Zaffron Kitchen Westgate Singapore

My trip to Singapore always will end being a day trip for work and all i do is travel from Changi airport to my office in Jurong and back. Never had a time to venture out much. And because of this, my lunches with my team guys always end up in Komala's, which is a nearby shop that serves Indian style fast food.

This time round i stayed back for two days, so we ventured for a longer walk through Big Box Mall to Jurong East Mall ( JEM) and to an interconnected Westgate. I was certainly impressed with all these malls so close by and connected. Reminded me of Manila.

We ended up in a place called Zaffron Kitchen , that came highly recommended by my team. In their words, " Its one Good , Decent Indian place" .

From the entrance, it does not look a normal conventional Indian restaurant, rather a more French eatery. Their deco, inspired by British Indian  was tasteful in brown hues and well lit  with large glass windows at the entrance. There is a bar area in the restaurant that gives it a very sophisticated look. Zaffron Kitchen Westgate is one of the International Property Award Asia Pacific 2014 winners - to top it off.

First thing as we sat down on the table, the conventional menu book wasn't brought to us, but rather a nice Ipad in a wooden casing. How cool.

Everything is self service ie you get to order on the ipad and then confirm quantity on the app.

The menu comprises of north Indian and South Indian cuisine. They had Kebabs, Tandoori items, curries, Briyanis and for the slight twist, Burgers and Wraps. I LOVE THIS PLACE.Everything fuses the wonderful tastes of Indian flavours, like the Breaded Fish and Chips that are served with Masala fries, or the Sheekh Mutton Wrap. We opted for the traditional items this time. I have another excuse to visit this place next time to sample the western stuff. We even saw Teh Tarik on the menu.

We ordered only couple of items on the menu. All are not big eaters around me :-). But every single one of them blew me out. Tantalizing on the tastebuds, all of us relished each bite. They were rich, authentic and pleasant on the eyes.

Butter naan ( SGD4) and Paneer Butter Masala (SGD13)  was a match made in heaven. The bread was light and crisp, the butter was not overpowering  and the Paneer was truly the softest and tastiest, unlike those frozen ones you get in many Indian shops in KL.

The Vegetarian Briyani came as a surprise for me. Soft grains of Bhasmati rice cooked with herbs and spices inside a sealed pot and comes with Dhal, Papadam and Raita condiments. You can't see the rice here , its hiding underneath the layer of bread that has been brushed on with light butter. YUM YUM!!!!

We forgot to take pictures of this dish when it came, hands reached out too fast . The vegetable Sheekh Kebab was so perfectly grilled. It was a tad spicy if you bite into the green chillies but on the whole a wonderful starter.

Aloo Gobi Masala ( SGD12) is another power pack dish. The spices , ghee and butter blended so well that after a mouthfull, you would just want to plop down back on the chair and sleep.

Lastly the Gulab Jamun ( SGD5.50) , ended the entire meal to perfection. The syrup not too sweet , laced with rose water just made it stand out from the other Gulab Jamun's i have tried.

As per their tagline, Indelibly Indian Inside - thumbs up from me. Try it for yourself and let me know what you think.

Bon Appetit!

Westgate Zaffron

Opening Hours
Mon - Thur : 11.30am - 9.30pm (close 3:00pm - 5:00pm)
Fri - Sun, eve of PH and PH : 11:00am - 10:00pm
*Last order 30 minutes before close

Absolute Thai Main Place USJ

Mom wanted to give a treat to a Thai Restaurant she just went with her friend recently. Its situated in Main Place USJ on the first floor, just as you get out of the escalator.Its called Absolute Thai. I've seen this outlets in other shopping malls before but this is the first time entering one.

Deco inside was very pleasant as we walked in, with the waitress calling our "Sawadikap" as we walked in. Don't mind the fact that they looked more like Nepalese or Bangladeshi's and not Thai..LoL Well lit with wooden strips walls, super comfy chairs and everything that can make you feed comfortable in that place.

                   

They have VIP rooms that provides you the privacy if you need..
We went in directly with our order, telling the waiter we will be ordering Vegetarian dishes. Now, the menu here had no marking which dish was vegetarian, so we were at the mercy of our English Vocab between the waiter and us. And because of this, we were just hoping for meatless dishes to arrive and not pure vegetarian , ( ie they might have some stock or paste that we might not know about)

We had the Bean Curd dish and Stir Fried Mix Vegetables with Garlic ( Rm16.90). We asked for the Bean Curd to be Vegetarian and Sizzling and this is what we got.

