Crazieapple Reviews J cafe & Workshop for some beer craving

While Ms Jazz is probably getting ready to fly to Tokyo to experience some REAL Jap Food, the only alternative that i have being stuck in Melbourne is to resort to J Cafe for some sushi burger fix..

You must be thinking, what the @#$% is "sushi burger"??

Well, it's basically sll the ingredients you find in sushi hand rolls, served with wasabi, lettuce, special sauce in between two sushi rice patties freshly made to order.

Out of the many times that i've visited J cafe, this is only my second time of having the chance to eat this Soft Shell Crab burger.

Because it is extremely yummy, it is forever sold out so you really have to call in to pre-book.. But today, i was soooo lucky to snatch away the VERY LAST one from Reza and Matt! hehe sorry guys, ladies first! =p

They actually put in ONE WHOLE crab~ can you believe how generous these Japs are!?!?! It's extra delicious when it's a tad bit warmer though..

It is never enough for me to just order one -so there's Ebi Mayo sushi burger. The special sauce accompanied with the deep fried prawn makes this extra sweet and luscious!!

Another favourite order- Spicy raw salmon. A hint of spiciness is acceptable for people like Ching..

Pigging out with 2 sushi burgers at one-go!!

Soo working hard at his spicy raw salmon burger

Don't i look exceptional huge next to Tioknee? =(

The ebony and ivory couple.. hehehe

Matt loves his Yakiniku Sushi Burger- the boys' favourite pick!!

The only downside of J cafe is their limited seats. It's difficult to grab a seat if you come in a big group without reservations at peak hour. The staffs are extremely friendly (being the typical Jap) even when they are at their busiest.

Do call up for Soft shell crab sushi burger, don't be lazy!! It's really worth it!! =)

Sushi burger is generally priced at 7.50 aud for dine-in price but 6.50 for take-away!

Trading Hours

LUNCH Tue - Sat 12:00pm - 3:00pm
DINNER Tue - Sat 5:30pm - 9:30pm

Closed Monday & Sunday

Licensed & BYO wine only

Tel: 03 9650 9877

Website: http://www.jcafe.com.au/

Bar review

After lunch, we (ok, i admit, it was me) suggested for some drinks!! And it was only 3pm on a friday..

I know, what kinda lifestyle are we leading right? Well, we're proud Melburnians who loves to live our lifes to the fullest!! hehe

Our usual spot at Workshop for beers..

The open roof concept is popular during days with nice weather. Lucky us, it was a nice and breezy day!!

A jug of Golden Lager was 16AUD- not bad for some cheap beer cravings.!!

Men talk..

Me with my Apple Cider- i'm out trying out all the available ciders.. hehe

So far, Magners still top my list! hehe

The freak who order an ice chocolate in a bar!! haha

The Workshop Bar

413 Elizabeth St

Melbourne VIC 3000

Ms. Jazz Reviews: Checkers, Damansara Heights

"Hello, i'd like to make a reservation please"

"For how many people?"

"For two please"

"What time?"

"6.30 please"

"7 o clock"

"no, it's 6.30" (spelling it slow, loud and clear so that he doesnt misheard the second time)

"NO... 7o'clock" (But HE insist!)

*WTH???????*

"Errr... okay... 7 o'clock then"

I was really puzzled by this whole commotion, after the phone call to reserve a table at the time of HIS choice, i had to return call to my friend to change our dinner appointment to 7pm...while in my mind, im thinking who the heck is this rude uncle?

It turns out the restaurant only open at 7pm, (why can't he just explain clearly to me at the first place?), but that aside, the uncle aka owner (i suspect) is a very fun loving guy who crack jokes and make conversation with us. It is a comfortable and relaxing dining experience indeed.

The restaurant is located deep into the residential area of Damansara heights, thank god for GOOGLE MAP on Blackberry who once again saved me from getting lost, it might be a bit hard to allocate the restaurant especially when there is NO SIGNBOARD indicating the name of the restaurant whatsoever, but don't let that discourage you!

The almost no-frills restaurant with basic interior settings. A tiny blackboard hangs from the wall recommending (almost taunting) its diners to order from it.

I mean, how can i resist names like LORD OF THE RIBS and PORK KNUCKLES right?

My initial intention is to come here to try their Pork Knuckles, but sadly they ran out of it. So we gave other dishes a try, and boy were we hungry!

We enjoyed the Pork Ribs immensely. Served with mashed potatoes, and salad on the side, The ribs was tender and flavourful - not exactly fall off the bone texture but what makes it all work is the spice rub on the pork rib's back. However, we do not taste any hint of it being chargrilled so im assuming its oven-baked which may lack a tiny oomph to bring the flavour to its new height. My current favourite ribs is still the ones served in El Cerdo.

