Aal Ameen @ Singapore

Okay, so lately, I've been down to Singapore to watch my sister's senior recital in YST. The next day, she brought us to this Indian place for a small snack-slash-dinner. I'm not sure what the place is called but from its name on the menu, here's the review for:

Aal Amaan!!

 So here's a picture of the cover of the restaurant's menu. 

Just to clear things up: No, that's not all that the restaurant offers. I just didn't have the patience to take a picture of every single page in the menu -.-

Make do with whatever I took, okay?

Top left: Butter chicken. A definite must-have when you decide to go there.

Top right: Palak Paneer. Yeah, when I know what the heck that means, I'll type it here but for now, it's "the green stuff".

Bottom left: Mixed Platter Chicken. Not to say it's delicious, but it's not bad either.

Bottom right: Butter Naan, Plain Naan & Cheese Naan. All in 1 basket. Sure, don't worry, we know which is which -.-

 Top left: Black Pepper Beef. According to my brother, it's really good. 

Top right: Yam Shake. I'm not a fan of yam-flavoured food/drinks but I'm guessing it wasn't bad. The marshmallows were a nice touch.

Bottom left: Teh Tarik. No comment.

Bottom right: Chicken Pataya. Really good stuff. The egg was well cooked and complemented the enveloped fried rice.

This is just a collage of the exterior and interior of the restaurant. It was right by the roadside so there were no air conditioners :)

All in all:

4/5 for Service.

The waiters (because the majority were men) were very attentive. They are vigilant, to say the least, and I would have given this a perfect rating except they were slow in action. 

For example, I ordered a cup of iced water when they took our orders. However, it never came. When I asked for it a second time (after a while), they still failed to give it to me. I had to ask for it another couple of times (with help from my dad) before I finally got to drink anything -.-

But I still gave this 4/5 because they were very alert. For example, when a family friend of ours was fanning herself to keep warm, a waiter offered to switch the fan on.

4/5 for Food.

The gravy/curry was good. The only thing I found missing was in the food itself. I didn't really like it because it tasted quite bland. That is, of course, only my opinion. Other people seemed to enjoy it, so...

-.-

The rice dishes like the Black Pepper Beef and the Chicken Pataya were really good though.

5/5 for Cleanliness.

I don't have a particular comment for this. The tables weren't sticky upon entry and the floor was generally clean. Not a lot of rubbish.

3/5 for Ambience.

The place was only a small area so it was quite tight-squeezed. Also, fans were used so there wasn't much ventilation. Nothing too serious though.

4/5 for Price.

Ahh~ Like I said, no perfect rating for price :P Either way, the prices are reasonable but it would be a bit pricey if converted to Malaysian Ringgit.

Well, to sum it all up, I wouldn't mind a second visit (I wanna try their Oreo Shakes :P). Unfortunately, they didn't have a restaurant card so I couldn't get any details such as addresses or phone numbers :( I just know it's in Singapore :P

That's about it, then. CIAO!!

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Bangkok Beat Bistro @ Empire Shopping Gallery, Subang Jaya

Whoo~ Haven't done a food review in 9 months now. Seriously, the last time I reviewed a restaurant was on the 22nd of August, 2012, on The Chinese Cottage. But it's nice to do something like this once in a while, although it eats up a lot of my time.

That aside, today, the 21st of April (also my darling sister's birthday), my family and I, excluding my sister who was still in Singapore, went to the Empire Shopping Gallery to eat at...

Bangkok Beat Bistro!!

The picture above is pretty much the interior and the signboard of the restaurant. My family got a table for 5 and started ordering :)

This is a picture of the bistro's menu. It's printed on a back-to-back hard-cover A3-sized (I think) paper. 

Plenty of food, as you can see. I think if you click on the pictures, you'll be able to make out the prices and food names :P

 My family decided against a la carte today, so we ordered white rice and side dishes.

Top left: Pomelo Salad with Shrimp. It's one of the best-sellers and is a bit spicy.

Top right: Deep-Fried Spring Rolls with Thai Sweet Chilli Dip. Bit pricy, but it's nice.

Bottom left: Soft-Shell Crab in Mellow Yellow Curry. One word: Fantastic.

Bottom right: Glass Noodle Salad with Seafood. No comment.

And here, we have the Grilled Chicken Loin with Lettuce Wrap. Also very good.

I ordered the Massaman Beef Curry too, but unfortunately, I didn't put the picture here. I don't feel too bad, because I didn't really like it.

My parents also ordered two kinds of tom yum soup: Seafood in Red Tom Yum and Chicken in Red Tom Yum.

The big glass of Orange Juice is mine, by the way :P

As the name suggests, by the right is the desserts!!

My parents ordered two servings of Red Ruby with Coconut Ice Cream and the Mango Sticky Rice.

Quite unfortunately, my parents didn't fancy the Mango Sticky Rice. I'll mention why in the comments below :)

And lastly, here we have a picture of all of us looking downright happy :) Had to take quite a few pictures first, though, because some of us weren't looking at the camera properly :P

All in all:

4/5 for Food.

