Review: La Risata Bar, Pizzeria & Ristorante

**Pork Free**


Sometime back we decided to go Italian and off we head to Ampang via MRR2 and turn right off to hit Persiaran Ampang. Yikes when we reached there... we saw a banner instead of La Risata. Upon closer look, the banner stated that La Risata had moved a few doors away! Phewwww hehehe else we have to go Korean!

Wow what a transformation. La Risata now is located in 2 shoplots and freshly renovated. I've gone to Medan Damansara as well and they both have similar design. The one in Ampang have a large air well, covered of course with a staircase leading to the wine room. Very classy but yet rustic with exposed bricks wall, black grilles and lovely lightings.





Whilst waiting for dinner to arrive, the boys played a few rounds of foosball. Just note that you need to deposit some money to get the ball in case it goes "rolling away" :p Everyone have loads of fun of course!

Our drinks arrived, mango juice and iced lemon tea. I stuck to warm water.



Next, a basket of warm bread is served with tapenade which is a nice change from most olive oil and balsamic vinegar combo.

 

BoiBoi's Lasagna Di Carne (RM21) arrived and I have to call them over to dig in. BoiBoi ate the beef lasagne all up and proclaimed it's delicious. Do excuse the pics cos I had just gotten a new camera then, was still fiddling with it :p



Capt'n Hook's Zuppa Di Pesce (RM30 for half serving) was a half serving of a tomato based seafood stew. He didn't expect it to be tomato based since he never like tomato but he still eat them all up. Atta boy! Heh... anyway he finds the stew has chockful of fish, prawns (huge ones), squid, clams, crabs and mussels. He said he was glad he ordered this stew as it was indeed very good which I agreed. Highly recommended and please be reminded even though it's half portion but it's still quite a large portion. Very hearty!

I ordered a simple Pizza Peperoni (RM23). Smoky thin crusted dough is my favourite kinda of base, coupled with generous amount of cheese and peperoni, what more can I asked for? I can't even finish this on my own, luckily BoiBoi and Capt'n Hook had a piece each!



After more foosball, we asked BoiBoi if he wanted any dessert and of course he said yes, as usual. He ran off to the gelato fridge and chose a vanilla one (RM8). We both have to help him as he was struggling to finish up the creamy gelato. BoiBoi went a bit overdrive that evening as he really ate a lot, imagine a whole portion of lasagna with beef and layers of cheeses plus a slice of pizza! He rubbed his tummy in the car ride back and exclaimed "I think I overate!!!" muahahaha poor greedy boy. No wonder I have to keep buying him new trousers every 6 months now as he's really growing taller and taller!

Capt'n Hook ended his meal with an espresso, ahhh bliss.



It's newly renovated La Risata but it still gave us the same old heart and tummy warming Italian dishes. Highly recommended if you wish to entertain a bunch of kids as they're really kiddies friendly. Best for family and with friends as well.

Sorry that I can't find the receipt now hence no pricing for the drinks. There should be Government Tax and Service Charges imposed.


La Risata Bar, Pizzeria & Restorante
(The website is under renovation now at the time of posting)
Ampang
16 Persiaran Ampang
55000 Ampang
Tel: +603 4252 6269

Damansara
128 Jalan Kasah
Medan Damansara
50490 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: +603 2095 9572

Review: Restoran Cozy Corner at Ampang Park

Did you know that Ampang Park have a lot of wonderful gems inside? Touted the oldest shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur, it's surprising that it's still abuzz with activities in here. Apart from the usual clothings, shoes, electrical, supermarket and so forth in here, hidden here is a shop selling and repair remote control (RC) cars which I used to visit with hubby and his RC enthusiast friend.

Inside the confusing tiers of shops, there are a lot of eating places. Aside from the super duper yummilicious roasted suckling pig at Sin Lok Restaurant, you can find lots of holes in the wall serving delicious goodies ranging from Chinese to Malay to Mamak fare. Other than these, we loved to visit Restoran Cozy Corner for they serve wonderful western and local cuisines, a place popular with the Malays since it's a halal joint. The Malays seems to be very fond of the Chinese noodles and dishes here which I feel one of the better halal place around town. Their sister over at GE Mall, Cosy House, is always crowded too but the food is not as good.

Cosy Corner is rather similar to The Ship except for the nautical theme. The menu for both western and local are very extensive.



I asked for a Sizzling Steak (RM30) which I think it's sirloin but I can't really remember. It came with a side salad of plain lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes topped with standard thousand island dressing; a bun; and the steak was accompanied by baked potato and tomato. Pretty standard fare there but the brown sauce was tasty and the meat was done just right as per my order of medium well.

Hubby's order of Bandung Fried Rice (RM8.50) is HUGE!!! Judging from the ingredients, it's rather value for money indeed. The rice is delicious accompanied by a medium sized piece of fried chicken, fried egg and papadums. There are lots of ingredients in the rice itself.



