Tedboy Bakery @ Bangsar, KL

A short review on my birthday cake from Tedboy, one of the many bakeries in Bangsar. Aside from cakes, they also have a variety of mini pastries and the usual breads.

Tiramisu

The Tiramisu had many light and airy cheesy layers, topped with liberal dusting of cocoa powder and blobs of gooey dark chocolate.  I'm definitely not an expert on Tiramisu as I usually find them average tasting considering I'm not one of those who have an extra stomach for desserts but I really liked this version from Tedboy a lot!

You can even order their cakes online. Check out their menu at their website below.

http://www.tedboy.com/home

PawPoints: 5 Paws

Tedboy Bakery

10 Jalan Telawi 4

Bangsar Baru

Tel: 03 2202 1312

Sanbanto @ SS2, PJ

We first tried Sanbanto SS2 a few years ago when porky restaurants were scarce and thought it a very good concept with good food to boot. We recently made another visit to its Bangsar outlet which is located in the row of shophouses behind TMC.

       

*squeal*

   

Shop Front

        

Interior

      

Menu

       

Anatomy of the pig

         

Tonkatsu (RM 21)

     
I had the deep fried bread pork cutlet which came with tonkatsu sauce, side salad and potato salad. It was actually not too bad as the meat was quite flavourful. The only downside is the panko coating is not super crispy and a wee tiny bit dry. The potato salad was creamy and crunchy with lots of cucumber and carrot strips.

      

Tonkatsu cross section

        

Classic Carbonara (RM 23)

         
The Classic Carbonara was good too with al-dente spaghetti coated in thick creamy carbonara. The plus point is that this is a non-halal place with real bacon topping the noodles.
               
Quite a nice cosy place for an average priced meal. However since the Bangsar outlet has shut down (yes, we are quite backed up on posts =.=), I'll provide the address of the SS2 branch.
         
         
PawPoints: 3 Paws
Pawket: Tomato
                     
       
Sanbanto

32 Jalan SS2/63

Petaling Jaya
Tel: 03 7876 1728
Tue - Sun: 11.30am - 3pm, 6pm - 10pm

Ben's General Food Store @ Bangsar Village 1, KL

Yet another brainchild of Ben's Independent Grocer (BIG) Group, this restaurant/ deli/ grocer specialises in pizzas.
       

Minimalist sign

       

Menu

        

Top: Caesar Salad (RM 11.90), Bottom: Marinated Button Mushrooms (RM 11.90)

     
As usual, fantastic innovative salads but somehow I just can't quite get my head round barley as a salad ingredient. Feels like it belongs in liquidy form more =P
         

Orecchiette Pasta (RM 11.90)

     
This salad took some getting used to for me. The rocket was pungent and the pasta combo had the earthy, olive-y taste as the only binder was olive oil. And I never liked peas > . > I wouldn't recommend this unless you like eating healthy greens...
         

Breakfast Pizza (RM 19.90)

     
This crispy pizza was yummy with breakfast ingredients heaped on it. The runny yolk and tomato sauce slathering went extremely well with the beef bacon and chicken sausage bits. One of my favourites along with the salmon pizza below.
         

Funghi Pizza (RM 22.90)

     
The Funghi Pizza had a slightly earthy taste due to the use of truffle oil and wild mushrooms as toppings which melted in the mouth with the mascarpone. I think it's good even though I'm not a big fan of the strong earthy taste.
       

Salmone E Spinaci Pizza (RM 24.90)

     
Another of my favourites, this is a melt in your mouth pizza due to the gooey mascarpone and I particularly like how the flavours of the cured salmon, spinach, and dill as well as a squeeze of lemon just come together effortlessly.

         

Il Carnivore Pizza (RM 24.90)

       
Pizzas with meat just can't go wrong so it's no surprise that this one laden with beef pepperoni, beef bacon, chicken cheese sausage and lamb chorizo on a base of tomatoes and mozarella does not fall short of expectations.

      

Pescatora Pizza (RM 29.90)

       
The mixed seafood pizza which contains mussels, shrimp and squid was good but nothing outstanding.

