Review: OMG! Ooh My Gas Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream

It have been quite a long while since we last pop by Pavilion Kuala Lumpur. As we got out of the car park, we are very near Level 1 which of course is the food haven floor. As we walk thru looking for the escalator, we chanced upon OMG! Ooh My Gas Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream.

The ice cream lover BoiBoi was scrutinising the posters and all, while Capt'n Hook and I checked out the row of Kitchen Aid mixers where each of them have some kind of piping which we have guessed must be where the liquid nitrogen would dispense.



Seeing that it's something new to him, we decided to let him try one small serving which is called a Cutie Cup. For a 5 oz serving at RM12.90, you get to pick the colour flavour (more on that later) and a topping.



There are 3 steps in ordering, the first being choosing your base of gelato, ice cream or soy milk (woohoo for those who are lactose intolerant). Next you pick your "colour flavour"which you'll see a range of flavours under nuts, fruits or classic followed by colour. Lastly, pick your toppings.

Click to view a larger image

BoiBoi chose an ice cream base with peanut butter flavour and no colour (I think I must have taught him well hehe for not eating colour enhanced food) with a topping of chocolate sauce. And so the server proceed by adding the concoction into the mixer's bowl. He then secure the bowl to the mixer and start beating the concoction. After a few beatings, we next saw "white smoke" billowing all over making it quite theatrical especially for children. Once done, the server scrape out the frozen concoction into a paper cup before topping with chocolate sauce.

BoiBoi getting a dose of liquid nitrogen smoke which he said it's cold, of course

We have a few bites and the verdict... Capt'n Hook just shrugged his shoulder, BoiBoi of course will say is nice, as for myself... the ice cream was smooth and melt quickly but the flavouring is just so so, nothing to shout about. I supposed it's such a novelty now for the young to watch such dramatic smog that billows from the bowl which ended up freezing the liquid concoction into a frozen delight.





As usual, when I write, I tend to search the internet to learn more about the product or ingredients used and came across a rather shocking read that liquid nitrogen nearly kill this teenager but luckily she was brought to the hospital on time. Seems that she drank a couple of cocktails that used liquid nitrogen which made the drink so cold that her stomach was damaged akin to frost bite.  Her stomach has to be removed o.O The word of warning would be please ensure the nitrogen has fully evaporated before downing the drinks or whatever, I guess ice cream included!!! So be warned ;-)


OMG! Ooh My Gas Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream
Level 1,  Pavilion Kuala Lumpur

No. 168 Jalan Bukit Bintang

55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Review: Cakes at Swich Cafe, Publika

We dropped by Publika Shopping Gallery for dinner and was walking around just to exercise a bit when Capt'n Hook declared that he would love some cake and coffee. Boi Boi and him likes to have dessert after their mains. We stopped by at the information counter and browsed the shops around and looked at the leaflets and chanced upon one that mentioned Swich Cafe's opening just a few days before.

Swich Cafe is no stranger to me, not when I have Lyrical Lemongrass plus a couple of other non-blogger friends who kept posting the utmost delicious offerings especially the out of the norm cakes by Swich Cafe on their Facebook timelines. Made me sounds as if I've known the proprietress, Lim Cheng Cheng, for ages haha. We have tried their offerings during Bangsar Shopping Complex's Epicurious Brunch and was looking for more but the first location at HP Tower doesn't seems to have a very ideal opening hours hence I guess a lot of us out there would think the Publika outlet is really Heaven sent!

When we dropped by, Cheng Cheng was there and oh boy we really does seems like we have known forever! Lol it was especially so when Capt'n Hook, Cheng Cheng and myself were in the same line of business. As the industry was quite small, there were many names exchanged in the conversation. We did that over a slice of Hummingbird Cake (RM10.00) and a Latte (RM8.00).



Capt'n Hook likes moist cakes with lots of nuts and this Hummingbird Cake fitted the bill when the crunch came from the toasted coconut flakes. The cake was packed with banana and pineapple with a nice hint of spices. The coconut cream frosting is a nice compliment without being very sweet.



Boi Boi as expected chose his ever favourite chocolate cake but this is no ordinary chocolate cake but one made with Valrhona Chocolate (RM12.90). The cake is moist with the right amount of sugar and you'll know good quality chocolate is used when the taste can be exquisite and luscious to the mouth plus it was so well made that the ganache shined like a mirror under the bright lightings.



