Pad@28 Bar, Bistro & Coffee Corner

This review was written by a Max, a reader of this blog:

Located there, on the corner of Jalan Senopati and the road that takes you to SCBD, Pacific Place, SCBD Beergarden etc., lies a really nice restaurant called PAD@28. And I happen to believe that it is just about to make a big splash onto the gastro-scene of Jakarta.

There are a few reasons for this belief:

1. It is always buzzing with action. Weirdly enough, there aren't as many expats as you might expect from a place that serves duck confit, very well executed steaks, pork dishes (you heard me right - PORK, including a charcutterie platter) and really nice shots and cocktails. Mostly right now the clientel is still rich Jakartans in their late twenties and early thirties, with some 40+ people who still feel young.

2. The food is absolutely excellent. Whether it's a good-value-for-money snack at lunch-time (50-60k) or a real treat like an USDA steak (180-280k) all of their stuff is cooked with great attention to detail. Personally, I'm a sucker for their Duck Confit (89k).

3. The staff is really well-trained and the training manager really knows what she's doing, which is rare in Jaka! rta. Apa rt from Loewy, Union and a few others I usually find the service to either be to giggly and pushy or too lazy. Here, it's perfect!

4. The interior is pretty damn cool too. Downstairs, you feel like you're in the living-room of a hip NYC loft, while upstairs feels like a posh but unpretentious dining room.

So, there's my advice, check out PAD@28!

PAD@28
Jalan Tulodong Atas 28, Jakarta
(Near Senopati)
Tel: +62-21 527 4088

Mail: info@pad28.com

Facebook: Pad@28 (where all the photos come from)
Twitter: http://twitter.com/padkeeper28
Website: http://www.pad28.com/
Blog: http://pad28.wordpress.com/

I cooked: Sarawak stir fried manicai () with eggs

I have been very busy in the kitchen this month - baking for my kids birthdays as well as healthy muffins and treats for them, and participating in cook-alongs such as"Cook Like a MasterChef" that I am co-hosting andMFF Sarawak Month.

Kelly posted a very simple Sarawak vegetable dish the other day and since I had mani caigrowing in our garden, I decided to cook this. Mani cai () is also known as sayur manis or sweet leaf (or its binomial name:Sauropus androgynus). This is the vegetable that you will find in your pan mee noodles or soup in KL. Usually in our home, we would put the mani cai in soup with some eggs. Mani cai is a good source of vitamin K,provita-min A carotenoids, vitamins B, C, protein and minerals. However, excessive consumption of the juiced leaves (which is popular for weight loss)can cause lung damage, due to its high concentrations of the alkaloid papaverine.

Stir fried mani cai with eggs

In Sarawak, it is common to have it stir fried with eggs. According to Kelly, an important step in cooking this is to squeeze out the juice by hand as it can be bitter. For me personally, the mani cai doesn't have any bitter taste but following this step does help eliminate the waxy aftertaste that the mani cai usually leaves on my tongue. Salting and squeezing the vegetable makes the vegetable taste much smoother too.

I cooked this 3 days in a row, first day without salting the mani cai, second day as per Kelly's instructions and third day as per Kelly's instruction with some added chicken stock (just as an experiment). And D! ay 2 and 3 ones were better. For those interested to try this, you can get mani cai easily in the wet market for RM1 per bunch - pluck off the leaves and you can replant the stalks in your garden, then you will have a continued supply of mani cai. They grow quite easily and require minimal attention.

Stir-fried Manicai with Eggs

Recipe adapted from Kelly Siew
Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 5 minutes
Serves 2

Ingredients
100g Manicai (plucked from stalks)
2 tsp salt
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 egg
1/2 tsp Shaoxing wine

1 tsp light soy sauce

1/4 tsp chicken stock powder

1 1/2 tbsp cooking oil

A pinch of black pepper

Garnish

8 cili padi, washed (we didn't cut the chillies so it will not make the vegetables spicy -purely for adding colour to the dish)


1. First, wash the leaves thoroughly, roughly tear with hand, and add the salt. Leave for several minutes, then squeeze all the juice out (youll inevitably tear some more leaves, that also helps in getting the juice out). Rinse, and squeeze again. Set aside.

2. In a wok/pan, heat the oil over medium high heat and add the garlic. Cook for 2 minutes, until golden brown. Add the leaves in, when wilted add chicken stock powder and cook for about 1 minute. Add the cili padi.

