Plan B @ Publika, Solaris Dutamas

I heard about this place since last year I guess but didn't have the chance to really set my foot there till last week. Decided to give this place a try and luckily my friend knew about this place and the rest is history like they say. Anyway, let me introduce the place first, it's called Plan B. Cool Name~! It's actually under a big umbrella called the BIG Group (another cool company name). 

The BIG Group opened a lot of their flagships around town and Plan B is one of them. They even have their own grocery market called B.I.G (Ben's Independent Grocery) downstairs. So Cool~! You can check out their website here. Now let's get back to Plan B. 

Publika is definitely a unique place cause I can't find the parking and decided to valet park instead. The price is RM10 for the first two hours. I guess it's alright. Plan B is located at Level G2 and it's quite easy to find even if it's your first time over (like me). There are a lot of seats indoor and outdoor.

I especially like the deco on the outdoor which you can see from the picture above. Yup, those are chairs being hung on the ceiling board. Cool~! The place was packed when we arrived and luckily my friend came early and managed to get a table for us. As we are seated, people started to queue outside waiting for a table. Business is really good during lunch hour I guess. Not sure how it goes after office though. 

Ordered a bottle of mineral water. The mineral water is FOC and is bottle in some sort of a medicine type bottle. Good idea. 

As usual, I started off with some mushroom soup before the main course. I was particularly hungry that afternoon so I go ahead with it.  It's either this or Borscht Soup. I am more of a mushroom guy so I decided to go with this. It's actually vegetarian. This is not the best mushroom soup I have, but it's above average I I have to say. Chunk of small mushrooms to bite on really do tickle my fancy. 

My friend ordered their seafood Borscht soup. We did asked the waiter what is the portion of the soup and he did replied us that it's not that large. But this Borscht soup really make up for it's size with it's plentiful of seafood. I think you can order a white rice and take this as your main if you are a small eater. 

Mushroom or Borscht?  

My friend decided to go with pasta and both of us actually saw this dish because of softshell crab in the menu. They do have Carbonara but both of us didn't ordered that (surprisingly). Both of us agreed that this would be the better choice. It's spaghetti in creamy butter sauce but get this, it's tossed together with  chili padi, crispy curry leaves, and chili flakes. Top that with some soft shell crab and you got yourself an Asian style pasta. I don't think everyone can accept this dish as it's some sort like a fusion between pasta and kam heong cooking style. But both of us really dig this. Super creamy and spicy at the same time. Soft shell portion was really generous. And it's freshly fried too. 

So what's for me? I didn't ordered their Carbonara but went with one of their burger. I was reading the details of the dish when I saw one thing that decided it all, onion rings. Yup, I am a bit of a onion ring freak. The dish was really large. Other than the main patty we have french fries and salad at the side. The bun is soft and I think they might be making those buns themselves too. Just guessing here though. 

Look at those juicy beef patty. The cheese on top and three crispy golden onion rings on top. Simply delicious. How do you eat it? This is definitely not an issue for me since it's a burger freak.  Just cramp everything in there, open wide and just sink your teeth in those juicy home-made patty of theirs. Highly recommended. By the way, I didn't even managed to finish the salad off since I was already full. 

The kitchen was neat and clean and well organized. I can see the barista is busy preparing the drinks for the customers and all.   

There's also three big Samsung infinity LED on the wall. But not sure why are they showing 60s Malay movies on and on?! We had a great lunch and saw some cool chicks. What a great place to hang out too. Price might be slightly high but it's fine with me. The bill amounted to $87 in total. $40+ for a lunch? Depends I guess. You can't really set a price tag on good food now, can you? Definitely coming back here again soon. Who am I bringing next round? 

Rating: 

Food: 4.5 out of 5.0

Service: 4.0 out of 5.0

Ambiance: 4.0 out of 5.0 

Coffee Chemistry Cafe @ Sunway Giza

 

It was after my lunch over at Movida that I deiced to give this coffee place a try. I saw it online some where about this place serving the world's finest coffee. They are serving Graffeo coffee which is said to the be the finest in the world. I got to try this out since I am a bit craze of coffee myself. The place is located on the top floor of Movida. On the signboard below, you will see Coffee Chemistry Cafe, Digi and HTC. Why? Let's go up and see.

