Beard Brothers' BBQ

I received a few emails asking me to review Beard Brothers' BBQ, based on our recent trip as mentioned here.

Sooooo sinful.

Honestly, I'm no food blogger. But I do know how to appreciate good food. And Beard Brothers' BBQ certainly serves good food. Their beef ribs are so tender, your plastic (I repeat, plastic) cutleries will literally glide through the meat.

Beard Brothers' BBQ serves not just beef ribs, but also beef briskets, lamb, chicken and occasionally sausages during the weekend. Cornbread is good too. (Ian walloped two in one sitting!) The side orders are so-so. But trust me, the succulent beef ribs are the real winners here.

We managed to get a beef sausage during this round!

However, do note that this is not a posh place for a first date or anything special like that. Expect plastic tables and fold-able chairs, self serve cutleries and drinks, and canned drinks from a chiller. But don't worry, the food will make up for all these inadequacies. You're here for the good food anyway, not to impress your future better half.

The menu. Hubby and I usually share the Triple Threat. Price may slightly vary depending on the weight of your beef ribs.

Just after the table and chairs, you will see giant impressive meat smokers tucked at the far back. And piles of wood! I was told that the meat is smoked for a good 12 hours, and the whole process from start (marinating the meat) to finish (end of smoking) is a whopping 20 hours! Due to all the work that goes behind the scene, be prepared to pay a slightly hefty price for your beef ribs. But trust me, hands down - it is well worth it.

Weighing our beef ribs.

Rest assured, Beard Brothers' BBQ is completely halal. Heck, the name originated from the owners' facial hair - sunnah nabi, kan? What you do have to worry though, is how fast they run out. I have completely given up on going over on weekend evenings. They sometimes sell out as early as 3pm! If you need to go during the weekend, I suggest lunch (no air-conditioning, mind you). Or do weekday dinners.

Happy carnivore-ing!

Beard Brothers’ BBQ

PG-01, Tropicana Avenue

Persiaran Tropicana

47410 Petaling Jaya

T: 012-319 0962

Open Tuesday to Thursday: noon-2pm and 6-10pm; 

Friday: 6-10pm; Saturday to Sunday: 11am till sellout

Godiva Ice Cream at Genting Premium Outlets

Remember our recent trip to Genting here? Well as mentioned, we made a pitstop at Genting Premium Outlets (GPO), and lo and behold - they had a Godiva outlet!

Although extremely overpriced, I was adamant about trying it out. One cone made us RM25 poorer. *sigh* Aiden actually commented, "I can buy 25 McDonalds ice-cream cones with this!" Yes Aiden, rub it in all you want. To make things worse, we needed a drink to wash the ice-cream down so we ordered a cold milk chocolate drink which set us back a further RM25. Ah, the price of the finer things in life! #marimakanmaggi

The soft serve machine and the Chocolixir cold chocolate.

RM50 aside, I have to admit that the Godiva soft serve ice-cream was really good. It came in three flavour options; Vanilla White Chocolate, Dark Chocolate or Twist Chocolate (mixture of both). We chose the Dark Chocolate! The ice-cream came in a crunchy cone with the rim encrusted in chocolate and crunchy praline almonds.

Pick your pleasure!

I wanted to try the chocolate truffles too, but decided to postpone the wish till our next trip! 

The ice-cream was very creamy and rich, with a strong Belgian dark chocolate taste. A very indulgent and decadent treat! It wasn't extremely sweet so everyone enjoyed every single bite. Sharing one ice-cream between 4 people is no joke, ok! You have to wait quite a bit (while savoring your bite) before your turn comes up again. *giggles* Trust me, this is an ice-cream experience you won't want to miss. You will not regret it. Love at first lick!

Aiden trying to skip his turn.

The Chocolixir drink was a completely different story though. Despite the rave reviews, surprisingly not as rich as I expected it to be. Give it a pass and have some mineral water instead. *chuckles*

Birch @ DC Mall

A friend took me out for lunch recently, and she insisted on trying a place that she found through the internet. I was initially skeptical, but decided to trust her instincts.

Birch is located in DC Mall - a new mall right smack in the Damansara Heights area, close to where the government offices used to be. When we arrived, I was super convinced that the restaurant was going to go belly up after a while. Why? Because the mall was absolutely deserted. But surprisingly by the time we ended our lunch, the restaurant was completely packed with patrons!

Birch, DC Mall.

Having Huckleberry as a sister cafe doesn't hurt either. Birch is part of the team who also owns Huckleberry and Mezze, all of which is within the Damansara Heights vicinity.

