Rick's Cafe Casablanca (Klue RSVP)

Star of the night: Port and chicken liver parfait
Once again, my friends and I found ourselves attending the KLue RSVP dinner. This time, it was held at Rick's Cafe Casablanca in One Bangsar. To be honest, I was less enthusiastic about joining but spurred by some recent reviews that I have read about this place, I decided to go ahead.

All of us started with an appetizer of port and chicken liver parfait, spiced braised raisins, rocket and orange salad served with French baguette.

I love this dish a lot. I have had not so good experiences with chicken liver pate before and I have to say that theirs was among the best I have tasted. The sweetness of the spiced raisins and orange slices went great with the pate. All of us except one who doesn't take liver pate loved it and couldn't stop slathering it on thickly on the fresh baguette, which was also lovely.

We have 3 choices to choose from for the main course. I chose the braised lamb shoulder, sautéed zucchini and roasted sweet potatoes.

The braised lamb cutlets were rather tender. But I didn't really enjoy the dish. The flavour, although not bad, was not really tantalizing either. But I did enjoy the roasted sweet potatoes.

The other 2 choices were hot escabeche of blue mackerel and citrus,

and crumbed chicken breast stuffed with smoked duck and cheese, sugar snap peas and sultana jus.

Friends who ordered the former commented that the mackerel was rather "fishy" in taste (but to me, mackerels are like that) and the dish was rather sour (but again, I would expect escabeche to taste like that too...). I took a bite of the crumbed chicken breast and first thought that came into my mind was it tasted so like KFC chicken. Then again, I didn't taste it with the smoked duck and cheese.


Dessert was baked apple pie on puff pastry, red currant compote with vanilla ice cream. I was rather disappointed in the apple pie. It wasn't served warm so the puff pastry was rather hard and chewy as opposed to warm and crispy. The best part was the ice-cream which I think was home-made with real vanilla pods. It could have been much better if only the apple pie was served warm.


This time, Martell came up with 2 new cocktails. The Apple Martell and Orange Martell cocktails. The Apple Martell was really pleasant to drink. I think all of us had at least 3 glasses of it.



Rick's Cafe Casablanca
One Bangsar, Bangsar Baru
Kuala Lumpur

What has Julius been up to? (29 Oct 2007)

Read about his recent antics here.

Pho Hoa (Health Concious Choice) at The Curve

Ice-blended Vietnamese drip coffee with avocaodo (RM7.90)
I tend to drop by at Pho Hoa whenever I can't think of anything else to eat at The Curve. This is because they make a mean ice-blended vietnamese drip coffee with avocado that is simply divine,

Vietnamese Chicken Salad (RM4.90 or 5.90)
and value-for-money vietnamese salads that are better than average and come in generous portion.

Vietnamese Grilled Beef Salad (RM4.90 or 5.90)

Their appetizers are not bad either, I usually go for

Summer Rolls (pretty ordinary but I like summer rolls), and also their steamed egg cake.

Do not be mistaken, this is not the usual Chinese steamed egg cake ("kai tan kou") but a savoury version. Filled with egg and minced chicken, it tasted rather appetizing and yummy when eaten warm. Rather filling as well.



Beef Pho and accompanying condiments
I have stolen bites from my friend's orders of Chicken Pho and Beef Pho and I have to say that the latter is much better than the former. Also, you get to choose your preferred cut of meat or even parts.

During one of my earlier visits, my friend urged me to try this drink, Blended Avocado Juice. Didn't quite like it, tasted somewhat bland to me and definitely lacked behind when compared to the Ice Blended Vietnamese Drip Coffee with avocado (pictured above).


Pho Hoa
(Health Concious Choice)
The Curve, Mutiara Damansara

TAGGED! Power of Five (?)

Just found out that I have been tagged for this meme by Foodie Lianne .

