Whisk: Blondie Cream Cheese Pecan & Ginger Beer by Belvoir

Last month or so I went on a date. Ate at O'Briens then had desert at Whisk. Both were at Empire Shopping Center, Subang.

(Okay btw, DO NOT EAT THE SALMON SALAD at O'Briens; minuscule portion I tell you. Other than salads, there were four small slices of bread and several SHEETS of salmon slices. WTH?!)

Back to my review:

Blondie Cream Cheese Pecan

The people there said, "its like a brownie without the chocolate". I beg to differ, its more like a vanilla-tasting square-shaped cookie.

The taste: For sweet tooths, go ahead. For sore tooths? Not a good idea. (Seriously, don't)

Sweet lah weh, like super. There goes my one month diet.

I took a small bite one at a time, to the center of the cookie. SURPRISE! Cream cheese in the middle (Refer to the picture, quite obvious).

The whole plate? Nothing to it, really.

*But I like the pecans in between the taste. They should put more of that to balance the teeth-aching sweetness.

Ginger Beer by Belvoir

The taste: It taste like ginger ale lah weh, what do you expect? *With extra ginger in it.

I've tasted the Pomegranate by Belvoir too. I recommend the Pomegranate, more pleasant tasting.

Mr. Bill:

I've done my judgment; it's up to you now.

*Seriously, don't be stubborn and read my lips: Secret Recipe! (full stop)

Macaroons by Whisk, Empire Shopping Gallery

Nadal says:

For the price of RM2 each, the size of the macaroons is pretty small and honestly, I'm not IMPRESSED! The macaroons are soft and I think the ones by http://ga-teaux.blogspot.com/ are somewhat crispier despite the extra sweet taste-lah.

The pink macaroon's flavour is Rose and personally I think the taste is like munching on an air freshener.

I'm sooo gonna go try the macaroons at Nathalie's Gourmet Studio soon.

Hazeman says:

FAR-KING small!! It's my first time eating a macaroon after I read about it in "the Doll House" and on AFC. Okay, BAD first impression.

Its like eating hardened-cotton candy-with-cream in between. I mean why do people overrate this stuff on their food blogs anyways? Sheesh.

*But the people at Whisk are super nice! I like their hospitality.

P/S: Dont bring your boyfriends here. Not a guy spot.

Fatin says:

By the time we got to the store, it was almost closing time. The shop owners were kind enough to allow us to sit in and specially extended their closing time to accommodate us which was really sweet of them.

Since it was closing time, there weren't many flavours to choose from. We picked out the lemon, rose, chocolate and lavender macaroons. As Nadal mentioned, the size of the macaroons are rather small for RM 2. They're about the puny size of 20 cent coins, too small to bite twice, and just...NOT big enough for sharing.

The shell of the macaroons in Whisk were too soft and didn't have the crispy-fall-apart-with-a-bite texture that macaroon shells are expected to have. However, the sweetness of the shells were not overwhelming. To me, shell-uncrispy-ness aside, the rose macaroon tasted a lot like antibiotics. The lemon macaroon had a nice sour tang that complimented the sweet shell well and the chocolate macaroon was so-so...nothing fantastic to be honest. I didn't taste the lavender macaroon as I'm wary of having something that's normally in my air freshener in my food.

Personally, I found the macaroons at Whisk rather disappointing after all the rave I've heard about it. I HAVE tasted better, but I think I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and revisit them during the day to maybe get the chance to try other flavours.

Tamarind Springs, Ampang

Fatin Says:

A short drive away from town, Tamarind Springs is nestled in a richly thick jungle-like place with loads of greenery and water features. The walkway from the main entrance to the restaurant was lined with candles and dimly-lit, giving off an ambiance of romance and mystery. With aromatic candles and joss sticks burning, it's a good getaway from the bustling city ambiance and perfect for romantic dates ;p

Hazeman Says:

First impression of the place, "Woah the place gonna be bloody expensive". Because its so bloody nice! But yeah, can't agree more with Miss F: the place ah? Bloody romantic one! You can see people wear formal suits and bareback dresses. (Did I just say "Bareback"?)

