Tarboush: Lamb-Licking Gorgeous!

When given the choice between 2 places that serve the same type of cuisine, share the same name but are pitted against each other in terms of status-quo - pick the more affluent location. Ok, brand me a snob (see if I cry a river!) but trust you me - I've never been wrong. When it comes down to tastebud testing, I know exactly what I'm doing.

So, last weekend... while we were shamelessly galavanting around Bukit Bintang, with not much to do and hungry, we were hard-pressed to choose between "Tarboush" (the riff-raff location) or "Tarboush" (the Starhill location), I picked the latter - naturally!



For starters the Tarboush at the ground floor of the very glitzy "Starhill Gallery" is in the company of a few other very good restaurants. So, they really have to up the ante to draw the clientele in. The ambience is cozy and very traditional. If you've been to a typical Lebanese place in Dubai, you'll know what I'm talking about - the style of the furniture, the faint whiff of double apple shisha. Strangely enough, I can't seem to remember hearing Ame Dhiab or any other kind of arabic music... just the chattering away of the people next to us.



For starters (this time it's the food kind!) we ordered Hummous with meat. It was gorgeous. The meat was succulent, soft and added just the right saltiness to the hummous when scooped into the mouth with a piece of pita bread. One must be warned, though - eat this starter slowly because it can really fill you up, as we soon discovered when our mains arrived.



Lamb Maklouba: long grain rice, spiced with cinnamon and cloves with huge chunks of lamb that's literally falling off the bone. It was beautiful. The rice was, the longest grains I've ever seen. The lamb was melt-in-your-mouth gorgeous and so so juicy. The whole thing came together like a beautiful symphony. My husband ordered this and I ended up eating half of it. A little something that made it a little more wonderful was the sour cream that came with it. Get some lamb, collect some rice and scoop a little sour cream, put it in your mouth and you're in heaven!



Spicy Shish Tawook: boneless, white chicken meat grilled with spices. As you already know, I ended up sharing the Lamb Maklouba (which I think is really meant for 2 people) with my husband, so I managed to have just one piece of the shish tawook. It was good - nothing special. But, I doggy-bagged this and it was splendid wrapped in pita and mayo, the next day!

This place is a little more expensive than it's other namesake location. I guess you pay for the ambience and definately better chairs! One thing that I could have paid extra for was a smile from the waiting staff. These lot were milling around distracted and looked like they were underpaid and fed up with the world. In the other loacation (in riff-raff world) you can just see that the waiting staff are having a good time. Something to do with expectations perhaps???

Here's what we ate and drank:

Hummous with Meat
Lamb Maklouba
Spicy Shish Tawook
Fresh Watermelon Juice
Ice Mango Juice
Bottled Water

Total Bill: RM 150 (not bad considering the shish tawook ended up as a very tasty lunch the next day!)

Laterz peeps!

Delish: Express Gourmet

I dislike lunch time. I don't like leaving my desk, take demented lifts, go down 2000 floors and walk the expanse of a huge mega-mall to get my lunch... and then do the whole damn thing again. See? it was never so bad when all 6 elevators were actually functioning... now only 3 work and you should see the human hurricane that rushes to get into and out of that miniscule space. Worst part? There are no a/c's in any of the elevators in the whole of Malaysia (you better believe it!). With 35 people crammed into a space made for 20... it can get pretty hot in there (considering Malaysia enjoys tropical rainforest weather and has 100% humidity) and sweaty... and stinky. The elevator ride up (and down) takes about 15 minutes (our office on level27).

Bloody hell! I should really just take the stairs (I've done it a few times and it's takes me 7 minutes to get up to the 27th floor, complete with huffing and puffing), and save about an hour of my life stuck in the elevators each day! Now, if only the smokers would NOT hang out in the stairwell and rob me of the last few molecules of oxygen left in my lungs! To make a point... I think lunch time is a little over-rated.



