Rinnah's Makan Hut

Bee's Bakery

2008-03-11T20:36:00.004+08:00

I had lunch today at Bee's Bakery in Megan Phileo Promenade. Bee's is known more for their pastry and baked goods, and having bought their breads before, I was reasonably confident that their meal menu would not be much different. I was a bit wrong.

First, when we walked into the bakery, there almost all the tables were occupied and those that were not occupied had "reserved" signs on them. But then the waitress calmly swiped away the sign from one of the tables and seated us without question even though we did mention that we didn't have a reservation. I also noticed this happening similarly to the other "reserved" tables, and it makes me wonder if the tables had been reserved in the first place or not? Secondly, I really wonder if people would actually want to reserve tables at a bakery that happens to sell food as well? It's not a fancy restaurant, you know. But I thought that I was being too critical and decided to give them the benefit of the doubt.

When we placed our order, the waitress seemed to be in a great hurry, and was a tad too impatient for my liking. It's not like we took ages dithering over what to eat. Barely had she slapped down the menu on the table, she whisked out her pen and asked, "What you order?" Since it was our first time there, we all decided to order their daily set menu (which changes according to the day of the week) and today's choice was either Curry Chicken with Rice or Curry Chicken with Noodles and came with an Ice Lemon Tea. We would have liked to look at the menu a little while more to get an idea of what kind of food they served, but Ms. Impatient tugged the menu away from under my colleague's fingers (she was turning the page). How rude! My colleague was not pleased, of course.

Our drinks, the Ice Lemon Tea, came soon after and of course, with the kind of service standards we'd already received so far, another waitress just dumped three glasses onto the corner of the table nearest to her. Our cutleries were also tossed onto the table with serviettes and we had to pass them out ourselves. Already I was not liking the place more and more.

Since we had all ordered the daily set menu, you would expect the service to be prompt. After all, there isn't much to do expect scoop the rice, ladle some curry on top and serve, right? No. My Curry Chicken with Rice came after a fifteen minute wait and even then, it wasn't hot at all. Not only was it not hot, the curry was slopped onto the plate any old how and served with two miserable slices of cucumber. The chicken that I got was mostly bones with precious little flesh and only 1 1/2 pieces of potato. Even the rice was cold and hard, as if it had been cooked early in the morning and left to turn cold.

I'm sorry there aren't any pictures because I was with colleagues, and I didn't want to expose myself as a food blogger. Heh.

To imagine I paid RM 8.50 for that lunch experience! Well, unless all the restaurants in the area closed down, I certainly won't be eating there again.

And I am going to think twice before I patronize that particular branch of Bee's Bakery for my breads and pastries too.

Bee's Bakery
Block EO3, Megan Avenue 1
189, Jalan Tun Razak
50450 Kuala Lumpur

Tel : 603-2780 7018 / 012-290 0607

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rinnah's makan hut rating - * : I liked you last week, but I didn't like you this week

Chili's

2008-03-06T21:58:00.000+08:00

I meant to pick another restaurant to finally finish off Ehon's never-ending tag, but decided to fall back on this old faithful review that I had languishing somewhere in my half-finished drafts. *grin*

The logo found on the front of Chili's menu

Anyway, Chili's is one of my family's standby restaurants when we don't really know what else to eat in 1Utama. (Unfortunately, service is not very fantastic here and they've since fallen off the list of places we dine at.) Chili's is a very Western restaurant and I tend to prefer their style of cooking over Thank God It's Fridays. We prefer the Bangsar Shopping Centre outlet for the better service and ambience, but tend to frequent the 1Utama outlet just because it's more accessible for us.