       

Peach Cobbler Ala Mode (RM 9.90)

       
The peach cobbler has a subtle peach flavour (so obvious but what else am I supposed to say?) and the accompanying vanilla ice-cream makes it taste even better.

       

Classic Chocolate Cake Ala Mode (RM 10.90)

       
Fantastic moist chocolate cake covered in dark chocolate sauce from BIG (it's available at Plan B too). Was awesome with the vanilla ice-cream.
     
I don't like the metal tins in which the pizzas come though...they have an uneven base which makes it difficult to slice through the pizza. The pizzas themselves are quite good and I like the wide variety offered here that is not too common in other shops.
     

      

PawPoints: 4 Paws
Pawket: Tomato

     
   
Ben's General Food Store
G17, Ground Floor
Bangsar Village 1
Tel: 03 2284 8790
Daily: 10am - 10pm

Delicious @ Bangsar Village II

I'm pretty sure everyone has heard of Delicious, the eatery that most likely sparked the change in the eating habits of Malaysians. All of a sudden, dozens of cafe-style eateries serving light Western meals and simple, comfort food popped up across the Klang Valley. But since most people are familiar with its menu, I'll just showcase my favourite that I always order when I frequent Delicious =)

     

Spicy Seafood Spaghettini (RM 25.90)

   
I used to get this confused with the Seafood Linguine but that is a heavy version with thick, sundried tomato sauce and lots of cheese. This Spicy Seafood Spaghettini is very light and refreshing on the palate. It consists of spaghetti's baby sister tossed in oil, chilli flakes and coriander - my favourite combination =D Best of all, it comes with lots of squid and prawns of decent size. A squeeze of lemon and liberal sprinkling of ground black pepper immediately brings the flavour of the dish to another level. 

    

    

PawPoints: 5 Paws

Pawket: Tomato

    

Delicious

Lot GF-1, Ground Floor
Bangsar Village II
Tel: 03 2287 1554
Mon - Fri: 11am - 12am
Sat, Sun and Public Holidays: 9am - 12am

El Meson Spanish Restaurant & Tapas Bar @ Bangsar, KL

I had never thought of stepping foot into El Meson as it looked quite posh and therefore must be expensive since it is located in Bangsar so I was really happy to find that there was a non-halal breakfast offer on Groupon that I snapped it up before you can say "Err...".

     

El Meson

       

Shop Front

     

Cool artwork

       
Love this artwork displayed on the wall, really brought out the bull in the picture. The wall was also adorned with a grid of block prints which I found really nice.

       

Love the ceramic-tiled table!

       
Some of the tables were made of smooth dark wood whereas others had an inlay of beautiful ceramic tiles with a Spanish feel.

Another sign outside the shop

Yet another array of beautiful ceramic tiles proclaiming the shop's name by the pavement.

     

Drinks Menu

     

Breakfast Menu

      
Aside from the Breakfast like a King meal which we had, the other breakfast options included Huevos Revueltos, Eggs Benedict, Eggs on Toast and Toast with Butter and Preserves.

     

Breakfast like a King with Streaky Bacon and Sunny Side Up (RM 25)

       
This was my Breakfast like a Queen =D It came with two sunny side up eggs, homemade pork sausage, two strips of streaky bacon, a rather flat rectangular hash brown, baked beans, sauteed mushrooms and wonderfully toasted bread with butter on top.
    

• The eggs were fried just nice with still-oozy yolks.
• Streaky bacon strips were really good with crispy fatty bits.
• Homemade pork sausage was quite compact and flavourful and the insides were moist and juicy...reminded me of the awesome pork sausages in UK =D
• The hash brown was good and over here at El Meson, it is not fried to a crisp so it was still a bit wobbly even though it's flat and has been fried. On our 2nd visit, it was exactly like McDonald's crispy version and I was one happy kid =D
• Baked beans were...well, baked beans.
• The sauteed mushrooms were excellent but the portion was absolutely minuscule =.=
• Ooo the toasted bread was absolutely wonderful! The bread was quite compact and was toasted to perfection with crispy, crusty browned edges. It was an awesome accompaniment to the eggs and beans and sausage. If they had given me more slices, I would have gladly polished them off. Even now, I'm still reminiscing about the amazing toasts <drools>

Final verdict...absolutely satisfying! Would definitely return again and again for the affordable yet very yummy breakfast set.
       

