More New Cafes in Town!

Tried out three relatively new cafes in the city recently and here are some of my personal views...

Pulp by Papa Palheta 

Location: 29-01, Jalan Riong, 59100 Kuala Lumpur

The Coffee: By the way they showcase their coffee beans, coffee machines and other equipment, you know they are serious about their coffee. In fact, this coffee brand which started in Singapore sometimes holds workshops for those who are interested to learn more about coffee and sell their coffee beans and machines too.
My colleagues and I sampled their coffee and you could taste they are more on the soury side but not too much, just nice. Very good quality coffee but unfortunately to me personally, it was too small a cup for me to enjoy (note: We ordered Latte, Cappuccino and a Flat White and all came in a same sized cup).

The Atmosphere: You can see they have spent a lot on the look and feel of the garage-styled cafe. It looks simple yet classy. When we were there in the afternoon, it was cooling and quiet. Definitely one of the nicer cafes to enjoy your cuppa with a friend or two.
The Price: At RM10 each for coffee with milk, it's quite a standard price.

The Verdict: Big fan of their entire settings. Lovely place to hang-out, but even for someone who is learning to drink coffee the right way, I can't find the RM10 value in that overly small cup of coffee.

BAD by Wood & Steel

Location: Glomac Galleria, Galleria Hartamas, Desa Sri Hartamas, KL

The Coffee: Decent 'kaw' coffee, although not fantastic. Love the aroma of the coffee too.

The Cakes: Love the cakes! We sampled the Pavlova (which by the way was smashed but still served to us, what a hospitality), Poppy Seed (something) and Kaya Toast, all quite hearty and delicious. Only the Kaya Toast was a bit too sweet to my liking but it's Kaya!

The Atmosphere: Going on the Hollywood rugged style, the cafe stands out with its decor and self-made furniture that are so unique even Lil' Jolie was scared to sit on the chair! I personally always love usage of different styles of chairs and table in a single cafe in stead of uniforming them. :) It was a Friday night but it was surprisingly quiet and nice to be at the cafe!
The Price: RM10 for coffee with milk and around RM12 for cakes, I'd say it's quite standard too.

The Verdict: Come for the coffee, Stay for the Cakes. :p

Jeneris by Ahren

Location: Nu Sentral, Lot CC-14, Concourse Level, Jalan Travers, KL Sentral

The Coffee: At Jeneris, they offer a wide range of coffee and flavoured coffee at two sizes - 8oz or 12oz. Out of curiosity I ordered something new - Yin Yong Latte, RM12 for 12oz. In stead of the usual tea, they use Chai tea (if I got it right) plus espresso in milk. It's quite a cool combination that even someone like me who don't fancy Chai tea finds it quite nice. So thumb-up for the creativity! Cappuccino was just average.
We ordered a blueberry muffin for Jolie who didn't want to finish it and so we tried. It was way too hard to be eaten, perhaps they have heated it up with a microwave?

The Atmosphere: Personally love the entire rugged settings, plus how they put stuff and those flowers on each tables. So lovely! Same cannot be said about their presentation of cakes in the chiller, making them so unattractive.
The place itself was really quiet when we were there (p/s: we were the only ones there at 9ish at night).

The Price: Coffee are priced at RM7-RM13, which is still acceptable, but charging service charge for self-service ordering? BIG NO-NO!!!  

The Verdict: Strangely, a cafe at such busy area can be so quiet... And we kinda understand why now...

Tell me if you know of any other cafes that are a must to visit, ok?

HAPPY!!! :D

Happy Monday people~!!!

Did you realise it is already July in just a blink? Time past waaaaaay too fast that I couldn't even remember what happened over the past few months. It feels like our wedding was just yesterday but it is actually soon going to be a year since last October! Phew~!

Our wedding is partially the reason I'm typing this entry. And by wedding I meant H.O.N.E.Y.M.O.O.N.

Yes, we have not gone for our honeymoon a.k.a well-deserved holiday yet. Work trips aside, the last trip Deardo and I went together was to Perth two years ago. Even this blog is screaming for a holiday post!

We wanted it to be a grand holiday to somewhere far in stead of settling for Bali or Phuket even though I agree they are great places for honeymoon. I know personally that this grand trip is important because we want to be a little selfish first and spend quality time together well before even start planning for a little monster and sacrifice every penny and every second for the little one. 

And I'm really thrilled to announced that our honeymoon have been CONFIRMED and it will be in September this year!!! Yay~!!!

Where are we going you ask? Let me tell you later. But I can tell you the trip costs us a bomb. When we were buying the air tickets, we realised how cheap it is for Singaporeans who are buying them with Singaporean Dollars and whined about how unfair it is even until today. It is no wonder how my friends who are working in Singapore can afford so many overseas trips a year and even tour Europe just like that while we suffer to even go to one city (tip to our honeymoon destination #1). We even talked about leaving KL to work in Singapore and blah blah blah...

Now that we have done booking the tickets, we are still cracking our heads to find nice yet affordable accommodation at the destination. And for the trip's sake we have been eating cheaper and I have to learn to cut down on shopping (which is obviously killing me).

