Bites: Sage @ The Garden Residences, Kuala Lumpur

Home has now become a lot quieter.  Most of my relatives live outside the country in Australia, Canada and Singapore. So now, even during the winter solstice festival, it would just be mom, dad, sis and I.    Normally such festivals include a whole lot of cooking but this time around, we decided that with only 4 people in the house, this was way too troublesome.  So for this special occasion, mom still made the obligatory tong yuen but we went out for a nice dinner at Sage @ KL, a Japanese – a French fusion restaurant.

 

The interior is neat with high ceiling.  When we first stepped in, it was super quiet and it pretty much stayed that way the whole night.

 

Bread with delicious EVOO parsley dip!

 

Two types of bread.  One white, the other whole meal.  And boy I have to say that the quality of the bread was pretty amazing too a level that it can easily rival Amuse.  But learning from Amuse, it makes sense to serve the bread on lava rocks to keep it warm throughout the occasion or at least for a bit.

 

The Amuse Bouche:

Scallop Carpaccio with a hint of tomatoes.  Not too bad but it was not the best I have tasted.

 

Chef’s special of the day.   King Fish sashimi slightly smoked with a edible flowers.

Having eaten it, my first question was why did the chef slice the fish so thick?  I soon realised that it was probably a smart idea since you would want the fish to have enough smokiness without actually cooking it through.  This was pretty yums.  I preferred this to the Amuse Bouche.

 

The few appetizers we had for our 4 course meal

Seared Foie Gras with Dark Grapes and Red Wine Reduction was sister’s choice.  This was absolutely moorish if you fancy rich, fatty Foie Gras.  For me, half of this would more than justify as an appetizer but for my sister, this was just spot on.  It was insane IMHO.  Other places that I have dined at do not even serve Foie Gras of this richness until I re-visited Joel Robuchon’s Restaurant in Hong Kong again.

 

I decided to keep the cholesterol low with a small serve of spicy seafood pasta angel hair.  This was delicious and I would expect so as its flavors were very inclined towards the Asian palette.  This means, there is a lot of acidity, salt was perfect for me and woah the flavors were just very nice.  The seafood was nicely prepared with generous servings of fish, scallops and prawns.  A very appetizing way to prepare diners for their next course.

 

Dad has the Cream of Cèpe Mushroom Soup with White Truffle Oil was dad’s choice to share with mom.  I felt like the soup was just mediocre.  It was creamy and rich but nothing that I have not eaten before.

 

 

For the mains:

Mom and Sis called the special of the day which was a lobster pasta.  This featured a generous serve of lobster cooked in a very rich seafood sauce.  It felt like a very condensed bouillabaisse or perhaps a lobster bisque which was fine if you are a big fan of rich seafood but mom said she preferred it to have a little more Asian feel to it.  I understand why because this might feel very one dimensional if the only thing you could taste is a lobster bisque flavored sauce throughout the whole meal.  Normally at this level of dining, it is always about the layers of flavors harmoniously pleasing the tongue.   Perhaps a little more thought?

 

My choice for the night was the Beef Rossini with Roasted Foie Gras and Red Wine Sauce.  Having chosen this as a main was the only reason why I did not order the Foie Gras as my main.  It was a good call really, because the Foie Gras used in this dish was no lesser awesome compared to what my sister had.  More importantly, this awesome piece of beef fillet puts even Perth Royalty of fine dining Balthazars to shame.    This was just perfect.  No saddening fatty muscle to disrupt the meal.  Just very tender yet decently lean red meat melting in your mouth in each bite.  Mash was delicious and so were the greens which were cooked just spot on the complement the meal.

 

What dad ordered was even more intriguing when it showed up like that.   Paté en Croute Chicken with Foie Gras and Natural Jus was dad’s choice and eh did not quite like it.  I think probably the fact that is was a free range chicken and they probably used the leaner part of the chicken to make the pate rendering it too dry.   Seems like my dad was on a spree of bad selections that night.  Or perhaps it was not that bad, just not good either.

