Lebanese Food @ Al-Amar Express, Fahrenheit 88, Kuala Lumpur

We've recently been hanging out at Pavilion KL and Fahrenheit 88 quite a lot, since we like the restaurant and shopping options around this area. One evening, we decided to drop by Al-Amar Express to try their offerings -- we've had several good experiences in the past with their sister restaurant, Al-Amar Lebanese Cuisine in Pavilion KL.

The restaurant is actually located right outside the entrance of Fahrenheit 88 mall, so dining is sort-of alfresco (there is also a small area which is covered with glass windows and roof). They have blower units around the restaurant, so if you're worried it would be too hot, then find a seat near one. When we were there, there was a soft breeze so it was definitely pleasant. It's also an excellent spot for people watching.

The restaurant is much more casual and is perfect for getting a quick bite. Also, the prices are wallet-friendly :) Flicking through the menu, we see that they have various appetizers, salads, chawarma, burgers, small pastries, manakeech (Lebanese pizzas), chicha and desserts.

We settled for a refreshing ice lemon tea (RM8) each -- we noticed it is a bright red instead of the brown hue we usually get. I wonder what makes it red?

When one does not know whether to go for the beef or chicken chawarma, what does one do? Go for both of course ;P We opted for the Mix Chaw! arma Pla tter (RM26), which is a combination of chicken and beef chawarma served with tarator, garlic sauce and French fries. Though both are flavoursome, my preference lies with the chicken chawarma since it's more moist. Would it be weird to say this -- but the thing I love most from this dish was actually the French fries with garlic sauce dip. The fries was nicely done, not soggy or oily.

Great for sharing!

Hubby is a huge fan of hommos and I have told him the hommos from Al-Amar is very good. No more hommos from supermarkets for us anymore since he agreed it was really good! Plus the hommos here is very reasonably priced (RM12), and it's served with a basket of Lebanese flat bread.

Hommos - mashed chickpeas mixed with sesame seed paste and a dash of lemon juice, topped with olive oil.

Lebanese flat bread

We also got two small pastries, if I remember correctly, this is the beef sambousik and spinach fatayer. There are 6 types of small pastries in total, all priced RM2.50 each. The size is perfect for tasting and eating.

Juicy filling

Ample for sharing

Verdict: I do enjoy the food in both restaurants; Al-Amar Lebanese Cuisine has a more refined atmosphere whereas Al-Amar Express is much more casual and affordable. Would definitely be back!

Full set of photos available to view here.

Join them on Facebook or Twitter for latest updates and promotions.

Pork-free.

Service: Good.

Price: Total bill was about RM65.

Location: Al-Amar Express,Lot G-44 (01), G-44(02), G-44(03),Ground Floor, Fahrenheit 88,
179 Jalan Bukit Bintang, 55100 Kuala L! umpur.
Tel:03-2141 3814

Website: http://www.al-amar.com/

Favorites List (January 2012)

Hi everyone, how about a favorites list? I feel like I have enough good stuff to roll it out a bit early this month. Not to mention, it'll give me a chance to focus on jotting down a recipe for the bread I've been baking every few days for the past couple of weeks. This bread is dark and hearty, yeast-leavened, and perfect for soup-dunking. Or crouton making. Or tartine broiling. I think you'll like, or at least I hope you will. In the meantime,

- A Polaroid a day for 18 years.

- Sequin photobooths.

- Fantasy real estate listing.

- Joan Didion's packing list.

- On the list to cook: this, and this.

- EAMES: The Architect and the Painter

- Revisitng this soup.

- Anna's Daughters' Chocolate Rye Bark

- Get-away.

- This photo series.

- This lovely lady.

- A box of dirt.

- Bookmark this for the holidays next year.

- Fireworks.

- Teenage Bedrooms: It was Miami Vice meets the interior of a van...

- The Woodmans.

- Bookmark: Tamarind Margarita.

- Midway through watching this.

- This exhibit. And, coming up - this one.

Bread to come in a few... -h

Lead photo: One of the nicest sunsets I've seen lately, at the park just a short walk from my house. The air has been brisk, and crisp, and the skies so clear.

Continue reading Favorites List (January 2012)...

I made this a few weeks before the Christmas Pot luck. It consists of pumpkin, fennel, pomegranate seeds, spinach, parmesan and a lemon vinaigrette. Much more ingredients tho. As for during the pot luck, I still remained the same dressing but just used pumpkin, spinach, mixed salad leaves and homemade croutons. Kinda forgot about the parmesan, but really no one complained about it.

Roasted pumpkin is probably my only favourite way of cooking / eating pumpkin. I usually leave the skin on and slice them thinly so the flesh is soft and the skin is crispy. Plus, the cooking time is shorter!!

