Noble Mansion, Plaza 33

Expensive and exotic. That will be my two words description for Noble Mansion. Another favorites for Chinese wedding events and dinner gatherings, it would be a good idea to book a  table prior to dining there. 

Claypot Fish Slice with Onions

An expensive version of claypot fish slice where you can get it at half the price in some hawker stalls. However, taste wise, it was quite exquisite. The fish slice was sliced reasonably thick for that extra juiciness when cooked with onions. It was well seasoned and brought out the freshness of the fish slice.

Pumpkin Melon Soup

The soup itself was flavorful and addictive to taste. It was a rich combination of melon, pumpkin, dates and Chinese dried oyster.

Sze-Chuan Soup with Scallops

This was definitely one of the exotic dish of the night. The soup was a thick gooey red with condiments such as chilli and mushroom. It is spicy and sourish, a very typical flavor for Sze-Chuan inspired dishes. The taste itself was quite exotic and not everyone likes the taste of it, it is pretty much an acquired taste.

Pork Ribs

Pork Ribs

The pork ribs was the main highlight and my favorite dish of the night. The pork ribs was tender and juicy. It was served up with a rich sauce which was sweet with a tinge of sourness. The pork ribs was also fried to crisp on the exterior. It is an art to fry pork ribs without overcooking the internal flesh. Another touch that made this dish so special was the dates on the top of the pork ribs, it is definitely something different but yet so tastefully done.

Lamb Shank served with bread

Deep Fried Mantou

The lamb shank was a surpring take. I was surprised with their menu of Lamb Shank since it was a Chinese restaurant, Lamb Shank clearly doesn't goes down with Chinese food. And true to it, Noble Mansion should probably stick to what they prepare best - Chinese food. The lamb shank was mediocre and not as well seasoned as what a good western restaurant would prepare. The meat itself was not tender enough with the sauce just being average.

Soup

I'll admit I can't recall the name of this soup. Taste wise - I think its an acquired taste because my brothers disliked the soup since they claimed it had a funny taste but my parents loved it. The soup itself was pretty sourish, with some spiciness in it. Tasted like preserved vegetables soup though. I didn't exactly love it, neither did I hate it.

Double Boiled Fungus with Soya Milk

It's dessert time and it was undeniably good. Nothing beats a soothing hot soya milk together with soft chewy fungus for a Chinese dessert. Not even chinese pancakes!

Longan and Fungus Dessert

Another bowl for the sweet toothed. Sweet from the excessive longans and soft chewy fungus, this is another wonderful dessert to end the night.

All in all, it was a great experience and I was pretty satisfied with most of the dishes. It was a rather different experience from your average Chinese restaurants. However, the price itself is enough to cost a bomb, prepare to fork out about RM 500 for the above meals.

-thevanillapudding-

Gelare @ The e-Curve

A friend of mine recommended Gelare for an authentic American waffle and I was glad I took his advice. Instead of cheap RM 3.00 waffles that you can get it from the stalls, this was an exceptional all American waffle. Located in The e-Curve, same row as Espresso Lab. it is a small shop decorated in black and settings.

Gelare serves an array of waffles with several type of ice cream and also coffee. It makes a good place for dessert, dates and meet up.

Original Waffle with Cookie and Cream Ice Cream 

The epitome of orgasmic waffle is here! The original flavored waffle was just as good. It was thick, crispy on the exterior and soft on the interior. The rich drizzle of maple syrup together with the rich creaminess of the cookie and cream ice cream is divine. It was so worth my RM 18! It was just that good, I'm not going to have waffles any other way anymore!

-thevanillapudding-

Harrods Cafe, KLCC

This visit was honestly a disaster. I mistaken Harrods Cafe a Harrods Restaurant when I had actually booked Harrods Restaurant instead! I didn't realize that there were two Harrods in KLCC and it was practically a bad day after that with the amount disaster happening.