Breakfast like a King with Back Bacon and Scrambled Egg (RM 25)

       
JS also had the Breakfast like a King but he ordered scrambled eggs and back bacon instead. As you can see the scrambled eggs were extremely good as they were moist and eggy and yolky. The scrambled eggs are definitely worth ordering.

      

Complimentary bread basket with garlic butter

     
When we returned to El Meson for a separate lunch session, we were served a complimentary bread basket. This time the slices of bread were just warmed through and not as good as the breakfast toasts in my opinion. The melted (liquidy but still solid) butter had a strong garlicky flavour.

     

Mushroom Soup

     
The Mushroom Soup was part of the Executive Set Lunch and was served in a black ceramic bowl which contrasted nicely with its milky colour and the sprinkled grounded black pepper. The soup which was also drizzled with a round of olive oil was extremely creamy, well-blended, thick and smooth. The bread went extremely well with the hot soup.

     

Executive Set Lunch - The Ultimate Pork Burger (RM 35)

       
The Ultimate Pork Burger is definitely the ultimate pork burger. Served with a rather pathetic piece of lettuce and crispy roast potatoes, the juicy pork burger is topped with mushrooms, caramelised onions and bacon. The sesame seed bun was fantastic with butter slathered on one side and toasted - this marks the first time I've finished the whole bun of a gourmet burger.
     
The compact and juicy pork patty topped with melted cheese was definitely the best both JS and I had ever tasted and currently edged out all other gourmet pork burgers we've tried by a huge margin. The bacon pieces on top were good although I prefer mine to be grilled to a crisp.
   
The homemade roast potato cubes were excellent, crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Very addictive, I might add.

   

Paella Valenciana (RM 27)

     
As the paella orders in the main menu are usually for 2 people or more, we were surprised to see a paella option in the lunch menu for 1 person hence we ordered it in an instant. The Paella Valenciana consists of short grain Spanish rice slow-cooked with chicken, chorizo, pork and green beans in a hearty and rich chicken stock for approximately half an hour.
    
The paella is really moist and flavourful. My favourite bits were the rice and green beans =P Perhaps I was full from the Ultimate Pork Burger so I didn't find the chicken and chorizo particularly appealing. JS thinks they are good (as he does every dish <whistle>) but I'm sure they are as the chicken is not dry and the chorizo is juicy.
    
I noticed service isn't very good though. The waiters and waitresses somehow can never spot me waving for them and a request for refill of a glass of water takes ages to materialise =.= But all in all, El Meson is really worth a visit. Try to come during lunch as the meals are slightly cheaper or if you're an English breakfast person like me, you definitely have to make a trip here before 11am =)
    
P/S: Wow I just found out the last 4 digits of their telephone number is the same as my car's license plate! Mr El Meson, if you're reading this, can I get a discount please? <big puppydog eyes>
  

PawPoints: 4 Paws

Pawket: Tomato

    
El Meson Spanish Restaurant & Tapas Bar

61-63, Jalan Telawi 3
Bangsar
Tel: 03 2282 8290
Mon - Fri: 11am - 11pm
Sat - Sun: 8am - 11pm

Plan B @ Bangsar Village 1, KL

Another crowd favourite that took us a little longer than usual to blog about, Plan B is part of the BIG group which has a fantastic chain of restaurants serving quality light-tasting food, a much welcomed change from the heavy Western meals that we are accustomed to over the last decade.

  

Moroccan Lamb Meatballs (RM 22)

   
The Moroccan Lamb Meatballs is paired with spaghettini coated in a thick smoky tomato sauce with eggplant. The huge lamb meatballs were very aromatic and well-spiced. I had this on two visits and my grouse is on the 2nd visit, there was so much oil in the sauce that when I was done with the dish, the oil covered at least half the plate =.= Since the dish was prepared well on my 1st visit, I'll close an eye to this and recommend you try it. People averse to the gamey smell of lamb may want to opt for another dish.

   

Chicken Burger (RM 23)

    
The Chicken Burger is a healthy option with a slab of lightly grilled chicken breast smothered in herb mayo and avocado and feta mash. The black and white sesame seed dotted bun is layered with lettuce, tomatoes and extremely crispy turkey bacon. There is a side salad and sweet potato crisps.
 
