cpk at klcc

cpk??? well, if you have been eating the local fare everyday, i'm sure that american or anything western would be such a treat. and this was indeed a treat. r1 came from singapore to kl to celebrate his birthday.

for appetizers we got lettuce wrap with chicken and water chestnuts on a bed of vermicelli. this is an asian inspired dish which i could not fit into a particular cuisine. despite the asian flavor, i still found the dish refreshing.




spaghetti bolognese, i'd never thought we'd order this but r seems to be craving for plain old spaghetti, as such we got this. the only criticism is it lacks salt but the flavors are all there even the beef which i could distinctly taste. salt just makes a dish perfect - it accentuates the distinct flavors of the ingredients and i wished it had more cheese.




chicken bqq pizza - reminiscing our domino's delivery days in manila. honestly? domino's bbq chicken pizza in manila tastes better than cpk's version. don't get me wrong, this pizza was good and seasoned well but domino's is so much more fun to eat =).




for dessert, we got the red velvet. ah! perfectly done if you ask me. though i have yet to try karen young's. this one is moist and the frosting was made with cream cheese and white chocolate. loved it!




we also got a freebie sundae because of r's birthday which needs to be validated btw. you need to provide a proof of birthdate hehe and funny how they presented the treat with a birthday song over their sound system...no corny/embarassing song number from the crew.



for a chain such as cpk, you will not expect to have big misses. usually, it's just a matter of whether it was worth what you paid for. fortunately, someone covered the bill for this one. but i must say that at RM20 for a slice of cake...i would never have dessert. yup, the red velvet costs more than the appetizer. oh well, it was still a celebration and i'm sure r didn't feel the hefty price hehe.


happy birthday r1!


california pizza kitchen
suriaklcc

secret recipe in kl

secret recipe is actually a malaysian resto chain. it's almost everywhere here in malaysia. i've only tried it in manila and with just the pies, this time i got the chance to try out the other dishes.


got some freebie crackers...loved these, this is the saltiest food item i've had in KL..ahhh salt!




got the prawn macaroni (RM16++) of which reviews i've read about. hmmm, the dish was just too bland and i was shocked to see just 2 pieces of shrimps...to think that shrimps are cheap here. this dish didn't work for me.




my friends got 2 types of chicken fillet (RM15 for a set meal wth drinks) one has a pepper sauce and the other one has mushroom gravy. i liked the mushroom gravy, it was flavorful enough, the pepper sauce was just too peppery for me.






for dessert, we got the chocolate indulgence which is basically chocolate mousse. it was not too sweet so it was a good way to cap our meal.





if ever i find myself again in this place, i ought to try the lamb shank.



secret recipe
kl sentral
midvalley megamall
suria klcc

kl: tokyo at paddington

paddington house of pancakes or PHOP has a very nice ambiance unlike the casual setting in our own pancake house. the resto is pretty much black and white - white walls , marble tabletops, the lights are those iron chandeliers in black. if you'd think about it could be a formal dining place but it's just a casual resto you'd see in several malls here in KL.

i was out of the city one weekend and i couldn't decide where to eat until i finally chose PHOP. ahhh what to eat??? a hundred selection of pancakes in various forms and origins (is this the same concept as IHOP? 'cause my perception of ihop is more casual like a diner.)



tokyo (RM 20++) is one of their pannekeok - a thin pancake which is similar to a crepe. they filled it with shredded greens served with mashed potato on the side and chicken with bacon, tomato and mozzarella cheese. oh isn't it perfect??? the bland crepe is perfectly complemented with the savory side dish. hot thin crepe filled with greens could sound weird but it worked for me. take note that food here in KL is relatively bland and i'm trying to get accustomed to it. so think about the chicken dish with nearly no salt but of course the contrast of flavors from the tomato, cheese and bacon is still there.

what i liked about the menu is that the variety of "pancakes" to choose from and not only that but the pairings. i always like my pancakes with something savory and back in manila you are limited to a couple of side dishes like the usual sausage and bacon. but in this resto, they offer more. plus they serve the meals in hot plates. two thumbs up if you ask me. definitely, PHOP is already in my fave restos list.




p.s. i was told that the midvalley branch has pinoy waiters so it's probably easier to dine. filipinos serving pinoys in foreign lands are much nicer hehe.




paddington house of pancakes
midvalley megamall
the curve
www.paddingtonpancakes.com

kl: tcrs take two

remember my chicken rice shop post, a year ago? just click on the link in case you forgot or haven't read it yet. there's one "makulit' comment made by someone asking me if i ate chicken rice. after all, that's their specialty right? well i didn't, so when i saw tcrs the other day, i knew where i was eating...i was thinking about esquire again actually.


chicken rice pertains to the rice, it doesn't pertain to the viand. the rice is cooked in chicken broth and is yellowish in color.




at tcrs you get to choose your chicken of choice - steamed, roasted and bbq, not sure on the bbq variant. i chose steamed...hmmm the problem is it's not for the squirmish because it still has blood. they might consider it cooked already but i kept on thinking about salmonella the whole time that i made sure i only eat the really opaque parts. it comes with ginger and chilli sauce which makes the chicken more flavorful. i'd have to say it was a good meal except for bloody parts, i dunno if you can request it to be cooked further or that's how they really serve it. but i was really happy with the meal, i opted to order the single set and iced lemon tea (btw, iced teas here are made from scratch which i think is way much better than the ones in manila) my meal set me back around RM12. there are set meals that costs around RM14 which i deem is more cheap considering you get a side dish, dessert and drinks. if you've got a bigger appetite then just go for the set meal, otherwise just get the solo.






