A Quick Snack In San Francisco

Of course, I didn't mean by boarding a plane to fly all the way to San Francisco just to have a quickie snack. This San Francisco is indeed, right in the city centre of Kuala Lumpur. Mum and I were shopping around KLCC, it was late afternoon, mum hadn't eaten anything all day so we dropped by San Francisco Cafe. The seating area has expanded to accommodate more patrons, which I think is very nice. People either have light meals there or just relaxing with a cup of coffee, clicking away their mouse surfing the latest website.

Since it was nearly dinner time too but not quite so (we still need to do a little of shopping), so instead of going for heavy meals, mum ordered soup of the day (which's always mushroom soup!) (RM5.95), and a vegetarian pie (RM5.95).


Do you know when you're hungry, you'll just eat everything and anything, regardless if you like the food or not. I think mum was pretty hungry, because when I asked how was the soup, and the little bread taste like, she said, " Mmm, good, good." Mum hardly eats western food, she doesn't like western type of soup too, let alone creamy mushroom soup. But she just slurp, slurp... she could hardly wait when I took a while to snap these pictures. Oh, the soup... just the ordinary Campbell mushroom soup, I wonder if they did use the Campbell brand.

Next, the vegetarian pie. They have Chicken filling and veggie filling. Ever since the bird flu scare, mum is very cautious on eating chicken, if she has a choice, chicken will be on the bottom of her list. The picture taken above, it was supposed to be upside down, cuz on top of the pie embossed a letter V, not A, as the way you're seeing it now.

The pie, well, the pie was good, the same old reply "Mmm... good, good." Mum has tried this vegetarian pie before and if she tried it a second time, it must be good. Well, that is, if you're not craving for meat that day, then perhaps this pie is just what you need.

Whenever I was at San Francisco, I'd ordered fruit Frappaccino. Well, I used to love ice-blended everything (except coffee related and chocolate drink), cold drink was my cup of tea. But as I grow older, my body just couldn't take cold drinks anymore. I settled finally on just a cup of hot water. Err... for free.

San Francisco Coffee
KLCC, Lot 134, Level 1
Ampang Mall

Tel: 03-2382 7322

Chilis

I’ve only been to Chilis once, but everytime I passed by Chilis either in KLCC or Mid Valley, it has a steady stream of patrons waiting patiently to get into it. I think diners who go to Chilis in KLCC outnumbered those from Mid Valley, the reason is unknown to me really. There were always the white-collar employees untie their tie and relaxing with their colleagues, either local or foreigners. The queue to get in there get worst every Friday evening… that place is always buzzing with hype! I heard you get a free flow of soda drinks while eating there… well, so is one other fast food outlet (like Burger King), so I decided to check this place out, with Stephen of course. But he said Chilis in the States are as busy as in Malaysia too. It sort of serves a little of Mexican and American food, and the portion is huge. To me, they’re huge, but to Stephen, it’s normal American size.

I think we went there on one evening during the week day. It wasn’t just diner time yet but the place was already full of diners. After being seated next to the window overlooking KLCC park, we perused the menu. Of course, I wouldn’t be able to find any vegetarian meal, if there were, I’d choose to ignore it most of the time. I just don’t fancy cook meal that much… too much oil and most of the time I’d ordered something I wouldn’t like. I wouldn’t know what they’d put in it. So after a while, Stephen ordered a Triple (RM21.95), a Prawn Chick (RM32.95) and one re-fill beverage (RM6.30).

First, the Prawn Chick. It’s one of the main course from the menu. It came with a super huge plate full of fried rice, a good serving of grilled salmon, and a huge amount of prawn! It was served after having a huge plate of appetizer! Stephen was gobsmacked when he saw the portion! They could served up to four person!!! Too bad I couldn’t share it with him… Stephen only managed to eat some rice, some fish and most prawns. It was pretty good, but he was too full to taste anything, I think. The prawn was nicely cook, and the fish grilled to its perfection.

Some of the garnishes such as chopped tomatoes with onion and... some other stuff.

Let’s talk about the appetizer. As you know, appetizer is suppose to come in small serving prior to main course. But lo and behold, this appetizer, Triple, came in a huge plate with few fried chicken, some fritters, and some wraps thingy. The fried chicken was the tastiest one, according to Stephen, they were meaty and with enough flavour.

A bite into the chicken flesh

This, I have no idea what it is. It’s some sort of fritters no doubt, but I couldn’t remember what Stephen said about it.

