MyCoffee Eats: Lunch @ Lemon Garden Cafe, Shangri-la

Tomato Soup served "Bloody Mary" style
Another lazy Sunday afternoon. A bunch of us were at Lemon Garden Cafe, Shangri-la Kuala Lumpur to celebrate a girlfriend's birthday.

I think almost if not all the tables were occupied. But the ambience was such that I mistakened myself eating in a cafeteria or foodcourt a few times. It was bright and visually captiviting, but it was also noisy and boisterous. Put these together and you will find the place being too loud. The tables were rather close to each other. In addition, I was late, reaching there at about 2p.m. while the rest of them had been there from 12:30p.m. onwards. So when I started eating half of them were already in the "desserts" stage and the rest were done with eating. I felt I was eating alone - no fun. I guess these factors kind of dampered my appetite a bit. I was just picking at most food, not being able to find the initiative to finish most of it. Don't get me wrong, buffet lunch at Lemon Garden was pleasant enough but I didn't enjoy it as much as I expected too. Fortunately, the company more than made up for it.

Ok, time for some photo-viewing:
From the Western/Italian Section,

Grilled Zucchinis


Another appetizer dish but I forgot what it was. In the background is White Asparagus which was good, particularly when having it together with their Herbed Crust Baked Salmon (this was excellent. No pic though, sorry).


Braised Clams in broth. Not bad.


Mushroom Risotto with Pesto. In the background is some Aged Cheddar Cheese on Toast. Both were fabulous.


Fresh oyesters and mussels.


Chicken with Dates and Vegetarian Lasagna.

From the Asian/Chinese and Indian Sections:

Chinese Dim Sums


Marinated Baby Octopus


Tandoori Chicken with Garlic Naan and Dhal

Desserts Time!

Desserts Galore


Individual Cheesecakes and Crepes served with Mango and Vanilla Ice-creams with Chocolate Sauce. The cheesecake was good and the Mango Ice Cream was divine!


More desserts!


This is an interesting dessert. A chocolate-based dessert with wasabi filling. Reminds me of the Wasabi-flavoured ice-cream from Passion Flower in Sydney. Not accustomed to tasting wasabi in desserts.

Lemon Garden Cafe
Shangri-la Hotel, Kuala Lumpur

Read another review of it by juliethebiscuit here.

Good ol' Sydney! Part I

bill's famous creamy scrambled eggs

I have updated the first portion of my Sydney Trip food postings. You can read about it here.

All about Cheese and Bread (Cheese Sticks & Cheddar Cheese Bread)

Another business trip, another busy weekend. No time to indulge in my favourite hobby. Still, I made time to at least use the oven.

Another recipe from Alex Goh's World of Bread recipe book, this time it is the Cheddar Cheese Bread. Recently, my family had discovered a very nice bread shop near our house called RT Bakery or something like that. My personal favourite is their yummy walnut wholemeal bread (really soft) and the kids' favourite is their Cheddar Cheese Bread with cheddar cheese swirled within the loaf. Saw Alex's recipe and contemplated to give it a try in order to duplicate and compare with the bakery's version. Alex's version uses some herbs and nibbed almonds. I omitted these and just sprinkled some parsley flakes on top of the bread. The original recipe yield 2 loaves but I fit it all in one standard bread tin although I took some portion out to make some Sugary Cheese Sticks.

And as usual, Alex Goh's bread recipe didn't fail me.

Sugary Cheese Sticks


Cheese Bread


Really soft bread. Swirled Cheese inside!

It has become a Routine! (Walnut Cake & Homemade Protein Bar II)

It has suddenly dawned on me that my Saturday mornings have become a routine (that is if I have no other appointments). Very naturally, I will browse my cook books or surf the net for recipes to try/make. So it came at no surprise that despite an absence of 2 weeks in the kitchen, I settled back into this "old" routine with the most natural ease last Saturday.

I didn't want to attempt anything complicated so I used Alex Goh's Walnut Cake recipe. Simple and nice, his recipes have never failed me before.


Also re-made another fave of mine, Homemade Protein Bars. I will post the recipe here this time.

1/2 c soy milk powder or protein powder
1c wholemeal flour (or plain flour)
1c organic rolled oats
1/4c oat bran (optional or just use rolled oats)
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4+1/8 tsp salt
1/4 to 1/3 cup molasses sugar (or brown sugar)
1/2c mixed nuts & seeds, toasted (pumpkin/sunflower seeds, pecans, walnuts, almonds)
1/4c dried fruits (e.g., apricots, raisins & etc) or choc chips
3/4 cups plain yogurt (or replace with soft or firm silken tofu with a pinch of salt)
2T canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1. Preheat the oven to 175c. Lightly spray a 8x8 baking pan with a fat-free non-stick spray (such as PAM).
2. Mix together the soy powder, flour, oats, oat bran, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. Mix in the sugar, mixing with your fingers till even. Stir in the dried fruits, seeds and nuts.
3. Stir and combine the yogurt, oil, and vanilla in another bowl. Add the wet mixture to the dry, and mix till thoroughly blended. Dough will be rather thick.
4. Transfer the mixture into the prepared pan, spreading it out evenly with a rubber spatula.
5. Bake in the center of the oven for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and cut into bars in any sizes you prefer.
6. Place the bars on a silicon sheet or non-stick baking tray and bake for another 15 minutes, or until golden around the edges. (Note: The recipe stated that for extra-crunchy bars, turn off the oven and leave them in there for up to 45 minutes longer.) Remove the bars from the oven, and place them on a rack to cool.
7. Store the bars in an air-tight container or seal and freeze them. To defrost, you can toast them again in an oven or toaster to make it crispy again.

Back from Sydney!

Finally back from a week-long business cum leisure trip to Sydney. Coincidentally, this trip was like a trip down memory lane. I used to study at UTS and that period of time was among the fondest memories in my life.
Needless to say, I had a fabulous time there! I took many pictures, intending to put them up on my blog. Had some good and memorable meals too, including the famous Tetsuya. But will have to post them bit by bit. Till then, I will leave you with some of my favourite pictures taken there.