Everything was pretty much very good except for only a few things. Firstly, the white rice was very soft and so, it all clumped together. Maybe it was just for that batch, but either way, we had to eat that "lembap" rice -.-

Secondly, we didn't fancy the Mango Sticky Rice dish. The santan was probably from a canned source and the mango slices were sour. The sticky rice itself was very nice, though, and despite the previous comment, we finished everything :)

5/5 for Service.

I don't think I've given 5/5 for Service before, but the service in Bangkok Beat is great because it's immediate. One waiter in particular: Faizal, was very attentive and sought to please all customers so... 

Yeah~

4/5 for Ambience.

Very nice atmosphere. Seats were comfortable (maybe because we sat in the couch area :P) and they played pretty much mostly slow and steady songs. At one point, they played a lot of Taylor Swift songs, though. But after that, they went on to The Band Perry, AeroSmith and others.

The only reason this is not rated 5/5 is because we can hear the noises from the kitchen, so everything around us is magnified. In the end, if we have to talk to each other, we have to increase our volumes too. 

But this is not really an important thingy so... :)

5/5 for Cleanliness.

It's pretty much clean. Tables weren't sticky upon entry and the floors had minimal rubbish (bits and pieces of paper, maybe?). 

4/5 for Price.

I don't think I'll ever give a 5/5 for Price, and that's for a very practical reason: I'm stingy. Either way, the price of our visit cost us RM260.05. My brother and I guessed as much so it must mean it was to be expected, right? My aunt thought it would cost us RM300+ O.O

This pretty much sums everything up :) If I'm with my family in the Empire Shopping Gallery again, maybe I'll give this place another visit (because the Soft Shell Crab dish was amazing). 

Here are the details to the restaurant. I think they only have one branch, though:

Empire Shopping Gallery

47500 Subang Jaya,

Selangor Darul Ehsan,

+60 3 5637 8488

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P/S/S: I actually didn't want to eat here. Rejected quite vehemently, but now I don't really regret it :) So here's a piece of advice: give it a try :P

Chinese Cottage @ Publika, Solaris Dutamas

Alright, so on the 22nd of August, after our trip to Singapore, my parents, aunt and I went to Publika for dinner. Quite unfortunately, I can't tell you why my brother did not join us today - for the simple reason that I can't remember.

Heck, I need to interrogate my family every time I draft my blog posts. That's how screwed up my mind is now.

-.-

So yeah, today, I'll be reviewing:

Chinese Cottage!!

This was completely unforeseen, by the way, because we had never heard of this place before and this is the first of its branches so we did not know if we could trust this place with our stomachs.

So this was pretty much what we ordered. My mom insisted on the green beans (top left). I wanted the sweet and sour pork (top right). 

Can't remember what soup (bottom left) we had but the steamed egg (bottom right) was a request from my mom as an exchange for no beancurd. 

I think it was because there were only the fried kinds.

-.- 

I ordered a passion fruit drink because I still think Chinese tea is cruel and unusual punishment :P

We didn't have dessert or anything of that sort because my mom believes in no-dessert dinners where I'm concerned.

This is the end product of our dinner. I know, I know. Not bad, right? Then again, my mom and aunt shared a cup of rice and the portions weren't very big, so... 

Yeah~

All in all:

3.5/5 for Food.

It's not fantastic, but it's really not bad either. Maybe if you're someone who's picky with their food and is a very hard critic to please, this might not be the place for you, but for people like me who are satisfied with anything, it's good.

4/5 for Service.

The waiters/waitresses were all good-natured and served us well on time so I'm satisfied with them in terms of service. There's always that one Head Waiter/Waitress in the restaurant who's extra nice to the customers, right? Yeah, well, she served us tonight. Maybe because not many people were in the restaurant in the first place.

3/5 for Cleanliness.

Maybe because it's new and everything so they haven't had the right amount of expenses to cover for the brooms, mops and whatnot, but it was kind of dirty. It's still a pleasant enough place to eat in, but if you're comparing it to places like Taang Shifu or Ichiban boshi then you're going to be greatly disappointed.

In the first place, Chinese Cottage is more of a Chinese roadside dai chao place for simple cuisine so maybe setting a branch up in Publika was too adventurous a step.

3.5/5 for Price.

Not too shabby. Not too overpriced. It's just about right for a family looking for a simple place to have dinner. 

To sum it all up, I wouldn't mind paying a second visit if they decide to boost their Cleanliness up a notch. And if their food changes for the better, I'm in no position to complain.

So far I only know of the branch in Publika, so here are the details:

Publika

D1-G3-9

Solaris Dutamas

Kuala Lumpur, Sri Hartamas

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P/S/S: For a second opinion on the Chinese Cottage, you may refer to this website.

Kim Lian Kee @ AEON, Cheras Selatan

Another food review? 

Wow, I must be on a roll!

That aside, this place is called Kim Lian Kee and apparently specializes in Hokkien cuisine. My dad heard about it from an acquaintance who said it was quite good so we decided to give it a try.

This was the end product of our dinner. Quite unfortunately, I wasn't able to take a picture of it before it was completely and mercilessly ravaged by yours truly and famiglia.

