased with how different their offering are, which include choices such as carrot with crabmeat soup, minestrone, tomato pumpkin, seafood chowder, and up to a total of 10 different types. Wow! I selected the soup of the day which was the broccoli soup. 

I love the presentation of the soup. It looked totally appetizing, the broccoli soup color looks just right, and drawn with some patterns using cream, and drizzled with some fresh herbs. Alongside with this, are freshly made bread. 

The broccoli soup has cuts of broccoli within, and the taste of soup was just nice. Portion was truly big too. In fact enough for me and my friend to share. Taste wise, it was creamy and tasty. Anytime I crave for soup, I'm sure to head to D'Italiane.

Broccoli Soup. Price-RM11

For my  main, I chose the Angel Hair with Scallop. The size of the US bay scallop was huge, and so was the portion of angel hair. The pasta was cooked with lots of herbs and garlic in olive oil. For a garlic lover, I appreciate any amount of garlic used.The scallop was grilled to perfection, and I can literally chew each shred of the scallops. I really liked this plate of spaghetti that tasted just so good, and I appreciate some greens used in this, which came with rocket salad and fried garlic slices. I somehow loved the bitterness that comes naturally with the salad. 

This has to be a favorite, as I looked to the table next to me, and both the gentleman had the same dish. 

Angel Hair with Scallops. Price-RM33

Similarly to its soup, D'Italianes Kitchen offers very comprehensive range of food, which includes good selection of appetizers, salad, main dishes, pasta, and drinks. 

D'Italiane Kitchen
Lot F10, 1st Floor, Block D, 
Sunway Giza, Jalan PJU 5/14, 
Kota Damansara, 
47810 Petaling Jaya 

Tel : 03-6148 1828

Kafe Vietnam @ Bandar Puteri, Puchong

Can authentic be more authentic than this? And I thought I have tasted some of the truly authentic Vietnamese food in town. Boy, was I wrong. 

The food quality and authenticness was beyond my expectation. Kafe Vietnam, is the one that I would recommend to all my friends and family, should I'm asked to recommend good Vietnamese food. 

I frequented Bandar Puteri, due to the baking supply shop, BWY, and if anyone that knows BWY, supposedly its on your left, then Kafe Vietnam will be on the right. And frankly speaking, its not difficult to spot, as it occupies the corner shop lot. 

Entrance of Kafe Vietnam

Once I stepped in, I felt at ease. I love the many enticing food shots on the top area of the drink making area, and upon entering, one will see the many Vietnamese product that is brought in by the owners, Justin and Dona. 

My gut feel says that Kafe Vietnam is here to stay,with the main reason being, Justin makes an excellent host with vast hotel background in the past. Having posted in Vietnam, he has strong understanding of the food and history of Vietnam, and it is where, he met his lovely wife, Dona. Dona is the start of the reason on why Kafe Vietnam existed, as she could hardly find a good authentic Vietnamese restaurant as she lived in Malaysia. Being able to convince her relative to come to Malaysia as the chef, they all have found the right formula for success. Male boss backed by good social skills and vast knowledge, while the lady boss supports on ensuring quality and recipe of the food. Thumbs up. 

A place that you will find yourself dining in, a lot, in future.. :)

Range of Vietnamese product found in Kafe Vietnam

We could have spent 10 minutes looking through the menu, all because, there were just so many choices, and everything really looks so delicious. But being just 2 females, sigh, how much can our stomach take. 

The easy decision has to be drink. Hehe. The Ice dripped coffee is highly recommended. The coffee was first dripped, and upon cool, ice is added in, so that the pure coffee taste is preserved as best they can. I love the aroma of the Vietnam coffee. 

The soursop strawberry smoothie was a thumbs up too. It carried more flavor of strawberries, and true to the name of the drink, it is indeed very smooth. 

Ice Dripped Coffee. Price-RM7.90 & Sour Sop Strawberry Smoothie. Price-RM12.90

For food, we started with the best seller salad recommended by Justin. The jelly, prawn and pork salad. They surely place emphasize on presentation. The almost same sized crackers that formed as flower, surrounded the salad. 

This is the first time I tried jelly in food. The jelly is blanched in water, thus still maintain its slight 'jellyness' or rather crunchiness of the jelly. Together with the main items, pork and prawn, plus shreds of carrots, onion and parsley, they are all mixed together in their homemade sauce, made from Vietnamese fish sauce, lime juice, and sugar. A good way to 'open up' my appetite. Yay.

