Neroteca, KL

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bottles
Sunday breakfasts are always special to me as it is the only consistent meal which the Bald Eagle and I share together. Sometimes, our time spent together is filled with animated chatter, mostly in updating each other on the latest events happening in our lives, and at other times, it is companionable silence.

I suppose I am thankful for the fact that we share a like-mindedness for good food and a desire to enjoy whatever little time with each other over a pleasant meal and quiet conversation. With these needs in mind, one will often find us at various restaurants, enjoying a lazy morning over a cup of espresso and a somewhat sinful looking meal.

neroteca

Yesterday, after church, we drove to Neroteca, an Italian restaurant, located at the Somerset Residences at Lorong Ceylon. At 10.30 in the morning, this place can be rather secluded and quiet. Which was perfect for us as we didn’t want to hear the chatter of people so early in the morning.

neroteca

The restaurant is rather small, and if you wish to dine here for lunch or dinner, reservations are a must.

rivisitata

Only the breakfast menu was available at that hour, so we ordered the Rivisitata and the Tonica set. The Bald Eagle’s Rivisitata came with stewed lentils and sausages, toast with cheese and scrambled eggs.

rivisitata2

The stewed lentils were a little spicy, which was great for the Bald Eagle who likes things savoury.

tonica

My Tonica breakfast came with two fried eggs with mushroom, rocket salad and parmesan cheese. I absolutely love this meal as the eggs were sufficiently fried to hold all the ingredients together, but still managed to remain a little runny.

tonica2

The eggs were generously drizzled with parmesan cheese and tasted wonderful with the buttered toast. Both meals came with coffee while mine came with a juice as well.

tiramisu

Our tiramisu was such a pleasure to eat. It was not only visually pleasing, but tasted heavenly. Probably one of the best I’ve tasted with its distinct layers of mascarpone cheese, cream and liqueur.

Our bill came up to RM77. A small price to pay for a little bit of happiness.

Other reviews:-

Neroteca (non-halal)
Ground floor, Somerset,
8 Lorong Ceylon, 50250 KL
www.neroteca.com
Tel: 03-2070 0530

Of Broken Belts, Sweaty Studs and the Village Park Restaurant, Damansara Utama

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nasi lemak

I had breakfast with a hot sweaty stud today.

It was one of those days that started off on a bad note. I had just settled my final car instalment payment, and as Murphy’s Law always dictates, something must go wrong. In my case, it was a case of a few broken belts. Now, I can’t imagine how I could have broken several belts in my engine at one go, but I’m no mechanic, and I can certainly recognise a damaged car when I see one.

My poor car has been terribly abused over the years. I can hear the shouts of Amen from those who know me well. My friends say that my AAM (Automobile Association of Malaysia) membership has been well utilised. I can’t argue with that. You name it, I’ve done it. From towing to tyre punctures to battery replacements. All for just RM60 a year. That’s good value.

So to cut a long story short, I got my car fixed this morning.

And the hot sweaty stud joined me for breakfast after that.

The hot sweaty stud recommended Village Park for nasi lemak. Even lit bloggers know where to find good food.

I was quite amazed at the popularity of this restaurant. At 10.30am, this restaurant was packed to the brim with tables spilling outside onto the road. And despite the blazing heat, people were enjoying their plates of nasi lemak with steaming cups of coffee. I knew that I had stumbled upon a jewel in Damansara Uptown.

nasi lemak

The hot sweaty stud ordered nasi lemak with fried chicken. The rice was rich with coconut milk while the sambal, despite looking rather sweet, was actually quite spicy. Then again, the word spicy can be rather subjective. I have a lower tolerance towards chilli and have been known to use up an entire packet of tissue paper to wipe off tears and sweat when I eat hot food. The hot sweaty stud, however, thought that it was just nice, i.e. not too pedas. What I loved most about the nasi lemak was the crispy fried chicken that was served with it. I normally do not order fried chicken with nasi lemak as the chicken can sometimes turn out a little too dry. I was proven wrong. One bite, and I knew that the fried chicken served here would be a popular order. Succulent, tender and moist. Mmmmm. Absolutely delectable.

nasi kunyit

Nasi kunyit is made of glutinous rice steamed with thick coconut milk and turmeric, giving it a rich yellow colour. This cholestrol laden dish is normally served with thick chicken curry. It was such a treat for me to eat this.

A good meal is not always about good food. The hot sweaty stud made great company, with conversations (translated: gossip) ranging from headhunting to Paris Hilton to blogging for dummies to George Bush to the loser actor whose name he couldn’t remember. At least he helped me forget, just for that moment, how I had to fork out RM120 to replace a bunch of broken belts in my car engine.

Why “hot” “sweaty” and “stud”?


Hot – there was no airconditioning at his bodybalance class.


Sweaty – he was perspiring profusely, his T-shirt drenched in sweat.

 

Stud – well, two out of three ain’t so bad.

.

.

.

.

Nah. He’s absolutely adorable.

coffee

Village Park Restaurant (halal)

5, Jalan SS21/37, Damansara Utama,

47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Tel: 03-7710 7860.

Opening hours: 7.00am – 9.00pm daily.

Lyrical Lemongrass’ Diary – 24 Hours of Indulgence

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riseaboveFriday. 27 April.7.45pm (15 minutes after arrival time for 1st ever food bloggers’ gathering at Sandias, Damansara Heights)

Late!!! SMSes lambasted me from all directions.

7.55pm

No carpark! I drove past Sandias and saw lots of beautiful people.

