First halal chinese food@near Hospital Pantai, Penang

Demona: My muslim colleague brought me here for lunch during my field work in Penang. She hasn't tried the food here herself, but heard good reviews about this place and seems, this is the first Chinese Muslim restaurant in Penang. The restaurant had minimal interior decoration, and at my first impression, it looked no different than a mamak place, especially the non-airconditioning area downstairs. The weather was fiery hot that afternoon, lucky us, there was a cooling airconditioning option upstairs. Needless to say, these little princesses (and prince) chose the 2nd option.


Demona: The Kong Pow chicken tasted average. Just chicken bits, with capsicum slices and groundnuts. Nothing much to shout about as the sauce tasted like it came from the sweet and sour sauce maggi bottle. No where near our Chinese KP chicken non-halal counterparts.


Demona: This was an interesting dish. When it first came, I could not make out what it was. Initially, I thought it was a deep fried fish looking at its shape. To my biggest surprise, it was actually a brinjal. Nicely, sliced into a giant curly spring, then coated with flour and deep fried. It left me wondering how was the brinjal cut into such a shape. It went really well with the sliced mushrooms, and sweetened sauce. I had never eaten this in a chinese restaurant before.


Demona: This dish was pretty average too. Basically, sliced beef with black fungus. Slightly salty but bearable. After finishing this, I did not have much recollection of it.

Demona: This was CMR's trademark dish. Fried mutton. Under normal tummy growling conditions, I'd only take mutton when it comes in the form of thickened curry, or rendang, or barbequed (which was also rare). Never once I had mutton which was cooked like the one above. Surprisingly, it tasted really nice. Some what like jerky, but not as hard as one. I couldn't consume too much of it though, after a while, my breath does smell a little awful and my tummy started to feel sickly. I'm guessing this meat really worked your digestive juices hard to finally break down its structure.

According to the menu, it boasts its trademark CM, by stating that all the ingredients are halal and apparently, their chefs originate from the "Muslim Federal Autonomy of NingXia, China". NingXia has the largest Muslim community in the whole of China. The food doesn't really taste very Chinese alright, but I'd give credits to the dishs' uniqueness. The taste was really different and myself being Chinese, I don't mind trying out their other dishes on my next visit to see how more unique this peculiar restaurant can continue to offer me!

Ah Leng Char Kueh Teow@Jalan Dato' Keramat, Penang

Demona: Who wouldn't think of Char Kueh Teow when the word "Penang" comes up. Heck, even the locals themselves debate on which CKT is the best in town. That shows just how many CKT stalls there are in Penang, all frying their best-est to be the labelled the most "hoh-chiak!" in this food haven.

I definitely can't comment much on which stall's the better one as this was the only stall that I've tried so far... which was GOOOOOODDDDDD.

Our local colleagues raved about the famous Ah Leng (name of the chef) Char Kueh Teow and his superhuman abilities to make this humble dish oh so slurpilicious. The chef is so well known that he even hung a plate above his stall with an imprint of his handphone number, for foodie hunters who want to order in advance or have a problem finding this hawker place.

Sure enough, the CKT was worth the calories. The KT strands were so nicely fried that not a single one was glued to another. Apparently, he fries the KT with duck eggs (is this true... ?) and for RM 5, he had better give big prawns. Even the prawns were cooked enough to ensure they were edible but not overcooked harden.

Without persistent control of your mind, resisting the temptation of ordering another plate... possible consequences:

a) Sore throat kau kau
b) Calories over burst
c) Never ever want to eat CKT anywhere else except the really good ones, which is hard to find.


Here's another close up pict of these golden strand goodies.

Stylo classic toast bread@kopitiam in Campbell Street

Demona: This may seem like a humble looking street side kopitiam.. no frills, no thrills. You could smell the buttery aroma of the toast bread and coffee when walking from the other end of the lane towards here.

Demona : Kopi ais kurang manis. The "kau" coffee is at the bottom layer, with the milky layer on the top. Mr.CoffeeMaker left it for me to decide how sweet I want my coffee to be. The more sweet I like my drink to be, the more I stir my drink.

