Osteria RealBlue - Stunning Food!

Massive shout out for the Osteria RealBlue at the Publika. Was a bit difficult to find (everything is difficult to find at Publika - very confusing shopping mall and car parking) but a total delight. We had been there about two years previously with the Amante food group and had an okay time. The chef is Italian and met his wife Sherrie (born in PJ) when she had relocated to his home town in Bologna. The Osteria has had many good word of mouth reports, so it was long overdue a revisit.

Lenglui, the good Dcotor and I sharad the fried Burata with Ham scraps and Saute Mushroom as starters. The Burata was beautiful melt in the mouth salty sweetness which gained some further salt from the ham. The combo was fabulous - gooey and salt explosive. The Saute Mushrooms came in a lightly peppered cream sauce and plated with thyme and oyster sauce (I think). A perfect blend of soft firm texture and tantalizing taste. Simple food prepared excellently well.

Second up was the Ravioli. This was fabulous, melt in the mouth chunks of pumpkin mix wrapped in firm freshly made pasta and doused rather than dusted with parmesan cheese. The cheese stuck to the pasta and gave it a crusted texture to bite through into the ravioli and was a total delight. Sinful maybe, but well worth any penance due.

And then on to the T Bone with side salad. A large chunk of beef perfectly cooked and having that perfect mix of char on the outside and medium rare lean beef on the inside. I have not had a piece of steak like this for a long time. One of those tastes for the ages. Osteria say give them some notice if youwant the beef so it can be brought to room temperature before grilling over the charcoal. Paired with a Fontodi 2007 Chianti - drinking nicely, still a little time left in the bottle, firm structure and body with full black cherry fruit, spicy notes and chewy tannins made an excellent partner for this king of the steaks. The Fontodi also paired nicely with all the other dishes, though more as a tongue and salt cleanser rather than matching the food. I found the salad a bit on the sweet side for some reason, though it didn't detract from the overall ensemble and added coleslaw crisp texture to underpin the meat. Didn't see the bill, the good Doctor paid. He didn't squeal. But then he never does.

Definitely going back to the Osteria. Total no brainer.  

Ben's Restaurant Publika - excellent burger!!

Ben's Restaurant Publika Jan 20th 2013 lunch

We've been patronising Ben's Restaurants for a couple of months now. Food quality and preparation is generally of standard and a fair value proposition for the prices being charged. 

Ben seems to have a knack for developing tasty nutritious dishes with high quality ingredients and which don;t feel like too much of a burden on the credit card. They do a fair seleciton on their wines as well.

I had the Fisherman's Catch on Friday evening at the KLCC outlet and tried the Cheeseburger at Sunday lunch. 

The Fishermans Catch was… forgettable. It was nice and all, just not a dish that made you go "wow". Will try the standard fish and chips next time. Lenglui had the usually excellent Steak Sandwich and yet again it did not disappoint. Full meat, well seared and high quality chunk of Angus beef. 

The burger was excellent, succulent meat and well cooked on a soft but firm bun with great tasting cheese and just a hint of spicy tomato sauce. The fries were a bit wooden on this occasion, though they have been delightful light and wispy crunches in the past. Maybe the burger could have been a bit larger - I could get both hadns and mouth around the thing. Normal burgers elsewhere don;t allow for this. Notwithstanding, ten out of ten on the burger. Definitely one to return for.

Lenglui had the quiche. Pastry base was very tough to cut - overbaked and well wooded. Though the quiche was good - fluffy yet firm with lots of filling. Wouldn't buy it again, though - not with a base like that. How to trust?

Iketeru KL Hilton - disappointing, lousy car park experience.

Iketeru is a favourite destination of ours. We like the modern lighting and decor, and its lots of little alcoves for private dining and a usually excellent quality of menu. Steak on previous occasions had been wonderful. Usually.

We like to sit at the teppankayi counter and watch the chefs work their magic. They were a bit quiet today - in retrospect, should maybe have taken this as an ominous portent. Not busy can often mean the place is out of favour. And so it proved, with the lunch being a bit short on standard on this occasion. We ordered the set Sashimi plus Teppanyaki Beef and Special Tempura Prawn lunches. 

