Bar B Q Plaza, Times Square / Pasar Malam, OUG

Bar B Q Plaza's franchise has long been established at Malaysia after their very successful business in Bangkok, Thailand. Been there a couple of times and felt that it's worth the price and a rather different dining experience from other steamboat restaurants. So naturally, the restaurant is chosen while having a date with my girlfriend at Times Square, Kuala Lumpur and wandering the shopping center to find a decent place to have dinner. In my opinion, Bar B Q Plaza is a fusion of steamboat and grilling dining concept.

Classier and newer if compared to their other branches.

The pot/grill station fusion where you get to grill your own meat. The center of the grill is used to barbecue the meats; while the side of the grill is where soup will be poured into and you could cook your veges in it.

Pork lard! It's a must to fully enjoy the barbecue dining experience. The lards are placed on right on the top center of the grill to let it slowly melt by the heat and ooze out the goodness oil. Meats that are placed on the grill would not stick on the grill; plus the aroma and taste is also enhanced by the pork oil.

Sweet sauce, dried bird eyes chili, lime and garlic. I like to mix all the ingredients into the sweet sauce to get all the goodness in one dip.


The Supreme Mixed Set (RM31.90) that we ordered to be shared has beef and pork slices, bacon, chicken meat, squid, prawns and loads of cabbages. Quite fresh I must say. All the sets come with 2 bowls of white rice; and an additional RM 1.50 is charged to each bowl for an upgrade to the garlic fried rice.

The grilling process. Whacked everything lol. My tips on to grill beef and pork to savor a medium rare cooked meat would be:

1. Place few pieces of meat all SEPARATELY on the grill.
2. Cook the meat till you see it's cooked and changed colour from the raw state on the outer part only. Note: the middle part should remain raw. (Should take only 20 -30 seconds since it's sliced thinly)
3. Flip the meat to other side and wait around 5-10 seconds.
4. Savor your medium rare meat with the sauce immediately while it's hot!

The verdict? Lol basically we finished everything. I guess we were in a very hungry mood that day. Definitely a very enjoyable meal.

The bill came up to RM44.85 with 2 cups of green tea. The green tea is refillable though. Quite worth it considering the amount of meat cuts. However I honestly felt that the branch in Times Square could greatly improve on their staff attitude more; given the restaurant's concept. Staffs are not friendly and have this moody/as-if-I-offended-them face. Mainly I think because most of the staffs are leaving school kids or kids who are on part time job. But I still believe they must improve and give strict warnings if they would want more business.

A good way to spend time after a great dinner - a visit to the cinema! Shrek Forever After; not bad and very hilarious. Darker story this time as compared to the previous Shrek movies.

We were still kinda hyper-ed up after movies, so we headed for a late walk at the night market at my housing area. OUG's (Overseas Union Garden, Jln Klang Lama) pasar malam is on every Thursday and has a mixture of bargains and good food to be found. The must get food I have every Thursday is the China burger. Not to say exactly tasty, with just flour, egg and minced meat. I guess it's an acquired taste, or an old habit of mine. Lol.


My desert vs hers! Had a great date day =)


Bar B Q Plaza's (Time Square Branch) Detail
Address : Lot 03-83, Berjaya Times Square, No. 1, Jalan Imbi, 55100 Kuala Lumpur.
Phone : 03 2145 8148
Website: Bar B Q Plaza
Price: RM 29++

Spaghetti Aglio Olio, Home Cooked

The girlfriend read some interesting cookbook while browsing at books at Times. She was particularly interested in the Aglio Olio and actually wanted to try to cook! Eaten traditionally by the Romanians, this simple dish of garlic and olive oil with pasta is heart warming and hits just the spot for a good satisfying meal. So willingly volunteer to be her 'white mouse' as she's a very very good cook. She interpreted the dish by adding prawns and squids and changing the pasta type to spaghetti.

