Awesome Canteen @ Taman Paramount, Petaling Jaya

Awesome Canteen. What a lovely name to a F&B outlet. The presence of this restaurant cum cafe had somehow lifted the image of the otherwise old looking shoplots at Taman Paramount. 

Ideal for photo opportunities 

The glass door and window used permit lots of natural sunlight into the cafe, whilst the lights that are hanging from the ceiling gave a more natural feeling and warmness to Awesome Canteen. 

Love the use of light boxes with artistic images, canteen like seating, especially the chairs, and lots of plants within. 

Inside Awesome Canteen 

Inside Awesome Canteen 

While waiting for all to reach, I had their Carrot Cake. It had a good balance of carrot and raisin, fluffy enough, with tinge of cinnamon smell, and completed well with cream cheese frosting. 

Carrot Cake. 

I liked their teabag tea that offered me just the right balance of taste and smell between the lemongrass and ginger. 

Lemongrass & Ginger Tea. Price-RM9.90 

Who wouldn't be a happy with a plate of fries for sharing? Love the thickness of the fries, dipped in the special sauce. 

Basket of Fries. Price-RM8.90 

The beef burger served with Rocky Blue cheese tasted absolutely delicious. Meat was so juicy and marinated so well, accompanied by fries and coleslaw gave my lunch mate a fulfilling meal,  

Beef - Rocky Blue Cheese Burger. Price-RM26.90 

I had their butterfish. Grilled to perfection, I could feel the firm texture of the fish. The fried sweet potatoes and grilled prawns were absolutely yummy, and the sauce that accompanied this dish definitely deserved a thumbs up.

Paleo Butterfish. Price-RM27.90 

My SIL highly recommended their Tofu Salad which was certainly something outside the norm. It was a delight to tried this salad. It was filled with sengkuang, tofu, lettuce, almond, pine nuts, purple cabbage, and cucumber. I perhaps missed out some ingredients too, but importantly, this was soo extremely good. The sauce striked a balance between sweetness and sourish. 

Tofu Salad. Price-RM19.90 

Verdict : Awesome place to chill with friends. Nice homemade cakes, and one of a kind Tofu Salad. 

Awesome Canteen 
19 Jalan 20/13, Taman Paramount, 
46300 Petaling Jaya
Tel : 03-7865 8048 

Business Hours : 11am-10pm (Tue-Sun) 
Kitchen Close : 3-6pm 

FB link, here

Brolly @ Menara Felda, Kuala Lumpur

If I were to award a restaurant for the most interesting concept and design, I would award it to non other than Brolly. 

The 6 of us took the challenge of getting in to town for our dinner gathering, and upon battling the jam, we all reached safely on the rainy evening. 

I was pleased as soon as I turned into Menara Felda also known as Platinum Park, being greeted by 3 artistic mannequins. With the cooling breeze that greeted me, I was in a great mood as I stepped in to Brolly. 

The lighted bus that serve as bar area stole the limelight, and what a unique idea this is. I love the transparent glass panels that surround Brolly, and I was smitten by the aromatic popcorn that was popping away. Its always nice that guests are given the popcorn as snack, foc. Lovely gesture. 

The outside are of Brolly 

The interior was seriously impressive. I seemed to walk through sections of display that seemed to be endless and was unique on its own. 

The design revolved around various theme, which seemed like inspiration from travels, and mechanic, as I saw gramaphone records, US license plate, and tools used by mechanic being used as decorative items, which were all plastered neatly on different walls. 

Interesting interior 

Bar seating area 

Pool table, with car hung upside-down

The highlight of the interior ought to be this pillar of wash basins that used tyres as sink, gasoline pumps for tank, and side mirrors hung all over the pillar. Love the lighted Christmas tree that reflected onto the side mirrors. 

How much I love the Christmas tree side-by-side with the washing "sink"

The room that we reserved was big, and I love the car ream used as decorative to the room's door. 