I remember one of my very first pumpkin salad (Yes Ive made ALOT of pumpkin salads in my cooking life) I roasted pumpkin and orange sweet potato, then added sliced beetroot (those from the can, cause its crunchy and yet tender to eat) with some spinach and scattered some ricotta cheese on top. There are alot of ways you can make your salad interesting. I mean, salad doesnt have to be just greens and leaves. Even just by adding a vibrant colour to it, it makes it more appetizing already. Im not a salad person. Or rather I should say, Im not a salad leaves / lettuce person. I need different textures and colours in a salad, otherwise I wont be interested in it at all.

For the pot luck, I didnt had to buy any herbs from the supermarket at all. All sage, rosemary and thyme were cut from my garden. It was a moment of self satisfaction, a proud moment, especially when everything I tried to plant in my old house all died before I could even use it. So for the pumpkin salad, I used rosemary and thyme as an aro! matic.

Roasted Pumpkin and Spinach Salad

(serves 6)

1/2 of a Japanese or local Pumpkin
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
a couple sprigs of fresh thyme
salt, black pepper, olive oil

A bag of baby spinach leaves. (you can use any other lettuce / salad leaves)
1 fennel
seeds from 1/2 a pomegranate
1/2 cup parmesan shavings

1 tbsp red wine vinegar
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 a lemon,zested
juice from 1/2 a pomegranate
salt and black pepper to taste
Method.

1. Clean the skin of the pumpkin, remove the seeds (or you can leave them) and slice thinly.
2. Arrange on a tray and scatter rosemary and thyme over it. Drizzle some olive oil to coat and some salt and pepper. Toss around to coat.
3. Roast in a 180 C oven for 15-20 minutes or until soft. This depends on how thick or thin you cut them.
4. To make the salad, remove the green parts of the fennel. thinly shave the white part of the fennel. In a big salad serving bowl, add in salad leaves, in my case spinach, then add shaved fennel on top.
5. Top with roasted pumpkin, herbs and some shaved parmesan cheese. For the pomegranate, squeeze it over a strainer / sieve. Toss in the seeds and save the juice to make the vinaigrette.
6. Combine all ingredients to make the vinaigrette. Season well.
7. Pour the vinaigrette on top only when serving. You dont want a soggy salad!

How about a tea shoot-out?

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 10 Food trends come, and food trends go. One thats in at the moment is tea-based beverage franchises (and they are everywhere.) Each of the places we visited has plenty of branches, so feel free to give your local one a go.

Procedure: Since tastes vary wildly, we decided that we would walk up to the person manning the store and ask for the most popular item on the menu. Then we drink it.

Who: Each A Cup

What: Mango passion fruit smoothie (RM 5.10)

Where: http://g.co/maps/743d9

We went to the one in Ampang Park, Kuala Lumpur. It has a wide variety of stuff; fruit-based, tea-based, or otherwise, and loads of toppings and other options to choose from.

The First Sip: Holy freaking wow.

The fruit combination is really good. The taste smacks you full on before receding into a gentle sweetness, pleasantly interrupted by the occasional chunk of fruit. Theres not much nonsense here and its not overly sweet. It plays the strength of the fruits off each other; mangos thick flavour and passion fruits light sweetness join together in holy matrimony.

Theres little to no ice, or rather the ice is granular enough not to interrupt the fruity goodness and serves purely as a delivery vehicle for the taste fandango that is soon to arrive on your tongue.

In fact theres little that isnt pure mangoey passion fruitey goodness. It is extremely yummy and very, very good value for money. Whether sipped slowly for its flavour or gulped for a mouthful of refreshing, this is highly, highly recommended.

Who: Chatime

What: Pearl milk tea (regular) RM 5.90

Where: http://g.co/maps/kxjgr

Chatime has the distinction of having the only pun-based name on our list. We went to the one in Uptown, Petaling Jaya, because were masochists. They allow you to vary how much ice and sugar you want in your drink, which is great for those of us who prefer a little more control over consistency and taste.

The First Sip: Milky tea-y goodness.

Its heavier on the milk than the tea, with the tea undercurrent pleasant if light. The overhanging milkiness is soothing and easy on the tongue, with a pleasant aftertaste which (thanks to the tea) you can feel in the sinuses as well.

The bubbles, which are perfectly sized to go through their overlarge straws, are chewy and go well with the milk tea, although by themselves they tend towards the slightly weird. The temptation is to suck as many of them into your cheeks as possible and make hamster impressions at people.

You certainly can, given how many of them they stick into the drink (at least a third of the cup if not more). The bubbles and the tea complement each other, bubbles adding texture and tea overlaying flavour. A decent, light drink that goes very fast.

