Coffee Lane @ King Street

disclaimer : yet another backdated post - Jan 2010 :P

DC did some homework and saw an article on this new place and brought me here for afternoon tea.


Being a coffee lover as she is, this place is definitely one that offers a variety of coffee. Upon chatting with the friendly owner Terry who did some recommendations, we finally settled down with 2 coffee drinks and 2 snacks.


Besides coffee, Coffee Lane serves some mains too and according to Terry, some of the dishes are office ladies' favorites as well...


From where we were seated, we could see Terry busy using all sorts of coffee brewing apparatus to brew our coffee fresh on the spot - the experience way surpasses any experience at Starbucks or Coffee Bean :)


DC's Ice Coffee with Milk (RM 8.00)


DC commented this is really 'keng' (superb in Cantonese)!

My Ice Cream Coffee (RM 8.50)


Terry said this is best enjoyed without using a straw, but erm I asked for one anyway coz it's just too bitter for me :P and yes, that's after adding in sugar syrup. But being an ice cream lover, this is definitely a first for me and it was not bad at all.

Garlic Bread (RM 3.00)


Garlic bread was a bit plain for the both of us - maybe it could use a bit of toasting to give it the ooomph!

Ti Ah Kuoi (RM 3.00) (甜仔粿)


When this arrived our table, I could almost instantly tell it will be a nice version of ti ah kuoi just looking at the accompanying gula melaka :D and the taste did not disappoint at all - the ti ah kuoi was at the right texture of chewiness and it's so unique when complemented with a thick gula melaka paste - it has become my favourite Ti Ah Kuoi now!

I went back to this place after shopping with my mom recently and the place had become much busier than my first visit - which is a good sign that people have acknowledged its presence. Terry was still busy behind the counter churning out the Coffee Lane brews. But I was so disappointed to learn that ti ah kuoi had sold out at that time :'(

I'd recommend this place to coffee lovers as they should be able to appreciate Coffee Lane better than me :)

Coffee Lane
10-B, King Street, Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia

That Little Wine Bar @ Chow Thye Road

disclaimer : this is a backdated post circa Apr 2010 :P

Had dinner on a rainy night with Peter and since he asked me to think where to eat, I told him I'll be bringing him to somewhere new that he never been before.

So we reached this place called That Little Wine Bar.

The ambiance, deco and lighting gave me a very nice feeling and I love how cosy the set up is.


After we were seated, a pretty good-looking amoh named James came and started to introduce himself and the array of wines available. Since we were not into wine, we asked him what's nice to have around here and was given a pretty elaborate run down of the soups, tapas and mains available, which were also scribbled on a very cute blackboard on the wall near our table!


Our conservative drink choices of Orange Juice and Coke:-


Table setting:-


In the end, we ordered a soup, a tapas and 2 mains.

Wild Mushroom Soup (RM 25)


As stated on the blackboard, this is made up of 5 different types of mushroom, added with chili, lemon zest, Parmesan and thyme, served at the table where the 250ml of soup is poured into an artistic serving bowl.


Taste? With a clear broth soup as such that tasted zesty with a sourish note, I didn't really know how to appreciate the taste :-|

Next up was Chicken Pate (RM 18) which I ordered off the Tapas list, not really registering on my mind what Pate meant



When it landed on our table we even asked James was this what we ordered and his reply was affirmative, and we proceeded to ask what it was made of. And so our 'nightmare' began when James casually responded that it is made of chicken liver and other ingredients minced into a spreadable paste! :-O

I could instantly feel how terrible it tasted when Peter tried it out with the baguette - coz his expression looked horrible (yeah I got a picture of that) but I can't post it here else I'll definitely get chopped!

The chicken pate tasted like..... liver! (read what it's made of again few lines on top) I can't say I'm doing injustice to the pate by saying it tasted horrible because I never tasted any form of pate before so I didn't see the taste coming at all to be honest. But I'd imagine those who love pate will actually like this as the texture was creamy smooth.

Peter actually had to order another Coke for himself as that was the only solution to finishing half of the pate so that we don't waste it totally - I SALUTE him!


