Sage @ Gardens

Once again, I have to eat my words. I said that I will do this consistently and it has been FOREVER since my last post. What can I say other than that I am TERRIBLE at this! I have actually uploaded the photos quite some time ago but just NEVER get to blogging about it. Once again, I can hardly remember the meal. On the other hand, I think it is hardly worth remembering. I have never been to Sage and have always wanted to check it out because I heard rave reviews about it. In my impression, Sage is like super expensive to go and it is more of a fine dining place so I have never set foot in there, you know.....like Lafite.

An opportunity arises one day to go Sage and of course I grabbed it with both hands. Well, it was not what I expected at all. Place was rather casual, heh....or maybe it was the people who went there were rather casually dressed so at least I was feeling a little more comfortable. Pricing was not as high as I thought too as you can order their set dinners that range from RM150 to er......sorry, can't remember. Maybe RM200? Anyway, it comes with an appertiser, main and dessert...oh, and coffee or tea too. You can also order from the ala carte but I guess it is not as worthwhile as the set.

Overall, I thought dinner was only okay. It did not wow me as I thought it would.

Freshly baked bread with pesto dip

some free appertiser that consist of some jelly-like stuff

Seafood Bouillabaisee with saffron pernod and aioli

Seared Foie Gras with dark grapes and red wine reduction

Sea scallop with mesclun salad and provencal vinaigrette

Angus Beef with mashed potato and natural jus

Roasted cod with Gobou Brunoise and Mushroom

Crepe Suzette with Grand Marnier and Orange Zest

Chocolate Fondant with Earl Gray Ice Cream

Hazelnut Nougat Souffle with Valrhona Chocolate Ice Cream

Sage
6th Floor, The Gardens
Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 03 - 2268 1188

**Disclaimer: Everyone has different taste buds so dun blame me if you want to try based on MY opinion and it is not good. I would also love it if someone pays me to write this review but sadly no, am writing this because I am procrastinating work. =P

Dave's Pizza Pasta Vino @ 1-Utama

Long time no blog!!!! Actually, I was gonna give up on this because as I have mentioned many many times before, my vocab is super limited and I'm terrible at this! Anyway, was mentioning this to my friend the other day and he actually encouraged me to continue. You know, to practise my writing for the very fact that, because I sucked at it. So, here I am again. I thought since I do not use my brain any more, this is one avenue that I can TRY to "oil" my brain. Probably will take me a long time to write something that is worth reading, at least it is a start. In the meantime, guess you all will have to endure my nonsensical writing.....hmmm.....is there such a word or is it wrong spelling? Anyway, if not, you people can just look at the photos.....er......yes yes, photos are also kinda crappy. Aiyah, make do lah!


Was supposed to meet up some friends for a girl's birthday the other night and the birthday girl could not make it in the end. Heh......so the few of us celebrated her birthday without her. Hahaha.....so called celebrate lah, it is JUST dinner afterall. Friend decided to go to Dave's in 1-U because she thought it was quite nice the last time when she was there. I have to say, this place has been opened for the longest time ever in 1-U but it has never occured to me to sample the food here, don't ask me why.

Baby back Ribs

Pizza with Streaky Bacon!

There are two sections to the restaurant. On one side, there is the usual wine and dine restarant with nice tables and chairs. On the other, they have a beer garden which kinda feel like a market if you have a rowdy crowd. Ok, maybe not rowdy.....more like the "super happy" people after a few drinks and tend to talk and laugh super loudly because they are SO afraid that people cannot hear how much fun they are having, if you know what I mean. Anyway, over at this side, there is a long bar, cheapo looking tables and chairs and a band playing. Er.....I donno if the band plays every night. So, as you can tell, with the band playing, it will be even noisier. It is like going to two totally different places even though it is ONE restaurant.

Service here is not bad as the waiters kept asking me one hundred and one million times if he can take my order while I was waiting for my friends. I know it can be a bit annoying sometimes but it is better than trying a million years to get their atteniton right? Anyway, the three of us ordered a Ceasar Salad (with Bacon!!!), the Baby Back Ribs and a pizza (with more streaky bacon!!!!) to share. The Ceasar Salad was rather tasty and what wouldn't when it is with bacon, right? ; P Oh ya, as usual, I forgot to take the photo until it was too late. The Baby Back Ribs was only okay. Friends commented that it was a bit dry, I just thought it has no kick. I have to say, I have been to SOOOOOO many porky places in KL and I still can't find one that makes it as good as Tony Roma's in Singapore. Also, I don't think I have been to any restaurant that serves bacon with pizza so this was my first. It was utterly delicious as once again, the streaky bacon has done its job in adding its awesome flavour into a dish!


