The Red Beanbag, Solaris Dutamas, KL

Over the last year, Solaris Dutamas / Publika has transformed into a foodie heaven with many excellent restaurants and bars. We had to come here to run some errands and decided to grab lunch atThe Red Beanbag, which has been highly rated by other bloggers and friends.

The Red Beanbag is a modern contemporary Australian-inspired cafe, located just behind the big stage in front of Publika's entrance, on the same level as Nathalie's Gourmet Studio. The interior is cosy, with lots of quirky touches here and there. They operate an open kitchen concept here, though only 2 tables get a view of the kitchen. I have read that it often gets very busy here on weekends, since we were here on a weekday we didn't have problems getting a table but it was still rather busy. The crowd was not just limited to youngsters, but also the older generation (saw some men in their 50s or 60s), it is a place loved by all ages ;)

The LOVE bear

Open kitchen

Dance baby dance!

Some outdoor seating outside to enjoy a coffee

The cafe's menu varies from soups to steaks to breakfast dishes to desserts. We just wanted a light bite as we were getting macarons later, so we picked one item each from the menu. Hubby had the creamy wild mushroom soup with a touch of truffle oil (RM15). This was really good - I kept stealing spoonfuls of soup, promising Hubby half of my meal later ;P Lots of chunky bits of mushroom, and the soup was indeed rich and creamy.

To distract myself from eating the soup, I take photos instead :P!

DONE!

I had their recommended item, Eggs Atlantic v2.0 (RM17.90), two poached eggs served with Hollandaise sauce, asparagus, mushrooms, smoked salmon and two pieces of French toasted bread. In theory, all these should have worked really well together, however, the eggs tasted too strongly of vinegar (that is used for poaching) and was rubbery in texture. It was still runny though. The smoked salmon also tasted past its best.

Funky robot at Publika

Verdict: I do like the ambiance here at The Red Beanbag, will come back to try their Classic French Toast at another time.

Join their Facebook page here.

Opening times: Tue - Fri: 10:00 am-10:00 pm; Sat - Sun: 9:30 am-10:00 pm. Closed on Mondays.
Service: Good.

Location: The Red Beanbag, A4-1-08, Solaris Dutamas,Jalan Dutamas, 50490 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Tel:03-6211 5116

GPS Coordinates: 3.1711, 101.66583

Pudu Wai Sek Kai - Seafood Congee

The Glutton Street of Pudu, Kuala Lumpur @ Jalan Sayur, starts only in the evening.This stall attracted me for a challenge of a bowl of porridge.The vendors are elderly people, the skinny one stirring the congee to perfection while the rest were busy with their roles for another day of business.I opted for a seafood porridge.There were lala clams, prawns, crab sticks and fish fillet, the taste of the hot porridge was superb. As I patiently scooped layer by layer to enjoy the goodness of this RM4.50 porridge.Seat for Congee customers.It was a lovely cyclo-food hunt in Pudu.As the sun sets, the crowd creeps in for a creation of an unique ambiance of a food paradise in Kuala Lumpur.

Wai Sek Kai (Glutton Street)

Jalan Sayur

Pudu

Kuala Lumpur

GPS :3.135077,101.712874

Ozeki Italian Cuisine @ Cosway

Ozeki Italian Cuisine: Round Three. Earlier entries: July 11 and August 1.

It's always fun to open the bread basket that kicks off each meal at Ozeki Italian, uncertain what lies within. This time: fresh tomato bread and soft, warm charcoal buns.

Nope, these isn't salmon-wrapped sushi. It's Parma ham blanketing each rice ball, mixed with Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, olive oil and coarse black pepper. Fun fusion!

Pork head meat terrine with vegetable pickles illustrates the adventurous nature of this eatery.

Risotto, resolutely like no other in KL, served on a sizzling pan with steamed Japanese oysters (so succulent), Parmigiano cheese and assorted mushrooms.

Ozeki has a little lamb, its fleece is white as snow _ but wait, that's not fleece!

The lamb rack here is presented with a flourish _ cooked in sakura leaf-flavored pizza dough and served with caponata and pommery mustard dipping sauce.

Fatty, perhaps too much so. Though not as gamy as many might fear.

Ozeki's playful creativity extends to desserts like the green tea tiramisu ...

... as well as the ginger ice cream with fruits, gre! en beans and maple syrup.

Sure, there's shochu. And sake and wine, though cocktails have vanished from the menu.

Ozeki Italian Cuisine,
Wisma Cosway, Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03-2148-9390
Open daily for lunch and dinner.

Thai Tea Parfait with Thai Tea Crunch and Lemon Mascarpone

Oh, managed to squeeze in for Aspiring Bakers #23, Desserts on a Plate.

