Review: Artisan Popsicles From The Potong

We have the privilege to meet with Ivan, one of the 3 founders of The Potong which have branded themselves as fresh artisan popsicles recently. Ivan proceeded by introducing the concept and production of The Potong which I find it very interesting. I think I would love to be their taste bunny (well if they wish to hire me hehehe) as The Potong team embarked on concocting the various flavours coming from fruits, vegetables, herbs etc. Well not only those but also booze for the child in every adult we know :D

The Potong range is divided into Signature Range, Seasonal Specialty, Booze Pop (RM9 for each pop) and Prosecco Pop (RM15 for each pop). The first two (RM5 for each pop) can be found currently at Wondermama Restaurant & Cafe. The Potong should be made available at more outlets soon, I guess just wait for the announcement on their Facebook page. The Booze and Prosecco will be available at places with liquor licence at a later stage. However, you can dig into them at the following upcoming events in the Klang Valley:

The Week of Taste Malaysia @ Publika > 19 - 21st Oct
The Great Brunch Experiment @ BSC Concourse area, Ground Floor > 27th & 28th Oct 10.00am - 6.30pm
FAB Market  @ Publika > 28th Oct
Urbanscapes Festival @ Padang Astaka > 24 & 25th Nov

We have a little tasting session of these pops which claimed to be all natural but Ivan was honest enough to inform that they do need to add some sugar to adjust the sweetness according to the sweetness of the ingredients procured plus addition of a little stabiliser to keep the texture consistent.

We got to try the Cherry Root Beer and Sunny Melon. Cherry Root Beer is made of A&W root beer, vanilla cream and topped with a maraschino cherry, reminded me of the time when my dad took us to the then A&W at Jalan Raja Laut for a root beer float... ahhh such beautiful memories ;-)

Honeydew melon, cucumber and thyme make up of Sunny Melon! Loved this combination and the soft texture was an added bonus. I have tasted similar granita made by Rohani at work but this is so refreshing and on a stick! Totally a must have on a hot hot day.

Ivan was kind enough to bring along a bottle of prosecco for us to try out the Prosecco Pop experience. We are supposed to dunk a pop into the sparkling wine before popping the pop into our mouth. We got to try with Rosy Mango (Mango, Grapefuit & Rose Water) and Watermelon Fizz (Watermelon, Lemonade & Apple Mint).

The sensory played up when it first tasted the slight sweet slight bitter wine followed by the flavours of the pops. We loved Rosy Mango but Watermelon Fizz is great too! Kids would love them, well minus the wine combi. The pops given to us for tasting for this Prosecco Pop experience is a normal sized pop but it will be shorter in the actual sales. So please don't complain horrr when your pop is shorter when you try them at the above events.

Do follow The Potong on their Facebook page to catch hold of their latest offerings and locations.

Thank you Ivan for the time and pops; and Lanatir for the intro.

Psst, apologies for the crappy pics cos I dunno how to use Capt'n Hook's camera lol.

Review: Crumbs Frozen Yoghurt @ Pavilion Kuala Lumpur

I have always been a HUGE fan of frozen yoghurt since the days when TCBY and I Can't Believe It's Yoghurt were available in Kuala Lumpur many many many years ago. Sadly both chains just disappeared. I had to find solace at ice cream places that have a small selections of frozen yoghurt but then these are not the soft-served kind. When Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf introduces soft-served yoghurt in their menu, there is no need to say that I became a follower! I liked both natural which is well... like yoghurt - a little tart and vanilla flavoured which is a little sweet. The only problem is NOT every outlet is serving this :(

It has only been recently that stand alone frozen yoghurt business made a come back in the form of Tutti Frutti and now Crumbs. I don't really fancy the taste of Tutti Frutti plus it can really be rather "dangerous" kekeke as their concept is self-help and we only get to know how much our cup of yoghurt will cost at the end after weighing it. It can get quite exorbitant since it's hard to control the amount by pulling the lever and the heavy toppings are not helping either lol.

I had read with interest when an article introducing Crumbs in a local newspaper. It has been on my mind ever since then but just that we never get to visit Pavilion these days. It says that Crumbs is originated from Hong Kong which at first specialised in flavoured scones but after introducing frozen yoghurt, it seems like the yoghurt is now more popular.



We have an appointment near Pavilion so we dropped by to check out Crumbs which is located next to Food Republic (the food court). It has taken over Durian Durian kiosk which has shifted to KLCC. Since we have lunch not long ago, we did not buy any scones to try. Anyway, my main aim is the frozen yoghurt!

