Kafei Dian
After my not-so-good lunch at The Coffee Connoisseur, I walked around near Raffles City Shopping Centre and had this photo taken. This is the memorial for those whose lives were perished during Japanese Occupation. It was very hot weather and I was wearing my working attire and hence, I simply whacked to get a so-so photo as long as It satisfies my requirements. It ain’t fun to walk around with working attire under the hot sun.
As I mentioned earlier, I didn’t drink any coffee at The Coffee Connoisseur because I’m saving my taste bud for a cheaper yet above average coffee and this is where I get my coffee dosage.
It is located a block away from The Coffee Connoisseur. The shop (or should I say coffeeshop) is simple and clean yet comfortable for a cuppa coffee. Not only they sell coffee, they serve food as well. But I didn’t manage to try their thick toast bread as my appetite was ‘damaged’ by my lunch.
It only costs SGD$0.90 for a cup of coffee which I think it is quite reasonable (please don’t go convert la!!).
It isn’t thick yet not dilute too. The ‘thickness’ is just right and best of all, it is not too sweet!! Besides, I like the way the present their coffee in white cup!!
The Coffee Connoisseur
The Coffee Connoisseur, which is widely available in Singapore, is a place for coffee lovers to cave in. It is a place whereby coffees, mainly top quality ones, are brewed in proper way, like Starbucks and Coffee Bean. Apart from top quality coffees, they have dining menu too, such as sandwiches, spaghetti, salads and cakes. Their dining menu can be found here. Curious enough, I was at their Beach Centre branch during lunch time to try them out. Bare in mind that it was my first time and hence, I had no idea what to go for.
For starters, I ordered Bisque of Forest Mushroom. With ‘Bisque‘ mentioned in the name, I was expecting a thick, creamy mushroom soup.
From the photo, it looked creamy with mushrooms not in sight, right? But I was pretty disappointed by the outcome of it. Having the first scoop, it was indeed not thick nor creamy at all. However, it was not too watery too. It has a vague of mushroom which probably explains why it has no mushrooms in sight. Too little mushrooms and too much liquid. Besides, it was slightly sourish. Maybe, they added a lil vinegar for taste. It wasn’t good soup but it wasn’t a bad one either. The best mushroom soup I had so far is from Delicious restaurant (in Bangsar Village II).
For main course, the waitress recommended Beef Meatballs and Spaghetti Gratin. According to her, their customers love it. So, I decided to give it a try. It is mainly spaghetti and meatball cooked in cream sauce and then baked with cheese.
This is where I love to say ‘Nice to see, but not nice to eat‘. The beef meatballs did not taste like meatballs at all. They added too much herbs into the meatball making it tastes like herb-balls rather than meatball, if that’s if they produce the meatballs on their own from scratch. Cream sauce did not taste like one either. The taste of onions and garlic totally overpowered the sauce. The only thing that is edible was the cheese. However, I didn’t bother to finish up the dish as the more I eat, the more I get high of herbs, onions and garlic. And no.. You do not want to see the aftermath leftovers.
A silly person like me would order something else rather than coffee in a place that is famous for coffee. However, I got a reason to do so (will blog about it soon). Thus, I ordered Mango Freeze Tea.
Safe to say, this drink is the only thing that I like coming out from the kitchen bar. It is mango cordial blended with ice cubes and tea. Probably, they added something to make it creamier.
A not-so-good experience I would say, not because of bad treatment by waiter/waitress but it was due to the food they served. I might go there again for coffee only since I missed out this time.
(unofficial) holiday..
I’ve got a day off from work on Monday because of last week’s event (hint : Smidex 2008), so said my boss. Whatever the reason is, I’m definitely welcome any holidays given to me. Hehe!!
Here’s the thing. I’ve got to find something to do whenever I’m free. Other than the fact that I love to sleep or just stare blankly at the computer screen, I like to get myself busy once in awhile. Given the fact that I got a day break yesterday, I’ve decided to catch a movie by myself. You got it right. I watched ‘Kung Fu Panda‘ by myself at Pavilion Kuala Lumpur. What’s so wrong about watching movie alone??!! I don’t find it disturbing nor sad at all.
