PSA: Promos at Goku Raku Ramen, Canton-I & Dragon-I Restaurants

**Non-Halal**


PSA = public service announcement lol, well just to get some good offers going before the promotions end.

First off, Capt'n Hook's fave ramen place, Goku Raku Ramen. Happening in Mid Valley Megamall (Kuala Lumpur) outlet, 50% off for big bowl of ramens on Mondays and Tuesdays until 31 May 2012. Where else Gurney Paragon (Penang) this offer is on from Monday - Friday until 27 April 2012 only!!!

Seems that they've introduced small and big bowl sizes now. Based on our experience, the previous one sized bowl is now the big bowl which means there's a slight increase of prices. Small bowl would be great for me though as I usually feel very stuffed by the end of my bowl of ramen. BoiBoi enjoyed his Ultimate Shoyu Tonkatsu ramen so much that he emptied his bowl "to the last drop" according to him *roll eyes*

Over at Canton-I and Dragon-I, their RM1 roast chicken promotion is back! Last year we enjoyed ourselves with this offer. With minimum 3 diners between 6.00pm - 9.00pm, they'll present a plate of roast chicken for just RM1. Based on our experience, the portion served will go according to the number of diners ie. for 3 diners, there will be a small plate; 5 diners medium portion and so forth. This promotion is on till 30 April 2012. I wonder if we would have the time to savour this RM1 roast chicken :p

Thank you so much for tuning in, hope you'll benefit from this PSA ;-)

Review: Antipodean Cafe @ Bangsar

**Non-Halal**


When I read Antipodean Cafe's website...

Antipodean - pronounced "an·tip·o·de·an" (adj)means (1) coming from or relating to Australia or New Zealand (2) Ancient Greek: anti "opposed" pous "foot" opposite points on the globe.

... there's this quote in there so no wonder as I walked into the cafe in Bangsar, I couldn't help it but to feel that I was back in Sydney or Melbourne during our holidays. The signature blackboard wall with every single items of the menu single handedly written on is the dead giveaway. It's very fashionable in Melbourne, we noticed. It's a nice feature wall except that it's not so friendly for indecisive person like me *ahem* yes... this is Capt'n Hook's main problem with me lol. Since the blackboard wall IS the only menu available, you'll have to stand, walk up and down staring at the wall deciding what to have. Not very polite eh... when you have diners sitting next to this wall and it's not easy when they have rather an extensive list of items available. Sorry no pics of the interior as I was trying to save some batt on the camera that was already flashing low batt warning :(

This cafe specialised in everything made in-house from sourcing their coffee beans, roasting, grinding, brewing your cup of coffee, right down to cooking and baking. They market their own brand of coffee under Lava Coffee and Merdeka Coffee where you can make your purchases online or on the locations stated in the websites. (I've tried to check Merdeka Coffee link but my browser disallowed me to as it warned that the site contained malware so I'm not sure what's the difference between Merdeka Coffee and Lava Coffee).

Since Capt'n Hook had a lunch appointment with someone, so it was just BoiBoi and I having lunch here. Boi Boi asked for his favourite Fresh Mango Juice (RM9.00) and I really mean fresh here! As seen on this pic, the straw sits right in the middle of the drink cos only freshly "squeezed" mango juice allowed that to happen! My ex-colleague taught me this when we were dining at the old Shangri-La Kuala Lumpur's coffee house :D where the heavy glass stirrer could sit right in the middle of the juice.

My Mango Lassi (RM10.00) is not bad either and it's thick as well. 

The kid, as usual, would have his burger fix and so Beef Burger would be it! He asked for cheese to be added (no cheese RM20, with cheese RM25 and you can add bacon if you want, of course with additional $). The patty is not of the thick kind like Bee Cafe but substantial enough to fit onto the sesame bun. Commendable is the portion of green salad is healthy with some thick fries. We both loved the brie slices that is almost melting onto the patty.

