Ms. Jazz Reviews: Erawan

I'm officially a converted fan of Erawan Thai Restaurant. Before then, i've heard so much about it from friends, and further that eiling's- and so i finally visit the restaurant, subsequently went back again a week later. (because it was THAT good)

If it's even possible, the brothers operating Erawan again and again impress me with their authentic thai dishes, and i've tried quite a bit and none of them has actually failed me.

Erawan is located at Dataran Sunway, close proximity of Starbucks coffee. It's quite easily missed as it only operates one shop lots, and at most times it is impossibly packed. Strongly advise to make reservation beforehand to avoid any dissapointment- and if you are familiar you should also pre-order your dishes prior visits. You can refer to their menu (and prices) here.

Service was actually REALLY slow during dinner time when it was jam packed with diners. This is mainly reason to orders being taken by only one person, also the co-owner of the restaurant, Anan.
That aside, Anan is actually a friendly guy, on my subsequent visit during lunch when things are slightly slow, he actually had time to chitchat with us, show us some of his restaurant reviews and service has also improved somewhat.
So if you are willing to be patient (for like half an hour to get your order in), then you have no reason not to go. Otherwise, do consider going during less peak hours.

One of their bestseller Miang Kam (RM20) betel-leaf served with chillis, garlic, lime, shallow, peanuts, dried shrimps, and some unidentified crisp in Erawan special sauce.

I'm not a fan of the leaf so i gave this a pass, but it was commented to be really good and the plates was soon cleared away.

A refreshing starter with different texture is a pleasure to eat. Erawan's Pomelo Salad (RM25) comes with huge servings of pomelo with peanut crumbs topped with three pieces of huge prawns. What made a possible bland dish a great difference is their dressings that taste slightly of peanut sauce but its sweet and slightly sour at the same time. It's a great invention.

Stuffed Chicken Wings (RM25) - boneless chicken stuffed with minced chicken, glass noodle, water chestnut, chinese mushroom etc and served with thai chilli sauce. Crispy and flavourful. *thumbs up*

The crispy chicken with thai sauce was equally good. I like the fact that its not too oily.

Hong Kong Kailan with salted fish (RM20) is another must order of mine.

The greens were soft but not overcook.

Boneless Roast Duck Curry (RM38) will be your choice if you prefer your curry to be sweet and not too spicy. The roasted duck is simmered with coconut milk and fruits such as pineapple

Reminds me of Ying Thai in Melbourne very much is the Erawan's Stir Fried Thai Basil with minced meat. I had both the chicken (RM25) and Australian beef (RM38) but felt that chicken flairs better as the beef texture was a bit stiff.

It has always been my fav dish, before the discovery of Erawan, i missed this dish so much that i cooked it at home to reminisce old times. It's really easy to make too! Ask me for the recipe =P

Green Curry fish paste with salted egg (rm32), we wanted to try something different and im glad we did. The pure ikan tinggiri fish paste was wrapped around the salted egg yolk, which produce a bouncy texture on the outside with soft salty content inside. There were about 5 to 6 pieces of this in a portion. It's another thumbs up for me.

If you're in for something slightly spicier and stinkier. You can try prawns with petai in spicy sauce (RM38) - the petai came in huge quantity, while the prawns were in big pieces. Taste O-K. Probably less memorable for me since the other dishes seems to be overwhelming good.  

Finally found a place that serves realllllly goood seafood tomyum soup. By GOOD i meant spicy and sour at the same time which many restaurant fails to produce.

The tomyam soup in Erawan comes in clear or thick soup, and you may choose the level of spiciness 1-5, with 5 being the spiciest. So far, i've touched base with level 3, and it was quite spicy but me being a super spicy lover will def give level 5 a try soon.

There is also two sizes. The one i ordered was large, RM58 and is sufficient to split between 6 small bowls.

Ending the delicious meal with something simple yet surprisingly satisfying. Glutinous rice with a whole mango (RM20), served with coconut milk. The three ingredients prove to be a powerful combination. P/s: i heard their durian ice cream is really good too but ive yet to try them.