But a girl's gotta eat... and even though I dread the call-out to "let's grab some lunch", I grudgingly go. But I don't venture too far. I head to Delish. It's opposite from the Starbucks I plonk into every morning to get my tall java on my way to work... so it's very convenient. I get the same thing every single time at Delish - Pho Bo or Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup... and it's lovely.



They serve it with beansprouts, chilli, Thai Basil, coriander and other fragrant herbs, on the side, so you can add as much as you wish. When this soup comes together - It's basically beef broth simmered for a long long time in spices (strong hints of star anise and peppercorns here), with flat rice noodles (to give it some substance) and slices of beef (and sometimes beef balls) added, to make it the slurpily-delicious concoction it is.



Thing is Pho Bo is not completely a Vietnamese dish. Made popular by the French Colonialists, Pho Bo is a fusion of Vietnamese and French cuisine (think consomme). It's lovely how sometimes in mixing together things that you think could possibly never go well together... something so beautiful is born.



On another note... a Chicken and Leek Pie made it's way to our table. It looked pretty to begin with - it's crispy baked pastry shell just scearming out for us to tuck in!



We did and it was AWEFUL! I know it looks lovely, but this boiled chicken with overdone leek, flour cooked bland stuffer was nothing close... to even edible in my books. When the chicken actually tastes like Tuna, I think at that point, you should be a little worried.

Delish makes a totally wicked Green Apple Juice (all their fruit juices have no added sugar, so blame the apple if your drink turns out be too sour). It's worth the RM 6.50 you pay for it and more.

Other noteable mentions: Tuna Barley Salad (tangy and filling although your breath stinks of tuna afterwards, keep gum handy), Roast Chicken, Avacado and Turkey Bacon Sandwich (healthy option: opt out for the butter, bacon and ranch dressing - get them to put a squirt of pesto instead. Get whole wheat bread), Penne Pasta Salad with Sundried Tomatoes and the Roasted Vegatables Salad (don't eat the onions in the salad - they're positively yucky!)

Delish is not cheap for a lunch time meal. But, I get special service (considering I spend more than RM 30 there) here and I spend less time away from my desk and can get right back to being the workoholic that I am!

Amarin Thai: Fire and Brimstone!

Brace yourself for the rant you're about to read. I've just returned from dinner and not only is my tongue on fire... so are my... never mind! I really wanted to cook dinner tonight. I was feeling like a little cod with puy lentils and a big juicy Indian mango for dessert. But alas! It was not to be.

When I say I eat out a lot - trust you me, it's not an exaggeration. Take today for instance: I've eaten 2 meals, both outside. I have many many many days like today. It's terrible, I know. But when you're offered a chance to be "served on" instead of "doing the serving" - any sane person in their right minds would choose the former. I am no exception (although I can be insane at times, in many ways). Tonight, I got served.



We've been to "Amarin: Heavenly Thai" at Mid-Valley Mall (2nd floor, Centre Court) before. It's a great Thai place and the prices are not extortionate either. I love my food pungent. If I don't see a chilli lurking around my food, I can't eat it. I have a problem... seriously. Well, I can say Amarin safely put those problems to rest (I am sure for the time being). I think I'm going to go on a full-on bland diet for a few years after our dinner tonight.



We ordered the staple: Green Curry Chicken and Stir-Fry Chicken with Holy Basil. My husband requested the waitress to get the chef to tone down the spice in the curry (we've eaten here before and the curry is exceptionally hot). What arrived at our table and eventually got to our mouths was nothing short of fire and brimstone - yowzers!



It was insane... even for me (just to put things into perspective: I eat green chillies raw all the time. I even won a little trophy for eating the most dynamite buffalo wings... in Buffalo, NY!). My mouth and insides were on fire after eating the curry. The Stir-fry Chicken with Holy Basil was indicated as "hot" on the menu but was NOTHING close to even salty. I'm not even going to tell you what was going on with the hubby. I could literally see the steam coming out of his ears...

Thing is, it's not the first time we've eaten here. We order the Green Curry Chicken each time we come to Amarin. They do make a decent Green Curry - it's better than all the other Thai places I've eaten at. I'm not sure what happened today. I think the waitress got all confused. What about "Please ask the chef not the make the curry too spicy" did she not understand? I don't think we'll be coming back here again unless we're totally desparate!