Ingredients being prepared. Left: Chopped garlic; Below: Fresh chopped parsley; Right: Fresh prawn and squid

Cooking cooking. =( She never lets me see or know the process of cooking. She says she couldn't cook while I'm in the kitchen. Stealthily took this picture lol.

The finished dish. Paired with a nice dish plate, it does make it look pleasant and appetizing. I always believe visual and decoration plays an important role to in dining. With fresh ingredients incorporated, the pasta gives out a very nice garlic and olive oil aroma. The spaghetti was just nicely al dente (to the tooth)! The prawns and squids was fresh and sweet. Combined, what I get was a very delicious and heart warming yet simple pasta dish that I couldn't stop eating. Yum 10/10 score from me (not being bias!). Now, if only I have a glass of Jacob's Creek Classic Shiraz Cabernet to go with this. Perfect!

Aglio Olio is a very simple dish that you guys could prepare from scratch with easy to obtained ingredients:

• Pasta - Spaghetti /Angel Hair/ Linguine (up to your preferences)
  
• Olive Oil
• Garlic
• Parsley
  
• Other optional ingredients - Seafood/Poultry/etc.

I'll share a recipe I got from the internet. It's almost the same from what she had cooked. Recipe

Subway

Subway has always been my favourite meal when I'm in the hurry or can't make up choices on a place to have lunch. Healthy, fresh and it's extensive menu means that I could choose and create different subs to my liking. After trying out almost all of them, I would say I loved the Italian BMT sub the most.


But I'm going to be honest here, with 1/2 an inch sub costing around RM12++, I couldn't possibly afford it often even though I have cravings. Thankfully, there are promotions for Subway subs on the go now. WAY TO GO. So basically the promotion goes on from Mon - Sun, where 1 specific sub is given an offer at only RM 7.50 (inclusive of tax) on a specific day. What a steal! It's like having a 50% discount on each sub and I could have subs each day if I could. Lol! The best thing I liked about the promotion is that there are no time limits, it's RM 7.50 throughout the whole day. I basically liked every sub choices so I don't mind the limitation of the day; but people who are picky might want to take note of the promotions for the day. =)

(Image taken from Malaysia Food Promotions).

My sub. It was a Wednesday, so Meatball Marinara for me. It's the sloppiest and messiest sub, mainly because of the tomato based sauce and the uneven shape caused by the meatball. But it's still good as the meatball packed quite a beefy flavor. I always pick my subs with wheat bread; lettuces, onions and green peppers; with olive oil and vinegar. The breads are good as they bake breads fresh everyday and in the shop itself. The veges need no explanations as their motto is healthy and fresh. Will review other subs the next time if chances allowed! =)

Subway's Detail
Address : 42 branches all around Malaysia (mainly KL and PJ state area)
Phone :
Website: Malaysian Subway site
Price: RM7.50 - RM14++

A Wet Thai Village (Sawadee 88), Kuala Lumpur

What is this place? Quite a long trail of rumbles, mud and uneven roads which forced car drivers to slowly cruise around 20km/ph. After some struggling, we reach to what seems like.....


Little Bangkok! A Wet Thai Village is somewhat hidden in the view of the city. Located just beside Sungai Kerayong, Off Jalan Chan Sow Lin 5, a few housing/industrial roads have to be crossed to reach the hidden fishing pond and restaurant area. Fortunately a few direction banners was put up to direct. A Wet Thai Village's is being made in such a way that it resembles some village you would find in Bangkok. With little huts for each table, specialized pathways joining all the tables, simple pathway decorations with lights and some cheesy Thai music playing all the way; I really thought I was in Thailand for sure!

A Wet Thai Village (the owner's name is Ah Wet; hence the restaurant name) is divided into two sections; which is the ala carte Thai cuisine where I had; and the steamboat section. Both are located right beside a pond/river.

Ala-carte section. Friends already occupied the table on the right.

Steamboat section; pond is just right beside.

