Breakfast @ The Pomelo Restaurant, The Banjaran Hotsprings Retreat, Ipoh, Malaysia

How would you like waking up to this view every morning?

After a good night's rest in our beautiful water villa, we woke up early the next morning and headed straight to the hotsprings. There was noone else around, it was so serene as all we could hear were the birds chirping and our own voices. We watched the sun rise and soaked our stress away in the hotsprings. What a wonderful feeling! I certainly wouldn't mind doing this more often.

The hotsprings is surrounded by limestone caves and beautiful nature.

After a relaxing and rejuvenating soak in the hotsprings, we went to The Pomelo Restaurant for breakfast. This time, we sat at one of the gazebos outfront.

Gazebos

Main dining area

To start, we shared a tropical fruit platter (RM16), a variety of fruits in season - we were served some mango,! orange, green apples, plum, honeydew and dragon fruit.

Freshly squeezed orange juice - too much pulp!!

While we were waiting for our breakfast to be served, we spotted a giant lizard just by the edge of the gazebo! We were literally dining with nature!

I had the spinach egg benedict (RM33) prepared using three organic eggs. The poached eggs were nicely cooked with a beautiful runny yolk, served with grilled tomato, sauteed mushrooms, spinach, hash brown, chicken sausage and hash brown. The only thing missing was the hollandaise sauce but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Hubby had the Scrambled egg with smoked salmon (RM35), the egg was slightly overdone. It was served with hash brown, spinach, sauteed mushrooms, chicken sausage and hash brown.

See previous reviews here: Madam Lawrence Aboucaya organic event, Lunch at Pomelo Restaurant, Hotel Review: The Villasand Dinner at Pomelo Restaurant.

Opening times: Breakfast (7.00am-11.00am), Lunch (12.00pm-2.00pm), Dinner (6.00pm-10.00pm).

Location: The Pomelo Restaurant, The Banjaran Hotsprings Retreat, 1 Persiaran Lagun Sunway 3, 31150 Ipoh, Perak.

Tel: 05-210 7777

Website: http://www.thebanjaran.com

GPS Coordinates: 4.63082, 101.15617

LaTur has added a photo to the pool:

Best restaurant in the US goes to Frisco eatery

Nancy Oakes of Boulevard Restaurant: Outstanding. Picture courtesy of James Beard Foundation

NEW YOK, May 9 San Francisco restaurant Boulevard, set in a historic building and designed in the manner of Frances Belle Epoque, has been named the best in the US.

At the James Beard Foundation Awards, an event known within the hospitality industry as the Oscars of the US food world, chef Nancy Oakess eatery was named Outstanding Restaurant.

It beat Blue Hill and Balthazar, both of New York; Highlands Bar and Grill in Birmingham, Alabama; and Vetri in Philadelphia.

Boulevard, housed in the only structure to have survived the 1906 earthquake that destroyed major portions of San Francisco, has become an institution since it opened in 1993.

The menu is described as an expression of American regional flavours with a French-influenced style.

Items include wood-oven roasted Angus filet mignon with fingerling potatoes, smoked red onion marmalade, broccoli di Ciccio, onion rings and sherry caramelised cipollini, sauce vert, green peppercorn beef jus, VSOP butter with foie gras for US$42 (RM128).

James Beards Outstanding Restaurant award goes to the restaurant that serves as a national standard-bearer for consistent quality and excellence in food, atmosphere, and service for the past 10 years or more.

The Boulevard has been nominated eight times consecutively for the award.

Eleven Madison Park in New York won last year. Its chef, Daniel Humm, was Outstanding Chef this year.

Click here for the full results. Relaxnews

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Menya Musashi & Gantetsu @ Isetan 1 Utama

Fans of Japanese food are sure to flock for the next few weeks to Eat Paradise at Isetan 1U, which features a fresh bevy of businesses exclusive to this hall of temptations.

First up, Eat Paradise's pioneer tenant _ Menya Musashi _ has sprung a stunning surprise; unlike the temporary kiosk that this Tokyo-based ramen purveyor opened recently in KLCC, the full-blown outlet here at 1 Utama is a pork powerhouse, enabling Malaysian customers to finally sample Menya Musashi's recipes as they might be meant to taste.

Menya Musashi's signature ramen comes with unprecedentedly enormous slices of cha-shu in an unexpectedly earthy broth blended with fried shallots and garlic. At this point, it's impossible to say which ramen outlet in the Klang Valley is the best. Some will prefer Santouka, others Marutama or Yamagoya, but many will love Menya Musashi too.

Ajitama Chashu Tsukemen, costing north of RM30, comprising thick, pleasurably chewy ! egg nood les to be dipped in hot soup. Customers can select serving sizes for noodles _ this was supposed to be a small (!!!).

Beside Menya Musashi, its main rival: Gantetsu, a champion Hokkaido ramen juggernaut from Sapporo. Both Menya Musashi and Gantetsu also have branches in Singapore.

Gantetsu's bestseller: tonkotsu miso ramen with king cha-shu (about RM30). The flavor of this "Great White Soup" isn't as deep as Menya Musashi's, but it makes up for it with luscious, fatty cha-shu that's damn near perfect. The eggs are more decadent than Menya Musashi's too.

So far, Menya Musashi and Gantetsu are open at Eat Paradise, while everything else may launch later in May.Other highlights that'll make their debut here include Puran B, the Japanese offshoot of The BIG Group's Plan B, which provides pork-free Western fare with twists from the Land of the Rising Sun. Stuff like creamy soft-shell crab spaghetti.

Also waiting in the wings:! sushi b ar Ichiro and BBQ beef specialist Gyu-Kaku. The outlets here seem like full-fledged eateries, unlike the stalls at Isetan's FoodMarket @ KLCC.

