This month Neroteca will having NEROTECA’S “MEATILICOUS” JANUARY OFFERS A SELECTION OFITALY’S BEST MEATS & WINES for Chinese New Year and the Year of Dragon.

In celebration of Chinese New Year and the 2012 auspicious Year of the Dragon, Neroteca is offering a range of Italian meat delights, with authentic flavors of lamb, pork and beef based cuisines.

We visited Neroteca once in 2008. We celebrated a friend’s birthday there and we enjoyed our dinner. After three years, we revisited Neroteca for their Neroteca Meatilicous Chinese New Year 2012 menu.

Gorgeous Rachel Lai giving the welcome speech
So what do we expect for this menu? It will be a savoury 7-course meal aims to please meat enthusiasts, where each dish is creatively designed and paired with selective prosecco and wine. Taste the innovative creations of Chef Lorenso who has mastered the art of rustic Italian cooking from the best chefs from Italy.

Chef Lorenso giving his speech and demo on steak tartare
From handmade pasta to the fresh bread baked daily, his quest for excellence in food preparation demands perfection and authenticity in Italian culinary offerings.

We started with the Starter with Selection of cold cuts which include Prosciutto di Parma, San Danielle, calabra piccente and mortadella.

The Prosciutto di Parma was memorable as I had lots of them when I was traveling in Patagonia Argentina two years ago. This was equally tasty and good.

Steak Tartare using the Marinated Angus steak was next. Steak tartare is a meat dish made from finely chopped or minced raw marinated Angus beef combined with a combination of ingredients. Not many people enjoy Steak Tartare because it taste bad but just that it did not suit your taste palette. I enjoyed it.

Prosecco di prosecco Conte Neri

For the Entrée, we had Pappardelle Neroteca which was the Pappardelle pasta with wild boar ragout. The handmade Pappardelle pasta was a great combination for the wild boar ragout and it tasted so heavenly. This is high recommended.

Valpolicella DOC Corte Giara goes very well with the suckling pig

Stozzapretti Nduja, the Handmade curl pasta cooked with rare salami was equally good but I preferred the Pappardelle pasta with wild boar ragout.

For the Main Course, we had Porchetta which was the Deboned suckling pig stuffed with sausage and capsicum.

Sirloin Tagliata was the Grilled sliced beef sirloin top with sautéed spinach and potatoes. The beef was well cooked and you can spot from the colour of it.

Lastly, we had the Grilled Lamb Rack which they used the New Zealand lamb Rack served with garden salad and Balsamic reduction sauce. This was juicy and grilled to perfection.

Costa di Nugola Syrah Toscana

Neroteca is a cosy Italian restaurant serving up rustic and authentic style Italian food that is truly close to home-cooked wholesome food.

Located at Bukit Ceylon, Neroteca simply exudes a truly Italian dining experience with a deli that makes you feel like you are dining somewhere in Italy! Everyone who dines at Neroteca will just love its ambiance for its truly captivating charm which evokes the authentic feel of Italy.

Neroteca’s dining experience just spells great home-style Italian cuisine that leaves you wanting for more.  A lot of attention and detail is given to food preparation and to the choosing of the freshest of products, combining rustic, home-made dishes with the modern cuisine accomplishments.

All the sumptuous recipes are the wonderfully innovative creations of Sous Chef Lorenso who has learnt from the best. From hand – made pasta to the fresh bread baked daily, this quest for excellence in food preparation demands perfection and authenticity in Italian culinary offerings.

If you are looking forward for a different and unique Chinese New Year feast, you can try this. The menu is unabashedly traditional yet refreshingly distinctive without the artifices of ‘fusion’. Through its authentic dishes and warm welcoming ambiance, Neroteca provides a very unique Italian cultural dining experience.

About Neroteca

Serving up the best in rustic and authentic home-cooked Italian food, Neroteca is a non-halal rustic restaurant specialising in authentic Italian dishes with pork. A long, tall, narrow glass box, bright lights, wall-to-wall wine, pasta and sauces, with hanging salamis and hams, it hosts a unique friendly atmosphere with a quaint ambiance. Neroteca packs in people, energy and great flavours. There is nowhere like Neroteca anywhere in the city.

Outside Catering & Private Parties

Nerotecais able to provide outside catering for parties and functions of up to 200 people. You can experience Nero class in the comfort of your own home, with chef’s brilliant cooking up of sumptuous cuisine to thrill your intimate dinner party.

Please contact alex@neroteca.com if you would like to hire all or part of Neroteca for a private occasion.

Neroteca Restaurant Address and Contact:

Ground Floor, The Somerset,

8Lorong Ceylon,50250 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 03-20700530/ Fax: 03-20702530.

Email: info@neroteca.com

Opening hours:

11.30am to 11.30pm (Daily)

ABOUT THE NERO GROUP

The Nero Group has grown into one of the most recognised and well respected restaurant groups in Malaysia, known for professionalism, high standards and exceptional quality. The group currently consists of three restaurants. Nerovivo is perhaps the best known, celebrating its sixth anniversary this year. Neroteca is our non-halal restaurant, specialising in Italian dishes with pork, importing meats and cheeses from Italy every week. Nerofico in Damansara Heights, combines trademark Nero Italian food with music – it is now one of the city’s best live jazz venues.