Taste of the sizzling Tofu was nothing fantastic. Neither spicy nor bland. And it definitely did not bring us back to Thailand. More of Petaling Street. And the same for the mix vege dish. Though the latter tasted wonderful. Vege's were crisps with that amazing taste of garlic. ( YEP, both came meatless)

The main dish we were looking out for was the Tom Yam Soup served in a Firepot for 4 pax ( RM41) . There are two choices for this , ie Red or Clear soup. We went for Red. The outcome as below.

                                                                      AWESOME!!!!!!

Loaded with Brocolli, Cauliflower, Shiitake Mushrooms, Tofu, Baby Corn cooked in an amazing spicy Soup. It was spicy but not too much to smoke your ears. Even the kids had this with rice. 

Thumbs up !!!

We also ordered the plain omelette ( RM11) . It was ordinary.

  For dessert, a must on for Ragu at any Thai restaurant is the Manggo and Sticky Rice dish. And to tell you honestly, he judges the entire restaurant based on that one dish .This time, the coconut sauce was mildly tangy with a good consistency . Not too thick .. However the main actor , ie Mr. Mango needs to be sweet and juicy. It wasn't this time. Probably its the season. So there goes one disappointed guest who went home that night.

Not forgetting for the carnivorous, we had Thai Fish Cakes,(RM 17.90 for 5 pieces) . Ragu and dad ate it all. Definitely not a favorite of the kids. The adults enjoyed it well.

So final opinion on this place. Some dishes were just mediocre, and can be found in many other Chinese restaurants,although the Tom Yam Soup is definitely a recommendation. We might have missed out on some other good dishes. If you have tasted,please do share. They have 13 other outlets in the country so you are bound to see one. You can check out their location at
http://absolutethai.com.my/


Bon Appetit!!

Absolute Thai Main Place
Jalan USJ 21/10,
 Usj 21, 47630 Subang Jaya, 
Selangor, Malaysia

Tel : 0377298708

Magnum Cafe IOI City Mall

Its always nice to hit a an ice cream parlor on a hot day and what nicer way than to attack the hot day with a Magnum by your side.

We headed to the Magnum Cafe at IOI City Mall,  just a few days after Deepavali on weekday( heard of all the write-ups for queuing for a stick of ice-cream on weekends)

This place on the Ground Floor, is just like other ice cream parlors that  allows you to either sit or take away the ice cream.However this place gives you an extra kick as it comes in a traditional Magnum stick.  At Baskin Robbins for example, we would trot up and down deciding what taste to go for, but this place makes is slightly simpler. You get firstly to Choose one stick ice cream( Vanilla or Chocolate Brownie) .

You then Choose the coating ( Chocolate /Belgian White Chocolate) *** Sorry folks , NO MAGNUM GOLD here***,

Then choose three toppings( almost 15 to choose from like berries, marshmallows, oreo etc )

and finally choose the drizzle ( White Choc, Dark Choc or Milk Choc).

Then they advise you to wait for 2 min for it to set before eating, so you get to savor the tastes. I seriously doubt how many people can look at the ice cream for that long , without devouring it. LOL.

We got two of them ( RM9.90 each). Kids were rather unadventurous when asked to choose their toppings , so they stuck to grape jellies, Oreo and some chocolate balls , while the other was Oreo, marshmallows and chocolate balls.  The flavors were good and the kids loved it. I personally thought we could have done this at home :-)

If you get the standard stick, then you either sit outside or take it back : Not such a good thing especially if you go in a large group .You probably have to eat outside or walk around the corner and eat the ice cream while watching the water fountain. If you want some hotfood or speciality Ice Cream from the menu, then they let you come into the shop. We opted for both, the standard stick and thought we'd try something from the " Classy Menu" .

 This is entrance for indoor seating at the side of the restaurant and the seats inside as below.

                                                                                               

                                                                       Outdoor Seats.

From the Menu, we ordered something called Magnum Pop Star ( RM25), which is " Magnum Vanilla Ice Cream Coated with Silky White Magnum Chocolate, Served with  A cluster of Glorious Cheese Pop Corn, Marshmallows, Salted Almonds and Cake Chunks , Dressed with Maple Syrup"
Out of that long descriptions, sad to say the best part was not the ice cream but the cheese Pop Corn. It was Glorious indeed. The whole dish finished very fast , but we were not blown over like how the pics on the menu did to us. We expected a larger portion and were slightly disappointed.

In the end, i felt that it was a good experience coming to this place. There are more on the menu that can be experimented and thats the best way to try out what combinations goes best together.You should try this place at least once.

It also gave me a good idea, that to impress the kids i can always buy Magnum from the shop and come up with my own deco for the ice cream. Haha..