The indecisiveness me after going through the mind-boggling menu... came down to this Open Bacon, Rocket, Lettuce, Tomato on Sour Dough Bread (RM18.00). Gosh, I loved this slightly upmarket rendition of BLT sandwich!!! Beneath the many slices of back bacon (I love this cut btw cos it's less fatty) laid 2 slices of chewy sour dough bread, a few slices of lettuce, tomatoes and a heapful of (expensive) rocket (arugula) leaves!!! BoiBoi couldn't resist and ask me for a piece of bacon to be added to his burger. I liked how the flavour and slight bitterness of the arugula melded in with the rest of the family ;-). I will definitely order this again.

BoiBoi likes to end his meal with a dessert and he looked at the dessert menu plus the bar area where they have kept some of the desserts and ended up picking an Apple Pie (RM8.00). This pie is not the finest of an apple pie. The pastry is not of the crumbly kind... rather dense I would say and the apples were cooked down to almost a mash. My personal preference would be flaky pastry with chunks of apples. Perhaps I have a high expectation since I can bake a rather nice pie myself (yikes, I did not post up my Apple Pie recipe but I do have an Apple Crumble recipe with a pastry base).



Our total bill came up to RM77.00 which includes a 10% service charge. Capt'n Hook commented it was a rather pricy meal for an adult and a kid but he just doesn't know how good the open sandwich was! We will drag him here one day, definitely... and yes, make him pay for it!


Antipodean Cafe

20 Jalan Telawi 2, 

Bangsar Baru, 

Kuala Lumpur

Tel: (+603) 2282 0411

Opening hours: 

Sun - Thu 8.00am - 10.00pm

Fri - Sat 8.00am - 11.00pm

Menara Tan & Tan, Ground Floor, 

207 Jalan Tun Razak, 

Kuala Lumpur

Mon - Fri 7.30am - 7.00pm

Sat 7.30am - 6.00pm

Sun 7.30am - 5.00pm

Review: Eat N' Run @ Tropicana City Mall

**Pork Free**


Capt'n Hook had a lunch appointment with his class mate (which he bumped into recently after many many years) at Tropicana City Mall, Petaling Jaya. Since it was school holidays, BoiBoi and I tagged along. We noticed before this that the eateries here tend to be pretty busy during lunch hours, hence I made BoiBoi to have lunch early. Both of us loitered around at the basement floor where there are many small eateries. We ended up picking Eat N' Run, a very bright yellow, white and red eye catching fast food outlet. It's usually full but because it was just past noon, we managed to grab a table at the outside.



Menu is very simple here with choices of either deep fried chicken chop or fish served with butter rice or spaghetti; a sauce and a side dish for RM8.90. Add another RM1.00 for a drink. There is a small list of snacks here that are all deep fried stuff like fries, nuggets, calamari etc stuffs that I generally stay away.

After you have decided either chicken or fish and butter rice or garlic pasta; you move on to pick one sauce out of the 6 available sauces - Eat N' Run Special, Black Pepper, Mushroom, Hainanese, Spicy Thai and Mayonnaise. Next you choose one side dish from 3 options - coleslaw, baked beans with scrambled eggs and pickled vegetables. Easy peasy!

BoiBoi picked his choice of chicken chop with butter rice, black pepper sauce and baked beans with scrambled eggs plus an ice peach tea. Seriously, I wonder how he finished that huge bowl of rice, in fact he whacked the entire plate till it's empty. I tasted the rice which is quite all right with just a light hint of butter so it's not that "jelak". The black pepper sauce is rather mild too in case you wonder if it's too hot for you.



Since I'm not a big fan of rice, I opted for garlic spaghetti with my chicken chop, mushroom sauce and coleslaw plus an ice lemon tea. I find the the medium sized chicken leg had a greasy and thick egg-flour batter coating which I dislike as the exterior is crispy but the interior got soggy when it steamed up inside. I removed much of the batter but BoiBoi "stole" them all tsk tsk tsk! The spaghetti as expected was pre-cooked, hence they're dry and cold. I had to pour the mushroom sauce on the spaghetti to counter the dryness.