Thai Milk Tea and Lychee Ice Tea

Congrats on your recent engagement my dear. *hugs*

Our bill came up to RM250+ averagely on my both visits.

Ratings:

Food: 8.5/10

(one of the best thai restaurant in town, the menu varieties is really huge- im barely even through half of what's there! be warn that not all are available on the day)

Service: 5/10

(as above mentioned, do expect some delays)

Ambience: 6/10

(great for casual dining)

Presentation of food: 7/10

Overall ratings: 7/10

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Erawan Classic Thai & Fusion Restaurant

No. 22-1, Jalan PJU 5/16,

Dataran Sunway, Kota Damansara

PJ

Tel: 03-61412393

Crusader reviews: Iranian Cuisine

When I saw Ms. Jazz posting her article up on Betty's Midwest Kitchen, I just had to put mine up right above hers :p lol. This article is long overdue as I couldn't really find time after returning from Bhutan. Anyway, I was recently in Iran together with my team for some inspection work. To be honest, I hesitated to go at first, but once I landed there and got to know the place and the people - it was simply marvelous.

The hospitality was amazing, and the country is very beautiful. Everywhere we visited, the people was just so eager to provide us with their best dishes for lunch and dinner. Here are some of the pictures I've managed to take without making myself look awkward during our dining sessions.

Iranians love to start their meals with simple appetizers such salad, nuts, caviar, dates and some yogurt.

The of course, the main course is always - KEBAB! They got chicken kebab, beef kebab, fish kebab, prawn kebab, mixed kebab, kobideh.. you get the picture.

Ms. Jazz and Ms. Crazieapple wouldn't be too happy bout their beer though. All proudly displaying the wrong sign - 0.00% alcohol.

Desserts and sweet snacks are also a must for every meeting we had.

Nice to see something familiar, though it was rebranded for political reasons.

Nice to see some funny signage too! Keeping me and Sean amused all the way..

Sometimes the saying can be very true - Don't believe everything you see on the news. I truly enjoyed Iran and am very grateful for the experience and the hospitality of the Iranian people. Merci.

Cheers

Ms. Jazz Reviews: Betty's Midwest Kitchen @ Aman Suria

In case you are wondering why we've been slacking on our entries.  i'm currently on diet after a realisation that several of my dresses won't fit, and Crazieapple is busy battling the school field with her never ending exams.

So there you go. Our attempt explaination on our laziness. =P

Betty's Midwest Kitchen was created by a family whom resides in America for a period of time. The reasonable price, and buzzing crowd gave us assurance to expect nothing but good food.
True enough to their promise, this restaurant served up some really hearty, sloppy and homecook food.
Another plus point is that their menu consist approx 80% in pork dishes. How can one resist that simple temptation?

Interior was bare, but i liked the personal touch of family photos and America related pictures by the walls. It was homey and spacious, definitely a worthy place for frequent visit.

We started off with the Tomato & Ham Soup (RM10). I must say, it tasted really awesome!

I know awesome is a very generic word, it does sum up how i felt about the soup though but more specifically, the broth is tasty without any overwhelming  puree/ cream one normally find in tomato soup. That generous splash of coriander brings the flavours to another height. (and i'm saying it though im not much of a coriander fan) but it's really THAT good. A generous portion of this comfy drink and i'm ready to crawl back to my mummy. :)

Botak had the Grilled Baby Back Ribs (RM28.50), that was complement with coleslaw and fries. Their baby back ribs were full of smokey flavour, it wasnt exactly juicy (nor was it dry).. it was however very tender, you can just pull off the meat easily without using a knife. The "special" sauce is what made the dish really lovable. Just pour the whole thing and waste nothing as it goes really well with the ribs. The coleslaw was also very satisfying. While it's not too sour from all the dressing, i liked how the cabbage still have the crunchiness which made it a delight to bite at.

I can never say no to two things in life: pork, and pork fats. Aren't i lucky to have both at the same night?

Again, the grilled pork belly (RM24) was served with the same complement dish. I do prefer the belly pork to the ribs as the fats was just AMAZINGLY fattening = good! (ok, maybe this portion was slightly over on the fats, it was 50:50 fats:meat ratio)

i took off half of what's there, and happily ate the rest.

