New York New York

After attending a seminar in PJ, Ming and I headed towards One Utama for dinner. The food served at the hotel was horrible so we had to resort to eating on our own. Ming wanted to try something special as she was constantly being taken to Old Town Kopitiam whenever she went out with Dave. Thus, we searched high and low for some 'exotic' eateries serving 'exotic' food.

Then we came to New York Deli

I was attracted by the cover of the menu.

We started our meal with Cream of Wild Mushroom

My main course: Seafood Spaghetti

Ming's main course: Roasted Spring Chicken

Cheese baked Mussels (1/2 dozen). This was shared by the two of us.

Taste : 3/5

Presentation of food: 4/5

Service: 5/5

Price: 4/5 (Reasonable)

Artery-clogging breakfast

After eating in the canteen for almost 2 years, I found myself in a state of boredom, or frustration as the canteen operator never bothers to change their menu or the style of cooking. Curry and laksa noodles are always in the list yet these food are not the type of food that one can consume daily. Hence, I stopped going to the canteen starting from the beginning of this week and practised making (or bringing) my own breakfast to work. Below are my breakfast for the past 4 days.

MONDAY: Egg Tart + Chicken Pie + Ipoh White Coffee

Tuesday: Coffee Swissroll + Cempedak Swissroll + Espresso

Wednesday: Chicken Curry Pie + 'Nescafe' Coffee

Thursday: Homemade Egg Tart + Homemade Chicken Pie + Espresso

The above breakfast food were great but contained far too much calories. Eating them left me with much feeling of guilt.  Perhaps I should go to the canteen again next week.

"Pretty" Ugly?

Found these pictures which I took in Terengganu last year. It was quite awesome as this creature would change from an ugly frog to a handsome prince when it was COOKED.

Guess what it is? Looks disgusting, doesn't it?

Frying furiously in hot oil

Now it looks very appealing and tasty particularly when it is being eaten hot.

Indonesian Cuisine

Went to Surabaya last month to attend a seminar but didn't visit any tourist attractions as I had to rush back for in-house training. The organising manager took me to many restaurants to savour Indonesian cuisine but I daren't take any pictures of the food as he might not share my interest for food blogging. I only managed to capture 2 pictures when the manager left the table to answer a call.

The name of the restaurant and food simply did not register in my mind, therefore I can't provide any names to this lavish looking dish. Anyway, he insisted that I should try this or my trip to Surabaya would not be considered perfect. The presentation was fine but the taste was hardly acceptable. I acually saw the others (the local) enjoying eating this dish but I found the taste to be rather weird.

The noodle set was ordered by the manager. To me, this looked far better than my own set of meal but I was assured by him that mine was the most popular dish in the restaurant.

A day before we returned to Malaysia, we received a phone call from AirAsia saying that our flight had been rescheduled to late evening. Since we did not have to leave for Juana Airport the next morning, we decided to visit something extraordinary. We proceeded to Mount Bromo to view the spectacular sunrise.

The 4-star Singgasana Hotel

Goodbye, Surabaya.

Madame Butterfly's favourite pasta

Farfalle is a type of pasta. Commonly known as "bow-tie pasta", the name is derived from Italian word farfalla (butterfly). Farfalle dates back to the 1500s. It originated in Lombardia and Emilia-Romagna in Northern Italy. Farfalle comes in several sizes, but has a distinctive boetiw shape. Usually, the farfalla is formed from a rectangle or oval of pasta with two sides trimmed in a ruffled edge, and the center pinched together to make the unusual shape. They are sometimes ridged, known as farfalle rigate. Different varieties are available; plain, tomato and spinach. These are often sold together in a mix, often with chicken. Though usable with most sauces, farfalle are best suited to cream and tomato dishes.

A packet of portobello mushroom, a can of cream, two servings of farfalle and some mixed herbs make the most perfect comfort food to kick start your morning.

Farfalle in Portobello Mushroom Sauce

Hanging out at Starbucks now...

Home alone today! Dad and Mum have gone to a wedding dinner, and there is hardly any edible stuff in the refrigerator. Ahhhhh!!! Not going to cook tonight, I looked into my wallet and found a coupon. Guess what? It's from Starbucks. With the coupon, I can redeem any drinks of any sizes for FREE! Hehe, I just love FREE stuff...

Arrived at Starbucks and saw something appealing

New Item - "Honey Orange Frappuccino Blended Coffee"

Yes! I'm going take this!

Now, this is FREE! What about food? Somehow, it's dinner time so I must order some food. Not nice to order just a cup of drink and spend the following 3 hours at the cafe. Moreover, it's FREE! What will the others think about me? STINGY lah! Alright... "Tarts and Pies" is not in the mood for hotstuff today, so forget about those pies. Let's pamper my tummy with something sinful.

Spotted this tempting devil - NOIR

Hello, my name is NOIR. I am made of a combination of chocolate cookies and chocolate cream, coated with a layer of sinfully rich ganache. I contain lots and lots of CALORIES! Take me, if you dare to...

