Posts filed under 'Food'
i asked to try a flavor and he gave it to me. then i asked for another. and another. rum & raisin, walnut butterscotch, rocky road on little plastic spoons. then finally, i lingered on chocolate ecstasy, and stopped there. double scoop in a waffle cone with chopped almonds, please. a quick exchange and then there is bliss in my hand. i dont hesitate. what is it about ice cream? the creamy texture? the cold sweetness? the surprise ingredients? that sticky first bite?
i have a million ice cream moments; they dot my life like stars. there was the time i went on a dessert fast and azlan bribed me out of it with ice cream. the day i turned 18 with a candle in a cup of ice cream at the stroke of midnight. and i will always remember how good it feels to lean on the wire fences near the school field with my friends, chattering away in kidspeak, while trying to make our lime and vanilla popsicles from the ice cream man last longer. remember this post long ago about a person who fed me ice cream so perfectly? did you know that it was about Martian? that post was written on his birthday. we had been together only and exactly 2 weeks when i wrote it.
sometimes when Martian and i fight, and i descend into one of my epic sulks, he tries to bribe his way back into my good graces with ice cream. it’s terrible how this tactic always works. TERRIBLE. the man can do no wrong as long as he puts his arm around my shoulders and says, ‘come baby, don’t sulk. i take you for ice cream ok? a nice double scoop cone of Chocolate Ecstasy and Cookies n Cream, ok?’ sigh. sometimes it’s not just about the ice cream; it’s about how he knows exactly what i like, and how he puts these things in my hands to make me smile again. but er, a lot of the time it’s also about the ice cream.
i came home tonight agitated – door slammin’, fight pickin’, blood boilin’. all i wanted to do was forget the reason why i was angry because it is about something that i have spent way too much time being angry about, and it is also something that i cannot change. feeling helpless, i could do nothing but sit on the couch and quietly partake in the pint of ice cream Martian bought for me when we had that big fight at Gardens the other day. chocolate fudge brownie :) a whole pint and 90 minutes of mindless chick flick (Bring It On 4!) later, i felt infinitely better. i felt refreshed, satiated, kinder. the secret, i have realized, lies in simple pleasures. like ice cream and lunchtime naps. who cares about anything else when you have in your hands what makes you happy?
and so tonight i am happy. happier. contented. because of life, ice cream and simple pleasures.
i stocked up! NZN has this 30% discount on all take-away pints on the 30th of each month, and that makes me very very very happy indeedy. simple pleasures, remember? discounts are one of them :) and now that fuel prices have gone up again in Malaysia, it looks like i will be embracing a long future of hermitage and never again using any expensive fuel to go anywhere – all that i need is in my freezer, here in my home. and now that electricity tariffs are rising too, i guess i will just have to eat my ice cream in the dark.
June 5th, 2008
i have chanced upon a secret. and a very deeeeeelish secret it is :P
it’s common knowledge that Delicious (1 Utama, Bangsar Village 2) has great desserts, right? and i’m sure most of you also know by now that Delicious is also the proud parent of a new line of delis called D’lish.
the concept of D’lish is fast and healthy; great for the busy and overworked who constantly find themselves calculating in their head the quickest possible solution to the lunch-hour dilemma. with D’lish, you can forget about your usual grab-and-go lunch of sandwiches (bleahhhh) or nasi bungkus (bwarghhhhh), because they’ve brought to the jaded lunching crowd a whole new array of lunch possibilities ready to go in under 5 minutes :)
salads? check.
soup? check.
pasta? check.
sandwiches, but of courseeeee? check.
pies and quiches? check.
nasi kerabu and nyonya mee siam? check :P
the best part is that the heavier stuff like the soups, pasta and rice already come packed in nice and neat microwavable bento boxes, which you can just grab and pay for. no need to wait for them to cook everything, or for you to get back home or to the office and discover that your lunch is one big mess of soggy condensation. wanna eat at the cafe itself? no problemo, the staff just pop the bento boxes into the microwave oven and you’ll be lunching in 2 minutes flat.