Who: Gong Cha

Where: http://g.co/maps/sz4bh

What: Signature Winter Melon Tea (RM 5.90)

We went to the one in SS15, Subang Jaya. They have the same varying levels of ice or sugar (which the staff will remember to ask you about, so thats nice).

The First Sip: This is slightly complicated because the cup comes with a sticker advising you to try the drink three different ways. So we did.

1) Without the straw, sip tea through the top layer of milk froth: the first mouthful you get is the froth and it is amazing. It tastes like milk and honey with a rock-candy body. After that the tea laces through with a pleasant aftertaste.

2) Stick straw in, slurp tea followed by froth: the tea itself is light and flavourful, with little lingering aftertaste. The aromatic flavour spreads evenly around the whole mouth, and the froth provides smoothness at the end of the experience.

3) Stir together: separately the froth and the tea are both great but together its gestalt. This is where the real body of the drink comes together.

The syrup hits first, hypersweetness tempered by dilution and the gentle flavours of the tea. Full flavoured and sweet yet retaining its lightness, with hints of the original froth and deep subtle notes that stay on the tongue. It is. So. Good.

The temptation to lick the inside of the cup was strong, but we resisted. For about 30 seconds. Great, subtle stuff.

Share it with others

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Toast & Roast @ SS2, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia

Over 4 days and 1700+ km, we finally reached Melbourne and where do I even start?

Do I talk about the brilliant stay back in Malaysia, the journey that took us to Coffs Harbour, Sydney and Wangaratta or how my short pants look out of place in Melbourne?

All that being said, we are now on our second day of house hunting and hopefully this doesn't take too much longer. We hope we will finally be able to settle down, our furniture to reach here in one piece, my wife will finally get the job offer that she has been waiting for since Christmas, my work starts and for life to go on.

Meanwhile in the midst of sorting out applications and inspections, I thought before offices open and agents pick up their phones, I should do what I am meant to do best; food blogging.

---

On my very last day, I met up with 2 other food bloggers to catch up over lunch (you can never say no especially when there is a promise of good food). It was a good opportunity to test out the new lens that I have been dying for in the last year or so.


When it comes to char siew (barbecued pork, as some might call it), the undisputed king in my books is Meng Kee. However with that big title , comments like cocky, expensive and inconsistent has surfaced in the year that I have been away and sadly the takeaway char siew rice I tasted straight off the plane was below par.


So where do people go for good char siew, you ask? Don't fret because they are plenty out there who serves a pretty mean version. Try Toast and Roast.

If you want to sin, sin all the way and that means ordering the "pun fei sau" version. The cuts of meat reveals a clear half fat and meat proportion and with the sticky glaze sans all the charred bits that will sent you to bottom of the earth, this was a pretty damn good bbq pork. If I was not wearing my tight jeans, I would have ordered another portion to share.

Char siew aside, their side dishes is not to be disregarded and I found the green pork curry to be fantastic as well. I found this packed with flavour which means either I have been eating too much watered down versions in Australia or they definitely put in that bit extra.

In true asian spirit, one can't eat all the above without some form of noodle or rice. Toast and Roast serves out a pretty al dente Hakka Mee with some minced pork and pork lard. Well worth the calories even if it means walking everywhere I go and eating half portions in Australia.

If that's not enough, the fried dumplings are pretty good and wash it all off with their lemongrass drink. Awesome.

So was the lunch worth coming for? Yes!

Address and contact details:

No. 20, Jalan SS2/72
Petaling Jaya
Selangor
016-682 2249

Verdict: 4 stars out of 5 stars. Definitely coming back here for char siew in my next trip to KL.

Chinese New Year 2012 @ Elegant Inn, Menara Hap Seng, Kuala Lumpur

Toss your way to prosperity.....the Year of Dragon is just round the corner.


It feels like just yesterday that New Year zipped past us and now another big celebration is due on the horizon. I must admit I'm not ready for the celebrations. Nevertheless, there's no way to stop time from ticking away so the best thing is to make it a great celebration.





Elegant Inn is often our de facto choice for family dinners hence it was cool to get a preview of their Chinese New Year offerings. Makes planning for that all important reunion meal so much easier.


At the Hong Kong centric restaurant, even their yee sang is different - a combination of three items to make it even more bountiful - salmon, clams and crunchy jellyfish. Keeping health in mind and taste, their prosperity dish does not contain a single strand of pickled vegetable or deep fried shredded yam. Instead it is all vegetables - a medley of turnip, pear, radish, carrots, maybe just one pickled leek, pomelo, cucumber and ginger. There is also the must-haves aka the pok pok chui or crackers with a sprinkle of pepper, salt, oil, plum sauce and a generous sprinkle of coarsely ground peanuts.


