Will update soon -- stay tuned!!~

In one of my lazy spells because I have just insya'Allah fully recovered from an illness, so I have been really watching what I eat now. More vegetables, fruits and fish and less chicken, beef and lamb. Apparently also, for a healthy heart, one must concentrate on garlic (eaten raw), potatoes, and calcium.

Health is the most valuable asset one can ever have. What is even remotely enjoyable in this life if one does not have health? lets do something about it while we can, eat healthily and in moderation.

Until the next post amigos.

Alamanda Food Court: Mixed Rice (give it a try...)

Nadia. My best friend!

I am 99.8% back to normal now. After the terrible headaches and neck pain I have been going through for a while now, I am nearly recovered. Nadia took me to this traditional chinese doctor who did some chi-repairing, and I must say, he was excellent. I know that soon I will be completely recovered insyaÁllah, but I do not want to forget the resolutions I had made while sick. So note to future self: remember your promises!

After the visit to the chi-doc, we stopped by Alamanda for lunch. I have aspired to minimize processed foods and go for all natural. The Mixed Rice stall in Alamanda was a good start. By the by, the chi-doc told me to cut down on the following for good health: kangkung, long cabbage, cucumber, soft tofu, watermelons, pineapple, bananas, cempedak and nangka (jackfruit). The pineapple part just breaks my heart. 

Yes. All this was for RM9. And it was good.

I had the ikan masak lemak (nice), brocolli (nice) and sambal petai (wonderful). Nadia had pretty much the same. And since her plate was pretty much cleaned out after, I am guessing her choice of lauk was good too. For drinks, we had all pure and natural young coconut juice. That must be the best part of our meal. For RM3.80, it was refreshingly sweet and fresh. Awesome. Go for it for sure. My uncle said that if you selawat on it 3 times and drink it from the shell, it will neutralize any bad chi (ilmu hitam) anyone's ever done to you, insyaAllah. So,  skip the coca-cola okay. At least when you're in Alamanda. 

Nadia's

I wish all my blog-readers good health!

Alhamdulillah for good food and great friends and the health and the time to enjoy them.

Alamanda Food Court, 

Putrajaya

Cleanliness: B 

Food: B+

Price: ~RM10 per person including drinks 

Satisfaction Level: B++ 

Service: N/A 

Atmosphere: nice. but that's coz Alamanda's my second home.

Baskin Robbin's (one of the best ice-creameries out there)

Baskin Robbin's is one of the best, long-standing and creative makers of ice-cream out there. And if you're like me, you'd probably have a favourite old-time flavor. For me, it's always been Pralines and Cream. Always and forever. Ever and ever. From since I stumbled upon the little Baskin Robbin's place behind Vandy way back when. I would drop by with my backpack and order the Pralines and Cream for lunch with the Mint-Chocolate-Chip-flavored shake for to go.

So, these pictures are all me on my various excursions with Miza, Ning and Armand. And believe me, there have been numerous excursions because Alamanda has one pretty stall standing straight in my face as I exit the parking lot, with all the ice-cream cakes sitting nice and pretty towards me begging to be picked up. Almost like that annoying cat from Shrek.

 Okay, here's the deal with Baskins: all the flavours taste yummy except for Green Tea and Black Forest Cake. Green Tea ice-cream and doughnut and whatever food item out there that involves green tea in a form other than tea, is a gimmick to make you--the incredibly intelligent consumer--think healthy. Get over it strategic-marketing managers! We know that green tea is only good for when we're shocked into our 30's and socializing with health junkies. And Black Forest is old news since Red Velvet's debut, not to mention it tastes like a regular Wall's ice-cream you pick up at Petronas while filling up gas. Not bad, but not so great either.

So there you have it. If you would like to taste something new that's awesomely delicious, try the Orange Pound Perfection. I know it doesn't sound or look incredibly attractive but it's orange flavored ice-cream thrown in with pieces of orange peel and  pound cake and it's not as sweet as Bombshell Blondie, which, although tongue-blowing, is a little bit too sweet for health purposes, I thought.

Black Forest Cake.
NO.NO NO.
Go get a wall's for less.

Bombshell Blondie and
Mint Choc Chip. YES. But
Bombshell Blondie is very sweet.

