Tamarind Springs @ Jalan Ayer Keroh Lama

It was babe's birthday and I had decided to try this restaurant out as a lot of friends had recommended it to me. They had told me that the place has this great ambiance and it's perfect for couples to dine. So called up for reservation 5 days earlier as they mentioned to do so. It's a long path down the main restaurant with a lot of Indo-China decorations.

At the end of the pathway, we are greeted by this main restaurant which this serene ambiance. Water fountain and great decoration of the place transformed us into another world. Sorry but no more pictures are allowed after this point. Not sure why but maybe they don't want anyone to copy their trade secret? So don't expect a lot of pictures on the food for this post.

Mentioned to them that it's for my babe's birthday and they offered a good seats of the restaurant facing the pool side. Nice arrangement by them. As you can see, the above picture shows the poolside before night fall and the one below was after. This is another part of their restaurant called Il-Tempio which served Italian Fine Cuisine.

Once seated the waiter advice us that they are doing this Ramadhan Buffet which only held once a year. So we checked out the menu and it was good. They combined both the restaurant's menu into the whole buffet package. Yup, there is another restaurant called Il-Tempio which served Italian Fine Cuisine down the pool side. So this is the appetizer which I took. They had a lot of choices for their appetizers. I particularly like their Seafood Fried Tafu.

This is one of their soup which is the Seafood Tom Yam. It was really delicious as it was really spicy and sour like what we had in Bangkok. Plenty of freshly slice of fishes in the pot. The soup was slightly cold, other than that, everything was alright. I had another bowl of their Tomato Soup which was really thick and nice too. That was hot.

This is some of the main dishes which they had to offered that night. I had their pineapple fried rice to go with the rest of the dishes. The meat selection ranges from beef, chicken, mutton, fish to squids. So there is a lot of variety to choose from. I particularly like their Beef in Sawi which the beef was so soft and tender. Their Vietnamese Style Mutton Rendang worth mentioning too. There are some other gravy type soup and also vegetables to choose from the main table. Sorry again no pictures was taken as they do not allowed us to take any pictures of the place.

So why did I took the buffet rather than Ala-Carte. Well for those who been here before told me that their ambiance was great but their food wasn't something to shout about. The price we're paying for a decent dinner would cost around the same as the buffet. Well it's not all about the money but why do we pay extra for something same when I can have unlimited food and wide range of selection (from both the restaurant's menu) from their buffet. As a matter of fact, my choice was right and we had a lot of good food and some great desserts too like their famous Sweet Mango with Sticky Rice.

The whole dinner was superb with great ambiance and good food. But best of all, it was with my love one. The buffet cost RM85 nett. So it's not that expensive for a very full and wide choice of variety dinner. I was actually full before tasting all of their food on the main table. The walk back up after dark was really romantic as we can see the candle lights on the side of the walk way but babe was a bit creeped out of the whole place by now. (Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0)

TGI Friday @ The Curve

It was Saturday night and decided to bring babe out for some good dinner and movie. So I had decided to dine in at TGI Friday. But which one? I had some good experience at Section 14 TGI but I heard that the one at 1U isn't that good. So I decided to try out the one at The Curve. Cause I always saw a lot of people every night when I passed by the restaurant. So why not?

Ice Lemon Tea & Coke (RM7.90/glass)

Since we're about to sit in for a long period while waiting for our movie, we had decided to ordered something refillable. But at the end we didn't really refill that much as we were too full.

French Onion Soup (RM12.50/bowl)

This is the only soup in the menu which I haven't tried before and I decided to try it out. It's flavorful broth made with sweet caramelized onion. Topped with a crouton and Mozzarella cheese. I had to say that it's really weird with a piece of soaked bread in the soup. This is definitely not my bowl of soup.

Cream of Mushroom Soup (RM12.50/bowl)

This was supposed to be a rich, creamy soup loaded with mushroom. But again, I was a bit disappointed. The scent of mushroom wasn't that strong although there were a lot of mushroom in it. The most common mistake of all soup is it's too watery. I like my soup to be thick.

