Kitchen Creature @ Centrepoint Bandar Utama PJ

Kitchen Creature is relatively new in Bandar utama's scene. Occupying the same spot as where Manhattan Fish Market used to be, I spotted them from the day they started renovation until the day they opened for business. From time to time Jenn & I would come here for quick lunch or dinner, especially when we felt lazy to venture far. Parking is definitely a breeze compared to the ever popular 1Utama Shopping Centre.

So when my friends came looking for me one day, I suggested this place for dinner. Definitely look impressive from outside!

All of us raved on the interiors too - neat, organised and brightly lit with a lot of pendant lights!

Menu was printed on a piece of paper similar to our buku latihan (exercise book) during our school days!

Creamy Wild Mushroom Soup @ RM5.80 - loved the crunchy croutons with each and every scoop of the soup. Quite filling as the plate was rather huge!

Grilled Lamb Chop @ RM16 - served with choice of brown, mint or signature chilly lime cilantro sauce. A chunky portion of red meat without the gamy taste normally associated with lamb

Chicken Cutlet @ RM11 - breaded, boneless chop with sweet peas and fries. For that price, once can't complain much :)

Grilled chicken, calamari & shrimp @ RM29 - with sauce, chips and buttered veggies.

Marinara @ RM13 - spicy with seafood. For the amount of seafood they put in, it’s a steal. I liked the sauce as well.

House special root beer @ RM4.50 - with ginger slice.. DILUTED!

Limey George @ RM7 - ribena, sprite & lemon. Refreshing although diluted.. I mean, VERY DILUTED!

Leo's verdict - "No Frills Dining" actually means great foods & great value with no extra costs of any kind. No Government tax and no service charge. This is the unique selling point of the restaurant. All the portions were very generous and taste-wise although not the best in town but the selling point IS the price! I wondered why there were no complains by other bloggers when they attended the food tasting organised. Or did George Creature practice different standard for regular customers? Hmmmm... can't give out any final verdict first! I have to go there the second time to see if the standard remains the same or not... since it's so near where I live

Disclaimer:
1) I'm not paid to promote/endorse any particular event, restaurant or person in this blog. ALL are based on my unbiased personal opinion.
2) My reviews are based on my personal taste and preference and therefore may vary for others.

My Big Day Part 1

**Put all the back logs away and decided to post on my birthday instead this time... divided into two parts.

Back to reality! Back to this little town where my factory is located... in other words, back to work!

Good thing is that I feel recharged after spending the last weekend in KL, minus the baby. Jenn & I left Sher Ryn in the care of her mom while we took off to KL on Thursday night, as she had some works to do on Friday.

Not many people know that 24th October is my birthday, which also coincide with Sultan Pahang's birthday. But it makes no difference to KL-ites... as it's a normal day to all of them. Back to those days when I was just a little kid, I felt so proud everytime my birthday arrived as it was always public holiday. When I came to study in KL, I had to live my life like KL-ites.. no holiday unless it fell on weekends. And it continued for another few years when I started working in KL until I came back here in 2005.

On Friday (that's the eve of my birthday!), Jenn proposed to go to Ribs by Vintry. She knows that I'm a huge fan of anything to do with pork... well, with the exception of the spare parts :) and on top of that, both of us had been talking about dine & wine, a luxury that both of us don't get to do often... not when there's a little monster who always crave for attention from her parents. As for me, after reading AWOL's and kampungboycitygal's blogs... I agreed right away!

It was raining when we arrived around 7++pm... and as expected, parking was oh-so-difficult to find. I dropped Jenn in front of the outlet and asked her to look for a table first (knowing that it's not easy to find a table on Friday evening) while I drove a few hundred metres away and parked my car on the side of the road near the housing area. It has rustic interior but in a modern kind of way and the lightings are not too dim. However, it will require a stable pair of hands to take pictures without flash for a more natural effect.

Extensive wine collection is made available on the shelves (arrange library style.. only it's wine and not book) that you will definitely see once you step into the outlet. Whatever you are looking for - cabernet sauvignon, shiraz, pinot noir, bla bla bla.. they have it.