Next, come the wrap baked with cheese and… and some other stuff. Stephen was full by the time he chow down some of these, imagine he had to eat the main course minutes later!

It’s nice to dine in Chilis when you’ve a partner or friends with big appetite, if not, I’d suggest you go somewhere with the right portion, albeit having a free flow of soda or not.

Chilis Grill & Bar

Chilis
Bangsar 03-2092 2023
Mid Valley 03-2287 6788
Suria KLCC 03-2164 1400
1-Utama 03-7725 7277

Pizza Hut

Stephen and I (well, actually, Stephen did the eating and I did the photographing) decided to have pizza one morning few months ago. We were at the pizza outlet in Wangsa Maju next to Carrefour, it was just about opening so it was pretty empty when we arrived.

In the states, you get delicious and genuine pizza not in usual Pizza hut or Shakey’s Pizza or anything like that, most of the time it’s from those one-chain outlets that’s in the housing area. They serve the usual thin crust pizza, so unlike here where everything Pizza hut or Shakey’s Pizza want is thick chesy crust pizzas. Anyway, Stephen ordered a pepperoni pizza. Since he’ll be eating it, he ordered a small one (or medium?) which comes in six pieces. Stephen said it was pretty tasty with enough cheese.

He also ordered a side dish, which’s… a wrap I called it, similar to those Maxican tortilla. Can’t remember what was the filling, but you were to eat it with mayonnaise as a dip. Stephen hates mayonnaise! So he made do without the dipping, just as nice as it taste.

From the inside of the wrap

Mayonnaise to go with the wrap

Nando Chicken

When Stephen was here visiting for two weeks, we went to Nando's a couple of times. Stephen seemed to drawn on the chicken Nando's made, pungent flavour with different levels of spiciness to choose from. We've been to Nando's in Penang airport, KLCC, and Mid Valley, pretty regular in that two weeks time. I'm just going to post one of the many outings we've dnied in Nando's, Stephen pretty much ordered the same dish everytime we were there, with different side dishes on different occasions.

This is the 1/4 chicken plus two side dishes, which comprised of fries and fried rice. I think some other times Stephen ordered salad/coleslaw instead of fried (RM11.90). In that day, fries was served with the rice.

Stephen loves spicy food. But his stomach hadn't been well so I adviced he took the mild flavour one, he would have gone for the super spicy one, just like other times, but that day, I insisted he took the mild one, with some whining of course. The chicken was tender and meaty, cooked to perfection with tasty flavour. I can't tell how the chicken taste on my behalf since I don't eat meat, but by the look of Stephen, licking his fingers incessantly, I'm pretty sure it's a pretty darn good chicken!

The fries were the chunky type, unlike those from frozen section in the supermarket. Stephen added some chili powder to enhance the flavour of the fries.

The fried rice was okay too according to Stephen. I guess it's the ordinary fried rice with mix vegetables. Perhaps the rice was frangrant too.

If you wished to add more spiciness to your chicken, there were four different types of chili sauces to choose from. There are ketchup, Garlic Peri-peri sauce...

... Flaming hot Peri-peri sauce and Hot Peri-peri sauce.

Before we leave, Stephen was trying to clean away his hands, but of course, like mentioned in the slogan, you can never wipe off the great taste of Nando's, alongside with the grin of contentment.

Historic Dining Place

Weeks ago Stephen and I decided to go Coliseum Cafe for a second visit, it was his second and my third time. My parents used to visit this place when they felt like having steak, I guess this is the only place which offers steak in the old time before the new ones mushrooming around town. I won’t go into the history of this place, because frankly, I don’t know. But its name has appeared in publication overseas so I guess some foreigner came here just to have a dining experience here in an old, old restaurant established since 1921.


The interior was a little dim, there’s no fancy decoration. In fact, the wall has stains from the past, the servers are mostly older generation, I guess the oldest would be a Chinese Ah Pak (old man) whom I’ve seen in my visit twice.

The entrance to Coliseum hotel/motel/budget inn right next to the restaurant

A hook on the wall from old time where they hang their overcoat

He was about 60 something to 70, I doubt he can hear very well and that was why the first time we were there, Stephen ordered a medium rare steak and turned out to be super rare steak! We made sure we flag down another ‘younger’ waiter, whom I believe to be in his early 50s.


Before our dish was served, the server brought us a plate of Garlic Toast Bread (RM3.80). It consisted of two butter spread bread with slices of flaky garlic on top.

