Sunday, July 10, 2011
Uncle Chili, KLCC July 10 2011
Uhhh.... not so good as previously eaten. Burger was fine, but the fries were a bit raw and old and the chicken soup was way salty. Lettuce on the burger was a bit limp too. Better burger is at Chinoz on the ground floor. Way better fries too.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
El Meson Bangsar 8 July 2011
Got email from El Meson in Bangsar today inviting me to a wine dinner for RM188. They pissed me off about a year ago by attempting to whack me with corkage when the wines they had in stock were pretty piss poor. We left before eating and haven't been back since. Guess they must be doing okay without my patronage. Shame, because they were doing an excellent suckling pig at the time, way better than the noisy plate smashing irritating El Cerdo. We haven't been there for years either, ever since he suggested we should get used to his pork knuckle without the crispy skin because it was healthier for us. Still sounds like nonsense. I presume he has equally gotten used to living without our patronage.
Had the El Meson wines on the menu been more attractive, I could have been tempted back. But it needs more than the thought of suckling pig to compensate for untested wine at that kind of price. Maybe next time.
Had the El Meson wines on the menu been more attractive, I could have been tempted back. But it needs more than the thought of suckling pig to compensate for untested wine at that kind of price. Maybe next time.
Amante Dinner Garibaldi Bangsar Village Juy 7th 2011
NOTE - Garibaldi is no longer there and hasn't been for years. Apols for not updating earlier. Was a great place.
Our nearly legal society had a gathering for which only twelve of us had signed up. Not sure why the numbers were so low, but it made for a close convivial and hearty gathering. A Four course with coffee and two glasses of wine for RM150 was a great deal and we'd been wanting to try the Garibaldi for a while. Well, what a delightful evening. One of the members treated us to a very welcome glass of Roederer champagne, with beautiful bubbles, rich oatmeal biscuit on the nose and yeast on the tongue. A great reminder of how great champagne can taste. Following a charming Amuse Bouche of walnut on some kind of puree, the starter of Beef Carpaccio with Shaved Parmegiano and Rucola which was…. quite forgettable, actually. Maybe should have asked for pepper to spruce up the beef or more pungency in the cheese. But the Primi Fettucine with Spring Veg Ragout and Truffle Sauce was brilliant. And most generous with two clips of shaved truffle added to the dish! The accompanying wine was the Albizza Chardonnay Toscana 2009 from Frescobaldi. Lean, slightly oily and fairly unassuming on its own, it bloomed with fruit and flower on connecting with the Fettucine. All trace of oil disappeared leaving a clean fresh full bodied wine that stood up to the truffle and really brought out the freshness of the pasta. A real winner.
Next was a choice of King Prawn or Veal. Dearest went for Prawn while I did the Veal. We also swapped wine, she taking the remains of my white for the prawn and I nabbed her red for the Veal. The mushroom and truffle sauce was delightful, and paired with lean veal pan fried made for a rich mouthful of earthy textures. The paired Danzante Merlot 2009 was….. okay, I guess. Bit light for Merlot, lot of cherry for some reason. Certainly not a large wine, which was just as well as it would have killed the meat. But at RM40 a glass, I don't see me buying it off the menu.
Garibaldi's Apple Pie with Vanilla Gelato looked scrummy, but I passed. Way too much sugar and fat. Diabetes is a bastard. I love desserts. Just can't eat them any more.
One of the members had most generously brought two bottles of Frescobaldi Brunello di Montalcino 2004 and 2005 for a vertical taste for the assembled. Both were full and beautiful, though the leaner 2004 had the edge on structure while the 2005 had better fruit. But lovely wine. The Brunello has lovely texture, bit velvet and slightly lean, with cheek tickling blackcurrant and damson. Finish was crisp and sleek, with wild fruit on the nose. Wonderful treat.
Most of the conversation was about air travel and a scary story about one SQ118 that had to return to base after an engine caught fire. Other talk was on obedient wives club and the upcoming marches. Most would be staying at home. Us too. Got DVD in case they decide to shut down the TV. Damn stupid if they do, but international opinion doesn't always seem to rank high on the list of priorities here.
