Estilo Spanish Tapas Bar and Charcoal Grill @ Publika, KL

Happy Chinese New Year!!! What better way to start off the lunar new year than with a post of one of my favourite restaurants! =D I'm a big fan of Spanish food and when I saw Estilo at Publika, I told myself I had to try it! It's located outside Publika, near Fat Boy's Burger Bar and I love its quirky decor especially its numerous hand painted ceramic plates.

Love their artwork

Assortment of cute plates

My favourite of the lot =)

Complimentary bread

They serve thick toasted bread slices for dipping into their signature creamy, garlicky, buttery aioli. Can't get enough of their bread =P

Spanish Tortilla (RM 9)

The thick omelette layered with potatoes and onions was all right but slightly too starchy even for a potato lover like me.

Patatas Bravas (RM 12)

Deep fried potatoes are absolutely the best! These have fluffy insides and went well with the Turkey Bacon Aioli which came with a dab of spicy sauce.

Chorizo (RM 18)

The paprika chorizos were really flavourful and confit potatoes were absolutely addictive as it's bite sized and slightly crispy on the outside yet mushy on the inside.

Calamares Fritos (RM 16)

These deep fried calamari were extremely crispy and done just right. Seems like they love aioli here, don't they?

Champinones (RM 14)

The sauteed mushrooms were awesome! The creamy sauce with a splash of wine was extremely good and went really well with bread.

Pinchos Morunos (RM 20)

These chargrilled chicken skewers were extremely juicy and tender. The orangey sauce - probably another variation of aioli - was really good too.

Paella Estilo - Large (RM 102)

Estillo's signature paella looks awesome and you can literally taste the rich stock coating the rice grains. They were very generous with the amount of chicken, chorizos and green beans which tasted nothing less than wonderful. The garlic and chilli infused olive oil also added another layer of taste on the paella, somewhat like what bird's eye chillies in soy sauce is to noodles.

Paella Mariscos (RM 58)

The Paella Mariscos has plenty of fresh mussels, fish, squid, clams and prawns. Similar to Paella Estilos, the rice is extremely flavourful. The single slice of lemon however did not seem sufficient for the entire pan.

Chorizo and Pineapple Paella Pan Pizza (RM 18)

I ordered this out of curiosity as I thought it was a Paella PanPizza. Turns out it's a PaellaPan (Normal) Pizza. Its base was the hard yet crispy type and really good. Although pineapples were not evident, its juices definitely seeped into the tomato base and lent it a nice sweet flavour.

I absolutely love the food at Estilo and can't wait to return for more as I only had nibbles of everything =( Surprisingly, it does not serve pork but everything tasted awesome! =D



PawPoints: 5 Paws
Pawket: Tomato


Estilo Spanish Tapas Bar and Charcoal Grill

No. 34, Level G2
Block C5, Publika Solaris Dutamas
Tel: 03 6203 9883
Daily: 11.30am - 11.30pm

Al-Amar Express @ Fahrenheit 88, KL

Al-Amar Express serves a mix of Arabian and Western cuisine. It is located outside Fahrenheit 88 and is the more affordable sister restaurant of Al-Amar Lebanese Cuisine.

Menu

Menu

Menu

Not bottomless unfortunately

Complimentary pita bread

L-R: Pastries (Lamb Sambousik, Kebbeh Kras, Spinach Fatayer),  Tabbouleh, Moutabal, Fattoush, Labneh

• Lamb Sambousik is like a mini minced lamb curry puff filled with fragrant spices.
• Kebbeh Kras is shaped like a meatball with crunchy pine nuts and minced beef, onion and bulgur wheat mixture.
• Spinach Fatayer had a nice zing of lemon to alleviate the taste of spinach.
• Tabbouleh is one of my favourites but stay away if you dislike parsley.
• Fattoush is another great salad and also one of my favourites as it has a variety of crunchy vegetables such as radish, cucumber and lettuce and is topped with crispy toasted pita bread.
• Not a big fan of pasty stuff but the Moutabal, which is mashed aubergine mixed with sesame seed paste, and Labneh, a type of Lebanese cream cheese, were creamy and decent. Next time I'll definitely order another side of Tabbouleh and Fattoush to replace these.

