Thirsty Thursday@8 Nov

For this week's Thirsty Thursday, we had it at SH's cozy pad. It was a beautiful evening with good food, pleasant wines and great company.
Following are the reviews of the flight of wines we had:

Leroy Meursault 2002:
Nose: Slight buttery, nuttiness.
Palate: Clean, pronounced mineral supported by a buttery backbone. Good purity. Medium length
Rating: 3.5/5 (good to consume now. excellent mix of buttery/nuttiness + heaps of minerality)

Abadia Retuerta Cuvee El Palomar 2003@70sgd
(blend of tempranillo and cabernet sauvignon)
Nose: Intense vanila,supported by licorice and leather
Palate: Sweet Vanilla, oak, berries and silky tannins. Full bodied and Medium to long length.
Rating: 3.4/5 (interesting vanilla nose and if taste it blind you would be surprised it was tempranillo based)Saltram Winemaker Selection Barrosa Valley@40AUD
cabernet sauvignon
Nose: Intense eucalypti (menthol), and mocha
Palate: Big full mouth with fine grained tannins.
Rating:3.35/5 ( well made barossa cab with distinct menthol nose)


Clos Du Marquis 1989@130SGD
Nose: Subtle aroma with a tinge of green
Palate: Soft, elegant. Integrated tannins and minimally chewy
Rating: 3.45/5 ( pretty elegant but not able to shine)
Talisker 18year old Single Malt:
Nose: Smokey Vanilla
Palate: burning.
Cured ham with Cheese and cheese crackers: Salty fatty cured ham taken together with the creamy/buttery cheese. MMMMM...Sinfully satisfying. Check out the layer of fats of the cured ham!
Pork Knuckle from Cold storage: The meat was a dry and lacking in flavour but i like the ultra crispy porky skin. Munching the crackling skin and sipping a heavy Saltram Barossa. Heavenly!. It definitely suits a home party for hungry drunkards!
Da Paolo Assorted Pizza: Zhenzhu brough 4 different types of pizza ( italian sausages, proscuitto on ricola,classic peperoni , mushroom) that we all polished it off even thou with the presence of excessive amount of food. It was good pizza but too bad it gotten cold soon under the cold aircon. Therefore i could not give a fair verdict on it.
MonMouth Coffee: The first thing i noticed in SH's pad was the sweet, flavourful coffee smell in the air. I had 2 cups of this tonight and i have to say it is much better than illy's and lavazza for its pronounced, harmonious coffee aroma. The body and acidity was well integrated as well. Marvellous!

Assorted cheese from Culina: Mel brought this over. I particularly like the gooey,pie like softcheese. It was nutty with some associated it with Peanut butter. It was a perfect match with Mel's cheese cracker as the crackers provided the body/structure for the creamy nutty cheese.
The squarish cheese smells like my socks but it was nice eating on its one. Salty and hard, it taste somewhat like a subdued parmigiano reggiano.
Assorted ham from SH: Salty and flavourful.Slurpp..


Another decadent session with the Thirsty Thursday Gang........
Burpppp.
I was pretty impressed with the Meursault. Clean, pure mineral supported by a buttery backbone. I like it!

Taman Sari@Hotel Istana, KL.

Demona: My aunt decided to take her sisters, and myself along, for a dinner treat. A belated birthday dinner for me cum family gathering. We had a hearty, tummy filling, glutton-binging buffer dinner at the Taman Sari Brassierie in Istana Hotel, KL.



Demona: My aunt had been good friends with a manager working here, and she managed to pull some strings, getting us a private room to dine in.



Demona: Ample fresh seafood made available. Too bad my tummy was a little weak since morning (bad bad sarawak mee the night before), hence I had to ease on the raw food. I only took an oyster, with lemon and tabasco sauce. SLURPYYYY SLURP!



Demona: I am known to be sugar high. Fail miserably when it comes to resisting desserts. The cheese and chocolate cake slices were chanting to me, "Pick me! Pick me!" Thus, I took one of each. Alas! The chocolate cake was a major let down. One bite of it, was more than enough. Its texture was too powdery and saturated, much like eating a brownie that was left in the freezer for a long, long time. The cheese cake, was so so. Not bad, as it was quite cheesy yet not overly done till it choked down your throat.



Demona: This, rekindled my memories of Sutera Harbour's Five Sails restaurant. The biggie prawns! With tuna bits and fish roe toppings (they were big in size! I actually felt the roe bursting in my mouth), and one half of a passion fruit beneath the prawn.



