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Sunday, January 16, 2011

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. 
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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.
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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.
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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!@#!
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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.
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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.
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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!
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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

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Tripping: Kuantan

Sorry for abandoning the blog for such a long time.  Right after NYE, I was in extreme rush to visit my granny in Taiping over the New Year weekends.  And there was certainly no internet where I lived, so I was cut off from the internet @.@!  Felt so lost omg!  After coming back from Taiping, I had a short rest before shooting off to Kuantan the following day.  I was there for about seven days and got back about two days ago.  I have to say, it was a damn good trip.  Never have I been so far to the eastern side than now.  I know that this all sounds very noobish as I have been a Malaysian for over 22 years, but really, my parents are not an adventurous bunch, so are my mates. 

 

On my first day, we attended a birthday party for one of the little darling’s best friend, CK.  It was a Jap restaurant, but I did not take any food pictures because I was too shy! ahaha.

 

Some pics from the birthday dinner:

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Birthday boy and the little kid!

 

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Xin Ling’s girlfriends.  I must thank them for their warm hospitality throughout.  They pretty much brought me everywhere around Kuantan although some places were close on rainy days. And yes, it rained every single day. Ok, almost every single day!  The girl with the long hair in dotted dress must thanked for driving XL and I everywhere.  So paiseh @@!

 

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Darling and her bestie from high school, Yvonne.  Her dad own a super awesome cafe called Uncle Lin.  Will do a review on that when I go there soon.  The place is delicious to from the first dish till the last. That being said, I hope to try more than the egg Benedict and mushroom soup next time around.

 

DSC_0059little boy, Xin Ling and Pei Che.  Thanks for the kickass barbecue that night.  Nice prawns, nice mantis prawns.  Everything was delicious that night.  It was nice to be able to do a charcoal barbecue once again!  Been a long time.

 

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That’s me and the little kid!  Such a naughty one!

 

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The little darling and I.  Thanks for supporting me throughout the horrible thesis year :P!  Without the support of you and my family, I would not have achieved the grades I had.  Emotional callings were heard and responded with you care. Thanks and much love ahah :)  Will always remember that one night.

 

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Teluk Chempedak.  Sadly no chicken chop.  Got conned by some Maggi goreng fail.

 

Besides the birthday dinner, I spent my other days travelling around places like Teluk Chempedak.  Had some really good icy desserts there. Other days, I would bum around the house, with IELTS in hand on some days.  God its boring.  English =X!

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Seeing her photos fro Switzerland and Italy.

 

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Playing around with my camera.

 

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Fooling around.

 

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More random shots.  And oh I ate biscuits too.

 

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And cheese fondue.  Her mom bought a pack of solid cheese and we melt it before mixing in garlic and pepper seasoning.  With toasted bread, this was yums!  But the aroma was very alcoholic.  Or maybe its just the smell of the fermented cheese.

 

7 days, passed by in a flash.  It actually went by so fast, that when I think of it, it really felt too short.  What did I even do there?  I know I cooked once. I went for movie twice.  Chilled at the beach twice.  Hmmmm…

Nonetheless, the trip was every bit as enjoyable as a trip should be despite one sleepless night thanks to a kung fu kid ahah.  The little boy Chen gets so pissed when little darling covers him with a blanket.  So much that he would start to kick and punch. *faints*

 

WenY

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Cari Makan: Rakuzen @ SS15

It is that time of the year again.  There is traffic jam everywhere, the restaurants are fully booked and everyone is out to have fun.  When the clock strikes midnight, cheers will be heard echoing from all directions and the night is celebrated with 20 minutes of fireworks magnificence. What else could it be if it is not the eve of a new year? This time, instead of an eventful night with the guys, it was going to be a family affair. Mom, dad and I and a good restaurant as our host.  We picked Rakuzen without much hesitation as my mom patronises this restaurant often.  Unfortunately, we were at a different outlet and not the one in KL which my mom frequents.  The good news came with the sight of Japanese men expertly handling an array of fresh seafood with their razor sharp sashimi knives.  A great sight it was.  I had the same vibe like I had when I sat at the sushi bar in Kanta while watching Akira-san fix up the perfect chicken roll.  Whether this restaurant is good or not, that will be at the end of the page :D!

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Daddy and Mommy.  Thanks for the dinner ::)!

On the dining table, we had:
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Some artsy wares which contained the soya sauce, Japanese spicy condiment, and  toothpicks.

Too much publicity for a wasabi but I liked how Rakuzen has put enough care to ensure everything is done up nicely.  Attention to detail!!
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Leaf shaped wasabi paste!

Mom gave us rabbit food to start our meal.  Surprisingly yummy! Edamame (Rm8)
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Tasted somewhat buttery with a fresh after taste.

To fill our tummies, we ordered a California Roll (Rm18) and a Soft Shell Crab Sushi a.k.a Spider Maki.
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Lovely. Avocado and prawns with well seasoned  sushi rice.  And Rakuzen is generous on what they give for their rolls.

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This photo was taken from a bad perspective but the sushi itself was good.  The soft shell crab was really crispy.  Now that I think of it, the soft shell crab pasta from Plan B did not turn out this crispy at all :(!  However, this soft shell crab roll comes in second place when compared to the one served at Zen Sushi @ Subiaco!

What was to come next turned out horrible! The Chicken Katsu-don set.   Oh and the picture turned out horrible as well.  :(!  But no worries, the set came with silky smooth Chawan Mushi which costed only a fraction of the set meal price =.=!!
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Om nom nom! The Chawan Mushi had shiitake mushrooms, fish cakes and minced meat.  Pretty good for an side dish!

Oh and there was a Hokkaido seafood festival going on at the moment so my dad thought, “Why not try something else,” And so he chose an oyster dish after carefully inspecting the menu .  Fried oysters serve on a lettuce leaf and drizzled with Tonkatsu flavoured mayonnaise (Rm18)!
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I was a bit intimidated at the start.  Despite being fried, it was still oyster by nature and its juicy as always.  Luckily, mayonnaise + soy sauce = FTW. :)!

The last dish to come was the assorted Kushiyaki and Yakitori (Rm35).
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Looks good aye?  BUT IT SUCKED.  Dry salmon :( Tasteless Meatballs :’( Where do I stop ranting?  The only thing which I thought was nice was the skewered chicken meat (Yakitori).  Lesson learned!!  No skewered meat unless you are at Jun @ Perth!

Last of all was the dessert. The frozen strawberries stuffed with ice cream!
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Picturesque, good to bite, fair to taste, bad to tooth.  Something I would try once, but not recommended for seconds.  Hell yeah it ached when I bit into it.  Tried to raise the temperature with hot tea.  And the chemistry was wrong.  Tasted horrible @.@!

Ok peeps, sorry that this post have to end abruptly, but I’m in a bit of rush because I have to wake up early tomorrow.  5.40am to be exact =.=!  I’ll be spending the weekend over at Taiping and soon after, hohohohoho!! I’ll be meeting the little darling.  Oh yes!! Finally ;)!!!

To conclude this, the meal at Rakuzen was pretty good.  But if I could change the evening, I would have taken the Katsu-don and skewered meats of the menu.  Instead, I would have opted for a few other dishes found on the Hokkaido Festival specials!  I would have preferred freshly baked salmon, more scallops, and why not some Teppanyaki style diced steak served with garlicky fried rice.  All in all, this place was worth the price and definitely worth vising for a second time.  Lots more to try on the menu!!
Happy New Year to all my dear friends, readers, family and humans.  May our resolutions for the new year, heal us and the ailing nature.

Over and out!

WenY