ben's independent grocer

as the name suggests, B.I.G. is actually a grocery but not just a typical grocery. they offer mostly imported items that are not common finds in your neighborhood grocery. they have truffles, fine meats, various infused oils, a wide range of nuts and a lot more...i found my chia seeds here :D.

aside from scouting for truffle products and the foie gras which i didn't see because i failed to check out the non halal section there's also an eatery inside. i was keen on trying their items because of their not so common western fare.

my crab and zucchini quiche. i liked the crispy edges, and the less "eggy" filling. however i couldn't taste the crab and zucchini, so i guess the egg was still an overpowering element. it comes with a choice of side, there's a variety to choose from and i got the potato salad. what surprised me was that the potato salad has smoked salmon...yummeh!

this was their reuben sandwich, the side was barley with mushrooms. we were keen on trying this side but it fell short of our expectations. it has an overpowering limau/calamansi/lime flavor, there's no other hint of herbs that can brighten up this salad and the mushrooms seem to be underdone. i didn't try the sandwich itself so i have no comments on that.

this is grilled corn with crab. well who doesn't like grilled corn? this was nice and refreshing. though in retrospect i wan't able to get any hints of crab even though i can see it in the salad.


the food was ok, there's no wow factor but a very much welcomed break from all the typical rice and noodle dishes i get to eat on a daily basis. what bothered us the most was the service. first, the orders got mixed up and they actually didn't explain to us that our orders had side dishes already. then, our iced teas were served without the sugar syrup, we had to ask for it and it took sometime before they served it to us. even the request for cutleries took a long time, we just decided to check the other tables for what we needed. and lastly, it took a long time for the bill to arrive. the place wasn't really that busy except when we were about to leave already and there's relatively sufficient wait staff to address our needs so i don't know why they had such a bad service.



ben's independent grocer
publika

korean fare at sariwon

i love korean food! so i was really keen on trying sariwon which is one of the new restos in bhs central, also another franchised restaurant.

wet towels?  yup, if only i had the before picture you would know why i took a picture of this. the original towel was only half the size of the one in the picture. they would pour water on it and voila, you'll get these rehydrated wet towels.

this is a recommended drink, i forgot the name something like herb citrus cooler. it was very refreshing and had the right amount of tartness to complement the spicy, sweet and salty flavors your palate gets to experience during your meal.

of course it's not a korean restaurant if there are no freebie banchan.

my favorites were the crispy anchovies aka dilis and the pickled radish. my dad liked the potato salad and my mom having been to seoul recently is still on her kimchi addiction.

this is galbi something...oh gheez please forgive me for forgetting the names. galbi means short ribs if i'm not mistaken. there are only two versions, one is fresh and another is marinated. this was the marinated version. 

the galbi on the grill.

cooked galbi with all the sides. it was tender and seasoned just right. galbi has become my favorite, it recently overtook samgyupsal =) .

korean bbq will not be complete without the lettuce and gochujang (soybean and chilli paste), there's an extra leaf there...i remember before i was told it was sesame leaf  from my previous korean dining experience but this time i was told it was mint and it actually tastes like mint, the one i tried before didn't taste like mint so i'm not sure if they are one and the same but looks very similar.

korean hotpot - yes i am making up the name. not sure which korean hotpot/soup this was. it was a bit sweet for my liking and wasn't spicy at all. we were told they had to tone down the flavors to suit the filipino palate. too bad, i still prefer authentic korean flavors. but this one is very sulit, tons of mushrooms, beef slices and the korean vermicelli...think sukiyaki korean version.

dak galbi - yeah i am not making this up, this was the actual name. grilled tender chicken pieces, it was good.

for korean food newbies, i think that sariwon will definitely tickle your taste buds. for someone looking for authentic korean flavors, this could be a bit of a disappointment. still a good eat especially if you are in the bhs area and looking for something different from the western cuisines that most of the restos there have to offer.

sariwon

bonifacio high street central

the fort, taguig

village tavern

new restos started opening up at bonifacio high street central, it's the complex where jamba juice is. one of the restos that piqued my interest was village tavern. it's a franchise from the us if i'm not mistaken.

it was a friday night and we didn't make any reservations plus they were catering the nokia lumianation so it was really crowded. but since our friends weren't there yet, we agreed to just wait for a table. they gave us complimentary non alcoholic drinks which was great. the wait staff was very accommodating too. during the entire wait period of maybe 30 mins. we didn't feel like we were forgotten considering they were so busy plus it rained so the outdoor seating also got affected. 

let's move on to the food. there's only one thing that i wanted to try. crab cakes!

there are two crab cakes in the menu - an appetizer and the entree. when i gave my order they just asked me whether i want the single serving or the family/to share. so i said the single serving. they gave me the appetizer version so i was really disappointed. anyway, they took back my crab cake and made it into the entree serving. actually the only difference was the fries. the appetizer didn't have fries. anyway, i wanted to move past beyond this debacle. the crab cake was really flavorful. the reviews were right, you don't need any additional dressing you can eat it on its own. it was really good. the salad was bitter not sure if it was because of the radicchio. 

salmon with couscous - i wonder why the couscous are so big they look like quinoa. i didn't really try the entire dish but i felt like the couscous was strongly flavored.

this was the flatbread pizza me thinks...not sure not my order and i was too full to try it.

overall, i had a pleasant experience. the service and food were great. no complaints from my friends...well except for the drinks, yeah i recommend skipping the alcoholic beverages :). but it's a must try i hope the quality of food and service never deteriorate.

village tavern

bonifacio high street central

the fort, taguig

one of those expensive dinners

i actually forgot how much but most probably between 25-30RM per pax hehe and for regular folks that is an expensive office dinner.