8.03pm

Threw car on an illegal yellow line, jumped out and did the 100m dash to Sandias. I was too dishevelled to feel jittery, but butterflies came back as I made it past the front entrance. Nigel spotted me first and greeted me with a loud yell and a big warm hug which immediately melted my fears. Makan kakis, WMW, Precious Pea, Boo_licious and FatBoyBakes appeared soon after so I knew I was in familiar territory. I also managed to locate my Shah Alam makan kaki, Riz, and his friend, Adly from FriedChillies. Citygal kept to her perfume promise, while Jackson kept to his….other….promise. I shall never wash my cheek again.

8.30pm

martell
Started warming up. Thanks Martell and Kenny Mah for constantly replenishing the fluid supply on our table. SC and SF seemed totally entertained by the banter (which progressively became louder and sillier with more Martell) going on in our little corner. The conversation was so loud that I had a hard time hearing Mei Yen, Bob (Mei Yen’s fiance) and Tim at the other end of the table. No, it wasn’t because my ears needed cleaning.

Between 8.30pm and hmmmm….11.00pm?

Ate a bit and photographed a bit. These are some of the pics I took (staying true to the code of ethics, I didn’t photograph faces of food bloggers!):-

timlow
Serious foodblogger Tim from 3-meals nursing his Martell.

SC
The very sweet SC from Food4Thot enjoying her Taquitos Fritos.

rizainuddin
The whacky Riz Ainuddin from The Connoisseur in Me with his Postre Helado de Limon.

nisa
Kenny’s lovely dinner date, Nisa, proudly displaying her Pollo a la Castellana.

kennymah1
Kenny Mah dipping his tortilla.

jackson
A very happy Jackson from Living in Food Heaven.

11.00pm

Left for The Attic, feeling a little hungry, but looking forward to the choc & cheese cake from Just Heavenly promised by Nigel.

nigel's cake
Perfection in a slice. I relished every bite.

12.00 midnight

As the hours went by, the night grew a lot more decadent. My code of conduct at The Attic does not allow me to elaborate further.

2.00am

Left The Attic in an intoxicated state, thanks to a sensational cocktail – In Bed with KC (or is that Casey?). Who would have thought Tabasco sauce could do more than make Mary all bloody? Ask for that cocktail the next time you’re at The Attic. If you’re a masochist. It burns.

3.30am

Jumped into bed.

Saturday. 28 April.

9.30am

Woke up with a hangover.

12.00noon

Met up with Jason, WMW and Precious Pea for lunch. Made a pit stop at Precious Pea’s place to see her new prized possession. Pumpkin is hyperactive and absolutely adorable!

pumpkin

Baby walrus or dog? You decide.

1.00pm

Made our way to Kin Kin Restaurant for their famous pan mee. By this time, everyone was ravenous, having skipped breakfast to pig out in the afternoon. The pan mee was worth the wait.

kinkinpanmee
I must be a masochist. Why else would I continue eating the chilli despite seeing warning signals – burning throat, beads of sweat forming on my nose, tears torrentially pouring down my face?

2.15pm

Being the gluttons that we are, we made our way to Nam Chuan in Lucky Garden, Bangsar for a second round of food. Parked car, illegally, on yellow line near the roundabout at Lucky Garden.

sarawak laksa
Sarawak laksa.

hakka abacus seeds
Hakka Abacus Seeds.

charkuayteow
Char koay teow.

At this point, Nigel graced us with his presence.

3.25pm

Reminded food bloggers that we were attending “Readings” at Seksan’s in Lucky Garden which was scheduled to start at 3.30pm.

3.30pm (scheduled start time for “Readings”)

Made frantic call to Kenny Mah to find out where in the world Seksan’s was.

3.31pm

Parked car, illegally, behind someone’s house, thereby effectively blocking the entire back alley. Greeted by the man himself, posing in his free Martell Rise Above T-shirt from the night before.

martellriseabove
Ladies and gentlemen, to vote for contestant No. 9 in Who Wants To Be The Most Diversified Jack-Of-All-Trades-Master-Of-ALL, dial 1800–12345. Call charges will be RM25.47 for each vote that you make. All proceeds will go to the Foundation For The Hungry Food Bloggers Who Also Need Yoga Lessons Desperately.

3.35pm

kennyReadings
Kenny went up first with his reading of I Am Woman, Is This Missing You and Only The Greatest Gets To Go. Wow!! Wow!!! Wow!!!!! Picture’s a bit blur. I had the cheap seat.

Jerome Kugan went up next. His heart wrenching renditions inspired WMW to start singing about food throughout our journey back. I think she deserves a spot in the next Readings session. Can Sharon Bakar please take note? TQ. 🙂

By this time, having had quite a big dose of intellectual nourishment, we were feeling hungry and ready for dessert, so we hopped and skipped away to my car as we headed to our next destination.

4.20pm

Home is where the heart is, and boy, were we at Home! Bakerzin at Bangsar Village.

bakerzin4

bakerzin1

bakerzin2
6.00pm

dance4

Rushed frantically home. I was meeting my family members at 7.30pm for a night of culture.

7.30pm

Dang. We got our meeting place all wrong. They were waiting for us 25km away from where we were. So we agreed to meet up at MATIC instead.

dance3

8.30pm

Dance begins. Peace and quiet for 2 hours.

dance1
Note: Complete food reviews will follow in due course. This is just a teaser. I am still a food blogger at heart although I am contemplating moving to the dark side.

Other reviews:-