Review: Tong Pak Fu @ KLCC

Wheeee we're on a dessert roll... ending the month of October with another sugar rush of flavoured shaved ice aka as snow ice. No doubt snow ice is of Taiwanese origin but I find this Tong Pak Fu from Hong Kong have nailed it. I've tried Snowflakes but just don't understand the queues for them, maybe just not my cup of tea, in fact sweet tooth Capt'n Hook also don't fancy them.

We were in KLCC over the weekend cos Capt'n Hook had wanted to check out his stuff over at Avenue K. We were just walking around trying to get to the carpark after dinner. Took a longer route from the escalator going towards Isetan Food Hall which saw a tremendous transformation with so many mouth watering delicacies at every step of the way. Then we saw this Tong Pak Fu place and decided just to look at the menu at the stand outside. The moment the kid flipped through the pages, Capt'n Hook, the lover of all things sweet especially from Hong Kong, decided that we must make a stop here!

The modus operandi here is grab a table, browse through the menu and make the difficult decision in picking what to have teehehe... head to the cashier counter to place your order, pay up, take the number, head back to your table, place the number on the table and next... twiddle your thumbs and patiently wait for your desserts.

Browsing through their menu whilst waiting, other than snow ice, there are hot desserts like the usual like black sesame cream, red bean, mung beans and of fave peanut cream. Then they have some grass jelly creations topped with snow ice. More of sago & crystal pearls creations, tau fu fa (soy bean curd) of various combinations and a few double-boiled tong shui (sweet soup). They also have a few varieties of Western desserts such as creme brulee (a best seller according to their menu), apple crumble, waffles etc.

Capt'n Hook picked Tracka Snow Ice (RM14.80) after asking the cashier what's the difference between Tracka and D24. We were told Tracka is made from "chuk keok" in Cantonese or translated in English is Legs of Bamboo aka Tekar and so it is and it's more expensive (in fact most expensive of the snow ice range) than D24 which goes at RM12.80. It was the wisest choice indeed as it's one of the best durian ice creation I've ever tasted! The finely shaved ice is so velvety and the durian tasted as if it's straight from the pulp if not better as it's cold and melt-in-the-mouth. It's is served with a small heap of small bouncy glutinous rice balls and largish cubes of grass jelly.



Boi Boi had the Mango Snow Ice which he absolutely loved the pinkish balls on the side that goes popping in your mouth as you bite on them like ikura. Another lovely flavoured shaved ice that came with some honeydew melon balls. As for myself, I'm just happy digging into both whilst having brain freeze and goose bumps on my arms towards the end lol.



You know how well these desserts sell when they are already charging 6% Government tax! This outlet in KLCC is located opposite of Uniqlo's new extension entrance and there's a another branch at Sunway Giza. Just wish they could have more outlets!


Tong Pak Fu Malaysia
Ltot C15F, Concourse Floor
Suria KLCC
Kuala Lumpur

Review: Sumptuous Dessert

Sumptuous Desserts is of no stranger for dessert lovers, especially for the lovers of the king of fruits - durian! Sumptuous Desserts has been churning out luscious Durian Pancakes for the past 4 years out of kiosks which has expanded from Mid Valley to the like of Sungai Wang Plaza, IPC Shopping Center (Ikano Power Centre) and Sunway Pyramid. What I like about their durian pancake is the pancake colour is not electrifying and most importantly the ratio of durian puree is a lot more than the cream!

We have been invited by Steven to check out their desserts and met Lee Lee who owns these sumptuous kiosks in Klang Valley. I've met Lee Lee at Bayan Indah and she even came in to help out in some events. Was glad to meet her again whilst she introduced to us her Cempedak Pancakes. FatBoyBakes who were with us quickly jumped and asked her where she get hold of her year long stock of good cempedak! Apparently, according to these two entrepreneurs, durian is easier to get these days as compared with good cempedak.

As we chat up with Lee Lee, she shared with us that they have fine tuned the operating procedures, right from harvesting the durians and cempedak, storing and processing them, let alone the manufacturing process of all the delicious desserts displayed at the kiosk. So much so that they're looking into expanding into Singapore right now.

Lee Lee got us to try their latest version of Hokkaido Cake which is essentially a a light, soft and fluffy chiffon cake filled with custard cream but of course over at Sumptuous Desserts, they're filled with durian instead! As I bite into the pillow soft cake... hmmm I noted it's not as soft it should be and Lee Lee had noted that as she is still trying to perfect the recipe as her source of certain ingredients are hard to come by with the competition of a bakery that shall not be named here :p

FatBoyBakes initially who declared that he can't have any more food inside his tummy, however managed to ate the entire Hokkaido cake as it was so light and soft! Due to our excitement in catching up with Lee Lee's business, that I've forgotten to ask her what is the current prices but all I know is they certainly won't break ones wallet as they are so affordable.

