I'm toasted

I woke up with an insatiable craving for butter on toast. That’s rather weird since I’m not a bread person. I nom nom on the occasional croissant and that’s just about it.

But this morning ... I was salivating as I pictured the slice of toast, piping hot out of the toaster where it’s white with patches of brown ... immediately being slathered with a thick slab of rich creamy butter ... melting ... slowly caramelising it golden yellow.

The first bite ... sinking your teeth wholly into the bread ... making your way from the crispy outside *crunch* into the softer inside of the bread ... the butter juices exploding and enveloping your tongue entirely with its salty goodness. Ooh la la ...

Mini Reception in Terengganu

SY has family in the sleepy city of Kuala Terengganu. Due to the distance and the fact that weekend in KT falls on a Friday and Saturday, quite a number of her relatives can't make it down to KL for our wedding reception. With that, we 'brought' the reception to them instead ... well, sort of.

So the in-laws, the wife and I hopped onto one of MAS's 737 and and less than an hour later, we set foot on KT's spanking new airport, the Sultan Mahmud Airport. *Hope I got the name right* The new hub is way better than the old one with much cleaner amenities. From the airport, we took a 5 minute drive to KT's latest tourist spot ... their front page grabbing stadium which collapsed not too long ago. That's RM300 million in tax payer's moolah down the drain yo. We happily snapped away and noticed all around, others were doing the same. Haha ... well, at least now that twisted piece of junk metal is good for something.

SY's uncle picked us up in his very sexy 3 month old Honda Accord and we headed straight to Jalan Kampung Cina ... KT's chinatown of sorts. First stop, Kedai Kopi Ping An *again, I hope I got the name right :p*. From the outside, it looks like any other typical coffee shop. It's quaint and it's old but let me tell you this ... they serve THE F**KING BEST ROTI BAKAR EVAAAAAA!!! Ain't kidding yo. The locals call this kinda bread 'paung' and the base of the bread is laced with butter whilst baked. Before serving, the paung is cut in half, re-heated in an oven and on the sides, generous slabs of butter and 'kaya' (coconut jam). The blend of creamy salty butter, the sweet aromatic kaya and the crunchy-on-the-outside-soft-on-the-inside paung ... heavenly I tell ya!!! We also ordered fried kuay teow on the sides but that's nothing to shout home about.

After a hearty meal, we walked around the area and visited SY's relatives. Being such a small town and catering for an even smaller Chinese community, everyone seems to know everyone there. We were stopped every 5 paces or so by someone or another for a brief chat to catch up. The in-laws went into the nearby Thean Hou Gong temple to pray. Built in 1896 during the Qing Dynasty, this piece of heritage is actually listed under the UNESCO's World Monument Watch programme. Cool huh.

More family visits before we checked into our hotel, the Primula Park Royal hotel. I learned then that this hotel used to be one of SY's favourite hotel back when she was a kid. I wonder if it's still her fav resort now that she has been to Baros. :p

We took a decent nap and took a stroll by the beach when the weather was most pleasant. Heck, we even bought a kite and it soared high indeed fueled by the ever strong ocean bayou.

Our dinner 'reception' was at Ocean Restaurant and we catered for 3 full tables. The food was nothing less than scrumptious and for very good money too. We feasted on lobster, an assortment of seadfood, steamed red snapper, roasted chicken & duck, fresh greens etc. By the time dinner ended, we were most gastronomically satisfied. :)

While SY's mom continued spending more time with family, her dad took us on a leisurely drive around the city before heading back to the hotel to call it a night.

The next morning, we were treated to an authentic local breakfast at the hotel's coffee house and the main item on the menu was nasi dagang. Sticky rice drizzled with gravy and accompanying condiments, it was delish. Since we had time before our flight home, we went back to chinatown for more makan session. We simply couldn't resist having more 'paung' and some noodles. SY's aunt also insisted on us taking home boxes of keropok lekor (local fish crackers) etc.

Our tastebuds were worked overtime when we went to a temple somewhere in the outskirts for a vegetarian lunch. By that time, I couldn't really recall what I stuffed myself with but I knew the food was goooooood.

