Al-Baraka :: Awesome ALGERIAN food

Nadia checking out menu!

I really wanted to get this down today, because it's the first place I have been to in ages that's (i) new and (ii) awesomely fantastic. Miza randomly picked it, with eye's half closed, and I just amiably went along without expecting much.

The menu looked pretty similar to the legendary Saba' restaurant --which I knew is Yemeni, but the walls at this restaurant were plastered with Algerian posters. And a quick chat with the owner at the counter confirmed it. It's all Algerian. 

Mandy Fish! Ha, you didn't think fish can mandi did you?! A!

Fish Kabsah! You can't get this in Saba'! A!

Miza ordered Lamb Kabsah and I ordered Fish Kabsah simply because I've never heard anything like it before. I don't know what Miza's dish tastes like but she said it was delicious. Mine certainly was definitely delicious. And we both couldn't stop complementing our own dishes as we ate, which was funny. Heee~~ It wasn't that we didn't offer each other our orders, it's just that lamb and fish don't mix well together in our (and your) stomachs. If you had both meats, the stomach juices will only process the simplest protein (in this case the fish), so you'd be left with the lamb in your gut for days, which in time turns to toxin. There. Healthy eating tip for ya. I learnt that at a make-up workshop which I attended some 4 years back. The speaker was a nutritionist who was 40 but looked like she was 25. But then again if I had read the eating habits of the Prophet (s.a.w), I'd have found that out sooner: he (s.a.w) never ate fish with meat. Not only for the meal, but the entire day. And he's (s.a.w) never had stomach problems his entire life.

I highly recommend the place. Seriously, it's as good as Saba'--perhaps even better. Will definitely be back and try the humus, insya'Allah. Nadia said she's coming next time. She was stuck in the ACP meeting all morning. Poor thing.

Al-Baraka
Domain, Cyberjaya

Cleanliness: B+
Food: A++ Kabsah's awesome
Price: ~RM15 including drinks
Satisfaction Level: A
Service: B+
Atmosphere: B+ (good crowd)

p/s the old pictures got wiped out and these are recent pictures when I went there with Nadia December 4th 2012!  

Secret Recipe: A Fish & Chippies Day

Kak Sarina and Miza waiting for our chippies

I sincerely miss my S2, I really do, and I am bummed that a few droplets of water by the sink drowned it and scrapped the warranty that came with it. We had some good times me and he. The Samsung service guy called me with awful news. Touchscreens are way to expensive to replace, you might as well get a new phone he says. Didn't he know my S2 is irreplaceble? 

But of course it is not, Allah just has better plans. He always does. Whenever He takes away something or --someone for that matter, He always replaces it with something/one even better. Every single time. Never fails. And now, I am using my mom's redundant Galaxy Tab. See. And by default every caller goes straight to speakerphone. Yay. Hands-free~~ No  more private phone calls. Whatsapp me ok people.

So now, I am looking at the picture folder I had downloaded into my PC just before my S2 succumbed to water. The pictures here were taken way back before Kak Sarina had her baby. There was a SALE at Mothercare's and Miza has a membership card. ____________________ .

We--out of nowehere--suddenly found ourselves at Secret Recipe Alamanda. And fish and chips, although fried, weren't soaked in MSG (I am an anti-MSG activist nowadays). Not to mention, fish and chips are so British, it brings back warm memories of cold winds, frozen puddles, hail stones and stiff jaws (stress from all that PhD write-up)....so we all of us ordered the same thing. Of course the size of the fish are like dwarfs compared to the gigantic pieces of fish they serve over there. But hey. It was delicious.



Random pic from Health magazine: salmon,
dark chocolate, berries and eggs are
good for you~~



From Umar: Allah's Messenger (s.a.w) said: "Eat together, and do not separate, for the blessing is in the company." Ibn Mäja

Alamanda has the best
Secret Recipe 


Cleanliness: A
Price: ~RM15
Satisfaction Level: B+
Service: B+
Atmosphere: B+

Verandah Cyberjaya -- an awesome birthday treat

This was the birthday treat Nadia took me to a day before my birthday. Alhamdulillah for another year on this earth, Allah's Kindness and Generosity knows no bounds. 

I didn't think I would even put this entry down, but I know Cyberjaya has very limited eating spaces that's buffet-style, so I am pretending I am doing everyone a favor here. Fret no more, this is one awesome restaurant to take that special someone on her birthday. For his birthday, there's always that mamak place in downtown Cyber that has killer roti canai and teh tarik**.

You wonder how I got these pictures down? I just breezed by with my Galaxy S2 (currently away at the Service Center) and snapped. The waiters obliged me by smiling at the camera. Unfortunately they didn't make it into the picture. 

If I am making your mouth water looking at these pictures and you found through google this place is so expensive it's not worth it, I am dreadfully sorry. Promise once I hit millionaire status and we're friends or at least good acquaintances, I'll take you here for your birthday, insya'Allah. It's just food anyway.

Thank you to Nadia for the special birthday treat. May Allah keep our friendship forever.

Sushi bar which I didn't manage
to try because I was so full

The cod in white sauce was heavenly
and reminded me of the UK..

And the Prophet (s.a.w) after eating would read:

اَلْحَمْدُ لله الَّذِى اَطْعَمَنَا وَسَقَانَا وَجَعَلَنَا مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِيْنَ
All praise be to Allah who gave us food and drink and made us among the Muslims.

                                                           

Verandah Restaurant, 

Cyberjaya View Lodge

Cleanliness: A
Food: A
Price: A++++
Satisfaction Level: A
Service: A
Atmosphere: A

**substitute the canai for capati for good health and the teh tarik with green tea, he'll thank you for it 20 years later.