The show was great. Lots of funny scenes yet the expressions by the huge panda (and other characters) were almost flawless. Besides, like any other ‘animations’ movies, there is important moral value in it. And like Iron Man movie, you’ve got to stay back for awhile (okay.. 10 mins is not a short while). It seems that there’s a short clip after the credits. Is it worth to watch second time? Definitely!!
Since I’m at Pavilion, I’ve decided to get Carl’s Jr. as my lunch after the movie. You’ve got to eat Carl’s Jr. when you are Pavilion shopping mall. The ambiance is just right. There are plenty of seats and sofas at all times. The environment is quiet (unlike coffee shops like wet market). It is so not it to not to eat Carl’s Jr. when you are there. <- I’ve no idea what I’ve just blabbered about.
I got myself a Portobello Mushroom Burger combo. It tastes awesome. Better than the one offered by Burger King (they named it Double Mushroom Swiss burger). Beef patty topped with juicy mushrooms and a slice cheese, the burger was warm when it was served. You could request for double beef patties if you fancy more meat. Sadly, my mobilephone’s battery ran out. Hence, no cross-sectional shots of the burger :(
Besides the burger, Carl’s Jr. serves one of the best fries. They are thick yet crispy (unlike other fast foods’ french fries). They are almost similar to those offered by Chilis. If you are bored of normal french fries, you could replace with Chili Cheese Fries with extra charge.
Total damage for the day = RM12 (movie) + RM23.75 (Carl’s Jr) + RM6 (parking) + RM2 (SMART Tunnel) + fuel charges = Satisfying…
Pan mee
“Pan Mee or Ban Mian (Chinese : 板麺) is a Hokkien-style egg noodle soup comprises hand-kneaded pieces of dough, while others use regular strips of noodles.” - Wikipedia
Photo taken using Nokia N95
Of all the pan mees I’ve tried so far, this is probably the best pan mee I’ve ever eaten. This dish has been in my favourite food list since decades ago because I’ve been (and still) eating it when I was at a very young age.
It is probably different from the other pan mees because of the way they cook the minced pork. Most of the hawkers serve their pan mee with minced pork, which was cooked with thick dark soy sauce. This is not the case for this stall as they cook the minced garlic-pork together with the noodles. With the anchovies-based soup (Malay : Ikan bilis), the minced pork somehow makes the soup richer and sweeter too (not MSG-sweet nor sugar-sweet).
Furthermore, having the meat served in different way, I love the noodles which is made on daily basis (probably hourly basis). It has this silky smooth texture with bouncy feel. It is not too soft nor too hard as it is cooked to perfection, as one said.
It cost RM4.00 per bowl and with addition of RM0.50, you get to add extra noodles. By special request, you could ask for ‘Choy Sam’ too.
So, get yours at below location.
Location:
Restoran Makanan Sun Sea
Jalan Hujan Rahmat,
Overseas Union Garden,
58200 Kuala Lumpur.
Note :
1) You have to go early (before 12pm ) or later (after 1.30pm) to avoid crowd because it is quite packed during peak hours. Besides, the shop is rather dirty yet stuffy and hot. So, you have high chances of drenched in sweat (like me) during hot weather.
2) Besides Pan Mee, there are other good food too such as Pork Noodles, Chicken Rice, Yong Tau Foo and Penang Fried Kuey Teow. Not to worry about the quality as they are pretty tasty.
McGriddle from McDonalds
Ate this when I was in Singapore during Labour Day. It is a new product by McDonald’s in Singapore.
Chicken patty, cheese and egg banjo sandwiched together by 2 layers of syrup-soaked pancakes.
Looks delicious, eh.. It would be if not because of the syrup in the pancakes!! It is too sweet for a main course.
