LOKL, Kuala Lumpur

LOKL, pronounced as Local. Apart from being an indie cafe, it is also a bed and breakfast hotel where backpackers can be seen lounging around. It was cosy with both internal and outdoor sitting area. On normal weekdays, it was filled with office workers getting a good hearty meal to fuel their remaining day in the office. Getting a seat within the air-conded premise was difficult, so my colleagues and I sat at the open air area. Pretty cosy with trees shading us from the sun.

Tomato Soup

This is a classic case of tomato soup, definitely not canned soup. The broth was rich, thick and chunky. It was well seasoned enough for you to want to finish the whole bowl. Definitely not the watery tomato soup you get from other restaurants in town.

Tea

Latte

Refreshingly rich and aromatic, the coffee is as good as it looks.

Quiche

My colleague ordered it and he said it was pretty good, not too rich but just decent enough to satisfy your stomach.

Rosemary Chicken Thigh Panini with Salad

Firstly, it wasn't a panini. They should probably reconsider renaming it. The chicken thigh was well seasoned with rosemary, it wasn't overpowering but subtle enough to bring out the flavor of the chicken.

Spicy Lemongrass Beef with Salad

Coated with a layer of batter and seasoned with lemongrass and chilli, it was something different. Spicy but nonetheless makes up a good meal.

Apple Crumble

The apple crumble was good. Finger licking good in this case, though I did not used my fingers. It was served in a small ramekin and definitely just out from the oven. It crumbly with a generous amount of warm apples. Two thumbs up.

I had the set lunch which was priced at RM 30 inclusive of a drink, soup, main course and dessert. I thought it was pretty decent. I am quite happy and satisfied with their food. It wasn't great, but good enough for round two.

On a side note, the waiters here are really friendly and go all out to make your day. Definitely another plus point!

-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-

Inaho @ The Curve

Another sushi place to satisfy my Japanese food cravings. Located beside The Gardens, on the row of eateris in Curve, you will not missed it. My friends and I decided to pop in Inaho for our sushi fix and boy, we were glad we did. It is generally difficult to get a seat in Inaho, the place was small with very limited tables. So, be prepare to wait in line for a table on weekends.

Salmon Sushi

Tuna Sushi

Salmon Sashimi

The sushi and sashimi was orgasmic. Unlike Sushi King or Sakae Sushi or Sushi Zanmai, Inaho serves up a generous portion of sushi and sashimi where the salmon slice were generously thicker and longer. The sashimi was thickly slice and juicy. It was honestly a darn satisfying piece of sashimi and sushi. 

Ramen

The ramen was just average in terms of taste. I still vote the sushi as the best contender.

Salmon Skin

The salmon skin was definitely an healthier alternative as compared to the ones I had in Sushi King (but honestly? I prefered the sinful version in Sushi King). The salmon skin in Inaho was crispy and drained of any oil. Therefore, it taste more bland than usual. If you're into healthy bland food, the salmon skin may be a pretty good option. 

Chicken Katsu

The chicken katsu was average with your usual sweet curry, deep fried chicken fillet and starchy Japanese rice. Am I a fan of it? Nope, I'm definitely your sushi and sashimi girl. 

Overall, I am happy with the food and the serving. The price was worth the taste, however, the service can be a little slow with the lack of manpower and high demand. So, just be patient.

-thevanillapudding-

My Elephant Thai Restaurant, Aman Suria

Awet Thai Seafood Thai Restaurant wins hands down for their Thai food when compared to My Elephant Thai Restaurant. My Elephant Thai Restaurant generally inclines to  Thai fine dining in an economical sense. Thai food are served in pretty plates and has a touch of decorations on the platter. However, taste wise, it has many areas to improve.

My Elephant is relatively well known among both the KL and PJ crowd. My Elephant would be one of the favorite choice for a decent Thai food experience though I would like to beg to differ that their Thai food isn't as authentic as it should be.



Mieng Kham

My favorite Thai appetizer is the Mieng Kham where raw condiments are wrapped in leaves and eaten with a  special sauce. The Mieng Kham here is nothing compared to Amarin Thai Restaurant (Midvalley) or Rama V in KL. The lack of raw ingredients as evident in the picture is the first disappointing factor. With 10 pieces of leaves, it is obviously insufficient. Secondly, the sauce was disappointing without any strong lemongrass or fish sauce taste. It was relatively bland.

Green Aroma Cooler

The Green Aroma Cooler was good with strong Pandan taste and a very soothing taste. I do recommend it for something different.

Citron Cooler

 Another wonderful beverage where the citrus taste is evident in the drink itself. My Elephant serves pandan water as your normal water. Pandan leaf is boiled with plain water, however, no sugar was added. Hence you can smell the pandan but it taste just exactly like plain water.

Stir Fried Vegetables

 Once again, it is a basic stir fried vegetables with garlic and a tad too much starch.