< span>The wait staff in Elegant Inn add a touch of specialty to the yearly affair by adding auspicious sayings. All the better I reckon to toss and lo sang away to good health, prosperity and whatever our heart wishes.







Once the salad is finished down to its last crunchy cracker, we enjoy a "simple" starter - crunchy salt and pepper coated oyster mushrooms paired with decadent smoked egg topped with a piece of pan fried foie gras.


Prawns are a must for the occasion since they signify happiness. You will be happy to get these sea based crustaceans lovingly coated in a light wine sauce. Believe me, the sauce is finger licking good that I ended up even chewing on the shells for every drop of its delicious sauce.





Next comes an interesting dish, a play of textures in the mouth and of course, the flavours. Nicknamed the crunchy Chinese sandwich, this was a layered beauty. First layer enclosing it was a pillow soft bun, followed by a crispy chicken skin lightly touched with prawn paste that sandwiches a crunchy soybean skin nacho. Lastly a piece of Chinese ham completes this delectable sandwich that you has you clamoring for more.







The piece de resistance was the old fashioned braised pork cartilage rib slow cooked for four hours to fork tender meat and soft bone. A bittergourd and carrot balances out the rich taste of the dish that you wish you had a bowl of rice to soak up every drop of that delectable liquid.







One must not forget Elegant Inn's infamous lap mei fan. The waxed meats are all handpicked from Hong Kong with a rice that is cooked to fluffy perfection with just a teeny weeny crust at the bottom.







My personal favourite was the simmered Chinese cabbage with Japanese dried scallops and HK dried prawns. The vegetable is cooked till tender and infused with the lovely aroma from the dried seafood that I had to have seconds of this dish.





Like a person once told me before, dessert is reserved for a second stomach. Not sure if this is a true since I don't think we have the anatomy of a cow that boasts of multiple stomachs.


However, when it comes to sweets, we seem to always find a way to! consume it including such seasonal items like the New Year cake or ning ko. Elegant Inn's version is just pan fried till it becomes a soft delectable gooey cake with crispy sides. They also make their own hazelnut cookies that have a simple yet alluring taste. Pair this with a lovely red bean paste with black glutinous rice.







Last but not least, a meal is never complete at Elegant Inn without my favourite dessert, their fluffy Ma Lai Koh or steamed cake. The pillow soft steamed cakes are gorgeous and always a must order for the family.


I reckon this meal at Elegant Inn has sealed the deal on where we'll be eating reunion dinner soon. How about you? Where will dinner be? Homeward bound or out at the restaurant for the celebrations.


Elegant Inn
Second Floor
Podium Block
Menara Hap Seng
Jalan P Ramlee
Kuala Lumpur


Tel: 03-2070 9399


(Non Halal. For the festive season, there are also a variety of Chinese New Year menus starting from RM1, 088 for 10 persons. Enquire within for the full set meal details.)


*This meal was an invited one. For more pictures, see the Flickr set.

Louisiana@Plaza Kelana Jaya.

Famous for it's Chicken Carbonara (the best in Malaysia) which is available in their "Eat all you can" @Rm15.50 set lunch menu.

Louisiana serve Cajun & Creole style cuisine in a rustic feel air cond restaurant that leads to the lakeside area for al fresco dining.

Finally got the urge to try out their food during the long weekends

All meals come with a Ice Lemon tea (free flow) unlimited salad and soup of the day.

I went for the "Eat all you can" set-started with a pasta Cajun Shrimp and ended with a Chicken Carbonara-have a place in the stomach for one more but decided not to-as it's was too rich and comforting !

Located in the far end of Plaza Kelana Jaya-park at the visitor's car park for easy access to the restaurant..


Salad-very fresh choice of tomato, onion, cucumber and fresh lettuce in a Thousand Island like sauce-free refill.
Louisiana Chicken chop-well marinated piece of chicken thigh with a creamy peppery white sauce with julienned carrot and French fries on it's side-Rm14.50.
Seared Butter Fish-nicely seared thin piece of Dory fish with a dollop of mashed potato, carrot and potato wedges-garnished with mint leaves-and enticing sauce-RM14.50/
Pasta Cajun Shrimp-al dente pasta with three fresh shrimps with olive oil and coriander leaves-part of the "eat all you can set"
Chicken Carbora-cheesy and creamy with chicken bits and mushroom-garnished with a sprig of mint leaves-very rich..
Garden soup-blended vegetables-a bit diluted but with a twist of pepper and Olive oil, it turned out ok-free refill..
Corn Ice Cream-something sweet to end the meal.

Total bill:Rm51.60.
Location: Block D-1-01, Jalan SS7/13A,
Plaza Kelana Jaya, P J.
Tel:03-7875-5230.