Looking inside the Chili's menu

The menu can be quite comprehensive, and burgers are highly sought after, but I normally end up eating the salads or pastas instead because that's what I prefer. The kids menu is quite value for money, because kids eat for free when the adults take any one main course. Unfortunately, when we go there with kids, the kids end up eating the adult main course and the adult ends up with the kiddy meal! *grin*

The condiments on each table at Chili's

As with most highly popular restaurants, you should be prepared to wait for a bit before you are served your food, so take your time to look around and camwhore a bit. LOL! Every Chili's outlet is quirkily decorated, just like TGIF and makes for easy conversation starters. Sometimes we order a starter just so we have something to nibble on while we wait for the mains. Like this one below...

Bottomless tostada chips with salsa and cheesy dip

A closer look at the cheesy dip for the chips

Great if you have a party of four or more because the tostada chips and the salsa dip are bottomless, meaning that you can have endless refills or as much as your tummy can hold. Unfortunately, the cheesy dip is not refillable at all, so you'll have to go easy on this one.

The Boneless Buffalo Chicken Salad

I tend to order this salad when I'm at Chili's because it's really quite good and I always feel a need for greens to go along with all the other heavier foodstuffs.

The Apartment

2007-10-22T12:48:00.000+08:00

Inspired by Boolicious' review of The Apartment, I popped by for lunch three Saturdays ago with Mum (Dad was away at work. Heh.). I gotta say first up that if I hadn't read that foodie review, I was under the impression that it was a bar (must've been the opening weekend when I saw all the wine bottles and stuff. LOL!). There is one, but that's on the first floor. Well, back to the review!

I love the decor of The Apartment. It's got this SoHo kind of feeling - an artist's loft. It feels very homey but yet manages to feel urban chic too, if you can get my meaning. They have an interesting concept where they decorated the whole restaurant to look like an apartment, with a living room, dining room, reading nook, bathroom and bedroom!

When we went there, we were given seats in the bedroom, where they have daybeds doubling as both decor and seating. Unfortunately, there was a group of 8 - 10 youngsters celebrating a friend's birthday and after ten minutes or so of their shrieks, laughter, incessant camwhoring and walking about, we asked the hostess if we could change tables. Luckily, the restaurant was not too packed and we were escorted to a table near the reading nook where it was much better. Thumbs up for the hostess for being so understanding!

Since I've always hankered to try cooking like Jamie Oliver, I just *had* to try the Chicken in a Bag, while my Mum opted for the Baked Fish. The waiter who took our order had told us that it could take 20 - 30 minutes for the baked fish to arrive (that's what I call good training!) but to our pleasant surprise, it only took 15 minutes. Maybe because the restaurant was not that full? My chicken arrived almost immediately, because I was still busy snapping shots of the fish and the waiter offered to cut open the bag for me. I felt so special, can?

Mum felt that the fish was not bad, altho' she did ask for salt and pepper to garnish it to her liking and she thought the potatoes were a tad underdone. My only gripe about the fish was that it wasn't a fillet and you had to look out for bones whilst you ate. My chicken was yummy. It was soft and not overcooked and the cheesy gravy was just right for me. I don't like it overly cheesy because then you'll feel too full afterwards.

Since I had such a good experience there, I brought my gang there to do a farewell party for one of us. This time around, I tried Andrew's pasta. Don't ask me who Andrew is, because when I asked the waiter who it was, he had no clue either! This is strictly only for those who like pesto in their pasta. I asked for (and received!) some parmesan cheese and liberally garnished every forkful. Not because it wasn't nice, but just because I like my pastas with lots and lots of cheese. Other items tried by my friends that day include the imported mussels, Jamie's duck pasta and the steak sandwich. All in all, we had a good time there and it was voted as a "can return" restaurant.

So Ehon, after much searching, this is part four of your never-ending tag. *phew* Only one more to go, and I think I found it too. *grin*

The Apartment
G72-74 and 152
Ground Floor and First Floor
Western Courtyard
The Curve
Mutiara Damansara
Petaling Jaya

Tel No: 03 – 7727 8330

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rinnah's makan hut rating - ** 1/2 * Every (dish) tells a story, and you did it this time

I scream, you scream

2007-10-02T18:08:00.000+08:00

If you're an ice-creamoholic, you'll be rejoicing over this ad just out from Haagen Dazs. From now until 31 October 2007, you can have all the Haagen Dazs ice cream you can eat for only RM33.90. However, this promotion is only available at Haagen Dazs Bangsar Village II on Monday to Friday between 10.30am to 10.00pm.

