Pisang Kejuk! by Annato at Wangsa Walk

Hey peeps. 

So lets get right into it. Rewind back the clock months or a year ago, Malaysian were taken by surprise of the pisang cheese. It's basically banana fritters with grated cheese on top (usually cheddar) then sprinkled with brown sugar. Then introduce the grated chocolate & the evolution continues. Right now, there are lots of place selling pisang cheese with famous one like gorpis from Kopi XoXo. I'm not a fan but not a hater of pisang cheese is just that i love banana fritters the way it is. Anyway, my officemate introduced to me to Pisang Kejuk by Annato few days ago. It has quite a interesting choices of flavor. 

The menu

Since it's my first time trying it, we decided to buy the big box of 5 flavors. We tried the butterscotch, amos, oreo & mamma mia & caramel. 

Reason i'm not a fan of pisang cheese it's because sometimes they made it too sweet. But this pisang cheese by pisang kejuk just nail it. They didn't overdo it. The sweetness is just nice to my liking. I personally like butterscotch. The batter was crunchy & goes well with the banana. You can follow them on their instagram pisangkejukkl.

Pisang Kejuk!

MamaMia's Kitchen, Wangsa Walk, Wangsa Maju, KL

Cor Blimey! British Fish & Chips at SS15

Good day folks.

I still remember years ago during my first ever trip to London. I had the best fish & chips experience ever. When I'm back in Malaysia, it's quite hard to find a decent fish & chips. I might be asking too much for a fish & chips similar to what i had in London but as many as i tried here, none ever come close. Few days ago I was in SS15 when i noticed a odd looking name for a restaurant, Cor Blimey! Heck, i don't know what it stands for but since it said on the signage the place serves British Fish & Chips, i did a research on the place. The owner is from UK & his mission is to bring the almost authentic British Fish & Chips here in Malaysia. Surely he will up against the big names of Manhattan Fish market & Fish & Co. but i just couldn't pass this chance for a british fish & chips. The restaurant is decorated with memorabilia from UK with signage of England's famous districts. 

The menu focus on fish & chips with some other things as alternatives. Aside from fish, they do have chicken wings & calamari as well. 

The menu

Here they have 4 types of fish; Cod, Butterfish, Snapper & Dory. Surely nice to have haddock but Cod with be my first choice here. You have the option of choosing the batter as well varies from plain to coconut curry. The dish will come with thick cut chips & tartar sauce but you can choose sides of mushy mint peas, coleslaw or baked beans. My fiance told me she used to eat fish & chips with mushy mint peas. I never had them before so i'm gonna give it a try. 

Fish & Chips

The fish is served just as the picture. A generous cut of fish fillet with thick cut of chips accompany by tartar sauce & mushy mint peas. I tried the lemon & herb batter with cod fish fillet. The batter was nicely done with crispiness to it. The fish well cooked as well. Don't expect it to be as fresh as London's but it's ok to me. The batter had a feint taste to it but goes well with the flavorful tartar sauce. The chips was thick yet soft. I personally loved the mushy mint peas. The mint taste wasn't strong yet wasn't feint. A good combination. Personally, it's a decent fish & chips. Quite close to the ones i had in UK especially the chips. 

Cor Blimey!

Jalan SS15/4, Subang Jaya

Closed on Monday

Fancy Breakfast Club at Jalan Telawi 2, Bangsar

Hey, what's good, guys?

So here i am to bring you another review. Anyone recall Fancy Breakfast Club (FBC)? I think i've done a review about them few months ago. Last time they used to operate in a house to give customer a home feel with a brunch set buffet plus the aim to get customer to get to mingle. Fast forward to this month, after a few key events, they move to a more familiar spot at Jalan Telawi; street of foods to me. The team behind FBC still the same with few changes. This time around, they operate like normal restaurants with fixed menu rather than the concept they used to work with before. But according to one of the staff, Faris, he said they might change the menu every 3 months to freshen things up. The menu consists of creatively prepared food like Thosai Waffle & Kopi Aik Cheong Panna Cotta. A blend of malaysian favorites & western favorites. 

