Shanghai March 2012 part 1

The weather was exceptionally cold in shanghai this early spring, with tempearature hovering between 6 to 7celcius.
Brrrrrr.

Everything is expensive in Shanghai.
Except some food.
The xiaolong bao was 3.50ringgit for 6biji at a nearby restaurant.

Coffee is generally overpriced. Starbucks charges close to rm20 for a latte venti.
How ever, I was lucky to get a 50cents espresso@Ritazza Pudong Airport...

Sunday brunch after Sunday service@Plan B, Publika, Solaris Dutamas

 After a great sermon from Sr Pastor, receiving much spiritual blessings, time to receive physical blessings too.. to me tummy of course! Pit stopped at Plan B for lunch. Plan B's big breakfast proved to be quite a worthy meal. I'm served with a cuppa orange juice and coffee. The coffee was a little too sour and rough for my liking.

When the breakfast set first arrived, I thought, "Hmm... not so BIG a breakfast after all." Little did I know, I struggled to finish it. I believed it could be due to the potatoes and also almost every item was fried. I liked the ham and sausages. Super meaty! The mushrooms and baby tomatoes were generously served too. Hidden under the eggs was a slice of overly oiled up toasted bread.

If I was really hungry (maybe after a workout at the gym) I might have enjoyed this meal even more. Quite a worthy try for RM 24 meal. Not a cheap brunch where people like me can eat everyday, but Ben's chefs are kind enough to serve at least averagely sizable portions.

Antipodean's version is quite huge also. I struggled to finish too, but the variety of dishes served were less than Plan B's, and it does not come with coffee and juice also.

I have yet to find the ultimate Big Breakfast in KL. Any recommendations?

2012 CNY dinner@Oriental Pavillion, Jaya33

The time for CNY gathering among us colleagues + ex-colleagues is here again. We aim to maintain this tradition every CNY. Last year it was held at Jaya Palace (the food sucked, service was horrible).

The commonly ordered CNY dish, claypot rice with salty chinese sausages, smoked duck and pork. I never got accustomed to enjoy the lardy taste of "lapcheong"s, hence I retire for this dish whilst my friends continued whalloping the porky pork slices.

Rice was so so. Nothing much to shout about.

Lou sang! My second and final one for the year. We warned one another not to jinx the lousang wishes. Last year, just before officiating the lousang action, my friend voiced out some negativity about our sales targets. We missed our target last year = no bonus = low salary. This year, we were reminded not to mention negative things before lousang-ing. What superstition! haha.

Glazed BBQ grilled pork rib. Each person was given a plate of pork rib the length of an average 15 cm ruler. THIS WAS EXTREMELY GOOD. I was in luck to be served with a lean pork rib. There was one extra rib left, and my greedy self wanted to grab the next rib but too shy!

Presentation seemed unattractive. Taste was also unattractive. Plain jane cooked prawns. No recollection of its taste either.

Tofu with vegs and mushrooms. Quite delicious but the best rendition of this tofu goes to Duck King if its deliciousness is maintained. I haven't eaten in Duck King for quite a while, there is a possibility that the standard might have dropped. The sad and true reality of good restaurants in KL. Many were good when initially opened, as it gets popular, the quality starts to drop.

Seared pear with hasma. I was running with a temperature (which ruined my appetite a little already) and my friends advised that this dessert would be the best for someone who has a bad sore throat. The hasma dessert, was average. Nothing unique about it to make it stand from others served elsewhere.

Total damage per pax from 9 diners = RM 90. @_@. Wowwww... quite, steep. Not sure which was ex, but the only thing that I would pay for is the pork ribs. The rest are... so so, just slightly above average.

Apgujeong Restaurant@Solaris Mont Kiara

 Apgujeong proves to be a really good Korean foodie place in this Korean/Jap expat filled area. This restaurant just recently opened its door to patrons. We were greeted with a generous serving of side dishes, boy oh boy... they all tasted really yummy. Especially the fried vermicelli, slurpssss.

 Star dish! We ordered the galbi-tang, and the owner was truly kind. We did not want to waste the rice uneaten and intially told the waiter to skip serving the rice to us. The owner then added more beef for us to make up for the lack of rice. The broth was one good broth. Strong beefy taste, yet sweet and herbalicious too. Meat was tender, showed great stewing skills.

I was excited to receive a square shaped Korean pancake. It is usually served round shaped, and sliced into pizza slice portions. This is the first in squares. I liked it as a lot of leeks, spring onions and squids were added. The other dogma, however did not enjoy it. Awh c'on, RM 25 for such a huge piece. Steal deal!

The leftovers became my next day's lunch meal. Muahahaha.

Lunch re-visit@Pakeeza Restaurant, Ipoh

The first time when I ate in this restaurant, years ago left a fairly strong impression on me. Despite the simplistic design on the restaurant, the food was good. The price would be a notch high for local Ipoh-ians but for KL-lite earners, price charged for the food here would be considered reasonable.

I had a chance to dine here again after 4 years. Wow. Much has changed. Business definitely flourished over the years. Major renovation was done, and now the decor gives the restaurant a modern yet comfortable  feel, fueled with Indian songs shown using 40 inch plasma TVs.

The naan as seen above, was a disappointment. It was not fluffy like how I remembered it 4 years ago. In fact, I believed it was a little under baked. I vaguely recall seeing the hardened off white batter in the middle of the naan layer. I could be wrong, maybe it is the new way of naan making.

This was the stewed beef with green peas. Quite enjoyable, as the meat was tender and gravy well thickened. It was not as spicy as how it looked. Definitely need to eat with rice.

Some chicken curry gravy given to drizzle over the briyani basthmati rice.

Half a chicken tandoori. Yums! They maintained their integrity! Served good tandoori 4 years ago, serve good tandoori now. You could see the variety of herbs and spices stuck on the outer layer skni of the chicken, before being grilled. Crunchy on the outside, tender on the inside. A must try!

2 gigantic lamb meat balls. It reminded me of the "Dragon Meat Balls", famous in Shanghai, the only difference is the style of cooking here using Indian spices. Quite good too!

This may be common to patrons who frequent northern Indian restaurants, but this masala tea is new to me. Herb infused tea with almond slices. I never knew how well this combination could turn out to be. Thumbs up! One precaution, have to drink it the moment it is served. Once the drink turns lukewarm, the drink becomes slightly less Oomph!

Total damage for 3 : RM 100 plus. (total bill went to my firiend).

Fairly cheap, for KL earners. For the same portion of food in a northern indian restaurant in KL, that serves average taste food could possibly go up another RM50.