Bon Appetit!

IOI City Mall
Lot GE-3
03-8328 0662

Caffeinated@IOI Boulevard Puchong

I always used to read about brunch offers on the net, but somehow never got a chance you use them. Sunday is the only day of the week we have absolutely nothing in our calendars. And I relish the chance to just lie in bed late or hang around at home. This month however, Brinda had extra practices for her gymnastics on Sunday 10.30am. We took this chance to squeeze in our dose of brunch for October….

First stop deal, we got was from Kindmeal.my for place called Caffeinated. This shop has lots of deals listed , even on Offpeak.my for 50% off from items.

Situated at IOI Boulevard, this little corner eatery gives a very cosy feeling, with enough natural light and minimal deco. 

We got the a deal on Cheesy Egg Wrap and 2 caffe latte for RM23, which was a pretty good deal. Normal listed price for the wrap was RM12 and each latte would have cost RM9. ( You can checkout Kindmeal.my for much more Vege option deals).

The eggs were light and fluffy with most of the mozarella concentrated in the middle. Would have preferred it all over. It rested well in a wholemeal tortilla  wrap and lots of green coral with sesame dressing. It’s served with warm mash potatoes that Mira loved.The good thing about this meal is that it doesn't leave you slouching on the chair , saying " I'm FULL" . Proportions were good.

Latte that came with the meal was nice. Nothing spectacular but complemented the meal well.

Saisha ordered Carbonara with Mushroom. They serve chicken bits inside , but im sure it can be customized to be meatless if you want. 

The carbonara was fantastic. It had more of a mushroom taste as it has Shiitake, Shimeji and White button Mushrooms mixed well together with heavy cream, white wine and egg yolk.Throwing some chicken sausages added the extra bite for it.

We ordered a white chocolate drink to go with our meal. What a treat to the kids! They couldn't have enough of it. Consistency was as a fresh milk but tasted as if we were gobbling up melted white chocolates. It would have been better if it was a tad thicker.

Other meatless options on their menu include Plain Oglio Olio for RM7 ( has white wine ) , Sauteed Mushrooms for RM9, Vege wraps for RM12 and for their Breakfast specilities:  Mushrooms with White Sauce( RM15), Grilled Mushroom with Toast ( RM12) and Ommelete with Toast (10) . Not to forget to Vege Pizzas( Mushroom with BBQ sauce based crust ( RM21) & Tomato Classic with Pomodoro crust ( RM20)) 

Bon Appetit! 

Caffeinated ( IOI Boulevard) 

Jalan Kenari 5, 

Bandar Puchong Jaya, 

47100 Puchong, 

Selangor, Malaysia

Tel: 0380805882

Loving Hut @ Puchong

We tried out another Vegetarian restaurant in Bandar Puteri Puchong few weeks back. Everytime we passed this shop, it was always packed with people, and when I did some check on the internet, it had quite  a few good feedback.

Loving Hut , with a tag line of BE VEGAN:MAKE PEACE, Peace Begins on Our Plate, is a cozy little corner shop on the opposite side of Giant, facing the undeveloped area in Bandar Puteri.

We loved the menu when we saw, little mock meat , more fresh vege’s, mushroom products and even their dish names are not too Meaty, apart from the vegetarian steak ( haha)

We ordered the Dry Chili with Mushroom( RM12) first , cause its my favourite :-) . The taste of the mushrooms were nice. Didn’t feel like we were eating mushrooms. It had a  chewy touch enhanced by a mildly spicy taste with lots capsicums, baby corn and cauliflower added, though I was missing the cashews that usually come in dishes like this. Still thumbs up for me.

A must for the kids is a sweet and sour dish. This time we opted for the Sweet and Sour Sauce with Veggie Steak( RM12). Not too sweet or too tangy. The kids loved it.

The Thai green curry ( RM12) we ordered was slightly different then the other ones we had tried. It was more soupy than a thick gravy. It was packed with lots of weird meaty mushrooms i had not tasted before. Weird in a good way. Nice to be exposed to more varieties in the Mushroom family. The taste of the green curry was not spicy hot , but the flavors of the authentic Thai green curry were well in place. Even the kids had a go with it, so i can say spicy level was 0 -2 only. 

We ordered few other dishes as well, such as Tofu with Mixed Vege ( Rm10) and Chinese Mushroom with Vegetables( RM16). Both were delicious. We all had no complains on the food. The aromatic flavours and tastes delighted all our senses.Ingredients were fresh and juicy. No one missed the non veg food at all!

All our rice came with the black sesame seeds, much to Brinda's dismay. However eating it together with the rest of the dishes, she totally forgot about it and ate it all.