Something different this time. Actually, none of these items on the plate, are baked. Theyre cooked, brewed, chilled and frozen. I usually tend to have something baked on a plate, but Christina Tosi from Momofuku Milk Bar isundoubtedlya genius in her world; pairing parfait, mascarpone and a crunch! textures, textures, textures!

And because we share the same love for Thai tea, I decided that, I had to make this dish. I have this immense love for Thai black tea, the aroma to be exact. Its very perfumy,in a good way oh please and theres just something very yummy about it, I cannot explain why. Ive used matcha (green tea), earl grey and the normal black tea in desserts, but I wasnt too crazy over them. LOL Maybe downright I wasnt a tea person.

So, anyway, as I was looking for Thai tea here in Malaysia, its almost impossible to find it! I had to ask Pook of dailydelicious if she could send me a packet, in exchange with something from Malaysia? But she was very kind and nice to send me a packet. That was a couple of months ago (in May actually) I had another awesome cake planned for using Thai tea, but I just never got around doing it. Ha Ha ha. Well, I better now!

Plated desserts are like having recipes within a recipe. Some even a recipe within a recipe for another recipe. Just like the crunch, its s! omewhat similar to a crumble, but non baked. Something simple, with the addition of not so homey ingredient, feuilletine. Talking abt feuilletine, I actually got mine from Stella of BraveTart.. Remember the real condensed milk ? So, how international can this dish get? LOL Surely, I have to thank both Pook and Stella for them sending yummy goodies from their country.

See the difference between both? the one on the left, is a store bought feuilletine, which I think most of them are.. The one on the right is made by Stella. More caramelized and more crunch. I had to mix both as I made double portion of the thai tea crunch, and I didnt have enough of Stellas feuilletine.

Taking the usual suspects out, this dish is actually very simple to make. Parfait, curd and another mix-in-everything-together crunch. Parfait is somewhat like ice cream, but doesnt require churning. Usually with a custard mix and whipped cream for the airy texture that you get from a churned ice cream; but lesser. This one does have a little icy texture theres water to brew the Thai Tea. But still yummy non the less. Could have used more for a MORE INTENSE colour

In Milk Bar cookbook, the parfait was as dark as the! picture above, the one before I mixed in together with the cream and (suppose to be sour cream, but I used) greek yogurt. In this parfait, there was gelatin sheet used. Even in the curd, Tosi uses 1 gelatin sheet as well. For ice cream made in Milk Bar, Tosi mentioned that because it doesnt contain eggs(for the custard), gelatin is used as a thickening agent and keeps it from melting too quickly when scooping on a sundae, or from freezing too hard once stored in the freezer overnight. In her recipe of Thai tea parfait, sweetened condensed milk and store bought dulce de leche also acts as a binder and to provide dept of flavour. She uses tamarind paste as well, but I dont use tamarind at home, at all, so I wasnt all excited to go out and get just 6g of it

I loved the parfait, it could perhaps use a tiny bit more of tea. The thai tea crunch was quite intense as well so the lemon mascarpone worked pretty well to balance them both, otherwise one might be overdosed with Thai black tea Great refreshing dessert.

Thai Tea Parfait with Thai Tea Crunch and Lemon Mascarpone

Print

There is quite alot of recipes here. Do read all before proceeding.

Author: Adapted from Christina Tosi of Milk Bar

Recipe type: Dessert

Serves: 4

Ingredients

Thai Tea Parfait

• 100g water
• 10g Thai tea leaves (I had those blended already)
• 1 gelatin sheet (or 3g powdered gelatin bloom in 1 tbsp cold water)
• 75g sweetened condensed milk
• 16g store bought dulce de leche (I used store bought caramel)
• 6g tamarind paste (of which I excluded)
• 1g salt
• 75g whipping cream
• 35g greek yogurt (original recipe uses sour cream)

Lemon Mascarpone

• 1 lemon
• 50g sugar
• 2 eggs
• gelatin sheet (or 1.5g powdered gelatin bloomed in tbsp water)
• 58g cold butter, diced
• 1g salt
• 50g mascarpone cheese

Thai Tea Crunch

• 15g silvered almonds
• 55g almond butter (I mixed half almond paste and butter)
• 30g icing sugar
• 2g salt
• 8g Thai black tea leaves
• 0.25g citric acid (I substitute with a squeeze of lime)

Instructions

Thai Tea Parfait

Combine water and tea leaves in a blender and blend on high for 10 seconds. Let mixture steep for 30 minutes. Straight liquid through a fine sieve into a small bowl.

Bloom gelatin. If using sheet, soak in cold water for a couple of minutes till soft, if using powder, bloom in cold water, then reheat and melt it.

Heat tea in a small saucepan until warm. Add bloomed gelatin and stir till gelatin has fully dissolved.

