Sunday, March 25, 2007

Jack's Place @ Sunway Pyramid

Entry: 76
24th March 2007

Dear Diary,

Today marks the 14th month since darling and I first got together. We've been in love for over a year and 2 months now :) To celebrate the occasion, darling treated me to dinner at Jack's Place. We chose to go to the outlet in Sunway Pyramid as it was nearer for us. I've heard a mixture of good and bad reviews of this place and have also seen some pretty good pictures of the food here from other food bloggers. Therefore, I was dying to review this place ASAP!! :p



The outlet in Sunway Pyramid was nice and quiet. I liked the dim lightings and the bright green interior of the restaurant. There were only a few diners around hence darling and I had a pretty peaceful time together :)


For drinks, I ordered a cup of Hot Chocolate which is priced at RM4.50. It was nicely presented but not very nice in taste. This hot chocolate wasn't sweet nor chocolaty enough. Im a person who's all mad about chocolates and if I order something chocolaty, it better be, well, chocolaty enough to satisfy me and to gain my good review. I would give this drink a 5/10 vote. Secret Recipe serves better hot chocolate plus it comes with mini marshmallows now. I havent had a chance to try that one out yet. But I bet its good...


Darling ordered their Fruit Punch which is also priced at RM4.50. Well, this drink wasn't to his liking either as it tasted all weird although I'll give it credit for being very prettily decorated.


Here's our comlimentary garlic bread on the house.


For my main course, I ordered Jack's Special Steak (RM42.50). According to other food bloggers and also the waiter here, this steak is one of their specialities and is what they are famous for other than good cakes. This steak comprises of a tender and juicy fillet, topped with asparagus and Jack's Place homemade black mushroom sauce. It also came with a hot potato covered with sour cream and crisp sauteed broccoli and carrots. I ordered my steak medium done so there was a nice hint of pink when I cut the meat. However, I don't really find this steak tasty enough in comparison with steaks from places like TGI Fridays and Chilis. It is also a tad too pricey for a piece of flavourless fillet. Im rating this at 7.5/10.


Darling chose to have their Steak and Fish Combo which is priced at RM38. This combo comprises of a ribeye steak and fish fillet topped with brown sauce. It also came with a hot potato and sauteed vegetables similar to mine. Darling says that the ribs were not as good as my fillet. I find that true as the ribs were not as juicy as my fillet and tasted rather bland too. My gosh, is this an eatery of tasteless cooking?? As a Malaysian, I do believe that we advocate tasty and flavourful cooking meaning that we would really appreciate the use of salt, herbs and spices to enhance food flavours. That is unless you're down with an illness, of course :p

Well, putting the bland tastes aside, I really enjoyed spending cherishable time with darling. Thank you dear for dinner. Loving you always... XOXO... :)


Cheers,
~* joychariz *~

Pasta Buffet @ Italiannies, 1 Utama

Entry: 75
21st March 2007

Dear Diary,

Here comes the day darling and I have been waiting ages for. Italiannies 'Never Ending' Pasta Buffet on every Wednesday at only RM19.90++ per person is truly never never ending for us. We've been coming back for good quality pasta and it is now our 3rd visit here today. We headed off to 1 Utama for a late lunch and a shopping trip right after my class in the afternoon. I thought we could eat a horse since we were both famished to the verge of death. Haha... Well, not so serious la :p


The thing I love about Italiannies is the setting of this restaurant. It's quite a cosy and romantic place to bring your special someone on any occasion for fine dinning. Their menu however, is not very extensive in food but you'll be amazed at the variety of cocktails and alcoholic drinks they serve. I spent some considerable time meditating on their unique names but I cant remember any unfortunately :p


Never Ending Bowls of Pasta. Yes people!! All you can eat pasta. Just mix and match the choices available on their menu, order and enjoy!


I just love their complimentary bread dipped in olive oil and balsmic vinegar in which the waiter pours into a little platter. They used to serve us 5 to 6 slices of bread on our first two times here, but today they only gave us 4 slices. Maybe they sort of noticed that we never finished the bread.


