Crazy Macadamia Cheesecake Sundae & Table Topic @ Ben’s KLCC

ramadhan has started. my boys were with my in-laws that day so it was time for me to jalan-jalan on my own. I lepak at klcc to meet up with my sisters syida and azi for berbuka. later that day I went home with azi and pajama partay at her place. huhu.

ok we picked ben’s klcc. wanted chilli’s but there was an insane line of people outside chillis and it was only 3pm! berapa jam tu nak tunggu waktu berbuka!

 

nice, bold quote on the wall inside ben’s. ‘to eat is to love’. oh well then I LOVE to LOVE!

 

also in love with this simple yet adorable seating. yellow is my favorite color! my sisters said that this is actually more of a ‘waiting’ area before you’re ushered to a more comfortable cushioned seat inside. however, since it’s berbuka time, it was full house inside. we got a seat here instead. fine by me!

 

the menu is quite ‘colorful’ – with choices of local or western cuisines. from laksa to lamb pie and all sorts of steaks and chops. I like the ‘handwritten’ menu. looks so lepak.

 

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sorry ben’s but your food is not what I’m keen to review in this post – coz what’s really interesting about ben’s KLCC is this little box on each table, with little square cards in them. they’re labeled TALK and COOK.

the COOK cards contain recipes, while the TALK cards has these interesting questions.

it really caught my eye, and it’s the first time I’ve ever seen such an idea really taking place at a restaurant. I LOVED it! such thoughtful idea to encourage patrons to TALK with each other instead of getting lost in each other’s smart phones.

 

 

more restaurants should have this box of cards with questions : such interesting questions that would lead to interesting conversations. particularly helpful if you’re on a first date, or out with a new friend or colleague – nervous, out of topic to talk about – these cards would definitely help break the ice!

some of the questions are : ‘if you joined the circus, which act would you want to perform?’ – well, definitely wanna perform the magic show!

‘what was the last item you regretted buying?’ muffins that turned out to be too sweet.

‘what do you think about when you’re brushing your teeth?’ I think about how hard I need to brush to get rid of that curry taste from dinner haha.

best kan!

 

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I don’t feel like eating the many, many pasta choices in the menu; and steaks are too expensive for my budget that day – so I picked this simple ‘traditional fish and chips’ meal for berbuka at ben’s that day. it’s a simple dish, but I’m not too picky when it comes to the things I do like – as long as the fries are fat and crunchy on the outside, coleslaw juicy and creamy, and the fish battered fried not bread-crumbs – it’s a fairly acceptable plate of fish & chips.

 

syida ordered the lamb pie – delicious! big portion of filling and the crust of pie is not to crumbly. I would order this again. with fries on the side.

 

azi went italian and picked the spaghetti carbonara. this dish is as good as it gets – creamy, cheesy and tasty.

 

since it’s puasa month, we got complimentary air sirap selasih – which takes me back to my school days where we have one particular stall selling this exact same tadpole-in-rose-syrup drink. I love sirap, but don’t really like the ‘tadpoles’ so mine was the one with the least amount.

 

the ‘macadamia cheesecake sundae’, in a glass.

 

this is what ben’s is best for (at least for my sisters, and especially for the desert-freak syidot – they can come to ben’s JUST for this) it’s this messy cup of delight filled with sticky sweetness. cut-up cheesecake, combined with vanilla ice-cream – filled to the brim, along with some crunchy macadamia nuts and top with a drizzle of caramel sauce.

well, it’s good but I’m just not a fan of caramel! I LOVE cheesecake, of course and the cheesecake-ice cream combo is good – a change from having brownies with vanilla ice-cream. however, I can’t get pass the caramel.

we sisters shared this cup of goodness, and that’s sweeter than any sweets!

 

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I love the setting at ben’s – might just come again to try a different dessert, and maybe a pasta dish this time.

Nasi Kukus Ilham @ Mutiara Damansara : Panas! Pedas!

this is one crazy dish that seemed so simple, but I was told is so popular. I’ve tried it, no thanks to my aunts cik and auntyna (haha) – introducing me to this super-spicy rice dish! looking at the pictures I can still feel the pang in my mouth. fiery. spicy. hot!