I spotted my favourite drink - Moet & Chandon Imperial Brut costing RM288! But I recalled that it cost only RM250 a bottle in Tasting Room (Bangsar)...

Both of us settled for Fire Road Pinot Noir 2008... from Marlborough region in New Zealand. This area is famous for its grape and wine production in NZ, as I went there once for wine tasting during my days in University of Otago. Good thing is that it is only RM77! The wine was a little bit spicy but after having with the meat, it just got better and better!

For starters, we ordered 100gm of their signature roasted pork at RM7. Crispy skin with higher lean meat ratio to the fat (which I prefer), it is considered cheap by normal standard as a plate of roasted pork rice already cost RM5 in KL. Heavenly! (although the meat was a bit cold when it was served on our table)

We also ordered burschetta RM12... consisted of anchovies (which explain the rather salty taste), fried pork bacon bits, capers and diced tomatoes on top of toasted bread. Finished in no time!

Braised pork ribs - the ribs were braised with red wine sauce and served with rosemary baked potatoes and coleslaw. Contrary to what kampungboycitygal wrote, the ribs that were covered in a rich and thick brown sauce was fork tender and literally fell of the bone. Inconsistent maybe?

BBQ pork ribs @ RM39 (medium portion) - I was feeling greedy at the beginning as I planned to go for the barbarian ribs instead. But when I realised that we had ordered 2 starters, I played safe and ordered a medium one. Definitely one of the best pork ribs in town (if not the best) that was served on a bed of mashed potatoes. The mashed potatoes were great too as it was covered with the sauce from the BBQ ribs! Forgetting all the manners, I put my knife and fork away... used my hands to pick up the delectable pork ribs and devour it like a hungry tiger.

Leo's verdict - By the time we finished the dinner, the rain had already stopped. A little bit tipsy, both of us walked to the car.. and I got to placed my hand on her shoulder and held her close to me before planting a kiss on her lips (18 SX!!!). Sorry no pictures on the kissing, just our happy looks while dining there.

No No!!! It's not the end, since the night was still early... we went to Jaya One and ended up at Brussel's Beer Cafe. The place was full of people having beer, celebrating Oktoberfest!

Both of us had the Franziskaner Hefe-Weissbier @ RM18 per half pint... and went home after that!

Oh yes, these were what I got as birthday present from Jenn (^_^)

Up up and away!!!

I have to admit that I haven't been to Solaris despite the hypes generated by all the floggers... Tenji, Schokolart, Meatworks, Canton Fare, etc etc... mentioned all those names, and I am proud to inform you that I have not even been there once... lol! As a matter of fact, I don't even know the road to Solaris until recently (2 months++ I guess) :) as I drove by Mont Kiara area, I was amazed by the rapid development of the once palm oil plantation.

I was looking for a particular place - Departure Lounge. After reading several posts on this place which offer Western style breakfast, Jenn & I decided to come. Parking was relatively easy to find on weekend morning. From the moment I stepped into Departure Lounge, I had a good first impression of the place - comfy, slow music, homey! The interior is nicely decorated with wooden tables and chairs, and sofa!

I spotted a reading area at one corner of the outlet complete with sofa should you decide to read. Lemme see - Lonely Planet, Insight Guide, Footprint - most of them were travel guide books. hmmm.. maybe next time if I go travelling, I should come and spend some time reading those books to get some ideas rather than spending hundreds of ringgit to buy them. Also some novels, Monopoly board games as well as Uno Card. Great way to spend time here!

After placing my orders, I took some time to take pictures... starting with the write-ups and newspaper cutting from The Star, TimeOut KL, Women's Weekly and Malaysian Tatler.

His cutlery collection from all around the globe!

Wall of fame where he put all the pictures taken around the world! For me, I have not traveled that extensively... YET!!! Looking at those pictures ignited my fire to work harder so that I can bring Jenn along with me on the tour around the world...

And the owner himself preparing our orders behind the counter... still early so my guess was that the workers have not reported in for work yet.