Last but not least, don't forget to wear pink on Wednesdays to get discounts. Men, don't think they hate you. We realize pink is so over-rated but Pink is Baskin's Robbin's trademark color and besides, eating ice-cream will emasculate you anyway, so why not give in looking all graceful and lovely.

Baskin Robbins
Cleanliness: B
Food: A-
Price: ~RM5 per scoop
Satisfaction Level: A-
Service: B (sometimes these ice-cream people can be really slow~~)
Atmosphere: A

Pizza Hut (finally getting it right..)

Did Pizza Hut just sacked their last president and hired a female? Because the change in service and taste from my last order of pizza back then when dinosaurs still roamed the earth, is in one word -- astounding. (You can find me ranting on that in my Domino's post).

Super-supreme stuffed crust. Arrived HOT. 
Under 30 minutes. Triple YES's

I am still puzzled as to what possessed me to order Pizza Hut that fine day. Perhaps I thought Pizza Hut deserved a 6th chance at taste (yep, Pizza Hut has let me down 5 times in the past). Or maybe I was feeling like a stuffed-crust-pizza day and Dominos couldn't cook one up because Pizza Hut still had exclusive rights to  the patent. We shall never know shall we.

So I picked up my sticky smartphone (sticky because Armand's fingers have been all over it) and dialed the 1-300 number. I was put on hold for about 10 minutes listening to some cheesy commercial and nearly gave up when a very young-sounding dude yet to finish school finally picked up and took my order down.

Hawaian Supreme Stuffed Crust. A++

Ok, here's the first shocker: they got my pizzas correct. Wow. Under normal circumstances for most other restaurants, that would go without saying, of course. But for Pizza Hut whose customer reps and waitresses are perpetual trainees, this calls for some coca-cola popping and major fireworks. The last two orders I had made with Pizza Hut was totally messed up: I had ordered pan crust, they sent me hand-toss. I had ordered 2 large for RM40, they sent me 2 regulars charged at normal price. Eating at the restaurant was not such a great experience either. Either they mess up your order or the pizza took so long you'd wonder what they're really doing with the big oven in the kitchen (yes, I've worked at Pizza Hut before. Assistant manager mind you.)

The second shocker: it arrived quickly! The last time we ordered Pizza Hut, it arrived 2 hours and 45 minutes later. By that time, we had already given up and raided the fridge dry. But this time, it arrived within 30 minutes and here's the crazy part: your pizza in 30 mins or free pizza coupon right on the box. Well call me crazy! Domino's watch out! You now have valid competition. Pizza Hut has finally hired a brain with vision and is catching on fast.

But one must never get too excited too quickly. To test that the changes in Pizza Hut was permanent and not some freak in nature, I timidly tried my luck again when I visited my super-Opah in Teluk Intan last weekend (86 years old and still going strong! alhamdulillah). Yep, I was put on hold again for about 10 minutes, and I was beginning to suspect that they're brainwashing me with the Pizza Hut commercial (get away!). When the rep finally answered, I ordered the stuffed crusts again. The rep said Cheesy Lava and stuffed crust are the same. I don't think so but OK.  

The pizzas arrived 40 minutes later but apparently they do not have the free-pizza-if-late coupons in Teluk Intan. A bit surprised but I guess the area is full of elderlies who don't order much pizza anyway, unless their awesome grand-daughters come back for a visit.

Bottom-line: expect gradual changes with Pizza Hut. But they are on the right track. And, by the by, my grandmother asked me to bring along a guy next time I visit. Now I need to find the 1-300 number for it. A biodegradable specimen that comes with a late coupon would be perfect.

:P

Pizza Hut 

(1-300-882525) or at your local mall

Cleanliness: N/A

Food: A

Price: Go for 2 regulars for RM28 or 2 large for RM40. Then stuff-crust it. It saves a lot. The cust-rep won't do it for you (bum). You have to be smart about it.