Service here is attentive and fast. Tasty food. Reasonabily priced. What more to ask for?


Restoran Cozy Corner
Lot 266-271, 1st Floor
Ampang Park Shopping Centre
Jalan Ampang
Tel: 603-2161 5649

Technorati Tags: malaysian food

Review: Sin Lok Restaurant

Updated 31 Aug 2010: Sin Lok Restaurant is closed for good as the next generation wasn't interested to take over the business.


**Non-Halal**



Sin Lok Restaurant is amongst the older generation of Chinese restaurant in Kuala Lumpur. It is located in Kuala Lumpur's first shopping complex - Ampang Park! One of our manager used to bring our client nearby Ampang Park to Sin Lok for lunch. If I'm around for meetings, I will get to go too hehehe... Their dishes are very much old school and by far I can vouch that they serve the best roasted suckling pig in town! I guess the reason being that they will only roast it before serving even during huge wedding banquet!

We were here last month celebrating the birthday of my dad and aunt. There were 14 of us and I decided to split us up into two tables of 7 each even though they could accommodate all 14 in one table. I refrained as it's quite hard to reach for the food since the table is going to be very big. I pre-ordered some dishes in advance and had to be careful with my choices as there were quite a number of old folks who have problems in eating tough food like meat.

For that I chose to have some marmite pork ribs for the young. This dish is really tasty, just right and not too salty. The ribs were of the tender part. I was surprised my boiboi loved this and ate two pieces! This dish was cleaned up very fast in our errmmm "younger" generation table.



Next came the vegetable dish of fu yue yau mak (stir-fried romaine lettuce in fermented/preserved bean curd). Enough wok hei (breath of the wok) and just the right amount of fu yue.



We have some buttered prawns which came crispy peppered with butter bits. Not only the prawns are large, they're very fresh too. Lovely!



Next we have foo yoong tarn (egg omelette) which is my uncle's favourite dish. When it came, I overheard the older folks table remarked it was his fave and that I've remembered. Sin Lok's version is surprisingly not overly oily and have lots of ingredients in the omelette. Lemme recall - char siu (BBQ meat), chopped prawns, spring onions, onions and errr not sure what else.



I've ordered an old school dish - diced chicken in yam ring. The yam ring was cut by the wait staff, I was too late to ask her not to do it, so now you can only see one "opened" ring. The yam ring is made from mashed yam mixed with tapioca flour, shaped into a ring and deep fried. The diced chicken is cooked with an assortment of vegetables of onions, capsicum, baby corn, carrots and cashew nut. This dish was quickly eaten up at our table.



The piece of resistance came finally! We only have half a piggy for each table since most of the older folks shun roasted suckling pig. Guess who untung (benefited) the most??? Heh... I tell you and I'm sure Yozora would vouch for this too - this is the most crispy and delicious suckling pig in town! Very reasonabily priced too - only RM120 per pig!



The last dish that came was a beancurd with angled loofa. By then we were already rather filled. However, the beancurds slowly disappeared from the plate as well. The beancurd they've used is homemade of the eggy kind which is very fragrant. They were braised with angled loofa until the angled loofa soften till you can slurp them up from your spoon.



Did not order any dessert as I've brought along these cupcakes to served as Birthday cake for my dad and aunt. It's their first time having so many cakes per se as their cake hahaha cos usually it's one whole cake. Even the wait staff can't help but to stand around to admire them. It's Strawberry White Chocolate Cupcakes, recipe will be posted later.

All the above dishes, plus nuts, tea and rice (not sure how many bowls) inclusive of taxes costed us RM475.20. Reasonable or not for two tables of 7?


Restaurant Sin Lok
3rd Floor Ampang Park
Jalan Ampang
Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 603-21614664

Review: Restoran Foong Foong

**Non-Halal**

Mention "Foong Foong", most KLites will immediately think of Ampang yong tau foo (beancurd and vegetables stuffed with fishpaste). It's so famous that it needs no introduction. I have been here since I was a kiddo. We always drop by here on our way to my aunt's house in Kampung Ampang Tasek. It has been a while I last went there since she have moved out of Ampang. Anyway, I went there quite recently with Yozora, JW and another colleague for lunch. Yozora was buying the two lunch and I happily tagged along upon her invitation kekeke... wai sek ma!

Parking can be horrendous unless you reach there like noon to grab a space in front of the restaurant. Otherwise you'll need to drive around to park further away.

After sitting down and got our drinks ordered, Yozora went to the counter and placed our order. The uncle then rattle off our order in Hakka via the loud speaker. Supposedly the kitchen staff will arrange those items to be delivered to our table. Goodness me, the uncle didn't age a bit hehehe. I've been seeing him doing the same thing for the past 30 years or so!