Towards the end of 2010, management of the Nero Group was moved to The Island Group Hospitality Ltd., a Hong Kong-based hospitality management company with extensive experience in restaurant and hospitality leadership.

The Nero Group continues to thrive, and with its passion for excellent food and wine and dedication to providing a remarkable dining experience, remains a dynamic force on the KL restaurant scene.

A few years ago, we heard about an ambitious project to build a whole shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur. The location is the ever popular wholesale area of San Peng. The shopping is called Kenanga Wholesale City and it has opened for more than two months. It is the first wholesale shopping mall in Malaysia and set to rival Bangkok’s Platinum Fashion Mall.

We were driving near Jalan Loke Yew and we saw the signs of Kenanga Wholesale City. We thought why not going there for a look since we haven’t buy any clothes for Chinese New Year. The mall is just located behind Tsun Jin High School and it looks huge as we saw it from far.

Parking is not an issue with basement parking and dedicated nine floors of parking spaces from level 8 to level 17! It was quite packed today as we had to park at level 12.

We took a lift down and the first impression is the interior has the similarity of Platinum Fashion Mall. Even the mall just opened for two months, almost more than 50% of the shops have already opened.

There are 800 shops to be fully opened this year and 10 levels of shopping experiences.

Some of the dresses at Kenanga Wholesale City
The directory of Kenanga Wholesale City mall as below:

Level LG:  Ladies Fashion, Men’s Wear, Shoes, Banks and Money Changer

Level G: Ladies Fashion, Men’s Wear, Shoes

Level 1: Ladies Fashion

Level 2: Ladies Fashion

Level 3: Ladies Fashion, Men’s Wear, Kids Wear, Sports Wear

Level 3A: Baju Kurung, Kids Wear, Traditional Wear, Restaurants

Level 5: Baju Kurung, Kids Wear, Traditional Wear, Bazaar

Level 6: Fashion Accessories, Handbag, Leather Goods

Level 7: Fashion Accessories, Handbag, Non-Halal Food Court

Level 15: Factory Outlets, Halal Food Court, Exhibition Area

Shirts and apparels starts from RM 2 and above. Most of the T-Shirts are selling at RM 10 and above.

There are some promotions going on such as Buy 5 Free 1, Buy 10 Free 1 and the funniest Buy 10 Get One Lucky Draw. We didn’t ask what the prize was as we were not interested in that shop.

For those who are looking for bridesmaids dresses, we saw a few boutiques that might solve your problems.

The handbag level at Kenanga Wholesale City…
There are a few boutiques also selling reasonable Chinese Cheongsam, Baju Kurung and other traditional dresses.

The Non-Halal Food Court at Level 7.
Overall, they have almost everything a shopper wants. There is also a Halal and Non-Halal food court.

Rachel looking at some of the accessories…

The shopping complex is smaller than I expected but with 800 shops, you can spend a whole day there. Since it is a wholesale shopping center, most of the items are reasonable priced and bargain items. Don’t be silly and expect to get branded goods here. Thus, for those who are looking for bargain new year clothes, Kenanga Wholesale City is the answer.

How to go to Kenanga Wholesale City:

By Road

Kenanga Wholesale City is accessible from Jalan Hang Tuah and Jalan Loke Yew. From Jalan Hang Tuah towards Jalan Loke Yew direction, you can make a left turn to Jalan Kenanga, after the Hang Tuah LRT station.

From Jalan Loke Yew towards Jalan Cheras direction, you can make a left turn to Jalan San Peng, after Tsun Jin High School. Follow by another left turn to Jalan Gelugor at the traffic light.

By LRT

From Putra line (Kelana Jaya[KJ24] or Terminal Putra Gombak[KJ1]), interchange at Masjid Jamek[KJ13] to STAR line, disembark at Hang Tuah LRT station[ST3].

For STAR line route, disembark at Hang Tuah LRT station[ST3].

By Monorail

For Monorail route, disembark at Hang Tuah Monorail station[MR4].

By Bus

Rapid KL[B112],[U423].

A 5 minutes walking distance from Hang Tuah Rail and Bus station to Kenanga Wholesale City.

Kenanga Wholesale City Address, Contact and Map:

No. 8.01, Kompleks Kenanga Wholesale City,

Jalan Gelugor, Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 03-92218081

Website: http://www.kenangacity.com.my

View Kenanga Wholesale City Shopping Center in a larger map

For those who know me well, I was heavily influenced by JPOP (Japanese POP Culture) during my childhood. I am also in love with Japanese food and my first love with Asahi Super Dry was seven years ago when I went for a road trip to Southern Thailand and I bought my first Asahi Super Dry. It was a 2 liter Asahi Super Dry can and I kept the huge can up to today. (I had problem bringing the can back because it exceeded the 1 liter limit for alcohol at the Malaysian Custom). I still enjoy Asahi Super Dry from time to time even though some prefer the regular brands.

Sakura Season at Double Tree Hotel Kuala Lumpur
Recently I was invited by Milk PR and Carlsberg Malaysia to attend the launch of the Asahi Super Dry Draught in Double Tree Hotel. Asahi Super Dry will be brewed locally by Carlsberg Malaysia at its brewery in Shah Alam, and to be made available on tap at selected trendy bars, concept restaurants and high-end eateries nationwide. It was a remarkable deal between Asahi Group Holdings Ltd and Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd.

