Saturday, December 29, 2012

La Cantine by Bruno Menard @ Asia Square

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Located at Level 1 of Asia Square Tower 1. Some of us went on foot, so alighted at Raffles Place MRT and headed towards Lau Pa Sat's direction. Then, cross to the opposite side of SGX and then head straight to Asia Square.

First time trying a Michellin starred chef's restaurant, and coincidentally, our end-of-the-year dinner venue for our small cosy group of friends. Cheers to our friendship and thank you peeps for all the Friday night revelries~ =)

Since we made reservations, we were seated at the nice long table at the back of the room, suitable for ten pax.

menu, all stacked up
interior

Had wanted to try the burger, but there was no burger in the dinner menu. Oh well. Since there were eight of us, we practically ordered all the non-beefy mains plus a beef flank and a veal. Our service staff of the night also advised us to order starters as she said that the serving size of the mains tend to be smallish. Ordered a bottle of white wine as well.

still water

For starters, seemed like we're having pork terrine and escargots.

pork terrine, with lettuce and mustard
escargots
garlicky tender meat, with super crunchy crouton
terrine, with lettuce

But where was the bread? Terrine, should be eaten with bread, non? Alas, the complimentary bread basket only arrived some eight minutes later...

baguette
butter

Liked the bread. Kind of chewy but nice to satiate some of the hunger. Terrine on bread, with butter and some of the garlic sauce from the escargot equates to yums.

However, our wine still hasn't arrive. Could it be, because we didn't order French wine, hence the Australian ones, tend to be forgotten? Apparently, the lady who took our wine order did forget. So, the wine made it appearance somewhat later.

The mains arrived, and our long table was empty no more. Some mains had side dishes, so we had like 12-16 plates/dishes on our table. WoOOhooOO!

The long table of food

The mains:
lamb
cod fish
salmon

The cod fish itself tasted pretty light but the sauce was rather creamy. It has potato slices in the base as well. The fish roe gave those tiny burst of salty umami. This was one nicely cooked dish.

cod fish with ikura
salmon

The salmon tasted Asian, with its light soy base. The meat was very pink and soft in the middle, very tataki like. However, didn't care much for the shredded vege as it was kind of bitter!

More mains:

young yellow chicken
beef
pork belly
pan roasted bass


The beef and veal were chewy. Had a piece of flank that I gave up on chewing. Tough. Chicken was quite dry, so it needed a gulp of wine to wash it down (or lots of sauce if you're not drinking). Pork belly was tasty and tender but nothing outstanding.

The lamb, on the other hand, had looked pretty raw when sliced but tasted, very very nice. Fatty kind of nice. With a tiny hint of sweetness, and without much gameyness. Liked this best!

 The side dishes that accompanied the beef and the veal:

mashed potato
truffle fries
ravioli
not sure what vege this was, but it sure was bitter!

The tiny ravioli tasted quite nice, especially with the crisp top. Usually ravioli tasted all doughy but because the version here was small, cheesy and crispy.

After all the food, we didn't have any room for desserts. A pity.

The meal costs around $500 for the eight of us.

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Kenny Rogers Roasters @ Metro Kajang

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Grew up in an era where KFC was considered a special treat for occasions like birthdays. For mom's, she wanted to have Kenny Rogers. So off we went, to have chicken for dinner.

chicken for dinner

All of us had quarter chicken, and that comes with three side dishes and a muffin. Everyone except me opted out of muffins and had another side dish instead.

They don't have corn muffin here. Only vanilla, banana or chocolate. Hmmm, so vanilla muffin for me. Tasted quite nice, soft and mildly sweet.

vanilla muffin
quarter chicken with black pepper sauce, sides of mac & cheese, coleslaw and fruits

Dark meat is my favourite, but the restaurant need to be fair to other customers so had chicken breast instead. For breast meat, it was dry. So remember to ask for more sauce.

macaroni and cheese
coleslaw
fruits
white meat

The mac & cheese here was not as nice as the ones in Singapore. Too little cheese and it was a tad too cold. The coleslaw was nice though. Fresh and tangy. Fruits looked healthy, so had that to balance things out.

The restaurant gave us a jelly dessert because we have a birthday girl with us.

birthday jelly, with a scoop of ice cream and lots of whipped cream

And if one is using AMEX to pay, then there is another free dessert for spending above RM50, plus one free quarter chicken meal for every three ordered (just one per table).

chocolate cake
not quite oozing out, but it's there nevertheless

The cake was sinfully sweet but enjoyable. Total bill came up to RM80+ after the discount and it fed a family of five.

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Melaka: Calanthe Art Cafe @ Jalan Hang Kasturi (Jonker Street)

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Stopped by this cafe for a breather after getting lost for about fifteen minutes or so. Hahaa, my sense of direction is as atrocious as ever.

The cafe has a relaxed vibe to it. You can curl up with a book, and enjoy a cool coffee from any of the 13 states in Malaysia.

alfresco seats, outer side of the cafe
inner courtyard

Ordered a Sarawak Blenz, and a Nyonya laksa for lunch.

Sarawak Blenz

coffee jelly

The Sarawak Blenz was nice to drink, although I should really be having something to quench that thirst! Coffee jelly was a subtle complement to the drink. Something to chew on, while waiting for the drink to melt a little. Coffee was not too strong, and whipped cream gave it a smooth feel. Not too sweet and that's a major plus point.

My food was missing due to some miscommunication and when it came, the beehoon had already soaked up the sauce.

nice presentation
Nyonya Laksa with beehoon
dried sambal chilies


The laksa was fragrant, and quite 'lemak'. Ingredients were pretty simple. Deep fried beancurd skins, taupok, tiny fishballs, some shredded cucumber and egg strips. Big bowl and took quite an effort to finish!

Personally, I felt that the star of the dish, was the accompanying dried sambal chilies. Crispy, very yummy, and not too spicy.


This meal costs about RM16, and the service staff was friendly and courteous.



 
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