Honestly, I wasn't dead impressed with the menu. They didn't have much choices, and they certainly didn't have any Asian options other than good ol' overpriced nasi lemak. (I need my dose of rice for lunch!) Aiden wouldn't be impressed either, as they didn't have any pasta too! Plenty of choices for sandwiches and wraps, though.

In the end, I settled with the Birch Benedict. Spicy pulled chicken (tulis jer serunding ayam kan lagi senang), barbecue sauce, poached egg, hollandaise sauce on toasted 7-grain sourdough, with charred cherry tomato and green salad on the side.

The Birch Benedict.

Creamy hollandaise sauce.

It was definitely right up Hubby's kind of alley. His kinda comfort food; but definitely not mine. I whatsapped to him a photo of my lunch, and he got super excited. Jeez! The taste was good, and they had the poached egg perfectly done. But again, not my idea of a great lunch.

My friend had the Birch Burger - sirloin and brisket burger patty, swiss cheese, jalapeno, chipotle aioli with a side of sweet potato fries. Again, acceptable taste but not my choice of food for lunch. If I had craved for a good burger, I would rather run over to KGB Burger for a great one.

The Birch Burger.

But, the dessert was a completely different story. And probably the sole reason for this blogpost. The Burnt Cheesecake (RM18++ per slice / RM200++ for a whole cake of 12 slices), is probably one of the best cheesecakes I've ever had in a while. It has a brûlée crust, a spongey layer wall, but beautifully contrasted with a gooey creamy center. Absolutely divine. Definitely a must try.

Seriously, this picture does not do justice to the cake.

Last weekend, I decided to take Hubby out for lunch at Birch. I figured that he would appreciate the Birch Benedict more that I would. Imagine my surprise, that upon my arrival, there were at least 15 people milling outside of the cafe and we were listed as number 7 on the wait list. Decided to takeaway the Burnt Cheesecake instead, and we enjoyed the dessert out of a takeaway box in the car. Needless to say, Hubby echoed my sentiments about the cake and we played fencing with our plastic forks for dibs on the last cake crumb.

Quite pricey, but worth every bite.

Verdict? Hubby would have loved it. I would probably come again only for the cheesecake. And if they added more Asian choices and a mean Carbonara for Aiden.

Birch @ DC Mall

Lot G10-11, Ground Floor, DC Mall, 

Jalan Damanlela, Damansara Heights

Monday to Thursday: 9am-1am; 

Friday to Saturday: 9am-2am; 

Sunday: 9am-5pm.

T: 03-2011-5966

Burger & Lobster, Sky Avenue Genting

I haven't been to Genting for two years! Two whole years! Whilst in the car on our drive up, I googled my last entry on our trip to Genting (read it here) and chuckled at the memories. Ian was such a baby and Aiden was very much a vain boy. *giggles*

On our way up, we had the shock of our lives... the car in front of us skidded, went spinning into the slow lane and slammed sideways into the hard divider. It had rained earlier hence the roads were slightly wet. But everyone was going slow and being extra careful. In fact, the car that skidded and our car were actually at the same speed. A few seconds earlier and it could have very well been us! *shudders*

Anyway, we arrived safely at the Awana Sky Station where GPO is. I won't get into much details about GPO but I was quite disappointed that they didn't have many big brands (Ferragamo, Gucci, Burberry, Polo Kids, Hackett) hence I walked out empty handed. We then took the cable car up to the top. There was a big crowd of Chinese tourists queuing and it literally blocked the entrance to the ticketing kiosk. Lesson learnt; if this happens, use the priority lane to skip the tour queue.

Genting has changed so much since the last time we visited. We were amazed at the new look... so modern and high tech. Such a far cry from the dark and bleak indoor arena with the winding escalators. Our first (and only) destination? Burger and Lobster, of course!

We were shocked at the longggg queue outside B&L. But because I was so adamant that I wanted that for dinner, I persevered. No reservations allowed! Queued up for one hour, I kid you not.

Second lesson for the day. Make sure you bring your Genting Rewards card. Physical card ok. Snapshots of card number etc not accepted. Why? Because they had a different published price for Genting members. Silly me didn't bring mine, hence we had to pay full price.

Similar to the original restaurant in London, the menu is pretty much a single pager so don't expect a cushy big fat menu with lots to choose from. Here's a photo of Ian posing with the prices:

The cheaper prices are for Genting cardholders. 

We ordered the original lobster roll, the original wild life lobster, and durian tempura as dessert. Everything was sooooo good! (Still drooling over the lobsters as I'm typing this.)

Our meal for the night.

Everything came with their signature buttery sauce.

