So many people I know of have spoken about this very famous char koay teow. Supposedly one of the best char koay teow in the country! So, how can I not try it out, correct? The fact that I drive down to Pulau Pinang quite often makes it impossible for me to not eventually go to this place and try it out my self. In addition, I love char koay teow, particularly Penang char koay teow!

So, I went there with a whole bunch of people (my mom, 2 sisters, brother, aunt, cousin and cousin’s husband). Parking was a nightmare! Once the nightmare is over, another nightmare begins. The restaurant was packed. In fact it was a full house with no place to sit! However, we got lucky and did not have to wait too long to get tables. Yes we needed 2 tables, either the tables are small or there were too many of us… So, we ordered char koay teow for most of us and a couple of special char koay teow. It took almost forever for the food to come! We got sleepy and sort of ruined our appetite, but we tried to stay positive. Afterall, we heard good things about the char koay teow…

When the food finally arrive, to our surprise, the special char koay teow did not turn out to be what we expected. Ordinarily when we order special char koay teow, we will get extra prawns and cockle. Instead, the special char koay teow came with a sunny side up! Oh that is so not right! May not be wrong but it is not quite right… By the way, while we were waiting and thereafter eating, the crowd got bigger and people were actually standing and lining up in front of the restaurant!

Coming back to the famous Sg Dua char koay teow (so famous it has 2 branches at different locations!), I said to my brother, as he sat next to me, “Is it just me? Am I too particular about my food? Did I expect to much? Is it really true what people say about me having rather peculiar taste and preference for food?”… Too many questions that lead to only one answer from my brother, “Tak sedap sangat pun!”, which translates “Not very tasty/delicious!”. I was not sure whether I was right, that the char koay teow was not very tasty. However, everyone else had the same response! I was somewhat disappointed and I will give it 2.5/5. One more thing, the char koay teow came in such small plates that the dishes “fit in” just nicely in the plate, almost spilling out. My brother had to put his prawns in my plate (after I finish with my dish) to make space for the prawns in his plate…

Nevermind the title. It is just something spontaneous (although I do feel a little bit “montel” lately ;D)

So, I frequent the BSC a lot lately. That is one of my favourite malls. Not too crowded and nothing much for me to buy. What matter is good food, good time, good company.

Now, Monte’s (http://www.montesrestaurant.com.my/index.html) is not located at a unit where it can easily be found but if you are familiar with the BSC, it will be easy to locate. Anyways, the BSC is not a complicated mall that you will give up trying to locate shops after trying for 10 minutes.

The moment we got in the restaurant, we were greeted very warmly. That is a good beginning to a good time. Sometimes, one may get influenced by the kind warm welcome in judging the food. I will give my views here without being affected by the beautiful interior and the warm welcome. This is not too difficult to do as I have been here before ;D.

Here goes –

(1) Chef’s Dream Salad – just nice although not brilliantly tasteful, but honestly, I do not think it is meant to taste otherwise, so I would say again, just right

(2) Spaghetti Marinara – like I said to my friend, the best I have tasted thus far!

(3) Fettuccine Carbonara – I did not actually have this at this visit but I think it is worth mentioning now. It was good although may be a little too thick (the cream sauce I mean)

There is a huge chance that there will be more visits to this place… I would suggest you try this place when you are at the BSC either just to wine or dine.

Recently, I made my second visit to the Dancing Fish restaurant located at the Bangsar Shopping Complex @ BSC. Glad to say that the service and the food are still good. This time around, the dishes were actually served rather quick! Oh yes, my apologies. For you who are not familiar with it, Dancing Fish serves Sundanese food.

Dishes that I had recently are and my findings of the dishes are as follows –

(1) Beef Rendang – a bit salty for me but the beef were very tender and the rendang flavour could be tasted in the beef

(2) Chicken Rendang – the rendang sauce was good but the chicken was a bit too “done”

(3) BBQ Chicken – I just love it!

(4) Kailan with Oyster Sauce – it is just how it should be

(5) Terong Belado – the eggplant, has never been a dish that I would consider having part of my spread but I have no problem ordering it again whenever I visit this place again. That is how good it was.

And perhaps you will be delighted to know that the barley (iced or hot) are refillable i.e. free flow.

The price range, I suppose rather “standard” considering all sorts of points and factors.

P.s. – no photos for this post due to reasons can not be disclosed ;D

Well yes, I re-visited the Social @KL. This time for Iftar. What will you do if you keep seeing advertisement on delicious looking food, served specially for Iftar? My they looked yummy!

So, considering how most people see the Social @KL as “the place”, I thought a reservation would be necessary. I called in. At the beginning of the conversation, I was a little taken aback. The conversation was a little awkward but dwell not on information not food related!

So, the day of the visit, I got there not too early, not too late but found myself standing there at the entrance fiddling with my beloved Bold. No, not because I was too shy but because no one was really manning that little reception booth but I have to say, once one of the hostess got to me, she was all nice and accommodating, but again, let us dwell not on things not food related!