Given the present selection of bottles, the imposition of RM80 for corkage seemed a bit of a whack. Here, though, the staff said that Garibaldi was taking delivery of 300 cases of Italian best the following week so hopefully the choice and price will be fair and reasonable. Whilst the individual dishes on the menu looked a bit stiff, the degustation of six courses at RM150 looks worth a try. Like Arnie Schwarz, we'll be back.
Our nearly legal society had a gathering for which only twelve of us had signed up. Not sure why the numbers were so low, but it made for a close convivial and hearty gathering. A Four course with coffee and two glasses of wine for RM150 was a great deal and we'd been wanting to try the Garibaldi for a while. Well, what a delightful evening. One of the members treated us to a very welcome glass of Roederer champagne, with beautiful bubbles, rich oatmeal biscuit on the nose and yeast on the tongue. A great reminder of how great champagne can taste. Following a charming Amuse Bouche of walnut on some kind of puree, the starter of Beef Carpaccio with Shaved Parmegiano and Rucola which was…. quite forgettable, actually. Maybe should have asked for pepper to spruce up the beef or more pungency in the cheese. But the Primi Fettucine with Spring Veg Ragout and Truffle Sauce was brilliant. And most generous with two clips of shaved truffle added to the dish! The accompanying wine was the Albizza Chardonnay Toscana 2009 from Frescobaldi. Lean, slightly oily and fairly unassuming on its own, it bloomed with fruit and flower on connecting with the Fettucine. All trace of oil disappeared leaving a clean fresh full bodied wine that stood up to the truffle and really brought out the freshness of the pasta. A real winner.
Next was a choice of King Prawn or Veal. Dearest went for Prawn while I did the Veal. We also swapped wine, she taking the remains of my white for the prawn and I nabbed her red for the Veal. The mushroom and truffle sauce was delightful, and paired with lean veal pan fried made for a rich mouthful of earthy textures. The paired Danzante Merlot 2009 was….. okay, I guess. Bit light for Merlot, lot of cherry for some reason. Certainly not a large wine, which was just as well as it would have killed the meat. But at RM40 a glass, I don't see me buying it off the menu.
Garibaldi's Apple Pie with Vanilla Gelato looked scrummy, but I passed. Way too much sugar and fat. Diabetes is a bastard. I love desserts. Just can't eat them any more.
One of the members had most generously brought two bottles of Frescobaldi Brunello di Montalcino 2004 and 2005 for a vertical taste for the assembled. Both were full and beautiful, though the leaner 2004 had the edge on structure while the 2005 had better fruit. But lovely wine. The Brunello has lovely texture, bit velvet and slightly lean, with cheek tickling blackcurrant and damson. Finish was crisp and sleek, with wild fruit on the nose. Wonderful treat.
Most of the conversation was about air travel and a scary story about one SQ118 that had to return to base after an engine caught fire. Other talk was on obedient wives club and the upcoming marches. Most would be staying at home. Us too. Got DVD in case they decide to shut down the TV. Damn stupid if they do, but international opinion doesn't always seem to rank high on the list of priorities here.
Given the present selection of bottles, the imposition of RM80 for corkage seemed a bit of a whack. Here, though, the staff said that Garibaldi was taking delivery of 300 cases of Italian best the following week so hopefully the choice and price will be fair and reasonable. Whilst the individual dishes on the menu looked a bit stiff, the degustation of six courses at RM150 looks worth a try. Like Arnie Schwarz, we'll be back.
Margan Wine Dinner Lake Club July 6th 2011
Had reasonable expectations here which didn't quite get met.