The menu

Plenty of mouth watering choices of the menu. I was really in few separate of minds while choosing what to order. The restaurant still maintain the modern design with lot of table for everyone. 

After ordering the food, we were served with house wholemeal bread with an olive oil with balsamic vinegar dip. The bread was soft when eaten fresh when served. 

Wholemeal bread with dips

First off is Brekkie Egg. From the description it sounded like an egg benedict but it wasn't. More like a burger or sandwich. 2 slices of wholemeal bread comes with poached egg, beef bacon, slices of avocado, brown butter mayo, shiso leaf & homemade sweet tomato chutney. It was really nice. Try not to eat it like eating a burger otherwise you'll get messy. The tomato chutney is a win of perfect combination of sweet & sour. 

Brekkie Egg

Next is Thosai Waffle recommended by the staff. A mix batch of thosai turned into waffle with shallots & chilis infused in it. Served with a grated coconut, tomato chutney & rendang ayam cili padi. No worries, it wasn't spicy at all but rich in flavor. More like masak lemak cili padi though. The waffle still maintain the thosai taste but more dense in waffle form. If anything, i wish there is more tomato chutney for the whole dish. 

Thosai Waffle

Finally, we finished off our meal with house specialty Kopi Aik Cheong Panna Cotta. Truth be told, i never drink Kopi Aik Cheong before but i'm a sucker for panna cotta so gotta try it. Made of base Kopi Aik Cheong infused panna cotta & topped with a whole lot of dark choc, crumbled kueh bepang & shortbread, it was nothing short of amazing. The coffee taste was nicely balance to match the topping & pudding. Pure win. 

Kopi Aik Cheong Panna Cotta

It's great to see the FBC team came back strong. There are a whole lot more nice food to try so definitely gonna return. 

Fancy Breakfast Club

(Above Sangkaya)

Jalan Telawi 2, Bangsar

Neka Cafe at SS15, Subang Jaya

Hello folks,

Sorry for the long hiatus. Quite tied up these days plus I didn't really try new eateries lately but I will try to active as I was before. My mom & sis usually a hang out at this new place for a meal. They've been giving me a shout about this place but i haven't the chance to go plus it is located on the same row of the infamous Darussalam, imagining the parking & crowd easily turns me off right of the bat. Anyway, I was with my fiance when we decided to join my mom & sis for dinner. Alhamdulillah, we've managed to get a parking slot nearby the cafe on a first try. Phew!

Located just next to Darussalam & the other restaurant that folks usually cramping for food, looks like a challenge for small cafe like Neka but they managed to have their own crowd. Adapting a modern cafe concept, their food adapting a fusion style as well. Instead of typical food served by modern cafe, they served local favourites like char kuey tiow & nasi dagang instead. Here's a look at the menu. 

The menu

The ambiance is nice as well. The cafe is small yet still cozy. Indoor seating is recommended if you're aiming for a peaceful surrounding. 

They have desserts counter as well. Mostly consisting of tarts & limited choice of cakes. I didn't try them desserts though.

Desserts bar

My sis recommended this drink as soon as i open the menu. It was a sweet corn milk. I'm a sucker for sweet corn ice cream back in my childhood days. The drink was pleasant. The mint leaves for display purpose as no mint was tasted in it. Filled with sweet corns inside. 

Sweet Corn Milk

While we were browsing the menu, suddenly the waiter passed by carrying a big tray/pan with goodness inside it. We looked into the menu but found nothing about it. When we asked the waiter, he said it's their off the menu special Neka Big Platter consisting of butter rice, chicken chop, lamb ribs, beef ribs, lamb chop, prawn tempura, deep fried calamari, onion rings & mashed potatoes. A medley of everything. Well, almost everything. Served with homemade neka sauce. green apple kerabu & brown sauce. 

Neka Big platter

You can get more info on them by following them on their instagram nekacafe. 

Neka

Jalan SS15/8B, 47500, Subang Jaya

Jibby Chow at The Courtyard Mall

Hi folks. 