Let us just proceed with the food, those advertised and led me there for a 2nd visit. I asked the waitress’ opinion whether I should go for the chicken rendang or the beef rendang (honestly I had in mind the beef rendang) and she suggested the beef rendang. Beef rendang is beef stewed Malay style (and I love rendang!). It was served with deep-fried bean curd, sambal, acar, some crackers, salted egg (which I do not eat) and minestrone soup (which I found although tasty, a little odd to be served with rendang). This set came with kuih-muih, desert of the day (which I asked the waitress and was told that she does not know what is the desert of the day), which turned out to be this sweet thing with bananas in it (pengat pisang, not sure what is in English), which was not too bad but too sweet to my liking. I also ordered homemade peach tea, which was not too bad as well and sirap selasih (and I did not realise that it was not “really” part of the set and in fact additional).

So, this are my take on the food –

Beef rendang – really good. The beef was really tender. The rendang (gravy) was really tasty (and my friend agreed that he had to finish the last bit I left for him with his rice, which he originally did not intend to finish!).

Deep fried bean curd – it is just fried bean curd, how can it go wrong, right? (which means I have no issue with it)

Sambal – not bad at all.

Crackers – there were 2 types and again, they are just crackers, how can it possibly go wrong?

Kuih-muih – not memorable but not too bad either.

Desert of the day (pengat pisang) – you may like it if you like pengat pisang.

Homemade peach tea – good especially the ice cream like thing in it. It actually looked like a peach but it was some sort of blended ice with peach flavour to it.

Sirap selasih – hmm not too sure but not to my liking.

(no photos for this visit as I am currently too lazy to transfer them to my laptop. Sorry ;p)

p/s. to each their own and I have been told that I have a rather peculiar taste and that am rather picky with my food, which means, my views may not be the same as yours. Also, perhaps it was my luck that I was served by one who said she is not Malaysian when asked about the food (not Malaysian does not mean you cannot respond but for her benefit, I would rather say she probably meant to say she cannot speak in Malay… not that she and I cannot speak in English) and one who does not know her menu. Would I consider a 3rd visit? I cannot say. I do not know. Perhaps…

Oh yes! Twice in a day I was treated for my birthday! The 2nd birthday treat was dinner at Levain. The ambiance was great! I felt calm and delighted the moment I stepped in… but the delight rate goes down steadily, which means the beginning of what a review on something not quite good is happening. But hey, you should continue on reading a little more. I have only heard of the place and so, my maiden visit was for my birthday treat and here it goes…

First, a little bit about the place… no not really

As the place employs the modus operandi of self-service, there are “procedures” or rather steps that one need to follow. One must first find a table of one’s choice (of course!), then one goes to the counter where one shall place one’s orders where one is required to inform the table number. The orders will be delivered to the table. No, one can not just go back to one’s place and wait for the orders to arrive. One will have to take on one’s own, the cutleries (in my case, even the serving plates!). Then one can sit at one’s table and wait for the orders to arrive. My concern when I was at the counter with my friend placing our orders was “what if someone chooses the same table thinking that the table is not yet taken?”. This question should also be in Levain’s mind. Do not expect your customers to know which table is taken and which is not. Do not also make your customers choose who amongst them should wait at the table while the other place his/her order (this is in the event customers come in groups of 2 or more). What if a lone ranger walks in? How can he make sure that his table is not taken whilst he is placing his order at the counter?

Now, the food

My friend had Seafood Aglio Olio, which she said was good and I had to wait forever for my Thai Pasta. Yes, my friend was done with hers when mine came. The birthday girl had to wait! The Thai Pasta tasted more like Assam Laksa than anything else. I was expecting it to have tom yam taste to it but no, it did not. We also had the Margherita Pizza. It was ok, although not brilliant. I will not say that it was bad but I will not say it was good either. So, there you go, a very brief review of the food at Levain.

End of the day, what I have to say is…

Nice ambiance and deco will not suddenly magically make the experience great! Will I go there again and try other items on the menu? I suppose I will give them a 2nd chance… another shot. I believe in giving 2nd chances. Just 2nd chances, 3rd or 4th are generally out of the question ;D

Anyhow, there was an incident when my friend called the waiter more than twice and I am very certain that he could hear her, but he just walked away! Why am I so certain that he could hear her you ask? Well, we sat outside, way at the back where it was very quite and people were talking softly!

Also, the second time I had to go to the counter to place the order for my drink I saw at the counter, dinner set promotion, which the lady at the counter did not highlight to us when we placed our orders earlier. I wonder why… Perhaps she forgot about it, it being Saturday and all.

One more thing, I read reviews that actually said one has to pay for the parking. We did not however, were asked to pay for the parking (thank God for that, otherwise….OMG!)

p.s. – Weekends are when eateries are tested for their performance, by their patrons/customers. Not being able to perform well or at least as good as they do on weekdays can make them look bad. Eateries operators are aware that it is the busiest on weekends and something must be done to ensure good service performance.

You can check the place out here – http://www.levain.com.my/