Fruuze @ Straits Quay

Checked out this new yogurt outlet for a couple of times now and...... it's just another yogurt outlet apart from the likes of Tutti Frutti, J.Co, Frogurt, etc :)


However, they have something else the others don't - it's called Parfait which I had a chance of tasting back in Dallas

Parfait


Mango flavored Yogurt with 3 toppings

Village Park Restaurant @ Damansara Utama

We drive past here a lot and always see lots of people patronising this place, with tables and chairs hogging all the car park lots in front of their outlet:-


Hubby said this place serves good nasi lemak hence we checked it out.



Both of us ordered Nasi Lemak with Fried Chicken and we had a side of bendi (ladies finger) and I wanted to have a telur mata to go with mine too :)

Nasi Lemak Ayam Goreng (RM 7.70)


The looks did not quite cut it, did it? But the rice was very fragrant, at the right texture; the ayam goreng was well-marinated and deep-fried to perfection; the sambal was spicy.

What a perfect brunch to be accompanied by ladies finger and sunny side egg sides :)

The Apartment Downtown @ KLCC

Before I came back from KL, we had a late lunch at The Apartment after shopping in KLCC.


We only shared 2 dishes, namely...

Chilli Tomato Clams


Having tried this dish at The Curve before, we decided to order this again. Don't be fooled by the redness of the gravy, it was not really spicy at all. The clams were fresh, not overly cooked, and were juicy. Both the clams and the gravy sort of complemented each others' presence. The gravy was very flavorful - owing to the sweetness of the clams as well as its own ingredients, herbs and spices.

Bread that is served with the clams - it goes perfectly well to be dipped within the ample flavorful chilli tomato gravy of the clams.


Cod Fish with Aioli



This was an oven-baked fillet of cod with marinade of chilli, oregano & coriander, served with dill mash, snow peas & aioli. The slab of cod was real beefy indeed and well-marinated. The skin was still crunchy even though the cod meat was still succulent and smooth. The mash was smooth and not over-buttery, and is best consumed along with the snow peas.

Chicago Rib House @ Gurney Plaza

Thanks to Tze Ling and Sean for jom-ing a table, Kel and myself had a pretty value-for-money meal here.

It was Chicago Rib House's Anniversary promotion where certain beer and meals were on 50% off and the half rack of pork ribs definitely was what brought us here.

Fried Mushroom (RM 10.90)


This was a unique appetizer indeed. But we couldn't really tell there were mushrooms within. They were light and crunchy though.

Black Catch of the day (RM 18.90)


At 50% off, this was at RM 9.45 only. The fish meat itself was not black, only the marinated herbs and spices and the way it was prepared made the whole fish looked black. It was flavorful and grilled well but pretty salty to our liking.

St Louis Pork Ribs - Half Rack (RM30.90)


At 50% off, these only cost us RM 15.45 each, and boy it was one value for money rib indeed! The ribs which were coated with original BBQ sauce were barbecue-d to perfection, with the surface crispy yet the meat within succulent and tender. The meat fell off the bone oh so easily and made it a sheer pleasure enjoying this dish!

Kel and I shared half of the ribs and fish so here's our combo meal :)


Tze Ling ordered a dessert to be shared with us too....

Brownie with Ice Cream (RM6.90)


The brownie was warm and fairly rich in texture, and the ice cream was cold and melted immediately. This was not bad of a dessert at all, though the brownie can make do with much more chocolaty taste!

Overall I'd give a thumbs up to Chicago Rib House for their job well done, simply because the staff still strive to give good and attentive service despite the massive crowd build up owing to their tempting anniversary promotion. They even let patrons make table reservations and the quality of food were not compromised too! The staff still came over and asked how was the food eventhough the whole restaurant was packed with people.

Charlie Brown Cafe @ Straits Quay

Visited Charlie Brown's Cafe twice since its debut in Straits Quay - the first in Malaysia and I was very excited to check the place out and experience myself what the hype is all about.


