Set Lunch @ Kin No Mizu Japanese Dining, The Intermark, Kuala Lumpur

We had to pop by The Intermark to collect the Makan Kitchen dining vouchers that we won from Doubletree Hilton KL as part of their 1st year anniversary celebration. Whilst in the vicinity, we took the opportunity to sample the set lunch at Kin No Mizu Japanese Dining. There was quite a huge variety of set lunches to choose from, plus an extensive a la carte menu. We settled for the classic dishes; tempura udon set and unagi kabayaki set. Both sets came with an appetizer, chawanmushi and a fresh fruit platter.

The appetizer was served first before the main meal arrived. If I'm not mistaken, it's burdock root with carrots and sesame seeds. Quite simple, but I enjoyed it.

A crunchy appetizer

I was glad that they served the tempura separately from the udon, since many places would serve the tempura atop the noodles, making the tempura batter soggy. The springy noodles was served with a clear dashi broth, so simple but yet satisfying and comforting. The tempura batter was light and the prawns were very fresh and pretty sizeable. Plus with this set, I also got a set of 6 tuna sushi.. very good value for money indeed. For some reason, they forgot to serve a dipping sauce for the tempura, but this was quickly rectified by the staff, upon request.

Tempura udon set (RM28)

A comforting bowl of udon noodles

Nice tempura

Tuna sushi

Silky smooth chawanmushi

Hubby had the Unagi Kabayaki Set (RM45) which came with a miso soup, rice and pickles. The unagi was grilled to perfection, slightly caramelised skin which was lovely to eat. The portion was satisfyingly big.

Delicious grilled unagi

Dim blue lighting

If you're a Digi customer, do flash your mobile screen to get 2 FREE scoops of gr! een tea or black sesame ice-cream worth RM16. Unfortunately for us we didn't notice this deal until we left the restaurant.

Verdict: The set lunches here are quite good value for money. You will also get 2-hours complimentary parking when dining in any restaurants within The Intermark building.

Full set of photos available to view here.

Opening times: 12.00pm - 3.00pm; 6.00pm - 10.30pm.

Service: Good.

Location: Kin No Mizu Japanese Dining, Lot 211, Level 2, The Intermark, 182 Jalan Tun Razak, 50400 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Tel: 03-2166 2888

GPS Coordinates: 3.16162, 101.719670

An Express meal you will want to linger over

Moutabel is eggplant with tahini, and pomegranate seeds... a great starter. Pictures by Eu Hooi Khaw

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 17 Whenever anybody mentions Lebanese food, I am always reminded of the first Lebanese restaurant in Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur, many years ago. I remember getting into a sort of Bedouin tent and having a feast inside. Since then, Lebanese food and other Middle-Eastern cuisines have become more familiar to me.

Its a different experience though at Al-Amar Express, a casual Lebanese diner in front of Fahrenheit 88 (the former KL Plaza). Its got glass walls, and a half open-air concept, which gives you a clear view of the more formal Al-Amar Restaurant in the Pavilion Kuala Lumpur across the road. You feel the throb of the city as you dine, and do some people watching at the same time.

This platter of beef and chicken chawarma is bursting with flavour.

First the drinks Lebanese beer and wines then the shisha was offered. Two among us took it up and tried to puff away, and one ended feeling quite high (possibly through lack of oxygen)! I watched the cloud of smoke enveloping the face of the Al-Amar man trying to get the shisha going.

I always enjoy the starters in a Lebanese or any Middle-Eastern meal. They are so satisfying that I could be quite happy not having the main courses. Here we had the delicious Moutabal, a smoky eggplant and tahini (sesame paste) dip with a well of olive oil and pomegranate seeds which we ate with Lebanese bread. The pomegranate seeds delivered a lovely sweet punch to it.

The Hommos was just as lovely whole chick peas soaked in olive oil varied the texture of this chickpea paste and tahini dip that was so thick and creamy.

Getting the shisha going is not an easy job!