Most of us ordered the Thai coconut (RM4.50) to go with the spicy food. I think I still prefer the smaller and sweeter Thai version than this. I don't know bout the others, but mine was not sweet at all.

This is how we packed 14 people into two tables. Squeezed with just ample space to eat. Quite chaotic as most of us ordered coconuts; and we ordered 9 dishes to go. And oh, each table gets 9 dishes, so.. 18 plates of dishes to be exact!

The dishes all came out at the same time; so there's no starters or appetizers courses. The fried paku-pakis with prawns. Very aromatic and crunchy vegetable. Best to go with rice. Note: Paku-pakis is a vege that requires experience to prepare and cook; else the vege would leave a stinging after taste on the tongue.


Mango kerabu. Sourish and fresh. Perfect for beginning a meal.


White seafood tom yam. Fiery and spicy with lots and lots of seafood. Nice! There's chili flakes and spices in it. I had two servings of this. One of my friend who had just went to Thailand few days ago even said A Wet's version was better than what he had at Thailand.


14 pieces of Pandan Chicken. Ordered just enough for 1 for each. Tasted like how Pandan Chicken should taste like, turmeric and some spices. Was ok.

Barbequed lamb. Just nice and packed with natural juices. The accompanying chili was addictive to be dip into. Good beer snack, lol!

Mr. Lala Chong introducing the barbequed cockles. Not bad though though a little bit dry; it was meant to be like that. Still prefer cockles to be just drench in hot water and eaten semi raw. Emmmmm.


Close up shot of the barbequed cockles.


Fish (left) and prawn (right) cakes. The fish cakes are packed with fish and spices flavor; while the prawn cakes are so-so with crispy breaded skins.


Salt barbequed fish. This is nice; I always love this dish here at A Wet's. The scales of the fish is applied with lots of salt and are never scale off; to give it protection while barbecuing. Herbs are inserted through the mouth opening to give it extra flavor. To eat, just gently tear off the skin and enjoy the flesh inside! Yum, what you get is the natural juicy taste of how a fish should be enjoyed, without any other sauces overpowering it. The ideal fish to be enjoyed with this cooking style would be the Tilapia; but they ran out of it. We had the Haruan instead. Go for the Tilapia if possible. Haruan has this hint of muddy taste, verdict of self-rearing fishes.


The scaled fish with white flesh revealed.

Close up shot of the Steamed Sotong with Sour and Spicy Gravy. The sotong was cooked till soft and doesn't require alot of chewing. The dish and the gravy came seperately, whereby the waiter would pour the gravy into the hot pan heated by charcoal. Aromas filled the table when the gravy is poured; interesting way to whet up the appetite! Lol, I find the gravy very addictive that I drank it like soup. This dish also has some sotong roe and roe sack, so be sure you're up to it before eating everything.

The bill of the night came up to RM 392.40. Pretty ok; considering the large double amount of food we had and everyone was stuffed from the food. Divided by 14 of us, each of us only forked out like RM28; way better if compared to what you would get with that price of *buffet steamboats, etc. that people would normally do for birthdays*. Would I return to this place? I would say no, as it's too inconvenient and the rubbish surrounding the area is annoying (area, not reastaurant). Don't get me wrong, I love and enjoyed the food till the last bite; but I would prefer to just visit the either two other branches of A Wet. The two other branches are located at Bandar Puteri, Puchong and Taman Cheras, Cheras. A note of notice, the branch here at Chan Sow Lin is Halal and does not serve pork, while both branches at Puchong and Cheras serves pork (Thai Fried Pork Knuckles!).


