Bites: Harvest Espresso @ Victoria Park

While I have so many pictures from my South Korea and Hong Kong trip, I felt like this place deserved a little more priority.  Made known to me by my sister and fellow blogger ChompChomp (see her review here), I decided to pay Harvest Espresso a visit.   Located on 627 Albany Highway, Victoria Park, Harvest Espresso appears very understated thanks to its location next to a secondhand car dealer.  Walk in and be amazed at how this little café appears no bigger than one’s bedroom.  But that did not matter.  What they did on our breakfast plate made fishman and I very happy people!

 

Harvest Espresso keeps their menu simple and more importantly, gorgeous.  If you like their Facebook link here, you can see their 2013 menu!

 

To kickoff our breakfast, we had hot drinks and sweet tarts to start!  All tarts were $4.50 each.

The lemon curd tart was my choice as I am now down with a flu and cough so why not reduce the guilt of eating unhealthy stuff by trying to get some Vitamin C for the flu xD!   I loved every bit of this.  This tart was bursting with the flavors of lemon and the short crust was to die for.  It was, thin and crisp!  The perfect base to sit all that delicious lemon curd in.

 

Fishman ordered the chocolate ganache tart.  I had a small piece and it was gorgeous.  It was rich and to help reduce the intensity of the chocolate I believe Harvest Espresso has decided to add some orange zest to prevent this delicious tart from becoming cloying.

 

For the real stuff, I ordered the Seasonal Mushrooms, rocket, goats’ cheese, toasted brioche.  As I have gotten bored of eating the full breakfast wherever I go, I tend to look for different types of food.  Food that expresses the creativity of the chef and café rather than the boring big breakfast.  This usually pays off well and this was the case at Harvest.  The mushroom were cooked well, but for fishman it was a little under.  Nonetheless it was joy and the thought of using a dessert bread, the toasted Brioche was absolutely genius.   The crumbled goats cheese finished off the whole experience with a soft somewhat tangy and creamy cheese.  It was slurps!

Seasonal Mushrooms, rocket, goats’ cheese, toasted brioche

 

For fishman, he ordered the Harvest Spanish Baked Egg, chorizo, tomatoes.  While I only had one spoonful of the bake, I felt like it was really tasty.  You had saltiness in the dish, the acidity and sweetness of the tomatoes which all worked very well with the chorizos.  Actually, we had meatballs and not chorizos in there so this was new.  But with a toasted baguette to dip, I would have preferred a bun that can actually soak up the sauce more efficiently.  Something soft. maybe more fluffy like a roll maybe?  Then again, this is my preference while all places always use French Baguette haha.

Harvest Spanish Baked Egg, chorizo, tomatoes, cannellini beans.

 

When we woke up we were starving, but when we were done at Harvest, we were stuffed.  It was definitely a good meal and a great new addition to the ever growing Victoria Park strip!  For me, I enjoyed every bit of my meal today, the tart started the meal well and the shroom, goats’ cheese with brioche finished it well.  Sipping chamomile tea is gay but I do not do coffee.  With a seating capacity of 20 people at anyone time, Harvest Espresso is going to be a very busy place in a not too distant future.  I cannot wait to bring my parents and the little darling there.  They serve her favourite fruit tart from what I see online and I believe they can do it well!  Really have to thank Chomp and sis for the introduction!

 

WenY

Follow me :)!

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!