Esquire Kitchen @ Pandan Indah

Rating:

• Food (1-10): 6.5
  
• Price (1-10): 7
  
• Environment (1-10): 7.5

8 May 2011: We went to Esquire Kitchen at Pandan Indah for Mother's day celebration dinner. My mom selected Esquire Kitchen because of the Herbal Chicken in the Parents day promotional set. We have been searching desperately for good herbal chicken but we have yet to find any. Esquire Kitchen serves home-style Shanghainese and Sze Chuan dishes.


Here are what we had...

• Steamed Herbal Chicken -> The chicken itself is almost tasteless. All of us added soy sauce onto the chicken for better taste. The sauce has got mild herbal taste though, but definitely not enough for this type of herbal chicken. Disappointing.
  
• Deep Fried Fish Slices with Orange Mayonnaise -> The fish is too salty.
• Egg Taufu with Vegetarian Abalone -> Not bad.
• Sharkfin Omelette -> Quite tasty. I'm a hardcore egg-lover. I like almost anything cooked with egg.
• Wan Yee Kailan -> Normal.

For Worldcard member, there's free dessert with Parents' Day Set. The available options for dessert are Guai Ling Gou and Tau Fu Fah. Both taste quite good.


Here's the location and contact of Esquire Kitchen @ Pandan Indah...
Address: Lot 23, Ground Floor, Pandan Kapital, Jalan Pandan Lama, Pandan Indah, 55100 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03-4296 6484


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Ming Kee Hokkien Mee @ Restoran Ong Lay, OUG

Rating:

• Food (1-10): 8.5
  
• Price (1-10): 8.5
  
• Environment (1-10): 6.5
  

2 May 2011: Ming Kee Hokkien Mee serves my favourite Hokkien Mee. It is a stall in Restoran Ong Lay, OUG. Ming Kee only opens in the evening.


Here comes the food...

• Hokkien Mee (RM5.50) -> Really tasty inside out. Taste and feel just right. Neither too oily nor too dry. I will crave for it if I don't eat it for some time.
• Cantonese Kuey Teow (滑蛋河) (RM5.50) -> One of my favourite as well. Kuey Teow itself is tasty enough. The gravy is also thick and taste great. Yummy yummy!

However, something that I would to emphasize is the consistency of the QC here. Sometimes the food might not taste as good, especially when there's long queue.

Here's the location of Ming Kee Hokkien Mee @ OUG...
Address: Restoran Ong Lay, Medan Hujan Rahmat, Overseas Union Garden (OUG), 58200 Kuala Lumpur.


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The Library @ Mid Valley Megamall

Rating:

• Food (1-10): 7.5
  
• Price (1-10): 7.5
  
• Environment (1-10): 7.5
  

2 May 2011: I had a lunch gathering with friends at The Library, Mid Valley Megamall. The Library is mainly a bar/bistro in the evening and a restaurant during day time. We decided to have our gathering here because there's a Buy 1 Free 1 Lunch Promotion. This promotion allow us to buy 1 item on the menu and free 1 item at same or lower price. Dessert is not included in the promotion.

We did not expect much from the food here because The Library is a place for drinking, not for eating. Here are what we had...

• Grilled Creole Fish (RM29.90++) -> Tilapia fish fillet marinated with Cajun spices, served with fries & salad bouquet. I love the sauce, very tasty and appetizing. The fish is not bad, a bit too salty but still within acceptable range. Worth a try if the lunch promotion is still on, else this is a bit pricey. Fyi, this is chef recommendation.
  
• Spaghetti Carbonara (RM27.90++) -> Aldante pasta, cooked with smoked turkey ham and sauteed button mushrooms, in thick creamy sauce. This is our favourite dish here. Taste just right. Not too plain, not too cheesy. A lot better than expected. Recommended.
  
• Pasta Funghi Con Olio (RM19.90++) -> Slightly spicy but overall taste a bit too plain. Edible but not recommended, although this is chef recommendation dish.
  
• Warm Peach and Banana Crumble (RM19++) -> Oatmeal, banana and peach served warm with cream and vanilla ice-cream. I'm not a peach and banana lover so I did not try this. Quoted from a friend "too hard". She demonstrated on how hard is it and I can conclude that it's unreasonably too hard to be eaten.

Generally, the food here is much better than expected. Worth a try if the Buy 1 Free 1 Lunch Promotion is still on.

Here's the location and contact of The Library @ Mid Valley Megamall...
Address: Lot G(E) 001&002, Ground External Floor, Mid Valley Megamall, Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra, 59200 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03-2282 6001


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Prego @ Westin Hotel, Kuala Lumpur

Rating:

• Food (1-10): 7
  
• Price (1-10): 6
  
• Environment (1-10): 8.5

1 May 2011: Prego has been in our "to go" list since 2 yrs ago. We finally had dinner at Prego. It's claimed to be the best Italian Restaurant in town. We were seated at a table that allow us to have a clear view of the "Show" kitchen, where we can watch how the food is prepared.


