Christmas Comes Early for LL / Pick N’ Brew, 1 Utama

Posted on December 15, 2008 by Lyrical Lemongrass

Christmas and New Year Come Early for Lyrical Lemongrass and friends (check out the hunks!!!)

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Meeting Fatboybakes has definitely improved my social life. How else does one get a party thrown in one’s honor, or in Fatboybakes’ words: “All in honor of AWHIFFOFLEMONGRASS who’ll be blardy partying in Sydney for xmas and new year. CIS BEDEBAH.” Awwww. I have tears in my eyes.

FBB’s menu (printed on tracing paper, just like in the fancy restaurants) boasted a lavish tea time spread, much like those described in Enid Blyton’s storybooks, that included foie gras pate, assorted cheeses, bacon & mushroom pizzas, Spring Golden sakura pork char siu, Mr Ho’s Salted Ox Tongue and cold cuts, garden salad, mushroom and pork stuffing (sans turkey), absolutely perfect freshly baked scones with the most sinfully delicious clotted cream and jam, rum and raisin tart that had enough alcohol to get one tipsy, his latest creation – the Spencer’s 4 Seasons X’mas moussake (moussey cake? cake and mousse? see picture top right corner) and christmas panforte. Oh, and loads and loads of Macallan to ensure a healthy glow to the skin. Did I mention that this was just for tea?

And so we sang carols and exchanged gifts, and when the clock struck 7.30pm, we took off our Santa hats, started the countdown and sang Auld Lang Syne to welcome the New Year. Spending Christmas and New Year with my dearest friends is the best feeling in the world. Thanks, FBB, for a wonderful party! You go girl!

2.

Eggnog latte (RM15)

There are other ways to enjoy a good Christmas meal, of course. (Sans the hunks, unfortunately.) One way that won’t burn a hole in your pocket is to try Pick n Brew’s RM28 Christmas All Day Special (available in the month of December from 11.00am to 9.30pm) consisting of a soup (changes daily), a choice of main course (from beef, lamb, fish or chicken) and a drink.

Oven baked stuffed chicken on soft mushroom polenta and sauteed vegetables

The chicken breast was baked with a garlic cheese stuffing that hinted of rosemary. I absolutely loved the polenta mash that was cooked with couscous which gave it a nice grainy texture. I must warn you, though, that if you’re planning on doing some cuddling, this is NOT the dish for you as the flavour of the garlic is potent.

Beef escalope and lobster tail with sauteed mushroom and grilled potato

Instead, try the beef escalope and lobster tail, a much smaller portion compared to the chicken breast, but less of a date-killer. The meat is lean, tender and juicy and even though the lobster tail isn’t more than a mouthful (now you see it, now you don’t), the meal is well balanced with a lovely fruity balsamic sauce (which actually reminds me of a vino cotto) that brings out the flavour of the meat quite well. The beef is slightly thicker than normal, though.

Mixed grain cookies

For an additional RM10 (or RM15 without the meal), one can opt for a glass of wine or an eggnog latte instead. The eggnog latte comes with a dash of brandy, a nice thick concoction that is really good. Pick n’ Brew also offers, for RM12 (from 3pm to 6pm), a choice of their gourmet coffees and teas and a plate of 5 cookies (mixed grain or chocolate chip) or chocolate log cake. The mixed grain cookies are delicious – somewhere between muesli and sweet cookies. (So that one can enjoy the cookies and feel like one is still on a diet.)

The ambience at Pick n’ Brew is more like a cafe, but with a higher comfort level as compared to a coffee place. It has an enclosed smoking area, separate from the non-smoking section, quite unlike certain restaurants that make a mockery of the smoking/non-smoking demarcation of space. The christmas menu is surprisingly good value for money and the presentation takes it a class above normal cafe food. There is the usual pull between what Pick n’ Brew represents, and I still can’t figure out what their niche is. Finally, thanks, Jackson, for your kind invitation to sample the Christmas Menu at Pick n’ Brew.

Pick n’ Brew
F233, 1 Utama Shopping Centre
Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya.

Tel: 03-7726 0102

Note: Christmas All Day Menu is also available at Pick n’ Brew Hicom-Glenmarie outlet from 11am – 7.30pm only. Eggnog Latte is not available at Pick n’ Brew Hicom–Glenmarie.

Credits. A special thanks to:
1. Fatboybakes, for the X’mas/New Year party photographs, and
2. HairyBerry, my Weekend B^*ch ©, for the gorgeous photographs taken at Pick n’ Brew.

Palate Palette, Jalan Mesui KL

Posted on May 12, 2008 by Lyrical Lemongrass

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“Are you the type who likes surprises”, he asked on Facebook.

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The best type of surprise. When someone pays attention to what you said in an earlier conversation on Tagore and Murakami and the silken liquid voice of Bernice Chauly.