For all these, we blame our country, we blame our currency and sometimes we blame ourselves for not coming from rich families... But at some point I will always come back to the positive me. 

I'll tell myself and Deardo why complain about our country and currency when you can just leave and go on and stay in Singapore, going back to renting a tiny room over there? Why complain about expensive trip when well I could go on and pick a cheaper place to travel to? Why complain about not having rich parents who can sponsor our trips when we can feel the sense of achievement and pride spending our own money for our own honeymoon?

I started to think of the brighter side of the entire matter. Like, how blessed am I having a stable job with a decent pay that can still send us all the way to our honeymoon's destination nonetheless. How blessed am I having such a loving husband who chose the destination that is mainly my choice of destination (tip #2) and how blessed are we to be able to go out and see the different side of the world when some unfortunate people can only dream of doing...

Photo Credit: Pinterest.

At the end of the day, a lot of the stuff in life are by choice. 

We chose to go for an expensive getaway.

We chose to enjoy ourselves because you only live once (YOLO is my favourite term NOW). 

We chose not to regret when we grow old.

And most importantly we chose to treat ourselves better and be HAPPY. 

Yep, even though it means giving up a lot of stuff but I rather we do it now when we still can!

And I really do think the choices you make will make whole loads of difference in your life. I've seen too many people around me choosing the wrong option and suffer. Worst is when they whine about life and put the blame on people who have better life than them, when it can be a totally different story if they have chosen another option earlier on.

Do you want to choose a course that is not your choice to study and suffer failing its exams and doing something you dislike as a career?

Do you want to buy a cheaper car although you can add on just a little bit more to buy a better car then regret later that you have not own a nice car in your entire life?

Do you want to save your money now for your kids and keep your dream holiday till when they are older then regret it when your useless kids grow till 20ish and still spending your money which makes it impossible for you to spend on yourself?

Or on an extreme note, do you want to hold on to your hard earned money in your bank account and regret not able to enjoy them when you suddenly die tomorrow *touch wood*?

You know there is a Chinese saying that goes 先苦后甜 (Bitter first, then sweet - Suffer first, then enjoy) but you know how many decades ago did the Chinese came up with this inspirational phrase? The fellar doesn't have any idea then how technology, diseases, natural disasters, accidents and many more factors could kill human before they could grow old, let alone to enjoy life. You see, today, if you put that phrase onto dining habits, studies have also found that having your dessert or fruits after meal will slow down digestion and suggest that we have desserts and fruits before having your meal, which means it should be 先甜后苦 (Sweet first, then bitter - Enjoy first, then suffer)! 

Of course, I'm not saying you should now use up all your money to buy your dream car or go on your dream holiday but if you can actually afford it, and if it actually makes you happier, then what the hell are you waiting for? *insert Linkin Park screaming~* YOLO you know!!! 

It is YOUR CHOICE. You choose what makes you happier. 

Photo Credit: International Day of Happiness.

And here are the choices we had to choose from for our long-overdue honeymoon...

1) U.S.A because I want to meet Ellen DeGeneres

2) Germany because he wants to visit Michael Schumacher at the hospital

3) Japan because we want to make sure the fish we are having comes with complimentary radiation 

4) Maldives because they are the only country in our list that is not in the World Cup.

5) Greece because Greek yogurt are healthier

Guess which one did we choose? 

Lovely Ipoh Hor Fun @ Restoran Pau Kee, Jalan Imbi

I actually find it very hard to locate nice Ipoh Hor Fun in KL city, or even in my hometown Taiping. To start with, a lot of them claim they sell original Ipoh Hor Fun but the truth is they are not even close! What I mean is the real Hor Fun that comes with soup that has a layer of orange colour from the shrimps and actually come with prawns! 

Then Deardo brought me to Pau Kee on a weekend and Vivian tagged along (she can't be seen in this entry because the photo I took of her was so bad she is going to kill me if I post it up) for late brunch. The moment the bowl of Hor Fun arrived before my eyes, I was already convinced! :D

The bowl of warm and lovely Hor Fun.

Shrimps Wantons.

Chicken Bean Sprouts.

Boiled Vegetables.

The Hor Fun was smooth and silky (man that sounds like a shampoo ad now) while the soup was very flavourful with the aroma and taste of the shrimps in it. Shrimps were also pretty fresh. Oh yumsss... I mean they might not be the best one I've tried but good enough to satisfy my taste bud! Our extra side of shrimp wantons were pretty awesome too. I can't say they are the best I've tried but definitely fresh shrimps and great balance between the filling and wanton skins. We also sample the chicken and bean sprout but they were not as impressive. 

So happy we've found such delicious Hor Fun!!! :D

Like most typical Chinese Kopitiam, they didn't display the price so I didn't really bother to ask how much was each item. But for one big hor fun and two small ones, plus a bowl of wantons, chicken bean sprout and a plate of vegetables, the bill came up to RM46.50, which I guess is quite standard for a lunch in KL for three.