Pour into a medium bowl, whisk in condensed milk, dulce de leche, tamarind paste (if using) and salt till fully incorporated.

Put bowl in the fridge for about 20 minutes, whisking it every 5 minutes or so. The consistency should be thick, but not set. At the last 2 minute, whip cream till medium peak, add in yogurt (or sour cream if youre using that)

Fold the tea mixture and cream together and pour into prepared moulds. Set in the freezer for 3 hours or overnight.

Lemon Mascarpone

Make lemon cur! d. Zest lemon into a bowl. Add in 40g lemon juice, sugar. Whisk till blended. Add in egg and whisk till foamy. You can put in the blender and whizz it.

Bloom gelatin (refer tips above)

Heat lemon mixture oven bain marie, whisking regularly. It will begin to thicken.

Add in bloomed gelatin, butter and salt and blend until mixture is thick, shiny and smooth.

Pour mixture through a fine-mesh sieve and put in the fridge until set, about 30 mins.

Once set and cold, lightly beat it in a mixing bowl (or a spatula by hand). Add in mascarpone and mix till combined.

Becareful on this one as they both can split easily. dont overmix here.

Thai Tea Crunch

Heat oven to 170 C. Put silvered almonds on a sheet pan and toaste in the oven for 15 minutes. Cool.

Lightly bash the almonds to smaller pieces, but not grounded.

Combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix with a beater on low speed for 1 minute until homogenous.

Crunch can be stored in an airtight container at room temp for 5 days or 2 weeks in the fridge.

Assembly

Remove parfait from mould and cut to desired size. Put back in the freezer to set.

Scoop lemon mascarpon onto the plate, and use the back of a spoon to schmear across the center. Place some Thai tea crunch over the top. Place the parfait and sprinkle a little more crunch at the side and some on top.

Decorate with edible flowers (or mint leaves)

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I am submitting this to Aspiring Bakers #23, Desserts on a Plate, hosted by me

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LaLa Clam Bihun & Bitter Gourd Koay Teow @ Air Panas

Air Panas has been famous for its Hennessy Lor Mee, the food court is now housed temporarily at this site and awaiting a new food court to be erected. These stalls were previously operating on a site next to it which has been demolished for a new one.Good food with a miserable banner to attract customers, anyway it's already well known to most people especially those in Setapak region.The wok was not really ready at 9am but it was in another half an hour time.Our crave to savour the bitter fried Koay Teow wasimminentand it was gorgeous.The LaLa clam bihun was power in the sense of rice wine, the aroma was strong and the taste wasmagnificent.

Hennessy Lor Mee

Air Panas Food Court (Temporary)Air Panas (opposite DBKL Market)

Kuala Lumpur

012-624-7610

GPS :3.189293,101.718021

Malaysia International Gourmet Festival 2012 its NOW!

Every year in October I religiouslydid my rounds for almost all of the restaurants that participated in the MIGF . 2012 marked my 3rd year, and in preparation I have doubled my gym and runs sessions to accommodate the additional calories as I eat my way through some creatively crafted menus by some of the top chefs in the country!

Malaysia International Gourmet Festival marks 30 days of gluttony gourmet pursuits, starting 1st to 30th October where chefs of selected restaurants from hotels or stand-aloneestablishments craft their best menus to best showcase their culinary skills.

This years line-up of participating restaurants list does look promising.There are the veterans such as Sunway group of hotels, Al Amar and Mandarin Oriental while new ones from Best Western Sentral and Ten Japanese Cuisine showed showcased pretty exciting menus as well.

It was a grand affair, the gala launch, as it has been every year. As usual I stuffed myself silly, tasting samples from each station and checking their menu.! Below a re the menus from each outlet, as well as snippets or pictures of the food if I managed to snap some decent shots. Enjoy! Circus and Al Amar International and Lebanese cuisine at its finest.

The lamb at Al Amar is legendary. And whats Lebanese without its baklava and sweets?

A newcomer into the scene, Best Western Sentral has just opened its doors a few months ! back. He aded by a rather cheery chef, Grill 582 specialises in meat and seafood. Im a huge fan of MEAT; lets see ifI can fit a dinner here in the first 2 weeks of October.

For French food, one must visit Nathalies Gourmet Studio at least once. I recalled those times where I would visit Nathalie Gourmet Studio, Solaris Dutamas rather religiously every month since her menu changes every 4 weeks. Her current outlet in Menara Taipan KL is not one of my favourite areas so I have stopped going since. Perhaps its time for a re-visit.

And who can forget Nathalies macarons?

I was very impressed with Ten Japanese Cuisine when they first opened in Solaris Dutamas. They have just shifted over to Marc Residences on Jalan Pinang, to a bigger and better venue they say; and to serve an even largerdemographicsof clientele.