Here are what we had...

• Fettuccine Carbonara (RM31++) -> The fettuccine is Prego home-made fresh egg pasta. However, it is too thin and soft. I don't really like the texture of this home-made fettuccine. It reminds me of "Pan Mee" that's soaked too long in the sauce/soup. The fettuccine stick together like a whole big bunch of flour. This is such a disappointment since I've been looking forward to dine here for some time. The carbonara sauce tastes great though. It might be better if we order Spaghetti Carbonara instead of Fettuccine.
  
• Calzone Bomba Pizza (RM34++) -> Consists of turkey ham, zucchini, artichoke, basil, pesto sauce, tomato and mozzarella. We selected this pizza because it's labelled as chef recommendation. It looks unique and tastes great. However, the pizza base is soft and soggy, not crunchy at all. I'm not sure whether it's meant to be like that. I personally prefer crunchy pizza base.
• Bread with tomato sauce -> Complimentary starter from Prego. Not bad.
• Zuccotta al Cioccolata (RM20++) -> Prego's famous chocolate mud pie. If I were to give this a name, I'll call it chocolate ice-cream cake with coffee powder. This is total disappointment for me. I did not expect it to be an ice-cream cake. Besides, it tastes more like a coffee cake than a chocolate cake to me. Note: I'm not a coffee lover.
• Black Coffee (RM11++) -> Quoted from my bf "This coffee is good. I enjoy drinking it even without sugar."

In conclusion... the food we ordered are generally disappointing. Maybe it's our fault, not knowing what's supposed to be ordered. Anyway, we really enjoy watching the "Show" kitchen. Maybe we will go again some other time to try some other dishes.

Note:
1. American Express Credit Cards can enjoy 20% savings on total food bill. Valid until 31 December 2011.
2. CIMB Credit Cards Promotion. Valid until 31 December 2011.

Here's the location and contact of Prego @ Westin Hotel...
Address: 199, Jalan Bukit Bintang, 55100 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03-2773 8338
Business Hours (Daily)...
Lunch: 12pm - 2.30pm (Monday - Saturday)
Brunch: 11.30am - 2.30pm (Sunday)
Snack: 2.30pm - 6.30pm
Dinner: 6.30pm - 10.30pm (Monday - Sunday)


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Chateau De Caffeinees @ Jalan Kampung Pandan

Rating:

• Food (1-10): 6.5
  
• Price (1-10): 6.5
  
• Environment (1-10): 7

1 May 2011: We went to Chateau De Caffeinees for lunch. It is a place that offers coffee and food in relaxing environment. It is located in Jalan Kampung Pandanm, next to Rendezvous Steak Garden. The exterior design of the restaurant is nicely done. It's a very pleasing garden. However, the interior deco of the restaurant (e.g. floor, doors, windows, etc...) is slightly old and run down.


Caffeinees offers set lunch that includes selected main meal, gelato and drinks (iced lemon tea/long black/english tea). The set lunch that we ordered is priced at RM23++...

• Caffeinees Baked Rice -> Rice served with fried chicken wing and salad. This is a chef recommended item. However, I think this is disappointed. The skin of fried chicken wing is crispy and quite tasty but the chicken meat itself is tasteless. The baked rice is too soggy and very filling but not very tasty. I'm not sure what the exact word to describe the taste of the rice, I just don't enjoy it.
• Long Black -> Average.
• Gelato (Mango) -> I love this! Very fine and creamy gelato with natural mango taste. It's a ready made gelato from JezRipe. I'm planning to look for this gelato, buy in bulk and store in my own fridge. Highly recommended!
  

Besides the set lunch, we ordered some ala carte items as well...

• Carribbean Grilled Chicken (RM20++) -> Grilled chicken chop with creamy mild spicy home specialty sauce. This is another chef recommended item. Also another very disappointing one. The grilled chicken itself is quite juicy and tender. It's acceptable for the grilled chicken itself to be tasteless. Normally, the taste of grilled chicken is highly dependent on the sauce. However, the sauce is a complete failure. It's literally TASTELESS!
  
• Green Apple-Lime Ice Blended (RM8.50++) -> Another chef recommendation. The juice is diluted by the ice although I drink it immediately after it's served. This juice taste more like iced water...
• Flourless Chocolate Cake (RM9++) -> I like this. Soft, fine, creamy and 'chocolatie'. Worth a try.

In conclusion, I personally think that the chef recommendations are misleading and disappointing.

Here's the location and contact of Chateau de Caffeinees...
Address: No. 16, Jalan Kampung Pandan, 55100 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 012-2191220
Business Hours: 9.30am - 3am (Sunday - Thursday), 9.30am - 4am (Friday - Saturday)


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