 

 

this post is for you spicy-freaks, yes you!

 

the ‘famous’ ilham nasi kukus

 

apparently this place is super popular. tanpa segan silu diorang siap taruh perkataan ‘famous’ kat board diorang hihi. the *famous* ‘ilham nasi kukus’ at mutiara damansara. it’s just a simple restaurant that looks like any other goreng-goreng restaurant.

it’s got one small counter on the side for payment, one bigger counter (yet not too packed like mamak restaurant) for the drinks, and on the other side facing the road is where the magic happens : that’s where patrons line up to order, get their food; and where the fried chicken is freshly fried – there and then.

 

you can see my cousin umar in black T joining the long line of hungry people waiting patiently to order their nasi kukus.

 

‘take your meal here’. ok doki.

 

comot macam kat restoran nasik kandaq. lagi comot lagi sedap kan!

 

where they kukus (steam) the rice, and where they freshly fried the chicken. therein lies the not-so-secret to its popularity – hot, fresh chicken eaten with fresh steaming rice.

 

tapau or eat in, the nasi kukus is served in brown packets of ‘ilham nasi kukus’ like this, lying on a banana leaf inside. aromatic!

 

I love the chicken. the chicken at ‘ilham nasi kukus’ is crispy crunchy, with tender juicy flesh – everything that a good delicious fried chicken should be. that’s the key to its popularity – hot, and fresh.

 

omg look at that. just look at that. this is the famous ilham nasi kukus! spicy gravy spilling and seeping into my innocent steamed rice. and what could be better (or murderous!) than adding spicy gulai nenas, and top it all with hot sambal ikan bilis campur cili padi?

 

sebagai seorang yang memang tak suka makan pedas, aku tengok pun takut! I don’t like spicy food, so I don’t get why a simple plate of just chicken, ikan bilis and sambal cili padi would be so popular? and ‘ilham nasi kukus’ does not come with any other lauk tau! so everyone who came here really came JUST for this dish!

it must be the freshness. made fresh. on the spot. bukan dah siap-siap goreng dari petang tadi. they fry and serve, fry and serve.

I’m sure you guys know by now that this review would be biased, coming from someone who dislike spicy food – but I’m highly recommending ‘ilham nasi kukus’ to all my spicy-freak readers out there. as you can see it’s a very simple dish but prepared fresh and hot, and of course – very spicy.

 

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with my aunt cik. who loves spicy food. me not so much!

 

my adorable cousins siti, amin & nayah : semua gile pedas!

 

sempoi je kedainya. masa ni nak tutup dah ilham nasi kukus ni

 

ok guys, kalo gile nak makan pedas, and you happen to be around mutiara damansara, check out ‘ilham nasi kukus’ and lit your tongue on fire!

Shrimp and More Shrimp @ Bubba Gump Shrimp Co, The Curve

if you haven’t watched ‘forrest gump’, where have you been? neptune? this popular seafood spot ‘bubba gump shrimp co.’ is inspired from that oscar-winning movie ‘forrest gump’ – where one scene is all about forrest listening to his soldier bff bubba’s listing out all kinds of shrimp there ever was.

welcome to ‘bubba gump shrimp co’! I went with abah, umi, my sisters and their family to the one at the curve, since we were staying at the royale bintang the curve for the weekend.

I don’t really like shrimp, so ‘bubba gump SHRIMP co’ was not always my choice of makan place. but the rest of my family loves it, so this was my first time at ‘bubba gump shrimp co’ and was anticipating delicious seafood!

 

this bucket was on the table. a bucket with tissue rolls. adorable!

 

we got a place outside. windy. breezy. and tak rimas sangat!

 

like in chillis or tgif, kids get coloring and activity paper which I always appreciate. fill their time! that ‘metal plate number’ next to khaleef is really interesting – if you need assistance or extra tissue or fork spoon from the waiter, you flip the sign to RED which says ‘stop forrest stop’, and when you’re fine and don’t need anything, flip it back to BLUE – ‘run forrest run’. cute!