You must eat the Tabbouleh here it has mellow, balanced flavours, a mix of bulgur wheat, chopped cucumber, tomato, cucumber, parsley and mint.

Labneh is Lebanese cream cheese made of strained yoghurt topped with olive oil, and resembles hommos in appearance. It has a sharp tartness that makes you reach out for the Lebanese bread to soothe your palate.

Likewise the Warak Enab or vine leaf rolls filled with rice, tomato and parsley that were too tart and salty. But in between we ate some small savoury pastries that restored some balance to the palate, such as the cheese rolls that squirted out melted cheese, Spinach Fatayer filled with baby spinach, onions and lemon zest, and Beef Sambousik stuffed with spiced minced beef.

So far we had had an almost vegetarian, healthy, refreshing start. The mains were about meat, whether chawarma style, in sausage form in baguettes or beef and lamb patties in burgers. We also shared a very cheesy pizza and an exceptional roast chicken.

Chawarma is about meat grilled and hung from a spit and sliced thinly. We had some beef and chicken chawarma served with small pickled cucumbers and onions, tomato, French fries and a tartare dip. The tender meat delivered a whoosh of spiced flavours. If you just order this, it is a delightful, complete meal.

The Al-Amar burger has a minced lamb and beef patty topped with a slice of cheddar cheese and grilled onion, which you should slather with the brown garlic sauce. Altogether it makes a juicy, tasty burger. In between bites, you could have some fries and coleslaw at the side.

Meats are always well-seasoned with spices here, and the lamb sausage in the baguette is no exception. It could do with a bit less salt though.

Pick up a slice of the hot Manakeesh or pizza, and threads of lovely melted mozzarella and bulgari cheese refuse to be disentangled. Its topping is of spiced chicken and thin slices o! f kafta.

The luscious creme caramel here is worth trying.

Al-Amars roast chicken is well-known. Its seasoned with garlic, bay leaves and spices before roasting, and the skin is crispy. It comes to the table covered with a thin Lebanese bread, which you eat with this delicious chicken, fries, pickles and garlic sauce. The caf should be doing a lot of takeaways with this roast chicken.

It has a promising dessert menu as well. Try the Achtalieh, a Lebanese milk pudding with banana slices at the bottom, and ground pistachios on top that is so heavenly. Scented with rose water, it tastes like a very smooth pannacotta.

The Crme Caramel gets my vote too, for its superb texture, and balanced flavours. It was not too sweet.

I was wowed by the ice-cream the pistachio one, and the vanilla ice-cream, made with vanilla bean. The strawberry sorbet was zippy, with pure fruit.

Its inexpensive eating here. The appetisers are from RM10 to RM12, Chawarma RM26, Al Amar Burger RM25, Lebanese pizza RM16, whole roast chicken RM26, desserts RM12.

Al-Amar Express is located in front of Fahrenheit 88, Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur (Tel: 03-2141-3814).

Nominate me for The Foodbuzz Blog Awards!

The nominations have just opened last night for Featured Publishers to nominate food blogs around the blogosphere!

Above are the category of awards, for which I am submitting myself for Best Single Topic Blog.

So support me and vote (if you can!) and thanks to all the soup supporters!

To vote, as a featured publisher, you should have received an email to click on a link (unfortunately, I already clicked on mine so I cant show you as it wont let me click twice!)

Lisa

MIGF 2011 Festival Menu @ Lafite, Shangri-La Hotel KL

Festival Chef: Chef Georg Schroppel

My comments: Lafite, Shangri-La Hotel KL has remained on the forefront of KL fine dining scene amidst stiff competition from newer fine dining establishments.
Chef Georg Schroppel has been at helm for close to 2 years (the last I dined here was during MIGF 2010 menu review HERE which was a year ago & I know he has came into Lafite way before then) & he hasadmirably bought positive changes in his way of cooking & his menu.

I was impressed with my MIGF 2010 Sous Vide Cooked Milk-Fed Baby Limousine Lamb, and now Im wondering whether a re-visit is in order for 2011 !