Dave's Pizza Pasta Vino
G209, Ground Floor (Opp. TGIF)
One Utama Old Wing

Tel: 03 - 7725 4017

**Disclaimer: Everyone has different taste buds so dun blame me if you want to try based on MY opinion and it is not good. I would also love it if someone pays me to write this review but sadly no, am writing this because I am procrastinating work. =P

Ri-Yakitori @ The Gardens

I realised that I have been super bad. It's not that I have stopped going out to eat or that I'm not eating due to my diet. It's just that I ALWAYS forget to take the pictures nowadays. Even when I do remember, I take FOREVER to upload it. Then, when I have finally uploaded it (like today's post), I have forgotten what I have eaten so once again, you gotta make do with just pictures.

Was in Gardens the other day with a couple of friends and did not know what to have for dinner and decided to try the Ri-Yakitori at the Gardens Hotel because the chef is a friend of this friend who was with us the other day. Since some people have been raving about this place, thought I should give it a try. By the way, as the restaurant's name depicts, it serves mostly just yakitori. Basically, it's just stuff on skewers (sticks rather) and barbequeing it.

Chef at work

Chicken skin

When the waitress first served us this, I was wondering what the hell it was coz it did not looked like anything that we usually have for appertisers in a Japanese Restaurant. Then my friend was explaining to me that it is chicken skin and you are supposed to mix it with the shredded cabbage that they serve to get the optimum taste. Well, I have to say, on its own, it is a bit "gurly" but with the shredded cabbage; it was really yummy!

What this place is really famous for are the different parts of the chickens on skewers. There are like the upper thigh, lower thigh, spleen, heart, intestines, kidney, etc etc. It's like almost every single part of the chicken is on the menu. The yakitori is done perfectly with just the right amount of salt and marinade. We have also decided to try the scallops and the Wagyu beef cubes. As usual, the Wagyu just melts in your mouth when you chew it, PERFECT! Price is between RM6 to RM28 per stick depending on what you order. You can also order some other non-yakitori dishes but I have to say, there are not a lot of choices as their main attraction is afterall, the Yakitori.

Ri-Yakitori
7th Floor, The Gardens Hotel
Kuala Lumpur

Business Hours:
5pm to 1am (last order at 11.30pm)
Closed on Sundays

Tel: 03 - 2268 1188

**Disclaimer: Everyone has different taste buds so dun blame me if you want to try based on MY opinion and it is not good. I would also love it if someone pays me to write this review but sadly no, am writing this because I am procrastinating work. =P

Diet

Have started to MIA again and I think this is going to be for some time since I have been on a diet recently. This diet consists of no (for me would be low rather than no) carbohydrates which means no rice, no noodles, no bread. Wah........talk about super difficult when I first started! I LOVE my rice, my noodles, my bread......basically my carbs! How like that??? Sigh....but I guess I have no choice since I have been putting on weight (a LOT of weight) since I moved back to Malaysia ten years ago. Really gotta suck it up and live with it!

Today is the start of third week since I have been on this no/low carb diet and I am slowly adjusting to it. Hopefully this works so I can look slim (er....maybe not slim but slimmer than now lah) and svelte for my sister's wedding next year!

Restoran Lan Je @ Rawang

Went down to Serendah recently for an overnight trip, would have blog and post some photos about it if I have some photos of the place without my friends in it. The place is quite nice albeit expensive. Anyway, to get to Serendah, we have to pass through Rawang and apparently; Rawang is famous for steamed tilapia (Fei chou yu). One of my friend's dad goes to Rawang really often to eat so we got the directions from him. Somehow, we still got a bit lost until another friend who lives in Rawang had to give a step by step direction on the phone. Have to say this place was packed! There were quite a number of restaurants along the same road and they are all selling the same thing but this was the only place that was filled to the brim!

Packed!

One fish?

Two fish?

Four Fish!

Heh.....have you ever ordered four fish at one go? We definitely have not! When the lady came to take our oder, first thing she asked was, "how many fish do you want?" I seriously do not think that we have been asked this question before, how many fish? Usually we just ordered one fish with many other dishes. But over here, almost everyone has a fish on their own. As we were not sure, we just ordered four with one plate of vegetables and one plate of tofu. Fish was super fresh and tasty! My friends did point out, it does not have the usual muddy taste. But then, most of the tilapia are farmed reared now so definitely will not have the muddy taste.

Fish was actually not very big so you CAN have one on your own, just make sure you don't order anything else. Actually, you should just order the fish and not anything else because only the fish is yummy! Oh ya, and the fish is really cheap at RM13.50 a piece! Talk about PLC (pang leng chang - cheap, nice and good!)!! For those who are interested, they also have a branch in Kota Damansara so you do not have to go all the way to Rawang to try the fish. I have not been to the KD branch so I have no idea if it is as good. Word is, some say yes, some say no so will have to go check it out soon to find out! I heard it is slightly more expensive at KD but environment is much better and defnitely nearer than Rawang!