Fatin Says:

As an appetizer of sorts, we were given a serving of savory crackers with sweet chili sauce. It was a good start but be careful not to eat too much lest you prefer to be too full for your actual meal.

Hazeman Says:

Obviously, Miss F forgot to mention the rolls of Pandan-leaves-smelling-wet-towels-which-we-thought-are-roll-cakes. Yes, we can't tell the difference between roll cakes and rolled towels. (We were breaking fast for the Ramadhan, people!)

But anyways, the crackers are... just crackers. *NEXT!!

Fatin Says:

The staple dish here is rice, and all the dishes you order will be served with a plate of fragrant jasmine rice (RM5). To go with the rice, we ordered stir-fried broccoli and tofu with cashew nuts, yellow curry with sweet potatoes, deep fried soft shell crabs, and roasted duck with yogurt.


Stir-fried Broccoli and Tofu with Cashew Nuts:

This dish was without a doubt, cooked to perfection, regardless of the fact that we were falsely led to believe that the tofu in question was the soft egg tofu. The broccoli was juicy but crunchy (not over cooked)
and went well with the soft texture of the tofu and the solid crunch of the cashew nuts. The taste of the sauce was a good compliment to the taste of the vege and nuts but the sauce was just a little bit too thick. The perfect mixture of taste and texture made this vege dish my favourite dish that night (and I'm not even a fan of vege).

Hazeman Says:

Damn son! I mean, I know how vegetarians usually suffer from tasteless food (been on a vegetarian diet myself). But this entirely vege plate is like awesome. The gravy was not enough for us all since everyone was so eager of putting some on their rice (and because the portion is not big enough for 4 gluttonous devils, obviously).

The best part of the meal was the Cashew nuts really. I secretively just want to have more of that, but you know, it's Nadal's birthday. Meaning, the mission is to put them in her ass, and not mine. ~lalala~


Yellow Curry with Sweet Potatoes:

Fatin Says:

When the dish first arrived, I though the curry looked like rain water mixed with yellow colouring. It looked too...for a lack of a better word, cair. But when I tasted it, I found that the sauce was of the right thickness, and the contrast of the sweet potatoes, with the slightly spicy curry was a treat to my taste buds, and it was so good to have sweet potatoes in the curry instead of normal ones.

Hazeman Says:

Okay, Miss F's description and the picture obviously did not do the meal justice. The gravy is like awesome weh. AWESOME! and not overrated. To substitute usual ground potatoes with sweet potatoes is a very good change. I thought it was caramelized carrots or something, coz it tasted so familiar but nice. Nothing peculiar to the Asian tongue, really.

However, the whole look of the pot should seriously get some makeover. I mean, being honest in cooking is one thing. But overpaying for an ugly looking meal? Err, not pre-appetizing.

I give this a "Must-eat" award.

Deep Fried Soft Shell Crabs:

Fatin Says:

The cool pomelo bits was refreshing to my parched throat.

Hazeman Says:

Miss F is able to say just that since she ate only the pamelo (Seriously Fatin?). And yes people, they serve pamelo WITH the soft shell crab. Luckily, the taste wasn't weird at all. Because take note at the picture, it is served with the gravy thingy. The gravy was what blends everything together really.

Well I guess you guys would know how a pamelo would taste like, so I'd skip that and focus on the crab itself. They fry the whole crab with god knows what mixture, it was alright. But there is something about the inside of the crabs. They are like cooked medium rare, meaning if they are beef, there're redness in the middle. But they are not beef (Duh!) so I tasted some "thing" in the crab. I haven't eaten a REALLY fresh soft-shell crab, so i'm guessing, considering the prestige the restaurant holds, they are super fresh. So I guess that was it.

I, by nature, am very adventurous with tastes. But most that I know out there isn't. So for those who aren't, not recommended. I on the other hand finished it without a problem.

Again, SMALL PORTION. I AM A GUY!