Pita bread topped with Fattoush and Tabbouleh

Roasted Chicken Sandwich (RM 17.90)

The Roasted Chicken Sandwich came with a juicy half chicken, roasted to perfection with super moist and tender meat, pickles and fries. We had plenty of pita bread to go with the chicken as well as a side of mayo. The thick cut fries were quite good too. Definitely for sharing.

See the huge chicken nestled within the pita bread

Al-Amar Steak Sandwich (RM 22.90)

The Al-Amar Steak Sandwich is like a panini with generous amounts of seared beef tenderloin, onions, capsicum and mushrooms, oozing with melty cheddar and mozzarella. The meat was not tough and tasted just like a Philly cheese steak. Definitely recommended.

Lots of steak

Al-Amar Express is definitely recommended with its quality food and generous portions. Next time I'll try the Shawarma which I love. The only grouse I have is that their non-automatic sliding glass door is too clean, hence I thought the door was already open and knocked into it with a resounding KA-THONG!!! =.=



PawPoints: 4 Paws
Pawket: Onion


Al-Amar Express
Lot G-44, Ground Floor
Fahrenheit 88
Tel: 03 2141 3814
Daily: 11am - 10pm

Beef Noodles @ Pasar Besar Seremban

En route to Melaka, we decided to stop by Seremban for brunch. I always wanted to try the sotong mihun but that stall is somehow always closed. Perhaps it does not open on weekends? Anyhow, the obvious choice was the famous beef boodles at Pasar Besar Seremban. Apparently there are a few beef noodle stalls at the market so you should look for the one bearing the number 748 =)

      

Stall 748

       

Beef Noodles (Dry) (RM 6)

       
The springy and thick noodles are coated in a thick beefy sauce with strong hints of grounded peanuts and pickled vegetables. JS liked it but I have to confess that the taste of the sauce did not quite agree with my tastebuds =.= I guess it takes some getting used to.

                 

Extra beefballs

         
I liked the beefballs though but the soup was rather average.
         
Not too bad but we probably will not detour to the market for a meal in the future.
       
     
PawPoints: 2 Paws
Pawket: Dough
                    
Beef Noodle

Stall 748, Pasar Besar Seremban

Hanare @ The Intermark, Kuala Lumpur

Happy New Year!!! I wanted to start the new year with a yummy review but unfortunately, the ones I currently have drafted are all disappointing. Since all posts are disappointing, I might as well start the new year with a review of my favourite cuisine which is Japanese ^_^ <yoshi!>

This review is on Hanare, one of the fine dining restaurants at Intermark. Having heard good reviews about this place, especially the weekend buffet (not always available), my friends and I decided to come here after work.

Elegant grey decor

Love the chopstick cover

L-R: Grilled salmon and ikura sushi (RM 35), California maki (RM 30)

Price is no doubt steep considering it is a fine dining restaurant but the makis were just average. The ingredients were fresh but the seaweed was a tad soggy.

Tendon (RM 30)

Being on a tight budget, I had the Tendon which was the cheapest don on the menu if you exclude the Ochazuke and plain udon. The assorted seafood were extremely crispy but being the scrooge that I am, I did not find it exceptionally out of this world compared to Tendons in other Japanese restaurants.

Anyway the point is come to Hanare only if you have extra cash to spare. Perhaps the sashimi and other higher end items will taste super duper amazing for the price you're paying.


PawPoints: 3 Paws
Pawket: Cheese


Hanare

Ground Floor, The Intermark
Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03 2164 2133
Daily: 12pm - 2.30pm, 6pm - 10.30pm