BUT ALL THAT IS NOT WHAT I’M HERE TO TALK ABOUT.
i’m here to talk about the besteststestststs part of D’lish, which is :
THE DESSERT
#2 one day’s array of cupcakes at Dlish
#3 sigh dont these look divine!
i’m always on the lookout for new dessert places, and ever since D’lish opened i’ve been a huge fan of theirs. the stuff there is just on par with the excellent quality of desserts from Delicious, not to mention that the opening of D’lish in Mid Valley solved my long-existing problem of never knowing what to eat at Mid Valley. (er.. but now that Gardens has opened..)
Delicious, always more famous for their chocolate cake and banoffee pie, was never well-known for their cupcakes. but what with the cupcake craze that hit KL last year, i suppose they decided to cater to that craze with D’lish – and believe you me when i say they did an extremely good job out of it. they ditched the whole pretty-looking, bad-tasting formula; and instead focused more on developing new combination of flavours using the old Delicious recipes, with only minimal effort being put into the aesthetics.
the result? some of the most scrumptious cupcakes i have ever had.
#4 Raspberry Cheese Cupcake with White Chocolate Curls. even though raspberry is not quite my thing, this cupcake actually made me like raspberry.
#5 Double Chocolate Cupcake with Chocolate Ganache and Marshmallows. sigh. this is pure heaven in a paper cup. PURE HEAVEN.
#6 Flourless Orange Cupcake with Marzipan Orange and Sticky Date Cupcake with Butterscotch Frosting. the topping on the former just MAKES the cupcake :) the latter is not bad, but pales in comparison to many a sticky date pudding out there.
#7 Rocky Road. several times i’ve gone into D’lish and seen people buying up the whole tray of Rocky Road. my friends all love it, and i do as well, but it can be a little overkill after the first several bites.
#8 Baked Banana Cheese Cupcake with White Chocolate Curls. the name itself just draws you to it like bees to honey (oh hahaha i just watched Bee Movie it’s so bloody funny hahaha please go watch it!), and i absolutely LOVE the combination of the banana, cream cheese and white chocolate. sometimes i eat this and the texture is a little bit off, ie too hard, but other times i eat it and it’s fluffy and just nice :)
#9 Banana Cupcake with Butterscotch Frosting. ooooooooh this is one of my favourites :)
#10 Chocolate Banana Cupcake with Peanut Butter Frosting. surprisingly i think this is the only cupcake in D’lish with peanut butter. there is a peanut butter bar very much like the Rocky Road though, but i have yet to try that. anyway this cupcake is yummy :) not fantastic, but still yummy. the staff say it’s a popular favourite.
i never got around to blogging about D’lish despite always wanting to. but today i went there for a late dinner and discovered something that made me decide i absolutely HAVE to blog about this place NOW.
because between 9pm and 10pm EVERYDAY, EVERYTHING in D’lish is 50% OFF.
NO JOKE. SO ONE CUPCAKE IS NOW ONLY RM 3.25 !!!!!!!!!!!!!
that was just such unbelievably good news to me, i was practically bouncing off the walls. then i started wailing at the waiters for not ever telling me beforehand despite me being a regular. eh RM 3.25 for one of D’lish’s cupcakes is extremely worth it okay. if you’ve tried any of Delicious’ or Dlish’s desserts, you’ll know what i’m talking about. if you haven’t, well GO TRY ONE and you’ll totally agree with me. i promise :D
okay so yeah that was the good news i wanted to share with the world, that D’lish cupcakes (and everything else they serve) are actually 50% off after 9pm :P as a lover of all things sugary and chocolatey, i just had to spread this bit of joy. forget that Starbucks latte lah… you can buy 4 cupcakes with the money you would have spent on your coffee. that said, i heart Starbucks and always will.
sigh. cupcakes.
