Saturday, December 27, 2008

Coffee Club, Singapore

Two years ago I chanced upon this open concept restaurant on Orchard Road on my Christmas visit, being a vegetarian I was, I ordered the only sandwich that's completely vegetarian on the menu, and fell in love with it.

swiss mushroom melt


The Swiss Mushroom Melt sandwich.

Heavenly.

Two years have passed and the food has changed since (from good to bad :( ), but it was a journey down the memory lane. I missed the experience tremendously.

My sandwich did not disapppoint completely.

My brother ordered the Really Huge Chicken Sandwich.

really huge chicken sandiwch


Which wasn't that huge and wasn't that grand.

However the smoked salmon Caeser Salad was rather pleasing.

caeser salad


Their star menu list, a dory crust thingy, was a disappoint though.

dory crust


They might as well made my Swiss Mushroom Melt the star product instead of this.

For dirnks, my brother had the Pina Colada, which was ALRIGHT.

pina colada


But anything better than the 1 dollar 50 cents too small Evian mineral water.


1 dollar 50 cents evian water



Coffee Club
323 Orchard Road (S)238892

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Hooters @ Gold Coast, Australia

hooters gold coast


Hooters in Gold Coast was much better than the one in Shanghai, experience and food wise.

One thing I adore and despite about Australia is in the proportion of their food servings. They're insanely and ridiculously huge.

Me and Stuart ordered the Tuna steak and Fish and Chips respectively, a combining order that can feed at least six Asians.

tuna steak


Medium rare tuna steak tasted a lot like beef steak and sashimi. It's tough, and chewy. Nothing like the tuna sashimi I used to have in Tokyo.

tuna steak medum rare


Stuart fish and chips was not a disappointment either. It was huge, and came with, not one, but TWO huge fish fillets.

fish and chips


I do sometimes wonder how the Australians dine. Their appetites are scary!

One thing I DO love about hooters, are their curly fries. They serve everything on a bed of curly fries. Which is a PLUS PLUS point for me anytime.

Services were great, food's good, portions big, definitely money worth.



Rating: 4/5


Hooters Mermaid Beach
2488 Gold Coast HWY
PH. 07 5572 4100

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Shake Shake McDonald Thailand

God I have not been updating this site for how long d! Jeez.

Too busy with my boutique and moving back and forth of KL and Bangkok and updating my nicolekiss blog till I no more time to scout for new place to eat.

Actually that's a lie. Just most of the time lazy to bring camera out only. Kekeke


Today I want to tell you just how much (for the N times) I LOVE LOVE LOVE McDonald in Thailand.

They always have sooo many varieties.

I decided to pop by McD today in Bangkok just before I leave this country, and found a whole new menu items available. It was amazing. If only I have so much stomach space, I would have bought everything.

cookie crisp


15 baht pies
wow, 15 baht only.


Anyway, the reason I went to McD today was because few days ago as I passed by an McD outlet in Siam Paragon, I saw this promotion they're having in conjunction with Madagascar 2.

shake shake promotion


Now the best part is... Shake Shake promotion in Malaysia only has the shake shake fries.

In Bangkok, we (or they) have shake shake fries, shake shake nuggets and shake shake chicken strips. It's like OMG dream come true.

I've always wondered when they are ever going to come out with shaker nuggets.

And now not only they have shake shake fries and nuggets, they even have bloody chicken strips!!! Woo hoo!!!

price for my shake shake set


Without hesitation today, I ordered all three. :D

shake shake trio


Because the McD at Robinson didn't have any seating, so I brought my take-aways to Starbucks to chill, over a good book of course. ;) (I'm so in love with Sherry Thomas right now, she writes some of the best romance novels)

Oh, and BBQ sauce in McD Thailand is different too.

thai bbq sauce


It's spicy. And tasted like a combination of Sweet Thai Chilli sauce and Msia BBQ sauce.

The fries was delightful.

seasoned fries


Better than the previous seasoning. I remembered they had Shrek before this, and it was seaweed seasoning. I'd say this paprika taste seasoning tasted way nicer.

It got even better with the nuggets.

shake shake nugget


For the first time, I was not tempted to dip my nugget in any sauce at all. No ketchup or bbq, nothing. The seasoning was perfect.

shakers in a bag


But I have to say the chicken strip took the cake. When eaten warm, the crispy skin was so orgasmic with the seasoning powder, which was thickly coating the whole strip.

shake shake chicken


Soft, tender, juicy.