Satisfaction level: A-

Service: B

Atmosphere: A++ eat with family 

posted from Bloggeroid

Beard Papa's (overpriced cream puffs)

Beard Papa--Auntie Anne's cousin--has this cream puff place right at the corner towards Jusco on the lower level of Mid Valley. And, the delicious smell that emanates from that place is almost as good as walking pass a Famous Amos cookie stall. I was actually on my way to get a box of Krispy Kreme donuts for the clan back at home, when I suddenly decided that perhaps Papa's Beard deserves a chance at stealing my heart (and stomach).  Bearded men are always so sexy. With the exception of Santa Claus. Gross.

The lady who was busy stuffing the cream into the puffs recommended I buy out the entire menu. Do I look like a food reviewer to you? I decided on 4 vanilla puffs and 2 chocolate ones. I'll get the Durian Puff and the Cream-filled Puffy Ring some other time when Papa grows a rocking kung-fu mustache. 

The box the puffs came in was a catchy bright red colour because of the Chinese New Year celebration. Very nice. The eco-friendly bag that fit the box like a glove was also quite cute. No wonder 6 puffs cost me some RM26. I wish I could eat the box and bag as well. I would rather exchange them with a couple more puffs. Puff. The word sounds cuter by the minute. 

Chocolate puff vs Vanilla puff. 2 -- 0
(p/s I liked Vanilla better)

Beard Papa's elaborate packaging.

The judges of Beard Papa's puffs are my mom, Armand and my sister Ocu. Here's what they said:

Ocu: The puffy bit doesn't taste like anything. The chocolate puff is better.

Armand: I like the chocolate puffs better.

My mom: You finished all the puffs!

There you have it. The puffs are good. But will I buy them again? NO. Taste and price does not balance out and it's time to give other puffs a chance.  But, I will take a big long whiff next time I pass them puffs again and recall the puffin' good memories.

Beard Papa

Midvalley, corner towards Jaya Jusco

Cleanliness: N/A

Food: B-

Price: RM26 set of 6 puffs

Satisfaction Level: B (presentation good)

Service: B

Atmosphere: N/A

Nyonya Colors (awesome food that's moderately priced--in KL)

We celebrated the year of the Dragon in Mid Valley with Mark Wahlberg and half of the KL population. And, for those of you who are movie-goers, Contraband, is an extremely violent movie. I was practically on the edge of my seat the entire two hours (wishing for it to be over). Trust the 18 rating given to the movie and leave your kids at home. Children should stick to Nat Geo and the History Channel.

Asam Laksa. YES. YES. Go for it.

Glutinous rice (pulut) with chicken curry.
YES. Ning says.

Since the movie knocked me cold somewhat, I let Ning pick the restaurant for lunch. Besides, it's not like I stuck her picture on that left wall for nothing--she does have a knack at choosing very good food. And once again, I must admit, I was impressed. The place we had lunch at was awesome, and to be honest, I wasn't even that hungry. The asam laksa was excellent. And for RM9.80 I thought it was worth every single penny: big pieces of succulent fish, thinly sliced pineapple (I am a self-proclaimed Pineapple Princess), a drizzle of otak udang and and just the right amount of mint leaves. Ning had the pulut with chicken curry. She said it was marvelous. Take her word for it. She is a loyal citizen of that mall.

So there you go. Nyonya Colors. My first ever favourite restaurant in Mid Valley. Before that, Tony Roma's had potential, but that place is too expensive for it's own good. Now until the next time Ning drags me to Mid Valley, I am going back to Alamanda. 

Nyonya Colors 

(in front of Subway) Mid Valley --there's a halal cert by the counter

Cleanliness: B+ (wasn't paying attention though, could be A)

Food: A

Price: ~RM11 excluding drinks

Satisfaction Level: A

Service: B (queue at the counter, they send your food to the table)

Atmosphere: B+ (packed midvalley style)

posted from Bloggeroid

Black Canyon (never judge a restaurant by its name~~)

Ning's frothy coffee. YES. YES

When I think Black Canyon, I think high, steep cliff and people plunging to their deaths. How about you? Is that why you've been avoiding that place all this time..? Huh? Huh?

Now the neurons in my brain have rewired to take on a different path. All I can think about when Black Canyon comes to mind, is the ultimate selection of coffee that puts Starbucks to shame, combined with --and here's the surprising part--Siamese cuisine. The reason it took a while for me to blog this one down is because I can't come up with enough English words to describe the dining experience without doing a cut and paste from the overwhelming Sup Ketin review. But I'm telling ya..the place was beyond our wildest expectations. Not that it was that wild. OK, just a little bit wild.

