twenty.one _ tables + terrace

The last time I was at the third floor of BSC was on the last show of The Actors Studio before it relocate to Lot10. Now, spotting a total makeover, BSC also house this sleek and chic restaurant + bar.  Richard and Dinesh hosted the dinner and I got tag along thru qwazy monkey and weeshiong

After a round of introduction, Richard introduced us the bar tender and the chef, and soon we have a taste of their signature cocktails. There were, 21 Degrees, T&T martini & popcorn martini. Creative take on the popcorn martini, a blend of creamy butterscotch and vodka. My vote goes to 21 degrees, the sweet x-rated cocktail that is infused with brown sugar and lime.

First for the starters, we’ve got;

-sautéed green asparagus with hollandaise alioli, poached egg, beef bacon, lettuce & balsamic reduction
-rolled smoked duck breast with cucumber, carrot, spring onions, garlic & chilli Hoisin sauce
-roasted wild mushroom soup with cheese croutons, truffle cream & crispy beef bacon

I love the the asparagus dish that is served with hollandaise sauce and a perfectly poached egg. It is a very “textural” starter of a good crunch with the rich and creamy sauce from the mix of hollandaise and the silky runny yolk. Then, we have the mushroom soup, or rather mushroom smoothie, with cheese croutons. I could taste the mushroom and pepper very well, and it’s that well-bodied you could actually chew your soup. My take, I still like my soup, being more soupy and I’ll love an additional dollop of cream to mellow it. Next up we have the mains, with ‘meaty’ choices of:

- spicy linguini with braised lamb, coconut cream, sautéed mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, basil, mint & red curry
- slow braised beef cheek with mash, fresh vegetables & potato chips
- braised lamb shank with steamed potatoes, green asparagus, pesto, tempura eggplant & chilli mint salsa
- braised beef burger with tomatoes, lettuce, onions, pickles, English chips & gherkin alioli

My vote goes for the braised lamb shank. The meat is tender and the perfect pairings seals the deal. The refreshing taste from the pesto sauce with steamed potatoes and blanches asparagus is like a surprisingly summer (that same feeling when you pair watermelons with bubbles). The tempura batter eggplant gives a nice compliment to the soft, melt’y meat. The beef burger, yum is nasty. The patty is thick and beef’ey and the the sauces are silky but could get a little messy.

 

The concept of Twenty.One_tables + terrace is a dining bar + club. The flow of the “pumped-up” evening goes from, dressing up, walk in to greet your friends, get cocktails, the gourmet & fusion dining, hang at the bar, chill and sway a little. It is ideal for hosting 21st birthday parties I’d say. It is energetic, young and hip, and if you want a quiet meal, go during lunch time or an early dinner before the party’ish crowd come in. Currently, there are lunch and happy hour promotions going on.

 

Lastly, the sweet ending with;

- baked dark chocolate ganache with warm chocolate cream, lemon curd & choc soil
- passion fruit mousse with poached berries & variations of caramel

Twenty.One _tables + terrace
t1, 3rd floor, bsc 285
jalan maarof, bkt bandaraya,
59000 KL

t: +603 2287 0021
w: www.drbar.asia

Whisk’ed

Yet another new mall, with more interesting food joints mushrooming, when I explored the Empire Shopping Gallery in Subang Jaya, SS16. I came across to this cafe Whisk, and you got to love the flooring and the decor. Whisk is a cozy espresso bar that serves freshly brewed coffee, lovely pastries and other menus.

 

Feeling full from late lunch and the difficulty to resist a cake and coffee, I ordered a Hummingbird cake and cafe con leche.

The cakes taste fresh and the coffee is a perfect pairing. The cake has a strong banana-ish aroma and the cream cheese icing is gentle and not overly rich. My vote goes to the coffee, cafe con leche. According to Whisk, this is a breakfast staple among Cuban. To me, this is like a stronger kick of cafe latte. Love it!

Soufflé Omelette and Hot Coffee

There are days that you just want breakfast all the time. So after a long day at work and craving for some sort of eggy-breakfast, I came across this simple omelette recipe. The ingredients are simple, but first the sauce:

Mushroom sauce:

Melt a tablespoon of butter, and add the sliced white mushrooms. Fry for about 4 minutes (try not to stir it too often to prevent sweating) then add a teaspoon of flour and enough milk to your preferred consistency. A dash of pepper.

Soufflé Omelette:    

Whisk the egg whites (2 large eggs) until stiff. Beat the yolks with a a dash of salt. Fold the whites into the yolk. Then melt some butter and pour the mixture into the skillet. Cook over gentle heat for about 4 minutes then place it in the oven till the top is golden brown.

 

Dish out and pour the mushroom sauce over.
Now breakfast (or rather my dinner) is ready. Now to complete the breakfast (or rather dinner)  a hot cuppa coffee would be great.

I’ve gotten some Hot Can coffee during a launch last week, so in a wink:

1. Peel the anti-tempered label
2. Push the base to active the self-heating mechanism. (watch out for that steam)
3. Shake it and when the indictor turns green, it’s ready.

The drinks are courtesy of Hot Can, during it’s recent launch. Thanks Nazeen for the invites.