What are you waiting for? Go get some of that yummylicious ice cream now!

Moony over mooncakes - Part Two

2007-09-21T14:57:00.000+08:00

Since the start of the mooncake season, I have officially tasted mooncakes from five different places and am hoping to add to my tally by the time the festival ends. This is the review of the remaining three brands...

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Six Happiness
Pandan with one yolk
I reiterate that pandan is not my favorite flavor so I may be biased towards it. However I found it to be not as good as the previous brands I've tried above. The filling was not smooth and the skin was too thick. But the pandan taste was stronger than Eastin.

Lotus paste with one yolk
The standard filling - I was rather dismayed that it was not smooth like the others and tasted rather "cheap". The skin was the thickest to date while the yolk was normal. So far, Six Happiness is the lowest ranked of the brands I've eaten this year.

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Sheraton Towers, Singapore
Lotus paste with one yolk
If Shangri-La was the Mercedes Benz, then Sheraton Towers must be the Rolls Royce. Everything about it was just perfect, except that I found the skin to be a bit on the oily side. The color of the lotus paste is a bit off-putting at first, a very off-color yellowy brown, unlike other brands' mooncakes, but if you look past that, every bite is pure heaven. It even came in a golden brocade box, you know!

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Palace Group
Shanghai style with one yolk
I'm not really too sure what the filling was for this one... it tasted like a mixture of lotus paste and yam. A bit on the rough side, but that was to be expected if the filling was yam. Because Shanghainese style mooncake is flaky like pastry, its taste is very much different from normal mooncake. I have no other brands to compare it with, so I'd say this was alright for me.

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I am glad that my discerning taste is the same as that of a panel of experts in a blind taste test conducted by the News Straits Times here.

Happy mooncake festival, everyone!

Moony over mooncakes - Part One

2007-09-19T22:10:00.000+08:00

The mooncake festival is round the corner... how many of you have started eating your mooncakes already? I have officially tasted mooncakes from four different places and am hoping to add to my tally by the time the festival ends. Let me start by reviewing two brands...

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Shangri-La
Lotus paste with one yolk
Renowned for their mooncakes, Shangri-la can easily claim to be the best of the bunch. Dare I call them the Mercedes Benz of mooncakes? Yes. Good, smooth filling, the salted egg yolk was not dried out and crumbly, the skin of the pastry was not too thick either. The lotus paste was a tad on the sweet side though. That was the first one. The second one received one week later was a bit on the dry side, so I can only suppose that quality control was not working hard enough?

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Eastin
Green tea with one yolk
Nice smooth filling, but not as smooth as Shangri-La. The salted egg yolk was on its way to drying out, but the skin was the best. Thin and well done. There was just the barest hint of green tea taste, just enough to tickle your tastebuds into thinking "What was that?" but not strong enough to make it really good. Because the taste was so refined it was a bit blah for me.

Seaweed king with one yolk
Same as the green tea one, nice smooth filling, but not as smooth as it could be and the salted egg yolk was a mite dry. The outer skin was thin and well done. If not for the label that said it was supposed to be seaweed flavored, I would have thought I was eating a normal mooncake. No difference here.

Coffee flavor
Same as the green tea one, nice smooth filling, but not as smooth as it could be and this time no salted egg yolk. Again, the outer skin was thin and well done. There was just the barest hint of coffee taste, didn't really have the oomph I was expecting.

Lotus paste with one yolk
The best of all the Eastin flavors I tried. Again, smooth filling and the salted egg yolk was alright in this one. No exceptionally adverse comments.

Pandan with one yolk
Pandan is not my favorite flavor so I may be biased towards it. Other comments are the same as above.