D’lish
- Ground Floor, Mid Valley (opposite Starbucks)
- Ground Floor, Bangsar Village 1 (next to Village Grocer)
10am – 10pm daily
November 15th, 2007
when i tell people that my new workplace is at the Asian Heritage Row, they always think that it’s such a job perk to be working where all the clubs and bars are. that was what i thought too at first – that we could hit the clubs after an extra couple of hours at work, or that all our meetings would be held at the nearby bars.. but no no no, let me tell you what the best perk of working at the Asian Heritage Row is :P
it is Bisou!!!
i pass by Bisou every day on the way to work, and i’m always very attracted by the window display of pink and white cupcakes. yet, it took me one whole month before i finally went to check out the place! seriously, i think i would have been a much happier intern had i gone into Bisou sooner, because their cupcakes really and truly are the best cure to work-blues!
Bisou is a little shoppe that does cakes, cupcakes and cafe-like food such as salads, sandwiches and pot pies. it’s actually run by the same people who started Bijou, that poolside cafe/restaurant at Mont Kiara Damai; not that you couldn’t immediately tell, because the names and deco scheme are so similar! meaning ‘kiss’ in French, Bisou is supposed to be the more flighty and fun of the two, and according to their flyers, is set up to ‘bring out the naughty side in all of us’. yum yum :D
both the exterior and interior of Bisou oozes classy neatness. they’ve got a counter where they display the available cakes and cupcakes of the day, and it’s hard not to squeal at the array of delectable desserts. the variety is just perfect – not too little that you get bored, and not too much that you feel overwhelmed.
i’ve been joyfully going back to Bisou over the past few days just to sample their lovely cupcakes :D here are some of them :
Dark Secret – chocolate cupcake with dark chocolate icing. i REALLY love it. unlike many cupcakes out there, you can actually taste the ooey gooey chocolate in this one!
Love Me Tender – chocolate cupcake with peanut butter icing. good, but the one at Dlish is better.
Eye Candy – vanilla cupcake with lemon icing.
Nutella – chocolate cupcake topped with a generous amount of creamy Nutella! my other favourite, because anything Nutella is fabulous
Zest You Up – orange cupcake with orange icing. tasted okay only lah, but the piping of the icing is rather impressive! it looks like a rose O_O
cupcakes all go for RM 5 each. i really like the taste and texture of the different icing – it’s smooth and sweet, not that greasy buttery stuff that only looks pretty but does nothing for the taste. the cupcake itself is moist and soft with subtle flavour, which is great. they’re very generous with the icing too :D
there’s PLENTY of stuff that i have yet to try, for instance the banoffee pie, brownies and banana bread. i had the carrot cake at Bijou some time back, and here i assume Bisou serves the same one, but it’s no match for the carrot cake at Marmalade, which never fails to convert people to the love for carrot cake every single time :D
as for Bisou’s food, i’ve only had the creamy chicken pie and the mashed potatoes, and both were pretty darn good! what i’m excited to have are the sandwiches.
service here is fantastic :) the staff are very warm and friendly and very intuitive. haha and the funniest thing happened the first time i went to Bisou. i was taking photos of the food as per usual, and one of the waiters actually came over to ask if i was a BLOGGER. muahahahhaa it was the most awesome thing ever. being asked by the staff if i’m a food reviewer from a newspaper or a magazine is pretty common, but NEVER BEFORE IN MY LIFE have i been asked if i was a blogger. damn cool lah. that was the moment i knew i definitely had to blog about Bisou.. hahaha.
another reason why i like Bisou is the opening hours. they open till really late – 11pm on weekdays and 2am on Fridays and Saturdays, to cater to the clubbing crowd, and also to the late-night dessert-craving crowd i.e ME :P
i know i’m gonna keep going back to Bisou until i’m all cupcaked out. what to do lah, it’s so tempting and summore it’s just 5 steps away from the office. i wasnt kidding when i said the cupcakes make you happy; everytime i feel sad at work i just pop down for a cupcake and i’m all good again, ready to take on whatever shit the Boss throws at me. no lah no lah my boss very nice wan. except when he asks me to do things i dont want to do, like answer Help Desk questions wtf. i hate Help Desk!!!!! how can people have so many stupid questions to ask!!!!!!
die lah craving cupcakes now. eh you know what i wanna do.. i wanna do a compare and contrast of all the cupcakes in KL, seeing how they’re all over the place now. what a great excuse to buy cupcakes and to force all my friends to eat them together with me :D
Bisou is no longer situated at Asian Heritage Row. It has moved to Bangsar Village II.