Here's what we ate and drank:

Green Curry Chicken
Stir-fry Chicken with holy basil
Perrier
Diet Coke
2 bowls of Steamed Rice

Bill: RM 55.00 (that's super cheap!)

Other noteable mentions: Pandan Chicken (marinated chicken wrapped in Pandan leaves and then deep-fried - better at Busaba Ethai in London), Soom Tham (a shredded papaya salad - again, they make it super spicy here), Tom Yum Ghai (Clear soup with seafood - ultimate spicy, with loads of bird-eye chilli... can't eat it without rice), deep-fried catfish with mango salad (more batter than fish - actually, there was no fish to be found!). A lot of their seafood is deep fried (so a huge no-no for me).

I'm back home now, on my couch, plotting an excuse to miss gym tonight (I've already missed 2 days). I'm half-way through a book I can't seem to put down, "My Cousin Rachel" by Daphne Du Maurier. With fire raging in my belly, gym is the last thing on my mind. But, I'm 57kgs too fat and need to get into that dress I've been eyeing for the longest time at Zara. I might as well just go. Can't beat the happy feelings of the endorphins kicking in after a good workout.

Right now though... nothing like sipping on a cold ice Milo... ahhhh!

Kiku Zakura's Sensational Sashimi

My favourite cuisine in the world is Japanese. Let's face it: Japanese cuisine looks good from start to finish. I mean, surely you've seen the big hunk of tuna sitting there just waiting to be sliced into Sashimi? It's ruby red, matte, fresh, cut beautifully... it's gorgeous. And it's not even served yet! If there was ever to be a beauty contest between all the best looking cuisines in the world before they got to the table to be devoured - Japanese would win it hands down!



Call me shallow, but I am all about presentation. It's the first thing that reels me in (and I'm sure I'm not alone here). I love good looking food. Give me good looking food that tastes even better than it looks and you're a winner in my books. Kiku Zakura at the Mid Valley Mall (3rd floor, near the Cinemas) really delivers on that front.



Kiku Zakura's sake sashimi (salmon sashimi) is expensive (RM 55 for 8 pieces per plate) but it's always fresh. The salmon melts in your mouth and yet the flesh is tight when you bite into it. The segments are thick and leave a beautiful aftertaste in your mouth. I have eaten at more high-end Japanese restaurants in KL and Kiku Zakura's sashimi still takes top spot.



If you like maki rolls, try the special "Kiku Zakura Maki". It's got sticks of cucumber, imitation crab, prawn tempura, roe, all wrapped up in one layer of seaweed and then another layer of very thin slamon sashmi. It's lovely-juvley. Dress it with a little pickled ginger and a scraping of wasabi and let the whole roll just come undone in your mouth. Yum! You get 8 colossal pieces in a plate and it's a filler-upper! We've eaten this so many times, we even know when it's the head chef who has made our rolls (they're bigger and more tightly wrapped).



Other notable mentions: the Gyoza (larger than normal size for a gyoza and a little too bland for my liking. I also find that they put too much water chestnut in the filling and less meat), the Miso Black Cod here is nice but I've had better.



My husband was craving some Chicken Katsu Curry. Well, they had Chicken Katsu Curry but with an escalope of beef. Weird huh? I tried it and let's just say: I'm not a fan.



And for dessert (which was on the house by the way): Thai Mango. You pay at the counter and Serena Heng (the manager) will always say: "Thank-you! Aarigato akira masta"... and her girls will all shout back the same in a resounding chorus. SIGH!

Here's what we ate and drank:

Sake Sashimi
Kiku Zakura Maki
Chicken Katsu Curry with Beef
Green Tea
Mineral water

The bill (which you never get to review unless you ask for it): RM 181

It's not cheap but we come back here for the freshest sashimi in Kuala Lumpur.

Delicious Delicious Delicious...