Our order came in a jiffy. First up was the delish dumplings (sui kow) in broth. Each dumpling came in quite generous fillings but strangely it doesn't contain one whole prawn. The prawn meat was minced up together with the pork!

If you decided to make your own, check here.

Here is our plate of deep fried version of dumplings and also foo chuk (beancurd sheet) roll. It's soooo piping hot! Loved these as deep fried stuff are usually more fragrant.

We have asked for the mix plate where they will give a mixture of different items of yong tau foo. If you don't fancy anything just tell them that or you can just order which ever that you like most. Our plate has stuffed brinjals, ladies fingers, white tofu, bittergourd, red chillies and bouncy fishball. Each piece is rather substantial in size. You can order rice to go with these but we didn't. We were sooo stuffed at the end but yet Yozora had wanted to order more until we told her not to.

I'm not sure how much the total bill was since Yozora paid at the counter. Anyway, Yozora thanks for including me in the lunch escapade!

Restoran Foong Foong
621-A, Jalan Besar Ampang,
68000 Ampang


Technorati Tags: malaysian food + yong tau foo

Review: Taiwan House @ Ampang Point

We tend to come by Taiwan House if we're around in Ampang Point area. Definitely for their yummilicious beef noodles but they have other fares too. Like this Jar Jiang Mien (err how to translate? meat sauce noodle perhaps.) that hubby ordered. Minced meat sauce generously topped the noodles with julienned carrots and cucumber. The sauce is great but I didn't liked the type of noodles they've used. They just don't match but then hubby lapped up all.



I always have a bowl of beef noodle soup rather than the dry version for I loved sipping on the flavourful broth filled with loads of vegetables like choy sum and thick chunks of carrot and white radish. I opted for meat and beef ball where the meat is very tender and the beef ball being crunchy. Best dipped in the tangy chilli dip and some salted mustard vegetables (ham choy) to go with the noodles.





We ordered some dumplings (sui kow Taiwanese style) for boiboi. The dumplings are deliciously filled with chicken meat came in a chicken broth with lots of choy sum. At times I would just order a bowl of these for a lighter meal. Best part is Taiwan House is halal.



Taiwan House
Lot F31, 1st Floor,
Ampang Point Shopping Centre,
Jalan Mamanda 3 , Ampang
Tel: 012-298 8033
Opening Hours: 11.30am to 9pm daily

Technorati Tags: beef noodle

Indulgence!!!

Each time after working out at the gym, on my way home, I need to pass by delicious glass counters containing beautiful & sinful cakes, did I mention SINFUL??? Arrghhh, it's completely insane to have worked out and then minus it off by getting my hands on these lovely & delicious cakes, did I mention SINFUL??? :p haha I have to say it's indulgence definitely!!! Gosh, help me!

Awww most time the cakes will melt my heart and they'll be screaming "Take me home! Take me home!" **GULP**

Worst of all, these lovely, did I mention SINFUL??? goodies are off 50% after 8pm or was it 7pm. Gee I can't recall now cos they keep on changing the time.

Lemme see which one shall I intro first... OK how about this yummy looking Blueberry Muffin. Always buy this or the Banana Muffin for my boiboi. He loves them and gets delighted when he sees the cake box. The texture is dense and it has lots of sticky blueberries in it. I like it best after zapping in the microwave oven for a few secs (nothing more than 10 secs, else it will turn out rock hard).



Next up is the Chocolate Brownie. It's my mom's fave. Very very dense texture, filled with walnuts and chocful (pun intended) of chocolate taste.



This round, its my first time seeing a plain Chocolate Cake signage there. Don't look anything special but I though, what the heck... The chocolate ganache is very very smooth. Thank goodness they used semi bitter chocolates and not milk chocolates. Yummmm...



I've always fancied their Strawberry Cheesecake. Its just plain cheesecake topped with fresh strawberries. However, it was not available this round. Opted for a Marbled Cheesecake instead. Hmmm lots of new flavours these days eh...

Hey, I think I got cheated! How can the marbled effect just on top of the cake qualify this cake to be named Marble Cheesecake??? Duhhhh... but nevermind, its the taste that counts. As always, their cheesecake is always very very rich. Can never eat one whole piece in one sitting. Usually will share a piece around with family members.



This is Fruit Flan but it doesn't look like one I usually find at normal bakeries. Its layered vanilla sponge cake topped with lots of chopped fresh fruits. I like this one. Very light and the fruits combination on top is fantastic to cut out the richness of the cream sandwiched in between the sponge.



All these yummy cakes can be found at Tempts Coffee House, New World Renaissance Hotel. They have pastries, breads and sandwiches too.

Tempts Coffee House
New World Renaissance Hotel
Ground Floor, New World Wing
Corner of Jalan Sultan Ismail and Jalan Ampang,
50450 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Tel: (603) 2162 2233 Fax: (603) 2163 1122
Email: sales@renaissance-kul.com
http://www.renaissance-kul.com/