We slugged our heavy bellies to the airport immediately after lunch and took a relaxing flight home promising to return again for more of em' killer paung. :)

Our first meal as a married couple

This was what we had immediately after our ROM ... delish!!! We had it at My Kopitiam, USJ Taipan. Soft steamed bread, flower bun dipped in thick chicken curry, piping hot half boild eggs, sweet Milo and iced 'cham'. Yummmsss ...

Please Sir, Can I ... Can I ... Have Somemore???

On the way to pick her up from Dubai Int., I had a monsterous BK King Chicken Fillet at approx. 2:00 am.

Our meals together ... we started of with La Brioche. A sweet almond croissant to work out the appetite (not that we needed any help anyways ... we were utterly famished). I had the omelette breakkie set and she relished the white truffle oil pasta.

Next up, dinner came in the form of the self acclaimed 'World's Best Hamburgers' @ Fuddruckers. We polished off the appetizer plate and this served us with fried chicken fingers, buffalo wings, onion rings, fried mozzarelas (Ooo La La ... me like!!!) and honey mustard dipping sauce. We also had the 1/3 lb. Swiss Mushroom Burger and a side ceasar salad.

Since SY already started craving for Chinese after just two days of being here in AD, we opted for Noodle House at Al Wahda Mall. The seafood tom yam soup was so spicy that beads of sweat formed on my third spoonful. *YIKES* We also ordered the Singaporean Black Peppered Beef which went along very well with the seafood fried rice + satay as well as the egg fried rice. Beverages were fusion iced teas ... most refreshing. :D

Last night, we went to The One Restaurant. The Thai Spiced Chicken Soup was yummilicious and complimented the club sandwich fantastically. SY had the feta chicken with spinach and that was also delish. The Illy's filtered coffee made up for the absence of dessert cause ... well ... we over stuffed ourselves ... as usual. :P SY went for the healthy option of the Trio Melon Juice which was a blend of watermelon, honey dew and cantaloup.

Hmmm .. I wonder what shall we have for dinner tonight? Maybe we'll go for Zyng ... the new Asian grill restaurant at Marina Mall. :)

P.S. What a crappy entry huh ... hehe. Sorry peeps.

CNY 09 and such (Part 1)

HELLO HELLO!!! How’re you doing peeps? Had a good CNY? Any luck on the gambling table? I’m gonna summarize the activities that have been keeping me busy all along or rather during the past 3 weeks. Warning : long post ahead.

I got back from abu Dhabi just in time for the CNY reunion dinner with my family. Oh wait, had some time before that to go do some really last minute shopping with SY @ 1 Utama. Mom went through all the hassle in preparing a scrumptious steamboat dinner. Our dinner table was stacked with so many plates that some were literally on the verge of falling off the table. As expected, the food was awesome and it has been a while since the entire Lim family had last sit down together for a decent meal. Younger bro, Shaun, attached with BAT is now based in Penang. Leftovers were abundant but no matter, we were able to store them for future re-consumption. *wink*

On the first day of CNY, the Lims went to church and just like every other year, we were presented with oranges and red packets after the mass. Breakfast with other relatives was held at Di Kayu Restaurant @ Chow Yang. I satisfied my craving for some good ol’ nasi lemak there. Yea bebeh!!!

After that, I paid SY’s family a visit and presented them with some CNY goodies. It was a nice li’ll hamper wrapped up very pretty with Chinese delicacies and good fortune bearing ornaments. SY got the same thing for my family too. That way, all of us could savour the offerings. Yum Yum!!!

Brought SY to my grandma’s place soon after and we caught up with the rest of my extended relatives. Four generations were present in total, so you could imagine all the hoo haas going on. So much noise from so many people but I reckon there’s no better way to welcome the Lunar New Year. :) We chatted, laughed, played and ate till our hearts’ content.

