William’s, Taman Mayang Jaya

Sometimes, interesting food can be found in the unlikeliest of places.The Man Who Lost His RazorTake for example, William’s. Fellow blogger and Hot Sweaty Stud (HSS – not to be confused with the Original HSS) had been raving about William’s from the day I first met this multi-accomplished person. After months of talking about visiting this place, we finally found a window of opportunity and grabbed it.

Incidentally, for those who are familiar with this once-handsome young man, don’t despair if you are unable to recognise him. HSS’ favourite barber has gone back to India; neither is he able to find his Gillette Mach 3 Turbo razor (although, at this rate, he’d probably need a lawnmower to get rid of all that scruffiness).

Anyhow, this is a food blog, so…..

Now, imagine an open aired area with randomly placed plastic tables and chairs. Imagine the stretch filled with young people, mostly students, energetically chatting, huge mugs filled with coloured liquid, and plastic plates in front of them containing…*gasp*….western food? Antipasto? Spaghetti? Risotto? The food looked totally displaced at what looked like a mamak stall.

Triple H Triple H

How would one respond when one is told that the Triple-H (5 decks altogether; not sure why Triple) contained salami, pastrami, pepperoni but no bikini and lamborghini?

That was my introduction to William, the proprietor.

Imagine a chinese mamak. The colourful character seemed more comfortable speaking in our National Language (and a heartwarming thought it is too, in the light of our coming Merdeka Day next month).

The sandwich, wrapped in an omelette, was delicious. I kept stealing bites from HSS’ plate.

Seafood risotto Seafood risotto
Seafood risotto Seafood risotto

William helped me decide on my order.

William: You nak nasi ke, mee ke, roti ke…..?

Me: I’d like rice please.

William: Ah, nasi…ada nasi goreng dengan ketam, risotto……

Me: Oooh, you have risotto???

William: Mesti ada. Ada seafood risotto…..

At this point, William grabbed a plate of seafood risotto that was making its way to one of the tables and shoved it in my face.

William: Risotto macam ni le…

My eyes bulged. The risotto looked gorgeous!

Me: Done! I’ll take it!!

And that was how I ended up with a plastic plate holding a very yummy risotto made of creamy, round-grained rice, cooked with prawns and sliced fish, surrounded by mussels, scallops, grilled seabass and squid. The squid was stuffed with mantis prawns cooked in a butter sauce and served with what tasted like mint sauce (although the sauce was quite different from the mint sauce that is normally served with lamb). I felt like I was a mermaid in Neptune’s paradise, thrilled at the multiple textures and rich flavours found on the cheap plastic plate.

Hmmm….then again, do mermaids eat their friends??

giant mugsThe total bill came up to RM59. Okay, so it’s not mamak pricing, but the food was substantial! The stall is open after 6.00pm and can get rather crowded in the later part of the evening. For good service and consistent food quality, I suggest you go there earlier.

There have been varying food reviews on William’s, so do check out what the other bloggers have to say:

William’s
Jalan SS26/9, Taman Mayang Jaya
Petaling Jaya

Banquet, Bangsar Village II

P1030827

If you have been to Café Café, you will know that its interior is dark and opulent and it is every photographer’s nightmare. Banquet, its sister restaurant, which just opened at Bangsar Village II, is what light is to darkness. The restaurant is decidedly feminine with chandeliers, wicker chairs, wrought iron table stands and flowers everywhere.

P1030824 P1030829 P1030822

The smoking section, located in an enclosed space, is filled with mirrors giving the illusion of space. The non-smoking section is bathed in warm light and is located in the centre court section of the shopping mall. Both are pretty, and the main theme of white furnishings is carried through the two sections.

corn fritters

The menu includes both local as well as western cuisine with prices generally in the RM20 – RM30 range. For starters, we ordered the sweet corn and shrimp fritters (RM14/US$4) which was served with a rather plain, somewhat commercialised, chilli sauce.

corn fritters2

I loved the fritters which was fried to a nice crisp with distinct pieces of corn and shrimps. Very tasty and it didn’t leave me with the feeling that I was eating just plain flour.

oven baked butter fish with cream of honey mustard sauce

I enjoyed the baked butter fish (RM25/US$7) which was served with a lovely sweet and tangy honey mustard sauce. I especially loved the sauce’s grainy texture. The salad was pretty ordinary and it’s something that you either love or hate. I felt that the boiled chickpeas would have done better in a rolled up page off the telephone directory rather than in my salad.

braised lamb shank with chickpeas and potato salad

The lamb shank (RM38/US$11) was nice and tender. It’s hard to go wrong with an order like this. The lamb shank was served with the same side dish of chickpeas and potato salad.

seafood spaghetti

The seafood spaghetti (RM28/US$8) was served with a generous portion of prawns, but sadly, the prawns were not very fresh.

The dessert menu was rather similar to that found in Café Café. We tried the chocolate tart (RM9/US$2.60) which was very gelatinous in texture and really nothing to shout about.

Also check out:

Banquet
1F-28, Bangsar Village II
2 Jalan Telawi Satu
Bangsar Baru
59100 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 03-2282 3228

The Simple Life in Singapore

chilli
Have you ever experienced a moment where all the factors come together to make your dining experience special?It’s not just the food that has to be good. Although that helps. Sometimes, it’s the balmy weather. And on other times, it can be the incomparable company.

For me, it was a combination of attentive service (with a smile, if I may add) on a lazy Saturday afternoon away from the hustle and bustle of busy Singapore’s Orchard Road. I had a table by the huge glass window overlooking the world going by and only my company to enjoy. In a setting like this, food is only ancillary.

menu

I had picked the quietest restaurant in Wheelock Place. With a name like The Simple Life (think Paris and Nicole), an unlikely tagline “Authentic Asian Cuisine”, and a set menu priced at S$14.90 for a starter, main course and dessert/drink, I was immediately attracted. I normally don’t visit half empty restaurants, but I wasn’t in the mood to hear loud chatter from neighbouring tables. So the stage was set.

rojak

My starter was a fruit rojak. Cubed fruits like pineapples, jicama, cucumbers and mangoes were tossed with bean sprouts, fried firm beancurd and sliced yau char kuay in a sauce made of thick prawn paste. What made the dish exceptional was the generous topping of coarsely ground peanuts. The sauce, because it was quite undiluted, was on the salty side, but I forgave them because it is rare that one can taste the prawn paste so distinctively.

prawn noodles

My prawn mee was a sight to behold. Huge prawns presented seductively on a bed of noodles with succulent pieces of sliced pork…very tender, I might add…in a rather clear broth boiled with prawn heads, prawn shells and pork bones. Slices of fish cake completed the picture. I approached it with hesitance. Partly because the broth was too clear and quite unlike what I am familiar with, which is usually a murkier soup. I’m not quite sure if I like the soup though because the flavour was rather faint. But the prawns were fresh and delicious as were the huge pieces of pork.

Instead of a dessert, I chose a refreshing calamansi drink. I needed it after all that walking during the Great Singapore Sale. I’ve never seen people queuing up to enter an LV shop before. 🙂

Also check out Chubby Hubby.

The Simple Life

Wheelock Place #02-18

Singapore.

Tel: 6738 3212