I have never liked fried chicken that much before.

mcd and starbucks for lunch


Over my favourite cup of ice chocolate and a good book, I'd say it was a lovely lunch. :)
I should do this more often.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Orkid Ria Seafood Restaurant - Langkawi

orkid ria


One of the best seafood restaurant in Langkawi is in Pantai Cenang, the west southern coast of the island. Personally, I like to call it Uncle Huat restaurant. :)

uncle huat and lobster


What started off as a small seaside food stall by this humble man, bloomed into the highest lobster selling restaurant in the whole of Langkawi. Serving only the freshest seafood and lobsters everyday, straight from the sea.

But what really differentiate Orkid Ria than any other restaurants on the island is their very specialty, Lobster Sashimi.

lobster sashimi


A dish that can only be done from the freshest sea produce. I would think the lobster alone can easily come up to RM200 a tail. SO do bring a thick wallet if you're keen to try. Hey, it's not everyday I get to try lobster sashimi. :D

Some of the other must try dishes here are the butter tiger prawns.

massive butter prawn


This was my utmost favourite. I love anything buttery, and I love seafood. Nothing beats a deep fried butter+egg prawn fritter.

butter prawn


The tiger prawns they use are so huge, it's like a mini lobster most restaurant usually served in KL.

tiger prawn


At RM16 per 100gram. The price was proof enough to guarantee its quality.

tiger prawn in redang sauce


Can't remember what this was called, it tasted like some sweet rendang with onions. If this won't send your cholesterol shooting up the rooftop, nothing will. Thank god for youth and low blood pressure.

Their Garoupa is a must try too. So fresh I was sure they were still jumping in the plate. Each bite was full of juicy sweetness and the flesh bouncy in a tender way.

garoupa


We also tried some other more typical dish like the fried calamari (always a favourite) and stir-fried vege.

calamari


Not to forget about their gigantic crabs.

crabs


You can order for pregnant female crabs if you love some awesome orange cholesterol sins to suck on. But the male ones were big enough in my opinion.

Just look at its claw.

crab claw


I like my dinner with a bit of wine, so as usual, it's sweet wine for me.

moscato dasti


Yep you can bring your own wine here. I couldn't remember if they need corkage fee for Uncle Huat was kind enough to let us open how many bottles we wished that night. :p


"Uncle Boris? Does Uncle Huat usually charge for corkage fee?"

Finally, after the impressive appetizer, came the final dish that portrayed as much appeal.

butter lobster


Butter lobster. OMG someone kill me.


Rating: 4.3/5



Orkid Ria Seafood Restaurant
Lot 1225 Jalan Pantai Cenang
Langkawi, GE 07000 Malaysia
Contact: +60 4 955 4128
Open Hours: Lunch: 11am-3pm. Dinner: 6pm-11pm (Mon-Sun)

Sunday, November 9, 2008

The Loaf, Langkawi - Dine-in and U Hu! Hu! Cheesecakes

Once the personal pastry chef of our ex-Prime Minister Tun Mahathir, who made The Loaf a must-dine-at restaurant + bakery with his exquisite pastries.

the loft interior


People come here to adopt the palate that were once the high society's. And then he transferred his expertise to Westin Langkawi soon after and the restaurant is now managed by Grand Chef Yukichi Matsubara, an imported Chef from Japan who has won a gold medal in the California Raisin Challenge Contest in 2004.

Though we are not able to savour what it could have been offered on a PM's table, there will always be the world's best raisin bread to compensate.

bread at the loft langkawi


Weeks ago few friends and I went to Langkawi, and luck on our side, The Loaf was throwing a week long 50% off everything promotion for it was their 2nd anniversary? So during 6 days stay there, we dined at The Loaf almost every single day - 3 lunches + 1 dinner + 1 afternoon tea.

posing with club sandwich


We went wild on the pastry the first day. Ordering whatever that looked delicious, hey, 50% off food was blinking cheap, all the patries turned out to be no more than RM1.50.

the loft bread


Most of them were extremely delicious, my favourite savoury pastry was the Mushroom Quiche. It was heaven, soft creamy texture and very juicy. The chocolate centred block bread (on the left) was buttery and delectable.

What took the cake was the Chocolate Croissant.

chocolate croissant


Never have I eaten a croissant of such shape and the chocolate filled centre was to die for. Richly sinful, it was every chocoholic's heaven.

Then we moved onto The Loaf' Caesar Salad.

salad


The presentation blew us away at first, the taste seconded that.

salad and me


It was like no other Caesar dressing I have ever tasted before. Unique, presentable and delicious. It was 5 in 5 rating in terms of every aspect. RM18 was well worth paying (not to mention another 50% off for us). Though I believe in KL they charged this RM22.

The next salad was even better, Smoked Salmon with Pan Seared Scallops.

salmon salad with pan seared scallops


Again, presentation aced it. But what I could not forget about this dish was the gravy they used to sear the scallops.

scallop


It was SO good, I could have sworn I've gone to heaven and back. The only thing was that it was served too little (the gravy I mean). Scallops were succulent and very juicy, which made it advisable to eat the salmon first. RM22, it was hell reasonable and only available in Langkawi branch.