And honestly we had a terribly good laugh over the chicken pate as both of us were clueless with regards to what it was and its 'exotic' taste!

After the very 'unique' soup and pate, we were not having much hope on the mains really.

Peter's Mushroom Quiche (RM 25) arrived and it looked normal.



So he braved himself and had a go - by the look of his face I could tell this was definitely better than the pate lol~ and he actually nodded and commented that this tasted very nice actually, and way better than whatever we had earlier on.

Then came my Red Snapper (RM 28) with some sauce - sorry as I've forgotten the name.



I didn't know what to expect when it landed on my table but I was pleasantly surprised by the uniqueness of the sauce infusing the fish. The red snapper fillets were definitely fresh and grilled to near perfection with the skin being crispy and meat still tender. And just when I thought the accompanying balls on the dish were potatoes - I was proven wrong as they were honeydew balls! Surprise surprise indeed, and it complemented the sauce which had a sweet note to it.

I was very curious of this place and wanted to check out how its upstairs looked like, and after the meal we were actually given a tour of upstairs which turned out to be a perfect setting for private parties - both Oriental and Western settings available!

Check them out~



Peter gladly cam-whoring with the available decor


Our odd pic at the washroom upstairs lol.... What was he looking at?


This unique lighting


Of course, how can a wine bar tour be complete without a peek at the wine cellar?


In all, I like this place and would love to make a come back soon - but no more mushroom soup and pate :P

Pearl Hill Cafe @ Tanjung Bungah

I just gotta get this off my chest!

Had a worst ever Saturday night dinner at a normal 'choo char' which by right can never go wrong!

I wanted to have dinner at Home Style Restaurant (Permai 32) but all the tables had 'reserved' signs on them and it had started to rain - so I said let's go to the seafood place hubby had wanted to take me last time - Pearl Hill Cafe


BIG mistake.

Reached there and the so-called car park was none other than land with cleared bushes. There were rubbish lurking everywhere within the areas with short bushes where we parked.



After glancing through the menu, hubby ordered his favourite mantis prawn (meat) with Nestum and 2 other dishes that the lady recommended - spicy sour curry fish meat and Guinness Stout Chicken.

We wanted to order their Cheese Pork Rib at first but the lady said "we got cheese and pork meat but not pork ribs"

After quite a loong wait considering there was only 1 other table before us, the Nestum Mantis Prawn (RM 8) came.


It looked horrendous - more like minced meat with nestum more than mantis prawn. Where are the mantis prawns? All shredded beyond recognition. It took us so long to dish out the bits and pieces of the mantis prawn meat and mind you there were not a lot to start with!

Next came the Spicy Sour Curry Fish (RM 25).


This at least had a decent 'look'. So I tasted its curry - spicy, I like! But my happiness was short-lived. Soon after I found out that the supposedly bone-less fish meat had plenty of bones in them! I can understand that whoever doing the de-boning may have missed out one or two bones but all the tiny pieces of fish had at least 4-5 bones in them at least! And the lady kept promoting that they have fish meat pieces to go with the curry - which means they should be deboned (-_-)"

And that's not all - the ladyfingers were all older than my grandma - felt like chewing wood. The curry had a layer of oil surfacing not long later too.

Just when we thought we'd seen the worst of it, last came the Guinness Stout Chicken (RM 8).

Check out the huge chunks of chicken wings... hubby said it looked like the folks there just bought these chicken wings off the wet market and cook them that's all - they did not even bother to chop them down into smaller pieces. And the chicken did not taste fresh at all and we really felt that these were fried or cooked previously and may be leftovers then further 'processed' to be Guinness Stout Chicken - since not many people could tell from the black black sauce anyway - WRONG! We can!

Before we asked for the bill - I told hubby that the price better be in the low to reasonable range to be matching with such low quality food but the bill came to an outrageous RM45.60!

When we paid hubby complained to the guy that there were no mantis prawn at all, the guy said got, just scrambled up with the nestum - but we insisted that there were not many and couldn't find a proper piece! And I also complained on the fish bones but he just walked away with our money, then when he came back with our change he just said "I just counted half of the price for the mantis prawns dish" and gave us the price chit and our balance. So the mantis prawn costed RM 4 instead of RM 8.