In my previous entry, i've mentioned about Jibby Chow & since i haven't done any review about it even though after twice dining there, i think it's time to do some review on it. Oh, for your information, Jibby Chow are related to Jibby & Co. but different type of food. While Jibby & Co. bring to you a more western touch, Jibby Chow offers Chinese cuisine. The place received quite a rave reviews. So that should mean something. But it's nothing of a surprise since Serai actually started as Thai restaurant. The new Serai now also offers mix of western & asian cuisine. 

So anyway, on to the review. The menu only offers chinese cuisine with some of them might be a bit of fusion. No pasta or pizza here. The interior reflects a modern look. 

This entry will cover both dishes i had during my first & second visit so bear with me. Here, there are variety of food from poultry to seafood. So it's something for everyone. Starting with the crabs, minimum order is 1 kg. So please make sure to bring enough parties to gobble down the crabs. There are choices of cooking style for crabs such as butter & chili. Since both of my parents not really into spicy food, so butter it is. The butter was nicely sweet with a bit of head powered by curry leaves. The gravy was thick & goes well with mantao for dipping. The crab was well cooked. I'm not a crustacean eater so according to my bro, the meat was sweet. 

Butter Crab

We ordered a chinese specialty, a more traditional Kung Pao chicken. This dish should be a starter as it came in a bowl made from fried yam. It was really nice. Kung Pao sauce was sweet with a bit of heat from the dried chili. The yam was crispy with soft yam inside. Kindly like eating a banana fritter. There are few choices of crabs to choose from as well. We had mud crab. There are none live crabs on display so i'm not sure how fresh is the crab. 

Kung Pao Chicken with Yam

We ordered vegetarian dish as well. I'm not really a fan of bitter gourd. But cooked in Salted egg? heck, it's a must try. It was still bitter but combined with the salted egg tasted nice. 

Salted Egg stir fried bitter gourd

Of course, we just can't refuse the salted egg squid. One of the nicest salted egg dish i ever had. The salted egg covered the battered nicely with squid wasn't too chewy. 

Salted Egg Squid

Oh, i forgot to mention. The carbohydrate source here will be plain rice but there are also mantao. You can choose either steamed or fried mantao. Both are nice & goes well with any gravy. The fried ones are crispy & not soaking the oil. 

Mantao

For fish lover, there are 3 types of fish to choose; red snapper, grouper and sea bass. You have it steamed or deep fried. We tried their almost so called asam fish. It was really good. The gravy was sweet & sour thanks to the cubes of pineapple. Loaded with cuts of lady finger.

Asam pedas fish

Lastly, the clams. Yes, they have clams. From Kam heong to curry, they have choices of cooking style you can choose from. We had curry paste clams. One thing i like about eating clams here is all clams are thoroughly cleaned. No traces of sand & mud inside each clams. The gravy was thick & with heat. A hint of curry but more to sambal like. 

Curry Paste Clams

The first impression i had was definitely satisfying. Pricewise, might be on the normal price these days but the taste certainly nailed by them. It might be a good idea to book a table if you're planning for a dinner. 

Jibby Chow

The Courtyard Mall, SS15, Subang Jaya

Naj & Belle at The Courtyard

Hello folks.

Recently there are few malls popping out of Subang Jaya, adding to the existing Subang Parade, Sunway Pyramid & Summit. Even though i stay nearby but i hardly go to these new malls aside from the aforementioned. Few days ago, i went to a new mall in SS15 called the courtyard. Not quite a lavish, grand shopping mall but enough to cater the office or condominium built on top of it. Few restaurants open up as well in the mall. This entry will be about Naj & Belle. The theme is quite similar to the likes of other modern cafes. The food served wasn't too far off as well. The owner came from the family who responsible for the infamous Serai chain, Jibby & Co, and Jibby & chow. Promising indeed given the rave reviews earned by their restaurants. Like other modern cafes, cakes & desserts are a must. Quite a number of selection as well. My favorite will be their Rose Lychee Almond crumble. 

Plenty of modern favorites served here like pasta, breakfast & even salads. Not too much yet not too little of choice on the menu. Of course, they serve coffee as well. 