Mister Croque RM10.90 - mushroom sauce, turkey ham and lots of cheese in white bread.

For the all day breakfast platter, all you gotta do is to take one of the chits and tick whatever you want.
All day breakfast platter - RM12.90 for 7 items.. chicken sausages, turkey bacon, half-boiled eggs, bakes beans, mushrooms, grilled tomato and hash brown. OK... if you are observant, half-boiled eggs are not really Western style but Chinese. So when Jenn saw the choice of half-boiled eggs in the chit, she was ecstatic!

Signature Club - turkey ham, smoked chicken, egg, cheese and honey custard in ciabatta.

Madam Croque RM11.90 - the delicious mister croque effeminated (topped) with sunny side up

Egg 'n' bacon RM8.90 - creamy egg mayo and crispy turkey bacon bits in wholemeal bread. The bacon was very cripsy, similar to those I had in O'Brien.

Caffe Latte & Espresso Macchiato - lovely presentation with the foam in the shape of heart

Cappucino and caffe mocha latte

Leo's verdict - Foods are delicious although not spectacular, and most importantly, it's about overall dining experience. Both of us agreed that this place is baby friendly, which is important criteria to us at the moment, as the 6 months old feisty princess can easily get agitated if she feels hot.
All price shown are Nett... all hot & iced drinks cost less than RM10 except for ice blended ones. If I may say, it's definitely cheaper compared to Starbucks, Coffee Beans or even San Francisco Coffee.

The Diner on Maarof

After reading numerous posting on Shivz, particularly from Joe's... I knew that someday, someday I would be coming here for dinner. But it was like 6 months ago when I read those postings... lol!! Better late than nothing :) Anyway, with the baby along I knew that we couldn't go out too long... so we packed our stuff and drove to Bangsar immediately after Sher Ryn's feeding. Lucky for us that we found a parking spot right in front of the restaurant itself, saving me the hassle to walk all the way (you know how difficult it is to find parking in Bangsar Baru).

Actually I was expecting a lot of diners as it was already dinner time. According to Joe, the restaurant's concept is to provide value for money food and ambience.. but the whole place was almost empty. On the outside... Have I gone to the wrong place??? I walked outside again just to make sure... next to Maybank (check!), Shivz Diner at Maarof (check!), on Jalan Maarof (check!!)

And inside... actually there was only another table of family having dinner. Oh well! At least the setting looked comfortable. We chose a table at the corner end so that we could place the stroller (can you spot my wife and the stroller??)

The interior was quite dim, providing a relaxed environment but then I spotted the club-like bar which was very bright. For once I thought that the whole place would turn into a clubbing scene after certain hour.. lol!!! Oh yes, Bollywood songs were also playing non-stop too... to my dismay and it was quite loud too.

We started our dinner with soup and appetisers. The bruchetta platter (RM8) came first... where the toasted baguettes were topped with mushroom, capsicum, tomato basil and eggplant. While I thought that the ingredients were fresh, the breads were quite hard to chew & rather cold. By the way, I think that they were out of eggplant, as there were two baguettes with mushroom :)

Wild mushroom soup (RM8) - the soup was hot, rich, not overly creamy and prepared with fresh mushroom... just the way I like my soup to be! The complimentary garlic bread was fresh and crispy too. Still I prefer the version with heaps of mushroom chunks in it.

Lemongrass dory (RM15) - it wasn't a hard decision to make as I am a huge fan of lemongrass. I pointed to the dish straight away to the waiter upon sighting the word "lemongrass"... LOL!!! This dish is a pan fried dory marinated in lemongrass mousse and served with cilantro sauce. I hardly tasted the lemongrass flavour due to the strong taste of cilantro sauce. However the meat was firm and flaky. And I love how they actually placed ginger shreds on top of the sauteed potatoes, which were then placed under the dory fish. Accompanied with fresh vegetables, I enjoyed each and every bite. Thumbs up!

