Siu~V: April 2011

ben's @ klcc

It so happens that one day, I hopped onto a bike over to my friend Ben's, for lunch.

wokey, that's not really my bike, it's part of a decor at this place call Ben's. And Ben's not really my friend either, though i wish he is.

I have a newfound love with Ben's, a newly opened cafe located on First Floor of KLCC, the same spot where California Pizza Kitchen used to be.

With a simple yet chic decor, this place sits quite a number of tables and judging from their menu, no wonder it's usually a full house during peak hours. You could easily spend 10 minutes studying the variety (and description) of dishes being offered at mid range prices. Very impressive and totally suits my taste.

Spaghetti Carbonara

Breaded Fish Fillet Sandwich

Crispy Soft Shell Crab in Coriander Lime Sauce Tortilla

Ok no way that sesame seed-laden bun was MY order.
But the combination of soft shell crab wrapped in tortilla was genius! And forget about the conventional fries at the side, 'four chips' is the new way to go. It's got a combination of yam and sweet potato crisps to go with my tangy mini salad.

I'm now officially crazy for Ben's. Seriously, i'll give Mdm Kwan's a pass over this anytime. For the similar range of prices (most mains are going for RM 20+), Ben's wins hands down for originality in combination of flavours and effective visualisation of its dishes.

Now I can't wait to try out their other outlet at Pavilion's.

Ok dear?.... dun let me wait too long now.

Check it out for yourself ....
Ben’s (Another Bright Idea by BIG),
- First Floor, KLCC (same spot as the previous California Pizza Kitchen)

- Level 6, Pavilion KL (same spot as the previous The Carat Club)

...and bring me wif ya plssssssssss

fantastico venezia !

If you recognise this specific location below, then you are officially a Cheras-holic and that you've been coming to either Cheras Leisure Mall or nearby cafes for yam cha sessions one too many times.

If you're looking for affordable yet tasty Italian cuisine, then Venezia's the place to be. It's not exactly 'fine dining' here though; people come in T-shirt, shorts and slippers. Maybe it's to get first-timers mentally prepared for the price on the menu!

A cosy feel-good ambience all around. Nice.
Makes you want to order everything on the menu - an appetizer, a soup, pasta and a pizza perhaps?

dad-in-law scrutinising the menu

The drinks counter and a pizza oven behind it are totally visible to patrons.

I love those little baguette slices with various toppings and it's so hard to find a good one around. This one takes the prize.
Bruschetta con Funghi (toasted bread topped with saute buttered mushrooms and mozzarella cheese)
- RM 7.50

Diet plan out the window, try their Four Cheese Pasta. Can't remember which 4 cheeses were in it, but the fact that they used tube pastas is brilliant; imagine biting into it and a burst of cheesy sauce explodes in your mouth! It's pure ooo-la-la.
The dish could do with a bit of garnishing though, like a sprig of parsley.

My order of Orange Soda, which was basically carbonated orange juice. Drinks don't come cheap here, though mine did come in a tall glass, enough for sharing.

I highly recommend their Ham Carbonara. A simple basic pasta dish, but when cooked to perfection, it's something worth coming back for, again and again.

On the other hand, i was slightly more adventurous and ordered this :-
Salmone Alla Griglia, other words known as grilled salmon steak in mustard creamy sauce - RM 29.90.
Apart from my fish being flooded with the sauce, my salmon was too salty for consumption.
Please stay away from ordering this dish.

Trying to pronounce the Italian name of a dish to the waiter can be challenging. For instance, this dish is called 'Arrosto Di Carne E Balsamico'. Impressive eh?
I now know that when i'm in Italy and i order this, i'll be getting a 'Tender cut of beef sirloin roasted in Italian marinade in a delicious secret sauce'.

Unfortunately, for a price of RM 33, there was nothing tender about this piece of meat. You need great balls of strength to pry the meat apart. It was so tough (even though it was cooked medium rare), you'd think this place knows better than to use cheap beef. Certainly not quite the Italian job i was hoping for.

I've learnt an important lesson from my Italian experience. Stay true to what this restaurant claims they're good at - its pasta, the pizza and erm, what else does it say on its billboard? aaaah, its Tiramisu.

I love this bitch in a cup! So soft and luscious in the mouth, the coffee aroma lingers on your tongue and the best thing about it, it's not too rich for you even after a heavy main.

Definitely a place i'll drag dear to eat in again, though this place is usually a full house.

One challenge is finding a (legal) parking space nearby while the other's praying for an empty table. You can totally see right into the entire restaurant, so you know it'll not make a good hide-out place.

Just be there early to avoid the crowd or having to wait long for your food to arrive.

Follow my advice and you'll soon be sitting down to a warm, hearty home-cooked Italian meal at Venezia.

Venezia Italian Restaurant
No 1, Jalan Manis 4,
Tmn Segar, Cheras.

Bon appetit!!

fave nearby mamak stall

You hardly read write-ups about mamak stalls on the web. Well i personally have come across this particular mamak stall along Jalan Pahang (in front of the Proton service centre and beside an overhead bridge) which i have grown to love. It's really along the same row with a few other stalls but, this is the most famous.