The food at Harrods Cafe was another greatest disappointment. I've read reviews raving about both Harrods and clearly Harrods Cafe does not fit into the list. Perhaps its the name of Harrods that brings it to the top of the list, but I can tell the number of things that are disappointing.

The first and foremost, despite the ambience of a classic cafe in UK, Harrods's interiors were terribly stuffy and hot. It bored down to me if the air-conditioned was really on. I was sweating although I was wearing a sleeveless dress!

Chocolate Mint Brownie

The chocolate mint brownie was average in terms of taste. The brownie tasted a little dry to my liking. Despite the small piece, I found it hard to even eat through half of it!

Scones

Harrods scones were dimmed to die for and I beg to differ. I had tried better ones and this was clearly not what I had in mind. The SmokeHouse up in Cameron Highlands serves up a pretty damn good scones and the ones I had in Sydney Teahouse was another great one. These scones were hard and not as fluffy it should be. It was warm to touch and taste but failed badly in creating a memorable taste. It was served with jam and cream.

Fruit Flan

The Fruit Flan was the cake of the day and it wasn't a pleaser. It was a simple sponge cake with fruits and cream. Once again, its taste was mediocre and none of it was memorable.

Perhaps I am too picky but I was expecting something better, something memorable and something that would make me die to come back for round 2. But none of it done a great deal impressing me or my family.  

-thevanillapudding-

Levain Boulangerie Patisserie, Kuala Lumpur

Levain Boulangerie Patisserie, also known as the "Stone Oven" bakery is located in Jalan Delima, Kuala Lumpur. Instead of being Melbourne inspired, Levain is more keen on serving up delectable and beautiful pastry. The ambience itself was charming and cosy, letting me reminisce the feeling of being in Paris - it is not quite there, but you just get a little nostalgic.

Pastries were arranged artfully on the array of trays in the corner of the shop. You will be spoilt for choice.

Peach Pastry

Flaky and buttery. And just right. Love the crunch to it with the softness of the peach.

Apple Danish

I am a fan of apples, herbs and cinnamon. At first glance, I knew I had to try out the apple danish. The apple danish was surprisingly mild in taste. It could have been better if they were more generous in terms of the filling.

Cappuccino

I am quite surprised with the quality of their coffee. I was expecting something rich and aromatic. However, it was relatively disappointing on my first sip, I didn't bother finishing my cappuccino. 

Tuna Croissant with Hash Brown

The croissant was flaky, buttery and rich but I though Yeast Boulangerie's serves up a better croissant. It was definitely more flavorful. The tuna was just canned tuna mixed with mayo, so I guess there's not much to offer on this platter either.

Levain Boulangerie - after much of the hype, I felt it was a tad too overrated. Perhaps its their "Stone Oven" competitive advantage place them on top of the list. However, the food was pretty much average tasting and left not much of a memory.

-thevanillapudding-

YouMiQi Cuisine @ Old Klang Road

The name itself pretty exotic, doesn't it? This isn't your typical Chinese restaurant such as with the likes of Oversea Restaurant. It offers something more exotic, a Chinese Shunde-style cuisine where you won't get it anywhere else. It is definitely an eye opener for first timer. It is easy to miss out this restaurant as its location is no where strategic, other than a small two story building tucked away before the Valenza budget hotel. Parking can be difficult and seatings can be even more difficult without a booking. 

Homemade Chilli 

Unlike your typical chilli served in Chinese restaurant, YouMiQi serves up chopped chili in a slightly sour base. It's watery and seem like a harmless seasoning, however, a word of caution - it can be quite spicy! 

Rice Noodles

Fascinating isn't it? Most of us will know it as "chee cheong fun". The rice noodles was thin and surprisingly chewy. There was not much seasoning to it, where soy sauce act as the main seasoning. It wasn't too bad, despite its blandness.

Stir Fried Clams

The clams were stir fried with a micture of onions, shallots, carrots and bittergourd. The bittergourd taste was quite strong though and the sauce was salty.