But still - we left as upset customers coz 1. we did not get to complain all the dishes; 2. clearly he was not apologetic at all and was not happy giving us the discount.

Do you think we're going to go back?

NO WAY.

Geylang Lor 9 Frog Porridge @ PJ SS2

I got sick by the time I reached KL during my last trip to Singapore so we had porridge instead for lunch, so honey brought me to this specialized restaurant serving frog porridge.

We ordered ...

Kung Pau Frog Claypot



This is by far one of the best Kung Pau frog we had to date - the dried chillies were definitely not for show and had their spiciness infused within the sauce itself. And the sauce in turn gave the frog its flavorful taste - making it a sheer pleasure to consume. The flesh were fresh and springy yet not overcooked - Marvelous!


Vegetables - Bok Choi


This was the neutral factor in our meal - to tone down the spiciness as well as balancing out our diet :)

Plain Porridge



The porridge is so soft, smooth and simply wonderful - perfectly complementing the strong taste of the kung pou frog

Ko Hyang Korean Country Delights @ The Gardens

Honey brought me to this humble establishment serving no frills Korean food recently and I was surprised that it wasn't too bad at all.

We had 2 dishes only but I'm keen to try more of their other dishes as I saw many others ordering their Bibimbap (Korean mixed rice) and Tteokbokki (spicy cylinder rice cakes).

They served Ban Chan (Side Dishes) and complimentary Soup too along with any dishes you order


While I was somehow co-erced into ordering Bi Bim Kuk Su - Korean sweet and spicy noodles (RM 12.50)



These were meant to be cold noodles but that's what I did not like (yeah I know that's my problem) but I did not fancy the taste of the noodles either as it was kind of too sweet. No complaints on the vegetables that came with the noodles though. This is something unique for me.

Honey had Sun du bu ji kye (Spicy Seafood Stew)


This was a much 'lighter' version of the stew compared to those at Korean Restaurants - as we can see from the colour of the stew; but nonetheless this did not compromise the taste. I ended up whalloping honey's soup much more than I finished my noodles :P

I had its warm Sik Hye which is a Korean barley drink and it tasted nice! Cooling after a Korean meal.


Will definitely be making come-backs!

Ko Hyang Korean Country Delights
LG-K05,
The Gardens, Mid Valley City
Kuala Lumpur

Bavarian Bierhaus @ The Curve

Had a late Valentine's Dinner here a little after 9pm and the place was still pretty much packed, so much so that we had to make do with a spot at the bar "-_-

Just look at my face - mixture of hunger, tired, disappointment all jumbled up


Why? Coz this was our so-called 'table'!


But the supervisor was attentive enough to usher us to another decent table outside where a couple just left

There wasn't much need for thinking of what to eat for the night since they've got it all figured out with their Vday Dinner Set comprising of an Appetizer, a Soup, Main Course shared by 2 and a dessert.

And so my face turned to a nicer shade when the main course that we were anticipating settled down at our table...


The appetizer which was something small but I've forgotten what it was :-S so certainly not something which made an impression.


This was the soup we had - super diluted Campbell-like Mushroom Soup


Main....



You would've figured out by now that it's made up of none other than their famous Pork Knuckle, put together with other goodies making up a platter. This was definitely a much better version of Pork Knuckle (not to mention a much more decent sized one!) compared to the one at Weissbräu. The skin was crispy, the meat tender. 'nuff said. I liked the sausages but didn't fancy the ham that much though. The bacon definitely tops the list after the knuckle.

Hubby excited to do the opening ceremony for the knuckle!


We were filled to our necks by the time we were done with the huge MAIN, but managed to stuff a bit of dessert down just for a taste.

The dessert looked like a layer cake of sorts but its texture was sponge-cake like. It was too sweet hence I only finished the Vanilla ice cream.


The Vday dinner set cost us about RM 123++ if my memory did not fail me. But of course, we ordered drinks so that brought the total way higher than that.

I still love its version of Pork Knuckle though I'd say the one at Vintage Bulgaria is neck-to-neck with this one.