 

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‘captain’s fish & chips – traditionally battered fillet’

 

since I’m not much of shrimp fan, I was looking forward to enjoy something else; like this delicious plate of fish and chips, ‘captain’s fish & chips – traditionally battered fillet’.

I really love battered fillet fish, rather than fish covered in bread crumbs. it’s nicely fried – crispy batter on the outside and soft fish flesh on the inside. I’m a big fan of coleslaw, and the coleslaw and tartar sauce here were delicious. I would order this again the next time I’m at ‘bubba gump shrimp co’.

the presentation is also very lepak!

 

‘shrimper’s heaven’

 

this uniquely presented little shrimp buffet is called ‘shrimper’s heaven’ because it consisted 4 different types of shrimp cooking – hand breaded coconut shrimp (the one on the left), garlic shrimp, fried shrimp and tempura shrimp. served with 4 dips – tangy asian, cajun, marmalade and zesty cocktail.

I tried the coconut shrimp and tempura. the tempura prawn was delicious and not too oily. the coconut shrimp is surprisingly tasty too and I really like the crispy crunchy texture.

also it’s awesome that the shrimps sit on these cones stand. truly a crazy platter for shrimp-freaks!

 

‘fish with lobster butter sauce’

 

this is delicious. the fish is tender, and the the lobster butter sauce is just wow. went perfectly salty with the fish. I LOVED it!

it’s actually ‘pan seared fish fillet laid over mashed potato and veggies, served with lobster butter sauce’. if I went on a second trip to bubba gump shrimp co, I would order this one again too!

 

bubba’s ‘after the storm’ bucket of boat trash

 

this dish has the cutest name! ‘bubba’s after the storm bucket of boat trash’ – hillarious! unfortunately this was my least-favorite dish for that day. it’s still good, but the other dishes were better.

it’s got ‘flash fried shrimp, lobster tail, and fish fillet with cajun spices’.

though I quite like the lobster tail (simply because it’s very very rare that I eat lobster) I find the other stuff on the plate too dry.

 

lobster linguini

 

this was a plate of ‘linguini, slipper lobster, and broccoli tossed in a special lobster butter sauce’. linguini is the thin pasta like spaghetti but much thinner closer to bihun kan. I enjoyed eating this along with the other fish that I took from other dishes. I love the contrast of the texture – soft mush of the linguini alongside crispy batter of fish from my fish & chips plate.

tasty!

 

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we actually ordered a couple of different dishes to be shared. I absolutely LOVED it because everyone gets to try many different types of dishes together. so basically all of us took a bite of every single stuff up there. haha. nyum.

alhamdulillah! my verdict is, from NOT-fan of shrimp, the food at bubba gump shrimp co. is delicious! a bit pricey, so share lah better kan!

 

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nways, enjoy this clip taken from the awesome movie ‘forrest gump’ – the part where forrest joins the army, meets bubba, and bubba starts listing out all kinds of shrimp in existance. hihi. love it.

 

Big Family Gathering @ Little Penang Kafé The Curve

it was the final weekend before ramadhan starts, and my whole family (abah, umi, my sisters & husbands plus kiddos) stayed at the royale bintang the curve for the weekend just to lepak satu family. and also because my abah wants to belanja his cucu-cucu for a day of fun at kidzania the next day.

for dinner we gathered together at ‘little penang kafe’ for a taste of penang hawker food at the curve damansara.

 

‘little penang kafé’ described itself as being “the first restaurant to offer authentic penang hawker food in a shopping mall”. the interior certainly sets the mood, taking us back in time. and the menu suggests the same – filled with penang hawker food and baba nyonya delicacies like char kuey teow, kuey teow soup, mee udang, curry mee, assam laksa and many more.

 

it’s not often do we get to dine out ramai-ramai like this. most of the time atok prefers to just tapau and eat ramai-ramai at home. tak pening atok dengan cucu-cucu yang bising! hihi. so this was considered a HUGE outing for us. we were just missing azi’s husband faiz (working) and my mr khairul who was still in dubai at the time. syida’s hubby nash was taking the picture.