Nice room for privacy 

The menu was somewhat interesting, combining 9 categories of food, that ranged from Chinese, Japanese, Western, with aplenty of offerings such as live seafood, pizza, chicken wings, rice and desserts. 

Their drink menu was refreshing to me, and one range of drinks included beer booze mixed with margarita, and other flavorings were also available. 

Classic Beergarita. Price-RM28

The appetizer was so charming in presentation, with the fried onion that took centrestage. Those that came slightly later has totally no clue what was this. The onion was beautifully opened up, and fried till crispy.The coating was thin enough and the sweetness of onion was apparent, and dip was yummy to accompany each strip of the onion.

Onion Flower. Price-RM18

The salad was deliciously healthy and the light sauce that accompanied them, a good start to our dinner. 

Rocket Mango & Grilled Watermelon and Pineapple Salad. Price-RM22 & RM15

The buffalo wings came with 9 choices of flavors and we picked the Kung Po, and the Japanese Curry version. As much as they were both very tasty, and were strong in flavour, I felt I was crunching too much of the skin, that resulted from the batter. 
Each serving came with 3 pieces of big sized chicken wing, cut to 6 pieces.

Buffalo Wings. Kung Po and Japanese Curry version. Price-RM18 each 

The one order that I think I would repeatedly order is the Prawn . Reasonable in size, they were fried till extremely crunchy, highly fragrant, and coated well with spices. 

Prawn Popcorn. Price-RM23

The pizza choice we made was Seafood Matriciana. It tasted fairly well, with thin crust, and topped with small cuts of seafood and lots of goodness from the cheesy cheese. 

Seafood Matriciana Pizza. Price-RM28

The one item that was enjoyed the least was the spring chicken with Chamalla sauce (used mix of herbs). Lovely presentation, with some salad, mashed potatoes, and herb sauce that accompanied it, but the taste of the herbs was overwhelming to me, and somewhat I did not like the herb taste. 

Spring Chicken. Price-RM45

We also took the chance to celebrate a lovely friend birthday, and with that, we were presented with unbelievably generous amount of dessert, COMPLIMENTARY! Wow! 
There were 6 of us, and 6 jars of dessert were brought to us.
Love the simple presentation that used mason jar, with generous portion of each. What we tasted included Creme Brulee - extremely creamy and milky, Honey Yoghurt - sourish and totally appetizing, Chunky Peanut Butter Granola - healthy and crunchy, and Rocky Road - chewy and yummy. 
Everyone has their own favorite, and I must, all tasted equally delectable. 

Dessert In Mason Jar. Usual Price-RM16 each

Verdict : It's a great place for booze, finger food, plenty of food varieties. Service was exceptional. Price is fair, however, there are some seafood that is priced on a high side. 

Food - 7/10,  Price - 7/10, Service - 10/10, Ambiance - 10/10 

Brolly 
Ground Floor,  Menara Felda, Platinum Park, 
No 11, Persiaran KLCC, 
50088 Kuala Lumpur

Business Hours : 11am till late

Tel : 03-2181 4122

FB link, here

Portofino @ Lucky Garden, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur

This F&B outlet surely had caught my attention when I passed by. 2 days later, I received an invitation by Chef Keli which I gladly accepted. Could be the "The Secret" presented itself. Hehe. 

Striking blue signage that enough to catch ones' attention  

The lower level of Portofino definitely drew some similarity to Porto Romano where I see frames of pictures made up of movie posters hung neatly all around the wall. 

Intimate seating environment 

As I stepped upstairs, the ambiance drew a more simple and classy setting with ample space, that is very well suited for company events, or parties. I was informed that on every Tuesdays and alternate Saturdays, there are group of salsa lovers that would dine and enjoy some salsa moves throughout the night.

Ample space upstairs 

The name of the restaurant was taken after this beautiful Italian fishing village and famous resort vacation spot famed for its picturesque harbour. 

