FOOD POST!!!

The last food post was about 4 months ago, and the food list has piled up. So here we go~

I'm not actually a fan of cooked fruit, but these apple tartlets were tasty, not to mention cute. Home-made by my sis, the pastry is regular old tart pastry, and the filling was basically just diced, baked apples, with a rough sprinkling of sugar. It was a tad bit sweet and dry, though...

Pappa Rich's menu consists mostly (or entirely) of Malaysian food with jacked-up prices. The entire menu seemed pretty much bleak to me - I don't eat nasi lemak, and I try not to eat kway teow (oil = fat), which is takes up most of the menu. Probably the only choice was asam laksa. It was so-so, nothing to shout about, but for spicy-stuff lovers, you might want to try this out~

My mum bought durian moon cakes for the Mid Autumn Festival of 2010. We tried one from Baker's Cottage I think, but that one sucked. Bisgood's durian moon cake is dusted with confectioners' sugar and the filling is 100% durian, but with the texture of ice cream. The only word to describe it? HEAVENLY~!

One of my mum's friends had gone to Japan for a vacation and came back with a gift for my younger sis - a bag of body part chocolates. Not just any body parts - cocks, boobs, and a condom for awareness of safe sex. O.O They come in white, milk and dark chocolate, but so far only a few has been eaten - eating penises and boobs seem very abnormal.

I would have thought butter chicken rice to be, well, buttery and creamy and all, but never with an unknown brown sauce, like they did it at Oasis Food Court at Mid Valley. The chicken itself was all bones and no meat. But this does remind me of that particular guy... (I'll explain in the next post)

Ice blended cappucino. One of the most fattening drinks in the world, accompanied by shakes and Starbucks with extra whipped cream, but I ordered it nonetheless. The glass was laced with melted chocolate and the drink was topped with whipped cream and melted chocolate, available at Shabu Garden.

This is just regular Pizza Hut pizza (I think I prefer Domino's already =P) with extra mozzarella, then put into the microwave to melt the cheese~~

This was one of my sis' tryouts for her timing for an assignment for the next day. It's just regular olive oil drizzled spaghetti with fried eggplant, and the round stuff is actually minced chicken, diced carrots and mushrooms, rolled together then cooked in boiling water wrapped in cling film.

If you do order sets in Pizza Hut, you'll usually get at least one bowl of soup of the day (instant chicken soup, usually, very lumpy chicken soup). If you're lucky, you'll be able to find a parmesan shaker. 1x chicken soup + 500 shakes of parmesan powder = even lumpier chicken soup.

This is the highlight of my meals at Pasta Zanmai - banana chocolate parfait. I've described the layering of this parfait before - from the bottom up, cookie powder, bananas chunks, chocolate ice cream, cornflakes, chocolate ice cream and topped with whipped cream, banana slices and a butter waffle. This is by far the best parfait I've eaten, but I'm looking forward to the parfaits in Japan~!

Chocolate chip cookies are a classic. You use the normal butter cookie batter, and just add (however much you like) chocolate chips.

Heart-shaped pralines. A good choice for a wedding dinner gift. I dunno exactly what it's called, but I think it's called a favor (the little things you leave for your wedding lunch/dinner guests on the table?)

The upgraded cream of pumpkin soup. This went with the muslin chicken spaghetti. Amazing how a change of crockery and some simple things can beautify a dish, huh? XD

Cherries. Never really liked them, 'cause the only ones I've eaten before are the candied ones on cakes. Note: never ever give me fruit cakes, unless it's fresh fruits. This one is imported along with a whole bunch of his relatives. Sweet~

I realize that every time I go to a Chinese restaurant, the first thing that comes to mind is curry noodles, without sprouts and tau pok. With noodles, I usually try to pick out all the sprouts and eat them first before starting to eat the noodles themselves, which by that time have already absorbed much of the soup.

Call me unknowing, but I've never seen such a big curry puff before. It seems that it's actually a normal thing, it's just different in size and filling - this one has half a boiled egg in it.

I can't remember where I took this picture. Obviously, it's a breaded chicken chop, something you would like to avoid if you're into healthy eating or on a weight-loss resolution. Correction: upon consulting with my archives, this is actually a fish and chips set, not a chicken chop. Apologies.

This is a platter for two on the Manhattan Fish Market menu. It consists of a fried fish fillet, fried squid rings, flaming prawns, fried oysters, vegetables and a choice of butter rice or chips.