 

Then comes the desserts:

I decided to tryout the Mille Feuille of Strawberry with Cointreau Ice Cream.  Which was, sadly, a looker but not quite a tasty treat.  Its Mille Feuille felt shortchanged like I wanted a million layers but you clearly gave me 3.  And the bigger problem was that each of the 3 layers did not each feel like a third of a million.  I expected more crumble.  More crack with my spoon.  For these reasons other than the sour strawberries, this dessert was not my thing.  Oh but the ice cream was nicely prepped!!

 

Classic Crêpe Suzette with Grand Marnier Ice Cream.  Dad dessert was really nice I felt.  I would have preferred his to mine any time. 

 

Sister decided to stick to her favourite which was the Ginger and Lime Brulée with Mixed Berries, Almond Tuile.  This was probably the saviour for Sage’s dessert Kitchen.  The brulee has a good taste of ginger and lime but the important thing to me was that the brulee custard was spot on.  It was soft, smooth and creamy.  Not gluggy, hard and sometimes having a lot of bubbles in it.  This was really nice despite me having just one teaspoon of it!

 

At the end of the meal, we had hot drinks and petit fours which sadly only had 1 chocolate per person.  Sipping hot drinks after dinner the family just stayed there and chilled.  It was a rather good night marred by some underperformers which had really fancy names.     Something like how company sometimes give their workers title like Executives but they are nothing but graduates Hhahaha.

 

Family photos:

Sis and Mom!

 

 

Dad and I!

 

Not sure really awkward coincidence but out shirt colors are fairly similar according to the gender.

 

WenY

Bites: Overseas Restaurant @ Jalan Imbi, Kuala Lumpur

Having celebrated dad’s birthday so many times, I soon realized that I have never paid his dinner once.  Since I have started work, this spelt the perfect opportunity to treat him to his favourite food.  Chinese food.  While Malaysia is a heaven for foods of all sort, our Chinese food is easily one of the best in the world.  But as restaurants become overly popular, they become way too commercialized.  One such restaurant is Overseas Restaurant in Malaysia.  While I have tried so many of their branch restaurants before, I was never a fan of any.  Yet, the hype of this charming old spice continued in Malaysia.  So for this rare occasion, I decided to bring dad to Overseas first roots located along Jalan Imbi in the heart of the city center :)!

 

Calling some of dad’s favorites, I decided to start with a Chinese delicacy, the sharks fin soup!

While I am not a big fan, this one definitely blows your mind!

 

The next dish was the four season which is a large appetizer platter containing four types of dishes.  That night we had:

Sharks fin and crab meat Sang Choi Bao.  Very nicely prepared.  And for me, definitely a good variation of lettuce wrap compared to the overeaten duck Sang Choi Bao.

 

Braised bean curd stuff with fish paste.  Deliciously braised in a sauce which coated these tiny morsel nicely!

 

Crumbled prawns with fish paste.  Crispy on the outside soft on the inside!   Best eaten with the garlic-chili sauce!

 

Crumbled scallops drizzled with mayonnaise!   Another kid favourite but at this age, I could easily do with lesser fried foods lols.

 

Another house specialty at Overseas! 

Homemade tofu with hairy gourd!  Really yummy and more importantly, smooth on the inside!

 

Overseas Restaurant Roast Pork!  Crispy skinned delicacy!  Very lean but still pack that beautiful crunch!

 

Overseas's Barbecued Pork is another highlight among it frequent customers.  But for the family, we have tasted better.    Then again, this is easily delicious when compared to most restaurants!

 

To finish the night, we also ordered a ginger steamed fish and a longevity noodles! While the noodles turned out fine, the fish was really salty.  Probably intended to be eaten with rice rather than on its own @@!  If more complains are needed from me, my only comment would be the slow service which could be due to us being seated in a private room on the 3rd floor @@!