***

Festival Menu

*Cauliflower Torte
Thai Green Asparagus Salad, Green Asparagus Mousse, Caviar
Wine: Pinot Grigio,! San Ang elo, Castello Banfi, 2009

*Pan-seared Scottish Diver Scallops
Sweet Wine-braised Belgian Endive
Wine: Pinot Grigio, San Angelo, Castello Banfi, 2009

Butter Poached Boston Lobster
Young Leek Fondue, Foie Gras, Pomme Maxim, Black Truffle Sauce
Wine: Chablis Reserve, Domaine De Vaudon, 2009

Jellied Green Apple Potage
Champagne sorbet, candied apple

*Australian Hill Side Lamb Loin
Brussels sprouts, fine ratatouille, hazelnut polenta, thyme jus
Wine: Pinot Noir, Cloudy Bay, Marlborough, 2009

*Delice of Raspberry and Gianduja Chocolate
Bitter chocolate flex, raspberries, vanilla cream,
chocolate sponge cake, vanilla ice cream
Wine: Vin Santo del Chianti Classico, Barone Ricasoli, Castello di Brolio, 2004

Full Festival Menu: RM486++ with wine, RM318++ without wine
*Light Festival Menu: RM358++ with wine, RM258++ without wine

***

Festival Offers

Block Bookings
Book more than 6 seats and enjoy 10% discount ! for your Festival meal.

Beverage Offers
Enjoy 25% discount on all cocktails at Arthurs Bar & Grill after your dinner (only available on the night of the restaurant visit).

For reservations:

LAFITE, Shangri-la Hotel

Address

Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur

11, Jalan Sultan Ismail, 50250 Kuala Lumpur

Phone

+603-2074 3900

Antipodean @ Telawi, Bangsar

My dear friend, Janis, has been expressing how much she loved Flat White from Antipodean, and so, when she brought another mutual friend, Chloe, to try this out, I collectively received good feedback from these 2 coffee connoisseur.

Did some search online on blogs for this place, and somehow, the food and place looked really enticing. My chi-muis agreed to meet up here, and so we had our dinner together.

I liked the setting of Atmosphere, with cool use of black and red. And it was surely apparent, that they are serious about coffee. Info I gathered from KLue is that they uses quality coffee beans roasted by Indonesia's top specialty roaster, Merdeka Coffee, which is a boutique coffee company dedicated to sourcing, selecting and roasting the best Indonesian coffee. With its fair-trade policy, they only purchase their coffee from small Indonesian growers

Inside Antipodean

1st thing to order - Flat White.. Finally get to taste! Me too really liked this, like the 'kau'-ness (thickness) in the coffee (as some flat white I tried elsewhere, are usually rather bland), and just the right after-taste feeling, of the coffee lingering within.

Flat White

Order are to be made from the big size menu ie. as written on the 'blackboard' wall. Just thought that they should also have hand-out menu, for easy reference.

< a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMniE5uNBynTawoty0Fxbny3hYKSr0ltWpAzPmiRjcX95uVPFSzR25IVgjhQ176VmuFjzANl-iiVhl-FcGt_V4K5zvU2YN9k9s0yRM_rASPmFNzEFvmFhmrJc_3K44ERbQkRI4TZfym4Y/s1600/P1330161.JPG">Antipodean's menu

They have decent amount of selections, but confined to limited choices within a selection. Eg, they sell pasta, but there isn't many types of pasta dishes to choose from. Well, suppose this is acceptable, as long as what's offered is good.

Breakfast is served throughout the day, and thus we ordered the Big Breakfast. Came with toast, choice of bacon, chicken, beef or pork sausage, mushroom, scrambled egg, and hash brown. We took the pork sausage, which was tasty, and I super loved the saute-mushroom, which was saute to perfection, and just liked chewing and feeling the texture of the mushroom. :)

Big Breakfast. Price-RM18

This has to be my No 1 favorite Asian salad. The sauce that came with this plate of salad was really yummy.. It has the right balance of sourish taste, which made everything that went along with it, tasted so good, even the fried onion was good... It has quite a fair bit of shredded chicken too.