Friday's Three-For-All (RM35.90)

This is something which I would ordered on my every visit. This is their signature appetizer which features all of their most famous appetizers. There are Loaded Potato Skins, Fried Mozzarella and their (and my own personal favorite) Spicy Buffalo Wings complete with sour cream and green onions, marinara sauce and celery sticks with Bleu Cheese dressing. Actually this dish could cater for 3 person and after having this I was already half full.

Jack Daniel's Chicken & Shrimps (RM36.90/set)

Juicy fire-grilled chicken breast drizzled with their Jack Daniel sauce and some spicy Cajun spiced fried shrimp with more sauce for dipping. Served with their cheddar cheese mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables. I was really glad to see that the chicken wasn't that large (for once). Shrimp was nice always, mash potatoes was too much for me to finish but a bit too dry for me. Vegetables was a bit hard and not well steamed. The best is always their Jack Daniel sauce which I crave a lot. Maybe it's due to the rush in preparation it was a bit messy to me.

Grilled Lamb (RM28.90/set)

This is their succulent marinated grilled lamb, served with seasonal vegetables and crispy fries. When the dish arrived, we were surprised that it was really large. A lot of spices on top of the lamb. We had ordered medium well but it was a bit too well. Didn't managed to finish off the dish as it was really too much to fill into our little stomach, not even the fries. I don't really like the fries which they served maybe it's too tasteless or not enough salt?

I think it was a full house that night as there were at least 4 group of large patrons who is celebrating their birthday over there. People singing and laughing could be heard everywhere. This is how a TGI Friday restaurant should sound. If you're looking for some peace and quite place to dine, well this is probably not your fist choice. But I like the atmosphere though. Food wasn't as good as I thought it would be but still I would gave them the benefit of the doubt that it was over crowded that night. But then again, Chili's Grill & Bar would be my first choice if possible. Totally love their Triple-Play appetizer and their burgers. Not to mentioned their mashed potatoes with onions in them. Nice. Total damages for the night come to about RM160++. (Rating: 3.8 out of 5.0)

Restaurant Hong Ling @ Subang Jaya

Called up my ex-colleague for lunch and we are thinking of a place to eat around Subang Jaya. Bak Kut Teh? Curry Chicken Rice? Crispy Fried Chicken? JM Briyani? But we wanted something not that hot, so he recommended a place called Hong Ling which served Ulu Yam Loh Mee. It's located at SS14 facing SS15. 3 shops away from the bak kut teh shop. My first visit over this place and I am starving. So I am in for anything they have to offer.

Fried Crullers in Salad (RM10 - Small)

My friend had recommended this dish as he had tried it a couple of time and it's not bad. We had ordered a small portion to try it out. Testing the water that is. It wasn't that bad actually. The crullers are still crunchy with mayonnaise wrapped around it. Nice way to open our taste bud.

Fried Bean with Pork (Medium-RM10 / Large-RM15)

This is also one of their recommended dish from the restaurant. It's their fried bean with crispy pork. Damn the pork is so crispy and delicious. The bean looks a bit old but trust me it's very crunchy. I can still hear the crunching sound when I bite into them. Nice.

Ulu Yam Loh Mee (Small-RM5.50 / Medium-RM10 / Large-RM13)

How can we have lunch without ordering their famous loh mee. It's thick and the noodle is just right. Not that dark like the one from Ulu Yam but acceptable. Portion really generous. There's even fried lard in it. Delicious. For a small portion, this is really filling.

Fried Mee Suah (RM5.50-Small / RM10-Medium / RM13-Large)

Surprisingly I like this plate of fried mee suah a lot. It's sort of like glass noodle but better. It's quite wet so the noodle won't stick to each other like glue. Plenty of bean sprout and eggs all around the noodle. Really nice. Trust me, it tasted better than it look.