 

Dad’s favourite cake is the classic butter cake with a butter icing made by an old aunty.  No fake cream or unnecessary additives.  Just plain honest butter cake from the olden days!  Pretty delish except for that after thought on how unhealthy each slice is!   lol much?

 

At the end of the day, this restaurant was pretty impressive.  I guess the original is always the best.  Never could I have understood why is it that parents have shun this place.  But when you see the effort required to reach this restaurant in the heart of the city, you will probably understand why @@!  This restaurant now span 4 floors above the ground which  is an impressive feat.  But when you learn that they have more than 6 branches around the state, their success is clear! 

 

For those who are concerned about cleanliness in dining in Malaysia, this restaurant definitely is the place to be!  But remember that booking is compulsory for most nights!  Specialty dishes like the sharks fin and barbecued meat are very popular and often finish early.  So always pre-order :)!   Also, do not expect this old school restaurant to be cheap!  By Malaysian standards a meal like this should only cost around $300 but for this restaurant, it was something closer to $550.  All in ringgit of course :)!

 

Address:

84 Jalan Imbi, 55100 Kuala Lumpur,

Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Phone:+60 3-2144 9911

 

They also have a website which can be accessed here  Overseas Restaurant Website.

 

WenY!

Cari Makan:Nagomi @ KL

Been slacking around.  Watched the Green Hornet yesterday before having my face placed in the hall of shame for flunking my IELTS.  Nonetheless, it is time to move on. Still plenty of chances, so I though yeah, whatever.  8.5 8.5 7.5 6.5 and life goes on.  Feeling a bit down yesterday, darling and I treated ourselves to some yummy Thai food @ Good Evening Bangkok at 1Utama after the movie.  Their chicken and coconut mushroom soup was the bomb with their red curry chicken faring well too.  And this morning, *BOOM* went the toilet ahah.  And for lunch today, my parents brought me to Menara Hap Seng to pick up my birth certificate before having lunch there.  We decided to go for a Japanese meal at Nagomi which is situated in Menara Hap Seng itself.  Mom has been here once before and the food here is not bad, so she thought that we’d give it a try.

Sitting in the restaurant I saw this.  Can you see the similarity between these buildings.  All white in colour with a fairly identical curvy corner design.

Decided to snap a shot of mom and dad!

Smile parents! Thanks for the lunch ;-)!  The place had a fairly nice interior.  Surprisingly, there wasn’t too many people there for lunch.  The price was not cheap but not killer either.

After studying the menu, I realise that I did not have too many choices.  There was lots of sashimi and fish dishes everywhere! Not really my kind of stuff.  In the end, I settled for the spider roll!

It felt quite a lot despite the small size of each sushi.  But the plate was huge though @@! But I think the best dish was the salmon teriyaki that mom ordered.  Really delicious. There were heaps of ginger in there for sure and it diminished my concern for foul smelling seafood!  Dad had the chicken katsu which was below mediocre.  Not the way I liked anyways ahah.  Not to mention, it felt as if it was under-fried and drenched in oil @@!

I enjoyed the meal at Nagomi, good stuff.  Nice ambience,as it was really quiet!  The fish that mom ordered was definitely a standout!  On a different note, CNY is soon and not clothes at the moment @@! Fred Perry? The hype is killing, so is the price tag.  Maybe I will get just one because I like the colour a lot!! Ok then, over and out!

WenY

Cari Makan: Fat Spoon @ Damansara Uptown.

For the last four years, I have been spending pretty much all my time in Australia.  Never did I have much exposure to the new eateries that KL had to offer.  My parents being inclined the restaurants we frequent are usually clueless about the newer places in town.  Fortunately, Yobi and his sister has tried plenty of places.  After some chat yesterday, another good place that is in his good books is Fat Spoon @ Damansara Uptown next to Hon Kee Porridge. Not much convincing was needed as Yobi’s girl Josephine acknowledges that place as a good eating house!  When we went in I felt comfortable immediately causatively by the decor which bears a strong resemblance in motive to the decor at the Moon cafe in Perth.  Random furniture composed like lyrical nodes to create that perfect atmosphere.  But this place took it further by only using furniture which has a strong Asian influence.