The original lobster roll was packed with lobster meat. Juicy, chunky, tender and fresh lobster meat, mixed with Japanese sauce and squeezed in between a brioche. Effectively a lobster toastie! However since it was the most expensive meal out of our ordered three, I was not impressed by the size. It was a pretty pathetic meal to share. Aiden walloped half in barely three minutes. (While saying "sooo good, sooo good" after every bite - that boy has got expensive taste! *chuckles*)

Original lobster roll, RM153. Check out the size of the roll relative to my hand.

As for the wild life lobster, the table next to ours had The Big Boys, so naturally Aiden wanted the same. We balked at the price; RM400 per kg and the smallest lobster they had was ~1.9kg. Sorry Aiden! *giggles* So we settled with our own lobster, which in fact was a pretty good size already for two. Again, we stuck with the original instead of the chili option. (There's always Fatty Crab in case you're craving for chili!) Sooooo good! We chose the grilled version and took our time savoring every bite.

My half of the lobster. I certainly took my time with this.

The Original wild life lobster, RM168..

The size of the pinchers!

For dessert we chose to have durian tempura. This is really an underrated menu at B&L. The tempura was hot and crunchy, but when you bite in, a healthy dose of creamy durian filling comes oozing out. It felt like I had just died and gone to durian heaven.

Durian Tempura, RM25. Definitely a must try!

Given that they didn't have much choices for non-alcoholic drinks, we ordered a milkshake and a mocktail. Laughed our head off when our mocktail arrived as teh o'ais limau ikat tepi.

Verdict? Definitely an enjoyable dinner, despite the slightly atas prices. Would definitely come back for the durian tempura! But probably not for dinner. Perhaps weekday lunch, just to escape the queue? *still massaging my painful calves*

Thanks B&L for the awesome lobster experience!

Burger & Lobster, Genting

SkyAvenue Level 1 69000 Genting Highlands

T: +60 3 61059186

E: info@burgerandlobster-my.com

No reservations allowed. Walk in only.

Hello Weekend!

Can you tell that I'm procrastinating from my Paris stories?? Too many pictures to sort, too many stories to tell. Blurrggghhh.

Tomorrow is the start of a new weekend but I am still not over last weekend. Last weekend was absolutely awesome. Why? Because Hubby and I acted as if we had just recently gotten hitched. *chuckles*

Before you start getting kinky ideas, let me clarify. The kids decided demanded that they wanted to sleep at their grandparents, and incidentally it was also my helper's week off. Do the math, who's left?? Just the two of us! (Reminds me so much of the Will Smith song.)

Oh we made so much plans and we were super productive too! Without the kids in our hair, everything was done much much faster. First thing on the list, date night! We started with a scrumptious dinner at Beard Brother's BBQ. If you've never heard of the place, I strongly suggest that you give it a try. Hubby is a big fan of beef and when I told him that the beef ribs are smoked for 20 hours, he was sold. We were lucky too, cos we got the last beef ribs and briskets (lamb was sold out). As soon as they served us, they put up the sold out sign! When we sat down to eat, we were surprised to see plastic cutleries. How-lah to eat beef ribs with plastic knifes??? Well, we were pleasantly surprised. The beef was soooo tender that the plastic knife practically glided through the meat.

Date night!

Beef ribs and briskets. We didn't even bother with the sauce; the beef was scrumptious on its own!

Can you see the logs that they use to smoke the beef?

Next, a midnight movie! We haven't done a midnight movie in yearsssss. Because the kids usually wait up for us, we don't like keeping them (and our helper) waiting. But watching a movie together with the knowledge that no one was waiting for us, was sooooo liberating. After the movie, it was close to 3am. We cracked our heads trying to think of a place to lepak but we both came up empty. We even tried driving around a few places which we hoped would still be open, but everything was closed. In the end we drove home and enjoyed some quiet time together.

The next day we woke up late, and decided to embark on yet another house improvement project that has been hanging in our heads for quite a while. Hubby wants to revamp the gazebo! So off we went to IKEA. Shopping was such a breeze without the kids to slow us down. After IKEA, we went shopping at the Sungai Buloh nursery. And by afternoon, we started gardening! Such efficient use of time!

I'm still salivating over those meatballs.

An afternoon of gardening.

We had a good dinner close to home and then retired for the night. The next morning, we woke up early and decided to cycle to the clubhouse for breakfast! If the kids are around we usually have to wait for them to wake up and then drag them on their bikes which ultimately just slows us down. Despite that, we started to miss the kids sorely. To the point that we started talking about the kids and their antics during breakfast!