Burmese shredded chicken salad. Price-RM15

We placed the rest of the orders, after Jane arrived, ! the 'ver y-soon' mummy-to-be.

The pasta (conchiglie) has this chewiness, that somehow went pretty well with the feta cheese. The pumpkin, too, fills in as the right combination with this pasta dish, and it was sweet.. Nice! Gives a feeling of 'healthy' despite having feta cheese in this dish.

Pumpkin, sage and feta cheese pasta. Price-RM17

I took a bite of this croissant, scramble egg with bacon. I liked the open sandwich style, as it gives us the impression, wow, there's so much to eat.. In fact, nothing will not taste good taken with bacon, as bacon has the natural aroma and saltiness that perks up your appetite.

Croissaint, scrambled egg with bacon. Price-RM16

We too had the grilled chicken with tomatoes, green bean, and balsamic vinegar... The chicken was tender, and carried a level of sweetness (think was marinated with honey as well), and topped with the balsamic vinegar, 'perfecto'!.

Grilled chicken with tomatoes, green bean, and balsamic vinegar. Price-RM18

Lots of packed coffee, ready to go

A small area for the kids. Parents will surely appreciate this corner, to keep their children a little busy

We somehow will make 'special' effort to meet, prior to a chi-mui close to giving birth (same case with Rina the other time, but too bad, she could not join us this round). Can't wait to see the little Jane popping out.. must be as good looking as the parents.. :)

From L : Jo, me, Jane, Clarice

Antipodean Cafe

20, Jalan Telawi 2, Bangsar.
Tel: 03-2282-0411

Business hours :
8am-10pm

Sen-Ya

Boasting a menu created by Harunobu Inukai (the former executive chef of the Sydney Observatory Hotel's award-winning Galileo Restaurant), this Japanese bistro is one of the main attractions at KLCC's Isetan FoodMarket.

Cold, creamy soba salad. Chef Inukai holds impressive credentials, having trained at Osaka's Tsuji Cooking School and worked under Joel Robuchon at Tokyo's Taillevent Robuchon Chateau before embarking for Australia, where he now resides.

Teriyaki chicken with rice. Sen-Ya's offerings are available for both dine-in & takeaway, but it's best to eat everything fresh here. However, seats won't be easy to secure at peak hours, since this outlet fits barely 30 customers.

Spider Maki, comprising lots of soft-shell crab paired with crab sticks (more stuffing than rice!). Topped with Japanese chili powder for a mild but unexpected kick.

Chicken katsu with curry sauce. It's all familiar fare, well-executed though not mind-blowing, since the focus is on casual shoppers instead of serious diners.

Sen-Ya,

Isetan Food Market, Concourse Level, Suria KLCC, Kuala Lumpur.

Pistachio Macarons

After Laduree opened I had the urge to try out the various attempts to make macarons. And failed miserably.

Then I saw Anne Thornton's recipe. I'll be brutally honest, at first she didn't impress me. I know she has an inner fun goofball that is dying to get out. Then I would like her better. But then I tried her macaron recipe. I LOVE HER.

It worked. It actually worked. I used her suggestions to make pistachio ones. Prepare for an onset of macaron recipes.

Few notes: make sure the egg whites come to room temperature. They whip up faster that way. A pastry bag is really needed for piping them. My ziplock exploded which is why they look more like whoopie pies than macarons. And finally, depending on how lazy you are feeling, the filling can be made with store bought or homemade ingredients. Your choice.

Pistachio Macarons

Recipe by Anne Thornton

What you need:

1 1/4 cup almond meal

1 3/4 confectioner's sugar

3 egg whites, at room temperature

3 tablespoons meringue powder

Green food coloring

Cream cheese frosting (homemade or store bought)

Ground Pistachios or pistachio pudding mix

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 300 F. Sift together the almond meal and confectioner's sugar. In a bowl with an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on l! ow speed until they become foamy. Then sprinkle in the meringue powder and increase the speed to medium high. The egg whites will start to expand and become marshmallow like. At this point add the green food coloring and beat some more until stiff peaks form. To check this, take off the whisk attachment and see if the meringue curls over.