We would like to thank Lee Lee, her hubby and children (for being so patience as we were very late for our appointment) and of course Steven whom initiated the invite.

Sumptuous Desserts

Mid Valley Megamall (Concourse Level, walkway towards The Gardens, opposite Eu Yan Sang)

Sungai Wang Plaza

IPC Shopping Center (Ikano Power Centre, LG near Uncle Lim's Kopitiam)

Sunway Pyramid

Check out this recent article on The Star

A Joyous Deepavali

Wishing everyone who celebrate Deepavali a very joyous and triumphant celebration! May there be light of success and joy shining on you always!

Review: Darabif Burgers @ Wisma Cosway

We were in Wisma Cosway during ramadhan and Capt'n Hook saw this spanking new Darabif Burgers right at the highly visibility corner of Jalan Raja Chulan and Jalan Pinang. It was four in the afternoon and he decided to have a "snack" of burger *roll eyes* after looking at the buntings. See the power of delicious looking photos!



Darabif is not new to me as I've seen their frozen products like sausages and burgers in the supermarket and now they have this modern looking burger joint right in the middle of the city.



He opted for the Malaysian Moo set which is essentially a beef burger with an egg wrap, topped with a slice of cheese and shredded cabbage. I think there's a squeeze of an orangey sauce too. The RM8.88 set came with fries and coleslaw and a cup of soft drink.



I took a couple of bites and I have to say it's not too shabby but I can't pinpoint the certain lack of oomph that we generally get from the street burger stalls. Perhaps it's not sloppy enough hehe... the fries are all right too but seriously the lump of coleslaw not only look unappetising but tasted one too. The cabbage and carrot tasted dry and lifeless that we left them untouched after a teeny bite.





While Capt'n Hook was devouring his burger, I attacked the ABC (Air Batu Campur ) with Durian (RM3.95), a shaved ice concoction with jelly, red bean, sweet corn etc drizzled with syrup. As I dig in slowly by the sides instead of mixing everything up, I find something is not right about it. I asked Capt'n Hook to try some and he seems to agree with me. There's something sourish in there. As I try the elements one by one... ahhhh then I found the culprit - the durian puree!



The durian puree has turned bad definitely. I brought it to the counter and told the staff to stop serving the durian ABC as it has turn bad. The guy gave me this puzzled look and he took the bowl into the kitchen. From my seat, I saw the entire crew crowding around the bowl of ABC, not sure what went on there (I did not expect them to taste the durian puree since it's fasting month) but seriously there is no single word of apology right from the time I returned the bowl of ABC to the point we left. Again not being petty here, not only they did not apologise, there was no offer of replacement or anything like that. A simple word of 'sorry' would suffice and replacement to us is not necessary but could have been sweet.

Sighhhh, our country is seriously lacking in the service department just like our experience in The Cream & Fudge Factory. We can have the world class food but having a third class service ethics would certainly mar the experience no matter how great the food is! It's time for the service industry to buck up!


Darabif Burgers
Wisma Cosway
LOT G13, G14 & G16, Ground Floor, Wisma Cosway,
N0 88, Jalan Raja Chulan,
50200 Kuala Lumpur

Review: Pan Mee @ Kedai Kopi dan Makanan Hoi Kee

**Non-Halal**

A couple of years ago, I blogged about the mee jawa that is topped with lots of accompaniments in Segambut in Kedai Kopi dan Makanan Hoi Kee. I've also mentioned that I'll check out the pan mee (flat handmade noodles) here one day after noticing that almost every table has a bowl or two of them, just that I hardly have a good picture to blog up here. I guess it's ok to put up smaller pics taken with mobile phone.

I'm glad to say the mee jawa is still up to mark with the same amount of "liew" (accompaniments)! Photo as evidence... heh.

The bowl of pan mee that came is huge I tell ya (for my standard). I've asked for hand-torn noodles soupy style even though I usually prefer the dry version. The noodles are slight bouncy and not overly thick, just nice. Loved the ikan bilis (anchovies) broth based that has the natural sweetness perhaps with just a little msg as I was not overly thirsty after this bowl of pan mee. 