Spent the rest of the day spring cleaning the house, and then yet another trip to IKEA for some last minute items. Came home and put the finishing touches on the gazebo. It's nearly there, save for the outdoor blinds. But I'll save the photos for another blogpost.

Not quite there yet, but hopefully soon enough!

Night rolled in and we went to my in-laws to pick up the kids. Imagine our surprise to find them not home! Sempat lagi squeeze another excursion out despite knowing that we would be coming by to pick them up. When they finally arrived, Ian refused to come home. After much much much coaxing, he finally agreed to go home to "get a fresh pair of clothes". #tipusunat *chuckles*

Here's to more quiet weekends with Hubby in the future!

Ayam Goreng Mekdi

Have you guys tried the much publicized ayam goreng McD? Yes, the one with the krup krap advertisement that is so annoying yet so vindictively satisfying. Seriously, the fried chicken has been available for as long as I can remember, but this recent advertisement practically attracted droves of people to hunt it down until it is sold out virtually everywhere! It should really go into some marketing textbooks or something.

Salivating for something crunchy, fueled by various pictures shared by fellow friends who enjoyed the ayam goreng immensely, I decided to join the bandwagon. As soon as I picked Aiden up from school, I made a pit stop at our local McDonalds. Managed to beat the dinner crowd, and I scored the very last box of fried chicken. I know that for a fact, because the patron right after me didn't manage to get any.

My verdict? It is extremely crunchy. Way crunchier than KFC. But it is very very spicy. Aiden yang tahan pedas pun had to standby a tall glass of cold water by his side, sipping after every bite. As for me, my perut panas after the meal. Caused some stomach discomfort but it was absolutely worth it! Not for the faint-hearted. Although I'll probably soon relapse to my favourite KFC original chicken since I'm such a chili wuss.

If you enjoy spicy food, go ahead and try it out. Enjoy the hunt!

Jaslyn Cakes @ Telawi, Bangsar

If you've been following my Instagram, you would have noticed how crazy I am over Jaslyn Cakes. Just this week, I've been there for four consecutive days. It's crazy, not just for my diet but for my wallet too! (Thank god for Uber's LuckyNumber7 promo; my trips from office to Bangsar and back are usually only ~80cents per way!)

But before I continue, I need to manage your expectations. Jaslyn Cakes is a tiny cafe located in Bangsar. It is not a place suitable for birthday parties or big group lunches. It occupies about half a shop and has very limited seats. Whenever I go, I typically do takeaway. So big lunch in BV2 and then walkover to Jaslyn for desserts.

What makes Jaslyn Cakes so great? For starters, the moment you walk in, you are greeted by the smell of freshly baked cakes and cookies. Ohhhh soooo heavenly! Secondly, their cakes are all moist and flavorful. Made with good butter and a myriad of flavours. Love in every bite! Premium ingredients too, hence the slightly inflated prices. Note the generous compliments, coming from this half decent home baker!

So which cakes do I recommend? Here's my top five sinful decadent delights:

1. Vanilla Bean Cheesecake
2. Yogurt Banana Loaf
3. Butter Loaf
4. Salty Valrhoma Brownies
5. Chocolate Chip Cookies

Other than that, I've also tried their Earl Grey Chiffon cake, Madeleine and Carrot cake. Hubby especially loves their Carrot cake, but I on the other hand wasn't too fond of the strong cinnamon taste!

However, if you are not a big fan of sugary delights, I think you should stay away from the Butterscotch Blondies and the Sticky Date pudding. The former was slightly sweet but still bearable, however the latter was way way way too sweet. Even with my Kelantanese heritage, I struggled to finish half of it. So I would probably give these two a miss.

The next time you're in the Telawi area, try this out! You can thank me later. *giggles*

Jaslyn Cakes

7A, Jalan Telawi 2, Bangsar Baru, 

59100 Kuala Lumpur

T: +603-2202 2868

11am - 6pm (7pm on weekends)

Birthday Date Night at Nobu KL

My better half turned 35 last Saturday.

I thought long and hard about what I was going to get for him. Unlike me (who has about a zillion things in my shopaholic list), my man is quite content about what he owns. So what do you give a man who has everything? You give him love and affection!!! *giggles* Okay fine, I'll stop being corny. To cut a long story short, I bought him a new phone. Somehow or rather, he managed to crack the screen on his last two consecutive phones, and once he mentioned in passing about how much he loves the quality of photos from his S6. Hence I decided to give him the S7 Edge, not just because he deserves a new phone, but also so he can take beautiful photos of me! *flips hair*

Anyhow, this blogpost is to share our experience celebrating Hubby turning mid-thirties at Nobu KL. I've heard many rave reviews about this place - not only for the excellent dishes but also for its exorbitant prices. Since you only turn 35 just once in your life, I decided to give it a try.

