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SurF tHis SitE RaNdoMly

Upcoming Trips

>> Thursday, October 29, 2009

Dear faithful readers,

Apologies for the delay in posting up blog posts. I've been really busy with work & travels as well. I'll keep this site updated with more info hopefully by next week! Stay tuned with PerutBesi!!

Travel dates
17 Oct: Cameron Highlands (TRAC MYF)
23-25 Oct: Penang (TRAC MYF)
30 Oct - 1 Nov: Kuching (Personal)
7 - 8 Nov: Johor Bahru (TRAC MYF)
13 - 15 Nov: Kuantan (Personal)

- Ruth

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Matsuba Japanese Restaurant

>> Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Date: 17 October 2009, Saturday
Venue: Matsuba Japanese Restaurant, Desa Sri Hartamas
Occasion: Dinner with Kenneth, Ling, & Theng
Overall comment: Everything from food to ambiance to price & service was moderately good.
Halal: No

On the same day of my day trip to Cameron Highlands, Kenneth was back for the weekend & asked for a meet-up. Tired, but having the knowledge that my good friend would love to meet up with his Miss Wong, I agreed to the meet-up & dinner.

I had quite a lot on my mind, but meeting up with some good friends was a good break off all the thinking. We did some reminiscing of the good old school days (it's like more than 8 years ago!) & had some good laughs together :)

We had a simple dinner at Matsuba Japanese Restaurant in Desa Sri Hartamas, which in my opinion was fairly good. It's not wow, for sure, but good enough to shut me up from making more complaints :P


The walkup to the restaurant

The restaurant isn't that large, but was spacious & comfortable for a meal with friends/family. Although it was a weekend, the restaurant was surprisingly quiet. Perhaps there are just too much competition around the area. With numerous Japanese restaurants in Desa Sri Hartamas, Solaris Mont Kiara around the corner, & happening Bangsar a stone's throw away, Matsuba sure needs to put in much effort to keep a steady flow of patrons into their grounds.


Cozy-looking Matsuba

My friends, especially Ling, finds it too difficult to understand why I need to spend so much time & effort in taking photos of food. To her, food's for consumption, not for posing & picture-taking. Hahaha...she'll try very hard to keep my hands off her food whenever she dines with me...so I only managed to get my hands on one of the dishes that Kenneth ordered + my own dish (Theng had the same thing as I had)...


Terriyaki Chicken
Quite nicely done :) It was a tad too salty for me though...

Tempura & Sushi Set
Ok, I've a really bad memory, so I can't recall what's the actual name of this dish. The tempura was actually quite nice. However, I felt that the sushi weren't top-notch...not VERY fresh...nope, not at all...

After dinner, we headed to Alexis@ BSC for dessert. I was too tired & too full to have anymore food, so the 3 of them had their drinks & cakes, while I joined them for fellowship. By the time I got home, it was midnight. Fuh...I was out from 6+am & spent almost 18 hours out of the house - awake! I was drop-dead tired...what a day...


Map to Matsuba Japanese Restaurant

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Matsuba Japanese Restaurant

No. 17 & 19, 1st Floor

Plaza Prisma Ville, Block B

Desa Sri Hartamas

50480 Kuala Lumpur

Wilayah Persekutuan.

Tel:
(+603) 6201 1100
Fax:
(+603) 6201 1100


Ratings:

Presentation: * * *
Price: * * *
Environment: * * *
Taste: * * *
Service: * * *


Overall




- Ruth

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Trip to Cameron Highlands

>> Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Date: 17 October 2009, Saturday
Venue: Cameron Highlands
Occasion: Day trip to check out the YLDP campsite, IJ Barre

It was quite a crazy day for me. I was up & running around to get stuff done from 6:45 a.m. til 12:00 a.m. the next day :S It was quite a tiring day. By the time I really got home, I was dead tired & just wanted to sleep; I didn't even feel like bathing...

James, Rach, Leej, Tim, & I left for Cameron Highlands to check out on the YLDP 2009 campsite. The journey took us roughly 3.5hours non-stop. Our main aim was to just check out the campsite, so we didn't exactly spend many hours there. All we did was to go around the campsite, have our lunch nearby, & headed back to PJ. It was rather tiring :S

Throughout the journey, I didn't really take that many photos nor did much, so here are some of the flower shots to share :)

Lovely flowers at the Convent school grounds:






Flowers at a nursery in Brinchang, on our way back to KL:







Fresh Chili

Bees at the Bee Farm


We had lunch at Downtown Cafe, a small eatery at the Tanah Rata town. We didn't know where to eat, where's not too expensive, & which place offers reasonably good food. While passing by the Downtown Cafe, I caught a glimpse of the cafe having quite a good crowd, so we decided to take our lunch there. It can't go THAT wrong when there's some crowd, can it?