Goma pudding from Pasta Zanmai. Goma translates into sesame.

The grilled platter for one at Manhattan Fish Market. Grilled fish fillet (doesn't way what type of fish, didn't ask either), grilled squid rings, flaming prawns and a tomato wedge. Grilled would be preferable to fried if you're eating healthy.

Gyu shabu no spicy pasta, though not very spicy from the Sunway Pyramid branch. I think the quality of food and service at the Mid Valley branch is better. Blanched beef (Japanese style) with spicy spaghetti.

This is regular instant noodles. Mamee Tom Yam flavor actually. With squid, veggies, shrimp and pork.

Short-necked clams with spicy pasta, another masterpiece from Pasta Zanmai.

You'll find this roadside shop opposite The Nyonya One in Seri Petaling. It's supposedly famous for it's pan mee, and what I ordered was the mala (super OMG spicy) thin pan mee. The soup was actually red. x_x

A snack after lunch. I love ice creams with brownies, it's just so ... comfort food-ish. =)

Fruits are your best friend. Try to have at least a serving a day, and have it before meals, mind you.

The food quality and food labeling has deteriorated at Saisaki. This Japanese buffet restaurant is located at Wisma UOA II, somewhere near the Equatorial Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. At around RM80+ per head, it's not cheap, and I don't think it's all that worth it anymore, unless you eat really slowly and try everything... =P

If you live around OUG, then I think you would know about the night food stalls near the OUG market. Thomas Western serves up delicious and healthy Western food. The menu consists of chicken, lamb, mixed and other meat grills, served with mixed veggies and potato, with your choice of black pepper or mushroom sauce. This here is mushroom sauce lamb chop.

Mango juice at the Manhattan Fish Market. I wonder whether it's my sickly taste buds, but the juice tasted like barley and a Chinese cough syrup. =x

Mango pudding that came as dessert at Shabu Garden.

Usually I'd try to find maccha ice cream, or even better gelato, when I can. Saisaki has it, home-made, but friggin' solid, and it melts fast.

Another dish from Thomas Western - black pepper mixed grill. The mixed grill consists of a chicken chop, a lamb chop and a frankfurter.

My all-time favorite cheesecake - shiro chizukeki (white cheesecake). I forgot which company made these, but these are awesome. They come with a sauce, which is available in three flavors - blueberry, strawberry and mango. I find that the mango is tastiest.

Chicken chop from Green Apple. I dunno what it tastes like, 'cause I didn't order this.

What the hell is wrong with McDonald's and other fast food chains these days?! I mean McDonald's is still OK, but KFC? Pizza Hut? Their portion sizes are shrinking and the amount of pizza toppings are close to zero. This shows a Spicy Chicken McDeluxe at the Endah Parade branch during Ramadan month 2010. I understand if you want to stinge on the chicken, but stinging on the bread?

Unless you really like bitter and creamy coffee, don't order the Nanyang Kopi C from Old Town.

I took this picture only 'cause of the cute glass. This is orange juice from Nando's Mid Valley branch, by the way.

A Raya snack from my dear tuition teacher, Pn Mazlina - orange cupcake. I generally don't like orange-flavored cakes, but this one was nice~!

My new favorite fried chicken (and let's hope this doesn't end up like Malaysian KFC) - Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits. The chicken is especially flavorful and the biscuits would actually do better when dipped in something, like the potato salad~!

Just normal pork bone porridge. I played with the condiments - you tiao (fried dough strips), century eggs and some spring onions.

This is the Portuguese-style grilled clam dish from the Oasis food court in Mid Valley. Tasted ... like seasonings and chilli. =P

My sis ordered this on our trip to Sunway Pyramid - potato salad from Pasta Zanmai. I didn't taste it.

This is my favorite bread spread to date - prawn cheese spread, available at IKEA. It comes in a toothpaste-like tube, and what you do is just squeeze the desired amount of spread onto the bread, and spread it like any other spread, with the difference of taste~~~

This actually looks slightly obscene to me - it's just pasta with home-made thousand island sauce and two frankfurters.

Pizza made by JW. The bread is supposedly pita.

Treasures from one of the many trips to the dimsum restaurant before class starts. XD

White chocolate with raspberries and pistachios. It looks weird at first, but you'll love it after you try it. =D

My ultimate favorite out-of-the-fridge snack next to whipped cream and milk chocolate - Reese's peanut butter cups. My mum got this from Langkawi or an airport, I think, tax-free.