Herbal Chicken

This taste like the herbal sauce chicken my mom prepares every week. Nothing to rave about.

Water Spinach with Pork Slice

This was quite good. Instead of using milk for the soup, YouMiQi uses rice water. It was surprisingly addictive despite its lack of taste. The pork slice was a wonderful addition to the soup.

Wax Rice

Wax Rice

This is definitely a must try. It is so wonderfully seasoned and prepared that you can't help but going in for the second round. But it doesn't do well with those who have digestive problem because its generally quite oily and heavily seasoned with lard. So, you can imagine the amount of grease.

Pan Fried Fish Slice

Pan Fried Fish Slice

Another simple delicacy with wonderful seasoning. Fish was sliced to bite size and pan fried till the exterior was crispy and the internal flesh was soft and juicy.

Handmade Pork Balls with Preserved Vegetables

Another orgasmic dish - pork balls. First of all, you don't say no to pork balls. Second of all, what beats handmade pork balls? Well seasoned and juicy, that's what you need in a pork ball. Seasoned with preserved vegetables, that's a pretty well combination. Definitely a must try.

YouMiQi Cuisine sets the bar pretty high and you will want to come back for another round, but after you give your wallet a break. The price itself is not cheap. However, it would be an eye opener and a taste bud opener.

-thevanillapudding-

Pick N' Brew, Shah Alam

Located in the same building as CNI, it is definitely easy to miss Pick N' Brew. Basically, you will miss it if you weren't working in CNI office. I didn't even know its' existence till my friend who was working there introduced it to me. The ambience was quiet and classy, which speaks pretty much for the price of their food. It was high end expensive, but definitely between the range of RM 20 and above.

Cappuccino with Almond Biscotti

The cappuccino was decent though a tad milky. However, their biscotti was a pleaser.

Latte

Latte was also average. Their coffee are fine, but nothing much to rave about.

Grenbloise Salmon Fillet

Grenbloise Salmon Fillet

Perhaps it doesn't look as appetizing as it should, but it was really good. In layman terms, it is pan seared salmon fillet served on a bed of boiled potatoes, roasted spinach, feta cheese and lemon caper butter sauce. The combination was just right. The salmon was well seasoned and kept to the minimal to let its freshness speaks for itself. The roasted spinach was delicious. The lemon caper butter sauce was the highlight - despite being looking like it is drowned in olive oil, it was tangy in flavor and not too buttery. With the salmon minimal seasoning, it goes well with the tanginess of the sauce.

Teriyaki Chicken loaded with Mashed Potatoes

The mashed potatoes were divine! It was creamy, rice and velvety. It was just damn good, I admit to stealing half of it from my friend. Haha. The chicken was well cooked and served with a slightly above average teriyaki sauce. To be honest, the mashed was the highlight and the star of this dish.

The bill came up a tad pricey but I thought it was a pretty good meal. So, no qualms here. I will be back for another round if I am sent to work in Shah Alam. Their food was pretty memorable, especially the mashed potato and lemon caper sauce. 

-thevanillapudding-

Onsemiro, The Intermark

As much as I love Korean food, Korean fine dining is just not my thing. I guess I'm more of a Korean street food person - give me a simple pajeon, jajangmyeon or dobukki, I'm a happy girl. 

Celebrated my 22nd birthday with a Korean fine dining dinner at Onsemiro. Located in The Intermark, Onsemiro is an epitome of stillness and silence. The restaurant itself was quiet with just a few patrons. Not the usual noisy Korean BBQ houses you go to where from far you could smell the heavy scent of smoke from the BBQ platter or the noisy chatter of the patron.

Onsemiro has a limited menu of dishes - they serve the typical Korean stew, Beef BBQ, noodles and pancakes. Nope, dobukki (rice cake in spicy sauce) and black sauce noodles didn't make the cut for this fancy fine dining restaurant.