Named after Portofine,, Liguria 

Portofino in Bangsar is jointly owned by 2 Italians, Chef Keli, Lucas, and owner of Porto Romano. As I shared my conversation with these two gentleman blessed with good Italian genes, I immediately gathered that they were both incredibly passionate about running this F&B outlet. Chef Keli had vast background in the culinary field ever since young, and during a trip to Malaysia, he was shared the idea of setting up a restaurant. When back to Italy, the idea was proposed to his dear friend, Lucas and before we know it, Portofino was made possible, and they have recently celebrated their 1st anniversary on 6 Oct 2015. 

Varieties of spaghetti were the main highlight for my lunch. Apart from the standard pastas, I've not seen one restaurant offering this many varieties - from ravioli, pappardelle, gnocchi, tortellini, tagliatelle. All their pasta are freshly made, and Chef Keli ensures that he uses the best supply available and am highly particular with each ingredient used. He also goes personally to the fresh market for some selection of fish and prawns. 

The highly recommended pasta was their Cannelloni ai Fruitti di Mare/Seafood Cannelloni. The fresh pasta are cut into long shape, to form a round shape. Within it, it is filled with cuts of fresh prawns, squid, mussels, fish and bechamel sauce. I love this fresh and reviving outlook of Cannelloni. Love the 3 round shape of pasta, served on top of very yummy gravy, accompanied by a neat portion of salad and decorative chocolate sauce. The gravy was cooked using fish stock, and to ensure quality of every sip of taste that goes into the mouth, the stock was cooked using prawn head, red snapper and its bone, together with tomato paste, celery, red onion, carrot, parsley, and cooked for 3 hours.

The pasta was baked with perfection, with slight crisp on top, and the creaminess of cheese on top. I love the generous portion of seafood used that tasted so delicious. That's not all, I found more generous cuts of prawns below the pasta, and with sweetness of the gravy, this tasted heavenly. 

Seafood Cannelloni. Price-RM36

Secondly, we were served the Tortellini Caserecci / Homemade Tortellini. It was the fresh tortellini stuffed with chicken meat and beef bacon, then cooked with cream, mushroom and turkey ham. The texture carried a slight thickness yet chewy and soft when eaten, and love the extremely creamy sauce. 

Homemade Tortellini. Price-RM38 

Each tortellini were filled with so much of chicken and beef bacon, and I could taste the freshness of the meat. 

All the goodness goo-ing out of the tortellini 

Thirdly, we had the Squid Ink Pasta. This was freshly made using black ink from squid. The tenderness of the pasta was apparent, and it was extremely fresh. The gravy has the fishy sweetness taste to it, and a hint of basil. Yumms.. 

Squid Ink Tagliatelle. Price-RM36

I thank Chef Keli to use cream quality that tasted so incredibly good that made this Gnocchi so luscious. This is made using mashed potato, flour, salt, pepper and parmesan cheese, and then cooked with imported cooking cream, blue cheese, and bacon. This indeed was my first time trying 'potato dumpling'. 

Gnocchi with Gorgonzola Cheese. Price-RM36

In the past, I have been recommended tiramisu which I was disappointed after I tasted it. I can't wait to taste what is this bowl of tiramisu made of. 

It was made using a long process, to ensure the authenticity of the tiramisu could be savored by its customers. First marsala being cooked, and then mixed with mascarpone, whipping cream, and combined with italian fingers soaked with almond liquor, kahlua and coffee, to derived with this bowl of tiramisu. The softness and the creaminess of the mascarporne was indeed melodious, and coupled with the apparent taste of alcohol, this was indeed a blissful bowl of tiramisu. 

Tiramisu. Price-RM16

The spoon of goodness

My meal ended pleasantly with a plate of dessert that brightened my mood instantly. This has to be one of the best well presented plate of dessert. This pannacotta tasted perfect - soft, and creaminess of the cream made me so delightful. The tinge of orange, and lemon zest gave the taste of this pannacotta an extra umph.  The fact that I'm so full and I can still feel how delicious this was, it must be divine. It indeed was one of the best dessert I ever tasted.

