Out of Africa has been around for ages, but its menu never changes. That's certainly not a complaint, since some of its offerings are nearly as rare as rhinos in KL.
Ostrich carpaccio. Fairly similar to regular beef carpaccio. A light, delicate starter, ideal for whetting the appetite.
Okavango pumpkin soup with Mielie corn bread. Best savored on a rainy evening. The broth was aromatic and steaming hot, while the bread tasted deliciously sweet and fresh.
Biltong. Basically beef cured with salt, vinegar & pepper. Chewy and rather tart, but nevertheless addictive. Unlikely to be a healthy snack though.
Ox Tongue Kalahari with mustard sauce, spinach & carrots. This, on the other hand, seemed nutritionally balanced, with lean protein and guilt-free veggies. The tongue was irresistibly tender and not gamy at all.
Oxtail stew cooked in "potjie." Rustic comfort food; the stew was super-thick, brimming with soft chunks of potatoes that went so well with the oxtail.
Braaied Boerewors (farmer sausage made of lamb, beef & spices, cooked over coals). Hearty, with a fine bite to it, though the flavor wasn't too memorable.
Chicken liver pan-fried with peri-peri sauce. An acceptable choice if you like liver, though some of the chunks seemed somewhat dried out inside.
Bobotie (ground beef curry). Kinda like a bolognese preparation, except with a pleasantly nutty & fruity taste, without the tanginess of tomatoes. Not spicy, thankfully.
Tall Horse Pinotage 2008 (South Africa).
Out Of Africa,
Kelab Syabas (to be renamed PJ Palms Court Centre),
Lorong Sultan, Petaling Jaya.
Yes yes, one of it's kind really. I heard good stuffs abt it, though it was mostly more on the "ordinary" meats - not so like yours ;) where it is mostly the "exotic" dishes. Heh..
ReplyDeleteTng: ya, I think this place would bring back memories for quite a few ppl. The last time I was here was in 2005, and I was a bit surprised this time that everything still seems the same, from the decor to the menu ... Though I kinda suspect there's been a change in ownership/ management...
ReplyDeleteNever heard of Out of Africa, except for the movie starring Robert Redford and Meryl Streep. :P
ReplyDeleteMmm...am liking the Okavango Pumpkin soup. What a cheery yellow colour ;) how does it match up with the version available in Monte's?
Elrond: heh, I actually have that movie in my DVD collection (am a major fan of Meryl Streep, though that's not one of my favorite films of hers) ... Gosh, I can't recall if I've ever had the pumpkin soup at monte's. The one here tastes respectable, but it's hard to go wrong with pumpkin soup as long as it's fresh and creamy :D
ReplyDeleteOMG. The food here reminds me of a trip on A Safari to Africa. You are really the intrepid one! I don't think I am even 10% of you when it comes to culinary adventures! I think I am gonna give this a miss though. LOL! Ostrich Carpaccio. You got me there.
ReplyDeleteAndroid: y'know, I wish the food here could be even bolder ... Bring on the zebras, hippos and wildebeest! :D honestly, even though everything here tastes perfectly ok, it all sounds a lot more interesting than it tastes...
ReplyDeleteAh... All the flavours of the Kalahari in one place! Well, nearly all the flavours anyway. I'm not sure how easy it would be to import exotic meats like zebra or wildebeest, but couldn't be a breeze.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you could drop a note into their Suggestion Box? :P
Thanks for the reminder. Have been meaning to check this place out for the longest time! :)
ReplyDelete(food looks good but I don't like how that mounted antelope head is looking accusingly.... Haha....)
does indeed look like it came out from a safari!
ReplyDeleteso wheres the zebras and gazelles?
lfb: are there still african cannibals around? now that's a community i wouldn't mind joining! :D
ReplyDeletej: i should ask next time whether or not it came from a real animal! somehow i doubt it, heheh =)
joe: i've only ever seen zebra meat on the menu of a restaurant in london. supposedly it tastes like pork :D
Just be careful they don't make a meal out of you first! :P
ReplyDeletelfb: that's probably the next best thing. if i can't eat someone, i'd die happy knowing that someone was gonna enjoy the pleasure of eating me ... unless it's a slow, agonizing, gruesome death that i'd suffer, in which case i wouldn't be very happy at all :P
ReplyDeleteRight. I am uncertain who has it worse... you dying from being eaten up by a cannibal or the poor cannibal that has to consume you... :P
ReplyDeletelfb: everyone who's licked and nibbled me so far has had no complaints. on the contrary, u should witness the look of rapture in their eyes :D
ReplyDeletegosh i hvnt been here for a long long time. do they still have the elephant ribs? LOL when it arrived my fren asked me if it's really elephant!!! hahahaha
ReplyDeleteRapture or disgust/horror/panic/the shudder before they faint? Such a fine line... :P
ReplyDeletebabe_kl: ahhh, when i first visited this place all those years ago, i also thought they might be real elephant ribs. was disappointed to find out they were only beef ribs, heheh. they're no longer on the menu though, replaced by lamb ribs instead.
ReplyDeletelfb: i can recognize throes of passionate ecstasy when i see it lah :P as someone once described it, the experience was like "having heaven open up in front of my eyes while a choir of angels burst into song"
wow the food served here is really interesting. a friend advised me not to drink any wines with an animal picture on the label! haha
ReplyDeleteeiling: hmmm, serious advice ar. hmmm, but it makes the bottle look cuter :D
ReplyDeleteThe food's really rustic. I'm still reminded of our conversation about the food here (the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth) *grin*. It's a pity that Kelab Syabas is so run down. Walking past the empty pool and dilapidated surroundings, I can imagine one making an about-turn straight back to the car and heading to A&W for some rootbeer float instead.
ReplyDeletelemongrass: the good news is that the building is apparently about to undergo extensive renovation and become a complete public sports center, with futsal and badminton courts to complement the pool. so it should become a hive of activity again by next year! :D
ReplyDeleteAre you sure them angels didn't just burst apart, like some gory scene from a B-grade horror movie? :P
ReplyDeletelfb: nah, this is the original celestial choir ... come to think of it, i can't recall a single recent movie where angels were portrayed positively :D
ReplyDeletewowee! hats off to the most unusual gourmand of the decade. YOU la;)
ReplyDeleteciki: it's too bad we live in a city where unusual food is, errmm, unusual :D
ReplyDeleteHehe. I saw the trailer for LEGION and thought that this reminded me of the DC Vertigo comic PREACHER. Nasty angels. Smack, smack. LOL
ReplyDeletelfb: i actually never read preacher (i stuck to more mainstream fare; hated gritty comics). but i did watch legion and loathed it. maybe i'm just not into apocalyptical horror movies either :D
ReplyDeleteWhat - no zebra or giraffe meat??! Hehe, how to be African without the exotic meat? The Biltong looks very hard and chewy...but interesting.
ReplyDeletepureglutton: ya, now i have a craving for zebra meat ... even though i've never even tasted it before! :D
ReplyDeleteJust the perfect diner during this season.
ReplyDeleteOstrich carpaccio?! I would have imagined a very gamey taste, no?
But truly, the selections looked mighty 'tribal' ...
j2kfm: yep, too bad the restaurant is closed by the time the world cup matches start every night :D hmmm, actually ostrich never seems gamy to me, even when it's cooked in chinese restaurants. kinda like the texture of venison, but the flavor of chicken?
ReplyDelete