Pandan Fried Chicken

In the aspect of the popular Thai dish of chicken wrapped in pandan leaf, My Elephant failed it badly. My first impression of the dish was for the chicken to be served wrapped in pandan leaf, but it looked like an extremely batter coated deep fried chicken. I was disappointed to be honest. The taste was average and not as juicy as I would like it to be.

Steam Fish with Signature Thai Sauce

My Elephant's steam fish with signature Thai sauce. There was not much to shout about, a tad of sweet and sour with a tinge of spiciness. 

Green Curry

The Thai Green Curry was miserable in terms of the serving. There was few miserable pieces of chicken soaking in a whole bowl of green curry which I personally felt a too sweet. 

Glutinuous Rice with Mango and Coconut Milk

Out of all the dishes, I think the dessert qualified as slightlyl above average. Another signature Thai dessert - the gultinous rice with mango and coconut milk was generally satisfying. However, I think Awet Thai Restaurant had a better recreation of the popular Thai dessert.

Waterchestnut with Jackfruit in Coconut Milk 

My all time favorite dessert - this was really disappointing in so many ways. Firstly, there ice were in chunks and blocks. I like it cold but without ice bits. Secondly, the amount of jackfruit and waterchestnut was ridiculous. It was literally coconut milk. It was disappointing much to my dismay.

To summarize my whole experience, this is definitely not a place where I will be back for a second visit. The food was definitely not worth the price I paid for. 

-thevanillapudding-

Spaghetti Grill, Paradigm Mall

The only two outlets I  knew was in Paradigm Mall and Midvalley. Spaghetti Grill is a typical western restaurant, a close resemblence to the categories of Chili's and TGIF where food is in relatively big portion and an overload of oil and carbs. How do you say no to sinful food?

 

There is nothing special about Spaghetti Grill, it is definitely one of those place where you want to chill out with your friends, have a drink and some munchies. Girl talk over pizza and drinks or perhaps for guys, football over some alcohol and BBQ wings?

 

 



Pumpkin Soup



 

The pumpkin soup was surprisingly not a let down with its extra creaminess and rich pumpkin taste. Instead of tasting like can soup, it does taste like a freshly made bowl of pumpkin soup. I had the small bowl instead of the big bowl, the small bowl is pretty much slightly larger than a normal chinese tea cup.

Refillable Onion Rings

This is what I call an original onion ring instead of those being served by Domino's Pizza. The onions are sliced thinly and each slice is coated with a thin layer of battered and deep fried. The taste of the onion still lingers around without an overpowering sense of batter. The best part? It is refillable!!

3D Combo of Potato Chedder, Chicken and Fish

 

In short, it stand for deep fried chicken fillet and fish fillet, well potato chedder literally means cheese in potato. It is served with three different sauce of mayonaise, mustard and sour cream. The platter itself wasn't very impressive or memorable.

 

 

 

BBQ Chicken Pizza

I stick to my Domino's Pizza anytime. I always prefered thick crust pizza to thin crust for that extra satisfaction. The pizza was not bad, but not finger licking good to be exact. It has all the right things in it - mushroom, cheese and chicken. I would like it to be richer in taste and cheese though.

Honey BBQ Wings

Another munchies staple - BBQ wings. Decently prepared and it does gives that satisfaction of sweetness and sinful feeling after consumption.

 

Overall, Spaghetti Grill is a decent place to hang out with the girls or boys. Nothing too expensive but you get a decent kick out of the food. They served pretty good housemade lemonade too.

-thevanillapudding-

Tous les Jours, Bangsar

Tous les Jours - contrary to its name which sounds like a top notch French pastry cafe, the cafe was in my opinion disappointing. Despite the decent array of pastry, I was less than impressed by the pastry itself.

 

The cafe provided a nostalgic feeling with wooden frames colored in light green and wooden panels. Technically, it felt like I was in the suburban cafe.

 

Apple Danish

Apple Danish

 

The apple danish was better than expected with flaky edges and apple bits in the middle. It wasn't too sweet either, very suitable for my palette.

Almond Croissant

The almond croissant is not even comparable to Yeast's croissant. It was cold and hard as opposed to what was supposed to be a good croissant. The croissant taste itself was relatively flat.

Mocha

The mocha was bland, diluted and tasteless. Tous les Jours is definitely not somewhere for your coffee fix since they are unable to preparea decent cup of coffee. Dad requested for a long black which only turned out to be extremely diluted. Need I say more?

Tous les Jours definitely did not lived up to my expectation especially when I read that it is an established cafe abroad. How could a cafe served drinks of that standard? I'm still pondering if I should give them another go, but my first impression of it is significantly unmemorable. Given a choice, perhaps it is a wiser decision to visit Yeast, La Bodega or Antipodean for your coffee fix and breakfast fix.

 

-thevanillapudding-