Asahi Super Dry Launch at Double Tree Hotel, picture credits to MikeYip.com
At the event, Mr. Soren Ravn, Managing Director of Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd said that “Malaysian’s can now enjoy Asahi Super Dry using Karakuchi, a secretly guarded Japanese brewing style, that has not only captured the taste buds of premium beer drinkers the world over but that has also set the gold standard in Japanese brewing.”

Next, Mr. Toshido Kodato, Director, Corporate Officer, of Asahi Group Holdings Ltd commented “Carlsberg Malaysia is the second brewery after Balkita Breweries (Carlsberg Russia) that was awarded the rights to manufacture this high quality beer.”

Harujuku Model dancing during the event.
Hence with this alliance, Carlsberg Malaysia now adds the No. 1 Japanese beer brand to its long list of no. 1s which includes the Kronenbourg 1664 & Blanc (No. 1 of France), Corona (No. 1 of Mexico), Budweiser (No. 1 of USA), Foster (No. 1 Australian beer in the world), Becks (No. 1 German beer in the world), and Hoegaarden (No. 1 Belgian Wheat beer in the world). Thus, Carlsberg Malaysia aimed to have a bigger market share in beer segment in Malaysia.

Asahi Super Dry Draught, sorry for the bad quality picture.

The taste of the beer was refreshing! Trust me I had heaps of Asahi Super Dry at the event.

Me and Malaysia Hottest Bloggers Naomi and Isabella.
I enjoyed myself during the event and met with the usual whose who such as friends, media and blogger friends. We were also entertained by DJ Faith and a troupe of Harajuku dancers, Dennis Lau, Shawn Lee, Nadhira and rapper Vandal.

Thank you Milk Pr and Calsberg Malaysia for the invitation, as usual I enjoyed Asahi Super Dry!

Remember Yan Can Cook from the 80s? We watched him with his signature phrase something like “Yan Can Cook so do you”. He is still around but with his name “Martin Yan” instead of “Yan can cook”.

A short video of “Yan Can Cook” we found on Youtube. Remember him now?

Last month I was invited to meet Martin Yan in person at Mandarin Oriental Hotel. This was our third time meeting him. We met him first at two years ago in a private event you can read our experience http://www.placesandfoods.com/2009/11/exclusive-international-celebrity-chef-martin-yan-live-cooking-in-malaysia-yan-can-cook.html.

Then we met him earlier this year in a cooking class, you read about his recipe http://www.placesandfoods.com/2011/03/martinyanrecipe1.html.

When a dinner is held at Mandarin Oriental Hotel or MO in short, you know it will be an extraordinary dinner. The dinner was a Chinese Food pairing with Jacob Creek Wine Pairing. There were lots of familiar faces, friends from Tourism Australia, media and blogger friends.

I had a few glasses of Jacob Creek wine before the dinner started. Although I am not a wine drinker, I had Jacob Creek wine before when I was studying in Australia and even now I bought them for special occasions.

We were ready for an amazing wine pairing dining experience with Martin Yan and Jacob Creek.

The first dish was Chilled Scallop with Jellyfish and Marinated Cherry Tomatoes (Prepared by MO KL Chef Ricky Thein).

Chef Ricky Thein is a resident Chinese chef of Mandarin Oriental Hotel Kuala Lumpur. He is also an award winning chef who was the recipient of Gold Medallist at the 5th World Golden Chef Competition for Chinese Cuisine in 2005 and was also awarded the Silver and Gold Awards for the Excellent Service Award by SPRING Singapore in 2005 and 2006 respectively.

There is only one word to describe this dish, REFRESHING. Many would grill the scallop but chilled scallop with jellyfish was refreshing and it best to eat and pair it with Jacob’s Creek Steingarten Riesling.

Oven Baked Sea Treasure Broth Served in Coconut with Puff Pastry

I had coconut cooked soup in many occasions but with puff pastry, it was my first.

Oven Baked Sea Treasure Broth Served in Coconut with Puff Pastry (Prepared by MO KL Chef Ricky Thein)

When I opened the puff pastry, it was the sea treasure. Dried scallops, sea cucumber and most notable a large size abalone in the broth and oven baked in the coconut. The broth was flavourful with fragrant of the coconut juice. This is as close as a “Buddha Jump over the Wall” broth but with the usage of coconut and without the shark fins. This remarkable creation was by no other than Chef Ricky Thein. This was one of the best broths I had for some time.

This was best paired with Jacob’s Creek Reeves Point Chardonnay

Cantonese Style Steamed Cod Fish with Superior Soya Sauce and Baby Cabbage (Prepared by MO KL Chef Ricky Thein)

Sometimes a simple dish can taste so good. This is how I would rate this fish. I always enjoyed cod fish and even at times I would buy and cook it at home. This was a simple and typical Cantonese style steamed cod fish and sank in to the light superior soya sauce. I enjoyed the freshness and actual taste of this juicy cod fish, beautiful.

This went well with Jacob’s Creek Reeves Point Chardonnay

At this time, Chef Martin Yan finally made his appearance on stage. He was then entertained us with his trademark cooking styles and jokes. He prepared and cooked two dishes for the evening.

The first was the Peking Sweet and Sour Prawns (Prepared by Chef Martin Yan). Large size prawns were deep fried and topped with Peking sweet and sour sauce.