Stephen ordered S. Fillet Steak (RM35.90). I forgot what’s the ‘S’ stands for, but it comes in a big sizzling plate (without the sizzle thank God) with a tiny piece of steak with a hint of pepper and butter, and plenty of thick gravy.

And, the main attraction, was the one solitary fresh tomato. I wonder what the tomato was for. This dish was lack of decoration, it’s bare when it was presented, everything on this pan was black except the red tomato.

This dish accompanied with two side dishes, salad and potato wedges. Since Stephen isn’t a veggie person (you’re not right?), the veggie was left untouched. I wouldn’t want to eat it too, because it was flooded with gooey mayonnaise. So who eat veggie with mayonnaise I wonder... if only they’d put the salad dressing on the side, I might munch on these greens, but then again, if they were cook in oil or some salt, I wouldn’t eat it too... I just like my veggie to be as plain as possible and cook in plain water, yup... that bland, but it suits me.

The potato wedges was... well, a potato wedges. Nothing to brag about.

Oh, I guess I’d forgotten there was another bowl of salad which comes without salad dressing. You know, the usual slices of tomatoes, cucumber and lettuce. Stephen was pouring the Thousand Island dressing on it but none of us felt like taking some bite from it. So what did I have? Nada. It’s a meat-place, okay, I think they have vegetarian food here, but... nah, even if it’s vegetarian I’m too fussy to have my food done the way I like. So I just ordered soya milk, which tasted so lousy I thought it might have gone way past its sell-by date! Oh, I forgot, I did order a Mix Fruit Platter (RM6.90), few pieces of papaya, oranges, banana and... that was it! Yucks! Cost that much and yet served the lousiest fruits.

Not that I’m complaining about Coliseum, it certainly has its old charm there, but it just isn’t my cup of tea, isn’t the place I’d want to have my drink, let alone dine in. It might appeal to foreigners though. But I guess the price is a little steep, again, maybe they’re earning from the foreigner instead of the local’s. If you dig sizzling steak with smoke that’d cloud the whole restaurant, and rude, old senile server that’d mess up your order, and food that cost way more than they should be, well... why not try out here and enjoy the charms of this historic restaurant.

Note: Coliseum has an attached building next to it which’s a hotel/motel/budget inn. I think Discovery Channel Travel & Living did introduced this place before.

Coliseum Cafe & Hotel
98-100, Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman,
50100 Kuala Lumpur
03-26926270

Remember To Eat

I’ve been straying away from my blog for over a month now, just busy doing stuff and going places with my beloved Stephen, and also, my computer kaput for several months and I couldn’t work on my post. I just hope my computer could stay healthy for a while and not act against me, I haven’t send my computer to be fixed yet, I’m still crossing my fingers everytime I switch it on. These posts have been sitting there for me to upload until now.

Restaurant Fruitti Stall a.k.a Gei Dak Sek

I remember when I was still working in the publishing company few years ago, I always made a point to visit one of the branches of Fruitti Stall situated in Kepong during lunch hour with my colleagues. They have lots of snacks, dessert soups and tidbits to choose from, but the only thing that lured me was the Red Bean lo, their shaved-ice selection. Many afternoons my colleagues and I were spent sitting under the shade right beside the roadside and enjoying our shaved-ice and snacks. Their food in Fruitti Stall used to be reasonable priced, but over the years the price slowly increased and we thought it’s unreasonable high to enjoy a small bowl of sweet dessert soup. I’m always appalled at how much their fish ball could cost. A three-fish balls skewer could cost up to RM3 per stick, isn’t it a little pricey, considering you can get the same fish ball in other food stalls?



One of the nights Stephen and I were shopping around Bukit Bintang area, we stopped by Fruitti Stall in Jalan Imbi for a snack. Stephen has been there before and he liked its Sechuan Spicy noodle (RM4.50), so he ordered the same dish this time around.


The noodle was cooked with spicy ingredients and sort of served in spaghetti style. The noodle is the kind of fat noodle similar to pulled noodle served in most Chinese restaurant.

The dish was accompanied with their in-house chili sauce, couldn’t make out what its made of, could be tauchu, or could be other stuff too. Since I don’t eat spicy stuff, I couldn’t lend a hand to Stephen who couldn’t figure what’s in there too. Stephen said the noodle was a little oily, but generally it was edible.


Stephen also ordered Mango lo (RM5.50), shaved-ice in mango flavour. It seems like this is their signature shaved-ice because most of the dining tables were seen having this too.


It was served with bright yellow, juicy mango puree which fresh chunky mangoes around the shaved-ice.

