European Wine Bloggers Conference, Vienna

It is European Wine Blogging Conference time once again; off to Vienna to stick on the motly collection of the great as well as the great from the booze blogging world.

Last year the tour was done wholly by train; London to Lisbon around the Channel Tunnel as well as Paris as well as an overnighter, the SudExpress, by Spain to Lisbon. An sparkling small adventure pre-Wine Blogging conference, finish with thriving amounts of Champagne to lubricate the passage.

For 2010 the third European Wine Bloggers Conference is receiving place in Vienna (at the Schnbrunn Palace no less). A week end of packed full of seminars, booze tastings as well as vineyard visits awaits. Vienna is another brand brand new city for me so we hope, unlike Lisbon, to take some time out to explore it. While time constraints mean we wont be precision it all the way from London, myself as well as ol' Sleuthy fly to Munich early Thursday, spend the day there as well as then catch the sight for the four hour tour to Austrias capital. Hopefully the Taittinger will stay cold until we hit the tracks...

I've used Haidu, which brand brand new multi-faceted concept, as the pre-conference research tool - dual booze bars have been listed which appear 'must visits', whilst the Haidu repository territory hosts the array of articles by Julia Sevenich entitled an Austrian Wine Adventure tour; sounds similar to they had the explosion (an idea we am full of blood keen to replicate once we get there!)

Haidu is still the site in development; 'social features' have been still to be added as well as we still have the concern which user generated calm is either going to be sparsely provided or duplicated from particular blogs or winery websites though we do similar to the idea. It would be good if they were during the EWBC to speak by the options/concept. Mind you if the number of wines l! isted on Adegga's discussion page have been anything to go by, there won't be time for most talking!

So off to Vienna, around Munich... twittering as we go... as well as as prolonged as the camera binds out (I'm getting intermittent blunder problems), receiving photos...

Book Review & Writing Tips

Social @ KL, GTower, Jalan Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur

from Eat your heart out by Baby Sumo

We had some errands to run at Jalan Ampang, and for convenience, we parked at GTower (or G City Club Hotel). As we returned to GTower, we spotted Social @ KL as we walked into GTower's lobby. It looked like a good place for us to stop for lunch.

It's hard to miss the 5m tall "dancing chillies" bronze sculpture by award-winning artist, Kumari Nahappan in the lobby

Social @ KL is a restaurant, bar and Winepost, all in one. The Winepost boasts an extensive collection of premium wines spanning across 100 countries.

Fresh fruit on display in the signature 6 feet long fruit juice bar, the longest of its kind in Malaysia

Restaurant interior; swanky hotel lobby

The place to be, where friends meet.

I like the decor here; sleek and modern with lots of wood panelling which sets a nice ambience for dining. Judging from their a la carte menu, the food here seems to be a mixture of Western and Asian cuisine.

The waiting staff were heavily promoting their set lunches, so I tried it. Out of the 6 sets, I ordered the Charles Set (RM24.90++) since the others had seafood in them and seafood is still a big no-no for me. The food arrived in a matter of minutes after we placed our order, so the set lunch here is perfect for those wanting to grab a quick lunch.

To start, a chunky tuna salad with quail egg and balsamic vinaigrette. Although canned tuna was used here, it was nonetheless a tasty (and fresh) salad.

Next came the Spaghetti with turkey ham and button mushroom in cream sauce. It was a very generous portion and I struggled towards the end to finish it. The pasta was cooked al dente and the sauce was rich and creamy, however it was a little too salty for my liking.

And yes, most of the set lunches come with a dessert too. Although I was pretty full by then, there is always room for dessert. The strawberry shortcake was lovely, I loved the fresh sweet strawberries sandwiched in between the cake and fresh cream layers.

Hubby didn't fancy anything off the set menu, so he went a la carte. He ordered the Australian Beef Rib Eye Steak (RM49.90), cooked medium. When the steak was served, the waiting staff went as far as asking if the doneness of steak was to Hubby's liking. It was a commendable effort.

The steak was nicely cooked and was a decent piece of steak. Served with buttered vegetables, shallot brown sauce and a green salad.

Ongoing promotions at Social KL

The set lunches are priced from RM19.90 - RM29.90 and are available Mondays to Fridays from 12 noon to 3pm. All sets are served with bottomless soft drinks. For the full a la carte menu, click here. For current promotions, click here.

Verdict: The set lunches here are great value for money. We were both pretty impressed with the food and service here.

Opening times: 11am to 1am daily.

Service: Good. The waiting staff were warm and courteous.

Location: Social KL, G02 & LG02-04, GTower, 199 Jalan Tun Razak, 50400 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (GTower is next to Tabung Haji building and Ampang Park LRT station)

Tel: 03-2164 4424

Website: http://www.socialkl.com/

GPS Coordinates: 3.158867, 101.719934