This is the Fettuccine Beef Bacon Cabonara I ordered. I for one, go weak with desire everytime I see the word cabonara appear. What more if it's simply calling my name from Italiannies' menu?? The cabonara here is simply fabulous and it is the only pasta I would talk about even in my dreams. Its rich creamy sauce is perfectly paired with their smoked beef bacon. A match made in heaven...


Darling, my one and only true cabonara buddy, also enjoys a good plate of cabonara. He opt for Penne Beef Bacon Cabonara as he was hoping that by ordering penne, the portion size would be smaller. To our surprise, the serving that came was huge. Much more than my fettuccine. And it was so unfair that his had more cream sauce than mine :( Lol...


For his 2nd round, darling ordered Penne in Spicy Marinara and topped with Calamari. Those fried calamaries were really good. Just like the one we had in TGI Fridays. But I think the one in TGIs was better. Darling complained that the spicy marinara sauce wasnt spicy at all. I guess it was drowned out by the tomato puree.


For my 2nds, I ordered Penne in Pomodoro sauce topped with Mussels. I regretted ordering this as I didnt like the whole thing at all. The tomato based sauce was too sour and my mussels tasted unfresh. I couldnt finish this plate and that was all I could take for the day. The same went for darling as he was just too full and sick of the spicy marinara pasta. This totally contradicts my introduction of Italiannies' good quality pasta! Well maybe we'll only have their cabonara the next time we come here :p Oh and the calamari as well!! :D

Cheers,
~* joychariz *~

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Oldtown Kopitiam @ SS15 Subang Jaya

Entry: 74
17th March 2007

Dear Diary,

I was really craving for peanut butter toast the other day. Hence darling suggested that we have lunch at Oldtown Kopitiam which is located not far from the place we stay. Looks like another late lunch for us as it was already past 3pm when we got there. The both of us really ought to have ourselves checked for bad eating disorder time syndrom :p


Darling ordered their Oldtown 'Cham' which is priced at RM2.30. This drink is a mixture of both coffee and tea together. It tasted pretty good. In fact, I find it nicer that their white coffee. Probably because it is sweeter and more aromatic. I didnt order any drink for myself as I didnt want to be bloated full.


For my main course, I ordered their Oldtown Nasi Lemak Special which is priced at RM5.80. I was surprised that it came with a piece of fried chicken instead of their usual curry drummet. The sambal was excellent as usual and I really enjoyed this. However, I would still prefer their Chicken Rendang Rice which is way better than any piece of fried chicken.


Darling wanted to order their nissin noodles again. But after some coaxing by me, he decided to try their Oldtown Prawn Mee (RM5.30). This was a really bad bad choice. Seriously!! The soup didnt look or taste spicy enough and everything was just weird unlike the normal prawn mees you get elsewhere. Sorry dear. My bad :p


Okay, so I was craving for toast and ordered their Oldtown French Toast (RM3.00). However, I lost my crave the moment they served us this 'caved-in' out-of-shaped toast. The taste was still alright, but definitely not its presentation :p But I overlooked it though plus darling ate all the sides and crust leaving me with the gooey peanut butter centre. Yummy!! :)


After tasting the brownies in Dome with my friends the other day, I decided that Secret Recipe's brownies are much much better plus I like my brownies with hot melted chocolate sauce overflowing everywhere!! After our meal in Kopitiam, darling and I walked over to Secret Recipe which is just a stone's throw away for delicious Brownies and Ice-cream (RM6.50). Fabulously good as usual!! And yea, were we full for that day :p

Cheers,
~* joychariz *~

Chicken Rice @ Asia Cafe SS15 Subang Jaya

Entry: 73
16th March 2007

Dear Diary,

It has been awhile since we last were at Asia Cafe. Actually it's more like trying to avoid it as we've had too much of Asia Cafe food for a period of time :p So we came here for dinner after darling's morning shift. After taking some time to decide and countless of "What do you want to eat" questions from darling, I finally asked darling to order me a plate of Chicken & Char Siew Rice. I cant remember the last time I had chicken rice. Must have been ages ago :p Anyway darling, who was also at wits ends on deciding his order, also decided to have chicken rice as well.