Be the judge, the culinary tools.  And more importantly, they used very same style of storage cupboard which my grandmother uses back in Taiping.  Classic huh?  There is a lot more to the decor to this place than what I have taken but it was pretty crowded then, so I did not go around nosing my camera at every detail that this place offered.

When we went there, we were handed these kid storybook (pic above) which have been converted to a menu.  But that was only after a several moments of neck twisting action from trying to read the menu off the blackboard.  Hesitating on what to order and what not to order, we finally settled for three rice dishes.  Truth be said, we were not even hungry because of the sandwiches at O’Brien but had to eat in order to catch the Reds in action.  Good ending for Liverpool at least :)!

After awhile, our food came.  After being promptly offered extra plates for sharing, we happily tucked into our food.

  Nasi Goreng Sambal served with Pappadam.  The chicken was well fried and the pickled vegetables were every bit as delicious as it should be in a dish like one.  The fried rice was tasty the chicken was yummy and the pickles tasted fresh with all the heavier offerings on the plate.

Similar chicken and pickled vegetables might deceive but this fried rice was on an entirely different level from the other.  Cooked with finely chopped vegetables such  as lemon grass,  the Nasi Goreng Ulam had a hint of tom yam in it.  It was quite nice but one has to get used to the strong flavour.

Last up was the Nasi Kampung.

The Nasi Kampung comes with Fat Spoon’s specialty Nonya Curry, Salted Egg, Stir fried beans and tamarind prawns.  My whole family thought it was pretty good although mom and dad preferred the other two.  I think the specialty curry did not stand out well enough.  However, the salted egg complimented the curry nicely.  My dad first told me about this combination a couple of years ago and ever since, I have found it to be very delicious!

The offerings of this Rm14.90 meal was pretty decent.  Some prawns, chicken, vegetables and egg.  Pretty good value if compared to the 30 dollar Nasi Lemak at Madam Kwan’s.  A bit small but still, it was a whole lot of variety!

Lastly, when I saw this on the menu, I just had to try it.  Crème Caramel.

Lol at Rm3.90 it was a steal.  But it tasted no different from the ones in the supermarket back in Oz.  So next time if I don't stay in Oz and start missing the diet crème caramel from the supermarkets, I’ll drop by again :P!

Liked this place, but I think coming here with friends might be more appropriate than with family.  Noisy bunch of teenagers make this place not so ideal for families.  I saw another family of three.  They look pretty out of place ahah.  Nonetheless, enjoyable!  Maybe noodles in my next visit!  Oh, I must not forget the super nice Iced Lemon Tea which was full of lemon taste.  This give me a reason to believe that their Rm9 hot chocolate will not be a rip off!

WenY

Cari Makan: Humble Chef @ Pusat Bandar Damansara

To my dismay, the buzz in the street was palpable.  Just moments earlier, before the duo setup their stage, the streets were so quiet and empty that it felt as if like they were not coming.  The Humble Chef is a household name for most people who study or live in the Damansara-PJ-Kl area.  With little to offer in its menu, it sparkles where it should.  Price and quality.  With fancy food such as pastas and pita, I was expecting a little cafe of some sort.  But instead, I was surprised by a food van. Operated by a modest crew of two, the van opens outside the street of McDonalds at HELP College above the highway.  Anytime between 9.30 till late, you can expect them to be there.

Speaking of the place located by the roadside and above the highway, we had quite some view ahah.

Patron queuing up for their food.  Presumably takeaways.

As I was super hungry after the Havaianas launch party, Yobi decided to bring  me here to try out their delicious Lamb Pita as well as the Lamb Omelette.  But of course his two sisters are to be thanked for their suggestions.  And thanks to Yobi for bringing me to the Havaianas event.  Quite a good one.  Although I did not take any alcoholic beverage, the free soft drinks were good as well. =D!  The tapas served were miserable but substantial enough to last for a while.