Special Homemade Shu Fun Kan (Small-RM5.50 / Medium-RM10 / Large-RM13)

Last but not least the special homemade tapioca starch stick noodle. My friend wanted to give this dish a try and it wasn't as nice as it was supposed to be. I had the same at Klang's Boston and it tasted better. The texture here is different from the one from what I had before. This is too salty for me. Not my plate of noodle. But the rest was alright.

This is definitely a place that I will return again with my friends and family for a good plate of noodle. Price is reasonable and parking is still possible to find around the area. There is still a lot of noodle they offered in their menu which I wanted to try like the Hokkien Noodle and Fried Glass Noodle. Maybe another round of lunch with my friends next week. For your information, we had ordered all the small portion for all the food above and there are only three of us to finish off all the above. Total bill comes to about RM38 inclusive of 3 herbal tea. (Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0)

PS: Thanks to blog ed. for teaching me a new word today, crullers. I trust a lot of you never come across this word similar to me, right? : )

Teluk Intan Chee Cheong Fun @ Damansara

Was introduced of this place by one of my gym-mate. It's called Teluk Intan Special Chee Cheong Fun which is located at the food court at Damansara Utama. The stall is located opposite Steven's Corner if you are familiar with the place. Wasn't putting much of expectation in the beginning as I thought it would only be those normal chee cheong fun stall. But heck I was wrong. Never judge a place by it's appearance.

The stall is handle by a man and his wife. The man will be frying the yong tau foo you had choose and chopping them up later on. And yes, he'll be cashing in the money too when you take your food.

Here you can see a variety of yong tau foo both fried and boiled. They are fried fresh after you had make your order. There is a big wok at the back which they fried all the food. No worries, it won't take very long. Maybe less than a minute or so.

This is two of the main sauce. One is the chili sauce (which turn out to be quite hot) and the other is the main sauce for the chee cheong fun. It's not too sweet but just right and not too thick too. They have two type of chee cheong fun to choose from. One is the plain which we normally had and the other is filled.

I had took at least 6 pieces of Yong Tau Foo which consists of fried wan ton, fried dumpling, foo chuk, fried sausages and some other which I don't even know how to name. And two rolls of chee cheong fun with fillings. (RM6)

So what do they fill in the chee cheong fun. Well as you can see it's fried onions. Nothing fancy but it's really nice as it's fresh and still crunchy. Delicious. Imagine the crispy crunchy onion wrapped with chee cheong fun dipped with sweet delicious sauce accompanied with fresh fried foo chuk and fried dumpling. Truly delicious.

This is a bowl of their soup with fresh crispy fried onions sprinkle on top. I don't think they give this soup away but since my friend and the owner are relatives, it's F.O.C. Damn this bowl of soup was so delicious that we had a second bowl.

My friend recommended this glass of apple juice with assam boi. Was skeptical at first but when I had a sip, it wasn't that bad but rather quite nice too.

As you can see people are pouring in non stop during our whole session there. For your information the place do not serve pork or lard so it's a HALAL stall. I saw a lot of Malays ordered the chee cheong fun and yong tau foo also. How I know? Cause I was looking for some pork balls but can't find it. So I asked the boss and he told me that it's HALAL. LOL!!! Prices is affordable and the food is delicious. Although the place is a bit hot tonight but still I will be going back again soon for another try. Definitely worth a try if you're around the area. (Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0)

Shih Lin @ IKANO (revisited)

Was walking around Ikano and decided to have some light lunch. Babe had always been into Taiwanese food and Shih Lin had always been her favorite. I think most of you out there had already heard of the place or at least try it out before. The one at 1Utama old wing is their first branch in Malaysia and the store is always crowded with customers whenever I passed by the place.

Chicken Rice Box Set (RM10/set)

The set comprises of their famous spicy crispy chicken, Japanese bean curd, duck's egg served with Japanese rice. You can opt for spice or none spicy for the dish. As for me, definitely extra hot and spicy. Chicken was not as much as I remembered it would be but still alright. The sauce they use for the rice and bean curd is sweet and tasty. Definitely worth my money as the dish come with a bottle of V-Soy or mineral water.