Demona: Sashimi! DROOLS. I ate the sashimis, but (Naughty, me) I left the sausage layers beneath them behind. The sashimis were quite thickly sliced, and savoury. I enjoyed them very much.



Demona: Chocolate fondue. JENGJENGJENG. Continuous flow of molten chocolate. Any girl's magic potion to happiness.



Demona: I took two sticks ( strawberries and marshmallows) and dipped them in the magic potion. They tasted briliant! I wished that the chocolate was bitter sweet though. I would have taken a few more sticks then.



Demona: This was the roast lamb with mint leaves. When I saw this, uncut, I imagined it to be aromatic, tender, juicy with a combination of crunchy layered skin. Unfortunately, it was a total opposite! The meat was over cooked. Its texture was rubbery, much like chewing down a gum.



Demona: I am a HUGE fan of broccoli and cauliflower. When I saw this dish, I got all excited thinking that this was a cauliflower, cooked in a unique way. I had never seen it looking like this before. I was totally wrong. It was mashed potato, which tasted like dhall.



Demona: ICE CREAM. ICE CREAM. My eyes widened and gleamed when I saw the ice cream section.



Demona: I took a scoop of vanilla and chocolate ice cream. Tossed in some chocolate chips, almond flakes, and to top it all, I drizzled over some hot chocolate fudge on top of it. The ice cream was so, so smooth. The experience was orgasmic. What else could be better than smooth, sweet ice cream with crunchy chocolate chips, almond flakes fused with hot fudge melting in your mouth?

Being females.. ONCE, is not enough.

HENCE....

HENCE....

HENCE....

HENCE....



Demona: Second round! This time around, I went over to the main buffet section and threw in the macadamia and almond nuts. (These are not cheap, CHIAK MORE!)



Demona: I was not the only kiasu person around. My uncle, who happens to be a all-time fan of nuts, took a plateful of macadamias, almonds, walnuts and cashew nuts, munching away like a chipmunk. He did not realise that I took a shot of his plate.

Verdict: The buffet cost was RM65++/ pax. My aunt managed to pull some strings, hence the cost per head was much cheaper, and we got our parking fees free of charge. The range of food offered in the buffet meal tonight was skewed more towards Indian dishes (more vegetables) because today was Deepavali.

The dishes tasted alright, slightly above average, but the services offered by the restaurant staff made our meal very enjoyable. The manager in charge (Zel) was very friendly and helpful. Every now and then, he dropped by to our room and made small chats, sharing with us about his work experiences. (Maybe we received this great service, was due to the fact that my aunt had spoken to the manager friend of hers the day before). Nevertheless, whatever reasons they could be, Zel and the other restaurant staffs around did made our meal a happy experience.

Thirsty Thursday@ 1 Nov

Again it's Thirsty Thursday at Hermitage. The theme for tonight is Champagne/Sparkling. Heavenlicious Bubblies paired with foie gras, escargot, assorted cheese, ham and baguette brought in from London the very morning by M.

Following are the wines we had:
Old Acres Cava Brut: @29sgd
Nose: Bready, pungent, cockroach. (no kidding)
Palate: medium body with bitter tannin.
Length: Short to medium:
Ratings: 3.0/5 (Interesting cockroach nose with big complex nose but that is all about it. Probably a good Cava during blind tasting to fool pll)

Champagne Jacquart:@77SGD
Nose: Intense brioche, yeasty. Beautiful
Palate: Nice citrus attack, structured and full.
Length: Medium to long
Ratings:3.6/5 ( this is the WOTN in my opinion. Big muscular structure and intense brioche nose at an extremely cheap price. Definitely a champagne that could hardly be match in terms of QPR. )

Bollinger Special Cuvee Brut NV:@109SGD
Nose: Citrus and toasty
Palate: Dry, lemon citrus.
Length Medium to long
Ratings: 3.5/5 ( Bollinger seldom disappoints and this is good for those seeking mid level muscular yeasty bubblies)

Moet Chandon Brut Rose Imperial:@105SGD
Nose: Sweet, licorice and citrus
Palate: Slight sugar coating. medium body
Length: medium
Ratings 3.4/5 (nothing to shout about. not much complexity and structure)

Veuve Cliquot Vintage Rich 1999:@124SGD
Nose: intense Honeyed and citrus
Palate: Heavy sugar coat
Length: medium
Ratings: 3.4 to 3.7/5( could improved further with much aged. Probably 10-20years later when the over-sweetness reduced and a more mellow complex secondary flavor emerge)


Verdict: I've chosen the Jacquart as the Wine of the Night due to the extremely good quality price ratio that it brings about. It definitely could be on par with the other major Champagne house Non-Vintages (Tattinger, Moet, Veuve, Deutz). It is big, structured, and intense yeasty but probably could be improved in terms of elegance and purity. However, for the price of 77SGD, you could not ask for more.