The whole deco and fittings were one-of-its-kind to cater for a themed restaurant setting, with all the Charlie Brown characters adorning not only the walls, the ceilings, the lightings, pillars, window panes, and there were statues of different sizes deliberately located in between the tables - just so that the people are constantly surrounded by the characters!



My favourite character in Charlie Brown is Linus Van Pelt:-



His signature was none other than a "security blanket" which he drags along wherever he goes. But of course iIlike him because "despite his age, he can put life into perspective while sucking his thumb". Something I'm still not capable of doing, perhaps? ;-)

Anyway, back to the food.

During my first visit, we sampled a few drinks and 2 dishes, namely:-

Orange Juice / Dragon Fruit Juice / Chocolate Milkshake


Juices are at RM 10 if not mistaken, and my chocolate milkshake definitely cost more than that. The juices were just mediocre, and my milkshake was a sheer disappointment. It was very runny, did not have any chocolate aroma to it, and tasted just like diluted HL chocolate milk.

Creamy Seafood Pasta (RM 15.80)


When this landed on our table, our eye brows were already raised because it did not look delicious. The terrible taste of the whole spaghetti really made finishing it an extremely difficult task - we just wanted to clear it for the sake of paying for it. Just how bad was this spaghetti? Imagine dry spaghetti noodles on the plate, with some starchy tasteless sauce with frozen prawns and squid; mushroom and few strips of red and green bell pepper poured on top of it. Worst spaghetti I had so far. Anyone could make spaghetti way better than this one. I don't think this even qualifies to be called spaghetti - it should be called tasteless Italian-noodle wannabe.

Charlie Brown 8" Chicken Pizza (RM 15.80)


Another very suspecting-looking dish. And I don't see how it measures up to 8" either. The crust was hard and dry, the tomato puree base paste tasted as though it came straight out of the can; and the ingredients that we managed to taste out were strips of bell pepper, diced pineapple, mushroom, and perhaps limited chicken strips? I can assure you that the taste was horrible! On top of that, the pizza was cold when it was served. Worst pizza I had in my life so far.

So there you go - 2 worst food recorded in my first visit to Charlie Brown Cafe - not bad at all.

We had a dessert and 2 drinks during my second visit with Kel and Yuet but I don't even want to start talking about it, coz the drinks and food are definitely overpriced. Pictures just for reference...

Caffee Mocha 12 oz. (RM 11)


Crepe + Ice Cream (RM 10.80)

Not sure why they left a huge empty area on the right......


..........so Kellin drew a Snoopy for us! :)



I certainly won't be back - well, unless I wake up one day and missed Linus.

Delicious @ Straits Quay

After much hype and anticipation, Delicious finally opens its doors in Penang at Straits Quay, and this outlet is a subsidiary of E&O Berhad.

It took only 2 visits to conclude that this is a place we won't consider coming back anytime soon.


First encounter: Went and had a late light lunch with hubby on a Thursday afternoon, so we only had a soup, a sandwich and a cake.


The refined-looking menu


My Hot Honey Lemon (RM 5.90)



What can go wrong with this simple drink? Apparently quite a bit here. 2 huge pieces of lemon is way too much for the amount of water, it made the whole drink super sour to the point where no amount of honey can overcome it. The cookies that came with the drink did not really match either and was not nice to munch upon.

Hubby's Mushroom Soup (RM 13.90)



The mushroom soup tasted slightly peppery but the overall taste was not bad. The accompanying garlic bread was crunchy but lacking in flavor.

My Ham & Cheese Sandwich (RM 16.90)


The salad portion was no doubt generous, but that is merely meeting up to the expectation given the price tag. The ham and cheese sandwich was made up of pieces of toasted bread containing standard ham with melted cheese in between. It was so bland that I had to eat it with with chili sauce. Anyone can make this at home.

Strawberry Cheesecake with Berry Coulis (RM 12.90)
.

The cheesecake was grainy, not smooth enough and the sauce was just too drenched and over sweet.