I had Char Siew and Chicken Rice which is priced at RM4.00. There's nothing really special about the chicken rice here. Everything was just normal and the char siew was a tad more burnt than it usually is. The Char Siew sauce that came along with my char siew meat was also a wee bit too sweet. Other than that, no other complaints :p


Darling ordered Chicken Rice which is priced at RM3.50 per plate. Darling prefers to only eat chicken breasts and that's what he got. Haha...



The threesome that came along with our char siew meat and chicken.

Cheers,
~* joychariz *~

Kim Gary @ Midvalley Megamall

Entry: 72
14th March 2007

Dear Diary,

Darling took me shopping at Midvalley Megamall on his off-day today after my class. We got there way past lunch time again and yea, we were hungry!! After a heavy japanese dinner last night, I thought I would never want to eat again. Haha... Anyway, we decided to go to Kim Gary for a late lunch / early dinner as I had been wanting to drink their fabulous Red Bean Ice again :)

Kim Gary is still at the top of my Hong Kong restaurant list...



Here it is at last... The Red Bean Ice (RM4.50) drink (on the left) I've been waiting so long for! I simply love the sweet and millky taste of this drink. Simply wonderful. Darling tried their Iced Blue Fruit Punch (RM4.50). That was pretty adventurous of him! I tried some, wasnt too bad. Quite nice although I've forgotten what it was made of :p


I wanted to eat something light so I opt for their Pork Chop Burger in Macau Style which is priced at RM5.90. I've read good reviews on this burger and yeap, the taste was as good as the comments. However this burger came loaded with lots and lots of mayonnaise which was a big no no for me. I practically had to scrape it all out after taking a few bites. Darling looked disgusted as he hated the eggy stuff too :p Other than that, everything was perfecto!


Darling wanted to have something spicy so he chosed their Hot & Spicy Noodles with Beef in 'Typhoon Shelter' style (RM11.20). What a name man!! I was so shock when it came. The bowl was as big as a wash basin!! Seriously.. No kidding! They served it together with a pair of chopsticks and a LADLE!!! Haha... It was hillariously BIG :p It looked spicy alright, but then it was full of bean sprouts! That totally ruined the whole thing. The soup, noodles, everything tasted like bean sprouts. Not very nice huh? Darling complaint the most! Poor him...


And not to forget the Sweetened Condensed Milk & Peanut Butter Thick Toast (RM3.50) which we never fail to order. Darling and I simply love this thick toast. However, we found the toast to be a little too thick this time. That made our eating procedure kinda dry. Otherwise no complaints from us at all *grin*

Cheers,
~* joychariz *~

Zen Japanese Restaurant @ Sunway Pyramid

Entry: 71
12th March 2007


Dear Diary,

After coming to Zen with my friends last February, I kept bugging darling to bring me here for more. I was totally craving for their Soft-shell Crab Temaki. I find the quality of the food here to be exceptionally good compared to other japanese restaurants like Shogun or Sushi King and I really liked the setting and ambience of this place. However, this place tends to be a little pricy too in comparison to other japanese outlets.


Zen Japanese Restaurant is located above Kim Gary in Sunway Pyramid.


Look at my pretty plate :) Zen offers good service as the waitress who served us was promt in bringing us warm towels and our drinks.


Green tea on the house.


As it was a Monday, we also got free complimentary Mango Crushes which comes when you order one of their set meals. I didnt quite like the taste of this drink as I found it too diluted.


Well, I did get what I craved for at last!! The Soft-shell Crab Temaki priced at RM8 here is totally superb. I love it! Darling had a Spicy Salmon Roll (on the left) which is priced at RM6. Upon his first bite, darling complaint that the roll wasnt spicy at all. But towards the middle of the roll, he was almost choking from its spiciness. Lol :p


Choosing a main course was a tough call. Zen has such a HUGE menu, that we took quite awhile deciding what to eat. Darling finally settled for their Sushi Yakiniku Yen which is a BBQ beef set that comes with 7 pieces of assorted sushis. The set also included chawan mushi, miso soup, and a bowl of fruits. All of this at the price of RM38. Not bad at all... and trust me, the portions served were as HUGE as its menu. Haha :p


I decided to have their Unagi Kabayaki Zen (RM28). This is a roasted eel set which comes included with chawan mushi, miso soup, a bowl of something with loads of beef fats which I didnt like and a little bowl of fruits just like the one darling had :) The unagi tasted great at first, but I soon got sick of it as there were 4 large slices of it in my rice box. Ugh, I promised myself never to touch unagi again for at least 3 months :p

We were both so stuffed full after eating that we didnt manage to go try out DOME's brownies and ice-cream. In fact, we went home feeling sick and bloated on the verge to throw out japanese puke. What do the japs call that? Hehe...

