Baked cheese cake@Komugi, Paradigm Mall

http://foodventuras2.blogspot.com/2013/09/baked-cheese-cakekomugi-paradigm-mall.html

Pork Burger@Kissaten, Jaya One, PJ

Many have probably raved or blogged about Kissaten's pork burger by now.. And finally I'm trying it.

I gotta say.. It was, a really good pork burger. Meat was juicy and tender, and the egg was nicely fried too, and a bit sweet also, as I noticed that it was a bit caramelized.

The rest of the ingredients: vegs, buns etc were typical accompaniments, nonetheless.. Yums!!!

Enough for a lady's tummy on a greedy day, but may not for a hungry man.

Cost RM 11-12, can't recall the exact digits.

Tsukumen Ramen@Menya Musashi, One Utama Old Wing

My new colleagues brought me to this newly opened restaurant, Menya Mushasi, inside Isetan. So much has changed inside One Utama. I felt so disoriented. Shows how long I haven't gone into malls.

Back to the Jap food venture, apparently this shop serves awesome fairly authentic ramen.

Gigantic pictures of samurais are displayed on the walls and upon your entry, the chefs in the kitchen will shout out in Japanese, to add to the feel of samurai chefs in action.

When I peeked over, hoping to possibly catch some hot Jap chefs, only to be greeted by Nepalese and Phillipino workers. Aiks.

Ok, on a serious note. The ramen was delicious. I ordered the dry version, but after tasting my colleague's soup version, the soup one would have been a better choice.

Salty, flavourful and the although the pork slice initially seemed too fatty, but it was quite well cooked that you wouldn't taste the over powering porkiness and it was rather crunchy also, as if the pork slice was briefly dipped in frying oil.

The only downside is that a bowl cost between RM 25-30. Ouch! For a bowl of Jap noodles. Phew.

Worthy try, though I can't comment much as I have yet to taste the widely spoken about ramen shop in Pavillion.

Definitely worth trying again.. Once i've extra savings :/ Damn Ringgits!

Isaribi Tei Restaurant@Burmah Road, Penang

 Quietly tucked in an alley, a tiny road branched from the busy Burmah Road, is a very interesting Japanese restaurant, called Isaribi Tei. From outside, it really seemed like a small rundown single storey house. When I stepped inside, the scene changed altogether.

 Apparently, the owner is a Japanese expat residing in Penang for years already. You could embrace his enthusiasm and love for his country from the decors. There were many articles which featured his restaurant.

 This is what I call a patriotic citizen with the spirit of helping his nation. Even from afar! How many of us Malaysians will do this for our country if we are residing abroad and a tragedy happens to our homeland.

 I ordered my favourite sashimi set, RM 35. I found the set served in a rather interesting manner, slightly different from the usuals. My soup had no coverings and the the chopped tofus were fried. The salad too, was added with some sourish spicy dressing, instead of Jap mayo. Sashimis were very fresh too. All in all, I was truly surprised and very much enjoyed my meal.

 Fried calamaris for RM 17. Golden ring goodies, nicely fried so that the squiddy rings did not turn out shriveled and chewy.

Chicken teriyaki. Nicely grilled sliced chicken, and not too oily either. A kick twist to its flavour was the addition of sesame seeds and oil. Thumbs up. RM 25.

 These guys make their own ice cream. I loved the green tea ice cream. Not sweet at all, which complemented well with the sweetened red bean paste served next to the green scoop. The paste was a little rough, with small chunks of red beans in between, I believe it was intentionally made that way to give its edge being home made.

Normally, I am not a huge fan of black sesame ice cream (sometimes the taste can be too heavy for me) but surprisingly again, this one was light, yet at the end palate, the sesame taste kicked in with a pow!

The only slight down side of this restaurant, personally, was its staff. The waiters were mainly youths, most likely high school student part timers/ college kids earning some cash during study breaks. The service was a bit of a let down and they weren't very friendly.

I would come back here again, if I am ever in Penang... keen to try out their other dishes!

Bday Dinner@Shuraku, Solaris Mont Kiara

A treat for the one who turns a year older. A big 1 in addtion to the big 3. 