The accompaniments here are the usual minced pork with shredded black fungus, deep fried ikan bilis, some pork slices and yue wat (fish paste), and lots of amaranth vegetables (yien choy in Cantonese) instead of cekur manis (shue tzai choy in Cantonese, mani chai is widely known in East Malaysia and strangely there's no English name given except for its scientific name of sauropus androgynus!). There is however an addition of a slice of deep fried fu chuk (beancurd sheet) which is out of the norm. 

I diligently stuffed myself with the entire bowl of noodles, all the accompaniments AND drank up the broth till the last drop! Yea... it was that good! Did you see the saucer of greenish paste there, it's actually blended green chili padi with calamansi lime that went well with the noodles.

Kedai Kopi dan Makanan Hoi Kee
Jalan Segambut Selatan
Click here for map & Google map

New Zealand Natural Dessert Workshop: Baking Up An Icy Storm

I had this invite from New Zealand Natural Ice Cream, something that is very hard to say no to since we're already a big fan. Can't help it especially you have a 9 year old kid who loves ice cream and guess who influence him!



The previous invite was by courtesy of The Cooking House which has recently acquired the next door lot and turned that into proper hands-on cooking stations. A major reno underwent which sees a bigger reception area. The industrial kitchen was demolished and turned into an office. The previous demo area became a dining room cum demo area. The new section has rows of spanking cooking stations with the demo island up front. The Bosch ovens, sexy red mixers and equipments made my mouth waters!



After a brief intro, we crowd around the demo island to watch Chef Merkaine demonstrating the first dessert - Chocolate Delirious Cupcake with Stuffed Ice Cream. A very easy peasy cupcake indeed when cup cakes were already pre-baked for us. We just need to remove a hole from the cupcake and roll the ice cream, White Chocolate Raspberry is used here, into melted chocolate to fill up the cut-out hole. Then decorate with non-dairy whipping cream and chocolate ganache. To ensure the ice cream remained firm, you'll have to shape the slightly soften ice cream into small rounds using a melon baller and then freeze them up for up to a day so that it's easier to work with this way.

Chocolate Delirious Cupcake with Stuffed Ice Cream

Ingredients:

Cupcake:
Sponge cake mix
300g chocolate coating (melted)

Chocolate Ganache:
1 cup whipping cream
250g chocolate coverture
1 tsp vanilla essence

Method:

1. Prepare ganache by heating cream over pan and then pour over chocolate coverture.
2. Whisk till all chocolate have melted and smooth
3. Cool and use once texture is pliable.
4. Scoop ice cream into balls and freeze.
5. Use a knife and remove the middle part of the cupcake.
6. Dip ice cream balls into chocolate coating then freeze.
7. Once hard enough, place coated ice cream into cupcake and pipe ganache over.
8. Decorate as pleased.

Next, we were shown how to turn sponge fingers, espresso coffee, diary whipped cream and Cookies & Cream ice cream into an ice cream stack ala tiramisu. Another simple dessert that even a kid can assemble! This is the non-alcoholic version but feel free to add coffee liqueur into the espresso. Cut the sponge fingers to fit into the size of your glass container. Dip them into espresso coffee briefly as you do not want a soggy sponge, just nicely soaked. Place into a glass. Next, spoon in the ice cream. Repeat with the sponge and ice cream layer. Lastly, spread in a layer of whipped cream and dust with cocoa powder. Voila, a Tiramisu Ice Cream Stack!

Tiramisu Ice Cream Stack 

Ingredients:

1 pkt of sponge fingers
2 cups of Espresso coffee
2 cups of whipped cream
Cocoa powder for dusting

Method:

1. Pipe whipped cream on the base of the cup.
2. Then place a piece of sponge finger soaked in espresso on top.
3. Then top with Cookies & Cream ice-cream.
4. Repeat and lastly top with whipped cream.
5. Dust with cocoa powder and serve!

Chef Merkaine demonstrated how to literally whip up a Chilled White Chocolate Mousse. She uses pasteurised egg white for this recipe since the mousse is served raw. The texture of the egg white is very thick and stringy. She explained that it takes longer to whisk up the pasteurised egg as compared to normal eggs. So long that she had gotten a celebrity baker to do the task. I really loved the Chocolate Ecstasy ice cream used here, as if chocolate ice cream is not enough to blow your mind but the thick chocolate fudge ribbons did the trick here, no wonder it's named Chocolate Ecstasy!