5 things found in my room
Hidden and forgotten stash of junk food
Piles of half-read magazines
Piles of flyers (don’t know why I kept them in the first place)
Random pictures of family and friends
8ft tall cabinet filled with seldom-used make-up, skincare items and perfumes

5 things I’ve always wanted to do
Host a 3-course (at least) home-cooked gourmet dinner (ceh….)
Learn proper skills of sugar-crafting/cake-icing
Learn a foreign language (French, Japanese or Korean)
Have a LONG vacation, preferably somewhere near the Mediterranean or Southern France region.
Basic HTML programming (to revamp/redesign my blog. My current blog layout is so, so boring...)

5 things found in my bag
Wallet
Handphone
Camera
Makeup pouch
A bottle of water (I drink like a fish)

5 things found in my wallet
Cash
Bank cards (ATM and Credit)
IC and Driving License
Various membership cards (some may be expired)
Forgotten discount vouchers

5 things I'm currently into
My adorable doggie and all about dogs, miniature schnauzers
“Gym-ning” ("LM nut)
All about food (i.e., TV programmes such as Asian Food Channel, baking/cooking books, etc)
Detoxification (but sadly, there has been no action as yet)
Self-pampering (spa, massages, pedicure)

I think most floggers out there have been tagged. So to any bloggers out there who are interested in this meme, do play along...

Sweet Stuff (HK Point, McDonald's Green Bean Sundae & Reese's)

Everytime I go to Hong Kong, I make it a point to stop at HuiLauShan, a mango dessert specialty shop that (thank goodness!) has branches at almost every corner. One of my pet peeves is why isn't there anyone bringing this dessert chain into KL just yet.

But nevermind, for I have just discovered a HLS wannabe in Centrepoint, Bandar Utama called Hong Kong Point.

One look at their menu, one can guess that it must have drawn its inspiration from the famous HLS.



House signature (RM7.90)
Their house specialty is their Yang Ji Kam Po Lo (I think it's called this), which is basically blended mango puree topped with pomelo and aloe vera cubes. Very nice!


Mango Blended Drink (RM6.90 for regular)
We also had a mango blended drink with coconut milk and fruity crystal jelly. Another thumbs up for this one!


Longan Special (with white fungus and water chestnuts)
We were treated to a complimentary hot dessert called Longan Special or otherwise known as "longan tan shuet yi" with water chestnuts in Cantonese. Very soothing indeed although my friends said it could be better if it's a tad sweeter.

Hong Kong Point
Ground floor, Centrepoint (opposite the bakery)

I also managed to sample the McDonald's special limited edition sundae (for Raya), the Green Bean Sundae. First impression - the green bean paste looks too "green", almost fake. First taste - the green bean paste was too sweet. But after blending the green bean and sundae together, it was surprisingly good!

Special green bean sundae from McDonald's (RM3.20)

Last but not least, attention to fans of Reese's Peanut Butter. Let yourself be deprived no more. These goodies are now available at Cold Storage at RM1.99 each only! Hurry, go and grab some before I emptied their stock!

Julius' 1st Grooming

Pre-grooming:

On his way to the groomer.
Fur, fur, fur growing everywhere. Covering his eyes. He even ran into walls and doors a couple of times...

Post:

What a handsome fella.....

*swoons*

Dim Sum @ Eest, Westin KL

**Warning! Picture-heavy post ahead!**
Initial plan was to have lunch at the newly-opened Pavilion but due to the limited choices available (most shops aren't open yet), my friend and I decided to have a lunch leisurely at Eest, Westin KL just across the road.

It was a Saturday so we opted for the "eat-all-you-can" dim sum brunch at RM58++ per person*. As usual, I was pretty impressed with the interior decor of Eest. It truly looks like a posh club instead of an Asian (fusion) restaurant.

To start with, we were served with a complimentary appetizer platter.

Complimentary Appetizer Platter: Century Egg with Ginger, Spring Roll, Maki Sushi with pickle, Chicken Fritters with sauce and a small bowl of thai-style salad.