Spicy seafood salad with fresh lemongrass. YES YES YES

This was a Shima & Ningy Saturday session. After gawking over Tom Cruise like a couple of teenagers for two hours in Ghost Protocol, it was time for lunch and a spot of karaoke. Although, now that I am sitting comfortably in my reclining chair as I type this in, I think I am getting sick of karaoke. I'm going pro. 

Stir-fried prawn, chicken and cili with jasmine rice. YES

Here's that cili prawn and chicken again. You can get it on its own. YES.

My coffee in a glass boot. YES

I am just going to cut through the chase here. The coffee and desert selection --was more than words can say.  It had it's own menu book for it. Credits to Ning, she did a good job at choosing the stuff we ate that day. Her choice of coffee came with tea (would you believe it?) and these adorable little fish biscuits. And it was only RM6.50.  The stir-fried cilli of prawn & chicken, and the spicy seafood salad with lemongrass were both divine. The rice was jasmine, how cute (and delicious) is that? I never though Siam food could be so awesome. I had thought their greatest food creation was just Tom-Yam. And kerabu mangga. Apparently not.

You may now start looking at the pictures and start dribbling. The manager came by to see if we were OK. I promised her a good review of the restaurant. Promise delivered. Go people!

Sheemz's stamp of approval. Go!

Black Canyon, 

left side of Alamanda Foodcourt, Putrajaya

Cleanliness: A

Food: A

Price: ~RM20 per person including drinks.

Satisfaction Level: A 

Service: A

Atmosphere: A

Penang Village (good food, awful service)

Miza and her cendol bandung.
Seem familiar? YES

Yesterday and the day before I was sick. And the doctor said I needed to stay home and rest even though I looked pretty okay on the outside. So today, to get rid of that final piece of viral infection that was tensing my muscles, it was time to shop and review a restaurant. With Miza. And the place we chose was Penang Village.

The large crowd during lunch implied good food. So we were pretty confident this was going be a great review, and I could enthusiastically recommend this place to you guys, and all of you would go and rock Penang Village with your significant others  and babies.

The deco was nice, the chairs in the backroom where we sat ---awesomely comfortable; black leather with an armrest to one side, I was quite impressed. We sat down and the waiter, who was all smiles, presented us with two dog-eared menus that did not quite match the new deco. Never mind that, we enthusiastically scanned the entrees.

 I asked the waiter for the most-ordered dish. And he said kuew teow goreng. I ordered mine without the tauge (beansprouts) and prawns and Miza went for original recipe. We also ordered the Pie Tei for appetizer and two cendol syrups.

My kuew teow. Not pedas enough! 

Here's what happened:

Miza got her food first. Her plate was stained like it was not washed properly. Mine arrived about 10 minutes later. So by the time we ate, Miza's kuew teow must have cooled off already. 

The Pie Tei, although delicious, arrived with dirty spoons, so we used our hands.

My glass of water smelled used so I asked for a new one. (What did it smell like? air liur basi).

Miza's kuew teow. YES.

I had requested my kuew teow hot, but it did not have a single piece of cili in it, even though it originally said on the menu: chicken prawns, and cilis. (Chicken prawn must be some kind of prawn, because there was not a single piece of chicken in mine).

And my cendol syrup arrived just as we were leaving.

The dining experience fell so short of my expectations, it is affecting my opinion of the food as I write this. In comparison, Seri Penang in Cyberjaya had nice crisp menus, more dedicated waiters and  food presented on very clean dishes. Perhaps we just got unlucky and it was just not our day at Penang Village. Good thing there were lots to talk about.

Pei Tei. YES.

So in retrospect, next time we want nyonya food, you know where we're heading to right? Take a wild guess.

Penang Village, 
Alamanda, Putrajaya

Cleanliness: C (dishware dirty, awful)

Food: B+

Price: RM25 per pax including appetizer and cendol

Satisfaction level: C

Service: B+ (waiters were friendly)

Atmosphere: B (quite a good crowd, regardless)

posted from Bloggeroid

Dunkin' Donuts (not the best, but berry special :)

The dougnuts.