I didn't stir my drink at all.. the coffee was just nice, as it was in the picture.


Demona: The toast bread really had a strong charcoal aroma absorbed into it. Crunchy and crumbly on the outside, and soft, fluffy, warm buttery on the inside. Eating the toast bread really gave a "syok" moment, somehow made me feel like I'm a kid all over again...just pure happiness in eating it.


Demona: I was amazed with the toast-bread man when I saw how he prepared that white deliciousness. He had to squat, facing the warm burning heat from the charcoal inside this giant metal barrel (which is also used to boil water on the top), holding the metal tray laid with slices of white bread and constantly putting the slices in and pulling them out in order for them to toast evenly brown all over. Imagining myself doing it, my back would have ached like hell with the never ending squats, and my fingers would probably have damaged skin from holding the heated up metal tray.

I salute the toast bread maker for such great lengths to toast bread!

Fluffy wuffy chapati@Market Taman Tun Sardon

MDemona: This is my first official work trip to Penang. I was obviously excited.. hey, I'm in the food haven town! (besides Ipoh, of course). Once my colleague and I landed in Penang, we met our local colleagues here for a quick bite before heading off to work.

We arrived at this market, filled with patrons busy chomping away all these deliciousness. I loved the sight of people enjoying their food, and the stall owners earnestly preparing their dishes, aiming to serve their best to their loyal customers.

There were all kinds of yummy food here! Nasi lemak, roti canai, "kuih-muih", toast bread etc. I was spoilt for choices.

In the end... I came across this stall where the couple only sells chapati. It caught my attention immediately.

"Surviving by only selling chapati? Gosh, they must be really good alright."

The owner never stopped for even one minutes without having to make a chapati. I ordered one and ... PHEW, it was an awesome choice I made.

This was by far, the best, fluffiest, freshest chapati I've ever eaten so far. I didn't even need any side dishes to complement my chapati. It was pure awesomeness on it's own.

I think I'm going to visit this uncle a lot more from now on. SLURPPPPPPP.

Putanesca Pizza@Sure PIzza, Plaza Damas

Demona: Sure Pizza was one of the few pizza places which Dogma and I frequent since it's just opposite my place and the pizzas are pretty good. You could really get the cozy, homely comfort feel when you step into the restaurant. The owner, who's an Italian is usually at the restaurant, either busy making culinary magic behind the kitchen bar or at the table entertaining his regular patrons.

We wanted a meaty and cheesy dinner snack, and decided to pop by Sure Pizza after a workout. This time, I chose the Putanesca: salami, cheese, onions firewood baked till it's golden brown.

Our past pizza experiences were pretty fantastic, fiery too! (their side home made sauces can truly burn.. even chilli-resistant Malaysian tongues!). However, this time around, the experience was a little disappointing.

The toppings seemed much less this time around. By the 2nd piece, my mood ran out and Dogma's mood ran out too after his 3rd piece. We had to "tapao" for the first time ever.

Maybe after this incident, it may be awhile before we catch back the feeling of eating there again.

Peace and quiet lunch@Ristretto Cafe, MontKiara 10, Jalan Kiara 1

Demona: Sunday's Sabbath day, God's day of rest and for us to gather and renew our hearts for the week at church. After spiritual renewal and rejuvenation, physical rejuvenation comes along. Sunday Coffee day!

Dogma's friend recommended this place for good coffee. Initially, we got lost searching for "Mont Kiara 10", but thanks to Google maps. Tadah! This cozy cafe's nicely tucked in at the end of the road. Away from the crowd, away from noise...

Demona: A nice outdoor area to have a meal and coffee. The tranquility!

Demona: Simplicity. A juicer corner, and a coffee brewing area. The staffs were really friendly, in welcoming us, recommending us their must-haves and serving us. Oh yeah.. kinda' nice having John Mayer's album playing as background music.