The new item is not really that nice after all. Only a very mild scent of orange can be tasted...

I like the cake but found the ganache to be rather sticky.

Look at me and you are possessed...

Starbucks Coffee

Taiping Sentral

Another peculiar combination from "Tarts and Pies"

When an unassuming bowl of homemade wonton noodle is prepared by using whatever is available in the refrigerator, the must-ask question on the tip of everyone's tongue is inevitably: Is it any good?

The answer is: YES.

My version of wonton noodle is part of the strange mix of those "neglected" ingredients  in the fridge. This includes deep-fried dried shrimps, blanched lettuce, braised mushroom and poached egg. It's all quite confusing, and strange to find this mix of noodle in any eatery, but "Tarts and Pies" wonton noodle is one of the standouts.

The result of the strange mix?

Another yummy bowl of noodles! Hooray!

Don't compare, just tuck in.

I was addicted to Polo buns after eating a few in HK. When I returned to Malaysia, I just can't stop thinking of Polo bun particularly the very good ones served in the local coffee shops in HK. I found myself constantly craving for more Polo buns. Formerly, polo bun was in my must-order list everytime I went to Old Town Kopitiam but this item no longer fascinates me now. When I compare our local Polo bun to HK's, I finally realise that the local version fails to satisfy me anymore. Perhaps having tried the best food is not something to be proud of as other similar food will now be branded as 'not-so-good'. Below is a good example of something which was once thought to be 'nice' but no so now...

Polo Bun from Old Town Kopitiam

Old Town White Coffee ('Gao' - extra strong)

I used to like this polo bun so much. I liked its texture, taste and crispiness. The HK's Polo Bun made me realise what a real polo bun should taste like. Pillowy, fluffy and soft texture plus an extra-crispy and crumbly topping... And when the slab of cold butter melts together with the bun in your mouth, the heavenly flavour will fill the whole cavity of your mouth... Cest la vie... Trust me, Old Town Kopitiam can never give you such satisfaction but disappointment.

Conclusion: This is Malaysia, not Hong Kong! No matter how authentic some shops claim their Polo buns to be, they simply can't give me the heavenly taste like those I had in HK.

So, don't compare, just tuck in... Malaysian...

A simple dinner at Panorama Coffee House

Panorama Coffee House is the first and oldest western coffee house in Taiping. It serves mainly western cuisine at a very affordable price.

 

Panorama Seafood Salad.

A very generous serving which consists of twp types of lettuce, tomato, prawns, crab meat and pine nuts.

Spaghetti Bolognaise.

The gravy is cooked to the right consistency that gives a nice coating to every strand of the noodles. However, the gravy tasted like sweetened tomato sauce with a complete absence of herbs and spices. As for the noodles, it's definitely not al-dente.The noodle was overcooked and started to turn soggy when I ate it.

Coffee / RM1.80

Panorama Coffee House

(Panorama Hotel)

Jalan Kota

Taiping

English Afternoon Tea at La Promise

Since La Promise introduced the very first English Afternoon Tea in Taiping, I've always wanted to treat myself to this delightful afternoon tea. English afternoon tea was first made fashionable by Queen Victoria back in the 19th century (please correct me if I'm wrong). However, getting the right person to share such elegant tea experience with seems to be a challenging task. First, this person must have an afternoon to spare. Second, he or she must have a palate for dessert. I am very lucky as Ming shares my passion on tea time treat so I invited her to this delightful meal that would give us the feeling of true indulgence.

There is a selection of several types of tea but we requested for coffee as both of us do not really fancy tea. 

Our English Tea is served on a two-tier cake tray laden with dainty, bite-sized cakes, pastries and elegant finger sandwiches.

We got two types of sandwiches: tuna and egg.

There are two types of pastries: Fruit Tarts and Lemon Meringue Pies

(Clockwise from top: Blueberry cake with white chocolate shavings, Apricot Muffin, Chocolate Chip Muffin, Black Forest with chocolate shavings, Blueberry cheesecake and Raspberry cheesecake)

The afternoon tea is served daily from 2.30 - 5.00 p.m.

The entire tea experience costs RM19.90 for two persons.

La Promise Bakery & Cafe

Taiping

Start the 'balls' rolling ....

Fish ball is commonly available at street hawker stalls in Hong Kong. There are two kinds of fish balls in Hong Kong. One is smaller in size, yellow in colour, usually made with cheaper meat, and is sold on a bamboo skewer with five to seven fish balls. These type of fish balls are usually sold at food stalls. There are many stalls which support themselves just by selling this kind of fish ball, similar to hot dog stands in the United States. The fish balls can be either spicy (often called curry fish ball) or not. It is one of the most popular and representative "street foods" of Hong Kong.

Curry Fish Balls

The other kind is bigger in size, white in colour, made with more costly fish meat, and has a considerably different texture and taste. This kind of fish ball is usually eaten with noodles at restaurants, and at some Hong Kong style coffee shops, which also provide crab ball and cuttlefish ball. Readily available in traditional market and supermarket, the fish ball is also a popular ingredient for hot pot.