Restoran Fei Loh Hokkien Mee

2007-09-14T19:54:00.000+08:00

With a name for your restaurant like Fei Loh Hokkien Mee (literally translated as Fat Man Hokkien Mee), their signature dish had better live up to expectations or you might as well tear down the signboard. So the stakes were indeed high when I visited this restaurant some three weeks back. Did it pass the test? Well, it did alright - I've been going back there when I cannot think of what else to eat. *grin*

This restaurant is actually a branch of the original from SS2. Tucked away in an end lot on a row of new shops in Dataran Sunway, it's fair to say that very few people know of its existence. In fact, I stumbled upon it by accident too, by just cruising the shops to see if I could spy some new restaurants to try. Business should pick up once the corner 24hr Nasi Kandar restaurant (opposite the Honda showroom) opens for business. The environment is a far cry from your normal coffeeshop. Wooden tables and chairs, decorative pictures on the walls, airy, clean and bright is how the shop is. They even have music playing in the background and the staff are attentive to your calls.

The highlight of the menu is of course the hokkien mee. You can choose just mee, just meehoon or mixed. My personal favorite is the mixed mee / meehoon. The hokkien mee comes in a thick dark sauce with lots of veges, prawns, cuttlefish (aka sotong), pork and crunchy bits of pork lard. Of course, I take mine vegetarian since I can't eat all of the above! But it's still good that way, which means the cook really knows his stuff as I've gone from stall to stall searching for a cook who can still produce that hokkien mee taste even though it's vegetarian only. They have other noodle dishes on the menu like cantonese fried, etc and some fried rice dishes, but they are nothing to shout about (in fact, I wouldn't order those dishes again). So, my recommendation for this restaurant is just the hokkien mee and only that. Heh.

A small portion (for one) costs RM6.00 while a large portion costs RM10.00. Normal pricing nowadays for the Kota Damansara area, so I'm not too fussed about it although some may say it's pricey.

Other bloggers who have reviewed Fei Loh Hokkien Mee are:
~ Galvin
~ yongkailoon

Restoran Fei Loh Hokkien Mee
23-1, Jalan PJU 5/12
Dataran Sunway
Kota Damansara
Petaling Jaya
Selangor Darul Ehsan

Business hours: 11.30am - 12.30am, Monday - Sunday

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rinnah's makan hut rating - ** It was good, but it lacked the wow factor

Big Apple Donuts

2007-09-06T13:50:00.000+08:00

Remember how I raved about Big Apple Donuts in this post here? Well, the memory stayed with me so I just HAD to go back and check out their other offerings. And the following pictures are what I got...

My favorite is still the chocoring because of the Belgian chocolate dip, followed by the almond one and the green tea one. Mum commented that the durian one was not strong tasting enough for her liking. Hmm... and we all had no comment about the spicy flossy one. Perhaps it was too localized?

But overall they were so so so so so good! And I'm not the only one to think so too! Check out the following raves from floggers (food bloggers) and other bloggers in Malaysia...

Bernsy
Boo-licious
Kimberlycun
paGan
Suanie
Teckiee

Now, mind you, I was never a donut lover to begin with. Mention the word donut to me and I'd either gag or make a face at you. But when I was enticed to look at Big Apple's luverly displays of freshly made donuts, I became an instant convert. (Pity the parentals don't think the same way though.) I definitely prefer Big Apple over Dunkin' Donuts and I find their donuts yummily soft. I haven't had Krispy Kreme before, but there are those out there who say Big Apple is "almost" as good as that. *grin* Their range of donut flavors is not bad too, and so far, Big Apple seems to be doing well at their outlet in the Curve. There's always someone buying a donut or a dozen or two dozen whenever I walk past. And some more their shop isn't located in the main throughfare area.

Prices for the donuts start from RM2.00 per donut, or RM9.50 for a 1/2 dozen. Big Apple also offers a variety of drinks to go with their donuts if you'd like to sit down at the mini tables near the courtyard. (psst... I think you're also able to leech off Eden or Cafe 1920's free wifi from those tables. LOL!)