Chilled White Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients:

White Chocolate Mousse:
180g white chocolate, broken into small pieces
250ml cream
1 egg white
1 tsp vanilla extract

Almond Brittle:
250g whole almond with skin (roasted)
450g white sugar

White Chocolate Mousse method:

1. Double boil the white chocolate till melted and smooth.
2. Set aside to coo before using.
3. In a mixing bowl, beat cream till stiff and then whish egg white till resemble a meringue.
4. Fold in the cream and egg white together with vanilla extract and white chocolate cream.
5. Pipe white chocolate mousse onto a cup, then scoop chocolate ice cream and finally top with almond brittle.

Almond Brittle Method:
1. Melt sugar in a small pot till the color resembles a caramel tint.
2. Pour onto the almond placed on a parchment paper.
3. Let it cool and break to use.

I had a great time at The Cooking House making such yummy icy treats. Just remember that every 30th of the month, New Zealand Natural offers 30% discount on their Take Home Packs on their "30% on the 30th" promotion at all their outlets at IPC Shopping Centre, Suria KLCC, KL Convention Centre, Centro Klang, Sunway Pyramid, The Waterfront Desa Park City, Queensbay Mall (Penang) and Sunway Carnival (Penang).

Thank you to New Zealand Natural by way of Salina & Associates for the invite and The Cooking House for hosting the class.

Review: Betty's Midwest Kitchen

**Non-Halal**


We're not the type who would usually rush out and try a new place, not even when it's all hyped up in the blogsphere. Yeah that's us! A lot of times these places faded before we even have the chance to strike off from my "To Eat" list, sad huh but I guest only the best that with stood time that worth a visit :p I know it's bad but... well.

Betty's Midwest Kitchen is in the list but still dragging our feet until one day my friend Joy asked us out for a dinner. We gladly went and took one turn further which ended up going up against traffic *gasp* shhhhhhh... as we couldn't find the way in after a couple of turns. Ended up we're not the only one, our other friend, Casper the Ghost, did the same too kekeke!

Seems like the management does not sit you until everyone in your party has arrived and you can't make a reservation. Duh... it was totally full house even on a weekday! We waited almost 25 minutes before we got a table as we have to wait for Casper to arrive.

Once seated down, we diligently browsed through the menu, while me being the "kay poh" (busy body) one, looked around our table to check the food other patrons are eating :D Seems like almost every other table has a burger and that was what Joy ordered, Jucy Lucy (RM13.50). We didn't get a bite but from the pic, the burger does look juicy.

Capt'n Hook has Pork Chops with Country Gravy (RM23.00). The pork chop was nicely grilled topped with a delicious creamy sauce. The mash potatoes looked kinda horrible but do not let the look fool you. The taste was amazing.

Casper had Grilled Beer Braised Boston Butt (RM27.50) and we couldn't help but teased her over her butt selection hehe. When I read in the menu, it's not really the butt but actually a part from pork shoulder which is braised in beer before being sliced and grilled. I had one bite and the braising did an excellent job in making the meat tender. She concur that the mash does taste good.

I decided that I must have the Baby Back Ribs (RM32.50) despite not feeling ravenous that evening. I know the other 3 would be able to help me finish the ribs up. The back ribs were rubbed in a special rub and grilled. I have to say the rub made the ribs very tasty and loved the smokiness from the grilling. As the cut was quite thick, the meat remained succulent and fork tender. The coleslaw is forgetful but the fries are suprisingly good even though I'm not really into deep fried stuff.

Come dessert time, there were just 3 choices of either Apple Crumble, Bread Pudding or Bud's ice creams. I decided to skip since I'm really filled to the brim but the 3 of them chose the Apple Crumble with Vanilla Ice Cream (RM8.00).

When it came, Casper and I looked at each other sending blinks signal lol. We just could not believe our eyes just how an apple crumble is served here... a mound of cooked apple is placed on a plate, topped with crumble and corn flakes apart from the vanilla ice cream. I took a couple of bites and find the apple is cooked with some liquid that turned out super starchy and gooey. It may seems creative to use corn flakes but it's kinda weird. For me I would crush the corn flakes and mix into the crumbs. No one finish their desserts that evening. 

Drinks are reasonable here with apple juice going at RM3.00, ginger ale & root beer RM6.00 each and fresh lemonade at RM5.00. There is no Government tax but a 10% service charge is imposed.

Betty's Midwest Kitchen
A-G-40, Jalan PJU 1/43, 

Aman Suria Damansara, 

47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor

Tel: 03-78800196

Map

Closed on Monday

Tuesdays - Sundays 11.30am - 3.00pm & 5.30pm - 10.00pm