Let's start ordering!
Starting with steamed items,

*Signature* Har Kau (Crystal prawn dumpling with shredded dried scallop) - Fresh and juicy prawns! I like!


*Signature* Siu Mai (Shrimp and chicken dumpling topped with fish roe) - This is ok lar. More interesting are the vibrant colours of the generous sprinkling of fish roe on top.


*Signature* Poached Beijing Style chicken dumpling with spicy sauce - Erm, what spicy sauce? But these are pretty alright too.


Shanghai dumpling of chicken and crab meat - Pretty good for a "non-pork" version of Xiu Long Bao. I would have more if I did not plan to allocate my tummy for other stuff on the menu.


Pomegranate Dumpling scented with truffle oil (Vegan) - Sounds so fancy right? But nothing fancy about this dumpling at all! Rather plain, in fact.


Steamed cabbage roll with mushrooms and soy bean paste (vegan) - This was much more interesting although they didn't look as pretty at the one above. Served with a little milky soup base, it was good and I also like the soup that it came with.


Squid in pungent garlic sauce - I was not really expecting anything but when it arrived, I was cuaght by surprise. It looked so erm, "mild" in contrast to its rather "exotic-sounding" description. Still, it was a pretty appetizing dish. Kind of peppery too. However, somehow it reminded me of "Maggi Mee in chicken flavour"...hehe


Stuffed glutinous rice dumpling with seafood and roasted duck - Despite its promising description, I was let down by this dish. Stuffing was pretty sparse too.


HK Style Chee Cheong Fun with black cod and parsley - Black cod? All I tasted was the "fun". But granted, the rice rolls were pretty silky and smooth.

And now for the fried and baked stuff,

Flaky BBQ chicken pastries with parmesan cheese - I absolutely love, love, love this! My favourite dish during that meal.

Flaky and buttery pastry encasing sweet bbq chicken and topped with cheese. A winning combination!


Taro Dumpling (wu gok) with seafood and chicken - Not so good. Stuffing rather sparse and also not very appetizing.


Bean curd sheet roll with seafood and cheese - Actually, I ordered sweet bean curd parcels with teriyaki sauce but when it came, I think they mistook the order. Too lazy to send it back and exchange, we walloped this instead. I don't remember this dish much, so must be pretty forgettable!


*Signature* Mini egg tarts with caramel and cinnamon - Yum..., I like this too! They were still warm when it came so imagine the delight in biting into one of these flaky tarts with a smooth and silky egg custard filling, nicely fragranced with a dash of cinnamon powder.


*Signature* Stir-fried turnip cake with belacan dish - Another signature dish but what an utter disappointment! It looked good but tasted burnt! Maybe they over-fried the belacan sauce. We just sent it back after a taste.


Vietnamese Beef Noodles - My friend was craving for something soupy and this was the nearest that she got in fulfilling her wish. Since we were full, she ordered a small portion of this wit minimal noodles. And they really followed her instruction, It came with just a few strands of noodles. *LOL* But I didn't like it. The soup was rather bland, the beef too chewy. Plus, tt was not hot enough.

Never say NO to DESSERTS!

Basil pearls with mixed fruits, chilled coconut cream - It was good to have something cold after the heavy meal. This was not bad. The lump you see is actually a coconut ice-cream.


Chilled Double-boiled apple and aloe vera in light rock sugar syrup - Light and refreshing! But I don't like the taste of bitter almonds which were pretty evident!


Fresh mango pudding - Topped with blueberries, it was yummy!


"Tapai Pulut" glutinous rice with durian ice-cream - Ah, the durian-lover me could not resist this. And it did not disappoint either!


Green tea ice-cream, Japanese style - I assume the toppings on top was sweet azuki beans but if it was, it didn't taste like it. It tasted more like some kind of sweet bean sauce (something like the chinese "tao si", only sweeter). Weird...!

And oh, I should probably mentioned that we were happy with their service too.

Eest,
Westin, Kuala Lumpur.
* Starwood members are untitled to the usual discount for this brunch.

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