My salad came out dripping with cloyingly sweet thousand island or something, though the miso was hot and saltily invigorating. Maybe that was the plan - give sweet followed by salty. Sashimi was three chunks of salmon, and two of the whitefish and octopus leg respectively. No tuna. Hmmmm…  We tend to expect some tuna in sashimi servings. First time we'd ever had sashimi sans tuna. Hmmm....  

The tempura prawn in special soy sauce  - whilst the texture of the prawn was terrific, the batter was squishy and…  just bleughh. There was little crunch, and mostly egg and flour on the tongue. It was like sucking on KFC batter that had been dipped in hot water -  all limp and squidgy. Tastewise was interesting enough, with egg and salt on the tongue, but the texture was hardly tempura. The egg custard was light and clean. 

I tried the beef. It was okay, but seemed to miss the standard of previous visits. It was cold when it came out and colder when I tried it. Meat quality was fine enough, maybe that little bit of care and love in the preparation seemed to be missing. 

Bit of a shock when the Green Tea came out at RM9 per person - I seem to recall it used to be gratis. 

Service was sufficiently friendly and unobtrusive, though on this showing there's way better Japanese to be had elsewhere n the city, most notably at Kame Sushi in Sri Hartamas. If we are paying Hilton prices, we can surely expect Hilton standard. Didn't seem to hit it on this occasion.

Yet again the Hilton/Meridien car park failed, with the machine eating my ticket and failing to let us out at the barrier. We picked a time when our car parking attendants went off for a pee break. This is about the fourth time in a row that this car park has given me a problem.  Probably the central reason I will not return to Iketeru for a while. Maybe the hotel renovation currently underway will do something about what is possibly some of the worst hotel parking experience in the city.

A very good evening at the Vintry

Got a late call from Uncle Yap demanding we come and eat the big pork and beef at the Vintry in Jaya 33. Okaylah, we say. They were having a wine sale there and so we figured we could all eat and drink at fair value. 

On entering, the place was buzzing. Tables were full, food was being consumed, and a lot of wine was getting chugged. Business is booming, always a good sign. 

And the food was of good to very good standard all the way through. Starter of Siew Yoke with deep fried cheese frittters and fried mushroom went a treat with the slightly sweet and ageing yet beautifully elegant and structured Villa Maria SB 2009. It also went nicely with the 60 Drops 2011 SB, though in a more racier way. 60 lacked the elegance of Maria, but both offering great value at 20% discount. 

We stuck with the white for the lamb chops which were rich and juicy and not overcooked. Lightly peppered and coming out hot they were magnificent. Roast potatoes a bit firm, but a small detail.

The Roast Beef was the king of the night, again coming out hot and juicy with mash and coleslaw to firm up the mouth for the meat. Again, lightly peppered and medium well done, it made for a hearty meal for the masses. Paired with a 2007 Chateau de Something from St Julien which was on 25% discount at RM150. Drinking well, restrained blackcurrant with smooth tannins and firm finish, it was a good match for the beef. Not sure there's much age left in the bottle, though. The table certainly enjoyed the choice.

Staff were pleasant but a bit slow, mainly due to the crowds and being unable to keep up with everyone. They decanted our red which was nice and brought out the good bordeaux glasses. Total bill came out at RM160 each for six people. Have paid far more for much less. Add to that a lot of laughter from some most excellent company, it became a very good evening indeed.

Christmas lunch at Makan Palace, Doubletree

Was a buffet of Malay, Indian, Chinese and Italian but with the added Turkey and Lamb main. Bit rojak, but it seemed to work. Highlights were the Roti Canai and dhall, Waldorf apple salad and the Christmas pudding washed down with Teh Tarik. Turkey was dry, stuffing had no taste, lamb was okay and the gravy brought it all together. Christmas meatball sauce was very good, all rich and brown and soaked up by the bread and butter. Still no better meal in the world than bread and gravy!!