The following dishes are compiled over the few days we have dined there, so do not be alarmed and assumed that we finish all these in one visit. So here we go,

Broccoli Cream with Asparagus, RM22. Delightful dish, something unique and quite enjoyable for the small portion it was served.

asparagus soup


The French Onion Soup (RM14) was quite WTF though. (No photo)

Then there's the Crayfish Bisque (RM20), this was unusual, it's either you hate it or you love it, or stucked in between dilemma, like me. I couldn't decide if I enjoyed the taste or hate it, it was odd, yet pleasantly odd, but off at the same time.

onion soup


The Extra Crispy Croissant Tuna was surprisingly.... small.

tuna sandwich


For RM24, it was too much a disappointment. Two bites and done.

The Loaf's Club Sandwich was an A-to-go. Personally, I loved sandwich, so this was a plus point for me. It was so nice looking we ordered twice.

club sandwich overview


club sandwich

Chicken, turkey ham, bacon, egg, tomatoes and lettuce, all top ingredients of theses selections were used. what's there not to like? RM22.

The Open-Faced Beef Burger wasn't so open faced, for RM38, it paled in comparison with the club sandwich in terms of price and quality proportion. But it was good nonetheless.

steak burger


The Open-Faced Sauteed Prawn Sandwich, however, was an absolute win. For anyone who loves seafood and sandwich, this would be your winning bet.

shrimp burger


The gravy sauce used was as usual, exquisite and the prawns very fresh, I believed they might have applied pesto sauce and have nicely seared their bell peppers to perfect softness. RM28 for this.


Their pasta selection was just O.K, being after awed to no ends by the impressive appetizers and pastries.

seafood spaghetti


Spaghetti Alla Puttanesca with Seafood was priced at RM30, worth a go for their generous seafood serving, one full piece of sea critters of every type rather than a thin slice of shrimp here and there. But the sauce was nothing to shout about.

The Lobster Cajun Style Spaghetti was worth a go though. At RM64 you get half a full lobster lying in your pasta.

lobster spaghetti


Again, nothing spectacular about the sauce.

Ah, but the Fettuccine Carbonara was another thing.

carbonara


Delightful. Not superb. RM30, it would remain delightful.

The Grilled Beef Fillet was the ultimate disappointment.

steak


When asked for a medium done, it turned out overly-well done and the waiter refused to change it for us for the kicthen was close (it was last order). Very unprofessional and unpleasant encounter from staff. Not to mention a whooping RM58 for a stupid (and small) steak, I might as well dine at San Franciso Steak House.


I do HIGHLY reccommend the Seafood Platter for Two. Share with your friends as a centre dish, for this was not only enjoyable, it was down right delectable to the palate.

seafood platter2


Scallops, mussels, prawns, squids, seabass fillet, salmon, a good dose of asparagus, broccoli, tumeric potatoes and carrots to reduce sin. Caper butter sauce was magnificent to go with. Everything was superb. I declared this main course the BEST main course of The Loft.

seafood platter

RM110 per dish was well worth paying.


Finally, we moved onto the infamous U Hu! Hu! Cheesecakes of The Loaf. Best known for their extreme soft texture, light as a feature and melts in your mouth. (You don't even have to chew)


Glitzy Strawberry. I thought the strawberry jam on top was a bit overpowering and sweet, the cheesecake though was undoubtly delicious. The rest seemed to love this.

glizty strawberry u hu hu cheesecake


Blueberry Treasures. Not bad, maybe I'm not a jam with cheesecake person. But I much preferred this over strawberry.

blueberry treasures cheesecake


Berries Ensemble. Well, I never liked Blackforest Cake to start with, cherries don't work well in cakes for me. But I do love the cheesecake in this, no jam to ruin it.

berries ensemble u hu hu cheesecake


Banana Supreme. Yes!! Finally something that suited to my palate! :D :D This was lovely! Chocolate and Banana and Cheesecake do very well together.

banana supreme u hu hu cheesecake


The final blow, and will always remained my favourite, their top selling cheesecake, was the Luxurious Chocolate.

luxurious chocolate u hu hu cake


Rich chocolate top, nicely paired with the soft lucious cheesecake below. A definite WIN!


Rating: 4.3/5
Comment: some disappointing main dishes and poor services, else everything was perfect!



The Loaf
Lot No C9 Perdana Quay
Telaga Harbour Park
Pantai Kok
07000 Langkawi
Kedah, Malaysia

Tel No: 604 - 959 4855

(Halal. Open daily from 8am - 11pm)