Capt'n Hook and I shared a large portion that came with 2 toppings (RM12.90) which I picked their signature crumbs and cute little baby meringues in pastel colours. I guess since they were new, they offered me to try another topping, the handmade mochi. You can see by now, our cup is almost over flowing with toppings!



First of all, we both like the texture of the yoghurt. It's smooth and velvety, a little tart like how yoghurt should taste like. The signature crumbs topping is actually cleverly layered at the bottom and in between, plus a little on top. This way I find that they are evenly distributed without having too much crumbs just on top. By the way, the crumbs are not made from leftover scones :p yes, yes, I was kaypoh (busy body) enough to ask! It lend a slight crunch and is lightly cinnamon scented. I also loved the baby meringues. Can't help eating spoonfuls of them just like that. The mochi came in white and smallish pieces. They have a nice bouncy texture.

As they have like 20 over toppings, I think it's going to take us a while to try out the different combinations. The pricing is quite fair to us with just the addition of RM1.90 for a large portion with an extra topping as the regular sized frozen yoghurt with one topping is going for RM11.00. Each additional topping will cost RM1.50.

Since both of us seated quite near to the kiosk, Jaymie, one of the partner of Crumbs, came by to ask for our feedback. We did gave her quite a positive feedback and the only thing they need to do now is to promote Crumbs to generate the interest and awareness of their existence in the mass of food kiosks on that floor. Judging from the few interruptions that Jaymie has to get back to the kiosk to serve customers in between chatting with us, I think they're on the right track ;-)


Crumbs
P1.11.04, Level 1,
Pavilion Kuala Lumpur
Tel: +603 2141 6020
Opening hours: 11.00am - 10.00pm

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

I Went Banana!!!

The weather in Kuala Lumpur has certainly gone bonkers. It's so freaking HOT and then some days its super windy coupled with thunderous storms especially in the evenings. Not only trees were uprooted but some innocent children were killed in one of these fierce storms.

Capt'n Hook had bought a couple of bunch of Dole bananas where the skin are still green. They were left there to be ripen but after 2 days, the skin is still greenish but my goodness when I touch them, they're all limp aiks!!! I peeled one omigosh it has over ripen *sobs*

I was so upset that I ranted on with my friends and some started to give suggestions on how to make use of them. And that really got me on a roll! Within the hour, I've got myself some banana jam, ice cream and a banana cake! So glad I managed to salvage the expensive bananas into something thanks to my friends otherwise I would have dumped them all away.



For the banana jam, just slice the banana into large chunks and add in some lemon juice. Cook on medium low heat and keep stirring. Since the Dole bananas were quite sweet, I tasted them and just needed a little sugar. Just cooked the bananas into a thickish paste and if you prefer chunks in your jam, try not to stir too hard. Cool down and store in containers. Serve immediately or store in fridge covered. Try to eat them up within the next couple of days but seriously the jam is so good that you'll finish them rather quickly!



Next, I sliced up some bananas and squeeze some lemon juice all over to prevent them from turning dark. Then I use my handheld blender and blitz the bananas up until they're creamy. Placed the covered container in the freezer and after about 2 hours I've got myself some really yummy and creamy "ice cream"! It's all natural without any cream nor sugar yay!



Since there were so much bananas, I've baked 2 loaves of Banana Cakes using Low-Fat Carrot and Nut Cupcakes recipe with some tweakings. What a lovely banana cake this recipes make. My cake looked very dark all cos I've used a very dark brown organic sugar which lend the cake a rather fragrant caramelly taste.

Low-Fat Banana Cake
Adapted from 500 Cupcakes & Muffins, By Fergal Connolly book (published by PageOne Publishing), page 310

225g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ground mixed spice
150 g dark brown organic sugar
100 g roughly chopped walnuts
300 g mashed bananas
2 lightly beaten eggs
175 ml vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 175C. In a large bowl, combine all cupcake ingredients. Beat on a low speed with electric whisk until ingredients are combined. I've just use normal whisk, worked as well.

I've poured my batter into 2 lined loaf tins but they turned out quite low, I guess if you prefer one tall loaf, just pour all into one instead. Bake for about 45 - 55 minutes depending on your oven and the size of loaves. Remove tin and cool for 5 minutes. Remove cakes and cool on a rack.

