Jalan-jalan Cari Makan

*from my other blog at Dilla Speaks Out

We started off this Ramadhan pledging to take it easy on the ‘buka puasa’ thing. You know, no more excessive food — the five types of kuih plus karipap AND murtabak, three types of drinks (typically: sugar cane, soya bean, air kelapa, cincau or /and cendol ) and five main dishes — to go with our white rice. That essentially meant cutting down on the things that we actually buy from the PaRam(short for Pasar Ramadhan)

It went really well for the first two weeks or so. Then suddenly, IT happened. We were invited for a buffet buka puasa by the ever so generous Uncle Boerhan. Would we pass the invite in order to stay true to our pledges? I mean, this is free-flow FREE food we are talking about.. Time for serious reflection.. *PAUSE*

Are you freaking out of your mind? Of course not. There’s no way we’d let the opportunity slide. So, we tucked our tails in between our butts and made our way to the heart of KL. And that, my friend opened up a whole new can of worms for us. And since then, I am not very happy to report that we have also frequented some other fine establishments to fill up our hungry tummy for breaking fast.

Chatz Brasserie @ Park Royal on Wednesday, ( 4 October 2006)or was it Thursday?

The whole buffet consists of a layout in the dining area as well as a collection of stalls out in the foyer. There were OYSTERS (yup, and I had a whole bunch of it), white rice and a whole array of Malay dishes, a whole goat (?), char kuey teow stall, an ABC stall where you get to choose your ingredients (which included lychee, rambutan, cendol etc), mini burgers, a selection of cold appetizers, a big salad bar, a whole table of desserts and I especially loved the dinner bread with butter. Everything was replenished till the end and the crowd was also pleasant. The price? I think it was RM75++. The cost for us? FREE.

Shakey’s Pizza @ BB Plaza on Sunday, ( 8 October 2006)

Shakey’s was on promotion when we went. They were charging us about RM15 pax that particular day — just like the good old days… We have always had a soft spot for Shakey’s buffet. Historically, Azrul has been frequenting Shakey’s Buka Puasa buffet with his chums since his RMC days. Then, they started bringing their girlfriends and that later evolved into wifes and/or kids… I think the last time we went with the boys were 2 years ago. This year, however, the gang decided to step the game up one notch and we’ll be talking about that a little later. I LOVEd the lasagne, the fried chicken and also the salad. We had free-flow of carbonated drinks which I upgraded to a Coke Float, thanks to the ice-cream counter they had for dessert. The food this year was average, I should say.. But hey… What can you expect? It’s only RM15, right?

Ms. Read’s Delicious @ Bangsar Village on Monday, ( 9 Octobar 2006)

First off, Happy Birthday Zachy! The outing was to celebrate Zach’s 29th birthday. We went to Delicious due to our recommendation on the desserts’ selection. It was basically ala-carte with most of the girls ordering the laksa mee. Hubby took the Spaghetti Marinara which was NOT in the menu but especially made for him anyways. It turned out to be quite the star-dish, actually. We also went ahead and ordered the Wild Mushroom Soup with garlic bread, no less. After the main meal, we couldn’t resist the temptation of Brownie ala Mode. Which, by the way, was simply scrumptious. (note: Only 2 other places have brownies of the same quality : Chili’s and Makansutra @ Damas)Turned out that we were THE pigs! heh heh heh The whole bill came up to about RM300 and ours amounted to about RM100. Yeah la.. for appetizer, bread, meal and dessert; mah..

Coca Restaurant @ One-Utama on Tuesday, ( 10 October 2006)

There are three things that come to my mind when Coca is mentioned. One: U.S Sirloin Strips. Two: Curry Crab . Three: Mango Glutinous Rice. When it was brought to our attention that Coca was having a buffet promotion at RM48++ pax, we hurriedly wade our way to one of the outlets. The buffet included the New Zealand Striploin Strips which was an okay substitute for the U.S Sirlion. A little bit thicker, but it does the trick. There were also squids, crabs, eggs, fish, all types of balls, Coca fish glue, a variety of vegetables ( which we refused, heh heh heh), the soo-hun and the green mee. So, we thought the package was well worth the money and decided to dig in. (We ordered the striploin thrice!) Not being able to resist ourselves, we also ordered the Curry Crab plus the special buns. (They are not part of the buffet, mind you..) It was excellent, as expected , but bordering on the too-much side. On hindsight, I think that was a mistake on our part - we could have managed our tummy space better without it and go for value for money on the buffet instead. Dang, la..

One On One @ Le Meridian on Friday, ( 11 October 2006)

This was a special treat from one of Azrul’s suppliers. Since we weren’t paying, so why not? After all, I am a sucker for FREE food. The price is not disclosed, but I think it was around RM80. The whole atmosphere was really nice and there was a certain kind of ‘air’ to it which I liked. However, it was a let down on the varietyfactor. There weren’t much on offer and we could quickly decide on which dish to take more of. On the other hand, the quality of food was really to shout for and best of all the food were also replenished right to the end. I especially liked the Buttered Prawn (Yummy..) and the roti canai which I ate with Prawn masala, Minced Lamb curry and Dhal. (Amboi…) Azrul liked the grilled whole lamb and we both simply adored the desserts. Especially those that came in little shot glasses. Scrumptious! On a personal note, I wouldn’t go back if I was paying myself, la..

Rahsia Bistro & Wine Bar on Saturday, ( 12 October 2006)

Aah… This place was selected to replace the annual buka puasa at Shakey’s by the OPA 94. Price wise is okay — RM37 per person. Venue? At a mysterious location , somewhere behind the Crown Princess, KL. (It is actually on the same road as Ceylon Hill, if that helps at all..) Selection? Limited. Ambience? Very very nice, really.. All in all, I kinda liked it. It was something else, la..I also met CikPijah there and she was looking rather hot!

I also heard rave reviews from Datin-boss for Carcosa Sri Negarawhich is ideal if you want a private evening out with hubby. Granted that the selection is limited, she assured me that everyting on offer was really really tasty. Even the hot-off-the-wok mee goreng! She was saying, there were at least 2 waiters for every table and they were calling you by your name. Very exclusive and very Tatler, eh? The cost is about RM90++ pax. So, I don’t think we’ll be going there anytime soon. heh heh heh

Another place I am dying to try is IKEA with their RM15 buffet. That’s been taken care of since I am going this Friday with some of the ADP3 girls! Woo-hoo!

-dillz blogging out-