Demona: I ordered a ham and cheese panini sandwich, with salad on the side. The sandwich was so-so, nothing biggie to shout about in terms of taste but i did feel his/her sincerity in the preparation of the food. Nicely toasted, and the bread tasted fresh. RM 10, pretty decent I gotta' say for a quick bite/light brunch.

Demona: Dogma ordered the flat white, Costa Rica beans. Quite milky and creamy, but I preferred my cappucino. RM 8.

Demona: This was my cappucino. The froth was really thick and milky. It's one of the few better cappucinos which I had so far. I wished that the cup was bigger though, more to drink! RM 8.


Demona: Dogma ordered the fish and chips. It's been awhile since we last saw crinkle cut fries being served. The fish was quite fresh also and thankfully it wasn't one of those with tons of flour but thinly sliced fish inside. The tartar sauce seemed home made as well and they were pretty generous with the portion. RM 15

Parking's free over here (yey!) and it was really quite enjoyable having good coffee in a peace and quiet setting. Hey, they even gave us a card to collect stamps for free coffee so I doubt this will be our last visit here.

Ristretto closes pretty late at night, 11 pm. Wonder how's it like having dinner here. Anyone's got an experience on that before?

Sweet surprise@Cafe Barbera, Jalan Maarof, Bangsar

Demona: Thanks to this card.. we scored a free cuppa coffee! Only the hot coffee choices are worth investing. We ordered a cold one, and it was filled with froth and almost nil coffee. Bummer.

Cafe Barbera, was a real stumble upon sorta experience. Dogma and I drove by Bangsar after church service and saw this homely looking' cafe, subtly hypnotizing us pull over and walk in.

Demona: The view of the cafe as we entered really got us (especially me, excited). Its design and layout surely gave me a cozy, comfortable, easy going feeling which makes anyone wants to take a seat, get your order going and read the news for the day whilst waiting for the meal to come.


Demona: The beef panini sandwich was huge! And they were surely generous with the beef slice serving. Fairly thick and juicy. We only finished half of it and doggie-bagged the other half for our hungry tummies later on. RM15.

Demona: They do make fairly good pizza. The crust was thin, crunchy but just thickened enough for a little fluff, chewy feel in the middle of the pizza where most the ingredients were laid on. Cheese ain't cheesier than this alright! RM 20.

Thumbs up!!

The food and drinks were really, quite nice and for once, I'd thought that the price was pretty decent! Enough to make me feel like coming again and again, for coffee, lunch, afternoon tea, glutton session, whatever.

Unfortunately, the good times were short and sweet while it lasted. A couple of weeks later, when I went brought my doctor there for lunch (whos also a foodie person), the price on the menu had already been jacked up at least 10 dollars more. GRRRRRRRRRR...
Luckily, the free coffee coupon was still valid then (I don't think they have it anymore now)

Since the last free coffee... I haven't had a chance to go back there since. Hm.. wonder how's things at the cafe now?

Post Dinner Coffee@Le Passion Cafe, Hartamas Shopping Centre

Demona: Wondering where the crunchy, sugary macadamia nut biscotti soaked in frothy, milky foam deliciousness floating above a hot, fragrant cuppa cappucino came from?

Demona: And where could you spot such a peculiar, funky looking coffee machine?

Demona: None other than Le Passione Cafe! Located on the top floor of the Hartamas Shopping Centre, this cozy petite looking cafe offers some serious good ass coffee, alright.

Demona: At some days, you'll see the two Italian bosses themselves, behind the counter preparing some quality coffee for you. They pay close attention towards presentation, which does make you feel rather appreaciated being served in such a manner. Of course, presentation is just the fore play. After taking a sip, the first thing that hit my mind was, "Mmmmm. you've got style and character." And the subsequent sips were pleasure all the way. :)

This is definitely one coffee place I'd go on weekends when I want some quiet me-alone time, accompanied by some reading materials.

