Milanese influence brings new twist to Villa Danieli


TWG Tea Pavilion

TWG Tea Pavilion: Round Two. Earlier entry: May 22, 2012.

Aviator salad, essentially a Caesar with a remarkable runny egg and somewhat less remarkable, blandly palatable grilled chicken, Romaine lettuce, garlic croutons, parmesan shavings and seaweed in a lightly spiced sauce infused with Comptoir des Indes tea.

Smoked Norwegian salmon with roe and mascarpone cream cheese sprinkled with Gyokuro Samurai tea, accompanied by toasted brioche (not in photo). Good enough for what it is, though it's difficult to discern the effect of the infused tea in all these recipes.

Tea or no tea, TWG Tea's signature salad is a true treat, constructed with foie gras terrine, marinated shrimp, smoked salmon, mesclun, herb Roma tomatoes, French beans, corn and chives tossed in an 1837 Green Tea-infused vinaigrette.

Braised beef ragout with Burgundy red wine sauce infused with Singapore Breakfast tea, pearl onions and bouquet garni accompanied by steamed potatoes and baby carrots. Hearty and heartwarming.

One of the most luscious quiches ever, a French-style one filled with veggies. Tastes fabulously fresh, with a baked-that-same-day feel that inspires total confidence. Highly recommended.

Lasagna, surrounded in a moat of bolognaise ragout with Moroccan tea-infused house-made tomato-and-basil sauce. Well-executed enough to pass muster at any of KL's Italian restaurants, though for RM40, it's priced too steeply.

We might be biased toward all things egg, but saying no to truffle-laced scrambled eggs would be like declining a public holiday in favor of spending an afternoon at the office.

If meaty and moist are your only requirements for salmon, then this fillet will work fine, accompanied by green peas, carrots, cauliflower and yellow zucchini drizzled with balsamic vinegar caramel and green tea oil. It sounds more intriguing than it tastes though.

Grilled chicken brochette, flavored with wholegrain mustard and served with steamed basmati rice, capsicum and pineapple with a Timeless Tea-infused sauce. Very pleasant to munch on, though it fades in the memory almost instantly.

The story of Proust and his madeleine is indelible. TWG's madeleines, not so much.

Creme brulee. Can't complain; it's the could-be-better-but-could-be-worse sort.

Chocolate fondant. Warm cake, cold ice cream! _ match made in heaven, right.

Normandy apple tart. Pretty, and pretty tasty too, especially for fruit fans.







TWG Tea Salon,
Pavilion Shopping Mall, Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur.

Seafood Fried Rice

Seafood Fried Rice
I got this idea when I was browsinginside the Isetan Supermarket
in KLCCwith my daughter. Firstly, we went
there to purchase some books from Kinokuniya Bookstore.
Saw this lovely pre-packed seafood consists of prawns,
clams and squids. I just need to wash it. Such an easy job...
no need to peel and cut. Once in a while we need to
pamper ourselves. Hehehe.
I need to apologise for not writing down the weight of
all these ingredients because this is just an agak-agak (estimation) only.
Don't be scared if you want to agak-agak (estimate) because
to me, it is not the end of the world! Good news is that we don't
need to use so much of our brain cells to weigh and weigh and
write down.


Three bowls of cooked rice (preferably over night).
4 eggs.
Some prawns, squids and clams.


Beat eggs with dash of pepper, ! soya sau ce and salt.


Marinate the seafood with dash of pepper and salt.


Beaten eggs.


Heat up the wok with cooking oil.


Pour in all the seafood and quickly stir fry and then pour in
1/2 tablespoons of cooking rice wine.


Dish out and putat one side.



Heat up the wok with cooking oil and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.


Pour in the cooked rice and stir for a few times.


Make a hole in the middle.


Pour in the beaten eggs.


And stir fry until well combined or until the rice has the popping
sound.


Then p our in all the cooked seafood.


And stir until done and scoop out into serving plate.


My daughter and I finished all the above.

I am so happy that I have made a good decision by sending my
son to a Legal Firm as Attachment Student for 3 months (since he
is on holiday and will resume his Part 1 LLB in September 2012).
Even though he has a small allowance from the firm but to me,
the experienceand exposure are better than anything else.
This week will be his 3rd weeks and he is LOVING it.
After the 2nd week, he said "Mummy, practical is better than theory"
which one can't learnfrom college.
Now I am cracking my head where to send my daughter to?
[She is having long holiday while waiting for her Cambridge A Level, either
she will start her LLB (yeap! following her brother's foot step)
in September 2012or January 2013 Intake...she is still pondering. This girl likes to ponder a lot :]



Mishaps Happen in Ipoh Old Town Too

Dry Curry Mee @ Sun Seng Fatt, Ipoh Old Town

Now, if youre flaming at the thought of WHAT?! ANOTHER IPOH POST?!!!. please dont.

Understand that had I been granted the luxury of time, I would have combined everything into one post and moved on to food reviews from the other states.

However, the recent lapse in attention span left me incapacitated; merely bearing the energy ample to draft single-eatery posts with minimal words and practically none of the bells and whistles you usually expect from Motormouth.

By the time I gathered enough resources to write this, I am already back in Ipoh again! :)

And heres the story behind Sun Seng Fatt ..