the chicken rice shop
kl sentral
midvalley megamall
www.thechickenriceshop.com

kl: little taiwan

first time i tried little taiwain, i got shocked with my bill. here's why. i ordered salted chicken. it's just chicken leg fillet fried with the end bone still in tact the one near the feet still with some yummy tendons to munch on. the rice is served pinoy turo turo style with some sauce on top and had a side dish of pickled veggies, more like radish, carrots and cabbage kimchi.




nothing was really spectacular about the dish, so when i got my bill, i was so shocked to see more than RM15. huh??? how did that happen, i thought it was just RM12++, ahh the culprit - service charge. i thought only little taiwan imposes service charge, however, when i dined in esquire again, i found out they too put on service charge but meals just cost much less, thus the lower total bill.

so again i find myself thinking on where to have dinner. no choices really since i was too lazy to go out so i opted to go to little taiwan again (practically inside the hotel i'm staying in). making sure i only get something cheap, i chose tang tang noodles (RM 7++). flat noodles served in a broth with lots of garlic chives, sauteed pork and uber yummy meat balls plus an egg that's probably cooked in tea or something else. liked this one because it's really flavorful and similar to esquire i got loads of noodles which i wasn't able to finish up.



happy with my last outing, i tried it once again, this time i ordered one of their milk teas with pearls. ordered green tea but it's peach in color and tasted like flowers the flavor i don't like when it comes to teas, i find it expensive at almost RM6.



i wanted something light so i ordered wanton soup and special meatballs. the wanton soup was so so, i filled myself up with the broth and the meatballs...no meat...just flour. it looked like those shrimp balls you get at chinese restos and those were packed with shrimps so i was just imagining this one packed with ground meat and there's none in sight. this outing was a strikeout.





after three meals, i'm not really convinced with this place but i'm sure with a week to go, i might find myself eating here again.


p.s. before the upload i ate here and tried braised pork noodle. the bowl of noodles is much flavorful because i chose the spicy variant hehe...the pork is so tender you will not have any complaints. so i guess l.t. scores 50-50.



little taiwan
food courts in selected malls in KL
pearl point

kl: esquire kitchen/nam leong

i've only been in KL for a couple of days and it seems like i've eaten at esquire almost everyday. i just always find myself in a mall where they have a branch. and it just becomes my resto of choice.

esquire kitchen offers chinese cuisine at affordable prices. servings are usually hefty here in kl, and esquire's are no different. here are just some of the items i've tried.



szechuan eggpplant - eggplants sauteed with pork and garlic chives, it is a well seasoned dish that strikes a balance between sweet and salty. loved it!



fried shanghai mee - i'd like to describe this as a hybrid of char kway teow, phad thai and pansit. ckt for it's bbq/smoked flavor, phad thai's ingredients like shrimps, eggs and bean sprouts and our own pansit's egg noodles or more commonly known as canton. huge serving!


the noodles range from RM 7-9 while the viands usually have two sizes and ranges from RM12-30. the szechuan eggplant is one of their bestsellers so it's a must try. nam heong, its sister resto serves good roasted pork as i've been told so if ever i get a lechon macau craving, i'll know where to get it. in case you find yourself hungry and there's esquire or nam heong nearby, check it out.



p.s. different branches different tastes. midvalley serves the best eggplants for me =). (ain't this a sign that i am totally addicted to esquire...been here for 2 weeks and i can no longer count the number of times i've eaten here)


esquire kitchen/nam heong
endah parade
midvalley megamall
parkson oug

woori jib

gearing away from the traffic on valentine's day, we decided to eat somewhere nearby. i immediately thought of woori jib which i've read about a couple of times already.

got free pumpkin soup which is good but cold. then a couple of appetizers which i all liked especially the potato and tofu.




wanted to get something hot so we ordered kimchi chigae (PHP250), kimchi soup with pork and tofu. ahh loved this dish and even though we were gearing away from rice we had to eat it with rice. it's just the perfect combination. the spiciness cuts through your throat as if clearing your air passages this dish smells like pork and beans actually.




ordered the staple samgyupsal funny because they put PHP250 per serving but minimum of 2 orders so basically it's PHP500. this would have to be the perfect samgyupsal that i've tried so far. the thickness of the meat is just right and since they cook it in front of you it doesn't get overcooked. though i would have loved the greens to be more fresh.





as if the freebies are not enough. we get another one, sizzling hot soup of tofu, fresh green onions...forgot what's in it already. since we so loved the kimchi chigae and it came before this one, this simply was too bland for us.




after a long time , the jap chae (PHP300) finally came. huge serving with loads of ingredients. one thing that bothered us though was it was not hot and to think this order took the longest time. i should have complained, maybe next time.




overall, this was a good meal. servings are huge and with the food we ordered it could actually feed 3-4 people but it was finished by two, our excuse? we didn't eat lunch and this was around 8pm already...yeah right! =).




woori jib
kalayaan avenue q.c.
from elliptical road it's on the
same side as the quezon city hall
a couple of establishments after trellis and adarna