The menu

We ordered Thai Style Shredded Duck Spaghetti, One Sweet Mess, Moroccan Eggs, & the belle breakfast. Their thai style pasta was quite good. Pasta cooked well. Oh, you can choose either spaghetti or fettuccine as your choice of pasta. Cooked with shredded duck, herbs & topped with healthy amount of rocket salad. The duck meat was soft & sweet adding to the spicy pasta. 

Thai Style Shredded Duck Spaghetti

Baked eggs have been a hit since it was first introduced here in Malaysia. Quite a number of popular cafes served this dish with a twist of their own. Moroccan Eggs here are really nice. The tomato stew with herbs & spices filled with soft chick peas & sausages. Served with 2 homemade bread that i felt wasn't enough to go with the whole dish. 

Moroccan Eggs

One of the best thing here is their breakfast menu is served all day. So don't worry about missing out if you come during lunch or dinner. My mom loves salmon so we decided to give The Belle Breakfast a try. Made of poached eggs with sumac spice pan fried salmon fillet with chickpeas cake & chili labneh dipping and a pita bread. I personally loved the chili labneh. Spicy & sour that goes well with the salmon. The pita bread must be eaten quickly or else it will be hard once it is cold. 

The Belle Breakfast

Of course, as always, we will end our meal with something sweet. We had their One Sweet Mess. While Red Bean Bag have their signature Banana bread, Naj & Belle have One sweet mess; made of a hot banana cake, topped with vanilla ice cream, strawberries & lychee slices. The caramel sauce was mildly sweet yet thick. Served hot on a hot pan. the cake was soft & rich in bananas. One of the best dish for me here. 

One Sweet Mess

Naj & Belle located on the ground floor just next to the main entrance. Open at 10 am till 10 pm. 

Naj & Belle

The Courtyard, SS15, Subang Jaya

Naritaya at Asakusa

Hello folks.

This have been delayed for too long but now i thought of sharing it here. During my recent Japan tour, i managed to try one of the restaurant that serve halal ramen. Yes folks, halal ramen. Certified by our own government. Before this i've tried halal udon & japanese curry. Halal Ramen is something not easy to come by here in Japan as pork is one of the main element in the dish. Thank God, i managed to eat one authentic halal ramen before i left Japan. 

The restaurant located in a shopping district of Asakusa. Quite far from Ippin, another halal japanese restaurant serving ramen is located that I've tried but still within walking distance. Unlike Ippin, this restaurant is run by non-japanese workers. Indian or Bangladeshian perhaps. English is accepted so no worries on communicating. Menu mostly focus on Ramen with rice dish also included.

The menu

I was hungry on that day thanks to all those walking. So i ordered their hungry set which made of a bowl of ramen and a small bowl of rice topped with egg & chicken then veggies. 

Hungry set

To me, it was really fulfilling & fantastic. They have this chili oil for those who wanted a more spicy touch. The chicken broth was excellent. Ramen noodles wasn't soggy. The soft boiled egg is as it should be, japanese way. 

If you're craving for dessert, outside of the restaurant they sell kinda like malaysian own Gandus with custard cheese or red bean filling. Served hot. 

Naritaya

2 chome-7-13 Asakusa, Taito, Tokyo

Kula Cakes at Kuantan

Hello folks. 

My recent trip to Kemaman gave me a perfect chance to pay a visit at Kuantan best kept secret, Kula Cakes. I've heard about them from a friend of mine who was craving Kula Cakes very own signature dessert, mango cheesecake. Of course, now you can get mango cheesecake almost everywhere but it's nice to be able finally eat the famous one. 

Here in Kula Cakes, they focus only on desserts which makes it a nice place for tea time. The owner really spent some time decorating the extra space outside with laid back ambiance perfect for tea time. 

They have plenty of other desserts apart from mango cheesecake, which is the best seller. Arrive late, be prepared to get the 'dah habis la bang' answer. 

So what is it about their mango cheesecake then became the talk of the town? The cake made of crumb base, with creamy cheese on top. Then on top, slices of mango to finish off the design. Finally, Kula Cakes secret weapon, the cake drizzled with mango sauce/compote which bring the cake to life. 

Their operating hours perfect for tea time so for anyone in kuantan looking for a place for tea time, head down to Kula Cakes.

Kula Cakes,

Jalan Besar, Kuantan