Cheers,
~* joychariz *~

Monday, March 12, 2007

Manhattan Fish Market @ Sunway Pyramid

Entry: 70
8th March 2007

Dear Diary,


Darling finally gave in to my request for Manhattan Fish Market's seafood platter. Joy!! We went to the outlet in Sunway Pyramid right after my class for a late lunch.



...The fishy trademark...



Bottomless beverages priced at RM5.90 each. I had Iced Peach Tea and darling had Coke.


Nah, I was just kidding about the threesome thingy :p We only touched their tartar and chilli sauce. Not the garlic :p


Manhattan's Seafood Platter for Two (RM42.90). This platter included one huge batter-fried dory fillet, herb fries, fried calamaries and oysters, shrimps and garlic rice. It was really nice at the starting but then we soon got sick of the sweet sauce that topped our shrimps. Other than that, everything was delicious!!


Yes, I was greedy for dessert and couldnt imagine going back without a taste of Secret Recipe's Brownies and Ice-cream (RM6.00). This is simply a must try for every die-hard fan of brownies. Its combination of vanilla flavoured ice-cream together with warm rich brownie topped with dark chocolatey sauce and walnuts makes it so sinfully irristable to pass. And you can get all these for a very very reasonable price of only RM6.00. Dare I say more?


Thank you darling for all the treats today. Love you! xoxoXOXOxoxo


Cheers,

~* joychariz *~

San Francisco Coffee @ Suria KLCC

Entry: 69
7th March 2007

Dear Diary,

After our dinner at Little Penang Kafe and a little bit of window shopping, we went for cakes at San Francisco Coffee. We've actually been wanting to come here for a very very long time to spend our voucher but just couldnt manage to find the time or the appetite :p Anyway, darling and I were both delighted to see the variety of cakes here.


This Chocolate Cheese Cake which is priced at RM8.50 caught both our eyes. This is exactly the cake we love. Fudgy and chocolatey on the top and cheesy in the middle. Absolutely good!! It won the Star-of-the-day Award! :)


Since darling and I are very into brownies these days, we also chose to try their Double Chocolate Brownie priced at RM8.95. This brownie was served warm and topped with chocolate sauce and walnuts. Although it wasnt as nice as their Chocolate Cheese Cake, I would still give this brownie credit for being truly doubled chocolate as it even had chocolate sauce in the middle not to mention being moist. Well, not bad after all. We're satisfied and ate till we were both stuffed full.

Cheers,
~* joychariz *~

Saturday, March 10, 2007

Little Penang Kafe @ Suria KLCC

Entry: 68
7th March 2007


Dear Diary,

Darling and I made a trip to KLCC today to collect his paycheck from Maxis. We went there after my class and reached around 5 plus. Since the both of us havent had our lunch, we decided to have our late lunch / early dinner at Little Penang Kafe which is located on the 4th floor of Suria KLCC opposite Madam Kwan's. This was our second visit in which the first was with darling's dad a few months ago.


Little Penang Kafe


I didnt order any drinks but instead I had their lovely cold and sweet Cendol which is priced at RM4.20 per bowl. This cendol comes with smooth slurpy cendol "noodles" in thick santan and gula Melaka syrup. Truly heavenly and refreshing as it was a very hot day outside.


Darling on the other hand, ordered their Ice Kacang (RM4.50) which is shaved ice that comes with syrup, milk, sweet corn, red beans, peanuts, cincau, attap seeds and banana slices. You can also opt for a scoop of ice cream in it but I've forgotten how much they charge per scoop :p This ice kacang is undoubtedly good.