Day 2 of the CNY saw my family heading down south to Malacca ... my kampung of sorts. The only difference was that this time around, SY came along since there was a special request by my relatives to bring my fiancée for them to meet for the first time. Traffic was a breeze and we had a simple lunch in a truly vintage kampung wooden house with its zinc attap roof and all. So many new ‘additions’ to the family this time around with cousins’ babies etc. By late afternoon, we were on our way back to KL only to be greeted with a massive traffic jam. Totally forgot that today marks the end of the CNY holiday and almost every other person were making their way home too. We finally reached home after 3 hours to join SY’s family for another ‘big’ dinner. By now you can imagine how much we were eating. Food were leaking out of our ears I tell ya.

The next day, we took it slow ... woke up late and had a relaxing day till dinner time where I brought SY to meet up with some of my uni mates whom she had not previously met. The gathering was held at Yong Woon’s place @ Old Klang Road and her family was just so welcoming. It was like a mini casino there with a number of tables set up for games such as Black Jack, ‘chor tai dee’ and a few others. I was also fun to watch YW with her fiancé, Rob acting as Black Jack dealers since Rob was learning to play the game the ‘Malaysian style’. Catching up with my buddies after so long was fun.

We spent some quality time alone on Day 4, hitting the gym, caught Bride Wars @ GSC Pavilion, browsed through bridal magazines and planning our up coming wedding. We’re both getting more excited about it as the date drew closer. Of course the planning process was stressful especially when you try to please everyone but I think we’re getting the hang of it and are managing rather well. Dinner was at Imperial Palace with the gang and the food was oh-so-delish. Had our first ‘lou sang’ of the year there too. The restaurant even had a ‘Choi San Yeh’ or God of Fortune greeting every table and handing out oranges as tokens of luck and prosperity. With our bellies filled to the brim, we adjourned to my friend’s place @ Glenmarie Court for some Blackjack action. SY and I ended up being RM11 richer. *woot*.

Day 5 started out lazily too or at least till evening time where I did a Body Combat class at Jaya 33. It felt so good to be on stage teaching again after being away from the action for so long. For dinner, SY and I took my family to Unique Seafood, SS3 and we had their famous salted egg crab there. Other dishes ordered were black peppered venison, stir fried asparagus with spicy shrimp paste, yam basket, another portion of ‘yee sang’, some veg and noodles. The night did not end there as we went over to grandma’s for a round of Black Jack.

Day 6 was a ‘big day’ for SY and I. At precisely 12:30pm, both our families were seated down at Imperial Palace (again) for lunch ... well, not just any ordinary lunch. Our families were discussing our wedding ... from the ‘kwo tai lai’ to the dowry etc. It was nerve wrecking for both SY and I but you know what, it was pointless since our families got along well and the conclusion by the end of the day was that as long as SY and I were happy, then that was all that mattered. Haha. Apparently the lunch set we ordered was pretty good but I guess my nervousness caused my tastebuds’ failure in registering anything. :p

Day 7 saw us heading to SY’s place for a home cooked meal by YJ and his gf, CT. We had ‘yee sang’ again ... completely made from scratch by CT and I must say that it was the best I ever had. SY and her family concurred too. :) Apart from the must-have ‘yee sang’, on the menu were various other dishes what sent my pallet into a tantalizing frenzy. So much good food of late contributed dangerously to our expanding waistline ... luckily we had gym to balance out the situation. Why the need to watch our diet ... well, you’ll soon find out. :p

I guess it’s enough this time around and I shall carry on from here in the next entry. To be continued ...

Noodle House @ Al Wahda Mall

The night before SY was due to return to Malaysia, I took her to Al Wahda Mall. I reckon it's the only mall she hasn't been to in Abu Dhabi. Famished, we headed straight to Noodle House. A very decent Chinese restaurant with authentic decor and ambience to put us in a happy appetizing mood.

From the kitchen staff to the waitresses, they were all dressed in traditional chinese attire and what suprised me was the music being played at that time ... a blend of Chinese classical, oldies and pop. The sounds of George Lam's Wong Fei Hung theme song made the both of us grinning silly in fond reminiscence.