Not that anything was really wrong with anything. The food was most palatable, especially the almost perfectly braised beef ribs - tasted like they had been slow braised for hours in rich gravy. Potato was excellent and the soup not salty. The new chef shows great promise. The wines were fair but not really standouts - crisp Semillon with Salmon starter, reasonable Chardonnay to follow with the soup, very light bodied Merlot with main and (I think) crisply sweet Semillon Dessert to finish. It's just that previous wine dinners were quite generous with the pourings. This evening they were decidely stingy. Except for the starter, barely a full glass with each course. Everything ended at 10pm. We left surprisingly and disappointingly sober. Didn't manage to get around to say hello to too many, but saw old friend the Bone Corrector at a distance and wine kaki Tuck Onn, who shared my disdain at the parsimony of the Club. Wine Chairman Derrick held court getting photos taken at all the tables. We run into each other about once a year and each time he keeps threatening to call me to come to his place to taste wine. Well, maybe this will be year. I said a quick hello to the winemaker Andrew but got quickly crowded out by He Who Would Be King who seemed keen to cement an impression. I am still developing one of him. Dick seems the closest at this time.
Pleasant company at the table with Vijay and Freya and son Rajiv. Apparent regulars at the Lake Club wine dinners, eye doctor and Anglophile Vijay regaled us with tales of his wine travels and knowledge and purchases. Rajiv spent most of the night on his Blackberry, but we swapped some restaurant tales in between sessions. I gave them a tip about discount cruises, they seemed happy with the idea. An early night, and quite proud that I remembered to call my sister in the UK and wish her a Happy Birthday. Decent sleep too, so the wines weren't that alcoholic.
Not that anything was really wrong with anything. The food was most palatable, especially the almost perfectly braised beef ribs - tasted like they had been slow braised for hours in rich gravy. Potato was excellent and the soup not salty. The new chef shows great promise. The wines were fair but not really standouts - crisp Semillon with Salmon starter, reasonable Chardonnay to follow with the soup, very light bodied Merlot with main and (I think) crisply sweet Semillon Dessert to finish. It's just that previous wine dinners were quite generous with the pourings. This evening they were decidely stingy. Except for the starter, barely a full glass with each course. Everything ended at 10pm. We left surprisingly and disappointingly sober. Didn't manage to get around to say hello to too many, but saw old friend the Bone Corrector at a distance and wine kaki Tuck Onn, who shared my disdain at the parsimony of the Club. Wine Chairman Derrick held court getting photos taken at all the tables. We run into each other about once a year and each time he keeps threatening to call me to come to his place to taste wine. Well, maybe this will be year. I said a quick hello to the winemaker Andrew but got quickly crowded out by He Who Would Be King who seemed keen to cement an impression. I am still developing one of him. Dick seems the closest at this time.
Pleasant company at the table with Vijay and Freya and son Rajiv. Apparent regulars at the Lake Club wine dinners, eye doctor and Anglophile Vijay regaled us with tales of his wine travels and knowledge and purchases. Rajiv spent most of the night on his Blackberry, but we swapped some restaurant tales in between sessions. I gave them a tip about discount cruises, they seemed happy with the idea. An early night, and quite proud that I remembered to call my sister in the UK and wish her a Happy Birthday. Decent sleep too, so the wines weren't that alcoholic.
PRIME, Le Meridien Hotel, July 3rd 2011
A late decision to go here after a planned rehearsal with accapella group Six2eight was cancelled. I love the ambience of Prime - the wod, the bottles stacked to the impossibly high ceiling, the windows onto the kitchen and the chefs all in black, inlcuding the big chef hat. Does get a bit cold, though. They were doing a special on the Black Angus so dearest went for the rib eye while I had the striploin. Mine came with ricotta and greens and was most tasty, though the meat was smeared with the gravy and I prefer mine on the side. It was tasty enough, though, and went well with the cheapest wine on the list, a Beringer Stone Cellar Merlot from 2006. Still prefer the steak at the Dish though - better meat and more of it. The Starwood Card gives us 50% off the food and 20% off the drinks, so the total after tax was about RM300. Not bad for a decent steak with trimmings and a shared bottle. Plus the delightful starter bread and the varieties of herb and garlic butter. Must try the rib eye sans gravy next time.
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