It's got very nice hot freshly-packed nasi lemak which in most days, i get a huge dilemma deciding whether i want to have it in addition to my usual order of roti. Yea greeeeed baby.

It's so hard to stay away from over ordering. Especially when they've got great roti kosong,

and my crispy tosei!
The dhal here is superb!! And i can never resist the white coconut sauce that complements it perfectly. I just dunno what it's called.

My all-time favourite mamak drink is ginger tea (in the mornings) and carrot milk (at nights). Hot ginger tea is the best though, when you drink it really really hot.

We loveeeeeeee coming here almost every weekend.
Best time to come for a heavenly breakfast is from 8am till around 11.30am coz then they start serving rice and dishes instead for lunch.
Seats are limited but customers here come and go in a jiffy so you never have to wait long. Otherwise, they've got long tables (the school canteen kind) that can sit quite a number of people.

Seeing this roti planta/ koko hanging from the stall, brings back memories from my school days when our hometown roti-man used to sell them on his motorbike.

This is our favourite guy from the mamak. He's always grinning from ear to ear, even while taking orders. But most importantly, we pay tribute to him not because he is makes my tosei,

but because he looks so much like the footballer Nani from Man Utd.

thahara restaurant

You can always please someone who has a penchant for food by buying him a birthday dinner at one of his favourite restaurants.

This is Thahara Seafood Restaurant which serves delectable yet affordable Thai food.

And Derek was the celebrated birthday boy that night. Derek is smiling ever so cheekily because he has just finished ordering a number of dishes fit for 10 pax. And there were only 5 of us.
There were a couple of times the lady writing down our order was about to leave, when Derek blurted out the name of another dish...then another...and another.
Wrong move letting him place the order. =_=

Any other occasion, and i would have gotten Derek to hold his horses! Or else, we'd have needed a bigger table.

Moon's carrot milk without the milk. Urgh, can't imagine how raw that'd have tasted.
Their specialty here has got to be the Mango Ice Blended. One of the best i've ever tasted, it was thick with chilled mango puree and sweetened with milk, plus it was only RM 3. A must-try indeed.

The dishes here come in small portions, ideal for 4-5 persons and therefore, most of them are priced reasonably around RM 4 - RM 6 per plate. I like this concept coz then you get a variety of taste without overstuffing myself with too much of the same dish.

This is the Ayam Goreng Kunyit.

The Kerabu Mangga was covered with a dusting of Salted Fish bits.

My favourite had to be the Tomyam Seafood. It was flaming hot, literally and in a spicy kind of way. When first served, the fire was so huge, we thought our table cloth would catch fire!

I know it doesn't look like one because of the angle, but this is the Siakap Tiga Rasa. This fish alone was RM 28. I still prefer the Chinese way of cooking it, so all i had was one tiny piece of flesh. Derek of course sapu ka liao from the fish head to its tail.

The Kerabu Ikan Bilis is a unique appetizer, crunchy and spicy at the same time.

I'm guessing this is Telur Bistik or some other kind of eggy name. It's basically mixed vege in sauce wrapped with egg. Kinda boring i know.

Since Derek (the CHILLI freak) was kinda ordering everything on the menu that was either spicy or VERY spicy, i had to lecture him to replace his request for kangkung sambal belacan, with this sayur campur instead.

For the sake of this 'non-chilli eating' couple. These poor fellas hardly ate much that night.

Derek sure was happiest that night as he was (as usual) the last one eating, long after we've finished ours.

We certainly don't call him 'Sek San' or 'God of Eating' for nothing.

The total damage was RM 88 for 5 of us. That's not too pricey for some rustic humble Malay-Thai cooking, or Southern Thai, as claimed by this newspaper cutting.

I do not have the exact address of this location, but it is somewhere near the Bulatan Kampung Pandan. If you are not at all familiarised with the Kampung Pandan area, i strongly suggest the use of a GPS to get to this place. Thankfully, it IS listed in Garmin.

It's operating hours are quite long so make this place your next makan trip!
p.s. - just remember to order the Mango Ice Blended. It's sure to melt hearts...

"THIS is aMMMErican Idol....."

Being an ardent follower of American Idol, you won't find me working late in the office on Thurdays and Fridays. Goes without saying that this season's contestants definitely ooze creativity and originality, making it almost impossible to have just ONE favourite. Like me, i'm rooting for 4 of them! Well, i used to have 5 on my team, right before America lost all senses and decided Pia was too perfect a package to be america's idol. That poor girl ain't doing bad now - she's reported to have signed a record deal with Interscope to rush out an album. Oh and did i mention she was already spotted on a date with some guy from Dancing with the Stars named Mark Ballas. (sorree Mark Lim)

Boohoos aside, do you AI fanatics also notice how much the rest of the contestants resemble certain artistes? Seriously, i can't stop thinking about it when i see them each week.

Here's what i mean ...

(1)

(Josie Maran in case you do not know, is a model who also appeared on an old Backstreet Boy's hit song, Everybody. Come now, you GOT to admit they both got the same smile and features!)

(2)

(it's NOT only the hair, but she even looks like beyonce at certain angles. can't say the same about the voice though...ashthon's already been voted off)

(3)