KL Food Diary, Post #4 - My Elephant

A good mid-range dining experience. Went there with my Aunty for dinner on a Friday night - you definitely need to book at least a day in advance, or be prepared to sit down on the cute little stools that look like overturned dustbins that are lined up outside the shop :p Cute, but probably not very comfortable..

They served us brown rice instead of the usual Thai jasmine rice - a healthier alternative, but still tasty.

The deep fried tiger prawns with green curry was a dish I have never had before in other Thai restaurant. It was quite interesting that we found halves of grapes in the curry! Thought they were cherry tomatoes at first, and bit into one to find that it was a grape :) I like that the prawns were deep fried first - makes it different to other prawn curries I've tasted. And the batter was quite yummy. I have a weakness for deep fried batter.

So craving Thai food right now!

The vegetables (Chinese broccoli) cooked Thai style - with fish sauce etc was sooooo yummy! I love Chinese broccoli, and I love fish sauce (in moderate amounts). Therefore, I loved this dish. It also was stir-fried with mushrooms - I love mushrooms too.

The drinks, while slightly on the expensive side (it was around RM8 i.e. 2-3 AUD) were quite unique, and very refreshing. The perfect accompaniment to the heavier coconut milk-based curries. I should have written down what they were called - pretty sure one was called 'Pandan Cooler' - it had pandan and kiwi seeds in it. Pandan is apparently the Asian equivalent to vanilla. Seems like a pretty good simile. My drink was a cooler with lemongrass in it... and maybe some lime?

We ordered the chicken tom yum with coconut milk - 'Tom Ka'. It was really good soup. But nothing particularly outstanding. I've had lots of good tom yum in my lifetime. This one can be added to that list. Still love the one at Ying Thai 2 on Lygon St (Melbourne) the most!!

The dessert we ordered was definitely something I would want to eat again - sago with coconut cream and mango! YUM. I like the texture of sago a lot - little squishy spheres. The sago and mango and coconut cream were SUCH a good combination.

The whole meal came to around RM80, so about 25 AUD all up for 2 people. Slightly pricey by Malaysian standards, but soooo cheap by Melbourne standards! I love eating in Malaysia :p

KL Food Diary, Post #3 - Restoran PJ Baru

Had the 'banana leaf pork' and Guinness crispy pork at this restaurant near the PJ State cinema.

OMG SO GOOD. The banana leaf pork was cooked Nyonya-style and served on a sizzling hot-plate. It was a mouth-watering combination of sweet, sour, spicy and savoury. The pork was sliced thinly and was so tender - a big plus because I can't stand chewy pork! The Guinness pork was equally amazing - crispy on the outside, nice and soft on the inside. The sticky, sweet Guinness marinade/coating is pure genius - wonder who came up with this recipe.

Now I'll let the photos do the talking :)

Banana leaf pork

Guinness pork

KL Food Diary, Post #2 - Sage @ The Gardens Residences

As a belated birthday present for my sister, I treated her to an indulgent 3 course dinner at Sage, located on Level 6 of The Gardens Residences in KL. Walking into the restaurant, my sister and I were cheerfully welcomed by the maitre d' and another waiter. The restaurant is quite spacious with nice soft lighting - it covers a good amount of area and is furnished with simple but classy tables and chairs. The words elegance and comfort come to mind - I liked it :) Definitely a place where you can relax with a cup of coffee or tea after your meal.

On to the food. We were served warm bread with an olive oil and basil dip throughout the meal. We fell in love with both, the bread and the dip!!!

The amuse bouche was salmon tartare with sour cream and black olive - definitely got my saliva glands working :)

As an entree, I had the Hiramisa Kingfish with Smoked Avruga Caviar - it was divine! The kingfish was complemented perfectly by the caviar and sauce it was served with. My sister had the Sea Scallop with Roquefort Cheese and Hazelnut Vinaigrette - the scallop was cooked just right! My sister found the roquefort cheese a tad bit strong, and I thought it was a little weird to pair such delicately-flavoured seafood with such strong-flavoured cheese. Still, a good dish all in all!

For my main dish, I ordered the Smoked Duck Breast with Foie Gras and Red Wine Sauce - the duck breast was just the right magnitude of rare (slightly pink in the middle), and practically melted in my mouth! Loved the crunchy smokey flavour of the skin. The foie gras was silky and moist. And I couldn't geat enough of the red wine sauce! It was the perfect balance of flavours, and such a generous serving size too! I would definitely have the duck again another time. My sister ordered the Braised Lamb Shank with Couscous and Piment d’Espelette. The lamb was also cooked to be slightly rare in the middle, and was so soft and so tasty! It was served with a light garlicky sauce and roasted whole cloves of garlic - need I say more? :p Looked up piment d'Espelette - it's a type of chilli pepper from Espelette, Spain. My sister was very happy with her choice :) Again, very generous serving size.

For the dessert course, I ordered the Dark Chocolate Fondant with Earl Grey Tea Ice Cream. Omg, I was in heaven - warm chocolate fondant with a lovely, gooey centre and the distinct flowery flavour of the Earl Grey tea ice cream. So, so good. I still have dreams about it. My sister ordered the Praline Soufflé with Sorbet of Valrhona Dark Bitter. The souffle had a slightly strong egg taste but was baked perfectly apart from that. The dark chocolate sorbet was definitely top quality stuff. We weren't particularly impressed by this dessert, but it was still very good.

We were then served with tea after (by which time we were feeling like a pair of stuffed turkeys!). The best part about the whole dining experience? It was RM165 (roughly 55 AUD) per person for 3 courses!

KL Food Diary, Post #1 - Jalan Alor

My first taste of hawker food during this KL trip - barbecued chicken wings, hokkien noodles, chicken satay and siew yoke noodles.

This was at the 'local' end of Jalan Alor (the rest of it is teeming with tourists). This local end is literally at the end of Jalan Alor - no tourists here, and the food is apparently the best on the street.

Luurrveeeed the barbecued chicken wings - sticky, sweet, yummay! The siew yoke noodles were next best after the wings :) (Siew yoke is basically roasted pork belly, Chinese-style.)


Feast your eyes...

Barbecued chicken wings

Chicken satay

Hokkien noodles

Siew yoke noodles