Roasted Duck with Yogurt Sauce:

Fatin Says:

Succulent and sweet, the roasted duck came to us tasting good and having a soft texture, which was fortunate since we were skeptical when we were ordering, worried that it would be too dry. The meat was juicy and cooked in a way that brought out all the sweetness of the meat. Dipped in the sour yogurt sauce, This dish was given two thumbs up all the way :)

Hazeman Says:

Like Miss F said, we were worried, yeah. Because usually, chefs that I know in Malaysia just have no idea on how to cook ducks. Coming to me as being dry and have weird after-taste. Plus, bones not properly "de-boned". I hate that.

But this particular dish? No smell, no weird after-taste and the yogurt was what made the whole dish worth for compliments. Infact, the yogurt gravy made us wanting more on our rice. And I hate eating rice (because of of the calorie count). But yeah, to hell with carbs. The duck and the yogurt made my day.

*People in Tamarind Springs should consider the yogurt as a condiment on its own for the rice. Really.


Fatin says:


Although service is a bit slow and the price is rather steep, I absolutely recommend Tamarind springs for special occasions because the food is awesome, and the decor is gorgeous so that makes up for the fact that the bill will burn holes in your pockets :D




Cuisine : Traditional Indochinese Village (Khmer, Laos & Vietnam)
Phone : 03.4256.9300Address : Jln 1 Taman T.A.R, 68000 Ampang, Selangor D.E.Email : tamarindsprings@samadhi.com.my
Opens daily for lunch & dinner

The Black Sheep

Beware: narcissistic post!

Because I know deep in my heart that this blog will be hot among food lovers out there in years to come, for our non-bias and varied-opinion policy.

Hence, I feel the need to explain my contribution to this food critiquing blog and the need for a "guy's" view in food. See, though I would like to highly associate myself with my alter ego (a "classy woman") with my group of girlfriends; they sometimes forgot that as "classy a woman" I can be, I have the appetite of a hungry Nazi in front of a roasting Jew.

My woman side would say, "Give me that pretty purple macaroons", my piggy gluttonous man side would say, "Make sure they are bloody HUGE. Or I'll define 'huge' for you"

All the credentials if a couple intends to plan a date to some place pretty for the girl and tummy-full guarantee for the guy.

Because, Food is also spelled as S.E.X- ejaculation on one side does NOT do justice. (But if you eat out with a group of friends, then an orgy would be a fine metaphor)

I am Hazeman Huzir. I have the capacity to connect food and contentment; transcending gender boundaries. Because the physical intercourse between the spoon that shall penetrate your mouth must be tactically well planned for mutual happiness (no pun intended).

My next post: Oldtown Kopitiam's Steamed Mushroom and Chicken Rice. A typical and honest Chinese-inspired cooking.

*End of self-introduction speech

P/S: Fatin, lets do the 2 restaurants that we went for Nadal's birthday. Tamarind Springs and the desert place with the undiluted-sugar-in-their-Red Velvet.

Bumbu Desa, the Curve

My sister Jehan, bought us lunch to celebrate her graduation. Stepping into the double doors of Bumbu Desa in The Curve--with the Indonesian tradition inspired interior, the smiling faces of the simply dressed hosts and servers, the traditional Indonesian music playing softly overhead, and the smell of authentic Indonesian food wafting around us--we couldn't help but to instantly feel transported to Indonesia.

 

We were brought to our seats then asked to choose our dishes from the spread. My mom picked out the fried talapia, ayam panggang, begetil, sambal terung, ulam with cabai ijeu, and a mushroom dish I can't recall the name of, and these were all served with a pot of hot rice. The dishes were all scrumptious. The crunchy talapia, paired with the soft mushroom, the succulent begetil, and the shock-to-the-brain spicy cabai ijeu was perfect. And the ayam panggang was so good, I practically ate the bones. My mother said, it tasted exactly like the food she ate in Indonesia.

     

look at that spread! you'd wish you could eat it all

  

our dishes of choice

For dessert, we had their pulut durian. To put it in as few words as possible, the durian sauce was cooked to perfection. It was the right amount of sweet and because we shared the dessert, we had a spoon war to get the most of the pulut durian.

  

the scrump-didly-icious pulut durian

our drinks

All in all, Bumbu Desa was satisfaction all in one; great food, good ambiance, and fantastic service.

Thanks Jay for the meal! :)