Restoran Pau Kee
No, 10, Jalan Utara,
Off Jalan Imbi,
Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-2141 0535

Very Simple Homemade Chicken Pie Recipe

After the mini party I did for my fun ex-colleagues, I was left with some frozen puff pastry sitting neatly in the freezer. I knew I didn't want anything sweet so I finally decided to make some homemade chicken pie with them... Urm, also because Deardo and I love pies! :p

I did my research and found a few recipes but in the end I sort of mix-and-match based on my own liking and the convenient of getting the needed ingredients. For instance, I saw some recipe asking for some herbs like rosemary to be included but I changed it to bay leaves since I already have them at home.

Here are what you need:
Frozen Puff Pastry (if you have big square ones like me, you need about 3-4 sheets for six small pies using a muffin tray), butter, chopped onions and garlic, bay leaves, roast chicken (perfect if you have leftover roast chicken but I bought mine from Aeon Big at about RM12 per bird) pinched into strips, button mushrooms sliced, frozen green peas, stock of any form, white wine, cream and black pepper to taste.

What to do:
1) In a pan or pot, melt some butter.

2) Then put in the onion and garlic, simmer till they turn soft.

3) Add in the bay leaves and continue to stir for a while.

4) Then dump the chicken into the pan/pot.

5) Add some stock (in my case, I cheated, I added water then some pork stock my colleagues have gotten for me from Thailand).

6) Now add in the mushrooms and green peas. Stir them well.

7) Now some wine, just about a tablespoon will do.

8) Now some black pepper to taste.

9) Now add in the cream and let it cook (obviously mine is too much of water so please do take note not to add too much of stock/water as the mushrooms and greens peas will add water to the dish ask they boil.

10) Now move on to the pie pastry... Butter up the muffin tray.

11) Cut the pastry into square and lay them onto the tray, pressing the middle part into the round mold.

12) Scoop the cooked filling into the pastry.

13) Cover with another square pastry. Seal the pie by pressing a fork over the side of the pastry, cut off the additional pastry to make it look like round pies.

14) Brush beaten egg over the top for a brown and glossy surface.

15) Send them into a pre-heated oven at about 180c for about 20 minutes and you are done!

The pies look absolutely gorgeous when they are fresh from the oven I must say! :)

Let them cool and set for a while before carefully removing them and leave them on line tray to cool down if you are keeping them or, serve immediately. Thanks to the puff pastry, the pie has a flaky and buttery base with creamy filling that are pretty satisfying. 

We had it as dinner with a side of mixed salad and a Kim Gary-inspired Borsch Soup!
I find the recipe very simple, except for the perfecting of the shape of the pies but after some practices it got better. What I especially love about the recipe is that you can use leftover stuff like roast chicken, beef or any meat you have at home which already has some seasoning to them that will give the pie a little twist of taste. Also you can make more of the filling and keep it frozen to make the pie again anytime or even use it as a gravy over your pasta or rice! Pretty fun hey?
I have a further modification of this recipe but that shall come later. Till then, happy cooking guys! :D

YOLO! It's Pizza Time @ Mikey's Original New York Pizza, Bangsar

It was quite a random choice for dinner the other day but I was quite excited to give the pizzas a try since they really look pretty awesome on pictures! 

The restaurant looks decently simple, with a setting that truly reminds you of those diners in New York. I've never been to New York but yes in movies and TV series it does look like this! :p

Order and pay at their counter and you will be given a plate, while they prepare the pizza then serve to you.

While the pizzas looks pretty appetising too in real thing, we were obviously not too glad to find out that they are all pre-make pizzas (only heat up a slice for you whenever you order). But of course the good side of it is that you get to try different flavours in stead of one whole pizza in one flavour! The pizza slices are also damn huge, which comes with a huge price tag too of course. But as a first timer, we went ahead and ordered nonetheless.

Wild Mushroom Pizza, RM10.88.

The Tony Soprano, RM15.88.

Classic New York Pizza, RM8.88.

In general, all pizzas we tried were quite satisfying with a thin crust which is crispy and nice to chew on. My personal favourite has to be the Tony Soprano, which comes with sliced steak, pepperoni and whole loads of other ingredients. It was tasty yet not as rich as what you would expect from the look of the pizza. I also appreciate the fact that they use big-ass Portobello mushrooms as their ingredients which makes their pizza a little more worthy of the price.

Boneless Buffalo Wing, oh fiery!!!

Our drinks.

We had an upgrade to a set meal (RM13 extra) which comes with Buffalo Wings and a drink. I love those super spicy Buffalo Wings but they are really not for the faint-hearted ones. :p

Sinful and #fatdieme dinner but did I just mentioned YOLO???

With another drink (RM8) and service charge (Say what? We had to order at the counter ourselves), we paid RM60.05 for the super tummy-filling dinner. It really is an expensive meal, but I trust the fact that the pizza are of good quality and that they filled our tummy really well makes it all up for the price. It is surely, not an everyday place to go based on the price, but good pizzas to try out at least once! :)

P/S: They do sell whole pizza too but be prepared to pay RM60 and above for a whole pizza.

Mikey's Original New York Pizza
17, Jalan Telawi 2,
Bangsar,
59100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-2202 0080