gao ren guan is one of those finer dining family style chinese restaurants, simply because it's in a mall which guarantees a better ambiance and cleanliness. don't be fooled though, we usually spend the same amount when dining at regular side street types of chinese restos. anyway let's move on. here's what we got.

stuffed bitter gourd - i don't like this size of bitter gourd because i know it is bitter and it was. this one is stuffed with ground pork/beef?, i think that the boiling/stewing process just eradicated any possible nutrient we can get from the supposedly healthy bitter gourd. i don't like this dish.

steamed chicken with ginseng? not sure but it was nice.

my favorite dish of the night and not sure what it was called. just think ginormous ma po tofu hehe. basically tastes like the usual ma po tofu but instead of cubed tofu they served it whole.

steamed fish with chilli and soybean me thinks...nothing special though it was just ok.

gao ren guan

jaya one

jalan universiti, petaling jaya

a different kind of japanese craving

when i crave for japanese food it's usually because i want to eat salmon sashimi or salmon head nabe. two things that can only be had in a good jap restaurant. but upon reading so much posts about mangetsu and its fried shishamo i just kept on salivating. i love fish roe and unfortunately shisamo in kl is usually served grilled, and for me that it quite boring.

then i came across watami which serves deep fried shishamo...yahooo!

fried shishamo - drizzle with lemon and dip in japanese mayo and it's perfect! unfortunately i couldn't finish everything and had to bring it home. when i reheated it it wasn't as crisp as when i first had it. yeah i even deep fried it again but it really lost its light crispiness. so no leftovers for this one next time.

tonpeiyaki - read good reviews on this one. thin omelette wraps itself around finely shredded cabbage and ground beef and cheese? i forgot if it has cheese. it was perfect! actually it was the sauce that pulled this thing together. the sauce added a different dimension to the typical flavors that the eggs, beef and cabbage had which themselves were a perfect combination. 

watami

pavilion mall

bukit bintang, kl

sticky bones at morganfields

i have so much backlog...let's do a marathon. wanted to try a new place for easter and decided to eat at morganfield's which specializes in ribs.

my half slab of ribs, got the sticky bones which is basically the traditional flavor of hickory smoked ribs. it was aptly seasoned with the right mixture of sweetness, saltiness and tanginess. however, i didn't get much of the smoked hickory flavor that i love on a good bbq. nonetheless it was good, the meat was tender and juicy. unfortunately my other friend's ribs were not as tender and juicy it was a bit dry. usually served with fries and coleslaw, i requested it to be changed to baked potato and i appreciate the fact that i can do that.



morganfields
pavilion mall
bukit bintang, kl

the day i got a bag of laduree

one of the perks of having globetrotting friends is getting stuff from abroad. and it pays when they're foodies too who can accommodate your weird requests. in june, h will be going to paris so it was already a given that she'll get me laduree which is the most famous macaron and pierre herme which is deemed to be the best macaron.

a week ago though, she went to a conference in zurich and managed to squeeze in some leisure time in milan. there were no street signs in milan so it was serendipitous that the deli they went to is right across laduree. yes, laduree has several branches all over the world and one is in milan. the box says eat the macarons within 3 days and she knew it can arrive here in kl on time .


the lovely paperbag...it looks like a tiffany and co. paperbag but with an aged effect looks really nice...expected from a french brand right?

one of the 150 years boxes they have right now.

inside....8 lovely macarons.

because of the "expiry" my greedy self took a bite on all of them hehe. (blurry ugly photo because i used my handphone on this one, was embarrased to take a picture using my camera. and yeah i should have first aligned them as such and then took a decent photo before biting into them. i guess i don't have a high EQ ;). so here's my take on the flavors.

i'll just be giving reviews on the fillings. since all the "macarons"/ meringue base have this thin crisp crust with a chewy pillowy inside that i have never experienced in all the macarons i have tried before. and now i know why people love them, there's a huge difference between the actual french macarons and the ones i've tried in this side of the world.

top row:
black currant - i like the tartness of the filling, provides a nice contrast to the relatively sweet meringue. the filling has a jam/gum like consistency.
salted caramel - i knew this will be my favorite. i am a caramel lover. the salted caramel filling was just love. the flavor was spot on...has the nice caramel flavor nearly burnt but not quite. the texture is not the stringy caramel but more like a paste of some sort.
raspberry - there's really not much to say about this flavor. i actually couldn't figure out what it was. i knew it wasn't strawberry and i knew it was a berry i had to check the website. the filling has a similar consistency with the black currant but lacked any distinct characteristic to make me want more.

middle row:
chocolate - i don't like chocolate. but this one is also good. it was filled with an almost dark chocolate ganache (it wasn't bitter but it wasn't sweet as well). again, a perfect combination with the sweet meringue. i was a convert on this one.
citron - oooh i love lemon. this one was perfect. it wasn't too tart heck it didn't have any tartness if i recall but has the right amount of lemon essence. the filling was buttercream and it was just perfect for the crisp chewy meringue.
pistacchio - i don't like pistacchio...i love the nut but surprisingly don't like anything flavored with pistacchio. i thought i'll have a change of heart with this one but it still failed to convert me.

bottom row:
pear - i thought the specks were incidental, apparently they weren't. another flavor which i couldn't figure out. i thought it was chestnut or something but it was one of the seasonal flavors. it's has a buttercream type of filling with chunks of pears in it. it was also nice.
salted caramel - whether it was intentional or not, love the fact i got two caramel flavored macarons :D.


laduree
http://www.laduree.fr/
several branches all over the world