I'm so happy with the results that I don't wait for such incidents to happen again but instead but extra bananas to let them ripe and turn them into such beautiful creations ;-)

Review: The Cream & Fudge Factory @ Suria KLCC

Ever since I've stopped working in the corporate world, I hardly ever step my foot in the golden triangle :p We took a trip to Suria KLCC in early April just cause Capt'n Hook want to check something there. As we walk about, seems like there are a lot of changes that happened the past few months. Some shops have swapped lots, some have gone and in their place, stood new shiny stores.



One of which is The Cream & Fudge Factory which replaced The Lawn. I've heard the buzz from Jason and was curious since we're big on ice creams, moreover there seems to be quite a lot of people crowding round the kiosk, so it has to be good eh? Anyway this chain started off in Thailand by Global Franchise Architects, a member of Synergia One, owned by renowned Mouawad family.

Capt'n Hook took BoiBoi to grab a seat while I went to the counter to check what they're offering. Managed to get a couple of menus for the boys to browse through. After we have decided on our 2 orders, I went to the counter to order a Banana Chocolate (RM12.90 for one scoop creation) and Rocky Road (RM12.90 for one scoop creation). I opted for our orders to sit on a waffle bowl rather than cone since we're sharing them. I proceed to pay at the cashier and went back to the counter to take a peek even though the cashier mentioned that they'll send over to our table.

What they did at the counter was to scoop the ice cream into this cold plate and mix in the ingredients based on your choices or order. 2 spatulas are used to mix them all up before scooping into cones or bowls before handed over to customers. So I went back to our table and waited for our order.



After about 6-8 minutes later, our order came looking like this...



Did you spot something that is not there?

Yup, you've got it correct... where are our waffle bowls??? I checked my receipt, well just to ensure I did order the correct stuff and yes indeed, the receipt did indicate waffle bowls. Since I sat next to the cashier, I brought the ice creams to her and ask what happen to our waffle bowls? She apologetically told me they have ran out of bowls and she muttered under her breath that those who are taking orders should inform customers about it! She got hold of someone else to see to me and this person explained that it was weekend and they have too many orders that they can't keep up in making the waffle bowls!

OK I know they're new but not like a few days old. If they have been in operation for a few weeks, they should know that weekends traffic tend to be higher hence would have to prepare more than projected. Either that or just tell customers that they have run out of bowls and just sell the ice cream without waffle bowls or cones which actually cost lesser than RM12.90 (RM9.50 one scoop with one mix).

It's not that I'm petty but if I've ordered something on the menu that include one essential item, then they better have the item on it, otherwise you tell your customer that you've run out of waffle bowls and replace it with something or refund the difference in price. Don't just dump the ice cream on the table and walk off!!!

After some "table thumping" :p [actually I was just trying to dramatised the whole post, no table was broken in the process :o)], they finally took our ice cream away to "fix" it.

And so they came back looking like this... much better eh?? Well, I hope they did not "spit" on our ice cream :o) though. Sighhh anyway the ice cream have melted and they just dump onto the cold plate to freeze them up and place onto the waffle bowls. So in the process, mixed in the decorative pieces as well. Looked kinda unappealing, very disappointed. Could have just place some toppings to make up for what happened, but no!



As for the ice cream, it really doesn't live up to the fuss, or could it be due to our experience that we don't find the ice cream as great? They were bold enough to claim they have the creamiest ice cream on earth but seriously, not in my humble opinion.



It's really sad that the country have the tallest, biggest, best in something but yet our customer service level is still lagging far behind especially in the service industry. Operators and managers should buck up  and work on this, otherwise it will leave an unpleasant sour taste.


The Cream & Fudge Factory
Lot K23B, 2nd Floor
Suria KLCC
Kuala Lumpur
Facebook of the Malaysian chapter

Guinness Stout Ice Cream

In conjunction with St. Patrick's Day today, I'm featuring this Guinness Stout Ice Cream that I've churned using my mini Kenwood ice cream maker. It's still work-in-progress as I need to fine tune the way to make the ice cream.



As you can see from the picture, it has some icicles formed obviously I've not churn it long enough but seriously, not really my fault! It's the machine!!! I think it has been churning like more than 1.5 hours before stashing into the freezer but it's still not really fluffy and creamy :( I need an upgrade!

As for the recipe, I've used Alice Medrich's recipe from Pure Dessert. Since I can't find any heavy cream, I've used thickened cream instead. So clearly it's not as creamy as I would like it to be. I supposed the reason could be one need the custard to be really creamy as the Guinness would dilute the custard quite a fair bit. Flavour wise, it's not too sweet and the Guinness flavour is not strong enough. Hence need to work on this to improve the texture.