 Shuraku proves to be quite unique. Its decor is designed in such a way that local Japs may feel at home, and local Malaysians get excited to get a feel of how it's like to eat in Japan. Young college looking kids (probably working on a semester break) working hard grilling those delicious meat on skewers under the burning hot coal. I do respect their attitude and endurance towards working in such an environment. I can't iamgine myself fanning these goodies grilled to perfection, only to be served. I would be eating them on my own!

 Not quite sure why the menu is designed like this. To confuse me? Or to display creativity.

 Minced pork meat shaped into sausage-like and grilled. RM 6. 2 bites max I give you, and it is gone.

This, was a little expensive I would say. 5 short strips of long beans grilled with some coated batter. RM 6.

 These baby squids were fried and served with spiced mayonaise. A little overcooked, as they were too chewy. Luckily, they were small, some were swallowed. :/ RM 16.

I always do feel slightly bad when it comes to eating "baby" stuffs...... Baby squids, piglets, veal.......

 Bomb sushi rolls, with unagi, avocado topped with bonito flakes. RM 28. Super delicious! I quietly thought about ordering one more, but Number31boy being on a sturdy strict diet gave the shake " no-no".

Japanese pancakes RM 25. We ordered to try out what is the difference between Jap and Korean pancakes. The size was the most obvious difference. This was relatively smaller than a Korean pancake. The batter was also more dense. One slice and a half more was too much for me. Tastewise, I guess the slight difference in the addition of herbs made its taste varied from the Koreans. The korean pancakes had a lot more spring onions and leeks.

Total damage for this meal: RM 96. Did we eat a lot? I would say, not really. The pancake was the item that made us felt really full. After all it had a lot of starch and batter in it.

A worthy try, especially if you come with a group of friends. Then, you would be able to eat a bigger variety of food. You could spot local Japs sake-ing while talking about their day at work ( I guess? ).

Tuesdays are buy 1 free 1 beer promotion.

I probably would drop by again sometime in future for a meal. Interesting place!

Post Gym Session Lonely Dinners

Demona: There are some nights where you feel broke, you have no great dinner parties to attend, you feel lazy, your palate seems off, your body is worn out from a long day at work... these do take a downhill turn on dinner meal choices.

These feelings usually hit me several days in a week, sometimes less, sometimes more. Especially after signing up to FitnessFirst nearby home, Village Grocer has now become one of my dinner sources.

Below are some of my weeknight dinner companions:

Demona: I usually leave the gym around 8 pm, just in time for .... FOODIE PROMO!

The bakery and japanese food section usually have promo deals from 8 pm onwards. As for the Village Grocer bakery, it is totally worth it as the pastries are actually quite delicious and they will sell them at 1+1. In fact, the same exact pastries are being sold with a golden price tag in that posh looking bakery located in the gourmet food area, under Cold Storage in Bangsar Shopping Centre. Bet a lot of people did not notice this. And in fact (num.2), some pastries are being served to us during our free breakfast meals in office. I'm not sure if we are considered lucky to be treated with premium pastries... or in fact, they are seriously cheap and we were donkeys to pay a premium price in BSC/Village Grocer.

Okay, I think I have side tracked. Back to the Jap food. Yeah, the party set is priced at... 50% off! The humongous thing is sold at RM 19.45. Woo hoo hoo. Ate with happiness under my comforter while catching up on my "The Mentalist" series. And then regret for not finishing them and over-carbing myself.

Anyway... I did come back another day, for party set round 2!


Demona: Since several months back, I suddenly developed an addiction towards NZ Sauvignon Blanc. I have this thirsty keenness to try new NZ Sauv Blancs. Hole In The Water was one of my top favourites. I've purchased 2 bottles already, and given another to my girlfriend as a birthday gift. Very strong fruity smell, somewhat lychee and has a smooth finish. Easy to drink, without a need to drink with food. Looking at this picture makes me want to grab another bottle from the wine section in Village Grocer.

RM 54.90.



Demona: For those who know me well.. they know that I'm an insane KokoKrunchKrankyKrazy addict. I can eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner for a couple of days and still crave for it.
They are dinner saviours for me on some lazy nights when I'm too lazy to cook, I forgotten to defrost my meat, I crave for something sweet.

Aftermath stress release meal@Rakuzen, G Hotel

A full day of presenting our business plan for 2013 to the GM.