For RM8.90, I think it's a value-for-money meal as one piece of chicken leg is around RM5 but rather unhealthy as it's deep fried food. I guess once in a while should be ok. Plus point is, they food does arrive pretty quick, living up to their name!


Eat N' Run
LG 25 Lower Ground Floor
Tropicana City Mall
No 3 Jalan SS20/27

47400 Petaling Jaya
Selangor Darul Ehsan
Tel: (+603) 7729 2297

Steamed Rice Noodle Parcels

My mother had made Rice Noodle Parcels for us when we were young. They are chee cheung fun sheets (flat rice noodles) filled with a yam bean (jicama/sengkuang)) fillings served with bean paste sauce and chilli sauce. It's my BoiBoi's favourite and every weekend he'll ask me to buy from a nearby coffee shop for breakfast but that particular stall made them into rolls (fun guen in Cantonese).

I liked it a lot too and when I eat them, I know it can't be that difficult to replicate at home. This is my first attempt, hence I did not measure the ingredients. I promised to do that the next round. I did not make the rice noodles since I can buy them from the wet market at the stalls that sells all sorts of noodles, assorted fish cakes, fish balls etc. So that saves a lot of time.

For the fillings, the rough portions would be 1 portion (1 medium sized) shredded yam bean (use a coarse grater), quarter portion of shredded carrot (use the same coarse grater for uniform size) and quarter portion of French beans, sliced thin diagonally. Normally only yam bean is used but I've added carrots and French beans for colour. I've also added a small handful of dried shrimps (omit this for vegetarian version), soaked and drained. 3 cloves of garlic, chopped finely. Some oil, salt and white ground pepper.

To cook the fillings, heat about 2 - 3 tablespoons of oil in a wok (cos I find it's easier to stir the fillings in one). Fry the dried shrimp till fragrant before adding the garlic. Once garlic begins to brown, put in the yam beans and carrots. Stir to mix well. Once they begin to soften, add in about quarter cup of water. Cover with a lid and cook under low heat for about 5 minutes. Then stir and add in the French beans. Add in salt and white pepper to taste. If it's too dry, add a little more water. You may need to do this as you go on to achieve a dry mixture but yet the vegetables are soft. Stir and cover with lid. Cook until vegetables are softened.

If you noticed that your vegetables have softened but still very wet. Cook and keep stirring until mixture has dry up but yet retain a little moisture. Hehe sound complicated huh??? Just use your feel... the yam bean texture ought to be soft like popiah fillings but dry like ju hu char! Gosh I hope you got what I've meant hahaha...



Once the vegetables are done, let it cool down. To assemble, on a clean surface, take a piece of the flat rice noodle sheet and unfold it gently. Spoon fillings into a thickish log towards one of the edge, fold the short end over and roll once towards the opposite end. Tuck in both the left and right end. Continue to roll till the end... just like folding a parcel. Ok ok I promise to make a step-by-step pics next time.

Otherwise, you can make things easier by placing the fillings in a long log throughout the entire length of the sheet and roll it up like a swiss roll.



Next, place parcels on a heat proof plate and gently steam for about 6 - 8 minutes. I've used my electric steamer set at 10 minutes and felt that it's a little too hot that a couple of parcels burst. Next time, I should just reduce the timing.

You can serve the entire parcel on its own or sliced into halves with a drizzle of bean paste sauce (which you can buy from the same stall that sells the noodles, just need to add a little hot water to dilute the thick paste) and chilli sauce (I've used a blend of fresh red chillies, young ginger and garlic with loads of calamansi lime juice). Sprinkle with some deep fried shallots (but I did not have any on hand) and chopped spring onions.



Hope you got what I've meant and successfully replicate this easy peasy recipe. I know you can cos my friend (whom does not cook much) did just that the next day after showing her these 3 photos and simply by just telling her the ingredients with no instructions! Good luck!

Yes yes, I promised that I will measure my ingredients and do a step-by-step guide soon!!!