Kozee@TTDI

Demona: My colleague and I were on a tight schedule, thus we had a really quick lunch. She suggested this place, called Kozee which was located along the same row of shophouses as Pizza Hut. The tables were slowly filled by walk-in customers, as lunch time was approaching. Surprisingly, this place had big lunch crowds. Hence, I was fairly optimistic on what we were going to eat.

We chose a table hidden at one corner. The shop had no character in the layout and design. Without a significant outlook character, its food menu followed along as well. The restaurant offered western food, local delicacies, even all-day breakfast set meals.



Demona: My colleagued ordered the Assam Laksa. Its cost was RM 11.00. The portion was big, sharing would be a better option. The assam laksa soup was tasty! Very very spicy, yet subtle sweetness. Tasted even better when we added extra "Haeh Koh" (Sprimp paste..?) in it. Sadly, the soup was the best part that this dish had to offer. The noodles were alright, but the fish meat were so small that you could barely chew on them to taste before they went down your throat. I ended up drinking more soup rather than eating the noodles.



Demona: My colleague introduced this to me. Mentioned that she had tried this once before, and it kicked ass. This was called the "Kozee Cheese and Tuna" sandwich. Convinced at her remarks, I decided to order it. Personally, I was very disappointed when the sandwich arrived on our table. For the price of RM 5.50, I actually imagined it to be of a bigger portion.

It looked like two pieces of white bread, toasted with a slice of Kraft cheddar cheese and some Ayam brand tuna mayo, then cut into 4 triangular slices. This sentence kept repeating in my mind , "Man. I could have done this dish easily at home! For RM 5.50, I could even throw in more cheese, bacon slices, ham, etc." I felt ripped off, and I DISLIKE getting this feeling whenever I order food.



Demona: My colleague ordered an ice lemon tea, where as I just had plain water. Even the ice lemon tea was a RIP OFF. The glass itself was small, and filled up with ice cubes. Within two sips, she almost finished her drink. This cost RM 2.80.

Verdict: I admit, the assam laksa did taste very nice. Very much thanks to the soup's contribution. But, a bowl for RM 11? Not worth it at all. I can have 8 bowls of it in my hometown. Other local delicacies were also priced around RM10-15. Without a doubt, Kozee's western food cost even more. I had said enough on their sandwiches set.

No offense on my colleague's good will on bringing me here, she did nothing wrong. After this meal experience, I know for sure I will never step foot in this shop ever again. Food lovers should never feel ripped off.

Octopus Sushi Bar & Thai@Ampang Point

Demona: My colleagues and I had lunch here, after an appointment with a customer. The restaurant was located in an open space, where by every dining table had a giant bright yellow umbrella hovering over it. The chef's kitchen, in the middle of the revolving sushis conveyer belt was located next to the dining tables. Pretty much like the Sushi King, Sakae Sushi style.



Demona: This was the steamed egg tofu, with mushroom. It was quite smooth and savoury. Decent and sincere.



Demona: This was my colleague's meal set. Grilled salmon with rice, miso soup, jello and coleslaw salad. The salmon was a little overgrilled, hence, the meat was a bit hard.



Demona: We shared a salmon meat, roe and avocado sushi appetizer set. Not too bad either.




Demona: My colleagued ordered a Thai salad. It was made up of cashew nuts, vegetables, spicy glass noodles, squids and "cabai burung" (What is the english term of this?) slices. I liked this dish a lot because of the extreme spiciness of the glass noodles, and crunchy cashew nuts to go along with them. The portion was too huge for one to finish. Definitely worth sharing this dish if you are there dining here with a group of people.



Demona: This was my set meal choice. Raw octopus, tuna and salmon slices with rice, jello, miso soup and steamed red beans. The meat slices were placed in a bowl filled with shredded ice. They were quite salty. So was their miso soup. Made me really thirsty after my meal.

Verdict: The set meals cost around RM20 to RM25. Where as, the salad, if I remembered correctly, was RM 9.50. I found the price being decent, for the meal portion that we had gotten. At least, we were all left rubbing our bloated tummies, smiling. The raw meat, of course, as expected were not the freshest of the lot, after all it was not a proper Japanese restaurant anyway. This eatery is basically a place for you to have a quick fix and tease of Jap food which would not burn a hole in your pocket, fast service and chilling out in a cozy environment.