Madisons @ Bangsar

On a friend's birthday, I made a dinner reservation at Madisons with Peter, owner of the other four restaurants: Opus Bistro, Leonardo's and Cava along Jalan Bangkung in Bangsar.

I later also read that the head chef of Madisons was the Australian Chef Kelly Delaney who previously headed Auge Ristorante in Adelaide.

What I loved about Madisons was the service and common sense that many of the restaurants these days lack. They handled my birthday cake very well and have enough sense to call me to one side when it was time to lit the candles.

Madisons offer some delicate fancy appetizers which would not agree to patrons who were expecting a stomach satisfying starters; but thankfully they serve rather big portioned main courses so that compensated things.




cured meat platter


mediocre Waldorf salad priced at RM27, a little steep for something so light, you can find a whole sliced apple inside the salad.


lovely chicken liver parfait, fit for only one person to eat (not to share) with dollops of Chianti jelly and baby pears  to tantalize the taste-buds; would do with more baguette slices though.




An unusual pasta, oxtail pappardelle sheets. Nothing beats freshly made homemade thick slices of pasta all hot and steamy dropping with oxtail meat and juices fused in your mouth.


my favourite dish of all time, risotto. Not just risotto, pork belly risotto. This must be someone's prayers answered.


Giant potato gnocchi. Carb overload but it was heavenly, creamy and a raw egg yolk in the middle made this dish a carb craver's dream come true. Is that bacon hiding in them cream?


some pork loin with cripsy bacon on it. This was rather tough but necessary for the night as it was the only meat on the table. So it was wiped clean along with all the other pastas.

We didn't order dessert because one, we were so full; two, I have a mille crepe blueberry peanut butter cake from Humble Beginnings waiting in the kitchen's fridge to be served.

The restaurant ended our night with a sweet note by lighting the candles on the cake, taking it back, cut and served them in a fancy looking stone plate with peanut and chocolate cookie crumbs and chocolate sauce. That's personalisation and good service for bonus points.




I will return for dessert another day.

Madisons
Jalan Bangkung,
Bangsar.
Tel: 03-2092-1222
Closed Sundays.

Humble Beginnings Mille Crepe @ Bangsar

A friend Amos who owns Humble Beginnings invited me over for a tasting one day at his shop in Bangsar.

I've always loved Mille Crepe cakes and coming from Melaka, where Mille Crepe cakes first began in Malaysia, it's always a dessert that's rather close to heart, a pride almost.



Situated behind Telawi street, right next to Subway sharing a corner is a very humble outlet littered with tulip designs.







They have18 flavors of Mille Crepe cakes to choose from and they usually take online or phone orders with delivery, if you walk in to the shop you can buy a piece but the choices will depend on the availability that day.







My favourite flavor has got to be the Blueberry Peanut Butter. A unique selection and surprisingly good combination.

I love their packaging as well, and coincidentally I was wearing a polka dot dress which fit the theme of the shop, so we did a little camwhoring too. Hehe.






Owner Amos and I




Humble Beginnings

30, Jalan Telawi Bangsar Baru
Kuala Lumpur 59100 Malaysia
Tel: +603 2282 8035

My Elephant Thai Restaurant @ Hartamas

Decided to have something spicy one night and ended up in My Elephant in Sri Hartamas at 930pm. Great thing was that they opened till 10pm that night (called to check) and it was one of the few proper sit-in restaurants that's opened so late.

Between the two of us, we ordered a seafood tom yum gung, BBQ chicken with lemon grass and some tomato based fried tofu.


The tom yum soup was a bowl big enough to share among four people. Or two spicy-loving people with no other dishes.

We couldn't handle our spicy food well so this was a challenge despite ordering it 'mild'. Credits to the freshness of their seafood and well booked it is in the soup.





Most of their food are heavily herb-ed so one might get the illusion of a big servings; in truth the food are politely portioned so feel free to order more varieties even if you come in a small group of two.