Simple and nice and it was best paired with Jacob’s Creek Steingarten Riesling

Australian Lamb Cutlets in 3 Chili sauces with Jasmine Fried Rice (Prepared by Chef Martin Yan)

This was an Asian Western fusion dish by Chef Martin Yan featuring Australian lamb cutlets in 3 chili sauces with jasmine fried rice.

This dish is best paired with Jacob’s Creek Centenary Hill Shiraz

Sweet Temptations of Chocolate and Mango and Lychee Jelly and Raspberry Coulis (Prepared by MO KL Chef Holger Deh)

Lastly, we had a lovely dessert prepared by Chef Holger Deh to end the lovely entertaining evening. It was a night of good food and laughter.

Thanks to Ktalyst PR and Pernod Ricard Malaysia for the invitation and Mandarin Oriental KL for the dining experience. It was lovely…

Last week we were invited to a special Frescobaldi wine dinner pairing session with Erika Ribaldi at Nerofico. It was our first time having Frescobaldi wine, meeting Erika Ribaldi and dining at Nerofico.

Many might have mistaken Nerofico as Neroteca or Nerovivo. Located at the ground floor of Wisma Perintis Jalan Dungun, Nerofico is KL’s newest jazz venue showcasing the best local, regional and international musical talent every Friday and Saturday nights (first set starts at 1000pm). Thus, the restaurant also offered a cozy dining experience in the middle of the busy commercial district of Damansara Heights.

Let us elaborate more on the Frescobaldi wine. For those who didn’t know, Frescobaldi wine came from the Frescobaldi family in Italy. The Frescobaldi family began producing Tuscan wine in 1308 and soon developed a notable client base. With more than 700 years of wine making Frescobaldi wine is considered as one of the best wines in Italy and it has strong presence in Malaysia for many years.

Who is Erika Ribaldi? Originated from a small provincial capital of Northern Italia, famous for its Middle Age “grandeur”, she joined Marchesi de’ Frescobaldi with the role of Area Manager Asia-Pacific, reporting to the Export Director Giuseppe A. Pariani. Based in Bangkok, she is now the proud representative in Asia for this historical house, and she will put her passion and knowledge at the service of our wide customer basis.

Even before the dinner, we have two Italians on the stage explaining the history of Frescobaldi wine. Michele is from Nerofico.

For the starter, we had tuna tartar served with oyster shot. It was our first time having tuna tartar with the fresh oyster.

It was best paired with Albizzia Chardonnay di Toscana IGT 2009

For the Entrée, we had Paccheri with lobster ragout and king prawn pop corn. It was the right portion for the entrée, interesting combination of Paccheri with fried king prawn pop corn.

For the Mains Course, we have Seared spring chicken with roasted pumpkin and honey and apricot sauce. The seared spring chicken was well marinated and it was tender. It went well with the sweetness of the roasted pumpkin and honey and apricot sauce.

What was the perfect wine to go with this? The Remole Toscana IGT 2009. Remole Toscana IGT 2009 is the “Britney Spears” according Erika, a wilder taste just like the actress.

We sat with Erika and she entertained us with stories of Italy and her life experiences in Thailand and Cambodia. Hence, she also showered us with the stories of the great Italian food. We can imagine it since we watched the movie, “Eat, Pray, Love”. Hence, we were also told about the great vineyards of Italy.

Interesting enough, we had Sorbet Interval of Mango sorbet with currant vodka. Rachel thought the Mango sorbet was punchy but I wouldn’t mind the extra currant vodka.

Next, we had Grilled lamb chop in crust of pistachios, grilled tomato & onion red wine sauce. As the spring chicken gave us the “awe”, the grilled lamb chop was equally good. The lamb chop was grilled to perfection, a slight pink on the inner area and it was still juicy. It was topped with onion red wine sauce.

It went well with Frescobaldi Tenuta di Castiglioni IGT 2008. Frescobaldi Tenuta di Castiglioni IGT 2008 is the “Sophie Marceau” according Erika, a smoother and beautiful taste.

For Dessert, we had Millesfoglie serve with caramelized banana. It has been a while since we had a good Millesfoglie. Millesfoglie is also known as mille-feuille which means “thousand sheets”. The puff pastry was thin and crispy so you have to be delicate to eat this.  It was too beautiful to be eaten.

It is always good to end the dinner with a coffee. We had coffee and it was the liquor coffee, Illyquore. It was slightly bitter but fragrant with the coffee scent and strong with alcohol.

Great food, great company, great wine and great stories, we couldn’t ask for more. Our first time dining at Nerofico gave us a very lasting impression.  We heard so much about Italy lately, from Erika and even from our friends. These great stories of Italy made us wonder if we could really go there in the near future.

Nerofico Restaurant Address and Contact:

Ground Floor Wisma Perintis,
47 Jalan Dungun,
Damansara Heights,
50490 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 03-20895312
Fax: 03-20110156
Email: info@nerofico.com

Nerofico Opening hours:

8am to 11pm (week days)
5.45pm to 11pm (Sunday)

http://www.nerofico.com/

This is one of the first few food posts for this week. We have attended quite a number of food reviews this month. Next week, we will be featuring our top hotel /resort stays for the year and of course a few new travel stories.