September 16th, 2007
the homemade chicken rice on the table that is now cold is proof that my family and i do not spend enough time at home. we never eat the food Kak Nur makes. and yet everyday she still puts so much thought into what dishes to cook that would whet the appetites of 5 phantom people who never come home for dinner anyway. sometimes i feel bad that all the untouched food goes to waste, but it is the wasted kindness that i feel worst about.
i love this time of year. june heralds the return of everyone from abroad, back for the summer and sporting new hairdos or weird foreign accents that disappear after the second teh o ais limau sucked down in hot balmy weather. it is that long shriek (ohmygoooooooooooooood it’s YOUUUUUU!!!) and that first hug after so long that i cherish most about these reunions; catch-up palaver comes a dangerously close second. who’s going out with who? you did WHAT? and then what did he say? oh my god tell her how you had sex in the laundry room with that guy from your econs class!
yes i do love this time of the year. but spring/summer collections are going to be the death of me. sigh! it seems that my father has learnt to wield the lethality of the Guilt Trip with most impressive effect; scans of all my credit card bills are now being sent each month to my email inbox. with the purpose of bullying me into cooperation, doubtlessly. well, it is working. i am now pale with shock and faint with grief! how does one go on living with such shameful evidence of sin, avarice and wrongdoing? O, happy dagger!
actually, i must confess with the utmost seriousness that i would not be able to stab myself in the (unlikely) event that suicide is in order and next on the agenda. too much blood and gore, eeeep.
it is time now for an insertion of this most beautiful conjunctive adverb that has been known to distract from exceedingly awkward moments, or when you want to change the topic of your blogpost that have gone most astray -
ANYWAY,
earlier tonight i went for the Martell Presents KLue RSVP Dinner, held at Market Place, which is a fairly new restaurant that has crept stealthily into and made its home in KL’s dining-out arena. it is situated in a quiet lane off Lorong Yap Kwan Seng, with the likes of Munakata, Sasso Rosso (panna cotta that is divine like you would not believe) and Aunty Nat for neighbours.
i was with the ever cheeky Kelvin and the lovely Kimfluttersby, and i think us three make a good team! kismet has brought us together to compare deserved remunerations and boyfriends-who-are-abroad, as well as to snap way too many photos of the restaurant and the food! i so love it when i am in the company of people who understand the need to take pictures of food :D
aforementioned pictures of food :
the amuse bouche of a watermelon slice and an unidentified sambal-like topping; a combination so orgasmic that i did not stop to attempt recognition of the unidentified sambal-like topping.
wild mushroom soup with vanilla cream
kelvin’s main of pan-fried cod with wasabi mash. hahaha! no salmon for him today.
the beef tenderloin with apple puree that kim and i had. spinach bed at the bottom. YUM!
dessert!! i was so tak sabar for this to come. chocolate mousse with a drizzle of passionfruit syrup. zomg there is no need to say how good it was. i love chocolate mousse. i love chocolate mousse that is well done. i love market place’s chocolate mousse. the end.
the Martell babes!
this is the photo i stole from Kelvin. you can stalk him at that email address
from upstairs, where we quietly slinked off to
the crowd
this is my second time at the Martell/KLue RSVP dinners, and i mussay this time around was much better than the previous at Ninja Jones. coz this time the food was nicer and Martell gave chocolates hahaha. nvm the fact that their brand was stamped all over it, it was still good chocolate. free flow of Martell as always, who would have thought green tea and cognac go together so well!
after dinner, Azlan and i went to watch Snow Cake which was awesome. then we went for a satay feast which was even more awesome. seriously, satay peanut gravy is the one thing in this world that gives my life some semblance of meaning.
