Chinese Cuisines at Restoran City Star, Petaling Jaya
I was invited by Ken for dinner together with his friends from Tour2U at Restoran City Star in Taman Mayang, Petaling Jaya during my Kuala Lumpur trip. This double shop lot restaurant owned by Mr CM Wong has a nice and clean environment with one section of the restaurant air-conditioned.
Our meal consists of several recommended [...]
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MAS Inflight Kitchen Tour & Food Tasting Session @ LSG Sky Chefs, KLIA
Have you ever wondered how in-flight meals are actually prepared? I do. Last weekend, I had an one in a lifetime chance of joining an exclusive tour of MAS’ in-flight kitchen somewhere around KLIA along with several other bloggers courtesy of Fleishman PR Agency.
LSG Sky Chefs Brahim Sdn Bhd, an international provider of airline catering services is responsible for preparing the meals.
I mentioned it was one in a lifetime thing because you have to be either an employee or an invited guest to be allowed in the kitchen area. Security is very tight and controlled so photography was not allowed, this is to prevent competitors from spying their operations.
After touring the kitchen, we were also treated to a feast of MAS’ in-flight cuisines from the top chefs so there are plenty of food photos!
After having some light refreshments LSG presented a presentation to the attendees a brief introduction of their company, a flow chart of their meal preparation and some facts and figures. I was amazed by the number of meals they prepared in a day, 30,000! Then the kitchen tour ensued and we were brought to the bakery section where large machineries are used to mass produce buns.
We also visited the chiller section where dairy products and prepared foods are stored before being loaded into flights. The freezer section was the nicest one. It was really freezing inside and there were hundreds of packets of frozen salmon, pomfret and even lobster!
The kitchen tour lasted about an hour so it was time to sample the food from MAS’ kitchen. Lamb shank, beef ribs, salmon, nasi lemak and MAS’ famous traditional Malaysian satay were only some of the items lined up for our food tasting session.
The food was displayed at a designated area for introductory and photography purpose, while the really edible ones were served in buffet style. When asked about the best food in MAS‘ menu, the chef immediately replied “Lamb Shank” without thinking twice.
He was right, it was one of the nicest dish we had that day with tender, juicy meat. By the way, this Lamb Shank was the displayed one. It could stand so nicely because mashed potato was used as the supporting base.
Country Style Beef Ribs, a pity we didn’t try this. But I heard it was quite good from the other bloggers.
Ahh.. MAS’ satays, the signature dish that have won the many hearts of MAS passengers around the world. Here, they were shown to be served along with Nasi Goreng Kampung – box meal style.
At the buffet area chicken, beef and lamb satay were served. That’s a huge tray of beef satay!
I really didn’t expect this but they tasted really great especially the lamb satay, very tender meat! If you didn’t know, this month (March) is a Satay Month in which satay will be on the menu for MAS passengers travelling on Economy Class to domestic and selected Asean countries.
This is actually a good news for Economy Class travellers because satay is usually served only in Business and First Class cabins.
I can’t imagine eating Lobster in the air.. that’s pure enjoyment if you ask me.
Grilled Salmon is usually served on Japan flights along with imported rice from Japan to make the guests feel like home while they eat.
Nasi Lemak with sambal prawns and chicken rendang. This is the display unit only.. but I have tasted the real thing which was quite nice. Although the prawns had a weird rubbery texture, the sambal was tasty and had the right level of spiciness.
Some other in-flight food on display like scallops, steamed pomfret, abalone, salad and other meals.
A bowl of mixed salad with cheese cubes.
This gotta be a favorite of many, scallops and salmon served with some greens. We didn’t get to try this though lol.
MAS serves abalone too, look at the thickness! In First Class cabins lah. Like the scallops and lobsters, we didn’t try this too. Expensive stuffs were solely for presentation and photography purposes only lol.
I have no idea what is this, but I am guessing it was some sort of lunch meal consisting of stir fried chicken and rice.
The displayed pomfret had some chili sauce on it but the one we had was Steamed Pomfret with XO sauce. It was very fresh and sweet tasting but I felt it was slightly overcooked due to the rubbery flesh. I didn’t take any photo because it looked very messy on my plate lol. Same goes for the nasi lemak and lamb shank.
This is a typical lunch meal enjoyed by MAS passengers flying from KL to London, the way water is served is very interesting don’t you think? I have never seen anything like this before haha, I always travel economy class only. By the way LHR is the airport code for London, I see these codes every single day since I start working in Subang Airport lol.