Overall comment: Food was reasonably good - worth eating. The cafe was quite clean, neat, & cosy - a nice place to have a simple meal with family/friends. They serve all sorts of food from Western to Asian to even steamboat! Price-wise, I don't think it's very expensive though no doubt it's on an above-average price range.


Note: Prices of food are just an approximate as I can't recall accurately.





Mushroom soup (RM3.50/bowl)
Too diluted to be "cream" of mushroom. According to our dear friend, chef James, the soup was SO Campbell - straight from the can, & not some home-made mushroom soup...

Chilled Strawberry Drink (RM6.00/glass)
A 'lil over-priced, right? Nothing to shout about...taste cordial-ish...

Strawberry Tea (RM2.50/cup)

It's like the usual Lipton/Boh tea with strawberry fragrance...hahaha...ok-lah. Just for fun :P

Herbal Duck Mee Suah (RM7.50/bowl)

Not too bad. It would taste better if there were more herbs. The mee suah was just nice - not too soft. The duck pieces was alright; not tough & still has an aromatic duck taste. The greens were of course good since we were in Cameron Highlands - fresh & crispy :)

Fried Kuey Teow with Venison, Ginger, & Spring Onions (RM9.50/serving)
Quite fragrant :) I kinda enjoyed the taste of the fried kuey teow with the venison (deer meat). It wasn't too oily, but it wasn't too dry as well. The amount of egg, in my opinion was just right. At least in a plate of fried kuey teow, you can taste the fried egg - it's very important to me!

Downtown Chicken Chop (RM12.00/serving)
Crispy fried chicken chop with Downtown Cafe's home-made sauce. The sauce, if I can recall correctly, has a tangy taste as well as a very "Chinese touch" to it. Not too bad la :)

Honey Grilled Chicken Chop (RM12.00/serving)
Expect the piece of breast meat to be a 'lil dry & tough; unlike the Downtown Chicken Chop, which is the chicken thigh part. This is a very simple style of a chicken chop & if you're one who is into something very flavourful, this may not be "the thing" for you.

Mixed Grill (RM19.00/serving)
There's a piece of lamb, a piece of beef, a chicken sausage, & a sunny-side-up fried egg. This platter is enough to keep you full 'til the next meal. The beef was exceptionally tender, even better than the lamb, to our surprise!

Thinking that the day would end after the Cameron Highlands trip was just a hallucination for me. I ended up meeting with Kenneth, Ling, & Theng for dinner & catch-up since Kenneth was back in town for the weekend...oh, the tired me...


Downtown Cafe
41, Jalan Besar

Tanah Rata

39000 Cameron Highlands

Pahang Darul Makmur.

Tel:
(+605) 4911419


Ratings:

Presentation: * * *
Price: * * *
Environment: * * * 1/2
Taste: * * *
Service: * * *


Overall




- Ruth

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Asian Food Channel's Nigella Online Contest

>> Thursday, October 22, 2009

The Asian Food Channel (AFC) is launching an online contest with Nigella for the duration, starting from 18 Oct until 18 Nov, and for Malaysia, Alice George Communication, a PR, communication & event counsel company has requested for some of us bloggers to place this notice in our blog. Here it goes:

*** start of notice ***

ASIAN FOOD CHANNEL'S NIGELLA ONLINE CONTEST



There's no excuse not to unleash your inner Domestic Goddess like Nigella Lawson! Now’s your chance to cook up a storm with Nigella's recipes of tantalizing treats complete with AFC collectables!

Two lucky winners from Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines each will walk away with a Nigella Express cookbook; an exclusive set of Asian Food Channel collectables, which comprises of an apron, a set of coasters, a notebook for your recipes all in an eco-friendly green bag!*

Fuel your thinking caps by answering the following question and you can start your dream of becoming your own Kitchen Goddess like Nigella!

Tell us about your favourite desserts and why it excites you!
The most creative and unique answer wins!

Please log on to : http://www.asianfoodchannel.com/nigellacontest

The site will be live on 18 Oct, with the contest ending 18 November.

*Terms and Conditions apply


*** end of notice ***

- Ruth

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Review: Croatian Cuisine @ Dubrovnik

>> Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Date: 14 October 2009, Wednesday
Venue: Dubrovnik Croatian Cuisine, Solaris Mont Kiara
Occasion: Food tasting
Overall comment: Lovely ambiance, interesting & delicious food, & friendly service. The price may be slightly high, but for the quality that you get, it's worth paying the price to try out something different :)
Halal: No


George Bernard Shaw once said "Those who seek paradise on Earth should come to Dubrovnik and see Dubrovnik", as well as, famously, describing it as "the pearl of the Adriatic".