So ehon, this is part three of your long overdue tag, okay? Two thumbs up for Big Apple donuts. Anyone want to belanja me some? LOL!

Big Apple Donuts and Coffee
Lot G72A, Ground Floor
The Street
Western Courtyard
The Curve
Mutiara Damansara
Petaling Jaya

Tel : +60 3-7726 4250

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rinnah's makan hut rating - ** 1/2 * Every (dish) tells a story, and you did it this time

Marche Movenpick

2007-08-30T20:52:00.000+08:00

I was rather inspired by Giddy Tiger's post on how good Marche Singapore was that I dragged my ex-collegemates to the Malaysian branch of Marche Movenpick in the Curve when we had a makan meetup on 18 August. They had not tried it before, so they were fair game for me to persuade. Hehehe.

Firstly I should say that I've not had fantastic experiences previously with Marche. I consider it to be priced on the high side for so-so food but with a unique experience (although I'll never look at it the same way again after seeing Paris Beaverbanks' comment of an overpriced foodcourt. Heh). Anyway, I am most forgiving (unless it was really terrible) and will normally give a second or even third chance.

Based on a popular European marketplace dining concept, it offers diners the opportunity of seeing their food being cooked right before their very eyes, much like teppanyaki counters in Japanese restaurants. I do like the green theme and overall decor of Marche and those cows are a kid's (and photographer's!) delight. The ventilation could be improved though, because the areas where cooking was done did smell rather smoky. I remember that when Marche first opened you had to line up and wait for a seat. Not so now where you can get a seat immediately.

There were four of us, and we ended up eating mostly the same thing. Not very imaginative, are we? I had a plain rosti with a chicken garlic sausage. One of my friends had a cheese rosti with sauteed mushrooms. Another friend had just the sauteed mushrooms since she had lunch before meeting us and the final friend had the 1/2 roast chicken plate. We all opted for the fresh fruit juice (which I think is waaaaay pricey at RM6.50 per glass). I enjoyed my selections because I knew I'd definitely eat 'em and I'm a creature of habit. Although I was looking high and low for the Bundaberg root beer and didn't find it simply because they didn't have it! I would have sampled their desserts, but no one had the stomach left to share it with me (yeah, we're all female and all small eaters). Below is the slideshow of the food we ate...

Would I go back again? Maybe. If someone suggested it I wouldn't protest violently. But I don't think I'd be the one suggesting it either.

Marche Movenpick
Lot G87, Ground Floor
The Curve, Mutiara Damansara
47800 Petaling Jaya
Tel: +60 3-7728 9200
Fax: +60 3-7727 5660

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rinnah's makan hut rating: - * 1/2 * I'm not exactly jumping up and down about it

Eden Merdeka dim sum promotion

2007-08-16T21:24:00.000+08:00

My family and I had Eden dim sum at the beginning of the month. We went to Eden primarily because of their Merdeka promotion which offered 50% off on all dim sum between 10.00am to 4.00pm on weekends. It sounded like a real good bargain so we wanted to try it out.

We arrived at Eden around 12.15pm on a Saturday and were told that we would have to wait for about 15 – 20 minutes for a table. We weren’t that hungry, so we agreed to wait. Minutes passed by as we chatted and then we saw two tables of people finish and come out to pay. Great, I thought. We’d be able to get our place soon. But this is where the service culture of Eden fails.

Even as customers who had finished dining came out table after table, we (the new customers) were left to wait and were not seated as the Eden staff scrambled to let the exiting customers pay the bill first before they left. I don’t understand why it takes a minimum of two staff to man the cashier counter. And these were not trainee staff, mind you. At one point, four staff surrounded the cash register – three watching while one attempted to work both the cash machine and the credit card terminal. And all this while the customers continued to pile up and the line grew longer.