A light meal consisting of salad, fresh fruits, bun and butter. The butter you may look normal but in fact it was a PREMIUM butter called Isigny Ste Mere Beurre D’isigny – a cow’s milk unsalted natural butter. I have to emphasize the word premium because it is actually voted one of the best butters in the world!
A platter of fresh local fruits – dragon fruit, honeydew, papaya, pineapple and watermelon. The arrangement was very well done, so vibrant what a wonderful contrast of colors.
Besides fruits, two types of desserts were available too. Creme Brulee is a dessert of custard base with a layer of hard caramel created by caramelizing sugar with a blowtorch. It had a jelly like texture and tasted sweet (no surprise here), very nice.
Panna Cotta (an Italian dessert made with cream, milk, sugar then mixed with gelatin) was the other dessert. And just when we thought we were done with the wonderful treat by MAS, we were given a food souvenir – a box containing some Ferrero Rocher, Beryl’s Bitter Sweet Chocolate and a freshly baked Apple Crumble Cake.
Man, the Apple Crumble Cake was DELICIOUS! Even though I had it for dinner which was hours after the tour, the cake’s outer layer was still nice and crispy. I think I have found a new favorite cake after this lol.
Being able to take part in MAS’ Inflight Kitchen Tour is probably one of the best experience for me as far as being a food blogger is concerned. I am really thankful for Fleishman and Malaysia Airlines for extending the invitation to me.
Truthfully I don’t think I would be flying First Class anytime unless I become freaking rich one day. So, being able to sample some of the food being offered in a First Class Cabin without having to pay for the ticket, lol I think you know what a great feeling that must be right?
But one day if I have the ability to fly First Class with MAS (fingers crossed) then Lamb Shank, the delicious Satay and Creme Brulee would definitely be my choices!
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OXO Cafelab @ Queensbay, Penang
is one of the latest additions to the eating scene in Bayan Lepas area. I found out about it when a friend had sent me their Opening Promotion Brochure. RM9.90 for set lunch! RM13.90 for set dinner! the brochure had said. I liked the Red, Black and White color scheme. I liked their quirky cute logo. And the brochure certainly looked interesting! So kudos to their advertising agency!
Incidentally, as I planned to visit the place for dinner, I had read of it. I was impressed that they offered a Healthy Steam Cusinese Set complete with herbal soup! So off we went!
I had high hopes for the place as we entered the venue. It was very well decorated. Very chic! And complete with pool table too!
Glancing through the menu, OXO Cafelab serves a variety of cuisines – Asian, Western, Local. And they serve breakfast too from 8am-11am.
For their opening promotion, OXO Cafelab is offering 15% discount for their set meals. A set meal comes with a drink (cordial), soup OR salad, main dish and dessert. No discount for ala carte orders. I opted for the set meal and chose the Soup. Soup of the day was Mushroom Soup. I didn’t really care for the soup as I found it too starchy and bland.
We had another set meal and opted for the salad, which thankfully fared better than the dismal soup.
My main meal choice was the Juicy with Boxthorne Fruit and Plum Sauce. (This set is normally RM18.70, after discount – RM15.90) The chicken piccata here was basically chicken chop coated with egg and then pan fried. I found the boxthorne fruit and plum sauce interesting as it gave the dish an Asian twist to it. Overall, a very normal dish save for the interesting sauce.
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Truly Hong Kong at Canton-i, Queensbay Mall
After much delay and location change, Canton-i finally opened their doors at the ground floor of Queensbay Mall, Penang. This brand; which is associated with the Dragon-i line of restaurants, offers varieties of authentic Hong Kong cuisines. Upon stepping into this restaurant, the ambiance and atmosphere radiating from its surrounding was completely different of Dragon-i. [...]
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Schokolart Hand-Made Swiss Chocolates, Cakes & Desserts @ Solaris Mont Kiara
Few days ago I had an invited dinner at Schokolart, a restaurant and lounge specializing in hand-made Swiss chocolate and chocolate inspired cuisines. Now who would say no to chocolate, lol. Like a popular quote goes, “9 out of 11 people like chocolate. The 10th person always lies”. Even the restaurant’s unique and catchy name, Schokolart is spelled to to sound like chocolate with an emphasis on the word ‘art’.
After being briefed on the food Schokolart’s menu had to offer, we started off with two drinks that came highly recommended. The drink in front is Chocolate Almond Kiss, a concoction of Frangelico (a hazelnut and herb-flavoured liqueur), Chocolate Ice Cream and Vodka @ RM28. Even though I am not a drinker, I found the taste somewhat resembling Bailey’s Irish Cream (the only liqueur I have ever had) but more chocolatey.