Again, the meat was succulent and tender.

My friend insisted to order the DOGGY food (RM7.50), which in fact was fries soaked with gravy and topped with melted cheese. He loved it to bits, ME however dislike soggy fries so this is not my cup of tea

We were stuffed before desserts, but i wanted to try the apple crumble (RM8) here. A mistake on my part as this is not up to expectation. 

Our bill came up to RM95 between two with soft drinks

Ratings:

Food: 7.5/10

(hearty, comfort food)

Service: 7/10

(friendly, and quick on feet)

Ambience: 6/10

(decent, spacious and clean- good for casual dining)

Presentation of food: 6/10

Overall ratings: 7/10

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Betty's Midwest Kitchen

A-G-40, Jalan PJU 1/43,

Aman Suria Damansara

47301 PJ

Tel: 03-7880 0196

Ms. Jazz Reviews: Albion @ Bukit Changkat

I had problems identifying "British" Cuisine as Albion has categorized themselves. My knowledge of british food limits to yorkshire puddings, scones, and fish and chips. *sheepish grin* It's not exactly our commonly understood cuisine type like "italian" "thai" "french" and "malaysian", it did however perk up my curiousity to learn a bit more about it.

It's interesting what you can learn from the internet nowadays. According to wikipedia, British food means "unfussy dishes made with quality local ingredients, match with simple sauce to accenture flavours, rather than disguising it" They are apparently known for their herb stewing techniques and have heavy influences from mediterranean cuisines

Albion is located at a seemingly quiet area of Changkat- same row as Bar Italia. But a definite crowd puller would be their relatively reasonable pricing on the menu comparable with to those in the vicinity. You're looking at less than RM20 for starters, RM25-RM40 for mains and less than RM20 for desserts.

We started off our dinner with Gravadlax (28) Homecured Norwegian Salmon with dill & Citrus that came in generous portions of salmon that taste fresh and well marinated. Only problem i had with it is that the salmon is quite warm whilst i preferred it chilled.

Seared King Scallops (RM29) with pumpkin puree and roasted cauliflower was a delight to eat. The scallop came in thick piece, juicy and tender. Combination of the puree is not too intense which is a good thing as we wanted to swipe up all the sauce with the scallop

Char-grilled South African Ostrich (RM46) Served with polenta and salsa verde. I find it hard to like ostrich meat, while the meat was slightly chewy, it gaves out this pungent smell that is repelling for me. The bed of polenta was too watery. I wouldn't recommend this dish.

Butterflied King Prawns with homemade fettucine and prawn reduction (RM39), was nicely presented. Extra cookie point for the effort on homemade fettucine, texture was right but it lacks flavour making it rather bland. The prawn reduction tasted good, but its unable to bring up the flavours of this dish. I felt that they should cook the reduction and pasta together to get a stronger flavour.

Probably my favourite dish of the night and i was glad to have ordered this. Slow roast belly pork with potato, leek, and caramelised apples (RM31) was roast to tender. The caramelised apples gaves a sweet tone to this dish, i love it.

Iced Cranachan Parfait (RM18) is a traditional scottish dessert with oats, whiskey & Melba sauce. We liked this best as it was something different from our original orders. The oats does not have much taste, but the raspberry sorbet made up for it in flavours so you've got to eat them mixed together.

Espresso Panna Cotta (RM18) was decent. Not too sweet yet creamy. It was however quite forgettable.

I like my Sticky Toffee & Date Pudding (RM18) too, it was exactly how i imagine it would be, sticky and gooey, and sweet.

Great companion of the night:

Jenn

Hanako

Our bill came up to RM300+ with cocktail

Ratings:

Food: 5.5/10

Overall, decent food quality but nothing memorable except for the slow roast pork, their menu is quite vast, so it's worth another visit.

Service: 7/10

Attentive, and efficient

Ambience: 7/10

Good for quiet uninterrupted chatters with friends

Presentation of food: 6/10

Overall: 6.5/10

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31, Jalan Berangan,

Changkat Bukit Bintang

50200 KL

Tel: 03- 2141 9282