The is the Coffee Chemistry's counter. The counter is nicely decorated and showcasing their products namely Graffeo coffee on the shelves and some other drinks like soda in the fridge.

On the other side when you walked in you will see two other counters namely Digi and also HTC. There are staffs from both side helping customers on their purchases or inquiries of respective products. You can try out HTC's new smartphones and if you like it you can purchase it and even get a new line over there too. This is a new concept store like a one stop station for gadgets and coffee. 

 

Let's get back to the coffee for now since we're here for them. My friend decided to give their hot black coffee a try since it's recommended. According to my friend the bean is really nicely blend and the scent is quite strong.

As for me, I go for their Hazelnut Caramel Coffee. Taste of hazelnut which I think was from the syrup they use is nicely blended with the coffee. And I like the cream pattern thingy they did on top. ^^

This is the Cappuccino Ice Blended by friend ordered. It's really thick and nice. Not bad, but I don't really go for ice blended nowadays. Too cold for me.

 You can purchase some HTC products on the shelves if you like it. 

Overall, the place is nice to sit down with friends to catch up or having a meeting with your customers. I saw some meetings going on on the other tables too during my session. They have a smoking section outside on the corridor with the view of Giza. There is also another training room on the other side for HTC products. I guess, they are doing these training session for new users or special events. The coffee is good and the place is also nice. Price isn't that expensive is the most important part. Most of the drinks are around RM10 or lesser. That price for the finest coffee in the world, I am certainly happy~!

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)

Austin Chase Coffee @ Pavilion KL

Heard that one of the best coffee from Seattle had just landed in the heart of KL. The last one (Starbucks Coffee) that arrived had been one of the best in Malaysia to date. So I thought why not giving it a try. The place is called Austin Chase Coffee and it's from Seattle. They are founded since 1989 and main strategy is to developed a distinct espresso bar to cater for their customers. And now they had choose our country to be one of the many one around the world. The coffee shop is located at the lower ground at Asia Food Court next to Shilin Taiwan Snacks and Mr. Bao.

I had ordered the Austin Chase Ice Blended Mocha. It's taste of coffee is strong but a bit too sweet for me. But I like the strong taste of the mocha in it. (RM11 for Regular and RM12 for Large)

My friend went for their Ice Blended Cai Tea but it was a bit disappointing as it doesn't taste much like Tea (as the word 'Cai' means Tea). It's quite sweet too. A bit more like milk tea for according to my friend. (RM11 for Regular & RM12 for Large)

Other than ice blended they also served tea, hot coffee, desserts and muffins too like any other coffee shop like Starbucks and Coffee Beans. It's a small stall for the moment. Maybe they are surveying the response from the market for the time being. Not sure when is other outlets are opening soon but it's worth a try if you're bored with the current coffee around town. And they do provide free WiFi too when while you're sipping your coffee. (Rating: 3.5 out of 5.0)

Nan Yang Coffee Shop @ Segamat

I was told by locals that this is the best coffee shop in whole Segamat. It's called Nan Yang Coffee Shop which is located in the town centre. Judging by the interior, I can say that this place had been operating for more than 30 years or so.

It was full house when we arrived around 9.30am.But luckily we got a table due to some 'connection'. They served the usual coffee shop dishes like nasi lemak, roti bakar, mee hoon and coffee.

The half boiled eggs was a bit disappointing as it was over boiled. But you can't blame them as they are still using the conventional way of cooking it without the filter. So time control is very crucial.

The toast with kaya is a must for first timer. Nothing special on the toast but the kaya is very nice and not to sweet. There is also butter which is melted into the toast. Delicious. They offer two type of toast and the other one is toast bun. It too are soft and nice to eat.

Actually the best food over there was the packet nasi lemak but it was sold off when we arrived. So I had decided to try out their mee hoon. Which tasted not bad. They have noodle too if you don't like vermicelli.