The menu is however kinda limited variety-wise but they made up for it in terms of delish quality. Order cards were placed on each table and we simply tick the items we wanted on the aforementioned menu cards.

At the end, we decided on a bowl of hot and sour soup (our staple whenever we go for Chinese), tom yum goong, ma po tofu, thai chilly chickcen, salt & pepper calamari and steamed rice. Drinks came in the form of flavoured ice teas.

The soups both worked wonderfully in whetting the taste buds for the mains and the calamari's dip of chilly mayonaisse complimented its dish splendidly. The chicken tasted really flavoursome and authentic infusing a lot of chinese condiments such as ginger and lemongrass while the uniformly cubic to fu stir fried in ma po sauce went deliciously well with the bowls of steaming fragrant rice. A real yummilicious meal all together. :D

We enjoyed the food there and service was rather good too. I foresee us coming back here again plus they have a new branch opening soon in the spanking huge Dubai Mall.

The Eve ...

On the eve of my 'BIG DAY', I rushed home from work and took SY to Vasco's. It's a western restaurant under the Hilton Hotel's wing and it's themed based on the travel stories of a certain Vasco De Gama. *wink*

Anyways, we were amongst the first customers there and had the fortunate priviledge to be seated at the al fresco area. The evening bayou breeze was indeed welcoming and served well to wash away all the stress from work. Facing the beach, we had a panoramic view of the marina and the splendour of the crimson sky.

Service was second to none and after being seated, we were served with complimentary bread and dips. There were at least 7 different kinda breads and the salsa dip went along wonderfully to stir up the appetite.

We both had soup for starters. SY went with the lobster minestrone while I opted for the seafood bisque. Both tasted delish indeed although SY mentioned that hers was a tad bit too salty. I tasted the minestrone too and it was simply fine by me.

For mains, I had the grilled chicken breast served with corniche sauce, roasted vegs and potatoes. I know it doesn't sound like much but believe you me that it was YUMMILICIOUSSS!!! SY's seabass was prepared in a Chinese styled fusion and it came served in a plastic pouch before being served in the designated dish.

Last but definitely not least, we succumed to the sinful calling of our sweet tooth and indulged in desserts. We kicked off with a serving of affogato ... bitter expresso topped with a dollop of sweet vanilla ice cream ... funny how opposites can compliment each other so perfectly sometimes ... the bitter and the sweet ... the hot and the cold. The result ... one satisfied happy couple. :) Our second dessert, the chocolate souffle was highly recommended by our waiter and we were told that it'll take at least 15 minutes to prepare. Since we had all the time in the world, we happily obliged and it was worth the wait indeed. So soft, so fluffy and so moist was the texture of this French creation. Served on a white porcelain rectangle plate, it came with a mixture of wild berries and a scoop of rich vanilla ice cream in an edible chocolate cup. Yum Yum!!! We polished it all up without any guilt what-so-eva!!! Haha.

After the meal, we took a leisurely stroll along the hotel's club grounds before heading back to the villa.

At precisely midnight, I got my birthday wishes from a giggling SY. She suprised me with a card which she was hiding beneath the duvet all the while. After that, came a gift wrapped box and inside was a Precious Moment figurine. This holds a special meaning for the both of us, so don't bother asking cause it's for us to know and for you to find out. :p

Minutes later, SY (who was still giggling by the way) whipped out another card. Why another card you ask ... you don't need to know. Hehehe. Couldn't ask for a more pleasant way to welcome myself into the 27th year of my time here on God's green earth. :)

Oh yea, earlier I opened gifts received from my family, Su Yee & Alex and SY too (yes, she bought me multiple gifts :p). My brothers got me a Polo shirt, parents gave a red packet and Su & Alex tumpang-ed SY to pass me a Renoma t-shirt. SY got me a very nice set of duvet cover and bed sheets that made my old sheets look like the ones they used in Guantanomao Bay. Here's a BIG THANK YOU to all of ya. :D

The One Restaurant

Two nights ago, SY and I decided to eat out and I brought her to The One. The One is a furniture and household appliance selling establishment and its concept is everything which Ikea is not. Meaning to say that it's generally the opposite of the more popular Ikea. Where Ikea stressed on basics and simplicity, The One sells on abstract and elegance.