Pauper-like dinner@Blue Cow Cafe, Plaza Damas, Sri Hartamas

MOOOOOOOO!!!
MOOOOOOOO!!!
Time to let the cows out and satisfy our hunger for some serious meat!
After reading on a couple of blogs of this little meat hole in plaza damas, demona and dogma decided to give it a try.. and we took quite some time before finally finding it on a secluded floor of plaza damas.

Interior was pretty homely and relaxed...
and nothing is more warming than a plethora of different meat cuts greeting you once you stepped into the cow shop.

First up was the pumpkin soup. Large portion, creamy, with slight spiciness in it. When very well with the toasted french bread..

Lamb burger!! OMG. This should top one of the best lamb burger so far in KL...full of lambiness that suits most lamb lovers out there. the meat was pretty fresh and the coleslaw refreshing, without being overly saucy.

A closer view of the lamb patties. about 1.5inch thick

27.94 for a meal for 2.
ouch

Cafe Bali@Seminyak Square area, Bali

Demona: Last night in Bali haven. As with all holiday trips, the last meal must always be the most memorable one. Our plan was to find a cozy place to chill, eat, talk about all the crazy ass things we did for the past couple of days and drink till our eyelids forcefully shut down.

We stumbled upon a lovely cafe, called Cafe Bali. Its theme was white. Somewhat like our local fnb, Fullhouse, but wayyyyy better. The chandeliers and lightings were unique, gorgeous. We were not allowed to snap picts as due respect to the designer (hmph.. ) Being typical rebels, we quietly, sneakily took anyway. Look above, ain't it beautiful :)

Demona: This dish came with 3 different types of rice: white, brown, and glutinous: served with otak otak. The otak otak was a great tummy kicker. Power packed with spice, flavour, fish meat. It went very well with the rice. Great thing abouve Bali food is that, they make awesome chilli sauces. Each having its own fiery flavour to blend in with the choice of food served.

Demona: The salmon cabonara was sinfully delicious. The right creamy texture with generous chunks of salmon slices. Not sure what cheese they added in though. Dogma should learn from this, march right into my home kitchen and start cooking right away.

Demona: Mashed potato fused minced meat all shaped into finger bite sizes, coated with breadcrumbs and fried to golden brown perfection. The feeling was almost like eating a savoury version of Kinder Bueno. Crunchy outside, and gooey deliciousness inside.

Demona: The satay was a wee tad disappointment. Satay Station of Mont Kiara has definitely set a high satay taste bud for Dogma and I.

Demona: The beef lasagna was soooooo...sinful. But, soooooo... yummy. These guys are seriously generous in their ingredients, either that, cheese must be cheap here. Needless to say more, the pict spoke for itself.

All in all. Great company, great ambience, great food, and.. cheap drinks! Except our Muslim friend, Yani who obviously did not drink, instead having to endure a horrible strawberry smoothie.
We went on through the night: Inglorious basterds style. Tris Glass! (only the other 4 of you will know what I mean)

Sorta' romantic dinner@beach side of Nusa Dua

Demona: Dogma and I, with several colleagues of mine took a break from work and went to Bali during Labour's Day. This trip had opened up many 1sts to us eg: 1st fun diving trip, 1st banana boat ride, 1st naked bath in a tub filled with flower petals... and many more.

Bali, rich with its culture and food, proved to be another gastronomic trip for us. We stopped by for a BBQ seafood dinner after a hectic day of water activities in the famous Nusa Dua.

Demona: This BBQ snapper was the star of the night. Burnt, crunchy, savoury skin on the outside and tender, juicy, fresh meat on the inside. Good thing, it wasn't really over boney which could be a big turn off to the lazy me. The fish was quickly eaten up by the hungry 5 in minutes, just like watching the man being eaten up by those black bugs in "The Mummy" movie.

Demona: This was supposedly a famous local delicacy, especially for those who live near the sea. It is a type of sea plant that can be stir fried into a yummy dish. Texture wise, it was similar to our kangkung, but hey, frying with belacan still topped it all.