On the food, we ordered:

Lamb Pita!! The pita bread was filled with lettuce, and overflowing with minced lamb mixture.  The lamb mixture was a tasty combination of mayonnaise and I felt some cheese in there too!  Definitely a steal at Rm4.

While the lamb omelette was not the most presentable, it tasted pretty good. It only costed Rm2.50 and it was the same size like the pita bread.. Almost.  The omelette was stuffed with the same ingredients like the one in the lamb pita.  However, it did not go as well as the pita bread did.

After having two of those, I was not hungry but was not excessively full.  A sufficient amount for the night I have to say.  I took some other pics too.

The humble chefs at work in their little van

The menu

Errr? Rm5?Rm4?Rm2.5?  I thought they never existed anymore! Apparently not!

Yummy stuff! Loved it!  Definitely worth coming back when other places feels over-visited. 

WenY

Cari Makan: Kalamazoo Cafe @ Aman Suria

Brought to you by a group of Michigan missing folks, Kalamazoo Cafe is an added flavour into a street I have dubbed the “American food row” on Aman Suria.  Recently opened and currently understated, the peeps of Cafe Kalamazoo wants to bring to you the familiar taste which they have experienced while living in the States.  I went there last Friday after ditching our initial plan to go to Kota Damansara.  Rain as most KL residents know, signifies doomsday and even no Fridays are TGIFs with rain.  Passing by Aman Suria, we looked around and finally settled for Cafe Kalamazoo just a few shops away from Betty’s Midwest Kitchen. 

We decided to seat outside since the weather was fairly cool and we were attended too promptly.  After looking around the menu, we were still lost and undecided.  Luckily, the attentive waiter came to our rescue and helped us around the menu by explaining the dishes we were soon to order.  Happy by his explanation we chose lots of stuff from soups to appetizers before settling with our mains. 

For starters we had:

The Soup of the Day which was a stunning Mushroom soup.  I liked the bits of garlic and potato pieces in the soup which added so much flavour to it.  The little darling however, thought that onions were preferred although garlic was nice as well! Also, we though that we could do with just one bowl, but apparently not and so we ordered two bowls for the four of us! :)  The soups cost us something like Rm5 each?

Next up were the Buffalo Wings:

A classic serve of fried wings tossed in American Hot sauce, these buffalo wings were delicious.  I liked these wings better than the ones in TGIF.  When it reached us, it still was crispy on its edges with a nice spiciness to it.  Definitely spicier than the ones at Fridays but this was good and come on, as Malaysians, we definitely aren’t worried about heat.  However, I did not quite like the sauce which I believe is meant to be the Blue Cheese dip.  Also, I do not quite appreciate the celery accompaniment as most of the celeries sold in M’sia are fairly old with a fibrous outer layer which sticks so annoyingly to your tooth @.@.  But mind the flaws, the attention should be the wings in which I found to be nice.  It costs us Rm8 I think.

After the Dogfood experience @ Betty’s, I was not deterred in trying other dishes which involved fries.  And so,I ordered the Chilli Cheese Fries without any hesitation :P

Most of the toppings were nice, but the cheese not so.  Not sure what sort of cheese I have would preferred but I think the fries would be lovely even without the cheese.  My dad in particular found the Chilli Cheese Fries delicious.  A combination of meat, and bean sauce went well with what the quality fries already had to offer.  However, we agreed that it was a tad too salty. Maybe, spicier might be better? ahah the little darling might die from the heat as she cannot eat things that are too spicy.

After eating these happily, our mains arrived and, oh yeah, we were surprised!! It felt as if we were eating in at a much fancier restaurant.

