Digital Fugue - Random Thots

8th Cigar Dinner

The food was excellent!

Cigar Buffet!

We painted the town red!

Tony got ripped

Reading this blog post reminded me of one particular episode of A Cook's Tour on Discovery Travel & adventure.

In that episode, Anthony Bourdain was seen looking for a durian in Thailand (or was in Cambodia?). Well, he found a huge one (well, actually it's the size of a standard D24 durian by our friendly neigborhood roadside) at the local market. And there he was bragging about the durian while he anticipated to taste the king-of-fruits. As he ripped the durian and poked the nice yellow flesh, he mentioned (kind of prodly) that the durian cost him USD 10.

USD 10 for one durian... Had he paid a visit to our friendly neigborhood roadside, he would have gotten himself a durian, half a jackfruit, some rambutans, some mangosteen and a few duku langsat for USD 10.

Tarbush

Finally, after a long wait, i managed to checkout the buffet spread at Tarbush Restaurant. The buka puasa event that night was attended by me, Sharizal and Haxa. It was raining cats and dogs and KL was stuck in a deadlock. It took me almost one hour to get me from Wangsa Maju/Jalan Jelatek to Jalan Bukit Bintang (under normal circumstances the trip would merely take 20 minutes).
The restaurant itself was well decorated and have a nice ambient. The buffet was served upstairs. It was just limited to about 20 dishes.

I started off with some dates, fruits and a nice middle eastern dessert called Mahalabia roll. The mahalabia had a very nice texture, almost like cream but with exotic taste.
Then to some heavy stuff with Falafel, Potato paties, Fatoush, shish kebab, Hommous, stuffed tomato and sweet sour boxing chicken. I like the falafel, the potato patties are brilliant and the mince meat in the stuffed tomato is excellent.

For second serving i had the Makloubah, mixed veggie and more sweet and sour boxing chicken. I also had the chicken and vege cream soup.

The serving was very nice and delicious. However the food was not quite 100% middle eastern, as they also serve interesting (almost fusion) mix and match dishes such as spaggheti with lamb sauce, tandoori ala tarbush, and the sweet sour boxing chicken and mixed vege.

I would recommend this restaurant if you are craving for middle eastern food. However, if you want more variety, and authentic middle eastern cuisine, go to Sahara Tent.

Other reviews:
Friedchillies
Malaysiana Digests

Where to eat?

Sorry for the lack of updates but the last week have been plagued with multiple buka puasa functions. On wednesday, we had a mini blogger meetup buka puasa session (if you can call that). Sharizal, Najah, Haxa and me decided to buka puasa at Subang Ria in Kelana Jaya (We were supposed to do it at JW Marriot, but ditched the plan). The place was just a kopitiam but the food was wonderful! If you want to know how to get there, ask Sharizal, it's his favourite hideout.

Thursday was a dissapointment. I attended a function at Cyberview Lodge in CyberJaya. The buffet spread look impressive but everything was tasteless. The satay was dry, the ikan bakar was bland and i think they forgot the asam in the asam laksa.
Yeah, it's that bad. My advice, stay away from that place.
Lucky for me, someone else picked up the tab... teeheehee....

Friday, i joined a few officemates for buka puasa at Rahsia Bistro. At RM38 per head, it was one of the affordable buffet spread in the city. The spread was not extensive, just limited to malay dishes but they were delicious. If you are out hunting for good kampung style cooking for buka puasa, i would highly recommend Rahsia Bistro.

Finally on Monday, buka puasa was with former coursemates from my university. We decided to buka puasa at Corus Hotel. The spread was just nice, not too fancy. The food was good although i think RM45++ for the spread was a little steep.

But, it's not over yet. I will be checking out Tarbush later this week, so stay tuned.

Museum Restaurant

After the buka puasa stint at Sahara Tent, I decided to sample more middle eastern cuisine. So I made arragements with a friend to buka puasa at Museum Restaurant and Cafe which is located inside the Islamic Arts Museum. Again it is not a big restaurant. It can accomodate about 180 diners at any one time. The ambiance was great. There's also a surau nearby.

The buffet spread was middle eastern local and international. I was not interested in the local dishes so i passed them all. Again I started with the middle eastern appetizer, the hommous, baba ghanouj, fool maktoum, falafel some olives and lebanese bread. The hommous was a bit too strong for my taste, but i finished it anyway. The rest was not bad but not spectacular.