Udang Masak Lemak Cili Api

Haven’t been cooking for a while, and walking along the fresh food aisle, I think I over shopped again when I came back with pork, chicken, fish, prawns and some greens. So a quick clean up and repack before going into the freezer while I put together the ingredients for masak lemak cili api.

So I have:

2 stalks of lemongrass – bruised

5cm cube of ginger, 2cm cube of turmeric, 1 onion, 4 cloves of garlic, 6pcs of bird’s eye chilies – pounded into paste

300gms of medium sized prawns,

3pcs of kaffir line leaves, 1pc of assam keping

100gm of coconut milk

Tumis or saute the paste and the lemon grass for about 5 minutes with medium heat. The lovely gingerly scent is refreshing along with the golden ray from the turmeric. Add the coconut milk and stir it well and let it simmer. Depending on the consistency, and feel free to adjust it by adding some water. Add in the assam keping, kaffir lime leaves and the prawns. A few dashes of nampla sauce then salt and pepper to taste. Pop in more chilies if you love it hotter.

Pretty simple isn’t it.

Yut Kee

Overly blogged, talk about and frequent. I shall let the pictures do the talking.

 

Yeah, all these for breakfast.

Sometimes it is stressful to dine there. You have like crowds waiting in front of the shop, and they are staring at your food.

Tanjung Sepat

While my schedules are settling back to normality, I still needed a short excursion to refresh myself off the madness. So with my trusty Garmin, I decided to venture to Tanjung Sepat.

About an hour journey from Damansara, equipped with Glee soundtrack and mostly self-composed-duwaaabs with unknown scats, I got there late in the afternoon. The plan is to do a quick tea break, walk around the fishing village, watch the sunset, seafood dinner then back home.

First stop is to Hai Yew Hin, the famous pau shop of Tg. Sepat. The age old coffee shop is furnished with countless fading newspaper-review cut outs. The joint has seen better days and right opposite their dine in, it’s their new mini-production facility where everyone could just walk in to place a bulk orders and look at the busy ladies working on the steamed buns.

I ordered the sang yuk pau and the mui choy pau, and within second they are served. Pair it with the local coffee, you get yourself a lovely tea break.      

Mui Choy Pau (preserved vegetable steamed bun)

Sang Yuk Pau (steamed minced pork + hard boiled egg bun)

 

Before dinner time, a drive & walk around the fishing village;

 

This particular temple caught my attention,

 

Look closer and you will learn that Batman and Robin originates from Tanjung Sepat, not Gotham City. Hahahaha

By dinner time, most of the local seafood restaurant is packed with customers, I chose Ocen Seafood Restaurant. And 45 mins later (the price you pay when you choose a restaurant based on number of crowd in it), dinner is served.

Sizzling O’chien (clam’s omelette)

Hands down to this, I feel this is one of the best o’cien I had. They altered theirs to a deconstructed version, with a nice crispy layer of omelette and the fresh clams, unlike the usual o’cien which is too starchy for me. This version gives a great texture and the sizzling plate keeps it warm too.

Stir fry potato leaves with sambal

Every meal got to have some greens, so here it is. Nothing to shout about but no complains too.

Steamed lala

Seafood at it’s best when it’s being cooked in the simplest way. Here the clams are being steamed with ginger, chilies and rice wine, and you get lovely broth.   

Crab in salted eggs sauce

Mud crabs, deep fried then coated with salted eggs sauce. A nice aroma from the curry leaves.

All in all, there’s is nothing to boast about of the cooking style, the main difference here is the freshness of the seafood. And yeah, it make a huge difference when it is this fresh.

A night walk after dinner.

 

There are few other things I discovered, which it’s available in the morning, and I shall come back to:

1. savour the seafood bakuteh (breakfast only)

2. visit the coffee house (they roast their beans everyday at 7am)

3. orchard visit (longan & dragon fruit)

4. seafood maggie mee (where instant noodle is cooked with the freshest catch of the day)

 

How is your weekend?

Frog Porridge

Nestled in the busiest streets and being crowded round the clock, Jalan Alor has seen many days and nights. Almost being taken it’s infamous identity last year, this street has never failed with its’ abundance choice of food. One of my favourite supper in Jalan Alor is the  the frog porridge, where the stall is smack right in the middle of the stretch. The frog porridge is a popular supper choice for party goers and sleepless hungry city owls. This is a joint of having it’s food done at it’s best. They only serve plain porridge, frog porridge and ‘kung-pow’ frogs. That’s all.I chose the plain porridge and the must have ‘kung-pow’ frogs.  In a wink of time, the staffs would snips away the ends and into bite sizes from a basin full of frogs and feed it thru the Pyrex wares over the flaming stove. A pretty simple, effective and fast system. Within minutes supper is served, with that lovely steam and that volcanic gurgling. Now usually, kung-pow is a stir fry sauce of cooking dried chillies, cashew nuts with onions and other base. But here, it’s being improvised to this thick gooey sauce  and laden with bird’s eye chillies. Warn you, the heat could set you up to the moon. The best way of eating it is to dilute the heat, so you mix the ‘kong-pow’ frog with the plain porridge. You’ll love the sweet frog texture, like  a cross between chicken+fish+scallop. Yum, I love great suppers and look that crowd.