So far business has been picking up and Cheng Cheng hopes to sell more if their savoury dishes but then again she's not helping it when she keeps coming up with so many ingenious desserts using out of the ordinary ingredients like jackfruit, mangosteen or even avocado. I can also vouch that the savoury dishes are not your typical stuff but do expect a married of East and West such as butter prawn or even sweet and sour chilli crab pastas! Can't wait to dig in more of these and we're going to pop by at Publika soon.

Note: There's a 10% service charged on the total bill.

Swich Cafe
Level G3 Publika Shopping Gallery
Solaris Dutamas
Kuala Lumpur
Business hours: 10.00am - 10.00pm (Mon - Sun)


Mezzanine Floor, HP Towers,
12 Jalan Gelenggang, Bukit Damansara,
Kuala Lumpur
Business hours: 10.00am - 3.00pm (Mon - Fri)
Tel: +6018 599 5152
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Swichfinefood/

Steamed Pumpkin Cake

**Non-Halal**




My mom made the utmost delish Steamed Yam Cake that is filled to the brim with yam, Chinese sausages and dried prawns. I've asked her a few times how to make it and amount of ingredients was base on the size of the "antique" tall round tin that she have. Kinda difficult for me to adjust it so I just let it be. I know I can get tonnes of recipes online but somehow it just didn't move me. Other than Steamed Yam Cake, there are versions using different ingredients like radish, black eyed peas or even pumpkin.

My boss gave me a huge chunk of pumpkin after a photo shoot. I love pumpkin but not everybody in the household really likes it :( So to mellow out eating pumpkin in chunks or slices, I remember there's this Steamed Pumpkin Cake recipe in Agnes Chang's Delightful Snacks & Dim Sum book. I guess having grated pumpkin in a steamed cake should do the job.

I've adapted the recipe just a little, omitting chicken stock granules. In fact I've used far more grated pumpkin than stated in the recipe hence my cake is packed with pumpkin. Thank goodness everybody enjoyed the steamed cake even BoiBoi did not make any fuss and asked for more. This recipe is definitely a keeper as the proportion of batter versus ingredients melded up nicely and feel free to add more pumpkins.

Steamed Pumpkin Cake
(Adapted from Agnes Chang - Delightful Snacks & Dim Sum)


4 tbsp oil
6 cloves garlic, chopped
6 shallots, chopped
60 g dried prawns, soaked, rinsed and roughly chopped
1 pair Chinese sausages, diced
200 g minced pork meat
800 g pumpkin, seeded with skin removed will yield about 600 g, coarsely grated
Salt and ground white pepper to taste

Batter (mix them together):
300 g rice flour
60 g tapioca flour
1 litre water
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground white pepper

Garnishing:
Spring onion, chopped
Fried shallots

In a fairly large pan or wok, heat oil and fry up chopped garlic and shallots till soft and fragrant. Add dried prawns and continue to stir fry till fragrant. Next add in sausages and minced meat. Stir fry until meat is cooked and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Give the batter a stir before pouring into the stir fried mixture together with the grated pumpkin. Add in salt and pepper. Keep stirring until batter became thick. Taste and adjust seasonings. Turn off the heat.

Pour mixture into a 22 cm square or even round tray. Even the surface with the back of a spoon or spatula. Steam on high heat for about 45 minutes. The surface should be quite firm. Remove and leave to cool completely.

Garnish the cake by scattering chopped spring onion and fried shallots on the surface before slicing. Serve with garlic chilli sauce.

Note: For a more fragrant cake, pan fry the slices with some oil before serving especially the left over, if there's any!

PSA: RM1 Chicken Promo @ Dragon-i and Canton-i

Quickie post, just saw this on 1 March 2013. RM1 chicken promotion is back at Dragon-i and Canton-i for the entire March. Click here for more details and the T&C.

Do enjoy your chicken :p for the month of March.