Guinness Stout Ice Cream
(adapted from Alice Medrich's recipe from Pure Dessert)

1 cup heavy cream (I've used thicken cream)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 large egg yolks
1 can of 320ml Guinness stout

1. In a saucepan, combine the cream, sugar, and salt and bring to a simmer over medium heat.

2. In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks to break them up. Pour the hot cream mixture slowly over the egg yolks, tempering them by whisking constantly. 

3. Transfer the mixture back into the saucepan and cook slowly over medium heat and stir constantly. The mixture will thicken and remove from the heat. 

4. Strain the custard to remove any bits of cooked egg into a separate clean bowl.

5. Mix the Guinness stout into the custard mixture. Refrigerate for at least 4 (preferably 12) hours before churning according to your ice cream machine.

Christmas at Häagen-Dazs

I guess December must be one of the best time of the year. We are not Christians but since young, my dad loved to put on his Christmas albums on the record player. The malls are playing all these lovely Christmas carols, let alone all the beautiful decorations which seems so magical even these days to me. Make me feel like 10 again!

I received a call from Jean Michel Fraisse courtesy of FBB one day. I was like WOW, how often does a French chef call you personally!!! LOL he was inviting me to an ice cream dessert demo event at his The French Culinary School. How not to say no?

So one Friday, I went down town and as I walked in to the school I saw Häagen-Dazs banners. Ahhhh so it was for one of my favourite ice cream! Remember we went to the launch of their new menu and sushi platter?

Jean Michel started off the demo first by introducing us to Chef Jean François Arnaud who came out with all the various Christmas creations for Häagen-Dazs. Then a brief on the ice cream and how they're made totally without any preservatives or additives.

We sampled some flavours too :p chocolate, vanilla and raspberry.

Chef Jean François proceeded by bring out his creations one by one and all of us go "Awwww", "Sooo cute", "So pretty, how to eat"!!! Do note though that NOT all of these are available at the store. Too bad huh?

The first up were these cute little parcels called Gateaux Gift. They were raspberry with vanilla centre with a layer of chocolate. This is available but as Joyous Noel instead.

This is Green Tree with green tea and vanilla ice creams decorated looking like a log house with chocolates, berries and whipped cream.

Now this one I know very sure it's available cos I saw it personally in the fridge :p This is Let It Snow! It's a half circled log with raspberry and vanilla ice creams with white chocolate. So classy!

The next that came got us all very excited like small kids LOL cos these Papa Noel are so darn cute!!! Chef Jean François told us when asked how to make these and he said by just using semi circle scoops and join 2 portions of raspberry ice cream together to make the body, freeze for 24 hours. The rest were made by using raspberry and whipped cream. For pro like them they actually use silicon moulds instead of a scoop.

Irresistible or not???

Treasure chest anyone?

We were shown how the coins were made using this gelatine mould with coins indentation.

How about a Christmas Wreath? So many flavours of ice cream in one creations using small scoops and held in place with whipped cream, finished off with white chocolates.

I had so much fun photographing and tasting the creations too!

 

Thank you to Chef Jean Michel Fraisse, Chef Jean François Arnaud and Häagen-Dazs for these lovely treats!

So hurry to Häagen-Dazs shops to order one of these cutie Christmas collections!

Review: Hokkaido Ichiba @ The Gardens

Hokkaido Ichiba (the ice cream parlour) with it's neighbouring Kita no Zen (the restaurant) and Shojikiya (the snack shop) specialises on Hokkaido ingredients on the 3rd floor of The Gardens. These three are part of Super Dining and Super Sushi group of restaurants - read Rakuzen, Sushi Zanmai, Pasta Zanmai etc! Gosh they are really building an empire especially in Midvalley City! lol

We actually have our dinner at Sushi Zen (which is also part of the group located on LG) as we do not wish to queue at either Sushi Zanmai nor Kita no Zen (yes yes the queue is lonnnggg here too!!! Amazing!) *chuckle* Since we promised BoiBoi some ice cream after his tooth extraction, we took him to try out Hokkaido Ichiba. We first tried Hokkaido ice creams at MOF in Pavilion and we were sort of expecting similar stuff here. There were a bit of similarity but in terms of flavours there were more here!