It is coming to year end and there are reasons to celebrate it. If you are looking for an Italian restaurant in Bangsar, you should try Garibaldi Italian Restaurant in Bangsar Village Shopping Center located at Ground Floor.

Please do not mistaken Garibar (which is located on Lower Ground Floor) as Garibaldi even though both restaurants are under the same management. Garibar is a stylish bar and serves lighter food such as pizza and finger food.

Let me share with you a short introduction of Garibaldi.

Garibaldi is one of Singapore’s most popular and respected Italian restaurant landmarks and now it has arrived in Malaysia.

Thus Garibaldi provides a fine example of a stylish Italian eatery –modern, elegant yet friendly and dynamic. The contemporary and hip atmosphere has helped to make “Garibaldi” a classic Malaysia social gathering place.

We mingled around with the rest and nothing is better off to start with small bites like the focaccia.

Ostarica, Irish Oyster with Poached Quail Egg & Caviar, the fresh oyster was topped with poached quail egg and caviar. It could be a mouthful but the intensity of the taste was unexpectedly balanced.

*Thank you BangsarBabe.com for this picture, we lost ours somehow.*

Cappasanta, Sea Scallop with Saffron Crispy Cauliflower and Tarragon Sauce, the beautifully cooked scallop was topped with crispy cauliflower and hints of the scent of the saffron.

Vitello Tonnato, Italian Cold Cuts Veal in Traditional Piedmont Recipe with Tuna and Caper’s Creamy Sauce, personally would prefer more of the creamy sauce.

Brodo Ristretto, Clarified Beef Broth with Egg Yolk and Truffle Bigne was interesting. The beef broth was cooked with egg white for the clarity. The question was what is the best way to drink the broth, to drink broth first without spoiling the egg yolf or to have the egg yolk first? The chef told us it is up to us. Thus, the broth was delicious and the truffle bigne was crispy.

Fagottino, Black Ink Squid Ravioli with Crab Meat and Sweet Dried Tomato on Potato Emulsion was another interesting dish. This was our first time having black ink squid ravioli. Cutting through the ravioli revealed fresh crab meat and sweet dried tomato.

Orata, Pan Seared Line Catch Sea Bream Fillet with Apple Black Rice Puree and Whitebait Omelette was next. The sea bream fillet was perfectly pan seared and it went well with the apple black rice puree and the omelette.

We went on with Agnello, the Roasted Tobacco Smoked Lamb Rack with Purple Potatoes, Celeriac Mash and Berries Sauce. We thought we read wrongly, roasted tobacco smoked lamb rack? Lamb was well cooked, meat was tender and the purple potatoes were sweet. Two pieces of the lamb was not enough.

Meringata, the Crispy Italian Meringue with Chocolate Chip Parfait & Dark Cherry. If you fancy crispy Italian meringue, this is the one you can go for. This is one of the best we had so far.

Sorbetti, the Passion Fruit Sorbet.

The dining experience was good. Rachel thought that we have so much to learn on Italian food. I can’t agree more with her. The eight course Italian dinner was rather new to us and we have to dine more Italian food in the near future to learn more about it.

Chef Giuliano Berta prepared the food for us. This young Italian chef has more than 10 years of experience and he has worked in various countries before he joined Garibaldi. He and another Italian sous chef created interesting Italian dishes for Garibaldi.

If you are fancy of bringing someone for this festive season or for a good Italian dining experience in Bangsar, this is the place to be. Thank you, Leonard for the invite and Bangsar Babe, Meena and KampungBoyCityGal for the company.  Great friends with good food = Great dining experience.

Garibaldi Italian Restaurant Address and Contact:

Lot. 10 & G22, Bangsar Village

Jalan Telawi 1

59100 Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia

Tel: 03-2282 3456/57

If you wonder where is the most luxurious stay in Kuala Lumpur? The answer is simple. Carcosa Seri Negara.  Carcosa Seri Negara is a luxury five star hotel on two adjacent hills within the beautiful Lake Gardens. The hotel includes two colonial mansions, the Carcosa and the Seri Negara.

The road leading to Carcosa Seri Negara, surrounded by the lush greens of Lake Gardens.
The Carcosa mansion was built in 1896-97 as the official residence of Sir Frank Althelstane Swettenham. He was the first British High Commissioner in the Malaya. The mansion was designed by Arthur Charles Norman with a cost about $25,000 and it has more than eight bedrooms and eleven bathrooms.

The grand Carcosa Seri Negara

Seri Negara on the other hand was originally known as the Governor’s Residence when it was opened in 1913 as the official guest house of Governor of the Straits Settlement. It was later known as the King’s House and it was used as Guest’s Palace hosting many visiting dignitary such as Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip in 1987.

We recently attended our best friend’s garden wedding there and we stayed there for a night. The English high tea in Carcosa Seri Negara is one of the best in the city and having a garden wedding there is a dream to many.

The garden wedding of our best friends, Steph and Khai
The garden wedding was a memorable one. Everyone was dressed up for the occasion. We were so happy for them and it was a beautiful garden wedding. There is no other place like Carcosa Seri Negara for a grand perfect garden wedding in Kuala Lumpur.

The vow, the ring and the kiss…

The newly wed and us, can you spot us?