By then we had been waiting for 15 minutes and we could see four empty tables inside the restaurant. This was not only remarked upon by us but also by the customers who had arrived after us. When one lady asked the staff why we were not seated despite the empty table inside, the girl at the counter brusquely replied: “Even if I let you sit at the table, you will still have to wait for the dim sum as it is finished. So you have to wait out here.” ??? What kind of logic is this? You could have let us know that there would be a short wait for the dim sum but let your customers sit down at the tables first, order their drinks, look at the menu, etc.

After another five minutes, we were finally seated at the table, but not before we had to tell the waitress we wanted to sit at the table that was already laid with cutlery and not the hastily half cleaned table she directed us to. And we didn't have to wait for the dim sum as the waitress claimed earlier because the moment we were seated, the trolley of steamed stuff arrived.

But enough about the service. On to the food! The range of dim sum did not impress. There was a limited range of steamed/fried/dessert-type dim sum available. And because Eden is a certified halal restaurant, I’m sure pork-lovers would say that it’s not authentic enough. *grin* We had most of whatever was available, like the ubiquitous siew mai, har kau, char siu pao. We also had the phoenix claws (chicken feet), chee cheong fun, porridge and egg tarts amongst others. The portions were very small - so small that each dim sum was no more than a bite (or two for those with small mouths). Some of the dim sum was also hastily prepared, because the steamed stuff "stuck" to the paper.

Ordering is a bit of a hassle because there isn't a proper dim sum menu, just a badly photocopied piece of paper to indicate which types of dim sum you've consumed. If the dim sum on the trolley has run out, you wouldn't know which types were missing. Another case of really bad planning and service was when we were told at 1.00pm (three quarters into our meal) that they had run out of dim sum and would NOT be replenishing it. The promotion which had been advertised stated that this would be available between 10.00am till 4.00pm, and did not say "while stocks last". We saw a number of disappointed patrons turned away and you can bet that it doesn't enhance Eden's reputation.

The branch at the Curve which we went to is rather small and cramped - the dim sum trolleys were manuveured with great difficulty to avoid bumping into patrons' chairs and the tables were messily cleaned without much attention to cleaniness. But if you can look past that, the ambience is alright and a plus point in their favour is that they provide free wifi. LOL!

In short, the food was alright, but the promotion was rather deceiving and the service sucked. Not likely to return again.

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rinnah's makan hut rating: * 1/2 * - I'm not exactly jumping up and down about it

DELIcious by Ms READ

2007-08-14T13:32:00.000+08:00

And in a continuation of my 5 favorite places to eat tag from ehon, this is my second favorite eating outlet. DELIcious is opened by the same people behind the clothing label Ms READ, which caters to those *ahem* fuller-sized ladies. You'd think that coming from this background would mean opening a food related outlet is a no-no, but they've successfully pulled it off. Kudos to them! Not only is the ambience perfect, but the food is excellent too. Oh, and did I forget to mention the excellent service? *grin*

Your DELIcious experience begins when you step into their restaurant that is tastefully decorated in all manner of blue-toned hues and whites. You can click here for a view of the restaurant decor. Overall, it exudes a soothing, calming atmosphere that gets you in the mood for friendly chit-chat and a long makan session. DELIcious is separated into three areas. The initial seating area features comfy huge rattan chairs and colorful blue cushions including a bed-like couch of white leather that just draws kids to it. The focal point of the mid section dining area is the huge table which can easily seat a party of fifteen and the cool birdcage lighting above. Outside you have the al fresco dining area, which can be booked for catered events / functions.

I’ve tried a number of their dishes from both the Asian and Western menu and can say with conviction that they are truly… delicious (and yummy-licious!). Amongst my favorites and other dishes previously consumed include: Confit Duck Pasta, Marsala Lamb Shank, Tunisian Eggplant Pasta, Baby Rack of Lamb, Lasagna, Smoked Salmon Angelhair Pasta, Spicy Seafood Spaghettini, 3 Types of Cheese Bake and Mushroom Mascarpone Pasta. A close friend of mine says their All-Day Breakfast menu is excellent too.