BoiBoi and I were glued to the ice creams and sherbets ice chests right up front of the store. So many choices but so little stomach space :p BoiBoi was quick as usual since he almost always pick his fave Vanilla and this time another scoop of white chocolate ice cream. These double scoops are 40ml each and costed RM6.80 and we have to add another RM1 for a cone. There are options of single scoop that goes RM4.80 for a 60ml size or RM3.80 for a 40ml size. Sounds reasonable you might think but the 40ml scoop is actually a rather small scoop but perfect size for us after a meal. No pic of his cone cos he walloped before I could whip out my phone for a pic. My compact cam need to be hospitalised :( I managed to try a teeny bit of the white chocolate flavour and it's quite chocolaty rich.

Capt'n Hook did the same with his Macha Ice no Hokkaido Milk Parfait (RM8.80) so what you see is almost half eaten portion! Just imagine his concoction has a small scoop of creamy green tea ice cream served in a pool of Hokkaido milk with 2 chewy glutinous rice balls (all gone), green tea jelly cubes topped with Hokkaido red beans.



I had earlier on tried the Niagara Wine Sherbet and I really liked it! It's refreshing indeed and not as sweet as the real wine, well if they had really meant ice wine but I'm not really sure here. As I flipped thru the menu, I stumbled upon this Hokkaido Melon to Niagara Wine (RM8.80) and ordered it.



One small scoop each of Hokkaido melon ice cream and Niagara wine sherbet on an emptied honeydew melon skin with some rock melon balls on the side. The melon ice cream is only slightly creamy and loved the wonderful melon taste and smell, a perfect marriage with the sherbet.

Seems like a good first experience for us and I can't wait to drop by again to check out the other items on the menu! Well, if only the parking fees have not gone up in MidValley City sighhhh... gonna be a pain as there is no maximum rate from this month onwards *ouch*

Hokkaido Iciba
T-201, 3rd Floor,
The Gardens,
Mid Valley City,
Lingkaran Syed Putra,
59200 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: +603-2283 3060

Review: Restoran Peng Heong Hakka Paikut & Cendol Klang

**Non-Halal for Restoran Peng Heong**

It must have been a while since J the chocoholic had mentioned to PureGlutton that she would like to have a Klang food crawl but so far has not found the right time for one yet. I did tried to organise one for the August babies but so happen it was a Selangor state holiday and J had to work that day. Sorry J.

We arranged to meet somewhere before Klang so that PureGlutton can lead us to this Restoran Peng Heong Hakka Paikut. The restaurant is located in a corner unit hence it's rather spacious and quite clean to boot. We saw some chopping actions right up front of the shop cause that's where they chop the chicken and paikut (spareribs)!

Coming here, of course we have to order their signature Hakka paikut which is essentially deep fried marinaded pork spareribs. The marinade really hit the tummy as it's really flavourful. Even though the spareribs have a large piece of meat attached, they're not fried to the death. Very good this one.



Then we have this Claypot Mutton Curry. The mutton was braised till super tender but the flavours were not memorable. There's still a bit of the gamey smell detected.



Wooo we next have some Hakka meatballs! The meatballs are true Hakka style of being salty. Well that's because I'm used to bland food. These meatballs are soft on the inside but incredibly crispy on the outside. Again not over fried, very nice indeed especially dipped in their chilli sauce. My BoiBoi's fave of the day cos he kept asking for more.



A standard vegetable dish of blanched lettuce with oyster sauce and garlic oil.



I asked for this Tofu in Minced Meat Sauce for BoiBoi which is just an ok dish but the homemade tofu is smooth.



PureGlutton liked the Assam Fish here and I totally understand why. The hot and sourish gravy for the kembung fish made me craved for more rice.



Not sure how much the bill was for 5 adults and one child since Capt'n Hook paid for it but as far as I understand it was pretty decent.

Check what PureGlutton had blogged about Restoran Peng Heong Hakka Paikut.

After lunch, PureGlutton took us over to Klang Cendol which is just within walking distance for dessert! I was told they started of from a stall in front of the shoplot and moved into one after in business for 20 years. Now this is what I call perseverance and success!



The cendol was made right in front of us. First shave the ice into bowls, then scoop in the red beans and pulut (if you have opted for them) before ladles of coconut milk with cendol is poured over the ice. Then a final curtain of gula melaka (palm) syrup is drizzle over. There's a chest filled with ice-creams so you can opt for some to top it off but then it won't be authentic right?





One spoonful into my mouth did indeed cool me off that hot afternoon! Loved how the cendol is well balanced plus they serve both red beans and kidney beans in there!!! These are not canned definitely and it really made my day ;-)



I tried a bit of the pulut from Capt'n Hook's bowl and it's springy, not hard like some places.