For my main course, I wanted to try their Char Koay Teow which darling's dad recommended on our first visit here. Their Char Koay Teow (RM9.00) is prepared with prawns, crab meat, cockles, egg and taugeh. The portion size was rather small for the price they charge and I find that it wasnt spicy enough as I ordered it to be spicy. Darling said that the char koay teow at Alison in Sri Petaling tasted better. And cheaper too. Only RM4.00 for a big plate.


Darling tried their Mamak Sambal Sotong Set (RM12.50) which comes served with white rice. The sotong sambal was excellant. I loved it and so did darling as it was very good and not too spicy. He really enjoyed this set I guess :p


Cheers,
~* joychariz *~

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Zinger MaxX @ KFC SS15 Subang Jaya

Entry: 67
5th March 2007

Dear Diary,

Darling and I both had KFC's new Zinger MaxX saver meals for dinner last night. This is my second time eating this burger. KFC has now improved the old KFC Zinger burger which had been around for quite a number of years to the new KFC Zinger MaxX. Our Zinger MaxX saver meals included cheezy wedges which were our favourite! :)


Oozing with cheesy dressing. Yummilicious!! :)


There are a few difference between the old Zinger and the new Zinger. The new Zinger now comes with a different kind of bun in which I did my homework and found that it is interestingly called the "Kaiser" bun. The Kaiser bun is more popularly consumed in western countries and is usually topped with either poppy or sesame seeds. KFC also added a slice of cheddar cheese into the burger which is of course, melted by the heat of the fried chicken fillet. I personally find that there is more mayonnaise in it as it was totally dripping out when I ate it :p Darling however said that the burger wasnt MaxXed enough and that he couldnt taste the cheese in it. Obviously we found the Cheezy Wedges much much better.


Cheers,
~* joychariz *~

Monday, March 05, 2007

Station One @ SS15 Subang Jaya

Entry: 66
2nd March 2007

Dear Diary,


I've been wanting to try out Station One ever since it was first opened in SS15 Subang Jaya. Darling has been to the branch in Cheras long ago and gave me a positive remark about this place being "not bad". Haha... So obviously I had to visit it for myself :p We came here for lunch last Friday. There wernt many people as it was already nearing 3pm.


Look at darling's colourful smoothie named Fancy World (RM6.00). It consists of a mixture of lychee and lemon flavour all together in a giant glass probably also with a hint of kiwi and strawberry. Just imagine what all those flavours taste like when its blended together. Haha... I have only 2 words to describe this drink - "Too sweet" :p


Being addicted to TGI's chocolate chip milkshake which gave me a glimpse of heaven, I opt for their Chocolate Milkshake which is priced at RM6.50 with the hopes of achieving the same effects. Hehe... But my hopes were dashed to pieces when I took my first sip of the milkshake. I dont like getting Coffee Milkshake when I ordered Chocolate Milkshake. There definitely is a tremendous difference between the two.


Once again, we took quite some time to decide on the menu. Station One serves food ranging from western to local. There were a lot of varieties to choose from too. Darling ordered their Tom Yam Fried Noodles with Chicken (RM6.80) which is one of the recommended items on their menu. The noodles were nice! It had the right amount of Tom Yam flavour and spiciness. And not too oily too. Thumbs up :)


I had their Fish n Chips in black pepper sauce which is priced at RM9.80. It came with two side dishes in which I had the options of choosing A. Fries, B. Coleslaw, C. Mashed Potatoes, and D. Rice. I chosed fries and rice. The dory fish was fried to perfectness in batter and the black pepper sauce was rather nice. Hmm, Im somehow craving for Manhattan Fish Market's seafood platter right now :p


After eating, darling asked for a pack of cards in which we played 3 rounds of Chor Dai Dee. Darling won 2 rounds if it wasnt for my stupidness :p We wanted to try their Mud Cake with ice-cream but then it was sold out. So we tried opting for their Flourless Chocolate Cake. Guess what? It was also sold out. Hmph... Darling said these 2 cakes must be very nice as they were out of it. We had no choice then but to take their Black Forrest Cake priced at RM5.90 per slice. This cake was not nice at all although it was very prettily presented. Do not be deceived by its looks. Haha :p The taste was totally bland. Im still craving for heavenly yummilicious cakes. Bakerzin perhaps?


Cheers,
~* joychariz *~