Mandarin Oranges Popsicle

Hullo... yes I know, it has been a while. It hasn't been a good start to the year of snake for us at least. Boi Boi had a bout of acute tonsillitis over the entire first week of Chinese New Year (CNY) with 3 doctor visits slotted in between. On the 2nd day, we had to take him to A&E when his ulcers grew a big as 20 sens coin and his temperature hovers and at times fluctuates to 38.6C. It was so bad to the point that I had to wake up every hour just to check his temperature.

The MO had wanted to admit him but we refused since we just need to have his antibiotic changed. He was kinda worried and made us to promise to bring Boi Boi to come back and visit the pediatrician on the 4th day when he opens for business.

A&E was so crowded on 2nd day of CNY, waited for 2 hours

It just took the very very experienced pediatrician (btw he's in his early 70s) one look to confirm his situation and to prescribe the correct antibiotic. The poor boy had to take 2 types of them! Luckily he was still up and about in high spirits... waking up early and sleeping later than usual *roll eyes*

By the 6th day, the ulcers have mostly cleared up and that's when he really gets to eat. The past few days have been challenging of just eating cold food ranging from dipping bread in cold milk, yoghurt with soft fruits, ice cream and cold somen and soba noodles. No complains though cos they love them all.

As for us, the adults, we were practically house arrested for that week with no visitation nor feasting, not even to pai nien with my parents until the 6th day of CNY! You can imagine the amount of CNY goodies stacked in the house!

We have 4 boxes of mandarin oranges (some were gifts) and many of them started to rot until I cleared my fridges as the week go along which I managed to finally stuff all of them into the fridge. They should be able to keep for a long while more in there!

Every year, there's always this headache on how to clear them up and last year I decided to turn some into popsicles. Super easy except the pain of removing the slight bitter membrane to extract the mandarin segments. One just need the mandarin orange segments and juice. The ratio of these 2 would depends entirely to you. If you love more bite, more segments then.

Stuff the mandarin oranges segments into popsicles molds before pouring some of the juice. Store in freezer for a few hours and voila... something to cool down the Chinese New Year heat.



So any other ideas to use these mandarin oranges up?

Kung Hei Fatt Choy 2013

Review: Arthur's Bar & Grill @ Shangri-la Hotel, Kuala Lumpur

Ahhhh... walking into Arthur's Bar & Grill at Shangri-la Hotel Kuala Lumpur sure does brought back lots of memories. Just that it's no longer what it used to look like back in The Pub days. The Pub back then was a famous English style pub where the well heeled patronise to chill out. I remember the dark interior, suits of armour, the pool table at The Oval Room, the leather booths, the frozen margaritas and most of all the to-die-for pies!

I've worked right behind the hotel for close to 20 years, you can say I virtually go to Shangri-la everyday kekeke since I almost always use it as a short cut to walk to the gym or lrt station. The temptations to stop by Lemon Garden 2 Go to pick up a quick lunch or the fresh breads and pastries were just too good to be resisted. The generous boss who takes us to have a nice dinner at the cafe before the late nights helping out in preparing tender documents or the best even getting to tag along when the boss entertains clients at Shang Palace. Ahhh those were the days...

Transformed now into a very trendy and modern Manhattan styled bar and grill, and renamed to Arthur's Bar & Grill, I would say it's rather refreshing. It's bright and quite a contrast. The main bar area where the ceiling remained high, stocked up a list of impressive liquor and drinks. What I loved most... the hand bag hooks underneath the tables... small thing but yet utmost thoughtful.

Ok we did asked why the name Arthur was picked thinking it must have been named after a famous person but in actual fact the name has nothing to do with anyone, it was just a name. Strangely why Arthur when there's William (my late ex-colleague's name), Tom, Dick or even Harry :p but how about some girly name like Jane, Mary or Jenny?



Then there's the mezzanine level where we used to have small office gatherings. It's still there and perfect for small private parties.



A state of art enomatic wine dispenser is installed too so that every glass of wine taste fresh. In the evening, this cart stores the delicious roast waiting to be carved and served to patrons.



Even though much renovated, the essence is still there to me especially the leather chairs and booths. If you're there early for lunch, it's rather quiet but it's easy to know why the dining area fills up quickly when lunch hours approaches. A whole lot of them are regulars who mostly works in the area, for I could recognise some of the faces.



Executive Chef, Rudolf Kunkel, dropped by to say hello and got on to some friendly exchanges over life in China.



