Itty bitty cupcakes from Marmalade.
Inspired by Honey Star’s post, dear sweet Boo_licious purchased these gorgeous babies and brought them along when we had lunch together today.
Tiny, bite-sized pieces priced at RM2 for two cupcakes, they brought an instant smile to all our faces. The vanilla cupcakes, reminiscent of cakes of yore with sugar icing, were a blast from the past.
Aaaah. If only all Fridays would be like today. Have a wonderful weekend, dear readers!
Y
As an appreciator of good food, I am quite transparent in my expressions. It doesn’t take a genius to figure me out. Savouring that perfect piece of siew yoke (roasted pork), I close my eyes and allow myself to enjoy that experience completely; a raise of the eyebrow signifies that I am astonished that food can taste so heavenly, the widening of my eyes follows the raised eyebrow (for the same reason, obviously), and finally….finally….reverent silence as my senses are enveloped in that one action of popping the siew yoke into my mouth. At the end, there is the last act of inhalation of breath as the aroma and taste intermingle.
And if I don’t like what I eat? First, a feeling of uneasiness about why I am still mechanically putting the food into my mouth (because mum said I should never waste food, perhaps?). My face is contorted as I try to mask the pain that I endure as I shovel the food down my throat, and despite all that I do, I am unable to swallow the food. My mouth soon becomes filled with a mish-mash of different types of food, like a cow that constantly chews on grass, but digestion takes forever. My eyes water, as though pleading for the nightmare to stop, but no one is around to pinch me.
And then there are the times when everything is ho-hum, pretty ordinary, and nothing exceptional.
My lunch at Gopala Vegetarian Restaurant was somewhat like the final scenario. I was fully aware that the restaurant was a pure vegetarian restaurant, and so my expectations were tuned in to that radiowave. “No garlic and onion,” I reminded myself. That was perhaps the most difficult thing for my brain and my tastebuds to reconcile. As I am not, and have never been, a vegetarian, it is hard for me to fully appreciate food that is not prepared with the two ingredients belonging to the allium family that are purportedly detrimental to health, meditation and devotion.
Having said that, my comment on the food at Gopala is more towards the variety and preparation as compared to the actual taste of the food, which I found overly intense in certain areas with one dominant flavour coming through as compared to the blending of several flavours. To put it briefly, the rasam (which is traditionally prepared with garlic as one of the main ingredients) was strangely very hot (as in spicy) but lacked the slightly sour taste which is normally associated with it, while certain vegetables tasted like the chef had a strong liking for chilli powder. It certainly appeared like the chef was attempting to compensate certain flavours by adding in others to a degree of intolerance (to me and my dining companion, at least), which consequently resulted in unpalatable dishes. Of course, I am fully aware that my tastebuds are different from others, and would be interested to know what you think of the food here.
Maybe I am a little upset about the taste of the food after all. 🙂
As I was saying, I was more annoyed about the fact that there was a lack of variety. The vegetables, even though they were edible, appeared to be dishes that had been quickly prepared to meet the daily quota. There seemed to be a lack of thought about the combination of dishes for the day. My thali meal consisting of rice and several types of vegetables was very ordinary, to say the least.
We tried one of the mock meats – mock prawn sambal, which not only had the texture of overcooked prawns, but didn’t taste very good either.
Sometimes, looks can be so deceiving.
For dessert, a bowl of payasam was included in the platter. The payasam was not milky at all; the gooey texture seemed to be contributed by the sago and possibly starch. It was also extremely sweet, and it was probably the only time that I was unable to finish my payasam.
And what was good? I liked the moru (diluted yoghurt drink) while the mango lassi was outstanding.
The basic thali meal, priced at RM5 per person was reasonable, but I got better value from the other vegetarian restaurant (although bear in mind that the other one isn’t a pure vegetarian restaurant as they use alliums in their cooking). The prawn sambal was RM4.50 for a small serving.
Other reviews:-
masak-masak
The Gastronomic Diary
Gopala Vegetarian Restaurant
No. 59, Jalan Thambipillai, Brickfields, 50470 KL.
Tel: 03-2274 1959
Open 7 days. Business hours: 7.00am to 1.00am
HOW TO PISS HIM OFF
1.