June 30th, 2007
you know the local Japanese dining-out scene is getting bad when you think Isetan’s unagi don tastes a lot better than the stuff you can get out there.
on one hand, we have the ubiquitous Sushi Kings and Genki Sushis that spit out these soulless kaiten-belt platters that are overpriced and taste mass-produced. then on the other hand, we have the all-you-can-eat Japanese buffets of high volume but shockingly low quality. presented with such hopeless circumstances, what’s a person to do when she wants a spanking good bowl of udon, or sushi that doesnt taste like the fish died 20 years ago in a nearby sewer?
hehe easy peasy. she goes to Hajime :D
Hajime is a Japanese bungalow-cum-restaurant that recently opened on Jalan Damai. a black-and-white pufferfish is its eyecatching brand, and not misleadingly so; because come the right season, Hajime indulges its customers by serving the coveted delicacy fugu. fugu, which is the meat of the highly poisonous pufferfish, takes great skill to prepare and can only be done so by licensed chefs. so yeah, definitely something to try at least once in your life! besides Hajime, the only place in KL that i know serves fugu is Iketeru at the KL Hilton.
warm yellow lighting and elegant wooden finishes give Hajime that comforting yet classy ambience. patrons can choose to be seated at the usual tables, the more chill-out ‘tatami’-style area, or at the sushi bar if you fancy a good chat with the well-traveled and well-read chefs who really know their cuisine!
the very first time i went to Hajime, it was newly-opened and about 4 days old. yet service and expertise were already top-notch. i was so surprised, because you know how new establishments are usually a little awkward at the start, but there was none of that discomfort here. all the waiting staff knew exactly what to recommend, knew their chef specialties, had customer service down pat, moved like well-oiled machinery. wowzers, eh :D
food here is excellent, i dont have to say anymore! here are some of my favourites :
cold Inaniwa udon OR cold so-men thin noodles served with dashi sauce, RM 26.
a must-try for sure! mix everything up in the dashi sauce, dip your noodles in and SLURP! yum yum. the noodle in the picture is the so-men, but i prefer the inaniwa udon much more.
california cheese and unagi maki, RM 24.
totally orgasmic; the sauce that goes with this is just so fantastic. my fav in Hajime.
crispy soft shell crab makimono with caviar, RM 18.
the addition of caviar is genius!
special salmon miso soup, RM 16.
seriously, give the normal miso soup on their menu a pass and go for this one. it’s so wonderfully fragrant and the taste of the soup just spreads out over your tongue like silk! you’d be hard-pressed to find a better miso than this one in KL.
grilled mackerel with teriyaki sauce, RM 20.
bliss is servings of this fish atop fluffy white japanese rice! sigh :D
Hajime special unajyu, RM 42.
comes with a bowl of miso and a side of pickled vegetables. the cool thing about this unajyu is that not only does it taste damn good, but the rice below it is lightly coated in a special sauce, AND there’s MORE unagi underneath the shredded egg! damn good value eh. unajyu forever!
the desserts are mostly their homemade ice-cream, with my favourite being the sesame ice-cream with red bean topping. Hajime also serves their patrons little complimentary dishes of starters upon seating. the starters are always different each business day, and they’re always damn yummy!!! very good gauge of the excellent standard of food here. also gotta love their portion sizes that are just about perfect.
ah. with places like Hajime, who needs to go anywhere else for a yummy Japanese meal :) this place is ultimate customer satisfaction in one beautiful restaurant. they own my ass now. i so cant wait to try the fugu when it’s here!!!
Hajime (map!)
64, Jalan Damai
Off Jalan Ampang
55000 KL
Tel : 03-2143 0073
April 28th, 2007
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