The second box contains my drink - Orange juice. The others had the usual Chinese tea -.-

Those who know me would know there's no way I'd subject myself to such cruel and unusual punishment :P

This is how the restaurant looks like from the inside. In the first box, you can see the name of the restaurant in Mandarin.

All the newspaper-clippings are supposed to tell everybody how great and how far they've come, I suppose.

And it was friggin' crowded when we went. My mouth was ajar the whole way until we sat at the table -.- The fourth box should be enough to prove my statement.

But I'll add all these anyway:

Look at the amount of people waiting outside? It's unfathomable.

Why?

Let's see:

2/5 for Food. For a restaurant so greatly praised for its food, I'm very, very surprised. Their fu kin mai fan meen tasted a wee bit bitter, the sui gao left a funny aftertaste, the soup(s) was bad and the beansprout dish was sour. 

O.O

1/5 for Service. I didn't think I'd never need to give such a low rating for anything at all, but this place deserves it. The waitresses were rude! And ignorant! They didn't know what to do about anything and snatched dishes away from our hands like we were the banes of their existence. There was only one waiter who was good-natured enough to apologize for tardiness or the sour beansprouts.

3/5 for Cleanliness. The tables were sticky and when we asked the waiters to wipe 'em a bit, they just gave us tissue. 

Yeah, if tissue could solve all our issues, I'd be a very happy person. 

But other than that, it was alright. That's why: 3/5.

2/5 for Price. The food did little to sate the hunger in us since they were not appetizing. Yet, we were charged RM110++. For a restaurant in a mall, it's not too bad, but only if the food's good. With all the sucky service and less-than-tasty food, it's not worth it at all.

And that pretty much sums it up. Given a choice, I would never pay a second visit, even if my only other option was Taang Shifu, packed with people.

Uh-huh. Sorry, Kim Lian Kee, but no way.

Then again, I can only vouch for the outlet in Cheras Selatan. So, if you insist on going, here are the details:

Lot 10 Shopping Complex

50, Jalan Sultan Ismail,

50200 Kuala Lumpur

Chinatown

49, Jalan Petaling,

50000 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 03 - 2032 4984

Viva Home Mall

Lot 1-11, 1st Floor

Viva Home Mall

AEON Cheras Selatan

Lot G36, Cheras Selatan Shopping Centre,

Lebuh Tun Hussein Onn,

43200 Balakong, Selangor

Tel: 016 - 637 7268

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Free Mori @ Publika, Solaris Dutamas (updated)

Picture curtesy of Google Images

Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod.

I can't believe it.

I'm doing a food review?

It'll snow in M'sia tomorrow.

:P

Then again, to be fair, it's actually a bakery review, but argh~ Whatever. Wouldn't be the first time I did something weird out of the blue.

-.-

I also figured that doing everything aligned in the m i d d l e when writing any sort of review is easier on the eyes. Don't ask why. It's just like that.

-.-

Getting back to the subject of this post...

Free Mori sells a variety of pastries, ranging from cakes to tarts to biscuits, cookies and others of the like. These were on their display cases next to the till:

First box: small cakes on the first tray and sesame/chocolate long buns on the second tray
Second box: vanilla/choco cream puffs on the first tray and some sort of roll on the second tray
Third box: opera cakes on the first tray and some tarts on the second tray
Big box: danishes, donuts and a wide assortment of pastries I've never heard of before (:P)

These were on shelves by the wall, opposite the display cases:

First box: Lamington-shaped cakes
Second box: Almond/other-flavoured biscuits packed in tins on the first shelf, bread of different flavours on the second and other pastries on the third shelf
Big box: Choco long buns like the previous collage and other pastries next to it

They've also got a mini-cafe in the bakery!!

First box: list of drinks they serve
Second box: place to sit in the bakery
Third and fourth box: person-in-charge handing out samples of chocolate roll + raspberry filling to customers

Mom paying at the cashier:

And I took more photos of the cakes that were placed at the display window of Free Mori :) 

I know, I know, fantastic, right? They've a great deal of cakes like the usual Black Forest, and coffee cakes, but they also have Sacher Tortes, Mori Matcha and mousse cakes.

All Free-Mori products are guaranteed no preservatives so they are best consumed within one or two days (at the most) of purchase. They are also both alcohol- and pork-free and therefore can be enjoyed by all who are intolerant or allergic or some other medical condition that restricts them from consuming alcohol and pork.

-.-

In short: I would walk till the ends of the Earth to get to Free Mori :)

Free Mori can be found at:

SS2

No. 43, Jalan SS2/64

47300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor

03 - 7873 0212

Uptown

No. 48-G, Jalan SS21/58

Damansara Utama

47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor

03 - 7722 4157

Publika

No. 67, Level G2, Publika

Solaris Dutamas, Jalan Dutamas 1

50480 Kuala Lumpur

03 - 6205 3701

Shah Alam

No. 3A, Jalan Ragum 15-17

40200 Shah Alam, Selangor

Well, then, that's about it :) CIAO!!

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P/S/S: The photos were edited on this software called Pic/Photo Collage - Fotolr, but I'll review that some other time, yeah? :)