When we asked for the bill, we were told that their printing device has broke down and they apologized. But after waiting for another 5-10 minutes, no signs of our bill yet. So I asked for a manual bill instead. After what seemed like forever, the guy came back with a piece of bill with just the total of RM 57.55 written on it. No breakdown of any sort visible. I then asked the guy to write down the items we had, and to my surprise, his question to me was "You mean you want me to write down everything, including the service charge and tax?" What a great question it was. Of course I would love to know what I had, how much it cost me and yes, how bloody much I paid for your service and to the government. After another forever, the guy came back with all the breakdown. So much for the service.

Not to mention that the total bill of RM 57.55 for just a light lunch was freaking OUTRAGEOUS.

We saw a lot of customers leaving with a doggie bag and immediately thought that the desserts are really that good that they take-away for their family or friends to enjoy. In the end, we ourselves had to ask for take-away as we couldn't finish the cheese cake.

This is a great strategy having such over-sized doggie bags - it gives people a false impression that their desserts are that good that most customers are getting take-aways; when the actual fact is that they could not finish the huge portion.


Second encounter: Because of the cosy atmosphere and the fact that this was a new place, I decided to give it another chance and suggested this place for a gathering with my close friends, and off we went on a Sunday evening at 6:30pm.

When we arrived, I asked for a table of 7 persons with a child, and the guy asked if we're having dinner so I said yes. He then took my name and asked that we have a seat first.

Looking around, we could still see a few tables empty so here goes our conversation with the guy:-

Me : Roughly how long will the wait time be?

Delicious guy : It depends, maybe 20 minutes, maybe longer.

Me : Can we have those tables empty over there?

Delicious guy : No, those are for desserts only, e.g. cakes, tea, etc.

Me : Why can't we take the tables to have dinner?

Delicious guy : Because it is our procedure.

My friend : We are going to order a lot of desserts later, can we sit there?

Delicious guy : NO you cannot.

My friend : Why not?

Delicious guy : Because it is our procedure.

My friend : So how long more do we need to wait for a table to have dinner?

Delicious guy : It may take up to half an hour, 1 hour, not sure.

What a turn-off! Service provider giving not one, but multiple rejections to the customer needs. Needless to say, we were out of there right after the conversation ended.

So these are the renowned tables they were referring to -

DESSERTS-ONLY TABLES - they must be super fragile

In conclusion - sheer disappointments, even after giving it a second chance.

Miraku @ G Hotel

Went for dinner with hubby at Miraku on a Saturday night.

The staff recommended the drinks which are on promotion for the month so we tried them out...

Left : Miraku Matcha Latte (RM 7.90)

Right : Cold Honey Lemon Tea (RM 6.00)


Appetizer : Not sure what this was. Did not taste good


Salmon Sashimi (RM 26)


The 6 pieces of salmon was just normal. The portions given were not impressive at all.

Cawan Mushi (RM 8)

For the price charged, this was a very mediocre Japanese steamed egg. It was not flavorful and the texture tasted diluted.

Soft Shell Crab Temaki (RM 9)


Hubby's all-time favorite - this soft shell crab was light and crunchy. Other than that, nothing to shout about

Garlic Rice (RM 18)


Garlic rice that hubby ordered - for a freaking RM 18, this is one expensive rice! And I expected expensive taste too, but it was a MAJOR let down. The rice was not flavorful, the garlic taste was barely there, and the rice came across as though it was fried very casually. Honestly, this did not impress us at all as other Japanese restaurants can do a far better job than this.

Grilled Cod Fish with Teriyaki Sauce (RM 28)


The cod fish was super small in portion and had quite a number of bones. Never fails to turn me off when bones come sticking out from my mouth when I'm enjoying a nice piece of cod.


When I have more spare money available, I may come back to try out some of their more 'exquisite' dishes. But I do feel that being a premium Japanese restaurant, the least that they could do was to make sure the quality of the most normal dishes are up to par. With the total bill at RM 119.35, we could have definitely had far value for money cuisines at other Japanese restaurants, or even elsewhere, to say the least.