I love my salads - fresh, green and delicious. And when I feel like a good salad fix, I tromp down to "Delicious" at the Bangsar Village Shopping Center because it hits the right spot on my palette.

When we first stumbled upon this little gem about 10 months ago, we had just moved to Malaysia from the UK and were told that Bangsar was the place to be for people like "us". I must admit, at the time I felt a bit castigated. Now, Bangsar is the only place I know!

I LOVE Delicious. The decor is very chic and stylish and it's a great place to people watch. You'll find all kinds here: desperate housewives, fashionistas, media types, rich kids, families, new moms meeting up to compare babies and loads of expats. If the yummy dessert counter is not enough to pull you in... surely, the electric atmosphere wafting from this place should do the trick.

There's a good mix of western and asian dishes on the menu. Not being adventurous enough the first time around, I steered safe and went for the grilled seafood salad. My better half went for the "seriously" delicious cheeseburger. We haven't looked back, left, right or center ever since. We eat at Delicious a lot... we've been there more times that I can count (I know - it's sad!) and sometimes the staff bring out the nosh even without handing us the menu and at other times we order even before we sit down!

This is my grilled seafood salad. What I love about this dish is how simple it is. The sweetness of the tangerine segments and grilled red peppers go scrumptiously well with the saltiness of the marinated prawns and score-grilled squid. The lettuce leaves are fresh and crunchy every time. At first, I was of the opinion that they should mix more greeens in, make it a tad bit more interesting but now, I would not have it any other way. The dressing is not overpowering.... just a tiny squirt of olive oil with pepper and salt. For a little zing, I add some tobasco sauce and a squeeze of lemon juice. Don't be fooled - this salad is super filling. For those of you who like to eat out but are watching your waistlines - watch no further and lap this salad up! It's healthy and hearty at the same time. You'll find me chomping down the lettuce on days, I'm feeling crazy guilty about missing gym... AGAIN!

And.... speaking of "guilt" - you know that feeling that rises from the back of your mind, then envelopes the top and proceeds to gnaw at your soul and induce hours of displeasure from all the nooks and crannies of your body? Yeah well, my darling hubby knows none of it. Gym or not - the above (seriously delicious cheeseburger) is what he eats at Delicious most times. The other fat laden plate he loves is the steak sandwich with shoestring frites. I guess anything that comes with golden fries will do for him. I've had a bite of that burger, and I must admit... "seriously" it's wickedly delicious. I'd have it without blinking ONLY if I manage to slog at the gym, working out 3 straight hours, losing 1500 cals in total! Yeah - NEVER going to happen.

Other dishes I've tried and may order if I feel like it, is the wagyu beef and mushroom pie (crust is buttery and too rich) and the lasagne (too many carbs in this one). Unfortunately, I'm not too crazy about the asian fare. I did try the Nasi Lemak once and was disappointed. The prices here are not too high so you don't leave the place feeling a little jilted and not low enough to make you warily suspicious. You pay for what you eat and some. Here's what we ate and drank:

Garlic bread (loveliest garlic bread in the whole of KL - seriously!)

Seriously delicious cheeseburger

Grilled seafood salad

Watermelon juice

Diet Coke

We shelled out RM 85.00 for the 2 of us. Cheap and cheery...

Hello World!

I've been thinking of blogging for a long time. So finally after spending a million Saturday's vegging out on my couch, watching useless TV, I've decided to take the leap of faith and jump on the blogging bandwagon. I'm still not quite sure what I'm going to be blogging about - probably about me, myself and I - naturally! I am passionate about a lot of things but food (cooking and eating), reading, travelling, fitness and photography top my 100 passions list.

I live in vibrant Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I am an expat. I've been here nearly a year now and work has kept me from making friends. I eat out A LOT!... probably much more than can be good for me. I can't be bothered to whip something up after a long day at work. On the weekends, I am more determined... but there's just so much going on - Lah! (as the Malaysians would say in exasperation!)

I'm hoping this blog will keep me on the path.... to what exactly???? hmmmm....