My teammates and I were exhausted from the workload, mental stress, lack of sleep, peers, bosses etc. We made a pact on the night before to have a good stress release meal once this BIG day was over.

And it finally did. Bruised, battled, worn out.. but victorious.

Time for some tension release with some sushi wushi! Both physical and mental stress.
My first time eating salmon roe chawan mushi. FUH

Dinner@Gyukaku, Holland Village

It was end of 2009,
and the beginning of 2010..
Both Demona and Dogma were back to their foreign home in Singapore...
Many friends, many memories, and not to mentioned the glorious wine and dine....

While walking along Holland Village with a Poor Ringgit based budget...Dogma decided to relive the glorious wine and dine session by spending abit more.

Man should not worry about the Food and Clothes as He will provide!

We stepped in to Gyukaku, a Japanese Smokeless BBQ Joint.

First up, its the Asahi Super Cold Beer and the complimentary Porky Cold Cuts.
Lube the Throat with some icy cold beer to facilitate the large amount of meat coming your way!

The smokeless BBQ Pit:

In life, there are always Smoking Oven ( Trials/Tribulations).. but do remember, that the Flaming Torch( Grace of God) is not far away!


The meat:

Wagyu:Pork:

The Meat on Fire:
The Fried Pork Cutlet
Fried Meat Balls:

BBQ Roasted Rice Ball with Salmon inside:Some tasty soup with Meat:


The total bill: SGD75bucks

The verdict:
All the meat were tasty and super value for money.
the only disappointment was the BBQ Rice Ball and Crispy Pork Cutlet which were too dry...
The Meat Soup was gorgeous, the BBQ meat was sweet, and more refined and clean compared to typical Korean BBQ.

A Glorious Meal in the Land of Singapore..
We will be back.............

Nagomi ShabuShabu@Jaya 33, PJ

Demona: A friend of ours, SinHui, is currently based in Malaysia for a while for some acting/singing etc. An upcoming star, whos got a great voice, just got back from Taiwan.. and whooosh. Major transformation. a star.. becoming more, and more refined. Dogma and I whispered to one another.

Demona: Psst... pssssssssst. Better get her signature and picture first before she no longer has

time for us.

Dogma : *snap*snap* See picture below.

Demona: She suggested Nagomi ShabuShabu. We arrived before her, so we went into the restaurant to get a table first. To be honest, we were slightly intimidated when we walked in and there weren't many patrons inside, plus the place was quite posh looking.

Dogma: Superstar ma!

We weren't sure on what to expect from this restaurant as we rarely have steamboat meals in Kl, even if they are local. As we flipped through the menu, nothing was below RM30, except the vegetarian steamboat set, which was a dollar less. Besides steamboat sets, they also offer famous japanese known delicacies eg: sushis, sashimis, etc. The prices were sky rocket high, thus we quickly looked at SH and showed our puppy sad eyes. *sniff*sniff*

SH: Let's choose the buy 3 free 1 steamboat set meals.

Demona&Dogma: Yippie Yay!

Demona: This was some awesome kick-ass spicy dipping sauce. A mixture of sour, spicy, peppery-like taste. Purrrrrrrrr-fect.

Demona: SH ordered the beef slice set... which we did not get a chance to try them out. The plate was placed a little further away from the maximum reach of the tip of our chopsticks. So.... we were.... a little too shy to grab some from it.

Dogma ordered the duck slice set, where as I chose the chicken slice set. They both gave similar tastes once dipped into the hot soup. The hot and spicy soup was really quite delicious! Although a little salty, but savouryyyyyyy. SLURPS. Bottomless soups BTW.

Demona: We chose salmon slice set for the free one. Bad, bad choice. Once added into the hot soup, the meat turned hard and the deliciousness tender factor just fizzled away. We did try, dipping the meat in the soup at a shorter time duration, but somehow, just we failed getting it cooked at the right consistency. I attempted eating it raw..... which was , uh oh, bad idea also. Dogma ala food cleaner helped finished it up, although even he, found it challenging to do so.

Demona: Besides the meat slices set, each one also came with a HUGEEEEE bowl of vegetables eg: cabbages, mushrooms, jellyfish strips, tofu, brocolli etc. Just one set, with a combination of both the meat, and vegetable together was enough to feed 3 girls. And here we were, 2 girls and 1 guy, attempting to finish 4 sets. Our tummies deserved a big round of applause for this.