Tasted so good and so beautiful to see. Pannacota. Price-RM14

Flanked by the really tall chef, Chef Keli and Lucas 

I was indeed so pleased with the food quality, and more so of the passion that I felt that brimmed through Chef Keli as he explained to me on each and every dish served. The hospitality extended by both Chef Keli and Lucas were so warm. After this visit, I had the feeling of falling in love during my 1st date, and I can't wait to go for the next date, which I in fact had done so, the week after.  

Food - 9/10; Price - 9/10, Service - 9/10, Ambiance - 9/10 

Portofino
No 1 Persiaran Ara Kiri, 
Lucky Garden, Garden,
59100 Kuala Lumpur 
Tel : 03-2094 8490 

Business Hours : 
11am-11pm daily 

Pork-free (serves halal meat)

Nosh-Up @ Atria, Damansara Jaya

I am indeed a little excited to check out the revamped Atria exactly 1 month after it reopened on 28 May 2015. I had an extremely good feeling stepping into the mall, and walking from one end to the other, I am caught with slight surprise that the space that used to be occupied by the previous Atria was indeed this spacious. 

As I walked pass Nosh-Up close to noon, I see that it is really packed. A good sign to try out this restaurant. From the amount of crowd, the ambiance of the restaurant, mix of its food offering, and when this came to my thought "Really, Rm10 soup?", I just felt that their price will not be throat cutting. PASS.. ENTER!

Nosh-Up has a very contemporary design, vibrant colors yet not overly done, and warm lighting. 

Inviting entrance to Nosh Up

On their side wall, they use simple wording like 'Eat, Enjoy, Satisfy' to express what they are to deliver to their customers, and to the end of the premise, there lies a more colorful wall, that gives a rather 'homey' feeling. 

 
Their selection of food offering combines Asian Fusion which really gives comprehensive varieties whereby one can get to savor western choices of soup, salad, main meals that ranges from western to asian, breakfast set, western main meals, very good choice of desserts and many options of drinks. 

The fact that they have good amount of crowd at the same time, waiting time was rather reasonable, and I see that food is being served rather promptly.

I am happy with the choice of Minestrone soup as a starter. It was not the usual plain garlic bread that came together with the soup, but rather, it is 2 slices of bruschetta that is toasted with some cheese. They tasted really yummy, and the soup is even better. The soup is flavorful, with almost half of it filled with what is used to boil the soup. It comprises of celery, potato, zucchini, onion, and carrot. The ingredients are to my interpretation of what I see, as they are all mixed up with some carrying almost the same color. 

Italian Minestrone. Price-RM10

My friend ordered their Leek and Mushroom Chicken Pie. We love how the used the wooden flat board to present the food. It came with delicious bowl of creamy mushroom, chicken and leek, baked with cheese on top, the very flaky and light in texture pie, the greens, and a piece of some potato.

Chicken, Mushroom & Leek Pie. Price-RM22

I like some surprises within my food thus I order the Grilled Chicken Duxelle as it has mushroom stuffed in the chicken. My little heart is jumping with joy when I am presented with this compelling plate of very mouthwatering plate of food. 

First that went to my mouth is the salsa by the side. It was sourish enough to open up my senses to food. The saute vegetable taste absolutely divine. I am not sure what is added to marinate them, but the tastiness of this is insane! The most satisfying saute vegetable I ever had! 

I tasted the sauce before I poured them in, and it carries taste of spiciness. However, it worked out perfectly when mixed with the rest of the food. I also like the healthy baked sliced potatoes and some vegetables. 

There are lots of mushroom stuffed within the chicken. Mushroom is flavory, and goes so well with the chicken. Chicken taste is good, but because its chicken breast, I think much stronger marination is required, as the other parts of the food within this plate seems to overtake the taste of the chicken.