Ooo ... and their X'mas decor are all up already. Walking through its aisle flanked by colourful fairy lights, gorgeously decorated X'mas trees and with classis X'mas tunes melodiously playing in the background ... it felt simply wonderful to soak up the Yuletide atmosphere. HO HO HO ...

The One has only one restaurant inside and guess what is it named ... THE ONE RESTAURANT!!! Haha. Decked with thick crocodile leathered chairs, matching dark mahogany wooden tables and elaborate Victorian chandeliers, it envelope the customers with a sense of utter lushness and regal opulence. "Now where's my buttered scones and tea, ol' chap?" Hehe.

Browsing through the menu revealed that the pricing is really reasonable for what it's offering. Serving staple authentic English food as well as fusioned local cuisines, from Illy's coffee to healthy smoothies, no wonder this hidden gem is popular amongst the gwai los and local Arabs. It's usually packed during lunch and dinner hours too.

They're promoting their X'mas menu now and it comes with an option of a 2-course meal (60 AED) or a 3-course meal (70 AED). Consisting of 3 selections of starters, 3 selections of mains and 3 selections of dessert, you pick an item from each section and it comes standard with a serving of after meal coffee as well as X'mas truffles.

We both went for the 3-course meal and SY opted for the Parsnip Soup drizzled with truffle oil, wild mushrooms risotto and peaches and strawberry sorbet.

I went for the goat's cheese tart, the traditional turkey with cranberry sauce and stuffing and ended with the X'mas pudding.

It was really yummilicious and somehow the photos failed to do the food justice. The soup was thick and flavoursome. Dipped with the complimentary garlic bread ... delish delish delish!!! My goat's cheese tart is worth a mention with it's bold taste coupling well with fresh tomatoes served on a crispy flaky crust which reminded me of some very good roti canai I once had back in Malaysia.

The turkey was well smoked indeed served on top of a bed of boiled carrots, peppers, potatoes and brussel sprouts ... another 'must have' this one. SY's risotto came in a very generous portion but that's the only plus point here. It tasted very mediocre and it didn't take long before we had more than enough of it.

The sorbet was refreshingly delectable and served well to offset the dominant taste from the risotto while my X'mas pudding failed my expectations with the absence of rum / brandy. Other than that, it was all goooood. :)

Final conclusion being that dining at THE ONE RESTAURANT received a double thumbs up from SY and I. Excellent ambience along with scrumtious food and fine service ... I'll be sure to go back there again and again and again ... :)

Corniche, Bandung and 31 Baskin Robbins on a Friday

It was a Friday … the only off day for the good people and myself in our company. Come evening time, the sun began to bid us goodbye for the day as the calm desert breeze soothingly welcome the moon to take its place on the heavenly stage up above.

My colleagues and I, well, the five of us to be exact decided to make our way to The Corniche. So we saddled up and pedalled the next 10 minutes or so towards one of Abu Dhabi’s premium recreational destination. When we got there, the sight of throngs of people greeted us. Families enjoying a relaxing picnic by the fine sandy shores of the Gulf’s sapphire waters as roller bladders zig-zagged amongst the walking pedestrians. We just cruised along the cyclist path which we shared with the avid joggers and it’s just a nice sensation to be enveloped in a state of peace and tranquillity. And you know what, they actually separate the beach area into two sections ... one for ladies & families while the other are for men & singles. A fee of AED 10 is implemented should you want to enter the beach. We took a pit stop by 31 Baskin Robbins and treated ourselves to a scoop of fattening goodness each … with extra peanuts and chocolate sauce mind you. :p Soon after, we made our way home and prepared for dinner.