Wake up early on a Saturday morning and tell him you’re going off for breakfast at Hong Kee Tim Sum Restaurant with Precious Pea, Allan Yap, Fatboybakes, Jackson, Teckiee and Kenny Mah….but without him.2.
Tell him that he has to take care of the weekend housecleaner/maid while you’re having fun with your blogger friends.
3.
Tell him that Fatboybakes brought delicious durian cheesecake for the breakfast group, and that there were a few extra pieces, but because you had stuff to do after breakfast and weren’t able to go home immediately, you didn’t pack any for him.
4.
Pack two packets of Sang Chau Loh Mai Fan (fried glutinous rice) from Hong Kee Tim Sum as a peace offering for him, but spend too much time at the hair salon after breakfast. As a result, you can’t go home on time to deliver the rather cold Sang Chau Loh Mai Fan to your ravenous husband.
5.
Well, the hair salon isn’t the only excuse. With fifteen minutes to spare between the hair salon and the next facial appointment, you squeeze in enough time to grab a quick lunch with Kenny Mah, but not enough time to send home the very cold packets of Sang Chau Loh Mai Fan.
6.
After the facial, you pop by at Just Heavenly to chitchat with the very yummy Allan Yap while he works on two GORGEOUS wedding cakes. The two packets of Sang Chau Loh Mai Fan are no longer cold, but change temperature to boiling point in the afternoon heat in the car while you spend a good hour and a half in Allan’s very nice-smelling kitchen.
7.
On the way home at 5.45pm, you get hunger pangs and call your husband, asking him if he’ll let you eat one packet of Sang Chau Loh Mai Fan.
8.
After feeding hubby with the remaining packet of Sang Chau Loh Mai Fan (considered a very late lunch) at 6.30pm, you tell him that you want to take a short nap because you’re exhausted. You promise to cook him a nice dinner when you wake up in an hour. You end up waking up at 7.00am the next day, on time for church.
HOW TO REDEEM YOURSELF
1.
Treat him to a VERY EXPENSIVE BRUNCH at Jarrod & Rawlins in Damansara Heights. All of RM76.48 to be precise. DO NOT whine. DO NOT complain. Look HAPPY. And tell him how lucky you are to have a wonderful husband like him.
Y Y Y Y Y
The soulful strains of Nat King Cole welcomed us as we stepped foot into Jarrod & Rawlins this morning. I was hungry, having slept through dinner last night, and he just wanted an expensive breakfast from me. Jarrod & Rawlins satisfied both our needs.
We were both ambitious. I was hungry, so I chose the J & R’s Special Fried Breakfast set consisting of two eggs, two sausage, bacon, grilled tomatoes, mushrooms, baked beans, fried bread, coffee and juice. All for RM34 (US$10) before taxes.
He chose the same breakfast because it was the most expensive.
The eggs, cooked sunny side up, were delicious. The yolks were slightly runny, just the way I like them. The pork bangers were great; the flavours of the minced pork and the seasoning were lovely and they were lightly grilled to allow the bangers to be sufficiently juicy. They can also be purchased at the counter at RM4.50 per 100gms. Similarly, the bacon was also grilled lightly to ensure that the meat was not overly dry. Sadly, the sliced mushrooms were sauteed in too much oil, and I spent quite a bit of time squeezing the oil out. I enjoyed eating the fried bread – such a simple thing, but fried so evenly, soaking in a bit of oil but still retaining it crispness.
Bald Eagle wolfed down everything. Unfortunately, I was overambitious and should have stuck to the normal Fried Breakfast menu (priced at RM28). I struggled to finish my breakfast and felt like the sausages and fried bread and sauteed mushrooms and all the excess oil were oozing out through my pores and nose and ears.
Jarrod & Rawlins
No. 6, Lorong Dungun
Damansara Heights, 50480 KL
Tel: 03-2093 0708
Also at:
No. 36 (Grd floor), Jalan 27/70A,
Desa Sri Hartamas, 50480 KL
Tel: 03-2300 0708
And………
Bald Eagle is going to be pleasantly surprised when he sees what’s waiting for him when he comes home tonight after the Liverpool-Chelsea match. Delicious vanilla and chocolate cupcakes by Boo_licious!! (Although I’ve already eaten half of them…yummy…thanks, Boo!! And congratulations on achieving 1 million hits!)
Yep, I think I’ve redeemed myself!! *wide grin*
Y