This half chicken actually emptied my wallet - we went to Mid Valley after school (first time there in my school uniform) and this was what I had for lunch. RM12+, including tax, but it was tasty~

My Shabu Garden set - miso soup and the scallop set, which I more or less regretted ordering 'cause the scallops weren't fresh.

Anne Yeng's seafood set at Shabu Garden.

My favorite dish from Leong Ya at Balakong - deep fried soft shelled crab.

An accompaniment and a fire extinguisher that went with my asam laksa at Pappa Rich in Mid Valley. It's basically soy milk with coffee jelly, topped with whipped cream and coffee sauce. It's a healthier choice, without the whipped cream, of course, 'cause there's soy milk, and soy milk does wonders for the body~

Some random fried spring rolls made by my mum's colleague and cooked by my grandma. The filling was really good, but I just couldn't identify the ingredients. =s

Another of the three available parfaits at Pasta Zanmai - the strawberry parfait. This one's layering would be more ... icky than the chocolate banana - right at the bottom is something like a thick strawberry sauce with cornflakes, then cornflakes, strawberry ice cream (or I think it's more of a gelato), topped with whipped cream and a butter wafer. The other parfait is a macha parfait, which I haven't tried yet. =x

I think this would be a tasty and healthy choice - strawberry yogurt smoothie. In my opinion, the texture is the same as an ice blended drink, but with the goodness of strawberry (though I think they only used flavoring and coloring) and yogurt. This was part of the meal at Shabu Garden.

A few of the more interesting sushis at Saisaki. Looks can be deceiving, though - all four pictured here actually had weird flavors, due to the attempts at mixing different ingredients together to form new flavors. The white wrapping on the one at the far left is actually a strip from the Japanese fish cake, the second one is carrot and the third one is tofu skin.

This brings me back to my childhood days~ Ice cream in a cup and a wooden spoon. I used to opt for these types of ice creams as opposed to cones and wafers, though there was an old tradition way back when my sis and I used to spend our holidays in Singapore - after the nightly swim, both of us got an ice cream of our choice, I usually chose Paddle Pop, the one on a stick.

As I grew up, my favorites changed - from the cup-creams and Paddle Pops, I slowly went on to the yam wafer ice cream which cost 70sen at the school canteen, then Cornetto, moving on to the ripple ice cream sandwiches which are sold at the stalls that dot Orchard Road in Singapore, then McDonald's McFlurry, gelatos (mainly maccha, cookies and cream, coffee and Gelato Fruity's Italian Biscuit).

Right now I go crazy over parfaits - I like ice creams with cookies (more preferable than nuts) or cornflakes, 'cause the texture contrasts are beautiful - the soft, creamy cold ice cream with the dry crunch of cookies/cornflakes~~~

Something I whipped up in 15 minutes. There was leftover pasta sauce in the fridge, forgotten diced tomatoes that were meant for the pasta salad, so I just boiled some pasta and tossed every thing together with some olive oil.

After the prawn cheese spread, Woerle's cream cheese with herbs is my favorite spread. Pricey though, approximately RM7 per 150g tub.

I actually regretted ordering this. The thing about yam cakes are that the taste of the cakes themselves actually vary from shop to shop, so to actually find one that you really like, you should try from every where and when you've found your favorite, STICK TO IT. Another thing I don't like about some restaurants it that they drench something cooked beautifully into a sauce or other and usually ruin the dish.

Ever since I tried zaru soba (cold soba noodles), I fell in love with it. There are two basic types of soba noodles (buckwheat noodles) - the regular type and the cha-soba (green tea soba). Surprisingly, there was zaru cha-soba at Saisaki! I went nuts and for the hour and a half we were there, I had three servings of it~ XD

Usually if you were to go from Seri Petaling to OUG or Happy Garden, you would have to use one particular road to get there. Right after you've passed the first row of shops on the left, you would come to a T-junction where there are shops on the left and slightly further up would be a housing area. Along the roadside restaurants is a dessert shop which sells some types of Chinese desserts (糖水) - bubur chacha (yam, sweet potato and sago boiled with coconut milk), and my preferred dessert - longan and white fungus tang shui. It's practically 0% fat and packed with skin beautifying properties~!

That's it for the food post~! The next food post will be coming up in around another half-year~ Stay tuned~