"Dub- what?" Haven't heard of that word...? Don't even know what it is? Haha...for a person like myself who isn't very "geographically equipped", those were my 1st few thoughts. I don't know "the world" out of Asia! *sigh* I need to get out of Asia...anyone willing to sponsor my travel expenses? :D *sits & hopes*



"Dubrovnik, is a Croatian city on the Adriatic Sea coast in the extreme south of Dalmatia, positioned at the terminal end of the Isthmus of Dubrovnik. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Adriatic, a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva county. Its population was 43,770 in 2001 down from 49,728 in 1991. In 1979, the city of Dubrovnik joined the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites." - taken from Wikipedia

By just browsing at photos of Dubrovnik, I felt the madness within me, working out some crazy plan to pack my bag, purchase a plane ticket, & be on my way to Dubrovnik. Bummer. I need the cash & time! *pout*



Since I don't have such amount of cash nor do I have the time to travel to such a 'far-away land', I was exceptionally delighted & thankful to be invited by Dubrovnik Croatian Cuisine Restaurant, through Alice George, their PR Agency, for a food tasting event cum sumptuous dinner! *drools in anticipation* I would also like to extend my thanks to Jek Tan & Lisa Lim from theqguides.com for extending the invitation to a bunch of us food bloggers :) Truly, without these lovely people, PerutBesi may still be roaming around on her own without meeting any foodies like herself & enjoying meal after meal with a group of food enthusiasts! :D *joy joy*

PerutBesi made it to Dubrovnik! ... at Solaris Mont Kiara :D


Believe it or not, it's my 1st time at Solaris Mont Kiara *pai se* I haven't traveled so far & deep into Mont Kiara, so when I got there at last, I was "wow-ed" by the development that has taken place! It's a whole new city tucked inside Mont Kiara area!! *wheeeeee* I'm a "kampung girl" :D I didn't find the need to drive all the way from Shah Alam or Cyberjaya alone or just to meet up with friends. Perhaps you could say that I was just too lazy...hahaha...not last week ;)


Inside Dubrovnik Restaurant

The Dubrovnik Restaurant was very nicely designed. It's simple, neat, & has a cosy-homey feeling. The restaurant's owner, Dina Djumic (also the chef's daughter), was there to greet us that evening, alongside Rahayu & Alice George herself from the Alice George Communications. It was a pleasure meeting them & some new faces as well!


Stairway to the dining area upstairs

Our dining table....wah.....

Some excellent chef-selected wine, introduced to the guests

Dubrovnik's Menu


Mocktails & Cocktails
Note: Mocktails (M), Cocktails (C). All drinks are labeled from left to right.
(back row): Cranberry Palmer (M), Malibu Surf (C), Peacharita Croatia (C), Tito's Foo Foo Drink (C)
(middle row): Croatian Limoncello Margarita (C), Blueberry Smoothies (M), Ananas Refresher (M)
(front row): Macha Soy Milk Blended (M), Adriatic Mudslide (C), Mummy's Hope (M)

We were given a straw each to try out the drinks. A rather strange way of communal drink-tasting. I couldn't really taste the uniqueness of each drink as the same straw goes into every glass & is passed round the table & tried by almost 20 people. Feels quite eeky actually...hahaha... all I could recall is that the Malibu Surf tasted bubblegum-ish, the Macha Soy Milk Blended tasted bland & green, the Croatian Limoncello Margarita tasted like lemonade, & the Adriatic Mudslide tasted like chocolate drink with some added alcohol. Erm... I really can't give any proper comments since I didn't really taste each drink to its fullest.

We were very fortunate to have Dina introducing the dishes & giving a short introduction of the restaurant before the wonderful dinner spread begun.



Some of the food bloggers
Bok from Taufulou, Becky from The Nomad Gourmand, May from Cumi dan Ciki. It was my 1st time meeting taufulou & ciki! *happy*

Here comes dinner! *drumrolls*


Prawn Orzo
Note: New dish yet to be placed into the menu
Nope, this is NOT Risotto. That was my 1st impression 'til Dina told us that it was orzo, rice-shaped pasta!! *yums* I love pasta & the texture of orzo pasta is indescribable... it's certainly not like macaroni nor spaghetti. Very unique. The prawns accompanying the pasta were fresh & I luuurrve the taste of the tomato-based sauce - not too sour, not too sweet, slightly salty - just delicious. Dubrovnik should put this up on their menu!!...and I need to hunt for orzo pasta from the supermarkets! *wheeee* (p/s: I just found out that there's such a thing as 'rainbow orzo pasta'! I must find it!)