All of us decided to eat out and I was ‘instructed’ to think up of a place. After much deliberation, we settled for Bandung Restaurant … an Indonesian establishment with very reasonable pricing. We ordered enough to feed a small African village. On the table were fried shrimps, beef with chilly, deep fried fish, stir fired kang kung, tempeh, flour fried chicken, satay, steamed fragrant rice and various condiments like sweet soy sauce and sambal asam pedas. It was the first time ever that the entire crew of the company went out to have a meal together. After dinner, all of us adjourned for dessert at ... *drumrollssssss* ... 31 Baskin Robbins AGAIN!!! Double whammy I tell you. No amount of workout can compensate digesting these sinful ultimates ... not once but twice within a period of 3 hours. Crazy huh!!! What's worse, this 2nd helping of mine comes with a double scoop combo of choch chip and vanilla flavours. It was served fully loaded with whipped cream, thick layers of sweet brownies as well as a generous drizzle of rich caramel sauce.

Oh yea, before the food arrived, we went to a nearby Indonesian sundry shopped and purchased enough ingredients for our chef back home to whip up a batch of yummy nasi lemak and teh-o-ais limau the next day. Really yummilicious too. :)

Hmmm ... this entry seemed a bit messy. Dunno why and can't be bothered really. Haha.

China Restaurant

A couple of days ago ... well, last Friday to be exact, I met up with Hiskandar for lunch. I wanted to try out this Indon Restaurant called Bandung but apparently Hiskandar gave it a big no-no. Hence he suggested that we head to China Restaurant instead located inside Novotel Hotel along Hamdan Street.

Entering the restaurant, it'll hit you immediately how detailed and authentic the interior is paying close attention to the decor' and setting of the place ... from the dimly lit lanterns to the hanging posters of ancient Manchurian figures.

We ordered a couple of dishes to share. We each had a portion of sour and spicy soup (I almost never fail to order this whenever I see it in the menu), brocolli with mushrooms, ma-po tofu and fried spare ribs. The soup was authentic enough, unlike those cheap imitations served in the many Filipino Chinese restaurant chains. Just like its name, sour and spicy enough for my liking and worked wonderfully well to whet the appetite.

The mains ... well, let's start with the spare ribs. Very very well marinated with the chef's special ingredients as well as salt and pepper and it tasted good to the bone. Finger licking good to be exact.

Next up, the ma-po tofu. As with most tofu, it was oh-so-soft and smooth. The blend of fiery chillies, peppers, meaty chunks and soury sauce complimented the subtle taste of the plain tofu incredibly well. In fact, I could easily devour the entire bowl of steamed rice with just this sauce alone. It was that good.

Finally, to make up a balanced meal, we musn't neglect the vegs. Stir fried brocolli with braised chinese muchrooms, it was delicious nonetheless and washing it all down with some good ol' chinese tea ... it brought the meal to a very satisfying conclusion.

Went to Hiskandar's lavish pad after that just to kepoh (look-see). Now this guy is living the life man. Betul betul living the luxurious lifestyle of an expat. :) Would really like to head back there and play on his Nintendo Wii ... downing shots of JD along the way. Let the good times roll ... :D

Adrian the chef ...

When SY came over recently, we mostly spent our times indoors catching up on HK TVB's Chinese series on my notebook. Yes yes ... some of you might think WTF??? But for the both of us, this is the kinda laid back quality time we treasure.

Anyways, one of the evenings, I decided to prepare dinner, to cook for SY and let her be the judge of my non-existent culinary skills in the kitchen. A futile effort in trying to recall my days of cooking during my uni times, I just went ahead and did the best I could.

We went to Carrefour and bagged the necessary groceries. Meats, vegs, condiments, spices etc. Lugging it all back to the villa, I started making the preparations ... slicing the beef cubes, dicing the onions and bell peppers, chopping the garlics, beating the eggs etc. Well, you get the idea. In the midst of all these, something struck me ... I actually miss cooking. Been doing it almost daily when I was studying abroad ages ago. Well, anyways being away from home now will present more than enough oppurtunities to don my chef hat once more. Hahaha ... step aside J. Oliver, a new chef's in town and it ain't big enough for the both of us. *pai seh* *pai seh*.