This was the oven baked pork loins with pineapple chutney for that added acidity which it needed.  Underneath that well arranged slices of meat is the mash on an serve of blanched beans.  The meat unfortunately felt overcooked, but I have had plenty of this sort of meat before and it was not really overcooked.  Instead, it was the healthiness of this particular cut.  It is not fatty but instead, is pure meat.  The chicken breast of the pork?  Maybe.

Next up was the roast beef which was visual pleasure as its best.  It felt like the food was made for the camera and not the camera was made to snap the food.  Fantastic effort in plating.  At least amateurs like me loved it.

The plating was almost flawless in this dish that you would almost expect it to taste just as fine.  However, it was a little bit of a let down because the beef was not tender as I hoped it to be.  I never liked meat roasts which are tough.  However, a clever combination of spinach and tomato were wrapped inside brought some uniqueness to it.  So to add, the orange sauce drizzled over it felt special too! However, the orientation of the vegetables felt rather odd to me.  Maybe pasting the chopped spinach around the beef would allow the juices to be contained and help make the beef more tender?  But then again, that would be weird because the roast beef will not be turn out roasted. OK confused.

The last dish we ordered was Callahan’s Roast Chicken.

I do not know who Callahan is and don’t intend to find out (ignorant brat), but I can’t help but praise the crew who set this up.  You know you have had a thousand roast chicken which are dry and so you let you dad order it.  But when it comes out tender and tastier than ever, you are left gobsmacked.  Mom voted this as the main of the night.  Juicy, tasty, and well cooked.  It deserves all its praises.

By the end of the night, I was filled to the brim.While I know Yobi would definitely not like my dish of the night because he literally hates chicken haha, I must say that the Callahan’s Roast Chicken was yummy and I liked it the best.  However, I believe that no hype should be made because people might be let down by their expectations led by me.  Nonetheless, I must thank the helpful Kalamazoo crew for being informative and helpful.  Their service felt personal at times.  Next time I will be back for their Fresco toast which seems to be well received.  Maybe some crab rangoons too?

Till then,

WenY

Cari Makan: Betty’s Midwest Kitchen @ Aman Suria

Last week, I was driving past Aman Suria when I noticed an American eatery full of diners.  I was shocked to see such a crowd, however, when I mentioned the name of the place to Yobi, and ZiYan, we went into a war over its name ahaha.  I thought it was called America on a Plate but the whole name was actually, Betty’s Midwest Kitchen: America on a Plate.  I looked around the internet and the reviews were pretty positive with a particular appetizer grabbing the headlines for its catchy name and unique appearance.  In addition, Betty’s are one of the very few restaurants in town that brings you an extensive menu of pork dishes.  Driven by good reviews and massive crowds, it did not take long before mom and I decided to give this place a try.  And please note, booking is compulsory from what I noticed. 

That’s love.  PIG PIG PIG PIG PIG.  An American Diet.  Now where are the cornfields?

When I reached Betty’s, I took out my DSLR, tinkered with the settings and POWER DOWN.  Out of battery mate.  But no worries, IPhone to the rescue, but not so much really.  The phone camera has its issues. =.=!  We started of the meal with the soup of the week which is the sausage and ham soup.

A very chunky soup @ RM8.  Quite hearty but it was not mind blowing or exceptional to the taste buds.  I felt that the soup ought to be cooked longer to make it taste better.  Also, it felt quite watery! Nonetheless, it was a large serve of soup that was shared among my dad, mom, little darling and I.  And it was very filling.

To satisfy my curiosity, I had to order what was known as the “Dog Food”.  Catchy as it sounds, the name was not the only factor that was going to get the name of this dish stuck in our heads. The appearance and presentation of the food itself was quite controversial seeing how the dish used to serve it look somewhat like a dog bowl even though it probably isn’t, and instead is a baking dish.