JS enjoyed the burger as the chicken was not dry and the light flavour was well complemented by the herb mayo and avocade and feta mash. My favourite bit of the burger was, of course, the turkey bacon which was as crispy as it looked and tasted exactly like pork bacon =D

 

B's Chocolate Cake (RM 11)

    
To rid my tongue of the oily pasta, we ordered B's Chocolate Cake. What a big portion huh? I never expected THREE slices (constitutes as one serving) of moist chocolate cake to be served. The chocolatey goodness was coated with even more liquid chocolate goodness in the form of a thick chocolate sauce and went extremely well with the vanilla ice-cream. So sinful but so yummy!
  
I tried the Prime Beef Pie (RM 22) on an earlier visit which had wagyu chunks and button mushrooms encased in a puff pastry and served with a side salad. The beef was tender and the pastry was good to mop up the leftover beefy onion-y gravy. It was a tad too salty though.
 
As everyone already know, Plan B is a good place to hang out and chill with your friends and catch up whether over drinks and dessert or yummy meals.
 
PawPoints: 4 Paws
Pawket: Tomato

  
http://www.thebiggroup.co/planb/
  

Plan B

G5, Ground Floor
Bangsar Village 1

Tel: 03 2287 2630
Daily: 8am - 1am

Opus Bistro @ Jalan Bangkung, Bangsar

Milkadeal had a too-good-to-miss deal for Opus and we quickly snapped up the vouchers after seeing this restaurant when we dined at Leonardo's. It is advisable to make a reservation before you go as the restaurant is a little small and you will not believe the amount of people dining there even on Sunday night. 

Menu

Table Decor

 Very unique salt and pepper shakers. Maybe I should start a collection... 

Mini Bar + Cake Display

Apart from the house desserts listed in the menu, there is a display shelf offering delicious cakes from Just Heavenly.

Wine selection

Complimentary starter

As usual, a bread basket and olive oil-balsamic vinegar dip were served. I did not particularly fancy the bread at Opus as they were only slightly warmed but not toasted; hence the bread was a little cold, soft and rather plain - it did not have the heavenly bread smell. JS liked it this way though. Perhaps I should have asked them to toast the bread for me?
 

We also had the house red and white wine which came as part of the meal deal. Not going to review it as we know nothing about wine tasting =P 

Linguini Aglio Olio with Smoked Duck

The linguini perfectly imbibed the flavours of smoked duck tossed in olive oil. A very light dish with tender duck slices.

Spaghetti alla Opus

This is the usual seafood marinara which is the house specialty. The assortment of seafood in the dish was abundant and huge in size. Very fresh prawns, mussels and clams. The diced tomatoes and gravy were very good with the spaghetti. I suspect they must have splashed over more olive oil after the dish has been completed ala chefs on AFC as you can see oil pockets in the sauce after you have finished the pasta. 

Death by Chocolate (RM 13)

For dessert, we had a slice of Death by Chocolate from Just Heavenly. As its name implies, it is pure chocolatey goodness with extremely gooey chocolate mousse cake topped with extremely rich dark chocolate ganache. This is definitely not an option for non-chocolate lovers and those in a hurry as the chocolate is so rich that you just have to simply savour each and every bite and let the chocolate melt in your mouth slowly.

Prices are a little steep but we will definitely be back to Opus!

PawPoints: 4 Paws
Pawket: Olive

http://www.opusbistro.com/main.html


Opus Bistro
67, Jalan Bangkung
Bangsar
Tel: 03 2092 4288
Daily: 12pm - 3pm, 6pm - 12am

Leonardo's Dining Room & Wine Loft @ Jalan Bangkung, Bangsar

Went to Leonardo's for my birthday =D Not too sure how I should categorise this restaurant as the menu is mainly Italian but surprise, surprise! Hokkien Mee, Kentucky Fried Frog, Bak Kut Teh and porridge (Ed's Roast Pork Trotter Porridge) were featured in the menu!

Anyway after ordering, we were promptly served complimentary bread and olive oil-balsamic vinegar dip. The petit pain were lightly toasted and can never go wrong with the dip.

