The Little Things: Bird’s Nest

Earlier last month, when the little darling left KL to visit her relatives in Penang, her mom brought a few gifts which included a packet of unprocessed bird’s nest.  I was not really too keen on touching it at first but soon got myself to clean it up.  Dad helped of course.  The bird’s nest was known in the past to be a very popular and fancy delicacy.  Chinese opera singers thought that it would make their voices sounds good so, I decided to double boil the birds nest in the slow cooker a few days before the IELTS speaking test ahaha.  Wonder did it work. Hmmm

 

The unprocessed bird’s nest on the board.

 

On the plate before soaking!

 

After soaking the bird’s nest for one day, the tedious job of sorting the fine feathers from the the “nests” itself started.  The best way to do this I guess is to keep on sorting the large clumps of cleans bird’s  nest from the dirtier ones.  And then, put the  impure ones in another bowl of water and let the feathers fall off by itself.  After, four days of effort, the bird’s nest is finally ready to be cooked :D

 

Jeng Jeng Jeng Jeng :P!!

 

It was really delicious when cooked.  All you would need is rock sugar and water along with the bird’s nests and after four hour, you will get a yummy drink :)!

 

Ok that’s all nothing much eheh.  Can’t wait for the weekends.  Hope to get some sushi into my tummy!

 

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