3.Make a well in the middle, crack the egg in and beat with chopsticks to mix. Once the eggs are starting to set, start mixing everything together. Stir in the soy sauce and season with some black pepper. Remove from heat and serve immediately.

A purple water lily ;)

I am submitting this dish to Malaysian Food Fest, Sarawak Month hosted by Sharon of Feats of Feasts.

French pastry competition crowns dessert of the year

Danielle's & The Deli @ Micasa

Danielle's, a charming cafe run by a cheerful Frenchwoman of the same name, is worth considering as a new lunchtime option for folks in the city center.

Customers are welcomed by a wide showcase of everything from croissants to confitures, creme caramel to eclairs, baguettes to meringue.

Located on the shopfront beside Tun Razak's Micasa hotel, with space for scarcely 20 patrons; head here early for a table or take away the food instead.

Tuna tartine, pleasurably built with crunchy bread and a creamy slathering of fish.

Duck pate with citrus peels. Rustically coarse, supplying a respectable chew and meaty flavor.

< a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidDgbv7PfgUcbNMZDvj9ui4-LkZ_ntM2u_VNS9Mwwp6f6KxET4l-OhyphenhyphenIzGDM1DZRPtQ6idTrGza2ME2OLEQygreRM1yRG3fXfSS89eQyJV4VcYBzUbDVaUHKQTdLBzD2-eEmuHPmt4OTaU/s1600/IMG_0031.JPG">

Ratatouille quiche, hot and fresh-tasting, decisively buttery and determinedly eggy.

Equality, fraternity: Danielle's obtains macarons from Nathalie's, so purchase any number of the caramel, lemon or chocolate flavors with complete confidence.

Skip the coffee here though; not really a brew we can recommend wholeheartedly.

Tables by the window are nice. Not a Parisian street scene, but still better than some views.

Bonus: From Danielle's, it's barely a two-minute walk to The Deli at Micasa, where more French and European fare, from croque monsieur to steak ! tartare, can be found.

Can't resist a Wagyu beef burger that costs only RM20++. And it's not a bad burger, thanks to a patty that's as juicy as can be.

Duck confit, a relative bargain for RM17++. Decent, though something's missing here, maybe more satisfyingly crisp skin or a fattier, fuller flavor.

Caramel and chestnut ice cream, RM10++ for two scoops. Maintaining the could-be-better theme, this is worthwhile but pales in comparison to, say, Forty Licks.

Tea and coffee are available, but as with Danielle's, wine is not served at The Deli.

Danie lle's & The Deli,
Micasa Hotel, Jalan Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur.
Danielle's opens through 6pm weekdays, earlier Saturdays and is closed Sundays.

Pee Lek 59 Restaurant for a Decent Meal

We arrived Hatyai late and were hungry, after a quick check in the hotel we walked to Pee Lek 59 Restaurant for dinner.

Come to Thailand must have Tom Yam and this is seafood tomyam.So good and tangy I enjoyed it.Fried glass noodle and big prawns hiding underneath....okay okay lah.Kerabu chicken feet good & yummy.Oyster omellette though the size of ousters were big but I felt that the starch is too much. More egg than starch would be excellent.Kangkung belacan...delicious & crunchy.I like this most, bitter gourd with fresh & tender pork ribs...woo la la...

A decent place for a decent food with a decent pricing.

Pee Lek Restaurant

273/1-2, Niphat Uthit 1 Road

Hatyai Songkhla

GPS :7.001113,100.471381

Peters Kitchen Pork Burgers @ Asia Cafe, Puchong

This last long Raya weekend has been a very productive one!

Well, NOT productive in terms of work, LOL, no thanks to the chilly weather but rather productive in terms of FOOD hunts!

For one, I got to try 2 new pork burgers at 2 different locations. One was a RM28 Extreme Pork burger at The Elk, Solaris Mont Kiara and another 3 was a variety of pork burgers by Peters Kitchen in Asia Cafe, Puchong.

BELOW: Extreme Pork Burger at The Elk, Solaris Mt Kiara. RM28.

BELOW: Peters Kitchen Pork Burger RM12.50 Asia Cafe, Puchong.

Then I added another dim sum joint to my repertoire of dim sum write-ups. To top that off, I found really good pork satay as well as the most amazing pork leg rice.
Yes it was a good weekend indeed!