Other then the chicken rice set they also offer XXL Crispy Chicken, Crispy Floss Egg Crepe, Seafood Tempura and Handmade Oyster Mee Sua. For those who like oyster, you should give their Mee Sua a try as it was really delicious. Their famous crispy chicken and mee sua are sold at RM6 while the tempura and egg crepe at RM5.50. Their mee sua is recommended to eat with just a spoon without any chopstick but it's damn difficult. They have a policy that states that all their crispy chicken would be serve UNCUT as to preserve their original taste. So save your time and energy asking them to cut for you like the one you had at the night market like Uncle Bob. (Rating: 3.8 out of 5.0)

Marco's Pizza @ P.J

I think this is the second time I had visited Marco's Pizza. Although it's just opposite my place but I don't really visit the place that often. I can still remember my first visit few years back when they had just open. Had some good experience for it but didn't really had any thoughts of returning for more. Not sure why too. Saw some other blogger blogged bout this place and decided to have a try at it again after a few year back. Just to see if they improve or not. Since it was lunch hour we had decided to try out their lunch set. There are two set of lunch set which comprises of either pasta or pizza. The set come with their soup of the day and also a glass of drink.

Pumpkin Soup

Was a bit skeptical of the soup when I heard what they had that day. But since I don't have any choice I thought why not just give it a try. Well, it was really some good soup. Pumpkin taste was strong and it was really thick too. Some bread crumbles on the top to go with the soup. This is definitely one of the best pumpkin soup I had in many months. Portion was really generous too.

Bacon & Mushroom Pizza

Their pizza of the day was bacon & mushroom. It was thin crispy type with lots of ham and mushroom. Not too large but just enough for a single serving. According to my friend it wasn't that bad too. Can see that the cheese is visible in between the ham and mushroom.

Aglio Olio Spaghetti

As for their pasta, it was aglio olio with herbs, dried chili and fried ham. Surprisingly this is one of the best aglio olio I had in a long time. The taste was just right and the herbs and chili did play a crucial part to mixed together with the olive oil. My friend said it was too oily but it was alright for me as the pasta won't be that dry. Totally love this plate of pasta.

Although the pasta I had was just some set lunch they are promoting but it was really nice. At least it was better than the one I had at Pizza Ria or my other visit at different restaurants. This proves that they really do take care of their customers food although it isn't those expensive pasta or pizza. To me, this is how customer rate a restaurant. If they can't even prepare an ordinary pasta then how are we suppose to give their other dishes a try? Definitely gonna be visiting them again soon and hopefully their other dishes are the same standard too. (Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0)

Asian Food House @ Uptown (Revisited)

Had been patronizing this outlet out a couple of time and found that their quality of food is worth mentioning. So for lunch, I decided to give it another try since I am out of idea where to go anymore. Yes, I am lost of words too. Anyway, the place is called Asia Food House which is located at Uptown Damansara. It's at the same row as new the Papa Rich Cafe and and SonyEricsson's service center. You can check out my previous visit here. Place is nice and cozy with more and more patrons since my last visit over. Checked out their menu and saw they had added some additional new food in it but decided to stay safe and ordered something familiar.

This is something new in their menu. This is one of their tit bits. It's actually some home made tofu. To be frank, I was a bit skeptical when the waitress recommended to us. When the dish was served, I was surprised that the size was quite generous. Took a bite and it wasn't that bad. Actually it was really nice. Although a bit pricey but it's something nice to share among few friends before the main. (RM13/plate)

I had decided to go back to the original. So this is the Stewed Pork Rice Set. There is something different from the first time I had. The sauce is thicker and the pork was really soft and juicy. This dish didn't disappoint me at all. The dish come with some stewed bean curd, vegetables and egg. Highly recommended. (RM9.90/set)

For the drink, we had ordered their famous Original Bubble Milk Tea. Trust me, it may be simple but simple is nice in this case. Highly recommended for bubble tea lover. Even if it's you're the first time, I would recommend this. (RM5/glass)