For me, I ordered Red Bean lo (RM5.00). I don’t think alot of diners ordered this flavour, it’s a common flavour anyway, but I’m a red bean fan, I love anything that has red bean in it.

It served with cashew nuts too but I don’t like the nuts, so I had requested it served without the nuts. These red beans and little green beans are probably from the can, because I don’t think you can have a solid edible red bean if you’ve cooked them a long time. There are sago in the shaved-ice too, but thank God they didn’t serve it with coconut milk or Malacca sugar like the usual shaved-ice, because I like it the way it is, with a little bit of shaved-ice and the beans, that’s about it.

I also ordered a cup of hot Watercress (RM3.80). I haven’t tasted this before, but it was okay, a little too sweet for my liking. It has red dates, lotus and watercress in it. They have a selection of Tong Shui and sweet dessert soups, but we were too full to order them, in any other days, I’d order their Ginko Barley or red bean paste soup, but just not that night. It’s a nice place to have Chinese style desserts if you’re willing to pay more than they’re worth. So far, I haven't discovered any other such place that serve Chinese desserts, those that I've known have, unfortunately, been folded. So if you know any other place that serve nice Tong Shui in Klang Valley, do let me know, thanks!

Restaurant The Fruitti Stall
No.145, Jalan Imbi, Kuala Lumpur
03-2144 8379

Six Happiness Restaurant

Well, the initial plan on this Tuesday morning was, we (mum, brother and myself) go to market to get some fresh goods, go for a dim sum and go home to do the pile up work… well, work such as waiting for the workers from Telecom to fix our phone (has been out of order for almost a week and no sign of them arriving), and preparing the numerous task for the new arrival of my brother’s family… yup, he’s upgraded to becoming a dad and me, on the other hand, is now officially an aunt. God… an aunt, huh? Good thing baby Aiden won’t be able to speak for a while so it’ll be some time become someone starts calling me… aunt!

Anyway, halfway doing our marketing, mum received a call from my uncle saying that the technicians he sent to repair our phone line (an alternative to Telecom workers) were at our doorstep! Mum tut and we sent her back home to attend to the workers, while me and brother dropped by Six Happiness Restaurant for our dim sum fix. It was my idea of eating there, well… I miss the bunny shaped bun, and I had a craving that morning.


Since it was only the two of us, and since I don’t eat any other dim sum except for steam food, we tried to restraint from ordering a whole lot of food. Before the food were served, they brought us a small plate of appetizer, which we later found out cost RM2!!! We certainly did not ask for it and yet they placed it on our table as though it was meant to be there, for free. Well, I should have send the plate back, but brother was spacing out and I wasn’t paying attention to the table, it was too late to send back when it has been sitting there for a while (they’d think we’ve messed up the food before sending it back!). By the way, this appetiser is of mini fried tofu, cold dish and soggy. Urg! Should have send it back!! (Hair-pulling!)


First brother ordered his favourite, Salad Prawn (RM5). The prawn was deep fried with a thick coating of flour (I assumed), which makes it pretty crunchy, and the flavour blends well with a dip of salad dressing before eating.


My brother complimented this dish a lot that he ordered two plates of this, saying that it’s fresh and not too oily. He also ordered Har Gao, the steam prawn dumpling (RM3) but I forgot to take the picture, busy eating my buns I guess.


For me, I had two plates (too!) of Lotus Paste Buns (RM3). This is what I’ve craved for that morning, I’ve liked it last time, and I’d like it that day too. The buns were shaped in bunnies and they were adorable.


The lotus paste wasn’t too sweet, just the way I like it, and the dough wasn’t too doughy, everything’s just nice. Okay, maybe a tad oily (I wonder why), but overall I’m quite happy with it. When our wait staff knew of me ordering six bunny lotus paste buns, she was surprised and thought she must have heard it wrongly… she might think that I’m a crazy bunny fan!!!

Egg tart (RM5) was up next, we always order this dish here, probably because Fenni likes it, but since she wasn’t here, brother acted on auto pilot and ordered it for… I don’t know, whoever’s interested in eating.

I’ve heard the egg tart served here was great, brother managed to eat half of the tart and couldn’t stomach anymore food. But the crust was crispy and the tart was full of substance with generous filling.

We gobbled down few pots of Chinese tea to wash away the oil we’ve consumed.

Six Happiness Restaurant (Setapak)
No.122, Jalan 2/23A, Taman Danau Kota,
Ja;an Genting Klang, 53200 Kuala LumpurTel: 03-41425666