Satisfying meal, great time, great birthday celebration to three of my friends. A very late HAPPY BIRTHDAY to 3 of you and hope you guys enjoyed the dinner we had planned. =)

A Wet Thai Village (Sawadee 88)'s Detail
Address : Tepi Sungai Kerayong Off Jalan Chan Sow Lin 5, Kuala Lumpur
Phone : 016-3969130 (Khoon), 019-2630828 (Rocky)
Website:
Price: Depending on ordered dishes with seafood being the most pricy items (seasonal)

Tamarind Springs, Ampang

Brought the girlfriend for her birthday dinner at Tamarind Springs, Ampang. Tamarind Springs serves Indochinese food, which is rather new to us. Reason being is that was bored of the typical dinners at some fancy Italian/Western restaurants (for special occasions of course!); therefore researched for something extra special. Located at Ampang, the place is surely way remote; but upon reaching the place, "WOW!" was the only quote that I could use to describe the place. The entire setting of the restaurant (note: there's 2 restaurants and 1 spa area located in Tamarind's compound if not mistaken) does not at all looks like you're in the center of the city. A perfect getaway from the busy and hustle city life I must say. We reached around 8pm, whereby the whole compound was quiet; and got greeted by pretty candles at the pathway all the way from the entrance to the restaurant. That, already made me felt like a VIP whereby our presence as a customer is fully anticipated. Credits to their decoration and mood settings!

Entrance to the compound. Looks can be deceiving lol. Such a normal entrance to a beautiful place.

Candles all over the compound.


More candles along the pathway.


Direction to the restaurant.


The exterior of the restaurant.

The restaurant has among the best customer services from the staff that I had experienced. At the front desk, I told them that I had reserved a table for two, and they promptly told me "Mr. Jun Kit right?". Wow, speaking of being ready to serve customers. Ushered to the table and the captain introduced us to a few best sold food items. Indochinese's dining concept is similarly to dining in Chinese restaurants whereby a few dish would be ordered to go with rice. Since I had researched on the menu, I skipped their fish as a few bloggers had some complain on the fish. For the both of us, we ordered the Green Curry Beef, Sauted Garlic Lamb and the Crab and Asparagus Soup. Unfortunately, after awhile the waiter came back and told me that all curry items are discontinued as they found that their coconut milk are not up to par to be prepared with. Quality control! Changed the curry to the Fried Duck Egg with Eggplant - pretty rare dish. Forgive me on the pictures quality. I'm only equipped with a compact camera and the environment was rather dark - challenging!

Table decoration. Romantic =)


Only Eau Claire mineral water is served here. Fancy, huh?


Complimentary startes by the chef - some vege salad dosed with olive oil. Crunchy and refreshing.


1st dish to arrive - Asparagus and crab meat soup. Taste a little bit hard on the salt; but the asparagus and sweet hand peeled crab meat made it up for it. Not bad.

Sauted Garlic Lamb. This is nice! The lamb meat was properly cooked, a little over medium rare but just nice. The gravy was the best as it's the juices of the marinade and produced over cooking the lamb. Packed with flavor! The garlic gives a crunchy contrast texture to the meat, though I don't see the needs of the garlic. Lol.

Fried Duck Egg with Eggplant. This was normal, couldn't bring up the aromatic flavor of the duck egg. Disappointed with this dish though.


White rice served with dishes and our table setting. Lovely. =)


The bar area nearby our table. People started to hanging out and had drinks like around 11pm. Guess it's open till late?

Enjoyed the pleasant meal with some relaxed talk. The restaurant however could be made much more comfortable with the air ventilation as it's rather stuffy; for a fine dining restaurant. The total bill came up to RM 124. Pretty worth it, considering the effort of the staffs to make us feel comfortable, the decorations, environments and the food. Noticed a Italian cuisine restaurant under the same management, Il Tempio; located just beside and below Tamarind Springs. Would definitely pay a visit for the next special occasion.

Tamarind Spring's Detail
Address : Jln 1 Taman T.A.R, 68000 Ampang, Selangor D.E.
Phone : 03 42569300
Website: Tamarind Spring
Price: Depending on ordered dishes but a decent meal for 2 would cost around Rm150 - Rm 300.