The English high tea set.
The English high tea was amazing. We had Smoked Norwegian Salmon-Croissant Sandwich, Cream & Cheese with Cucumber Sandwich and Egg Sandwich. All the sandwiches are homemade whole meal loaf, walnut bread and milk bread. The pastries were Apple Crumble, Chocolate Brownies, Fresh Fruit Tartlet, Traditional English Fruit Cake, Carrot Cake and Cream Brule.

The warm plain and Raisin Scones were served with Clotted Cream and Strawberry Rose petals jam.

Thus, the party continues with a dance party set on the foyer of the mansion.

Let’s not go detail on what happened after the dance party and let me show you how the room in Carcosa Seri Negara looks like. We bet you don’t want listen about our salsa dancing story.

The interior of the hotel, colonial English.

Let’s talk about the room we stayed. The room was enormous, easily can fit a dozen people inside. As the whole mansion is built by the British, the interior still remains similar up to today.

The King Size bed in our room.
There was a King size bed on one side of the room with classic table lamp on each side. The two wooden side tables are starting to tell their ages, I guess it is time for the management to do some touch ups and maintenances.

Classic English side table with the table lamp

In case we were hungry, there were always snacks for us in the room.

The sofa in case we have guests or another great place for reading.
The other side of the room was this comfortable classic 2+1+1 seater sofa. The area was lit up with two elegant table lamps.

The working desk and did I mention they provide FREE WIFI?
There was also a nice wooden working desk. Gosh did we mention how heavy the wooden chair was? Furniture made in the past was pure quality.

The antique TV cabinet with the antique TV, they should have upgraded it to a LCD or LED TV.

The turn off in the room would be the TV. Since the TV cabinet was built to fit the old style TV set, we believed it is time for them to change it to a new LED or LCD TV. We prefer watching TV channels on HD (high definition).

We thought we seen it all until we walked into the walk-in wardrobe.

Every women’s dream, a huge walk-in wardrobe

Gosh, it was huge! Rachel wished we have this kind of walk-in wardrobe in our house. Well, I also wished we could afford a place to have such a huge walk-in wardrobe too. We wish.

This really looks grand, combination of gold and white colour.

The water tap and most of the toilet accessories were gold colour plated and look at how beautiful were the two basins.

Can you see the “golden water tap”?
The bathroom was brightened up by the natural light through the frosted windows.

There were the bathtub, the toilet and the standing shower. As we mentioned, all the toilet accessories were gold colour plated but some show signs of aging.

The standing shower and the walk-in wardrobe

We had a late night sleep after our friends joined us for a great conversation cum drinking session with our newly- wed couple.

After spending a night at Carcosa Seri Negara, we woke up late as we expected. It was a good sleep and we rested well. This was what we needed after months of long working hours.

There was a little drama when the control panel went haywire after one of the light bulbs exploded. However, the hotel staffs managed to rectify the problem within minutes. The service of the hotel staffs had been excellent.

This is where we had our breakfast at the cafe.

The cuppa of coffee to kick start the day.
We went down to the café for our breakfast as the rest of our friends had already finished theirs. We were awfully late.

The English breakfast was a set of two sunny sides up eggs with fried hash brown, chicken sausage, mushroom and tomato.

Or we could have the scrambled egg with ham, sausages, fried hash brown and tomato.

Breakfast was served with a variety of fresh fruit juices, coffee or tea. We had no complains on the breakfast.

After our amazing posh stay at Carcosa Seri Negara, you might be wondering how much a night cost? The published rate for the cheapest room at Carcosa Seri Negara was at least US$ 400 per night. Room stay might inclusive of breakfast or high tea, depending on room packages.

We stayed like the royals and lived like one for one night and it was memorable. The stay was made more unforgettable with our best friends’ garden wedding. We were heavy hearted to leave the hotel as it was one of our best stays for some time. We hope the management would do a bit of refurbishment and maintenance to keep the hotel in tip top condition.

Was it worth the dollars for the stay? It was not up to us to judge but it was definitely worth a try.

Congratulations to Steph and Khai and thanks for everything, we wish may there be a generation of children, on the children of your children.

Carcosa Seri Negara Address and Contact:

Jalan Kebun Bunga  50480 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: +603-2295-0888

Last week I was invited by Asian Food Channel and Alice George Communications to meet the “Good Chef, Bad Chef” star Australian Chef Adrian Richardson at J.W. Marriot Hotel Kuala Lumpur.

Let me share some of the hard rock data of this Aussie chef.

Chef Adrian Richardson is the owner and head chef of the successful and bustling La Luna, one of Melbourne’s best Mediterranean bistros in North Carlton, where he has been serving up clean, fresh and innovative food since 1999.

Chef Richardson’s passion for cooking and belief in “homemade and home-grown” is attributed to his upbringing from his family. His father was trained as a chef in England and France, and ran the Balzac, a legendary restaurant in East Melbourne. Similarly, his uncles were also chefs. He grew up eating Italian-Middle Eastern-North African cuisine dished up in an Italian household in Melbourne, with vegetables and fruits growing in the garden.

A regular face on television, Chef Richardson has appeared alongside Tobie Puttock and Jamie Oliver in Jamie’s Kitchen Australia. He is also one of the team of regular chefs on Ready Steady Cook, Fresh, Switching Lives and Good Morning Australia. The Asian Food Channel recently aired his hit television programme, Secret Meat Business between April to July 2011. In November, AFC will also air his latest show, Good Chef Bad Chef, which sees him playing the devil next to co-host Janella Purcell, a nutritionist.

