Sunday Morning Breakfast
Catching me having breakfast at 7.15am on Sunday morning is like waiting for solar eclipse to happen. Like any other “pigs” out there, I would rather be in dreamland than munching something at that time. It’s rather impossible to drag myself up so early just to have breakfast. If I’m awake at that hour means that I have something to do or a plan to complete (a.k.a. breakfast with friends).
And indeed, I had a plan last Sunday as I had to pick up my uncle from KLIA at 6am. It was rather insane to wake up by 5am on Sunday morning!! What’s more insane is that I only had 2 bloody hours of sleep. A quick “splash and dash” (a.k.a. fast bath) and off me went to KLIA.
Now, let’s fast forward to the point when my uncle was back home and it was 6.45am. The sky was still dark and I was at home, sitting, surfing the net and pondering at the same time. Should I continue my freakish nightmare/sleep or should I head to Jalan Imbi for a awesome bowl of Pork Ball Noodles? It was a really tough decision to make if you ask me. Sleep over food? Food over sleep? Rest over satisfaction or vice versa?
“Screw sleep” so I said as food was the final decision. Afterall, I was a lil hungry too. So, I grabbed my camera and off me went to Jalan Imbi to fullfill my satisfaction.
There were a handful of customers at that time as it was still early. In the shop, I could smell the baking of the eggtarts (to be blogged soon). Lovely smell. I didn’t bother to grab a place to sit as when I arrived. There were plenty of empty sits at that time. C’mon, it was 7.20am on Sunday morning. What do you expect? I went straight to the stall and ordered my awesome-ness.
Unfortunately, they heard wrongly and gave me a small portion instead of big one. Sigh. To complement with it, I ordered “Teh Ping”. A couple of shots and off me begun my quest to my satisfaction. No description on how it tastes like because you really really have to try it.
Note : Having said about the insanity of waking up early on Sunday morning and all, I love driving in the morning especially at 5~6am because of the calmness on the road. The air is chilly, the streets are quiet. Streetlights are well lit and the roads are clear of traffics. It is nice to drive in such atmosphere in KL especially when you could speed at 160km/h cruise all the way to your point of destination.
Hoegaarden
Yay.. It’s Friday!!
I wish every pub and restaurant in the world serves this…
I’m kinda lazy to write lenghty post. Too many “shits” happened lately. Hence, thousand apologies to you all. But, the good thing is… you get to see more photo-posts rather than reading my crappy writings. :D
California Pizza Kitchen (CPK)
When it comes to birthday gift, I’m a failure in this subject. Don’t get me wrong. I love birthday gift especially on the receiving end. It is just that I hate to be on the giver’s side. It is always hard to figure out something that is important to them. Something that they use it always. Different people have their different preference. It is risky when I get something that they don’t like. Some said it is the thought that matters. Oh boy.. that is easier said than done. And most of the time, I would ask them what do they want other than ‘red packet’ (In Chinese : Ang Pow).
If they could not say what they want, the last resort will be free lunch/dinner for them from me. That’s what I do always and that’s what I did last Sunday. It was my friend’s birthday and I didn’t bother to ask what she wants. I bought lunch for her. As simple as that. Besides, food brings everyone together.
We went to California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) in KLCC. They serve good pizza at reasonable price. It is something different from what you get in Pizza Hut, Shakey’s, Domino’s and such. They have vast flavours as well as those common ones like Margherita, Pepperoni, Hawaiian and etc. Best of all, they offer Neopolitan-style whereby pizza dough will be as thin as 2 layers of A4-size papers and as crispy as keropok. Apart from pizzas, there are pastas and salad in their menu. I’ve tried their Portobello Mushroom Ravioli which is pretty good.
In the restaurant, the environment is cosy and the place is spacious. It is more on family dining concept. We were there for lunch on Sunday. Hence, there were alot of kids with their parents. But it wasn’t as noisy as what we expected to be. Maybe we were chatting too much till neglecting the surrounding.
Alright, I shall stop blabbering any further. Let’s get to the food part. We ordered half Original BBQ Chicken Salad as starter/side dish/whatever-you-want-to-call-it. Yes, they come in sizes too. Either half or full size. It is a simple dish I would say. BBQ sauce as dressing with cold grilled chicken as meat. Greens, chips and black beans to complete it. Simple and unique. That’s all I can say.
For pizza, we opted for California Club Neopolitan-style. Probably, and maybe, it is their house recipe. From far, it looks like a vegan pizza. But don’t be fooled by it. Topped with ham, chopped chicken and lots of lecttuce with fresh tomotaes and avocados, it is a must-try pizza. However, I’m not a fan of avocado because they are tasteless and mushy but other than that, the pizza was alright. The dough was thin and crispy as I mentioned earlier while the lecttuce was ladened with mayonnaise.