Pork Loin that comes with mashed, salsa salad, and BBQ sauce on the side. I don't quite fancy their salsa salad but the potato mashed goes really well with its pork loin. The pork loin turns out to be slightly overcooked and tough, but it was well marinated.

Probably our least favourite of the night is Checker's Aglio Olio spaghetti . Quite forgettable and the ingredient was a bit fusion. why the chinese mushrooms?

Please drown your sorrow in this sinfully alcoholic ice cream with red beans, cendol, and leong fun. This simple dessert with ice cream is mixed with good dose of rum liquer,  it is as if the ingredients pairing were made for each other. WE LOVE IT!

Our bill came up to RM140 between two.

Note: no corkage fee for BYO

Ratings:

Food: 6/10

(i wannnn pork knuckles!)

Ambience: 5/10

(clean, comfortable neighbourhood restaurant)

Service: 7/10

Presentation of food: 6/10

Overall: 6/10

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Checkers

19, Lorong Setia Bistari 2,

Damansasra Heights

Tel: 03-20953304

Crusader goes cheap with Aliaa Seafood!

Lately if you have been reading augustdiners, you would have notice the ending of each post goes something like “Our bill came up to RM200+ between two” and “Our bill came up to RM800+ for the night” – What the (%*&!^)…. ? Poor people like me don’t have money to keep up with you Ms. Jazz! And then there’s Crazieapple. Dining in Café Vue? What the (%*&!^)…. ? This is turning out into a blog to show you the lifestyle of the rich and famous!

Well, don’t fret. It’s time for me to bring this blog back down to earth. For this post, I’m going to introduce to you one of the best ‘Nasi Kukus’ around town. And to do this, I’m bringing you to Aliaa Seafood. The stall (oh no, not a proper restaurant?) is located in the food court of the Awan Besar rest stop along KESAS Highway, and Ms. Jazz – there’s no valet parking. 

Upon arriving, the ‘kakak’ will be happy to open up the steamer and take out a bowl of steamed rice which she so skilfully detached from the metal bowl. After which, she will then ‘decorate’ your plate with the basics which includes slices of pineapple, bean sprouts, cucumber and chilli paste.

 You have an option of taking either the ‘kerabu-styled’ fried chicken or the ‘ikan cencaru’ (Torpedo Scad Fish) which is grilled with sambal stuffing. After you have chosen your side dishes, the ‘kakak’ will then pour curry gravy over your rice. You will notice that she puts a combination of two gravies – fish and chicken curry to give you that aromatic smell to make you salivate heavily prior to devouring your food.

My dish

Ikan Cencaru

If you want to have some lady’s finger, just ask from the ‘kakak’. She’ll scoop it up from the fish curry for free! Here you’ll notice the ‘kerabu’ bits from the chicken that makes the chicken so tasty!

My bill came up to RM5! Hahahaha. Word of caution – please prepare around two cups of drinks on standby, as things may get a little spicy!

Ratings:

Food: 8/10

Ambience: Not Applicable

Service: 8/10

Presentation of Food: Not applicable

Overall: 8/10

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Aliaa Seafood

Stall AB-1, Awan Besar R&R,

Kesas Highway

Ms. Jazz Reviews: C-Club, Pavillion (Revisit)

You may refer to our previous visit here.

Lately, I've been visiting C-Club quite frequently. 

It is mainly because of its convenience and we do enjoy the quiet and comfortable atmosphere allowing us to chill out after shopping sessions in Pavillion.
Not out of expectation, the restaurant was very quiet with only few occupied tables. My reasoning is that the restaurant looks a bit intimidating from its outlook, and people always associate carat = diamond = expensive. I think you got my drift, right? But fear not, as the exterior of the restaurant is the only threatening thing about this place. *if you can look past the risk of getting high cholesterol*
 

It was a hot day out and all the walking has already taken a toll on us. What's better than to start our brunch with sparkling drinks. I'm addicted to sparkling water/drinks. And thankfully C-Club has a whole list of them.

Lorina pink lemonade! I *heart*

Pomegranate and blueberry sparkling juice. Light in flavours and refreshing.

Slippery Lobster with Foie Gras topped with mango salsa was commendable. The lobster came in a large bitesize and goes well with foie gras, but then again im bias when it comes to anything foie gras! :) If anything, i wished their portion was slightly bigger.

Slippery Lobster Salad is CY's absolute favourite. She love the mixture of ceberg lettuce tossed with homemade pesto sauce, slippery lobster, pine nut with shaved cheese. mmmhmmmMm... *licks spoon dry* my advice is to scoop up all those wonderful flavours and waste nothing. 