Aiyo...blogging this makes me SO hungry lah.... :( how nice if I have some good food & good company for dinner tonight....



Spaghetti ala Buzara
Alike the spaghetti aglio olio, this pasta is a lighter pasta style from the Prawn Orzo above. Simple pasta with olive oil, chopped parsley, chopped garlic, prawns, & white wine. The taste was good - light & "easy to eat". I still prefer the Prawn Orzo though...hahaha...

Croatian Side Dish: Cream Spinach
The texture of this dish is like the mashed potato - thick & creamy. I kinda liked it. It's supposed to go well with meat.

Side Dish: Sautéed Mushrooms
I love mushrooms, cooked in any form & style. So this dish was pleasing to me, though it's a very simple dish. I enjoy the texture of the mushrooms - "springy" :D

Baked Potatoes in their Jacket with Cheese & Spices
The potatoes were so well baked til the cheese toppings were crispy & tasted like shrimp-shells to me!! *lol* Just imagine the fragrance of the cheese topping - too delicious 'til it caused PerutBesi to be 'hallucinated'... potatoes, cheese, & me = happy :D

Lamb Peka
This is a Croatian gourmet meat dish, where the lamb is prepared under the baking bell with open fire & fresh young meat. "Peka is a domed clay or metal pot placed in an open hearth and heaped with hot coals. Concentrating flavors and aromas under its top, the peka produces exquisitely savoury dishes. It is delicious way to cook meet, poultry, seafood and even great testing bread. Fresh young meat and Mediterranean herbs give this dish ancient flavour of distinguished beauty and simplicity. This dish is the most appreciated meat dish in Dalmatia region." - taken from sinisabornic.com

Sauteed Mushrooms with Greens [I think it's spinach]
I enjoy mushrooms & veggie. This dish was more than welcomed on a table filled with meat dishes!

Mini Lamb Burgers
Juicy lamb paté tucked into bite-size home-made burger buns. The unique touch on this dish was that each lamb paté contains "da bomb"/gem - feta cheese! I felt that my burger was slightly salty, but FBB loved his & thought it tasted really good!

Check out the "treasure" in the burger

Lamb Goulash with Cheese
To some, it's lamb, to others it's beef - which is which, I really have no idea as the smell & taste of the cheese over-powered the meat :D I like this dish (maybe it's because I love cheese), but it's certainly a very rich dish & could only be taken in small mouthfuls.

After a full-fledged Croatian dinner, it was time for dessert. I was very full by the time dinner came to an end. Dessert was nevertheless something that we looked forward to having :) The chef himself came up to prepare the dessert right in front of us. Ah, you could just imagine the excitement that each foodie has upon seeing the chef walk up to the dining area :D *clap clap clap in excitement*

Enthusiastic foodies
(L-R): thenomadgourmand, bangsar-babe, cumidanciki, yatz (in red shirt), taufulou (in light yellow long-sleeve shirt), super wilson (in front of taufulou).

Father & Daughter partnership

Chef preparing the dessert, Crepe Suzette
Large amount of butter, sugar, orange juice, loads of orange rind, & generous amount of Cointreau and Brandy added into the orange sauce to give the dessert a "kick". Yums! I'm sure this is very fattening considering the amount of butter & sugar used for the sauce :S


Dessert: Crêpe Suzette
A lovely dessert to end the night on a "high" note ;)

I'll surely want to pop by the restaurant again. Prices of food may be slightly higher than other places, but hey, where else can you find authentic Croatian food in KL/PJ? When there's such golden opportunity to indulge in some rich Croatian delights right in KL itself, seize the opportunity lah... ;)


Map to Dubrovnik Croatian Cuisine Restaurant

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Dubrovnik Croatian Cuisine Restaurant

J-0G-14, Solaris Mont Kiara
#2, Jalan Solaris

50480 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel:
(+603) 6203 6780
Fax:
(+603) 6203 6780
Email:
ddjumic[at]gmail[dot]com (Dina Djumic)
Website:
http://www.blogger.com/www.dubrovnikrestaurantkl.com
Note:
The restaurant is opposite Starbucks & is on your right as you enter Jalan Solaris.


Ratings:

Presentation: * * * *
Price: * * *
Environment: * * * 1/2
Taste: * * * 1/2
Service: * * * 1/2


Overall:





- Ruth

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