I scouted the place a couple of days before the event. I was able to make a booking, and even pre-order a personalized birthday dessert in advance. Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to book a specific window table specifically for the sunset experience. The window tables were on a first come first serve basis!

Come the actual day, we arrived at the restaurant sharp at 6pm. Albeit it being a Friday night, thankfully the restaurant was still empty hence we scored ourselves a private window corner with an excellent view of the KL skyline and a side view of the Petronas Twin Towers. The restaurant has a warm and simple woody interior, which was great as it didn't overshadow the 56th floor metropolitan view. That night, not only did we witness a stunning sunset, we also saw the Twin Towers light up at about 7ish pm.

Loveeeee the S7 Edge camera!

Twin towers in the background.

Perfect sunset.

Food wise? Spectacular! Initially I wanted to take the Omakase set - where you get surprised by whatever the chef selects and prepares for you. (Omakase in Japanese means "respectfully leaving another to decide what is best".) But since it was our first time there, the nice lady serving us recommended for us to try Nobu's worldwide signature courses instead. And it was such a good choice too! We chose everything that she recommended, about 5 courses in total not including dessert. (Each Nobu course is meant to be shared as the servings are just nice for two, maximum three people.) By the time we got to the fifth course, we were absolutely full!

Salmon New Style Sashimi, RM65.

We both love salmon sashimi, hence this was our favourite out of all the cold courses! The soy-sesame oil emulsion they used was to die for!

Yellowtail Sashimi Jalapeno, RM70. We were urged to eat the jalapeno together with the sashimi, to bring out the taste of the yellowtail. The tangy Yuzu sauce went very well with the spicy jalapeno. The yellow tail was so fresh, it melted in my mouth. Two thumbs up! 

Baby Spinach/Butter Lettuce Dry Miso with Scallop, RM85.

We loved this one too - the greens were fresh and crunchy. The scallops were amazing!

Service was impeccable. Since they served the cold courses first, we took our time and took lots of selfies (courtesy of the new phone). Even with the delays, every course was delivered smoothly to the table. The staff took the time to explain every dish they sent, they even suggested novel ways of eating the course to bring out the taste in every bite.

Last photo before darkness fell. Baby Tiger Shrimp Tempura - Creamy Spicy, RM60.

Twin Towers in the background.

Last but certainly not least, the highlight of our meal - the Black Cod with Miso. We were lucky to be given a thick succulent piece of cod (we compared with the table beside us). The miso marinated cod was grilled to perfection. You could literally use your chopsticks to 'peel' each layer of the fish. Without a doubt - a Michelin-worthy dish.

Nobu's signature Black Cod with Miso, RM135. It came with a strip of ginger, as a palate cleanser at the end.

This is definitely a must try. Such a cardinal sin if you skip this!

At the 4th course (before Miso Cod) we thought we were still hungry hence we added a Soft Shell Crab roll, RM50. We won't do it again next time, as we felt full as soon as we finished out cod, and the roll wasn't anything to shout about anyway.

Note that they have a cakeage charge for outside cakes, which they will gladly waive if you order any of the desserts from their menu. I decided to be lazy and just order ahead; I chose the Chocolate Sphere as it had a theatrical theme to it. It was such a gastronomical hypnotic spectacle - hot chocolate is poured over a chocolate dome which then melts away to display a scoop of ice-cream hidden within it. We oohhh-ed and aaahhh-ed as the dome began to fall off. Watch the video below:

Sorry for the blur photo - in all the excitement, it turned out to be our only photo with the cake!

Chocolate Sphere - Dark Chocolate Dome, Cinnamon Custard, Almond and Green Tea Crumble, Sake Kasu Ice Cream, Hot Chocolate Sauce. Hubby was amused at how the crumble crackled on the plate and even in his mouth. 

Happy 35th birthday, darling!

Last photo for the night. Wearing the Zea top from the Aere Hope collection.

Thanks Nobu KL, for turning Hubby's birthday into such a lovely and memorable outing. We will definitely come again, not just for the friendly service and incredible ambiance, but specifically for the sensational tastes we experienced!

Nobu Kuala Lumpur

Level 56, Menara 3 Petronas,

Persiaran Kuala Lumpur City Center 

50088 Malaysia

T: +603 2164 5084/

Lunch: 12-2pm

Dinner: 6-10pm

Sky High Tea: 230-430pm (Sat/Sun only)

No children below 12 years old during weekdays, except during public holidays.