I tasted some of their samples that night and loved all of it! Perhaps Ten should be on my MIGF list of restaurants to visit!

These Yuzu sorbet with champagne was a delight!

Im heading to The Westin for sure. Prego, Qba Latin Bar and Grill and 5senses are all involved in the MIGF this year.

Qba Latin Bar and Grills menu sounds amazing; Master Kobe sirloin, Cuban beef, Peruvian chowder, churros with hot chocolate. Mamma mia! Count me in for this one!

For Italian, one cant go wrong with Prego. Squid ink potato gnocchi and wine braised veal cheeks sounds tempting no?

Last but not least, the newly rebranded Five Sen5es serves the best of refined chinese cuisine.

Fancy some Korean? The new kid in town Onsemiro Korean Fine Dining might satisfy your cravings.

Im hopping in The Restaurant for my favourite Chef Alexanders menu tonight. He owed me foie gras ice cream for a VERY long time. Finally I shall have it! And perhaps I shall visit Chef Fillipo for a taste of Sicily too?

Say hi to both good looking chefs!

The current humid weathe! r warran ts a drive up Genting Highlands. Cool weather and good food always makes life rosier yes?

The chef himself seems rather accomplished and I had a taste of his Portobello Carpaccio that night which was deceptively simple but very delicious!

The 2nd restaurant from the Genting group is Imperial Rama. Guinea fowl and sturgeon fish are definitely uncommon compared to the rest of the MIGF menus.

Every year I was intrigued with The Pomelo; an advocate of healthy living and cuisine but I have yet to visit til today. Maybe this year I might just make a trip.

I believe Grand Dorsett is a newcomer into the MIGF scene. Their menu certainly looks fit for an emperor with luxe items such as bird nest, cordyceps and ginseng.

Mandarin Oriental Hotel is back with 2 of its signature outlets showcasing their best menus. Mandarin Grill tempts me with rabbit loin and black angus while Chef Ricky Thien from Lai Po Heen seems to have pulled out all the stops with offerings such as Double-boiled Kungfu Soup with premium dried seafood cordyceps and Steamed Dragon Grouper Roll.

Im less familiar with Renaissance Hotel as Ive only been there once last year for their Venezuelan feast week. Sagano has always been said to serve pretty decent Japanese food while frankly, I have hardly ever heard of Dynasty; whether for its pure Chinese cuisine or its dim sum.

For Malay fine dining, Enak KL should suit the bill for this year.

The Royale Chulan in Kuala Lumpur featured 2 of its restaurant this year. I went for LHeritages MIGF in 2010 and came away rather unimpressed. This year however, the SwissAmbassador is overseeing the menu so Im sure the food would be more palatable! My previous experience with his cooking here >Fritz Tschantrefrom Switzerland.

Fritz Tschantrefrom Switzerland.

Sampling that night: Gooey hot Swiss cheese and pickles!

Heres the menu for Bunga Emas of The Royal Chulan Hotel which offers Malaysian cuisine albeit with a modern twist.

Other than TEN Japanese Dining, the lesser known Kofuku Japanese Cuisine atSeri Pacific Hotel Kuala Lumpur has a decent menu to satisfy your Japanese cravings. I havent dined there before so I cant offer any personal recommendations.

Italian, Japanese and Chinese fare dominates MIGF menus this year. Well, one cant deny the popularity of these cuisines! Nerovivo takes the representative flag for The Nero Group this year with veal rump (yums!) and Neromisu theircreatively branded! dessert .

Neromisu anyone?

The Sunway Group of Hotels has been an avid supporter of the MIGF 2012 every year.

West Lake Garden, their famed Chinese restaurant (I love their mooncakes!) is back with some reallysumptuous items being featured in their dishes.

New OrleansBar & Grill is the place to ! go for d ishes that embody trueNew Orleansflavour, culture and jazz music and just recently they have launched theirweekly Jazz series which will continue through November and December; bringing soulful entertainment to this part of the city, and rewarding guests with an excellent blend of Jazz, Swing, Blues, Latin, Rock, Fusion, Funk, Soul and other genres, amidst distinctive Continental Brasserie-style cuisine.

The Berjaya Group is represented by Sampings on the Fourteenth. What the hell is home smoked balik style salmon??

Yesterday night was my first MIGF menu review. The Makan Kitchen at DoubleTree Hilton had a very clever menu throwing together the best of Malay, Indian and Chinese influences. Watch out for my post on it!

There you have it! The Malaysia International Gourmet Festival 2012!
Thats a lot isnt it? Im certainly looking forward tomore culinary surprises for the next 30 days!

So what do you think? Which restaurant is most likely your choice if you have to choose ONE? Tell me!
Perhaps I should do ! a giveaw ay on my blog for a dinner for you at a restaurant of your choice? Yay or nay?