Restoran Lan je
No:27-28, Block C,
Jalan Rawang, Gerai MPS BT-16,
48000 Rawang,
Selangor

Business Hour:
11.30am - 3.00pm
5.30pm - 10.30pm
Closed on tuesday

Tel: 017-619 1599
012-339 7800
019-277 0037

**Disclaimer: Everyone has different taste buds so dun blame me if you want to try based on MY opinion and it is not good. I would also love it if someone pays me to write this review but sadly no, am writing this because I am procrastinating work. =P

Mizu Japanese Restaurant @ BV1

First, I would like to apologise for the disappearance again. Friend was complaining the other day, "Eh, how come you always just post one and then disappear wan?" Yes yes, I do know my fault. I am terrible at this! A lot of times, I have actually assaulted my food before I realised; "S**t, I forgot to take pictures." Then if not, I forget to take the card of the restaurant and I would have no idea what the restaurant name is, the address and phone number of the place. If I actually did both, I would upload the pictures and just stare at my post or get distracted by the Bejeweled Blitz on FB. =P How lah, like that? For example, the post today; I have uploaded the photos awhile ago but just did not get to writing it. I took so long that I have forgotten what most of the things are so you just have to be contended with looking at the pictures. (^_^)

The Huge range of Wine Selection

The fine dining set

Super fresh sashimi....yum!

Japanese Cucumber with roe and mayo

This Japanese Cucumber with roe and mayo was recommended by the waitress I think. Something rather different but not exactly my cup of tea.

For the life of me, I cannot remember what that plate of crispy thinggi was. Was it squid? Hmmm....all I could remember was, it was super delicious!

Er.....some roll with avocado, not bad though

This, I remember. It is foi gras sushi roll. If you are a fan of foi gras, then you will like this.

I think this one is the pan fried roe on top of the sushi. I did not like this because my taste buds are not used to Japanese fine dining. =P



Overall, the food is quite good and service is excellent but SUPER expensive! But then, this is Japanese fine dining so I supposed I cannot complain much. I should know what I am getting myself into when I said yes to the dinner. Er....I probably will not go back unless someone else is buying. =P

Mizu Japanese Restaurant
F6, First Floor,
Bangsar Village 1,
Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 03- 2283 6988


**Disclaimer: Everyone has different taste buds so dun blame me if you want to try based on MY opinion and it is not good. I would also love it if someone pays me to write this review but sadly no, am writing this because I am procrastinating work. =P

Prime Steakhouse @ Meridien Hotel

For the longest time, people have been telling me about the steaks in Prime; like how good and succulent it is but also super expensive. It is only worth it if you have the Starwood card and only two of you go because you get 50% off all food and 20% off beverages. Anyway, I had the card for like almost two years and I still did not go. Why? I have no idea either....maybe it was just not the right time? Anyway, my Starwood card is expiring end of October and my dad is not renewing it this time. So, my friend (who is a big fan of Prime) and I decided to pay a visit while I can get the discount.....still (heh.......for those who can get the joke, sorry.....I just couldn't help it! If you don't, watch this and you will! =P)

The beautiful lights in the restaurant

We were quite late in arriving due to our typical, fantastic Malaysian jams. Friend has asked me to call the restaurant and inform them that we will be late and at first I thought it was not necessary because I did not think that the place will be full since it is so bloody expensive. Luckily I did because the place was packed! If you had wanted to have a romantic dinner, it was not going to happen because it was just bustling with people, conversations and laughter; not that I mind. I was just in awed because I did not think the place will be so full. Heh.....our economy is not that bad afterall right?

Freshly baked bread with three kinds of butter

We were served some bread with their homemade butter and the bread was delicious!!! It was so soft and especially with the butter, it was fantastic! Er.....I don't really know what the butter is made with. One is the normal plain butter (still my favourite, I would have to say), one is with sun dried tomatoes and some herb and I really cannot remember what the other one is with. Anyway, we finished the bread (you can ask for more at no extra cost but we didn't even though we REALLY want to) and I think that was kinda big mistake. It is a mistake because by the time I have my steak, I could not fully enjoy it as I was supposed to. =( Oh ya, we ordered the Caesar Salad too as it was supposed to be quite good there too. Sorry, as usual, I forgot to take the photo. =P



There were so many choices of steak here! All the different cuts, Wagyu, Kobe, different days of aged, Australian, New Zealand, Argentina.......see until I also confused; I am so not a fine dining person. In the end, I just let my friend decide because I did not know the difference. He ordered the Wagyu sirloin steak for me and him the Prime cut. The wagyu was so good! It just melts in your mouth and nothing beats a good steak! But then, like I said, I had too much bread before so I could not enjoy my steak fully. My friend had to finish my steak in the end because it was just too good and expensive to go to waste! =P

The next day, someone from the restaurant actually called me up to take a survey on the food and service.....wah......talk about five star service. Me like country pumpkin like that, never been to five star restaurants so have to say, am very impressed. Service was excellent!. The waiters were very polite and attentive and food was fantastic; no wonder the place was packed.

Prime Steakhouse
Le Meridien Hotel
Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 03 - 2263 7555


**Disclaimer: Everyone has different taste buds so dun blame me if you want to try based on MY opinion and it is not good. I would also love it if someone pays me to write this review but sadly no, am writing this because I am procrastinating work. =P