Complimentary Tofu Stew

It was a complimentary dish from the chef. Do not expect any regular tofu in it, rather it was mashed tofu or rather mashed bean curd stew. It was a little weird as it felt like we were having some rather sandy soup with cabbage thrown in. It was good nonetheless, but the taste only really settle down after a few spoonful of soup. The waitress explained that it is rather rough in texture as it was made purely out of bean curd.

Side Dishes

Their side dishes were decent. I wasn't very satisfied with it though. I personally thought Dao Rae had a better set of side dishes. Their kimchi was mediocre as I prefered it to be more well seasoned and preserved. 

Bean sprout

Have no idea what this was

Preserved radish slice

Kim Chi

Complimentary Dish

It's either they were really generous or they felt bad for my family. We went there the week before but a short circuit occured before our food arrived and we were left to wait for a while till we decided to leave since we were hungry. They took down my name in the event I decided to return the next time.

This was a fried dish platter - fried oyster, fried seaweed with filling and fried brinjal.

Prime Saengdeungsim - Grilled Prime Beef Sirloin @ RM 98

This don't come cheap. Just two mini ribs grilled to perfection, well partial perfection. It was slightly rare for me, I prefer mine to be close to well done. However, it was tender and juicy and sizzling hot. You have order above certain pieces in order to BBQ it by yourself, or else the waiter will prepare it for you in the kitchen.

Japchae - Potato Noodles Stir Fried with Vegetables @ RM 35

The potato noodles tasted averag in my opinion. The chewy texture of the noodles was far from my liking and it was a tad too oily too. Despite the savory potato taste of the noodles, I personally think street noodles tasted way better!

Nakji Somyeon - Noodles with Stir Fried Baby Octopus @ RM 45

As red as it look, it is no joke in terms of spiciness. For my level, I felt it was fine but it could be quite spicy for most people. The noodles were overdosed with baby octopus. A little of baby octopus is fine, but this plate was literally drowned with it. 

Kimchi jjigae - Kimchi Stew @ RM 25

Rich in cabbage, kimchi and sardine fish, this kimchi stew was good, but not great. It would have been better if the kimchi stew was richer in taste. The sardine fish was disappointing, it tasted much out of the can sardine fish. I had some rice with the stew but the rice itself was hard and disappointing.

Samgyetang - Chicken Ginseng Soup @ RM 45

Too little ginseng. I couldn't taste the ginseng at all, they deemed to use expensive Korean ginseng for the soup but it's just missing in terms of taste. I've tasted better samgyetang in the Korean restaurant in Ampang.

Hae-mul Pajeon - Seafood and Green Onion Pancake @ RM 32

This was my favorite dish throughout the night. I guess you can rarely go wrong with pajeon. The pajeon was thick, rice and generous in terms of filling. It taste just darn good.

Complimentary Dessert

Persimmon Sorbet

I read in blogs that their persimmon sorbet was one of the best but now that I've tasted it, I frowned upon it. It wasn't sorbet, it was pretty much frozen persimmon. It was so hard and cold that poking a fork through it was literally impossible. Stuffing the whole persimmon in the mouth wasn't really a good option either.

Yakgwa - Traditional Fried Honey Filling Rice Cake

This was good apart from the excessive sweetness. Fried to a perfect crispiness which tasted much like a chinese biscuit and dosed with honey, this was the epitome of sinfully sweet. 

Cooling Melon Drink

I had this in almost every korean restaurant. A typical double boiled melon drink to cool down the body after a heart meal.

Onsemiro was a decent dining place but I doubt I will be back any sooner. Perhaps I wasn't used to these type of Korean food, I didn't really fancy the dishes either, neither did my family.

Ratings : 2.0/5

Price : 2.5/5

Onsemiro

Address : Second floor, Intermark Mall, The Intermark, Jalan Tun Razak, KL

Tel: 03 2161 2461

Opening times: Open daily, 11.30am–2.30pm; 5.30pm-10.30pm

-thevanillapudding-