Grilled Chicken Duxelle. Price-RM29

The fridge that display their cake should be feeling proud by what it is displaying. The cakes  all look so alluring and the particular 2 that catch my eyes are the macadamia cheesecake, and their tiramisu coated with plenty of caramelized almond. Price wise, RM14-RM15 a slice is consider standard, and in fact, reasonable, given the fact that in return one gets to taste cake that is made with the best of ingredients. My stomach disagrees when I try to convince to take on some dessert. I like that I now know how to put a stop to the volume of intake. Haha. Soon, I will be back!

Cakes that looks heavenly 

I am pleasantly surprised when the bill came together with a 15% discount. This is being offered as their opening special which is valid till 30 June 2015. 

I can't wait to be back to try out their other offerings, with a bigger crowd, definitely. 

Food - 9/10
Price - 10/10

Service - 8/10 

Ambiance - 10/10 

Nosh-Up 
Atria Shopping Gallery 
Lot C33, Concourse Floor, 
Jalan SS22/23, 
Damansara Jaya
47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor 

Tel : 03-7733 8238

Business Hours : 10am-10pm daily (last order is at 9.45pm)  

FB link, 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 



  

Kaffa Espresso Bar @ Damansara Uptown, Petaling Jaya

Kaffa Espresso Bar, located within Uptown, to my opinion is one of the busiest commercial development I've been. Finding a metered parking is almost impossible. Good thing is that Uptown is occupied by many offices that would contributed to Kaffa business. As for me, for coffee fix during weekend, Kaffa is one of the cafe that is on my top list. 

There's just something about me and my affinity for turquoise color. I love that Kaffa used lots of wood, black and turquoise color within its American vintage theme.

Let James Dean & Marilyn Monroe welcome you

Cosy outside seating 

I ordered their Salted Caramel Macchiato this round. I love that Kaffa's presentation of coffee is different from others, where it used their own produced enamel mug, similar design as the old styled mug that I used at my late-grandma's home. Kaffa also sell their mug at RM29.90 each. 

I love the aroma of the espresso used, with a good blend of milkiness, top with coffee art using caramel. Sips of coffee combing taste of caramel is a bliss. 

Salted Caramel Macchiato. Price-RM12.50

Under their Chef's Special, I was attracted to their Grilled Whole Sea Bass, as I seldom savor fish as a whole, apart from steam fish in Chinese restaurants. I liked the presentation of the fish that was topped with caramelized capsicum, and alfafa, and Kaffa provided 2 separate small bowl to contain the salad and mashed potato. Neatly presented. 

The taste of the grilled seabass was extremely yummy. Just the right balance of saltiness in taste, and the freshness of fish was apparent and goes really well with the onion sauce.

The salad was fresh, drizzled with some oil (somehow doesn't taste like olive oil), and the mashed potato was very fine in texture, however, tasted way too milky. 

Grilled Whole Sea Bass. Price-RM22.90 

The other order we had was the Grilled Chicken, Swiss Cheese and Avocado Triple Decker Sandwich. Somewhat, this order wasn't one that I would recommend. Presentation wise, it was a pass, however taste wise, it was a little ordinary. Similarly as the other order,  the salad that accompanied the sandwich was just drizzled with some oil, while the chicken within the sandwich tasted a little too bland. Suggest to look into the quality of bread used, and to place a little more effort on the chicken taste.

Chicken, Cheese & Avocado Sandwich. Price-RM17.90

Kaffa also offer good selection of cakes.

Cakes and drinks 

Overall, Kaffa Espresso Bar is a cool hangout place, with good coffee, and good variety of food, cakes and drinks. Some suggestion would be to place some of their stock  behind counter and within the cake chiller fridge to the inside kitchen so that they customers eyes doesn't get this busy when they checked around the cafe.

Kaffa Espresso Bar 
97 Jalan SS21/37, 
Damansara Utama, 
47400 Petaling Jaya 

Business Hours :
Mon 10am-11pm, Tue 10am-10pm, Wed-Fri 10am-12mn, 
Sat-Sun 8am-12mn 

Tel : +603 7732 4502

Facebook link here

Website here