Review: The Bee @ Publika

**Pork-free as alcohol is served**


We have been to The Bee at Jaya One for burgers and Last Polka ice creams but this time we managed to sneaked into The Bee at Publika for burgers after we were a tad too early for Fat Boy Burger's opening.



This outlet is huge as compared to Jaya One's. Loved the high ceiling that creates an airy ambiance and it wasn't way too crowded for us to enjoy our burgers. Just as they advocate that they're a neighbourhood hang out, and they really do fit into that category with a relaxed atmosphere.



The mish mash of furnitures add on a little quirkiness. I've noticed quite a number of the furniture pieces are a piece of art on its own and I believed they're made from recycled items to fit into Publika's tag to make art a part of daily life. There are many nooks and corners plus alfresco dining to suit your moods. Eating alone? No problem, pick a tall chair and watch the world goes by, by looking out onto the alfresco dining area...



Catching up with friends over coffee (they serve artisanal coffees btw) and cakes over these comfy sofas and arm chairs. Just take your pick from the many arrangements.



Since it's casual dining, don't you loved how the cutleries are plonked into a very old school enamel mug. Noticed enamel wares are slowly creeping into cafes these days? Before plastics were made popular, I remember each of us has a smallish enamel mug for us to rinse our mouth after brushing our teeth when we were kids!



For drinks, I had The Bee's Freshly-Made House Lemonade (RM6.50). Nice and refreshing, yes made from real lemon juice, not the cordial kind. Capt'n Hook stick with his Stewart's Fountain Classic Root Beer (RM8.50) which is root beer, key lime with cream soda. Not overly sweet, suits my taste bud. Pssst they have the float version in case you're craving for a root beer float :p



This was how Capt'n Hook's Bee Burger (RM19.50) looked like. In between the toasted sesame seeds buns, there is a nicely done (Capt'n Hook requested for well done) thick beef patty, a slice of cheese, beef bacon, thick slice of pickled cucumber, lettuce and a house made aioli. No tomato as seen since he had requested not to have any due to his GERD. Even though the patty was made well done, it still retained it's juiciness but Capt'n Hook couldn't helped raving about the juicy chicken burger at Uncle Chilli's Bar @ PJ Hilton lol!



BoiBoi and I have a Cheeseburger (RM15) each! We can't share much these days since BoiBoi's appetite has grown tremendously o.O. This Cheeseburger has the same works as Bee Burger except for the beef bacon slice.



Both burgers were served with a bunch of not too thin, not too thick fries which surprisingly I liked and walloped the whole lot of my share. Kinda rare since I'm not fond of deep fried stuff. Don't be shy for ask for condiments like chilli or tomato sauce, mustard etc.

There are many other choices of burgers here to suit everyone, ranging from French Burger; Australian Burger, Hawaiian Burger (that has an additional slice of pineapple); Japanese-styled Ebi Fry Burger and Tori Katsu Burger; Chicken Burger and there's even a Falafel Burger for the vegetarians! Some of these burgers reminded me of Bergs Burger in Singapore, oh so yummy!

If burger is not your cup of tea, they do have other stuff like hot dogs, pastas and pies. Since we were all stuffed up, so no desserts, otherwise we would have gone for the Last Polka ice creams.

There are so many eateries springing up here in Publika that it's very hard to catch up especially for us who stay so far from this area! Hopefully we'll get to try out the rest soon, very soon! So far, we loved the non-halal hawker center Eat Food Village for the varieties.


The Bee
36B, Level G2, Publika, Solaris Dutamas
Jalan Dutamas 1, 50480, KL
Mon - Thurs: 9am - 12am
Fri: 9am - 1am
Sat: 10am - 1am
Sun: 10am - 10pm
Tel: (+6016) 6736 142


2A-G, Block K, Jaya One
72A Jalan Universiti, 46200 Petaling Jaya
Opening Hours:
Mon - Thurs: 9am - 11pm
Fri: 9am - 12am
Sat: 10am - 12am
Sun: 10am - 10pm
Tel: (+603) 7960 2160