I then head to the kebab counter. I took a sirloin cut and chicken shawarma. The sirloin cut was nicely done and juicy. The shawarma however was a little dry. After that again i had the Makloubah, shish kebab and shish tawouk. The chicken in the makloubah was very nice and tender, however the kebab was dry and i was quite dissapointed.
I also took meatballs cooked in tahina sauce and roast beef with mushroom and baked salmon. Very nice, and the salmon was good. For dessert I gobbled up the Egyptian bread pudding called Omm Ali and of course, Baklava.

Overall, I was not impressed with the buffet. I think it was better last year. They should have focus on one type of cuisine rather than trying to give the whole spectrum of cuisine inone dining. Imagine having budu placed next to the Hommous. Not quite a combination. And at RM 55 (last year was RM38), I think it is a bit steep too. I dont mind paying that much if the food is good.

If you want a second or a third opinion, checkout the review by The Star and Friedchillies.

So, my quest continues... perhaps next week I shall visit Tarbush. Stay tuned.

Sahara Tent

In my quest to look for the best middle eastern cuisine in Malaysia, I landed myself at Sahara Tent for iftar. Sahara Tent is located at Fortuna Hotel in the Bukit Bintang area. Hotel fortuna is located at 87, Jln Berangan, Off Jln Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur. If you are coming from JW Marriot/KL Plaza, at the trafficlight turn right towards Jalan Sultan Ismail. You will pass McDonalds and seven eleven and you will see RHB Bank at the end. Immediately after that turn left to a narrow road, Hotel Fortuna should be on your left. A little cocky hotel but put that aside, the decor of the restaurant and the ground floor of the hotel is clearly middle eastern.

The restaurant itself is small, it can accomodate about 60 diners inside and about 60 others out side. While I was there, not even half the restaurant was filled. The buffet spread was 100% middle eastern. There are about 30 middle eastern dishes to choose from starting from appetizers to dessert. I started off with my favourite dish the hommous (mashed chickpeas with olive oil) together with fatoush, falafel, baba ghanouj and a stack of lebanese bread. The hommous was perfectly done, you can feel the smooth textures and the taste. The samosa was also very delicious.

The main course was even more interesting, there was this dish called Makloubah which was rice cooked with pieces of chicken (something like briyani bukhara). The chicken was very nice and tender. There were also meatballs with beans in tomato sause, baked brinjal and a few gravy dishes. Of course middle eastern cusine would not be perfect without shish kebab, shish tawouk and roast lamb. The kebab was nice but not spectacular.

For dessert, I had a fruit platter, some middle eastern cookies and baklava which was sinfully sweet. Then there was this interesting milk pudding to top it off. Very nice.

Overall, for RM39 for the buffet it was a very good deal and i would recommend if you would like to try out middle eastern food. However, i was not fully satisfied. I have tasted better middle eastern cuisine. So the next day i head over to the Islamic Arts Museum Restaurant. Let's save that for another post.

Here's a review from FriedChillies.

KL's best kept secret

We had the cigar taste test at Rahsia Bistro & Wine Bar. Its a nice place located at a renovated bungalow in the middle of KL. Finding the place is easy, two left turns from Jalan Tun Razak, and you are able to reach there. Parking is ample by the road side, but i guess on weekends things would get a little crowded.

The place was dim lit which is perfect for a quiet dinner with friends and family. Dinner tables were scattered at the enterance hall and flowed over to the porch. We booked a nice private room located at the left wing of the restaurant. The room was red in color and can comfortably accomodate sixteen diners.

Dinner was brilliant. We started off with a starter platter which consist of Malinjo Crackers, Rahsia Satay, Seafood Pie and Top Hats. The satay was rather small, but its a starter, so i guess its OK. We then get to choose the main course which was limited to Fillet of Seabass, Secret Duck, Chicken and Mango Delight and Fillet Steak. I chose the Fillet of Seabass. It was good, perfectly deep fried fillet laid on potatoes and ratatouille, covered in butter sauce.
Dessert was crumble with apple & banana served with vanilla ice cream. For RM 60 per person it is well worth it.

Since i was starving not to mentioned occupied with conversation and cigars, I forgot to take pictures of the meal. All in all, it was a wonderful experience. At a rating of 4/5, I would definitely recommend this restaurant.

Bon Ton

Bon Ton is located at the junction of Jalan Stonor and Jalan Kia Peng, near KLCC. It is easily accessible and visible from the street. The restaurant is actually an renovated old colonial bungalow. I have this thing about colonial houses... The moment I saw the place I fell in love with it. The high ceiling and the architecture rocks. The entrance is small and warmly lit, it goes with the beige/peach paintworks. To the left is a few table and a reception counter. Further up, is the main dining area, with a few more tables and a cigar cabinet. Our private room is located at the right wing of the restaurant. We have to walk through a corridor, stacked with wine bottles. The walls were interestingly decorated with cigar box labels.