Chef Richardson also has two cookbooks under his publishing belt, Meat and The Good Life, both of which are paeans to the virtues and benefits of knowing where your food comes from, as well as home cooking.

The Chef is a proud Australian, reminding us on quality products of Australia especially their beef. I have no argument on that based on my one year stay in Australia some time ago. They do take pride on their products.

The Aussie chef started off with Sauteed Calamari, Chili, Garlic and Spinach (“Yuen Choy” in Chinese). This is a light dish and similar to one of our local dishes (minus the anchovies).

The second dish was the Lamb and Spinach Filo Pie, Labne. It is one of the best Filo Pies I had for a very long time. The Filo pastry is made in Australia and so was the Aussie lamb.

The thin layer crust of the Filo pie and the tasty lamb filling was excellent.

Chef Adrian handling the lamb intestines and demonstrate how he made the sausages with it.

The Merquez Sausages was beautiful. I wished I could have more. The skin of the sausages was made of the lamb intestines and they are Australian made products.

The Perfect Steak was the superstar. I thought it was a bit raw to my liking as I saw a little blood from the steak. However, I was so wrong. When I sliced the steak, it was soft and tender and it surprised me. It was the perfect steak with minimal seasoning and I could taste the natural taste of the beef. Using the Australian beef rib-eye, the Perfect Steak lived up to its name. Yes, he reminded us the beef is from Australia.

Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee and the chocolate ice cream was the last dish. The Crème Brulee didn’t caramelized as much as I expected but the taste was there.

It was a fun afternoon with Aussie Chef Adrian Richardson. You can catch him on Asian Food Channel (Astro 703) for his show “Good Chef, Bad Chef”. Thank you Asian Food Channel and Alice George Communications of the invitation, I enjoyed every part of it.

It is hard to believe that we are in the last month of the year. Christmas is coming and we celebrated early with Guinness. It is the Merry GUINNESS® with Adam Liaw.

Who is Adam Liaw? For those who glued their eyes for the Masterchef Australia Season 2 series on StarWorld in Asia, Adam Liaw was crowned as the winner after beating Callum in the finals last year. The final episode which aired in Australia is the 3^rd highest rating show of all time (in Australia). Adam Liaw is currently the ambassador of Malaysian Kitchen Australia and he is heavily promoting Malaysian food in Australia. Adam Liaw’s parents are from Malaysia so it’s nice to see someone linked with Malaysia in the show.

I followed the show on Youtube way before it was shown on StarWorld. In fact, I met him earlier this year during his trip to Malaysia. Check out my experience HERE.

GUINNESS® has a long association as the perfect combination with food. For generations, GUINNESS® has been used to intensify flavours, add depth, enhance texture and when it boils down to it, just make good food tastes great. Building on this heritage, GUINNESS® launched its 2011 Merry GUINNESS® Christmas campaign with a culinary display by MasterChef Adam Liaw, winner of MasterChef Australia Season 2. The celebrity chef unveiled 8 bold new Yuletide GUINNESS®-infused recipes that will be featured in participating Merry GUINNESS® outlets throughout the month of December.

More than 150 invited guests including chefs from participating Merry GUINNESS® outlets nationwide were present at the launch as the MasterChef himself prepared his specially crafted GUINNESS® infused Christmas recipes for guests. 25 lucky GUINNESS® Facebook fans also won the chance to be part of this exclusive event and were among the first to be treated to his specially crafted Merry Guinness Christmas menu.

“GUINNESS® has a bold and distinctive flavour that marries well with both sweet and savoury tastes, whether used as an ingredient or simply enjoyed together as part of a great meal. I’ve tried to capture the unique taste and texture of GUINNESS® in each of these dishes, and hope you all enjoy them as much as I have. I am so glad that GUINNESS® has given me this opportunity to create these special dishes for all my Malaysian fans this Christmas.” said MasterChef Adam Liaw at the launch.

Peter Khemlani, Marketing Manager of Guinness® Malaysia said: “If you were to ask anyone what Christmas is best known for, they’ll definitely tell you, it’s the great food! And GUINNESS® has been synonymous with great food for decades, especially during the festive season. So this year, we wanted to share the bold flavours of Guinness-infused cuisines with our consumers. We are excited to have Masterchef Adam design these unique recipes especially for you this Christmas. So do come and celebrate great food and good times with us this Christmas.”

We were expecting a great meal as created by Adam. We have seen his remarkable dishes on TV, time for us to sample his creations infused with Guinness.

Farmhouse Chicken and Egg terrine with Guinness Mustard. It was my first time having the farmhouse chicken and egg terrine and it was pretty tasty. It went well with the Guinness mustard. Yes, it Guinness infused mustard.

Oysters with Guinness cream.

Gravad Lax (cure salmon) with dill honey mustard. The salmon went well with the honey mustard. I always enjoy honey mustard.

Roast pumpkin soup with julienne smoked duck. What was the duck doing in there? It sort of balanced the taste of the sweet pumpkin soup with the smoke duck.

Open Guinness lamb shank and mushroom pie with champ and watercress salad. As we read the menu, we thought we going to get a huge piece of lambshank but this version of lambshank and mushroom pie was as good as it looks. This was addictive.