The Dog Food @ RM9 was a serve of chips drenched in gravy, served with cheese.  Oven baked.  There are problems with every aspect of this appetizer.  After I was done with this, it was hard for me to understand the hype surrounding this dish.  It barely fits the description one of a kind as some people mentioned.  In fact, this was one of my usual uni food except UWA does it a lot better minus the cheese.  The sauce was a let down in particular.  This appetizer was not one that brings out your appetite for the main, but instead, it chooses to drown out the mood with a whole load of  blend and creamy carbs.  Not one for me definitely.  Will remember the look on my parents faces forever ahaha.  And please don’t get critical on older people, my dad loves his French fries and my mom goes for more western food than most people do.

Letting bygones be bygones, we were ready for the mains.  We ordered three to share and they came out pretty quickly.  All was served within 15 minutes which was an amazing figure, considering the crowd that was present. Oh and from here on, I will let the pictures show the weakness and lies of the IPhone’s capability!@#!

This was the pork chop with country gravy.  I liked the tenderness of the pork chops.  The mash was a tad disappointing and I could not quite understand the “onion relish”.   It was nothing more than sautéed onions.  The mesh could have been more buttery and   I would have welcomed any added taste.  Cheese, onions, garlic, anything really.  This dish was liked the best but can be too creamy if eaten alone.

After that, I decided to try what was supposed to be one of Betty’s in-house specialty.  The Classical Meatloaf.

 

Described as “A classical Midwest-style pork meatloaf. This hearty, wholesome and tasty dish is served with our house mash potato, peas, onion relish and our very own beer-based dip.”  At first, I thought the sauce, presumably barbecue that used to glazed the top of the meat loaf, was too sweet.  It remained that way for awhile.  Scooping some sautéed onions and it did not taste too bad when paired.  The mash together with the meatloaf, onions and sauce was pretty good.  Not kick ass but at least a 6/10.  Would have liked the loaf to be a little firmer.

And the last main out was the fish and chips.  A surprising order, but as the whole family was not too keen on having all pork on the dining table, something different was ordered.

I personally liked this quite a bit for its fish was well coated and the wedges were nicely done with a fairly tasty “house Tartar “ which had a hint of mustard. Despite all the praises I would give this dish,  the homemade salsa left me confused.  Neither did it look like one or would it have tasted like one.  Then again, it is incorrect to expected all salsas to look like the Mexican ones.  Foods are always varied.  Two things I find unjust about the food is the beer batter and Tartar sauce.  The delicious beer aroma was nowhere to be smelt like the ones in Perth and the Tartar sauce felt more of a Mayonnaise mix.  No pickles or whatsoever. @,@

With heaps of mash left untouched, we decided to waste our spaces no more and to finish the night with a dessert.  And to do that, we ordered an apply crumble!

In all honesty, it was OK.  Having it once is fine but I would not have seconds.  I liked the ice cream, but hated the crumble.  It tasted like the factory made ones which I always eat, heated in the micro first.  I feel that there is always a need for an apple crumble, at the very least, to have its top bit slightly browned and brittle for that added crunch.  Betty’s left it to the Cornflakes to do the job.  By sprinkling little bits of cornflake bits all over, there was suddenly magical crunchiness which I appreciate very little.  But how can I blame them?  I was served this dish approximately 45 seconds after ordering it.  It was not warm enough for one to even appreciate how this dish would normally go so very well with scoops of vanilla ice cream.  Disappointingly OK.  And if its not too much to ask, I would like to ask for some cinnamon which I so rarely every do so.

At the end of the meal, there were so many things that I enjoyed and hated.  If there are things I could change, I would definitely have not ordered the dessert and the Dogfood appetizer.  Maybe I would have ordered the ribs instead!  Another horrible but truthful fact was how the country sauce was overused.  I am not 100 per cent sure whether the sauce used in the meatloaf mash, pork chop and Dogfood are the same but they definitely tasted so and ever more so in terms of appearance.   Overall, the food at Betty’s is not one that I find worth queuing if you do not have a booking.  However, it would not be fair to have it written of your books of “to trys” because I was unable to try the other dishes which other bloggers liked such as the succulent and finger licking good pork ribs as they have described.

WenY