I had ordered their coffee but forgot to take a snap of it as I was really thirsty and hungry at that time. Was too busy snapping all around the place. You can really feel that you're in the 60s when you step into the shop as the ambiance down to the decoration and kitchen utensils are so nostalgic. Definitely a place to stop by before leaving to have a sip of coffee and bread in the morning. (Rating: 3.8 out of 5.0)

Kluang Station - Ikano Power Centre

I am not sure how many times had I took my Sunday lunch over at this place but let it's been a while since I visited last. So what's so special bout this place? Well like I said previously, I totally love their nasi lemak with ayam goreng. It's a bit dry this time but it's still very crunchy. As for Romiko, her usual would be the Asam Laksa. My brother had ordered their Boiled Eggs which was nice and not too raw. For drinks, what else but Cham Ice in this place for us. My brother had ordered their new Curry Lamb with Nasi Lemak. The Lamb Curry was alright but not to say delicious. Portion wise, it's just nice for one. My sister in law had ordered their new Asam Fish with Nasi Lemak. The curry was really nice as it's filled with a lot of 'santan'. Not bad if you like sour curry. lol~!

Dome - The Curve

Woke up around 8.30am and started off with my usual weekly report. Finished quite fast this morning and continued with my Diablo II. The whole family decided to go over TC this morning for breakfast. So upon arrival my brother had chosen Dome.
But what we didn't expect was a disaster coming by. OK, here's what happened. I had ordered their Nasi Lemak Special (RM19.50). The waitress came back and told me that they run out off nasi lemak. And asked if I mind taking my nasi lemak with plain white rice. Stupid~! Then it's not nasi lemak anymore. What's the point of ordering nasi lemak if it's not nasi lemak. Fine, I re-ordered their Creamy Seafood Pasta (RM24.50). Guess what she said. "Can you order something else which is around the same price as the nasi lemak?". Huh??!!! What the hell was that? And she wasn't helping a bit by giving me the "come on man, make up your mind and order" look. Fine~!!! I ordered their Spicy Mushroom Chicken Pasta (RM21.00). So this is how Spicy Mushroom Chicken Pasta looks like. How to describe this dish?! Hmm...imagine curry mee's soup with pasta on it instead of local noodle. Other than the large portion, there's nothing much to say about this dish.

My brother had ordered his favourite Gourmet Chicken & Mushroom Pie. It had changed a lot since my brother last visited here. The portion of the soup was quite little and also there weren't any broccoli on the side dish. Sad~! My SIL had ordered their Cajun Chicken Sandwich. It's not bad but still the portion wasn't that much. And finally Romiko had ordered their Spicy Olio Pasta. It's spaghetti tossed with fresh herbs, garlic, chili flakes, red capsicum, spinach, parsley and zucchini. Served with their sliced chicken ham. They taste it and said that it's not bad. But for me, it's just plain normal. Maybe I am still a bit pissed with them. (RM21.00)

And you thought that the nightmare was over. Think again. After almost finishing all our food. Romiko's White Coffee and my brother's Hot Chocolate still haven't arrive yet. What happened you asked?! Well the fella who prepared the drinks had managed to mix up a Hot Chocolate and Hot Cappuccino. So at the end we ended up with an additional drink. How stupid can they get. And they dare to argued with us. My brother just told them that they fuck up our drinks and just get the rest of the drinks to us. But at the end they punch in the nasi lemak instead of my pasta and they deducted out the extra cappuccino. Stupid or plain dumb?!!! I dunno??!!! (Rating : 2.0 out of 5.0)

Thean Chun Restaurant

Ipoh's Best Mee Hoon Soup~ that is what I was told when I am there~ This is not my first trip over to this place but it's been a while since I last visited the place. It's located in Ipoh's Old Town. I forgot what's the road name. The place was packed when we arrived around 3pm.

There were around 7 of us and we all ordered their mee hoon soup. Well I am not a mee hoon and especially soup type person so I can't comment much. But the rest was really enjoying their food.

We had ordered the local White Coffee also. The coffee and the food was OK for me. (And NO, there is no problem with my camera. I purposely made the picture brownish to add some of the old time effect in it. haha~!!)

The one food which I love most over there, was their Poh Pia. As informed by my uncle, it is also one of the best in Ipoh or some say M'sia. It's really tasty and also juicy too. The stuff that they stuffed inside was really fresh. The texture was just nice and it won't tear away like the other which I ate in KL. There were some crunchy mince meat inside too. Super~~~ (Rating : 3.8 out of 5.0)

After the lunch my uncle had shown me the Original Ipoh Old Town Coffee shop along the way back. Cool~!