Jelly, Prawn & Pork Salad. Price-RM13.90 

Looks at the shreds of jelly.. Yumms.. 

For noodle, we tried the Bun Bo Hue. I liked how they separate the greens and bean sprout, to be added on, on our own. The greens as seen is actually kangkung stem. Interesting! The soup base is a broth of beef and pork bone, which explains the apparent sweetness, despite it carries some spiciness. 

The noodle was topped with pork knuckle, which is deboned, compressed and boiled, beef tenderloin, and homemade ham. Just by finding out these, my head came out with so many question marks, how could they managed this much of tedious work, and well, of course it then came the answer of, all for the sake of good tasting bowl of noodle. As for the good taste of the broth, thanks to the usage of lots of lemongrass and fresh lime juice.

Slice Beef, Ham In Spicy Soup. Price-RM14.90

A specialty of Kafe Vietnam is the Fermented beancurd duck in hot pot, however, its too bad we couldn't order this, due to the portion which I deemed is big. But not to be missed, is their Black Pepper Basa Fish. This was indeed my first encounter with Basa Fish. 'Apa itu', which literally means 'What is that' in Bahasa Malaysia. 

Rice with Black Pepper Basa Fish. Price-RM14.90

This is a freshwater fish, which comes from the family of 'Pating' fish. This fish is actually sourced through suppliers that import them from Vietnam. For easy understanding, it was explained that Basa is the cod fish of Asia. Shape of fish, is more rounded. At first bite, it almost doesn't taste like fish.. Hehe... It is just so creamy, and carried a slight chewiness which means its just so fresh. The fish is slowly simmered, using fish sauce, black pepper and a little chilli. Goes extremely well, with plain rice. Upon tasting this, I know why some customers regularly come to Kafe Vietnam just for this. And you should find out for yourself too.

Close up of the steamed Basa Fish

The special rice fried with Vietnam spices tasted just right for our taste. We slowly savor the fried chicken, as it is marinated for a min of 6 hours with 8 spices. I was trying to taste and differentiate the spices, which of course I couldn't..  @__@

The chicken is oil seared which gave it such a nice color and crunchiness to the skin. 

Again, note the presentation. Lovely. Done with much love and passion. 

Special Fried Rice with Oil Seared Chicken. Price-RM13.90

Not sure what is with me, but when I visit a Vietnam restaurant, my taste bud is somehow inclined to Vietnamese fresh spring rolls. 

We ordered the deep fried Gurame. And wow, was I impressed by the presentation. The fillet of fish, and the deboned fish was fried to perfection. Its not a norm for me to see fish, for spring rolls, and what makes the roll special is to have basil, starfruit and young banana within. The combination will just give you tingling of 'la-la-la' which denotes happy tongue and taste bud. 

Deep Fried Gurame W&R in Rice Paper. Price-RM21.90

I can't resist but to invite Justin and Dona for a photograph together, and which definitely deserved some thumbs up. 

The very friendly owners, Justin and Dona, with myself

The complimentary watermelon was cut in such a cute manner, that forms a holder at the skin part. Dip with the special powder, and you'd like your fruits even more. The powder is available for sale at Kafe Vietnam. 

One slice was missing. Hehe.. 

I thought it was the end of my meal, when I was again enticed by the Vietnamese coffee, and this time, the hot version. I just love to enjoy the moment, as I wait for each drip of the coffee to happen. 

Kafe Vietnam served their House Blend which its bean are made of 45% Highland from Dalat Mountain, 45% Low Land from Border of Cambodia and Vietnam, and 10% of Civet Cat from Dalat, which the latter is best known as Kopi Luwak. 

I simply loved the taste and thickness of Vietnam coffee, and truly, it is authentic tasting, that is only made possible by the combination of good beans. 

Vietnam coffee in the making 

Kafe Vietnam also sells a Deluxe Grade coffee that made up of the same as above, but combination of 35%, 35% and 30%. 

Expansion plan has commenced where they currently have an outlet in Times Square, while they are still looking out for the ideal location for the next one. I trust that I will see more of Kafe Vietnam outlets in the near future. Keep up the good work!

Because the food was so good, I had to include the below photo.. LOL.. 