Carefully fold in third of the dry ingredients into the meringue, not deflating any of the stiff peaks. Once it is completely combined fold in the next third then fold in the last third. Put the meringue in a pastry bag or a plastic ziplock bag with a corner cut off. Pipe 1 inch round circles onto a cookie sheet with parchment paper. You'll need two cookie sheets. With wet hands, smooth over the tops of the cookies. Allow them to sit for 30-60 minutes.

Once they are done sitting, bake for exactly 15 minutes. When they are cooling, make the filling by combining the cream cheese frosting with whichever pistachio medium you have chosen. Frost one side of the cookie and sandwich it with another.

Cat Land Cat Party

Im not sure if Im completely mortified by whats about to happen, or if Im giddy with excitement.

Im leaning towards completely mortified. This is the part where you have hard evidence that Im weird. Theres no denying my CatLady status now.

I made my cat a birthday cake. Im about to tell you about it. Run away now, if you must. Ill understand.

What is to follow is the life of this young feline, Jules (Cat) Stevens. Its complex and it ends in an ugly yellow bow. Welcome to my life.

This is the creature that I lived with this last year. I still live with a version of this creature youll see what happens towards the end.

But this creature this creature had a passion for sunny windows, and a love for his mother (thats me, DUH) like no other.

This creature grew. Found his voice. Started yelling

and never wanted to stop yelling. He has a lot to say mostly about how he wants to go outside, and what he wants to eat.

Sometimes he wants to eat his own tail while sitting in my camera bag. Hes being cute for dramatic effect. I feed him actual food.

At some point early this year, this young man started to get weird. Exhibit A.

He got really weird.

You know I can still see you kitten, right?

He found awesome things to lay on and next to.

And I love his striped tail.

He looks so sweet and innocent.

He looks so curious and rugged.

But do not let this wet animal fool you.

He is a monster. He will hunt you down and swipe your leg. If you are moving, he is hunting you.

This kitten has the soul of a warrior. Hes ruthless, and he loves when your feet move under the covers.

Go on move em.

Attack!

Hes been waiting all night for your to roll over in your sleep. Aaaaalllll night. Sucka.

I love this animal. He has an attitude. He can be a jerk.

But!

Everyday he sits between my desk and the front door like a little, furry guard. If the front bell rings, hes at the door faster than any dog Ive seen. I like to think thats hed scratch an attackers eyes out (unless that attacker had cat treats). Hes my little kitty jerk.

Because I love this creature, I created Cat Land for his first birthday.

Cat Land is a collection of my cats favorite toys. As you see. most of these things are in fact NOT toys. They are considered toys to my jerk of an animal.

He loves to eat my earphones. Nothing is more enjoyable than running toilet paper all over the house. He loves to test water by placing his paw inside of my water glass, he likes to bat my rings and earrings under the couch, and occasionally he enjoys his actual leopard print cat st! ring.

He also loves to sit on burlap. Because hes weird.

So. Cat Land.

Play, birthday kitten. Play!

Seriously? Cat Land was a success. Like, major.

Seriously? Cat Land was destroyed. Like, major.

And then it was time for cake.

Why does he look so pissed?

Why does he look so skeptical? He sees me cook everyday!

See? Cat cake!

Cake Cake is made up of plain baked salmon and super cheap Whole Foods dry cat food. Its totes gourmet.

Happy Birthday Jules.

You light up my life. You scratch my leg. You terrorize me in the dark.

You also make me look like a totally awful cat mom, because you wont let me brush your hair and you messed up your birthday bow. You look nothing at all like those polished cats on Etsy wearing bowties and berets. Ugh!!! But

This is how we live.

This< /em> is how we live.