Pan-seared Salmon Rossinni has to be the perfect combination. I'm talking about smooth soft flaky texture of the salmon fillet on a bed of slowly braised and tender oxtail stew and omigosh... how can we forget about the piece of foie gras sitting daintily on top of its main counterpart, Ms. Salmon beckoning for attention.

The finishing touch with its balsamic palm sugar glace made the world a better place. *thumbs up*

Lavender Creme Brulee with Lychee and burnt strawberry. A twist to the traditional version but nevertheless YUMS! the lavender infused custard was soft and fragrant with a tiny surprise of lychee within. Glazed with brown sugar and later torched to harden... It brought us to the next level of childlike bliss. Time to take out my rusty blow torch and experiment with it!

Ending our gastronomic brunch with a glass of watermelon juice and latte.

Our bill came up to RM200+ between two

Ms. Jazz Reviews: Chalet, Equatorial Hotel KL

Chalet has been around town since the beginning of the western food era, i'd say although it has been relatively quiet nowadays, it is still at the top of my list to frequent.

Taking the quote from my personal blog, this place "eludes old english elegance with no hints of arrogance so commonly known for the english (or switz)" The interior was cosy, and comfortable. We  love the dim surroundings and carpeted floors which muffled surrounding voice. The last thing i need in an atmosphere like this is to listen to conversation of your neighbouring table.

OH WAIT, i think we were the noisiest one that night =P

i had to rush out of the house hence the simple tied back hairstyle.

Buffet d' entrees- RM80/pax, comprises a wide range of unlimited portion of appetizer and salads. In fact, you may not even need to order the main course after this. It's only worth it if you like cold appetizers like salmon, and oysters. The selection of cheese presented is also rather appealing.

We were serve complimentary bread steak with two dips, foie gras pate and blue cheese, it was addictively yums! Definitely a real treat. A selection of bread is also brought forward for us to choose. REALLY, by the time our soup arrived, we were already half filled.

Bisque de Homard a'l' Armericane, Rich bisque of lobster with garlic croutons and dill cream. The velvety soup is robust in flavours and does not fail to please.

One of the selection of cheese from the appetizer buffet, RAKELETT cheese is a truly melt in your mouth sensation, we were glad that the cheese does not taste too overwhelming like blue cheese. Instead its easy to eat and goes really well with pickled onions and baby potatoes.

I could not stop slathering from my tenderloin with foie gras and truffles side with some blanched vegetables. Having requested for medium, it was the perfect doneness. The meat was so tender, so flavourful that tasted so earthy and succulent. Ahhhhh~ it has definitely satisfied my canivourous cravings. 

Just to prove my point, look at the sweet pink flesh calling out my name.

The milk-fed veal was also medium done, filled with luscious creaminess and tops with sinfully good mushrooms, the texture of the veal was slightly softer than the tenderloin i've had. An immaculate emulsion that does not go unnoticed.

This steak comes with the set menu of RM160++, unfortunatley i cannot recall the name, but a simple steak dish that was also robust in flavours. I do prefer my tenderloin over this though.

I'm dissapointed that they do not serve dancing dessert on Mondays, come to think of it, i've missed out this particular specialty all the time because for some unknown reason, i always end up at CHALET on monday. Sobs. There is a selection of about 10 variety desserts from the tray which i dont quite fancy. I've tried most of them by now, none of them is noteworthy. *cross fingers for dancing dessert the next time!*

TIRAMISU with greentea macarons was an o-k dessert but forgettable.

Dark and white chocolate mousse that has "dont order me- i'm a waste to your wallet and tummy space" written all over it. Not that it taste horrible, just that it's not worth ordering.

Note: dessert from the tray with unlimited quantity cost you RM25

Complementary ice cream popsicle.

Refreshing carbernet sauvignon wine, easy to drink.

The service in Chalet was exceptional. Perhaps it's because the restaurant was relatively that night, so we had full attention from the staff attending to our needs. Im impressed that most waiters know their products. They've demonstrated to us how to drink white wine in a proper manner, qne why are they using that particular glasses to serve us, while another staff also patiently brief us on their different type of cheese offerings.

We came out feeling well educated. *grins*

Our bill came up to RM800+ for the night

Ratings:

Food: 8/10

Ambience: 8.5/10

Service: 8/10

Presentation of Food: 7/10

Overall: 8/10

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Chalet

Hotel Equatorial, KL

Jalan Sultan Ismail

Tel: 03-2161 7777

For reservation get the operator to pass you through to the restaurant