Carcosa Seri Negara English Afternoon Tea

When one thinks of afternoon tea, one thinks of Carcosa Seri Negara, the mother of all afternoon teas in Malaysia.



A little history recap: Set on a prime 40 acre land in the heart of KL, Carcosa Seri Negara is a luxury hotel that consists of two colonial mansions (Carcosa, and Seri Negara). Built in the late 1800 and early 1900; it was presented as a gift to the British Government as a token of goodwill but was later returned to the Malaysian Government by 1987. It's still the residence of British Royals whenever they pay a visit to Malaysia. :)



Setting foot in Carcosa Seri Negara is like a walk in the park of England, a very hot England. Still it's a nice feel whenever I come here, despite the run-down mansion that has obvious traces of a desperate attempt to keep it anew; pretty good effort thus far, I might say, compared to Smokehouse in Cameron Highlands.



A pax will cost RM70 with tax and it comes with a teapot of tea of your choice. The servings in the photos are for two.







There are definitely better, more modern and fancier afternoon teas around town, but if you want some old school version of a typical English afternoon tea (as old school and typical as Malaysia goes), Carcosa Seri Negara is where you'll want to be.


Carcosa Seri Negara
Taman Tasik Perdana Persiaran Mahameru
50480 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia
+603 2295 0888

McDonald Samurai Beef Burger

The launch of the latest promo product Samurai Beef Burger in Mcdonald struck a cord in my belly when I first got notified via SMS.

I knew I have to try it.

And one couldn't help but to compare it to its famous counterpart, a permanent menu item in Thailand's McD: Samurai Pork Burger.




Order large and it comes with Katsu Curry Shaker Fries.

I have never missed a shaker fries. It's one of the perks (for me) of dining in Mcdonald.

I wasn't so keen on the sakura fizzy drink so I opted for mineral water instead.









The verdict:
Good sizing for a burger, not too big but the usual cheeseburger size, lots of samurai sauce (which sort of resembles more of teriyaki sauce; sweetish, I like it), with an unhealthy dose of mayonnaise on top of the brown sauce, lettuce and very well cooked beef patty - soft, tender and juicy.

This is from the Mont Kiara branch,  They do serve very good beef burgers in their outlet here.

The shaker fries is a let down, though. Overly salty, which made me bloat that night. The katsu curry flavor wasn't there and it has a yellow-ish stain like most curry or satay sauce would; which is weird coming from some artificial seasonings. This is the first shaker fries that I actually do not like. :(

I will be back for more of the Samurai Beef Burger alone and here's hoping that McD adds this to their permanent menu item. 

Kuih Bakar

I've always been a fan of Malay Kuih-muih (cakes); last I tried Kuih Lompat Tikam though I still prefer my all-time favorite Kuih Talam (green pandan top white coconut milk bottom), my second favorite has to be Kuih Bakar.



It's an egg-based cake using pandan as dye, hence the aromatic pandan flavor  ❤ . Usually drizzled with sesame seeds (not my favorite :S)

Kuih Bakar is a very traditional Malay kuih, you can find this in almost all malay cake stalls.
And it's always the cake I will always keep my eyes peeled for whenever I approach one of these stalls.






What's your favourite Malay kuih? 

Kuih Lompat Tikam

Which is very similar to Bubur Sum-sum, the latter which only contains only the white part of the cake made of rice flour dipped in palm sugar sauce (or gula melaka).

However, with kuih lompat tikam, it has a layer of green color (pandan flavored) base at the bottom with white layer (coconut milk) on top; usually also served in palm sugar sauce.

A modern day Kuih Lompat Tikam looks like this, found in a warung near TTDI.







It's a lot of softer than the usual kuih talam (green bottom white top malay cake); though my favorite Malay kuih will always be pandan kuih talam, the modern kuih lompat tikam is an interesting variety.

Menya Musashi @ Isetan

RM26

When the old wing of 1 Utama mall had a revamp and had its first Isetan store opened in the area, Menya Musashi ramen became the hype amongst the foodies.

Thus the first thing I did when I got out of my model search was to dive into the Isetan and sinked my teeth into a hot bowl of the highly-raved ramen.

I ordered the Musashi Ramen with Shiro broth (onion flavoured oil broth) consisted of two pieces of Chashu (roast pork) and half an egg. Which was a bit of a let down considering in Marutama they give a whole egg for a similarly priced bowl.




The broth was thick rich and despite the oiliness, very delicious. The bowl was big so it's enough to share between two people. Chashu was big in servings but tougher compared to its competitor's Marutama tender roast pork slices. The egg yolk was not as runny as expected and lack in flavour for a ramen egg.


A very 'meh' ramen egg. RM2


RM26

We ordered another Musashi Ramen with Kuro broth (Special oil of fried shallots and garlic oil). The garlic scent in the broth was very noticeable but personally I prefer the Shiro broth.


Musashi Ramen with Kuro broth

My favourite in the shop, ironically, was the Chashu Gohan (rice with roasted pork pieces).


RM9

Something about the sweet sauce, the shallots, the soft perfectly cooked vinegar rice and the nicely proportioned fatty roast pork pieces made this dish my nirvana. At only RM9 it was very affordable and very delicious. I would order this for lunch everyday if it were near where I live.


Menya Musashi
Level 2, Eat Paradise
Isetan, 1-Utama
Bandar Utama City Centre
Petaling Jaya

Lewisgene Espresso @ Solaris Mont Kiara

Made a breakfast trip to the newly opened Lewisgene Expresso at Solaris Mont Kiara (above Chilla Cup).

I don't drink coffee but I read that they serve waffle with peanut butter, mmm...

The place was locked when I arrived in the morning even though Chilla Cup was always packed with business people. After comtemplating for 2 minutes whether to leave and settle for Chilla Cup's pretzel, a waiter came over from the counter (blind spot) and unlocked to let us in.




Partner and I ordered two pieces of waffles, one each, and settled for water, neither of us is a coffee drinker. The irony of dining in such a place. lol.

Crispy, a tad too hard but overall nice. Lovely peanut butter. Free refill of peanut butter was always a plus.

Saw some chocolate velvet mille crepes over the counter and had to order one.



turned out to stone cold. Tasted like overnight cream cakes. Completely inedible. Had the waiter taken the whole piece back, good that they didn't charge us for the cake. 

Would have been nice chill-out place for a cup of coffee, well hidden on the second floor.


Lewisgene Espresso Tea & Machines
2-1, Jalan Solaris 3, Solaris Mont Kiara, Kuala Lumpur.
016-328 4438