Thursday, August 29, 2013

at The Red Beanbag, Publika


After a previous disappointing visit, the bestie and I decided to give the Red Beanbag another visit - for brunch. Our expectations were high since a close friend said the breakfast items were 'heavenly'

Bestie ordered the Croque Madame (grilled cheese covered in mozzarella, served with a sunny side up) and baked eggs. My order was the Sumo (grilled salmon fillet, sautéed baby spinach, poached egg with seaweed hollandaise, served on top of rosti)

Croque Madame was a very simple, hearty, comforting sandwich- I enjoyed my taste of this, and would personally go for Croque Monsieur (no egg). My friend said she'd prefer the addition of some stronger cheese, like cheddar.

Baked eggs- yummy and hearty, with chunks of sausage (chicken, beef and lamb if my memory serves), potato and 2 eggs, with a generous amount of melted cheese on top. This came with 2 slices of bread which I didn't try.

My fave item was the Sumo- loved the perfectly done salmon- most places overcook it. The rosti fried to crispy perfection and was moistened by the perfectly runny yolk. Yum!

We finished the meal with Fatbaby ice cream- flavors of the day were Apple Crumble and Chocolate. The Apple Crumble ice cream was divine- nice buttery crumbles and small chunks of apple in the ice cream.

Almost every table had an order of Eggs Benedict or Eggs Atlantic- we'll try that next time! The coffee also smelt great- I'll have it on my next visit!

Ellie's rating
Ambience: 8/10
Food: 8/10 (breakfast menu only!)

Sunday, August 11, 2013

at Octopus Sushi, Ampang Point


Salmon don, miso soup, Ten don, salmon sashimi, agedashi tofu

Had a late lunch with Tiggy at Octopus Sushi on Sunday - it's one of the places we go to when we can't think of where else to go for a meal (#firstworldproblems), as we both find the food here acceptable.

I opted for the Salmon Don this time (RM21). This came with 8 thin slices of salmon, some pickled ginger, a teaspoon of roe, slice of lemon, and shredded cucumber on a bed of Japanese rice. I expected the salmon slices to be thicker for the price, so I was a tad disappointed by this. The rice however, was well cooked- I mixed the rice with lemon juice, a drizzle of soy sauce, the roe and the cucumber (because I hate plain rice), and ate the salmon separately like sashimi. Hehe.

Tiggy had his usual Ten Don- tempura and rice. This came with 2 prawns, a piece of soft shell crab (MINE!), onion, and eggplant, along with a generous amount of those crispy, crunchy bits. Nom for him, but not my type of dish as there was no gravy :P

Tiggy also had the miso soup- palatable, but I thought it slightly diluted.

We ordered agedashi tofu and salmon sashimi to share. The Agedashi tofu was nicely fried to a beautiful golden brown color and was pretty good- however the coating got soggy quickly. Sad.

And now...my favorite!!! The salmon sashimi, served on a bed of ice. This was the thickest cut of sashimi I've ever had- more than 1cm thick, melt in your mouth buttery goodness! Please note however, that the sashimi cuts weren't as generously thick on previous visits- but still decent. Altho I wonder, why is it served on ice?

Ellie's rating:
Food: 6.5/10
Ambiance: 5/10


Saturday, August 10, 2013

at Tai Zi Heen, Prince Hotel


The housemate/bestie had a dimsum craving, so we decided to check out the all-you-can-eat dimsum buffet at Tai Zi Heen, Prince Hotel (weekends and public holidays, MYR45++/pax) with a group of friends.

Some of the dishes we ordered are pictured above. Personally, I enjoyed the roast duck best which was tender with a small amout of juicy fat.

Another thing I enjoyed was the mango pudding with passionfruit puree. The passionfruit puree was wonderfully tangy, and provided an interesting twist to an otherwise ordinary mango pudding.

The other dishes rated as just 'meh' for me, only the duck warranted a second order. I found most of the fried stuff too dry and lacking in flavor, and the egg noodles with prawn lacked flavor of any kind (Tiggy liked this tho, and had a second order.)

Har gow, my usual favourite, wasn't up to par, the skin was too mushy ans. broke upon contact with my chopsticks. The egg tarts were also bland and tasteless- Tiggy however said it tasted like tau-foo-fa. Disappointing. 


Soup of the day. Old cucumber soup. Delicate and flavorful, this had the right touch of 'sweetness' that I wanted in a Chinese soup. Yum.


Chinese herbal jelly. This had the right hint of bitterness, however, I would prefer if it came with honey to sweeten as the bitterness got to me after a few bites.

We ended up having a lot of unfinished food- and had to play a true-or-false game (miss a question, eat a piece of dimsum) to avoid any potential wastage charges. I think we were the noisiest table dining there. Heheh.

Ellie's rating
Food: 4/10 (what I didn't enjoy outweighed those I did)
Ambience: 6.5/10

Would I return? Probably not- there are much better options for dimsum out there.

Thursday, August 8, 2013

At Kungfu Paradise


Had lunch with the bf today, to be known as Tiggy in this blog. Black pepper beef rice bowl with Lava egg

Something of a comfort food for me. 

Beef was nice and tender, complemented by the sweetness of the onions. My request for extra sauce (I hate dry rice) was accommodated, but they seemed to have just added water to the sauce, which was disappointing. The greens provided a nice, crisp touch to the meal. Egg was so-so, nothing to shout about.


My hot Stylo coffee! I quite enjoyed this! Would have been better with milk, but that's just me. I thought the coffee had a good body of flavor, and just the right hint of bitterness.

Ellie's rating:
Food: 5/10
Coffee: 6.5/10

Will come back for the coffee. As for the rice, only if the craving strikes, and will not request extra sauce.