Other dishes on the menu include salads (Vietnamese Chicken Salad, Grilled Seafood Salad), sandwiches and pies / quiches (Lambshank Pie, Shepherd’s Pie, Chicken or Beef Pie, Spinach and Pine Nut Quiche, Smoked Salmon Quiche). A highlight of their menu is the English Afternoon Tea Set for two, which is so quaintly old-fashioned it’s a statement in itself. If your appetite is whetted and you’re already in the midst of planning what you’ll have there, click here for the full menu and pricing.

If you still have room for dessert after an excellent meal, check out the variety of cakes at the counter. You’ll be spoiled for variety. From Classic Chocolate Cake, Flourless Orange Cake, Tiramisu, etc. Not forgetting their fabulous Brownies too!

Another blogger's excellent review of DELIcious can be found here.

DELIcious by Ms READ
G316, Ground Floor
1Utama Phase 2 Shopping Centre
Bandar Utama
47400 Petaling Jaya
Selangor Darul Ehsan

Tel: +60 3-7724 1086

Opening hours:
11.00am – 10.00pm (Monday – Thursday)

9.00am – 10.00pm (Friday – Sunday & public holidays)

~ Reservations taken for lunch and dinner
~ Available for private functions upon request

~ Catering also available, please see the website

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rinnah's makan hut rating: *** stars - That was utterly amazing!

Sakae Sushi

2007-07-14T23:54:00.000+08:00

Oh my, I've been neglecting my little foodie blog! Only two posts so far and one of it is the introductory post! Shy! *blush* Must blog more since I specifically opened it up for this purpose. Heh.

Since I owe ehon a foodie tag I'll use it as motivation to blog - I'm supposed to name five yummylicious places to eat at and this is the first in a series of five posts.

First up is my all time favorite Japanese sushi restaurant, Sakae Sushi. Originating from Singapore, this chain of sushi restaurants made its way to Malaysia about two years back, opening in the Curve, Mutiara Damansara. So what makes Sakae Sushi one of my top five yummylicious places to eat at?

What I like about it is that they serve (IMHO) the freshest sushi to be found in KL so far. Fresh, chilled salmon sashimi, absolutely yum! And I also like the variety of sushi to be found there. I haven't seen their sushi chef's creations at other restaurants like Sushi King and Genki Sushi - the Hana Maki is my all time favorite (it tastes like little bites of heaven to me!). Besides sushi, Sakae Sushi also has on its menu other Japanese fare like Teppanyaki, Teriyaki, Udon Noodles and so forth. But I'm just too distracted by the sushi to even consider trying any other item on the menu (one track mind, you see). For some photos of the yummylicious sushi, you can visit this blogger's site.

Where can you find Sakae Sushi? So far I frequent the Curve outlet (which was the first), but they also have branches at Subang Parade, Bangsar Village II and Queensbay Mall, Penang. I'm not sure why, but the set-up and decor differs between the Subang Parade and the Curve outlets. The Subang Parade one offers a quieter and more classy ambience, while the Curve is always packed full of people at any time of the day or night. I personally prefer the Subang Parade outlet for cleaniness, ambience and presentation of food but I rarely go there. Whereas I can be found in the Mutiara Damansara area weekly (my church is there, you see) so for convenience sake, I go to the Curve outlet. Although if you go to the Curve, be prepared to wait a bit for a table.

I heart Sakae Sushi so much that I got myself one of their Clear Cards - which gives me a 5% discount off the bill (before tax) when I go there as well as a slice of cake on my birthday. *grin*

Sakae Sushi (TC)
G45, Ground Floor
The Curve Shopping Mall
6, Jalan PJU 7/3
Mutiara Damansara
47500 Selangor Darul Ehsan
Tel: +60 3-7725 1172

Sakae Sushi (BV II)
2F-26/27 (2nd Floor)
Bangsar Village II
Kuala Lumpur
Tel: +60 3-2287 1535

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rinnah's makan hut rating: ** 1/2 * stars - Every (dish) tells a story, and you did it this time.