Not sure about you, I liked it when a nice bread basket is served but at Arthur's Bar & Grill, it goes up another level by serving a whole loaf of herb bread baked in a clay flower pot with some fresh tomato salsa. Individual condiments of mayonnaise, mustard and ketchup are provided as well. I'm into making my fresh bread these days and I really appreciate the work put into making pots of bread.



There's one word that came flying out of my mouth when I dine here - HUGE! Yup... that's the portion of food served here. Capt'n Hook and I really like how the Nachos turned out. The rustic way of splashing sour cream, salsa and guacamole over the nachos with melted cheese is fun to be dig in by everyone rather than having the condiments in separate containers. Felt really warm this way to share the nachos.



Then the Fresh Pacific Oysters that smells and tasted like the ocean!



At The Pub, Capt'n Hook used to order the Hungarian Goulash but back then it was a soup served with dumplings. At Arthur's, it reincarnated as Hungarian Beef Goulash under the Pie category packed to the brim in a mini enameled cast iron pot. This thick beef stew with fork tender meat is flavoured with tomato, bay leaf, garlic and paprika... well at least that's what I tasted :p and went well with the rich and creamy mash potatoes.



We can't go off without tasting something off the grill, and so Australian OP Rib came highly recommended. It's a huge portion of 500g grain fed rib eye steak plus bone done to a perfect medium to go with garlic butter sauce. As for the sides, we asked for creamy spinach and sauteed button mushrooms.






When the menu screams "the burger for Grown Ups!" it certainly got Capt'n Hook into his burger frenzy. Not helping when the name is known as Arthur's Beef Burger "The Works". When the burger arrives in a hot square cast iron skillet, only these words would describe it "Wow so tall!". In between the 3 slices of burger buns, there are the thick but juicy ground patties with melted cheddar over, the still runny fried egg, slices of smoked beef, ripe sweet tomatoes slices and lettuce leaves; topping off are onion rings and a skewer that holds everything down!!! This burger is served with a side of thick cut fries and coleslaw.

Earlier the week, Capt'n Hook had this lousy burger that is so sloppy from the thick thousand island looking mayo and soggy buns but this one is a total contrast. The mayonnaise is lightly slather on but the condiments are on the side for you to add on. It's a nice touch indeed.



We were offered desserts and I asked for their signature one and out came Creme Brulee. Again I have to emphasise on the word HUGE! Rather than coming in a small ramekin, this one could easily feed 4! The smooth creamy eggy goodness under the crispy burnt sugar. Again I liked the nice little touches of berries and a raspberry coulis to cut through the creaminess.



Some people knew that I'm a nitpicker... not by choice since nitpicking is inborn as I'm a Virgo plus nitpicking used to be my profession :p so little little touches meant a lot to me! Like serving warm milk with hot coffee!



Even though there's the renovation, name change, new chefs, new staff but thank goodness everything remained the same - best and consistent quality; and as always impeccable service. Kudos to Shangri-la to keep them up all these years.

This review is made possible by the generosity of Shangri-la Hotel Kuala Lumpur under the invitation of Damian Idris so a huge thank you to Damian, Rosemary Wee, Chef Rudolf and the wonderful team at Arthur's Bar & Grill.


Arthur's Bar & Grill

Shangri-la Hotel, Kuala Lumpur
11 Jalan Sultan Ismail, 

Kuala Lumpur, 50250, Malaysia
Tel: (60 3) 2074 3900

Operating Hours:
12noon - 1am  (Mon to Thur)
12noon - 2am (Fri, Sat and eve of Public Holidays)
5pm – 12midnight (Sun and Public Holidays)

Just a note, we were told all food outlets in Shangri-la Kuala Lumpur are halal except for Shang Palace.

In conjunction with Chinese New Year, there are Lemon Garden 2Go’s Prosperity Treasures and Prosperity Deluxe hampers on offer.

There are fish shaped or "yue" Ninko priced at MYR48 net per box which represents eternal friendship and “abundance of wealth”. Great as gifts too.

Over at Shang Palace at Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur is serving specially created set menus and yee sang for the festive season. Chinese Executive Chef Tan Kim Weng has created five set courses of must-have dishes for the Chinese New Year celebration to usher in another prosperous year.