Demona: Greedy yani wanted to eat crab badly, and we left the ordering choice on her hands. She chose the black pepper crab dish. The meat was fresh alright, and its size was quite big also, but the gravy/sauce was somewhat, disappointing. The sauce was watery ( you could tell from the picture), therefore the whole licking up or sucking the sauce off crab shells while eating its meat satisfaction was lacking. This dish was much in lack of character.

Demona: I'm not a big fan of shell dishes, but for venture sake, I took a try on this tomato paste, with cheese grilled clams. While the rest smiled widely, with two thumbs up in air after gulping this down, I thought the taste of the muddiness from the clam was too powerful for my liking.

Demona: Even I must bow down to this kick ass powerpacked chilli sauce. From its looks, I thought it's taste would be similar to the Thai chilli sauce. With just several scoops, I already felt my mouth burning up. It was so spicy that, if added on the seafood, it would cover all the food's taste. Eventually, 5 of us left this chilli king aside, proudly staring at our burning lips and laughing at our failure to handle his power.

Verdict: Total damage for this dinner was RM 150. Dogma and I agreed that this meal was a little too refined for our liking. We were surrounded by nicely lited up tables and yes, 80% of the patrons were caucasians. We much preferred the BBQ dinner that we had in Perhentian, by the beach. That was all raw deal and nothing else.

1996 La Pousse D'or Volnay Premier Cru Les Cailleret

I have bought this feminine wine for a special occasion...
but Alas, on a unsuspecting night, the fridge decided to took her life by freezing her up and forcing the cork to pop up...The wine look like a giant frozen Popsicle

Most of the wine were intact in the bottle thou in a frozen state
and i decided to honour such a graceful, aged lady by drinking her up..

Clear, silky blood colour, with some orange hue at the rim..
After 1 hour of breathing, she opened up and show a complex nose of banyard, blood, iron, and earth intermingled with morelo cherry.
On the palate, it has a medium density, and end with a tea like after palate.

Silky Lady, just flowed graciously and seamlessly upon your lips...........ahhhhhh


Paul Seah from Singapore rated it 94pt: Lovely nose, almost Chambolle like, with lush, perfumed flowers and truffle notes wed too earthy sous bous and meat scents and lovely dark cherries and strawberries, all unfolding in dark, deep, aromatic layers. A bit tight on the palate at first, with lots of mineral on the attack and lots of freshness lent by high acidity. It unwound rather quickly though, to show fleshy red cherries and strawberries in a really clean, pure red fruit expression, all seasoned with an undertone of umami. Finish had great length and lots of complexity, with touches of spice, orange peel and anise mingling with the clean fruit expressions. Very nice, just starting to come together. If you have a bottle, keep it for another 2-3 years to really do it justice

We did not do the La Pousse D'or justice by sending her off together with Chip n Chips BBQ flavours chips.
The chips was quite a let down and i will skip talking more about it..

Let's tune our mind back to La Pousse D'or, who allowed us to have a taste of her amist her tragic and unexpected death..

An Ode to You!

Bonny's Kitchen@Plaza Damas, Sri Hartamas

While walking along Plaza Damas Dogma and Demona chanced upon Bonny's Kitchen opposite the 7-11. This is a restaurant helmed by a localized Hongkie that imports all its fish balls, meat balls and some ingredients from hongkong directly.
Judging by the various newspaper and magazine reviews it had, seems like its kinda popular..

First up was the beef brisket noodle, you can taste the dried orange peel and five spices in the noodle. however, it wasnt very thick and flavourful beef brisket that we are accustomed to. Crystal Jade Singapore's beef brisket still win by hands down. The noodle is about 12bucks per plate, not exactly cheap.

Dumpling drenched in chill oil. Sourish, spicy, and meaty. Not bad. The dumpling were very fresh as well...We even drenched our flavourless beef brisket in the chilli oil sauce.

Wantan mee Soup: Bland and boring. Enough said.

Bonny Kitchen was a venture of both hits and misses. I will probably give it another try after sampling the remaining restaurant available in Plaza Damas.