Entries on Isetan FoodMarket @ KLCC:

Caffe Gino (Sept. 16, 2011),Senya (Sept. 17),Petit Sucre (Sept. 18),Tamaruya, Fugetsu, Aoi-Tei, Getsurin and Uohei (Sept. 19).

Speaking of Yamagoya Ramen at Solaris Dutamas, let's return there for a minute to check out this increasingly popular outlet's non-noodle recipes.
Main entry on Yamagoya:April 15, 2012.

Steaming-hot, crisp chicken, fried with spices supposedly flown in from Japan.

Gyoza, as good as this snack gets (though that might be faint praise).

Rice, not very fragrant, but it makes up for it with a light, minimal-oil touch.

Calpis shochu soda and lemon shochu soda.

Wrapping up this entry with more of Menya Musashi's fierce look.

Menya Musashi and Gantetsu Ramen,

Eat Paradise,

Second Floor, Isetan 1 Utama, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.

Charcoal Roasted Meng Kee Char Siew () Shah Alam

How many of you ever heard of a famous Char Siew store located at Tengkat Tong Shin KL? They were once call them self the Char Siew King and have to wait for close to an hour to get your char siew fix. What makes them famous was the price and also the waiting time for this piece of delicacies.

Just look at this piece of fine cut! Perfect proportion for lean and fats. It is neither too dry nor too oily and it is just perfect for my liking. With the charred edge with a smoky charcoal smell tells me they were roasted with slow charcoal fire.

The shop name was known as Meng Kee Char Siew which started by the father and later on having another branch at Shah Alam where I went for this review.

Here in Shah Alam, you get a pretty decent service and fast serving time especially during lunch time where most of the patrons has only an hour to clear the lunch.

This plate serves 2 persons portion.

Since I know I wont be getting enough out of it, myself and my colleague straight away ordered ourselves a double each. A bite on it tells me they are still the king! They just bring it! Though the business here is run by the daughter, the highly acclaimed taste still there and pretty consistent. I had it like 3 times a week while I deploy projects in Shah Alam.

Oil rice

The Chili i! s a bit sad . it has too much vinegar in it and lack of the chilli umph.

Single portion of poach chicken

I wouldnt recommend you to order this unless you dont take pork. It is just normal and nothing to shout about.

The menu price

Meng Kee Char Siu
20 (Ground), Jalan Pekedai U1/36
Hicom Glenmarie Industrial Park
Shah Alam.
Tel No: 019 379 3629
Opens for breakfast and lunch. Close on Mondays

Menya Musashi & Gantetsu @ Isetan 1 Utama

Fans of Japanese food are sure to flock for the next few weeks to Eat Paradise at Isetan 1U, which features a fresh bevy of businesses exclusive to this hall of temptations.

First up, Eat Paradise's pioneer tenant _ Menya Musashi _ has sprung a stunning surprise; unlike the temporary kiosk that this Tokyo-based ramen purveyor opened recently in KLCC, the full-blown outlet here at 1 Utama is a pork powerhouse, enabling Malaysian customers to finally sample Menya Musashi's recipes as they might be meant to taste.

Menya Musashi's signature ramen comes with unprecedentedly enormous slices of cha-shu in an unexpectedly earthy broth blended with fried shallots and garlic. At this point, it's impossible to say which ramen outlet in the Klang Valley is the best. Some will prefer Santouka, others Marutama or Yamagoya, but many will love Menya Musashi too.

Ajitama Chashu Tsukemen, costing north of RM30, comprising thick, pleasurably chewy ! egg nood les to be dipped in hot soup. Customers can select serving sizes for noodles _ this was supposed to be a small (!!!).

Beside Menya Musashi, its main rival: Gantetsu, a champion Hokkaido ramen juggernaut from Sapporo. Both Menya Musashi and Gantetsu also have branches in Singapore.

Gantetsu's bestseller: tonkotsu miso ramen with king cha-shu (about RM30). The flavor of this "Great White Soup" isn't as deep as Menya Musashi's, but it makes up for it with luscious, fatty cha-shu that's damn near perfect. The eggs are more decadent than Menya Musashi's too.

So far, Menya Musashi and Gantetsu are open at Eat Paradise, while everything else may launch later in May.Other highlights that'll make their debut here include Puran B, the Japanese offshoot of The BIG Group's Plan B, which provides pork-free Western fare with twists from the Land of the Rising Sun. Stuff like creamy soft-shell crab spaghetti.

Also waiting in the wings:! sushi b ar Ichiro and BBQ beef specialist Gyu-Kaku. The outlets here seem like full-fledged eateries, unlike the stalls at Isetan's FoodMarket @ KLCC.

Entries on Isetan FoodMarket @ KLCC:

Caffe Gino (Sept. 16, 2011),Senya (Sept. 17),Petit Sucre (Sept. 18),Tamaruya, Fugetsu, Aoi-Tei, Getsurin and Uohei (Sept. 19).

Speaking of Yamagoya Ramen at Solaris Dutamas, let's return there for a minute to check out this increasingly popular outlet's non-noodle recipes.
Main entry on Yamagoya:April 15, 2012.

Steaming-hot, crisp chicken, fried with spices supposedly flown in from Japan.

Gyoza, as good as this snack gets (though that might be faint praise).

Rice, not very fragrant, but it makes up for it with a light, minimal-oil touch.

Calpis shochu soda and lemon shochu soda.

Wrapping up this entry with more of Menya Musashi's fierce look.

Menya Musashi and Gantetsu Ramen,

Eat Paradise,

Second Floor, Isetan 1 Utama, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.