And he even got it autographed for me. I can’t contain my pleasure.

It’s not always about food.

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We are lunchtime alcoholics.

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We share delectable gossip at a table converted from an old sewing machine. It is almost like it was meant to be. Except that in the old days, little old ladies at sewing machines told each other stories of the fishmonger who slept with the goreng pisang seller’s daughter. That dirty old man.

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Is this a reflection of our minds? A cornucopia of colours, twisted metal and wires? Beneath it all, we are so alike.

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My shrimp and avocado salad. A splendid combination of ingredients, but in this case, the finely chopped avocado was rather hard and lacked the creamy, buttery taste of ripe avocados.

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His oxtail shepherd’s pie. Braised, hearty, chunky oxtail in a pie with mushroom sauce to pour over it. The surface is a garlic potato combo.

8.

No ordinary fish and chips here. Tempura fried dory with a combination of potato and yam chips, an appealing vertical presentation.

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The pastry has a brittle, biscuit-like texture with the aroma of sesame. The custard, sandwiched between the biscuit layers, is creamy and has a faint green tea flavour. This is my favourite.

10.

My weekend sojourn.

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With my Weekend B^*ch ©.

12.

“The world is full of metaphors
and I am one of them.”

-Bernice Chauly-

Palate Palette
21 Jalan Mesui, Off Jalan Nagasari
50200 KL.

Tel: 03-2142 2148

Sunday & Weekdays 12pm to 12am
Friday & Saturday 12pm to 2am
Closed Monday.

Website here.

Addendum

Perhaps it is necessary to include the following notes:

1. No bald eagles were harmed in the process.

3. Consent was obtained before making the reference. 🙂

Prime, Le Meridien

Posted on March 10, 2008 by Lyrical Lemongrass

“Welcome back,” he said.

It was a Saturday evening, and I was chuckling to myself when his words interrupted my reverie.

“Whatever for?” I asked.

“You’re back.” He smiled. “So we’re going to Prime to celebrate.”

“Back? I never went anywhere.” I looked hard for the bump on his head where he would have knocked his head on the cangkul.

“I thought I had lost you this past week. You were turning into a grumpy little thing and your language had become quite colourful,” he said.

He was right. I had turned into a grouch. A grumpy cynical grouch. It almost felt like it was my cross to bear. And that’s the thing. It was my cross to bear. Every vote counted in the end.

And so, to let him know that I had indeed returned, I agreed to let him buy me dinner at Prime.

Two types of bread were placed before us. A slightly spicy focaccia bread, soft and herby, and several slices of nutty mexican bread. Three different types of butter accompanied the bread – salted, barbecued and herbed. All were excellent, and as much as I told myself that I wouldn’t pig out on bread, I did. If there’s one thing I can’t resist, it’s good butter. And now that I have to wait almost 16 months for the incomparable truffle butter at Cilantro, I have to look for substitutes before I start milking cows and churning cream to make my own butter. Which can be quite a feat considering that I have little space in my humble abode for cows. I can hardly see them grazing on my 10 x 10 ft lawn.

The portobello mushroom salad, costing RM45 for 2 pieces, came covered with rocket, cheese and truffle. I loved how the mushrooms came perfectly grilled, and had absorbed a hint of the accompanying flavours. (Sorry, in my haste to photograph this salad, I forgot to lift up the skirt to reveal the temptations beneath.)

He ordered a mother of a steak. All of 16oz of it. It was an Australian T-bone steak (aged 60 days, I think), grilled medium rare and served with a creamy mash sprinkled with bits of fragrant truffle, asparagus, peppercorn sauce and a glorious bearnaise sauce. He pronounced it a good piece of meat, juicy and succulent and grilled to perfection.

Prime was having a special promo (for March) on the king of steaks – the magnificent Kobe. As much as the other options (and there were many) tempted and tantalised me, I was steadfast in my choice. The master kobe chuck flap tail tataki with cannellinni beans stewed with smoked beef bacon, rocket leaves and a winter truffle sauce was lightly seared on the outside, thus retaining the juiciness inside. And the flesh? It was pink and tender and yielded easily as I sliced it with my knife.

My dessert was a warm chocolate cake accompanied by a scoop of macadamia nuts ice-cream and fresh fruits.

The chocolate cake was delicious served with some chocolate sauce poured over it.

Yup, I was back.

Prime
Le Meridien
2 Jalan Stesen Sentral
Kuala Lumpur Sentral
Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 2263 7888

The good people of AD may view the pictures HERE.

A Whiff of Lemongrass

NOT a food blog

Category Archives: Food Type: Misc Western

Christmas Comes Early for LL / Pick N’ Brew, 1 Utama

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Palate Palette, Jalan Mesui KL

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Addendum

Prime, Le Meridien