The place also served Korean & Japanese cuisine other then the Taiwanese. The place is always crowded during lunch time as the set they offer isn't that expensive although those Korean and Japanese set does seemed a bit steep for lunch. Still deciding whether to give it a try or not. But again, parking is super duper difficult over there. I double outside while leaving my name card on the windscreen as usual. So you can take the risk or take your luck. (Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0)

Killiney Kopitiam @ Uptown

First heard of this place from a friend from Singapore. Found out that they have a few stores locally too and one being at Uptown Damansara. So one night after my usual work out with my friends, I had decided to give this place a try. The name of the place is called Killiney Kopitiam. From the menu I noticed that the kopitiam menu or theme are based on Hainanese style. The origin of this kopitiam actually was from Malacca but due to some reason was relocated to Singapore and the rest was history.

French Toast

This french toast is definitely different from the one we had at Old Town or any other kopitiam. The bread is dipped in egg and fried. Although the bread may look a bit over burn but it tasted nice. The bread is accompanied with their home made kaya and butter. Kaya was really nice but maybe a bit too sweet. Add that together with the butter on the bread and it's perfect.

Singapore Laksa

Saw this laksa from their menu and was tempted to give it a try although I don't really take this kind of heavy meal after my work out. Was surprised that the soup was not as red as shown in the menu. But they did gave some belacan to go with it. I like everything of the noodle but the noodle itself. I am not sure why they use the noodle like one the in asam laksa. I think I like my noodle to be those local yellow noodle. But this is one good bowl of noodle.

Yes, I finished the whole bowl off to the last drop of soup. It was really that nice.

Surprisingly the shop wasn't that pack like any other kopitiam around the area. But then again it's good that it's not too crowded so the food is served faster. Not sure bout morning and afternoon though. Will definitely give it another try next week or so. Other then the one we had, they also serve Hainanese Chicken Chop, Mee Siam and some other toast bread. (Rating: 3.8 out of 5.0)

Pizza Ria @ SS2

I was still deciding whether to blog bout this little place which me and my friend had lunch few weeks back. I had some mix feeling on this restaurant since my last visit. The restaurant that I am talking about is Pizza Ria which is located at SS2, same row as Public Bank. For those who live around PJ area, they should at least heard of tried their food over here. My first visit was was few years back and it was a good experience. Well up until my last visit that is.

Cream of Mushroom Soup

We had ordered their set lunch which comprises of soup, main and drink. The soup is definitely worth mentioning over here. It's thick and the scent of mushroom strong. Just the way I like my soup to be. Add some bread crumbs on top and it's perfect. It's been a while since I had a decent good mushroom soup.

Classic Fettuccine Carbonara
This is not the first time I had this but this had got to be the worst I had. It's too watery and there is practically not much taste in their cream sauce. It was rather hard for my friends who ordered the same to finish theirs. A bit disappointed on this dish as it was one of my favourite dish. (RM19/set)

Tagliatelle Alfredo
This is practically tagliatelle cooked with turkey ham, parmesan and onion in alfredo sauce. The sauce was surprisingly similar to our Carbonara. Not sure if they used the same sauce or what. But this too was a bit disappointing as it wasn't that tasty. But the turkey ham was nice. (RM19/set)

Spaghetti Alle Vongole
This dish is a bit spicy according to them but not really. It's spaghetti cooked with clams, chili and broccoli in garlic sauce. I think this could be the saviour our the day. Although seafood isn't my first choice but this is still passable. (RM19/set)

The food today was a bit disappointing maybe due to all of us ordering the same dish. Well I am giving them the benefit of the doubt here as I had visited them numerous time and this is the first time I had a bad experience on their food. Maybe a new chef? But the boss is still the same though. I had tried their Risotto and pizza before and it's worth a try if you like it. Definitely be going back again to try them again and let you all know what I think bout it. (Rating: 3.5 out of 5.0)