Apart from foods, we had Ice Lemon Tea for drinks. They offer free flow for this and other carbonated drinks, just like Chilis and TGIF.
It was normal/usual experience with nothing to shout about but something new to try. If you are bored with the quality offered by Pizza Hut or Domino’s, you might want to try this restaurant for a change.
Champs
I love prawn mee (a.k.a. hokkien mee in Penang). I can’t get enough of it and I don’t mind eating them every single day (of course, they have to be good lah). The only thing that stops me from doing so is blardy cholesterol. I’m not that healthy, yanno…
Apparently, the shop (located in Centrepoint, Bandar Utama) above serves ‘Damn Shiok Hokkien Prawn Mee’. No, you did not read it wrongly. Indeed, they named their hokkien mee (a.k.a. prawn mee in KL) as such. Surprising..? not really as they are one of the good ones in Kuala Lumpur. Therefore, they got balls guts to name theirs as one. They serve more than just prawn mee. They have ’siew yok’, western food, Ipoh Hor Fun and etc. However, my main target was none other than their ‘Damn Shiok Hokkien Prawn Mee’.
2 big ass prawn and big chunks of pork meat. Hidden in the noodles are more peeled prawns!! A handful of beansprouts as well kangkung. Sum all that up and you get a sinful bowl of prawn mee. Best part of all is the pork lard!! Yes, they have it in there. It makes the broth oily tasty. Real tasty.
Do I like it? Yeah. Will I be back for more? Maybe because the price ain’t that ’shiok’. I’ll probably go once in awhile. The only downside was the broth/soup. It was merely warm when it was served to me. Hence, photography at full speed (plus cincai-ness) because I don’t fancy cold food, especially my favourite dish.
Aerin’s
Raffles City Shopping Centre, is strategically located along North Bridge Road. Its silver exterior with Raffles Tower rises behind the shopping complex is hard to miss when you are around that area. I’ve been there like 8 times in my previous visit (business trip) to Singapore. I’m not sure why but I always ended up in there. I guess it is quite convenient since it is walking distant from other shopping malls such Suntec City, The Adelphi, Peninsula Plaza and Funan DigitaLife Mall.
Inside, there are plenty of branded boutiques, Marks & Spencer, Robinsons as well as eateries outlets/restaurants. One particular restaurant that I always wanted to get my hands on is Aerin’s. I’m not sure where is the restaurant’s exact location but I’m sure that it is situated somewhere inside the shopping centre. I could easily get lost in there due to the complexity of the building structure.
Since it was my last night of my business trip, I was eager to meet up with my friend, Joyce, who works in Singapore. And the only place that is suitable for both of us to meet up for dinner was at Raffles City Shopping Centre since it is reachable by walking and/or MRT.
From outside (of the restaurant), it looks posh with mini fountain within the vicinity. There is mini candle placed on each table to create a warm surrounding. As I said, there is a mini fountain in the middle of the restaurant.
Anyway, to cut things short, we ordered Caesar Salad as appetizer. It wasn’t ordinary salad like what you get from typical western restaurant. In it, there are smoked salmon, (either beef or pork) bacon, capers, a slice of lemon and lettuce (duh!!). As salad dressing, they have their homemade Caesar dressing. It was good and fresh but I find the dressing rather too creamy. It is alright if you share the dish with others like we did.
For main course, I ordered Aerin’s Tagliatelle. It is like the-ever-famous carbonara but with extra fillings in it. Fillings such as smoked salmon (again!!), roe and mushrooms. Sadly, they failed to add bacons in it!! Sauce was not toooooooooo creamy, smoked salmon was fresh and lots of sliced mushroom. It was cooked to prefection. I love it but then again, having ‘creamy’ Caesar Salad as appetizer and another cream-based dish as main course makes me feel a lil jelak (in Malay).
As for my friend, she ordered Fillet of Snapper. They managed to not overcooked yet leaving the flesh silky smooth. Originally, it came with french beans and mashed potatoes but my friend only wanted french beans due to her diet (hint : wedding *me faints*). I don’t really like to eat fish except for a few and this will definitely be in my list of fishes I will consume. It is that good.
No meals should end without desserts. Hence, I grabbed the menu again and targeted Tiramisu in Glass. Joyce, as usual, opted for tea, Jubilation, rather than sinful dessert like Warm Chocolate Pudding. Tiramisu in Glass, being the usual, but with a shot of espresso between layers of cream. Nothing special yet nothing bad about it.
Jubilation, a tea, is a combination of several tea leaves. Not too strong yet not too vague taste. All in all, it was a good dinner. Good food. Good environment and cozy place. The cost of this dinner was claimable negligible as I managed to meet up old friend of mine and most importantly, talked crap for the entire evening.