Christmas Eve at Checkers

Dinner at Checkers was excellent. Mr Tan gave us a Salmon compote with cucumber strips for crunch and foundation. Next up was King Prawn in Ratatouille which was superb - all herbs and squish in the mouth. We had roast pork main course with salad and the most amazing roast potatoes - all butter and oil and melt in the mouth magnificence. Can't rememeber dessert. Bottle of Cullen Chardonnay 2008 and our La Forge 2009 Chardonnay washed everything down most pleasantly. Fantastic evening. 

A Weekend at Straits Quay Penang

A group of us were in Penang to perform our Christmas show at the Penangpac in Straits Quay. I arrived early to set up the stage ahead of the others. This is a brief report on food and drink we encountered whilst there. 

Straits Quay Coffee Bean coffee was thin. Sandwich was small for the price. Nowhere to wash your hands. Not good value.

Ate at some restaurant in the evening overlooking the Marina called Maricosa. It was pretty sad. Blue looking margarita by the jug was thin and watery - we had to order another gin to spruce it up. Special of Pork Ribs was drowned in gravy and tasted like it had been braised in water first. Fair prices, but not large on quality.  See how long it lasts.

Took a morning drive along Batu Feringhi to find breakfast. Everything was closed. 

Had breakfast cake and coffee at Delicious. Lenglui enjoyed, though I found it stodgy and the coffee thin. Friends from our group had a different take and enjoyed it all. Stiff prices. Trendy and popular with pretty people. 

We had booked a suite for the cast to stay as back up in case other accommodation didn't come through. It eventually did, but the Agoda company operating the apartments said they would not allow cancellation since it was a special offer rate and I would have to pay the entire three night booking.  Hmm.  Not customer friendly. Since the location suited us, we put up and shut up. But would not happily book through Agoda again. Next time we will find a place that takes direct bookings. Or at least one that has a better policy for cancelling. We saw a few on the main road offering at RM100 compared to the RM400+ for Agoda's special. The Tanjung Beach Resort should reopen soon after its renovation. Maybe it will offer a better deal. Or stay at the E&O hotel. They have free shuttles to Straits Quay.

The one bedroom suite will sleep five people, three in the bedroom and two on couches in the TV area. It was clean and quiet and well located. Though a bit hit and miss for checking in. You need to find the operator who walks up and down the Mall entrance hoping to be noticed by people looking to check in. Big fridge, cooker, free bottled water and wifi with coffee and tea and someone to come in and clean. Big TV with DVD player but no Cable TV. No microwave. Also no place in Straits Quay to buy food - need to go to the Tesco which is a hot and sweaty 15 minute walk away. A verandah overlooked by some building meant that drying clothes outside was impossible and a magnet for mosquitoes. Got a pool and fitness centre which we didn't visit.

Location wise, you're pretty stuck at the Straits Quay without a car. Taxis abound, but it is a good distance to Penang centre, and traffic can be slow given the road system. Fine for a family getaway, but not for people looking to experience Penang in its historical glory.

Night time was at Goodall hawker stall on Gottleib Road. Excellent Lor Bak and O Tien (oyster omelette). Generally very good standard and food quality and taste in the open evening air. Got a free car park too. Recommended.

Found an excellent coffee bar called Full Of Beans at Straits Quay. Expensive, but worth the splurge. One of the best made coffees I have ever tasted. Various varietals and blends available, and all made perfectly. Must try.

Nyona Blend Restaurant Straitss Quay. Good tasty portions, fair price, nice ambience at lunchtime. Can get busy on weekends. We had potato leaves with fried rice and belly pork stew. Very filling. Recommended.

Found an excellent chicken sandwhich at the Cafe Huey and Wah. Went well with our Sixty Drops 2010 which is ageing nicely. 

Last supper was at Northam Beach Cafe. Located next to the sea, got lovely cooling breezes as we ate. So so satay, excellent Lor Bak, small and average Char Kuey Teow, Tiger lady selling beer growled at me for speaking Bahasa. I thanked her in Cantonese and got a grunt. Cordial relations confirmed. 

Drive back to KL stopped at Tapah Services. Hugely busy. Had a small chicken croissant and coffee at Dunkin Donut. Pretty grim, but it was carbo. Lenglui had ice cream at Baskin Robbins. Tip - drive to the petrol station if you want the toilet, otherwise is a long walk from the services entrance.