I couldn't fathom anyone else ordering the vegetarian set after having this meal experience. I'm assuming the set would come with, 2 HUGEEEEEE bowls of vegetables? WHOW. Cows would grow green with envy if they ever see anyone eating that set.

The bill came up to RM 140, including drinks. A meat set, is priced at RM 30 plus, which I think Nagomi ShabuShabu 3+1 set meals would be a great choice for a group of maybe 5 or 6 friends, dining together and catching up, over steamy hot soups.

We had a good time there, and we did enjoy the dining experience that we had at Nagomi. I'm sure we'll come back again for another round, but we'll make sure that we have at least 5 confirmed growling tummies before we step in!

Japanese Ice Creams@Ishikari

While chilling out at the Sri Hartamas Shopping Centre after a few hours of house hunting around the area, we bumped into a japanese junk grocery store and got ourselves some japanese ice cream to kill off the heat...

You gotta pay kudos to the guys from the Land of the Sun, who scored A++ in marketing and packaging their products.
The vanilla / chocolate ice cream waffle was half as good as the packaging..thou extremely creamy, i prefer my ice cream to pack a solid bite feel.





The green tea ice cream basically saves the day... Demona knew that i was a die hard green tea fanatic all the while and she was "pandai" in choosing the creamy, thick green tea flavoured ice cream for me...The ice cream had a nice texture, while packing a full bus load of green tea flavour.. MM MMM Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Goodbye Tea@Kuriya, Raffles Link

Another goood bye tea before Dogma Left Singapore on his recent trip to Singapore.
Always the first to spot a good deal, Dogma brought me to this lil japanese restaurant at the basement of City Hall. Looks outrageously classy from the outside, Kuriya now sports a good value $6 dollars Tea session ( a combo of Dessert ranging from $8 - $10 plus a glass drink coffee/tea/sobatea).. Excellent for value, we were however dismayed that they increased the cost by about 60cents since 2 months ago...
a Typical sign of economics 101...

When demands goes up,, the price goes up as well!

We shared a plate of dessert combo plate, with green tea jelly + red bead paste, vanila icecream + mixed fruits...
The green tea jelly was a tad bland but dogma will swallow anything green with green tea.

to go along with teh dessert is a cup of hot coffeee.


PHEET PHEET<
A good value tea session at centre of town....
You just love Recession dont you!

After jog dinner@Sumo House

Demona: *tummies jiggle, tummies jiggle* It was time.. to work those jiggles out! Mr. Ambitious Dogma and Mrs. Ambitious Demona decided to jog from Commonwealth to Sunset Way, to have a lil' Daily Scoop treat instead of using our black jazzy rider there.

It was one LONG walk/ jog alright. Upon reaching Buona Vista, our legs were showing all signs of "time out!" already. Every bus stop, every passing bus was a big temptation for us. Thanks to Dogma's commando motivation, "Hoik! Hoik! Do not give up. We must finished what we've aimed for!", we finally jogged our way to Daily Scoop.

A good 1 HOUR of working out, only to pile back the calories with a good 5 MINUTES of clearing 3 scoops of ice cream. If that wasn't bad enough, we some how walked to Clementi and had another cheap meal at Sumo House. (Okay, okay .. at least we shared one meal's portion, alright?)



Demona: Bread crumb fried fish drizzled with thousand island sauce. Average taste, for the fish and for the sauce, but we couldn't ask for more.. after all, it was cheap!


Demona: Our favourite economical good-for-value 2.90$ katsudon set! Pheng Leng Cheng!

Demona: Our dinner was cheaper than our dessert earlier. Haha. Although we shared the meal, it was enough to make us full. Sumo house.... satisfied!

Verdict: Before you guys start shaking your heads in front of the computer over the level of our "discipline", let me set things straight.

No, we did not take a bus back to Commonwealth... we walked all the way back again from Clementi. We almost! But we did not. So I guess, I could still call this ... a GREAT work out?

Great work out = 1 hour walk - ice cream - sumo house + 1 hour walk ?

Or did we just negated all our workout efforts? Hmmmmmmmm... *tummies jiggle*