I guess Dunkin is not a guy. But a verb. Dunk em, dunk in coffee, dunkin' doughnuts. You feel the same way? I always pass by Dunkin donuts with one eye closed in Alamanda...nah...not desperate, but every single time I pass by the Dunkin donuts at Tol Sungai Besi, my car gets a life of its own, swerves to the left and parks itself right in front of the store. Darn it. I need a Smart Tag, that's what I need.

So this was one of those days. Went in. Ordered the doughnuts and got out. Placed doughnuts on passenger seat and took picture immediately because you never know how much will be left in the box when I reach Bangi. 

Lets elaborate.

Sheemz's Bistro (Nasi lemak Sabtu, all pure and natural~~)

Made in Malaysia

This entry is dedicated to all my family and friends away from home.. Just so that they finish whatever it is they're doing and come back to Malaysia soon because Malaysia got nasi lemak (and Malaysia rocks).

Intro: Its always easier to buy nasik lemak than to make 'em, because 10 nasi lemaks in Bangi will cost around RM25 (and that's if its coming from the market, not some fancy kopitiam)  and going to the market and buying stuff to cook nasi lemak for 10 people will cost around RM60. But nothing beats a home-cooked meal right? End of intro.

Here's my recipe. Remember to include lots of love and lots of smiles as you're cooking. The food you make kinda reflects what you're feeling (so eating out is the best option on that day you got the parking ticket). I really don't know how Gordon Ramsey gets away with edible food with all the kers words he throws around in his kitchen. At the rate he's going, his customers are probably chewing plastic and putting on artificial smiles cause they're on TV.

Ok. The ingredients. And the how.

For the rice. 

Here's the stuff you need for the rice. Rinse the rice three times as usual. Add filtered water and the coconut milk, ratio 1:1. Make a nice bow out of the pandan leaves and chuck them in with the thinly sliced ginger. Put in as many pandan leaves as you want. The more the merrier. Add a pinch of salt to taste. Not the whole bottle.

Here's the stuff you need for the sambal. This is crunchy sambal ikan bilis, so, deep fry the anchovies first till they are crunchy and then use the same oil to fry the cili paste (this is fresh cili gilling, no vinegar in it. But using only fresh cili's is okay too, in fact probably much healthier). Blend the cilis, onions and garlic with some water. 

(You only need very little garlic. 3 cloves is enough for I love you. 5 onions for I love you very much. And 14 big red cilis for I love you very much and insert any cheesy sentence here. )

That blob is gula melaka. Asam jawa
not in picture.

Just fry everything up and then chuck in a spoonful of gula melaka or regular sugar. Not too much. Just to get a nice color going. Once it is nice and bright red, squeeze in some asam jawa and add in half of the already fried anchovies. Finally, add some salt. Careful on the salt because the anchovies are salty already.

There's no belacan in my sambal although the traditional recipe calls for it. Without it the sambal tastes good already and nobody has ever said to me 'there's no belacan in your sambal' with a bored look on their face (usually they're very excited when they say it). Adding in belacan will probably give it an extra kick though (not the sambal, the resdung).

This is what you need for the condiments. Get your son to cut the cucumber (if you don't have one you can borrow mine) just so that it's all different shapes and sizes. And by the way, this is not just any cucumber. These are timun Jepun, politically known as gerkins. 

Gerkins, eggs and peanuts

In a different bowl, mix the peanuts up with few drops of oil and a pinch of salt and chuck them in the microwave for 10 minutes. Finally, wash, boil and peel the eggs. You can get your son to do that as well. He will love it. I personally love my eggs fried. But, from now on we're taking the healthy route.

The whole entire nasi lemak cooking process will take around 30 minutes. Stopping to take pictures adds on additional 10. My dad was so excited to see me take pictures as I cooked, he offered me his camera (technically it was my camera). I politely declined the offer.

Once you're done cooking, pile everything up on the kitchen table in pretty bowls. Cut some daun pisang from your neighbors backyard if you want that authentic nasi lomak feeling. Then, when everybody's sat down and ready to eat, cedok the rice so that its nice and hot~~

Bon apetite!!

posted from Bloggeroid