With a good quality of thick gula melaka syrup, creamy coconut milk with plump cendol and red beans plus kidney beans...  no wonder they held it thru so many years!

Other than cendol, I noticed on the board that they serve rojak as well.

Thank you to PureGlutton and her family for bringing us to 2 such wonderful places :D


Restoran Peng Heong Hakka Paikut
Jalan Gudang Nanas 3
Off Jalan Pasar
Klang, Selangor
Tel: 019 260 0855/012 236 9855


Cendol Klang
78, Jalan Nanas,

Klang, Selangor

Operation hours: 11.00am – 7.30pm

Fancy A Japanese Meal at Häagen-Dazs?

Updated 20 April 2010, 12.08pm

Thanks for asking, Qwazymonkey, I've forgotten to put in the price for the sushi platter. It's RM35++.

--------------
It's Friday, let's do a sugar high post!!! Heh Japanese meal at Häagen-Dazs?? :p

Yes and I really meant it... and I'm not stopping at matcha (green tea) ice cream of course! Read on...

Häagen-Dazs Malaysia had just launched their new menu, highlighting a new cake creation and a special ice cream platter. If you go to their shops now, do take your time to thumb through their menu which came bounded in hard cover unlike previously in folded cardboard form. There are beautiful or rather delicious ice cream creations, cakes and drinks imprinted on glossy pages. The "book" would be nice on our coffee table but sadly they don't allow us to have one haha.



Pieces of cakes called Sweet Romance which is purely made of vanilla ice cream topped with white chocolate shavings and whole strawberries. The white chocolate shavings lent a crunchy bite to the cake but it's too sweet for me to go with the vanilla ice cream bottom. Also note the strawberry is frozen as they have no choice but to do it as they would love to show off beautiful cakes in their display freezer heh. I don't have a problem as by the time I'm done with the cake, the strawberry had defrosted a bit. Pictured here are sample size, click the above link to see how the whole cake would look like.



All rightey, the reason we were here is to sample their latest creation - Sushi Platter! Each piece is hand crafted hence there are limited servings per day in each shop. Every flavour and the accompanying ingredients were carefully chosen in order for the pairings to compliment each other. The 4 pieces of "sushi" were served on a rectangle glass platter with a dollop of "wasabi" (matcha ice cream) on a separate saucer and thin slices of green apple standing tall on whipped cream.



I started off with a bite of "Tamago Sushi"??? Looks like "tamago" (omelette) to me :p but it's actually Mango and Passionfruit Ice Cream! The "shari" (rice) is made of Macadamia Nut Brittle (Capt'n Hook's fave flavour) and wrapped with a strip of "nori" (dark chocolate). I loved how the tangy "neta" (topping) melded with the sweet "shari" where else Capt'n Hook thought the macadamia gave a good nutty texture here.

Then I sink my teeth on the Kiwi Fruit Gunkan. Oh yummmss... the sweet Vanilla Ice Cream rice combined with sourish chopped kiwi fruit topping combi is spot on complete with the chocolate "nori". Loved how the sourish fruits counter the sweetness of the ice cream.



I dug into the "Sake Nigiri" which has Vanilla Ice Cream rice and the "salmon" piece is made of Mango Sorbet (my favourite flavour too!). Again a tangy and sweet match that worked fantastically.

Just like the Kiwi Fruit version, this Strawberry Gunkan is refreshingly good too but instead of Vanilla Ice Cream as the rice, this has Macadamia Nut Brittle.

It's my first time trying Häagen-Dazs' Matcha Ice Cream and I'm already liking it. It's slightly bitterish but the green tea taste is not overly strong.

Other than these, you can have your coffee fix here as well such as black coffee and iced cappucino. No comments on coffee since I can drink any :p Have to ask Joe and the Chocoholic.

Seriously, with all the wonderful pairings... it really made me wonder why some people dislikes ice cream! How could one not like ice cream???

This Sushi Platter is available at all Häagen-Dazs shops in Malaysia now, well until their next change of menu. However from now till 15 May 2010, if you order a plate of this, a complimentary scoop voucher will be given to you. So hurry to Häagen-Dazs now for your fix of delicious and creamy "sushi".

Thank you to Häagen-Dazs Malaysia, their PR agency and staff at Solaris Mont Kiara outlet for the lovely evening! BTW, don't fret when you walk into this outlet and notice there are very little tables inside as the mezzanine floor above have cosy sofas other than usual tables and chairs for you to lounge around to slowly enjoy their "slow melting" ice creams.

Häagen-Dazs
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