Complimentary petit pain

We had Leonardo's Famous Pork Knuckle Platter which consisted of a huge mountain of crispy pork knuckle, red sauerkraut, garlic herb roasted potato wedges and side salad. Mini bowls of brown sauce, English yellow mustard and apple sauce completed the dish.

Leonardo's Famous Pork Knuckle Platter (RM 75)

• Meat was tender and moist and did not require much flavouring from the sauces.
• Crackling was crispy and crunchy as it should be.
• Potatoes were well roasted with no hint of garlic.
• Not too used to the sourishness of red sauerkraut - perhaps it is meant to taste like that.
• Salad was fresh and crisp - not much to fault with.
• Brown sauce was nothing spectacular - I find that it did not serve much purpose in enhancing the flavours of the platter.
• Apple sauce was concentrated yet moist and went very well with the tender pork.
• Mustard gave an extra kick to the salty pork, providing a contrast in flavours.

Another view of the dish

Although the platter is meant to be shared, we were still unable to finish it and this is what was left over by the end of the meal. Note to self - do not stuff yourself with complimentary bread, no matter how good it tastes =.=

Leftovers packed for a yummy homemade pork sandwich =)

PawPoints: 4 Paws
Pawket: Olive

Leonardo's Dining Room & Wine Loft
61-1 & 61-2, Jln Bangkung
Bukit Bandaraya
Bangsar
Tel: 03 2096 2226
Daily: 5pm - 12am

The Daily Grind @ Bangsar Village 1, KL

After reading so many great reviews on The Daily Grind, we hopped over one sunny Sunday...

Homemade Tomato and Chilli Sauce

No Heinz, no Del Monte, no Linghams. Only homemade tomato and chilli sauce to dip the fries in. Tomato sauce was not sweet; it was sourish and a little too watery. I don't mean diluted because it essentially comes out looking like tomato paste but with residual water - minus point for me. Can't really remember how the chilli sauce tastes like but I preferred the ketchup.

Very appropriate decor

The view from our table - sexy lady on a cheeseburger with sunny rays all around her.

Onion Rings (RM 8)

First up was deep fried onion rings with a soft fluffy batter. It was average, nothing to shout about.

TDG Mini Burger Sampler (RM 33)

We ordered the Mini Burger Sampler so we could try several flavours in one go. The Sampler consists of Classic Cheese, Tarragon Mushroom and Avocado & Bacon, chips and a side salad.

• Classic Cheese - essentially a cheeseburger. The pickles were crisp and much more sour than JS was accustomed to but I thought it went really well with the juicy beef patty and accompanying cheese. 
• Tarragon Mushroom - a chicken burger with creamy mushroom sauce. Nothing much to shout about.
• Avocado & Bacon - beef patty and bacon can never go wrong. The avocado went well with the burger and I would have preferred more avocado rather than the slather of common BBQ sauce.
• Toasted buns provide a sturdy base. . . good for absorbing any leaking meat juices.
• Thick-cut fries were good - crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside.
• Side salad was average - mixed greens in some usual salad dressing.

Lamburgerni (RM 28)

The much-awaited Lamburgerni - after reading so many rave reviews on this big guy, we just had to try it. The burger is packed to the brim with lots of grilled veg, pesto and huge lamb patty. Comes with a side serving of fries.

• Lamb patty was thick and juicy. No presence of gamey lamb smell and taste that some are particular about.
• Grilled vegetables consisting of eggplants, zucchinis and yellow peppers provide a colourful contrast to the otherwise bland-looking buns. Very moist with oozing veg juices infused with olive oil, they go extremely well with the grilled lamb patty and pesto.

The Lamburgerni was extremely good - this is the burger you have to try if you're only going there once.

Highlight of the day

Another view of the huge lamb patty squeezed in between mounds of salad and grilled veg. The thick grainy bun mops up leftover lamb and grilled veg juices very effectively.

Leftovers from an awesome meal =)

PawPoints: 4 Paws
Pawket: Tomato

The Daily Grind
LG 8 Lower Ground
Bangsar Village 1
Tel: 03 2287 6708
Daily: 11am - 11pm