Georgetown Heritage @ Solaris Dutamas

A cosy kopitiam that specialises in Penang food & Nyonya recipes.

Char kuey teow. We couldn't resist ordering this, but it turned out to be mediocre, with rather puny cockles. Fell a bit short of the essential 'wok hei.'

The side dishes that come with rice seem to be a better bet. We kinda liked the Chien Chuan Egg, even though the spicy-sour gravy isn't something we generally go for.

Fried "rempah" fish. Tasted surprisingly fresh, but the sambal stuffing could have been more flavourful; methinks my grandmother used to make a better version.

Minced chicken with soft-boiled potatoes. Comfort foodish; everything on this platter tasted homemade and nourishingly wholesome.

Sambal dried prawns. Flavourful and not too spicy, with a nice, creamy texture.

Piping-hot winter melon soup. One of our favorite broths, perfectly prepared.

Georgetown Heritage,

Solaris Dutamas.

Bumbu Desa @ The Curve

Bumbu Desa offers a seemingly authentic Indonesian eating experience: its staff members comprise exuberant Indonesian young men who chant intermittently while they cook and serve a staggering spread of simple fare.

Customers can flip through a menu or point to whatever they want from a mouthwatering array of food on a long table. It's a challenge to choose only a few items!

Cumi Goreng (deep-fried squid marinated in turmeric paste). Satisfyingly hearty and fragrant, but only recommended if you don't mind lots of chewing.

Cireng (fried tapioca flour). Thick, savory peanut sauce saved an otherwise bland platter.

Lalampa (steamed sticky rice, stuffed with mackerel, then grilled in banana leaves). Kinda unmemorable; tasted like the regular pulut concoctions available locally.

Pergedel, a crisp blend of sweet corn, egg & flour. An addictive snack, not oily at all.

Ayam Pop & Ayam Bumbu Desa. Steamed, then fried with different spices. Tender chicken is this outlet's forte, though the flavours are slightly less intense than expected.

Rendang Daging, a Minangkabau favorite. Slow-cooked beef with coconut milk. We feared this would be terribly tough, but it turned out surprisingly succulent. Beware though: thenomadgourmand also ordered this earlier that day for lunch, and her beef was horrible.

Ayam Tangkap (young kampung chicken fried with shallots & curry leaves). Spicy!

Daun Umbi Tumbuk (pounded cassava leaves & anchovies in coconut milk). A bit too watery for our liking. Definitely not a healthy veggie recipe.

Gulai Tilapia. A Padang delicacy. The yellow curry seemed rather ordinary and forgettable, but the fish was firm, fresh and flaky enough to recommend.

Nasi Liwet. Sundanese rice, steamed with anchovies & coconut milk. Less aromatic than nasi lemak, but well-prepared enough to please patrons who loathe wet, soggy rice.

Es Campur. A refreshing treasure trove of avocado, young coconut, traditional jelly & other sweet treats. One of the most enjoyable desserts we've had in ages.

Bumbu Desa,

The Curve.

Pacifica @ Mandarin Oriental Hotel Kuala Lumpur

Click here & here for earlier entries on Pacifica (April 27, 2009 & Oct. 23, 2009).

Fresh bread, lovely spreads (tuna in olive oil, Echire & passion fruit butters).

Amuse bouche of bouillabaisse, capsicum crisp & lobster ice cream (a bizarre sorbet-ish item with the flavour of chilled lobster).

Oyster shooters (French Tsarskaya in vanilla margarita, a blend of sauza tequila, vanilla & fresh lime, alongside French Fin de Claire in absolut vodka, tomato & celery). A slippery treat that should be slurped down all at once.

Roasted monkfish loin with fava bean cassoulet. Similar to one of Pacifica's offerings during last October's MIGF promo, except that this monkfish came with potato gnocchi and was soaked in a superbly flavourful star anis broth, instead of the MIGF version's unmemorable Madeira broth. Tweaking a recipe can produce more satisfying results after all.

Boston lobster poached in its own oil with cucumber vinaigrette. Fresh-tasting and succulent; also a variation of an MIGF item, but with an additional side of lightly battered lobster with a horseradish-laced, densely textured mousse.

Halibut fillet steak with Cafe de Paris butter sauce, chanterelle mushrooms, oxtail tortelloni & lettuce chiffonade. A complex combo, though the fish was not the star of this platter; we preferred the pleasantly earthy mushrooms, as well as the tortelloni, which provided a beefy meatiness to complement the firm, fleshy fish.

Chocolate oyster (Albaco choc shaped as an oyster, filled with green tea crumble, vanilla custard & Meyer's lemon jelly). A creative dessert, with a sweet, powerfully rich flavour.

Sauvignon, Marques de Riscal, Rioja (Spain).

Pacifica,

Mandarin Oriental.

Havana Club @ Concorde Hotel

A cosy cigar divan that specializes in Cuban cocktails and offers a ground floor view of traffic on Jalan Sultan Ismail.

Ligero (vodka, kahlua, milk) & Capote (rum, malibu, creme de banana, milk).

Havana Club,

Concorde Hotel,

Kuala Lumpur.

Luk Yu Tea House @ Starhill

A comfortable outlet to visit if you're craving dim sum at midnight.

Complimentary appetiser, combining some sort of crispy "ikan bilis"-like fish with slices of raw veggies & fruits in a sour-&-spicy sauce.

Glutinous rice with whole abalone. Irresistibly decadent; the soft, flavoursome rice blended perfectly with the melt-in-the-mouth abalone.

Fresh-tasting prawns coated in nuts & wasabi sauce. A terrific mix of tastes and textures.

Fried noodles with prawns. Absolutely addictive; thankfully, this wasn't greasy or mushy _ the main pitfalls for fried noodles.

Well-prepared Shanghainese "pot-sticker" dumplings, with juicy minced pork stuffing and reasonably crisp skin that wasn't burnt or overly stiff.

Stir-fried sliced beef. Tender, flavour-packed meat with crispy crullers.

Seafood porridge. Tasted comfortingly warm and nutritious, with enough slices of fish and prawns to surmount the blandness that often afflicts porridge.

Chrysanthemum eight treasures tea.

Luk Yu Tea House,

Starhill.

Click here for online reservations.

This restaurant is available for bookings under TABLEAPP, which enables customers to make instant reservations at Malaysia's top restaurants, while saving time and money in the process. Reserve your table at this restaurant by clicking here.

IR1968 @ Terrace Hock Choon, Ampang

Click here for earlier entry on IR1968 (March 2, 2010).

Sop Santan Ayam (pumpkin & coconut broth with chicken). Comfort food for the soul; something like this is always a pleasure, whether it's a Western-style chicken soup or thoroughly Asian like this one, laced with unrecognisable Indonesian spices.

Kari tetelan (beef brisket curry). A thick, hearty concoction, with lots of tender meat. Probably not fiery enough to please chilli-lovers though.

Nasi kuning campur, with beef rendang & fried chicken. A well-prepared platter; the simple things were what we savoured the most, like the creamy hard-boiled egg yolk.

Tauhu goreng telur. Crunchy carrots & bean sprouts heaped over a fairly fluffy combo of fried beancurd & egg, with a sweet-&-salty coconut gravy.

House red wine.

IR1968,

Terrace @ Hock Choon,

Lorong Nibong, Off Jalan Ampang.