 

obviously I can’t help NOT ordering my favorite kuey teow. penang fried kuey teow has always been my favorite and would never miss getting kuey teow sani or kuey teow gagak whenever I’m in penang. the kuey teow at ‘little penang kafe’ is as good as it gets – well-seasoned, dry just the way I like it. I would order this again.

 

abah with his choice ‘penang curry mee’

 

‘penang curry mee’ for abah. said to be ‘the most sought after hawker dish in penang’. judging from the empty bowl at the end and hoq quiet abah eats – the curry mee must be dead good.

 

this was umi’s pick of the day : ‘penang jawa mee’ – a nyonya style mee rebus. the gravy looks deliciously thick and the portion is huge. you can share this one if you’re not too hungry!

 

abah & umi with their delicious penang dishes at ‘little penang kafe’.

 

my eldest nephew haiqal with his dinner : fried rice with egg sunny side up. simple yet satisfying. haiqal next time order something else ok. nasi goreng ni mama pun bole buat! haha

 

BFF & cousins : my nephew haqeem & my eldest son khaleef ordered the same food – ‘fish ball noodle’ simply noodle in clear fish ball soup. not spicy, hot from the pot. delicious.

 

the boys’ ‘fish ball noodle’. you can even choose your noodle – bihun, mee kuning or kuey teow.

 

cousins & BFF! haiqal, haqeem & khaleef in their football jerseys

 

 

love the interior : the ceiling, the walls that look like it’s made from papan in kampung house and the grill looks authentic too – like eating in those old chinese coffee shop in penang. ‘little penang kafe’ is my new favorite place to makan!

‘little penang kafe’ is on ground floor at the curve. forget marche. go hawker style next time!

Sisters Hang-Out For Muslim Chinese Food @ Homst, TTDI

I LOVE chinese food, chinese style, chinese dishes – and there are a few chinese-muslim restaurants in TTDI around where my sisters live. the following night after I arrived in KL from dubai, my sisters took me to ‘Homst’, a chinese-muslim restaurant in persiaran zaaba in taman tun dr. ismail, near the proton showroom.

I was looking forward to try my favorite chinese-style lauk, ‘lemon chicken’!

 

yong, me, syida & azi

 

I arrived in KL from dubai the night before. that night my eldest sis yong arrived by herself in KL from ipoh via ETS (electric train service) – this was the night before four of us go for Being ME2, the women’s only islamic conference (that explains why my boys were with my in-laws in puchong, tolong jagakan while I go for Being ME2). so four of us lepak makan-makan borak-borak over delicious chinese dishes!

 

we tried the seafood tomyam. memang yum! well, I’m not really a fan of tomyam so to me this is good enough. not sure about hardcore fans of tomyam though.

 

this is ikan kerapu sweet sour. super delicious – the flesh is juicy and well-seasoned. not too spicy so just right for me. loved it.

 

the lemon chicken is not bad. loved the texture of the chicken – crispy on the outside and tender juicy on the inside. the lemon sauce wasn’t too thick but I prefer they put it on the side. I don’t like my chicken to be soaked in lemon sauce!

 

another must-order when I go to chinese restaurant – the fried calamari or sotong goreng tepung. the best I’ve had is still in muhibbah (somewhere in sg penchala I think) but this one ain’t bad. crispy crunchy and not rubbery.

 

fresh kailan with salted fish (ikan masin). delicious addition.

 

ok are they stealing from faiz’s plate? haha. faiz pon macam erk..

 

it’s our first makan-makan together after so many months of not seeing each other so we lepak until the restaurant pun dah empty. see picture below la, orang dah takde dah masa kitorang habis makan hihi.

 

the lamp is a nice touch. my sisters said homst had newly expanded the restaurant. previously they didn’t have 2 lots and now that it’s constantly full-house, diorang besarkan restoran.

 

the original lot. simple chinese-restaurant feel with marble-top tables.

 

‘homst’ is at persiaaran zaaba in taman tun dr. ismail alright. personally to me it’s not as awesome as muhibbah or mohd chan abdullah but if you guys are in the area, check it out.