We opted for the Sunny Forest and Rose Lemon Juice to try out their tempting drink mocktail menu,

Sunny Forrest came as a refreshing lime soda kind of drink. Loved it on a hot weather. 

The Rose Lemon juice was also as bubbliciously good as the former. It had lemon grass / pandan leave shavings with tiny rose buds on top. The drinks were a mix of rose syrup and carbonated drink, like a sprite/7 up.  Give it a try when you come here. 

Ragu had a non alcoholic beer. It smelt like beer, tasted like beer to me but I never liked beer anyway, so didn’t enjoy it. Ragu said it was good alternative for those who didn’t want to get drunk .LOL.

For dessert , we had Mango with Snowball( RM5.80). Nice chunks of fresh mango on mango puree, with jelly and flour balls. Perfect way to end the lunch! 

So my opinion, this is one good shop that dishes out lovely vegetarian food, has great service as all our orders came quick and had no slack with any of the tastes in the food. 

The full range of menu can be found on their website below: 

www.lovinghutmalaysia.com

Bon Appetit !!

Fatboys The Burger Bar @ Avenue K

I'm a sucker for burger and fries,. Probably because i'm vegetarian and its difficult to find good meatless burgers out there, must be a supply demand factor :-)

I have heard many new places offering them now and my goal by the end of this year to find the top 5 best Meatless Burger in town( those with ideas, pls let me know).So with this in mind,we tried Fatboys Burger Bar at Avenue K over the weekend.

The place was nice with modern concept deco. Probably because its right at the top floor ( 1 floor below the Dinoworld), i felt the crowd was lesser and that is good for those folks who don;t fancy crowded areas.

Excited and disappointed i was to see the menu. Disappointed because there was only one Vegetarian marked burger on its menu, but excited when I saw, that we can always  opt for making your own burgers with lots of toppings and sauces of your choice.I decided to settle for the default burger to be safe.

The Big Bello Burger ( RM18) is a huge burger with fries on the side. It has 6 layers of ingredients cushioned comfortably in between toasted whole meal bread.

The first bite hit my tastebuds instantly with a , " OMG , its sweet? " Caught me off guard there. I had never expected a sweet  burger . The top two layers were  soft grilled green and red pepper, followed by a slice of   melted mozarella cheese. After a few minutes , the brain starts to comprehend whats causing the sweetness : : The super juicy feeling combining tastes from the caramelized onions hanging gently over the sides, a thick fat slice of pineapple and two slices of awesomely marinated  portobello mushrooms that were grilled to perfection. All of these rested on a smoked chipotle sauce on the base bun.
The fries was nothing extraordinary. I found it really nice that there wasn't too much on the plate, so I could actually focus on the burger.

The kids had chicken mac and cheese that could feed both my 9 year old and 2 year old. It was topped the with lots of grilled chicken, the mac were smothered with creamy cheese sauce. This dish comes with bacon bits, but we omitted it when ordering. It was topped up lots of Parmesan and guarded by two yummy garlic breads on either side.

I tasted the mac , without the chicken and it was "Super CREAMY!" , no wonder both my little ones wiped it clean.

Ragu opted for few non Vege items. First thing that hit us on the table when we walked in was the " Sambal Petai Burger " WHAT???? A true malaysian taste .

The waited advised us that their sambal was not available and would replace it with some other spicy sauce that goes with the petai.We also asked for a chicken patty instead of pork.This is what Ragu got..

A tower of fried egg resting on a bed of petai and fried anchovies.then followed by cucumbers and grilled chicken patty in between a black sesame bun.
The dish was too complex for Ragu,he didnt know where to begin.But  one thing he did mention ,the sambal was the missing link to marry all the ingredients together. Hopefully it will be there next time.

He also had the spicy chicken wings, that was served with a rich lovely creamy blue cheese dip.

This place servers alcohol, so you can enjoy a nice chilled beer or wine with your mouthwatering burgers.

Although their webpage mentions 5 outlets, Publika, One City Mall, Avenue K, JB and Bangsar, their FB page also mentions one more additional outlet, in Melaka. 

 

Bon Appetit!

 

Publika

 Sun - Thu: 11:00 am - 11:00 pm
Fri - Sat: 11:00 am - 12:00 am
Avenue K
Mon - Sun: 11:00 am - 10:00 pm
Subang One City
Sun - Thu: 11:00 am - 10:00 pm
Fri - Sat: 11:00 am - 11:30 am
Johor Bahru
 Mon - Fri: 5:00 pm - 12:00 am
Fri - Sun: 12:00 pm - 12:00 am