My previous review onThe Elk! wasnt too kind but I had fellow friends who are of the same opinion so at least its fair.
Im afraid the pork burgers at Peters were not exactly my favourite either. I have always preferred my patties moist and juicy but Peters patties bordered on mushy, almost too soft.
Its a thin line between mushy and moist I know; so perhaps one might accuse me of being finicky but there are some pork patties that made the cut so if I were to stay diplomatic, Ill put it as its a matter of preference.

Its hard being a food blogger these days huh? LOL!

BELOW:Peters ABC Pork Burger RM12.50 Peters signature 150g pork patty topped with streaky bacon, fried onions, 2 pineapples andcheese.

As you can see from above the patty does look a bit squashy right? Well, it was that moist!

Heres another gripe I had with the burger the bun. See how porous and crumbly it was? My standard order for burger are no butter on the bun, no mayo. In this case, the butter might have helped to offset the dryness of the bun.

Peters Cinnamon Burger RM12.50 - cinnamon applesauce cheese & streaky bacon.

Peters Mushroom Burger - RM12.50 mushroom sauce and cheese.

I must say the pricing is fair, but I do hope Peter would consider offering better quality buns and perhaps even swapping the sliced cheese with mozzarella or swiss (heck can I ask for Emmenthal?). Hmmm, maybe thats not a good idea, since this is Puchong area, with perhaps different target market.
Anyhow, the cinnamon pork burger is recommended for those whos yearning for something simultaneously sweet and savoury while the mushrooms burger would suit the average burger fan.Kevinopined that the cinnamon applesauce is too strong on the cinnamon but it was fine for me although Im not a cinnamon fan. At least this was different from the usual syrupy, apple sauce. It does taste rather homely and fresh too.

For those whos wondering, Peters been open for only 6 months.A friendly German dude, he runs the stall with his petite wife and he made the pattiesas well as some of the sausages sold here.

Unfortunately I was under the impression that all sausages were made by him, only to find out later that only the cheese and the curry bratwurst was made by Peter while the grilled Bratwurst is imported. Darn, Im sure the homemade ones are better than the dense, salty Bratwurst I had!

Im not a fan of sauerkraut and the only sauerkraut I enjoyed so far is at Brotzeit. However, Peter didnt share my sentiments. Haha! Anyhow his sauerkraut are acceptable; sour and soft. The mash however, were a delight, spud-dish and not overly buttery. Thumbs up for that! For the best mash, head over to The Hungry Hog at SS15.

The last item we ordered turned out to be the best.

Peters Pork Meatballs RM15.50 was worth every cent. The texture of the meatball was perfect, and the same can be said for the seasoning. Now I wonder why this isnt the case for the pork patty

There was a strand of hair tangled in my meatball. I had a good laugh saying Oh my, I got hair on my ball(s)! and ate the meatball anyways, minus the hair of course.

We washed all of that down with refreshing fresh juices in tall mugs that Asia Cafe is famed for. I must say the SS15 Asia Cafe had left me with a bad impression to its name. The Asia Cafe in Puchong is so much morespacious, cleaner and has better variety of food in comparison to the SS15 venue!

BELOW: Soya Cincau (RM1.80), Exotic Blast (RM6.20 dragonfruit, mango & lychee), Double Pineapple (RM7.20) and Passionfruit (Dragonfruit, lychee and grapes RM6.20). No tax.

I hope to be back more often to sample the Arab food (the naan looks scrumptious!), the Sarawak Kolo Mee and not forgetting my favourite Pork Leg Rice as well as the pork satay. Now, if only the LDP leading to Puchong is not so jammed all the time, Ill definitely be a regular here!

Asia Cafe Puchong
Jalan OP 1/1, Pusat Perdagangan One Puchong.
47100, PJ.

So, if youre in the area and would like to sink your teeth into some pork burgers or porky meals, do head over here! Ill be updating on a separate post on the pork leg rice, the pork satay, the Hong Kong steamed pork rice and the Vietnamese rice spring rolls. I hope I would have tried the Arab food by the time my 2nd post is published.

Note: This meal as shared with 5 other foodies whose opinions were of similar conclusion to mine. In a nutshell, all of us found the burgers to be ok/could do with better buns/too mushy/. Some of us liked the sausage. All of us gave thumbs up fo! r the me atballs!