My Elephant only serves brown rice for their patrons. It makes you feel a little (just a little) better about having a healthier choice for food.

We were panting from spiciness by the end of the meal and I had to take-away the leftover tom yum so I could dilute it and recook the next day for lunch (nothing beats left-over food seriously). The bill came up to about RM80+ for both of us which was very reasonable.

I would recommend this restaurant for Thai (or spicy) food lovers.



My Elephant Thai Restaurant
20-2 Jalan Sri Hartamas 8
Taman Sri Hartamas
50480 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: +603 6201 0649

Section 17 branch: 
Block C-G4 Happy Mansion
Jalan 17/13 Section 17
46400 Selangor.
Tel: +6010 220 1283
website: http://www.myelephant.com.my/

Bird Nest Soup

Bird Nest Soup = Motherly Love.

It was a hot afternoon in Melaka as I sat watching my mom, with her reading glasses, hand-picked tiny feathers out of the soaked bird nest from bowl to bowl.

I should have helped, but it was too hot, and it was too surreal a moment just to sit there and stare.

It's one of those extremely previous moment you know you will never be to buy back no matter how much money you have. The snapshots of those moments burnt deep into my mind. There was so much love, so much care, so cautious and so gentle.






I think this would be the beginning of my addiction to bird nest soup. And I will never get sick of it, even if it meant I have to drink those horrible tasting herbal things she ever now and then likes to put in soup, it's bitter but I drank every sip of it. Because I've never tasted anything more amazing than this. I want to be able to drink this forever.



Although she did promise to make a more pleasant, minus the herbal ginseng thing (whatever it's called), bird best with red dates and honey for me this weekend. Looking all forward to it.




Best mom in the world. Period. 

Ciao Ristorante @ Off Jalan Tun Razak

Visited Ciao Ristorante for dinner during my imprisonment at the model search, it was one of those nights that we had off, rare nights those were.

Ciao claims to serve authentic Italian food in KL and said to be the oldest Italian restaurant in KL.



Which was a surprising fact for me since it was my first visit to Ciao; but upon arrival I was taken in by the no-pretense ambiance here. It's tastefully furnished and decorated that it provides its patrons a relaxed no fuss semi fine-dining experience. One could come here in T-shirts or an evening gown and would fit right in immediately.



We ordered two dishes, one was a spinach ravioli Ravioli di Spinaci alla Caruso which my dining partner swore by. Generous amount of buffalo mozzarella with eggplant, basil pesto and tomato cooked with spinach and ricotta-filled freshly made ravioli.



Honestly, I haven't had good ravioli for a long time and Ciao did this really well. It was cooked perfectly, not al dente as I usually find that too 'raw' for my liking, this was cooked slightly longer that gave off a softer texture. just my style, and I had a knack that they've fine-tuned the recipe to suit Malaysian taste after all these years of operating. No complains there.

I had the seafood platter Grigliata di Pesce that came with whole lots of salad, very fresh and very healthy, just what I needed as I was watching my weight.



It was surprisingly fresh seafood to be served in an Italian restaurant that's not operating by a coast.

We also ordered a side dish of fried calamari, fried to perfection and rather fresh squid, which was a joy to have.



And ended it with a molten lava chocolate cake for dessert.





It was a simple typical dessert and they perfected the recipe. I was more blown away by the rich creamy homemade vanilla ice cream on meringue while my dining partner declared he absolutely loved the molten lava cake.



Food here are not fancy, but they're good. And very reasonably priced at 20-40 per dish on average. My platter was at a higher range of RM62, which was still reasonable for a dish with king prawns and scallops.


Ciao Ristorante
No. 20A, Jalan Kampung Pandan,
off Jalan Tun Razak,
55100, Kuala Lumpur

Mon - Fri : 12.00 pm to 02.30 pm (Lunch), 06.00 pm to 11.00 pm (Dinner)
Sat - Sun : 06.00 pm to 11.00 pm (Dinner only)
Tel : 603-9285 4827
URL : www.ciao.com.my

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.