The other drink we had was Schokolart’s signature shake – Soulmates @ RM16.90. Soulmates is prepared by blending dark chocolate ice-cream together with peanut butter then topped with whipped cream. I liked this chocolatey and peanut buttery drink a lot because it was sweet and had a right consistency. To differentiate the alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks in Schokolart is simple, those that come in hurricane glasses are alcohol free.
Pumpkin Dreams @ RM9.90 was another recommended dish, basically pumpkin soup topped with melted cheese and served with herb croutons. The soup was smooth and thick and tasted great, just like how a good soup should be. Some grated ginger was also present in the soup, giving a hint of spiciness and warm feeling to your stomach.
Next was our main course – De La Mer, a dish consisting of pan fried salmon fillet and Swiss Roesti served with special Hollandaise-wasabi sauce. In this dish alone there were two new things to me: Roesti and Hollandaise sauce. An explanation ensued and it seems that Roesti is potato pancake and is considered as a national dish in Switzerland. Hollandaise sauce on the other hand is a French sauce made using butter, egg and lemon juice that is usually served on asparagus (where the salmon fillets are sitting on).
In my opinion this dish is very worth the price tag it carried @ RM24.90. Just look at the huge salmon fillets alone, need I say more? lol.
Another Swiss Roesti dish we had was Baseler, which was a huge serving of Roesti pan fried with fried onion rings @ RM12.90. For this dish, three types of German sausage (Hot Jalapeno, Cream and Cheese and Chopped Onion and Chives) can be chosen as an accompaniment. Of course, this is totally optional @ RM5.50 per sausage ordered.
Truth be told, I enjoyed the German sausage more compared to Roesti because it was packed with flavor and oozed cheese in the middle. I guess I am more of a meat lover lol.
Expect to find a lot of unique chocolate inspired dishes at Schokolart, like lamb with chocolate sauce and this dark bittersweet chocolate marinated chicken satay. Looking at this, I have to say Schokolart is very daring in creating their very own signature dishes especially when it involves Satay – a dish so popular in Malaysia it can be considered a national dish. So, the recipe had to be darn good to be able to impress someone like me who have tasted some of the best Malaysia satays. Schokolart’s Satay is priced at RM20.90 for 5 sticks.
Taste wise, it didn’t disappoint but it sure felt weird having satay marinated with dark chocolate, I am not gonna lie here. After all, all of us grew up eating roadside satay stalls. To really feel the chocolate taste, you shouldn’t dip too much of the sweet satay sauce because the sweetness will override the chocolate flavor. By the way that was the first time I tasted meat cooked with chocolate, simply unforgettable.
We concluded our meal with two cups of hot chocolate made with imported Swiss chocolate, like Tealicious Choc – Earl Grey Tea infused with hot chocolate @ RM13 and La Esmeralda – a Mexican hot chocolate spiced with chili powder and frothed with cinnamon syrup @ RM13. Both drinks are very chocolatey especially La Esmeralda, which left a slight throat-stinging aftertaste from the chili powder.
Delicate chocolates and tempting looking cakes front Schokolart, created by multi award winning chocolate and pasty chef – Matthias.
Chocolate cheesecake
And some mini version of it
The dining area where you can enjoy an clear, unblocked view of the Petronas Twin Towers. Very nice. If you’re a chocolate lover Schokolart’s the place to go to indulge in Superior quality of fine hand-made Swiss Chocolates, pure chocolate beverages, chocolate cakes and desserts. For those who have a chocolate loving friends, the haute couture (specifically made to order) selection of chocolates and cakes packed in special designer gift-box make great gifts for occasions like birthday and Valentine’s day. As Schokolart’s tagline goes, it is for all those chocoholics who are “For Love, Live & Chocolates“.
(for Love, Life & Chocolates) – opposite Tenji
Block K-01-05, SohoKL @ Solaris Mont Kiara,
2 Jalan Solaris, 50480 Kuala Lumpur.Tel: 03-6203 0968, Fax: 03-6203 0700
Schokolart is pork free and uses ingredients only from Halal suppliers.
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Sek Yuen Restaurant, Jalan Pudu – Kuala Lumpur
I’ve always made it a point to visit Kuala Lumpur several times a year, as the cuisines there are a nice change from what we get in Penang. Their style is slightly different, the taste and ways of cooking are unique as well. We made our way down to Sek Yuen Chinese Restaurant just down [...]
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