DU Cafe fish head beehoon

2007-06-21T22:30:00.000+08:00

I was thinking of the best way to introduce this new blog of mine and May dropped the perfect opportunity into my lap. A food tag! The rules of the tag are simple, here they are:

**Start Copy**

Proposition: What is your favorite food in your state or country?

Requirements: Find some info about the food and show delicious pictures of it.

Quantity: FIVE PEOPLE.

Tag Mode: You leave their blog and post link and add to the list below.

Mybabybay loves Asam Laksa from Penang, Malaysia
JustMyThoughts loves Penang Char Koay Teow
My Lil Venture loves Laksa Sarawak
Monterssorimum loves Teluk Intan Chee Cheong Fun
Chinnee loves Melaka Wan Tan Mee
Peimun Leah loves Hakka Lei Cha
Hui Sia loves Crispy duck skin from China
Karen loves Pan Mee
Simple American loves Cheese Enchiladas
Nicole Tan loves Char Tau Kueh
velverse loves Otak-Otak
Giddy Tiger loves Dim Sum
may loves Roti Bakar

**End Copy**

I simply love fish head beehoon or "yue tau mai" in Cantonese. A noodle dish with a milky soup base, fried fish, salted vegetable, ginger and tomatoes. Mmm... comfort food for me at its best. Here is a picture of the yummylicious fish head beehoon.

For me, the best fish head beehoon comes from this stall run by a Penang Chinese uncle in Restaurant DU Cafe, located in Sunway Damansara (near to Ikea / the Curve). Reasons why I like it - the fried fish comes in bite sized fillets, meaning no bones to suddenly choke you up on. The salted vegetable is not salty, rather with a hint of sweetness (I think he soaks it with sugar before cooking?) so you don't get salt overdose. There isn't much use of ajinomoto in his cooking too, thus you won't get that thirsty feeling afterwards (which I have experienced elsewhere). The best part is the milky soup base, which is not overpoweringly full of milk, but just right for my tastebuds.

A normal sized bowl of fish head beehoon will cost you RM 5.00. Restaurant DU Cafe is rather popular and tables and parking spaces can be hard to come by on weekends. Best time to go would be between 6.00 - 7.00 pm, any later and you may have to search for parking and wait for tables. DU Cafe is located at the corner directly behind Neighborhood Cafe.

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rinnah's makan hut rating: ** 1/2 * stars - Every (dish) tells a story, and you did it this time.

An Introduction to the Makan Hut

2007-05-28T20:49:00.000+08:00

In another EFNBTD moment, my itchy hands went and created this blog, creatively called Rinnah's Makan Hut. Why this weird name? Well, it has its origins in a cute story when I was about four years old. Makan is the Malay word for eat, and being Malaysian, I thought I should showcase some of my Malaysian heritage. As for the word Hut, when I was four, I was so certain that the word "hut" was pronounced as "hoot" thus rendering Pizza Hut into Pizza Hoot! *very embarassed grin*

Anyway, since I am no wonder chef in the kitchen like some other people out there (you know who you are!), entries at the Makan Hut will be restricted to what I ate and where I went to eat. I'll review the who, what, where, when and how and employ my very own Michelin star style rating with American Idol judge quotes:

*** That was utterly amazing! - Simon Cowell
** 1/2 * Every (dish) tells a story, and you did it this time - Paula Abdul
** It was good, but it lacked the wow factor - Simon Cowell
* 1/2 * I'm not exactly jumping up and down about it - Randy Jackson
* I liked you last week, but I didn't like you this week - Simon Cowell
1/2 * I don't know what to say, dawg! - Randy Jackson

And... you know it's baaaad when a no star rating is given...

Sorry, (name of restaurant) no kiss from me tonight - Simon Cowell

So, let's eat, drink and be merry!