Rack of lamb (RM32) - grilled rack of lamb with fresh rosemary sauce and comes with baked potatoes and sauteed vegetables. The rosemary sauce was a killer!! But then the lamb was slightly under-cooked. She promptly informed the waiter at the end of the dinner in which he apologised and promised to improve the quality in the future.

A glass of Shiraz Cabernet for her and a glass of Tiger beer for me. They only have one selection of wine so we had no choice. The wine was quite sour-ish too! My beer??? Ahhhhhh.....

Leo's verdict - the total bill came in at RM91!!! There were no service and government tax charged. Reasonable price for the dishes and service was not bad too... but at that time we were served by a waiter with heavy Indian accent so we had to listen carefully on what he was trying to say. Apart from that... this place is definitely worth a visit! I've set my sight on some other dishes in the menu (now if I could only find the time)

The place : Shivz Restaurant

Pink Sage @ Wisma RA, Jalan Dang Wangi KL

I've been waiting for so long for this day... 30th August 2009. No! Not because of Merdeka eve but because of the meeting with unkaleong and thenomadGourmand. The time was set at 11-ish but due to traffic jam on Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman (it is said that the road in front of Dataran Merdeka was closed to traffic for Merdeka rehearsal which caused the bad crawl), I was a bit late. By the time I reached Pink Sage, I noticed that there were more than 2 of them. Parked my car, and walked to introduce myself to everyone... Becky (finally got to meet this girl), YinYin (brought along her mom who happened to be very nice too), and Lionel! Nice to meet you all!!!

I didn't eat anything for breakfast in the morning and therefore I was very hungry. Most of them had already placed their orders and thenomadGourmand aka Rebecca had even finished a slice of cake >:( grrrr!!!

We quickly browsed through the menu and ordered our brunch... Jenn went for the Egg Benedict with Salmon! She just loves how the perfectly poached egg with runny yolks on top of the french bread and topped with smoked salmon and Hollandaise sauce. It's a perfect way to start the morning for her! YinYin also had the same dish :)

I settled for the super duper large Brunch Plate... my oh my! It was really HUGE! What I got for paying RM32.50 were mushroom omelette, 2 rather long chicken sausages, 2 pcs of smoked salmon with mayonnaise on bread, 3-stack buttermilk pancakes (complete with strawberry and cream), hash brown (supposed to be beef brisket but I can't take beef so they replaced it)... Everything was great! Chicken sausage was just like other sausages out there, hash brown was crispy and not oily (I love that!), pancakes were fluffy and great to go with the strawberry jam, mushroom omelette was simply divine, but it would be perfect if they didn't put mayonnaise on top of the smoked salmon (not a big fan of mayonnaise)! By the way, I think that I have gained another kilo after the meal...

Lionel had the greasy breakfast which comprised of fried egg with corned beef, hash brown, streaky beef brisket and fried tomatoes. But I hardly saw anything greasy with the dish!

Yinyin's mom had the stacked breakfast... with eggs, lamb sausage (you can opt for beef or chicken too), beef brisket, potatoes, mushrooms, beans and toasts. Thumbs up from the lady and echoed by her daughter :) They shared everything!!!

Unkaleong and becky had the 3-stacked buttermilk pancakes. From the outlook itself, one could not resist ordering it... it looked so fluffy and mouthwatering.

Becky in the background pouring strawberry jam on the pancakes while everyone including me started to take pictures!

Unkaleong had been waiting till 12pm to order their lunch menu... fish fillet burger was on his mind this time! The fillet was great! Fresh ingredients and one big crispy fillet sandwiched between two burger buns.

Unka post for the floggers to take picture of him biting the burger. You should have seen how big his mouth was!! Lol...

Some of the drinks included strawberry lychee and peach, avocado & lychee... reminder - the drinks can be quite filling!

Last but not least - Unkaleong, thenomadGourmand and me!!! Let me say this again... it's nice to meet you (^_^)

Leo's verdict - truly happy to meet up with people who have the common passion - FOOD!!! If not for my baby who was crying (sleepy), we would have stayed longer to chat... sorry guys for taking off so early! Catch up again next time OK? Cheers!