Now to the food. I ordered The Roasted Christmas Chicken Chicken with Apple Macadamia Stuffing, Shitake Cream Sauce + Plum Chutney. It was a jem. Perfectly roasted, the chicken was tender and juicy. The plum chutney was rather sour but it goes well with the chicken.

For dessert, I ordered the sinfully delicious Chocolate Mud Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream. It was "oh-so" yummy. The cake had a thin crust layer, followed by moist dark chocolate cake. It melts in your mouth, you can feel the crust, the texture of the cake and the chocolate sauce interwined with the vanilla ice cream. You'll be speechless for a few seconds... followed with an Mmmmmmmm...... If you dont believe me, ask Aiz :)
BTW it goes perfectly well with the Montecristo!

The rest of the guys; Tun ordered the same roast chicken, Sharizal ordered the Fillet of beef with sundried Cherry + Cabernet Wine Sauce, Open Ravioli with roasted mushroom + Creamed parsely. Cooked medium, the fillet was juicy.

Aiz Ordered the Nyonya Special which consist of Top Hats, NAsi Dagang, Chiken Curry Kapitan, Lamb Basil,Mango Kerabu Seafood satay and fried veggies.

Fahroe's dinner was Tortellini: Spinach + Cheese, Beef Bacon + Sausage served with roasted capsicum in Tomato Sauce.

Service was excellent although we have to wait quie sometime for our food to arrive. Maybe I was starving, but with good company, you can shrug it off easily.
Overall, it was a heavenly experience. A second visit is an absolute must!

Absolute Chillout

The 3rd Cigar Meet was a smash! The meet was held at Bon Ton last Friday, where we managed to get a private room. Sharizal was there first, followed by me and then Aiz, Tone and Fahroe.

Background music was a mix of jazz, classical and chillout lounge, provided by moi, le musical thinker :)
We started off with the jazzy tunes of John Scofield - Works For Me. Dinner was accompanied by tunes of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart from the Amadeus Sountrack and finally, the cigar chillout session hit the spot with Zero7 - Simple Things. For the finale, there were two bonus tracks from Hotel Costes: Quatre; Sous le Soleil (Cuba Acoustic Mix) by The Major Boys, and Café de Flore (Charles Webster's Latin Lovers Mix)

The food was marvellous... sinfully marvellous! I stuffed myself to the max i felt like a python. Let's save that for the next post shall we?

Good company, good music, good food, good cigar.... the only thing missing is the company of the opposite sex. :)
Other than that, what else could you ask for? Life is beautiful.

More pics available at Aiz's Visuals.

Of work and food... glorious food

Yeah... work have been taxing me last week. Still have to do some revision on the business plan draft. Other than that, some other clandestine assignment lands on my desk.
Other than work... what else...? Nothing much.

One thing i realised about being Malaysian; we consume a hell lot of food.
I was out with some university mates last weekend for a small gathering over "buka puasa". We had the gathering at Shangri-la Hotel.
Due to miscommunication we thought the buffet was going to be around RM 50++ (abt USD 13), but actually it was RM89++. (Still cheap by US standards).
But the amount of food was... a lot.. and i must say the food was good. We stayed on until about 10pm, and there was still enough food to feed a stable of horses.
Last night, i got an invitation to another restaurant. This time its Sahara Tent located in a small hotel in the city. The food was not that great but at least its Middle Eastern cuisine; something different for my tastbuds.
Ironic as it may seem, all hotels and restaurants in the city are having a feast of food this fasting month. And almost all need advance booking. You cant just walk in and order. A couple of week a go me and a good friend of mine was at this Middle eastern restaurant. We reached quiet early but we didnt make any booking. The restaurant was empty but all the tables were reserved. The waiter then turns around and said "Sorry sir, all tables are booked. Come after "Buka Puasa" and maybe there will be a table for you".
We had Thai food instead.

Next week is going to be one hell of a long weekend. With Eid coming around this Friday; and monday being a replacement holiday. I have applied leave for the whole of next week. Great!
Now I need to get some games to keep me occupied! Heard FIFA 2003 is already in the market.... :)
Oh yeah, i got myself two books:
Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land by David K. Shipler and Life of Pi by Yann Martel.
That should keep me occupied.

Finally, this is funny! Enjoy.

Listening to: Are you in?, Incubus