Come eat, here at Kafe Vietnam

Kafe Vietnam 

1 Jalan Puteri 4/1, 

Bandar Puteri, 

47100 Puchong, Selangor

Tel : 012-301 5928

Business Hours : 930am - 930pm 

Closed on : every forthnight, 1st & 3rd week's Wed & Thu

FB link, here

Hutan Lipur Lata Iskandar @ Tapah and Cameron Highlands

A last minute impromptu plan led me to Cameron Highlands the next day. The best destination to get away from the usual hot Malaysia weather. Cameron Highlands is basically cool throughout the year, with temperature ranging from 14 degree Celsius to 28 degree Celsius. 

Best time to visit is during the off peak season, as it is normally extremely crowded during the school holidays, weekends and festive holidays. 

Coming from KL, it is about 300kms away. We took the Tapah exit, which led us to a very windy road, reaching Ringlet, the first town of Cameron Highlands. 

If one is following this route, it is recommended to take a short stop at the Hutan Lipur Lata Iskandar. 

Hutan Lipur Lata Iskandar

Lata Iskandar is a beautiful waterfall in central Perak, located between Tapah and Cameron Highlands. The waterfall cascades down from the mountain slope, into a pool where the public can enjoy this nature by soaking themselves within this area, and then cascade down to a stream. 

We were there on Monday 9am+, thus, it was almost empty, a big difference from the last I was there, where it was so crowded. 

Took our own sweet time to enjoy the beautiful nature, and listen to the sound of waterfall, flowing. 

The beautiful waterfall

Its an insanely serene moment, when you get to see the greens from the forest, observe the flowing water from the waterfall, get to smell the freshest of air and to feel the coolest water. Ya, life should be enjoyed this way. 

Water is soooooo cold

The waterfall cascades down to the river below 

Beautiful nature 

After getting enough of the waterfall, we walked opposite of the road, where one will find stalls selling hand made items, alongside some other souvenirs. 

Items for sale

The waterfall is free for public, however, it is not recommended to be present during dark, and during heavy rain. 

The Curious Goat @ Damansara Perdana, PJ

Among all the cafes, its interesting that The Curious Goat is named after the Kaldi legend, where coffee is believed to have originated from the Ethiopian highlands. 

Its such a ideal work environment where one can work with their friends, and lucky them, The Curious Goat is run by 3 friends who were trained at Coffee Societe. A relaxed atmosphere was almost apparent when I stepped in to this cafe, and I liked it that they used industrial style cafe concept, where they used mainly wooden tables. A contrast of wall colors was used, where on one side is white, and black on the other. 

A view from the back of cafe

Different expressions on paper cups, on display 

Some items on display

The Curious Goat used Toraja coffee which is grown in Indonesia's Sulawesi region of Tana Taroja Highland, which is coffee that carries walnut and caramel-like sweetness, completed with hints of fruit and layer of dark chocolate. The coffee beans are of top grade, with 100% Arabica beans, which tight quality control implemented to the beans. The beans are roasted locally by Sprezzatura. 

I ordered their Honey Latte. The coffee taste does carried a light hint of fruits, with a light density of coffee.  Despite the coffee has a good balance of sweetness that came from honey, I still feel that coffee is best tasted without any additional flavoring. 

Honey Latte. Price-RM11

My friend ordered their Honey Lemon. This is a common drink that doesn't require much explanation on, however, yes, they are generous with their usage of lemon. True sourness that will open up one's appetite, for sure. 

Fresh Lemon With Honey. Price-RM10

We ordered a slice of tiramisu for sharing. Layers of sponge cakes filled and frosted with lots of creamy cheese, and topped with caramelized nut, it is a good choice for us. The wetness of the sponge cake was just nice. Definitely satisfied our craving for dessert. I trust that this cake taste could be alleviated further with more usage of coffee within the sponge cake. 

Tiramisu. Price-RM14

Apart from coffee and cakes, The Curious Goat also offer light pasta dishes. 

The Curious Goat 
20-1, Jalan PJU 8/3A, 
Damansara Perdana, 
47820 Petaling Jaya 

Tel : 03-7733 7383 

Business Hours : 
Mon-Thu 8am-10pm, Fri 8am-11pm, 
Sat 11am-11pm, Sun 11am-10pm 

FB link, here