Since 1980, Sun Seng Fatt has crafted a legacy that could rival some of the most prominent curry noodle stalls in Ipoh. (For an overdose of curry noodles, try the All About Ipohs Curry Noodles compilation)

Aside from the legendary Ma Ta Liu Curry Mee (Xin Quan Fang) and Yee Fattopposite of MGS, Sun Seng Fatt could be one of the oldest establishment in town serving their signature brand of curry noodles; with the! ir unmis takable version of curry paste that was so renowned they exported to Hong Kong some time ago, squeezed lime juice stored in a bottle, and a sambal belacan to compliment the kick.

That being said, the 2008 experience with Sun Seng Fatt was terribly marred by their horrendous beverages (really, their cham was even worse than Thean Chuns!) and lacklustre curry. However, subsequent visits (which I have neglected to bring my camera everytime) proved otherwise, with the curry mee slowly growing on me and the coffee improved leaps and bounds.

Then again, due to Thean Chun (Hall of Mirrors) only starting business at 9.30am, we had to resolve to a pre-breakfast (if theres such a term) treatment. Hence, a short walk away led us to either Nam Chau or Sun Seng Fatt.

Since my photos of Sun Seng Fatts curry mee back in 2008 did not do them justice, I thought why not write a proper review this time around.

The environment was airy, with sufficient breathing and arm space between seats, and a more comfortable lighting and ambience compared to Nam Chaus.

And the positive vibes ended there. The dry curry noodles we had were definitely below average that morning. Diluted curry paste, with nary a kick in it. The shredded chicken was tough and stuck out like sore thumbs. Bean sprouts came in an almost negligible quantity, and the worst was . they could have (or intentionally) forgotten to include the prawns in all of our servings.

Nope. Not even half a prawn was present.

The curry was falling short of their better days, when we sometimes had lunch here during office hours. I managed only slightly more than half of my portion, as towards the second half of my meal, I was only slurping on hor fun (Ipohs famous flat rice noodles) drenched in an oily gravy without any ingredients at all.

I wish I could have given them credits where theyre due, since during the previous visits (at least thrice in 2010), I was impressed by the quality of their curry noodles; injecting a refreshing intermittent alternative to Nam Chaus.

But this experience proved otherwise. The two others nodded in unison; a unanimous decision that wed better stick to Nam Chau for now.

SUN SENG FATT (non-Halal)
32, Jalan Pasar,
30000 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
Opens for breakfast until lunch only.
Closed on Fridays.
Opposite of Nam Chau, and further up from Thean Chun and Kong Heng.


I cooked: Bacon, egg and toast cups

Who likes having eggs, bacons and toast for breakfast?



This weekend, instead of the conventional way of serving it, you can try this very cute bacon, egg and toast cups. I absolutely adore the presentation, it will surely wow your fellow breakfast diners. It is very easy to put together, but one thing you need to watch for this is the cooking time. As you know, all ovens are different - if you are using a convection oven, you may want to turn off your fan setting for this, if not you will need to reduce the cooking temperature as well as cooking time. Experiment a few times and you will find your preferred doneness for the egg. I like mine with runny yolks, hence 16 minutes cooking time was just right for me (convection oven with fan turned off).



I really like this -the combination of eggs, bacon, cheese and crisp toast (plus the cuteness factor) makes this the perfect way to the start morning.




Bacon, egg and toast cups
Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 15-20 minutes (depending on how you like the doneness of your egg yolk)
Serves 6

Ingredients
3 tbsp! butter, melted
7 1/2 slices white bread
6 slices bacon
3 tbsp Parmesan cheese
6 eggs
Salt and freshly ground pepper


1. Preheat oven to 190C (375F) - if you are using a convection oven, please turn off the fan setting or your eggs will be overcooked. Otherwise, you may need to reduce the temp by about 15C.

2. In a large frying pan, cook the bacon until almost crisp (85% cooked) over medium heat, flipping once. It will continue to cook in the oven. Remove from heat and leave aside.

3. Lightly butter 6 standard muffin cup. Alternatively, you can use a 12 cup pan, leaving empty space in between.

4. With a rolling pin, flatten bread slices slightly. Cut off the crust off all the bread, then cut 6 pieces into halves. Cut the other bread into quarters (ie you need 6 quarters for the base).

5. Place 2 halves of bread into each muffin cup, overlapping slightly around the exterior to form a circle - make sure the bread comes up to edge of cup. Use the quarter piece for the base and to patch any gaps. Repeat for other 5 cups, then brush all bread cups with remaining butter.

6. Place a piece of bacon in each bread cup and then sprinkle with some Parmesan cheese (about 1/2 tsp per cup or more if you like). Crack an egg in a bowl and pour into the bread cup slowly, avoiding overspill of egg white. Season with salt and pepper.

7. Bake until egg whites just set, suggested cooking time in Martha Stewart's recipe is around 20-25 minutes however I find that this resulted in a cooked (solid) egg yolk. I prefer my egg yolk runny so I took mine out around 16 minutes, you may need to try this a couple of times til you get the exact timing for your preferred doneness.

8. Run a small knife around cups to loosen toasts. Serve immediately with some fresh cherry tomatoes, which go nicely with the bacon, egg and toast cups.





9. Alternatively, you can also make a "baked egg version" by beating your eggs with some salt, pepper and 1 tbsp milk and then pouring over the bacon and Parmesan. For this, bake for 18-20 minutes. Instead of bacon, you can also substitute with ham if you like.