Alrightey ... back to the kitchen. Come dinner time, I fired up the stove, the wok positioned over it, a healthy amount of sunflower oil heated up, it was all LIGHTS ... CAMERA ... ACTION!!! Ok la, the kitchen LIGHTS were on ma, SY was armed with the CAMERA and I was the one doing the ACTION lo.

On the menu were stir fried black peppered with bell peppers, lady's fingers with dried chilly, crispy ommelette and steamed thai fragrant rice. Beverages included Alphonsus mango juice and Mirinda orange fizzy. Later that night, we shared a Magnum Almond ice cream for dessert.

Well, the meal was errr ... edible I guess or at least that's what SY commented. More importantly, it felt good to be cooking again especially for a loved one and that we both enjoyed the meal. Bon apetite peeps.

P.S. Yea, that's me in the background in the first photo above doing the dishes. Fat oledi ... sigh.

Fuddruckers - World's Greatest Hamburgers

My absence in the blogosphere recently is due to the holiday season here as well as an impromtu visit from SY. In conjunction with the Eid and Hari Raya hols, SY managed to get a few days off and flew over here for a short visit. It was really fantastic to have her here since for 10 days or so, I'm was sole occupant in the company rented villa.

One of the days, SY and I went to Marina Mall for dinner and we dined in Fuddruckers. Hailing from Texas and proudly claiming to serve the world's greatest hamburgers, we took a number and waited approximately 15 minutes before we were seated down at a comfy table by the corner of the restaurant.

I'll let the photos above do most of the 'talking' but a short description of what we ordered were a bowl of Fuddruckers hearty Chilly served with garlic bread, an appetizer (can't remember the name) comprising of fried cheese, buffalo wings, fried chicken strips, fries (more like potato wedges really) lathered with chilly and cheese, onion rings, carrot and cucumber slices and an assortment of dips and also The Works ... a 2/3 pound hamburger slammed with bacon, sauteed mushrooms and cheese. I had a Fruit Punch Snapple and SY washed down dinner with a refreshing glass of sweet iced tea.

As to their claim of serving the World's Best Hamburgers ... I'd have to disagree cause I've had better. Nevertheless, it was a good meal, overall approved ambience ala TGIF or Chilly's and nothing-to-complain-about service.

Suria Brasserie @ Eclispe Hotel

Dinner last night was good. Why??? ... coz I had some good ol’ local food. No, not Arabic cuisines but authentic Malaysian food. Before I go further, let me just get this out of the way ... the bill came to an obscene 171 Dirhams for 2 persons. It’s like WHOA huh ... yea I know.

Hiskandar, my ex-uni mate invited me for dinner and he brought me to Suria, located at the top floor (penthouse) of the Eclipse Hotel (located on the intersection of Liwa Street and Khalifa Street). Now this classy chic hotel apartment is ran by a couple of Singaporeans and they hired this chef hailing from Langkawi to do this magic at Surai Brasserie. Woo Hoo!!! On the menu are the local favorites like nasi lemak kukus, laksa, mamak mee goreng, popiah, tom yam kung, soto ayam etc.

I know I know ... some of you might think ... so special meh??? Normal everyday food only ma ... but get this, if you’re away from home for a long period of time, this is comfort food at its best ... so trust me on this one.

The ambience is great ... a quiet place with not too many people around ... kind of a perfect place to catch up with friends. According to Hiskandar, they usually play P.Ramlee tunes as well which should compliment the tasteful decor’ of the restaurant really really well.

Ok, back to the food, Hiskandar had the soto ayam while I had the tom yam kung. Great appetizing soups to kickstart the night’s dinner. For mains, His had the laksa and I went for the recommended roasted chicken rice. Sedap yo! Sufficiently authentic and the portion is pretty decent too. We washed it all down with 20 Dirhams worth of fizzies.

So there you go, nice company, great food and fantastic ambience. Came back to the hotel and downed two packs of Chivas with my colleagues to help ease the road to la la land. Oh and I’ll finally get my one day break tomorrow from work. Yay! :D