Guinness BBQ Wings apple slaw. I thought the chicken skin was too soft to my liking but the taste was good. Chicken was well marinated.

Guinness butter roasted chicken. If not mistaken, these are the chicken oysters that were shown at Masterchef Australia Masterclass. Juicy and tender, chicken oysters are small section of meat in between the thigh and drumstick. Infused with Guinness and butter, this was delicious.

Crispy squid with chili Guinness salt. You might think this is another version of fried calamari but you are wrong. The star of this dish is the Guinness salt. Created by Adam, this salt is created with more than 20 ingredients! Of course the details of the ingredients are confidential.

Roast turkey roulade with chestnut stuffing, giblet and cranberry sauce.

Sweet Guinnes damper with Blackberry Maple Compote.

Blackforest Pudding with Cream Cheese Frosting.

Christmas Minced Pies.

Christmas pudding with Vanilla sauce.

Guinness and Fruit Christmas Pudding.

It was an awesome meal, I was Guinness-fied at the end of the day. It was great to meet Adam again. We had a lengthy chat since I met up with him earlier this year. We chat about Masterchef Australia Season 3 and his trips to Malaysia. He is a great guy to talk to, he is very cheerful and straight forward.

As part of the month long festivities, GUINNESS® Malaysia will also be hosting 5 Merry GUINNESS® Christmas parties at the following venues:

1. El Meson Spanish Restaurant & Tapas Bar, Bangsar, 13th December 2011

2. Jarrod & Rawlins, AMPWALK, Ampang, 15th December 2011

3. Garibaldi Italian Restaurant & Bar, Bangsar, 17th December 2011

4. Market Hall, Bukit Bintang, 21st December 2011

5. Souled Out, Ampang, 24th December 2011

The Merry Guinness Parties will feature a delectable spread of great food inspired by MasterChef Adam’s scrumptious recipes. Be prepared to feast your senses on more than 30 delectable Christmas dishes, great music, fun activities paired with incredible promotions on pints of your favourite black brew!

Besides the 5 Merry GUINNESS® Christmas parties that will be taking place, 85 participating outlets nationwide will also be featuring some of MasterChef Adam’s appetizing Christmas menu. As part of the Christmas promotions, every purchase of MasterChef Adam’s mouth-watering cuisine will entitle consumers to a GUINNESS® at a special festive price.

The Merry GUINNESS® nationwide promotion will also be available in more than 2,000 pubs and bars across Malaysia. For every six pints of GUINNESS® draught or one bucket of GUINNESS® Foreign Extra Stout purchased at participating outlets, consumers will receive a free limited edition GUINNESS® money clip. These elegant money clips make a perfect addition to your Christmas stockings this festive season.

So whether gathering with friends or family this Christmas, there’s certainly no better place to celebrate good times with great food than at a participating Merry GUINNESS® outlet. For more information on Merry GUINNESS® this festive season, be sure to check it out on www.facebook.com/guinnessmalaysia.

It was great to chat with him again, he will always remembered me as the guy who managed to find him in KL Sentral in a private event. I’m his big fan!
Masterchef Australia Adam Liaw Profile

He may have been a young prodigy having completed Year 11 at just14-years-old, enrolled in university at age 16 and become a lawyer by 21, but Adam Liaw Winner of the 2nd series of the Ch10 hit series MasterChef, will tell you taking out the title was one of his proudest moments.

On the 25th July 2010 watched by over 4.2 million people, Adam completed a grueling round of finale tests to finish a close 4 points ahead of his opponent and mate Callum Hahn. Relief and shock flooded his face as he came to realize that success was so much sweeter when it came from achieving something you are truly passionate about.

When growing up in Adelaide, there seemed little doubt that Adam’s world would eventually centre around cooking.

“I first remember cooking when I was eight or nine and living with my mum and stepfather,” explains Adam. “With my stepbrothers and sisters, there were eight of us kids in the house and once a month, it would be the kids’ turn to make dinner.

“We moved around a bit when I was younger, like over to Malaysia, and there would always be some kind of food that I had loved – and wanted to cook – for the whole family.”

He moved to Japan six years ago, where his love affair with food blossomed. And after forging a successful career as a lawyer, Adam handed down his verdict on his culinary future: he wants to open his own Japanese Izakaya, which is like a pub with a casual restaurant.

The opportunity to return home and step the path that would ultimately fulfill his culinary dream came in the form of MasterChef Series 2.  Having lived in Japan he knew little about the series but in late 2009 he took the plunge, quit his job and returned to Australia to line up with 7000 others, all hopeful to secure a place in the top 50.

As the winner of MasterChef Series 2 he has worked in the kitchens of some of his biggest idols like Tetsuya, Gilbert Lau and Peter Gilmore.  Plans for his Izakaya are underway with an opening planned for late 2011 and the most coveted part of the prize package, Adam’s first cookbook ‘Two Asian Kitchens’, was released by Random House in April 2011. You can follow him on Twitter at Twitter.com/adamliaw

It was a great evening with free flow champagne, wine, beer and finger food in KL Pac Sentul for the Time Out KL Food Awards 2011. This was my first time attending the award show after missing the first few.

Interesting enough, this year’s nominees for the awards are broader than previous years. There are hawkers to fine dining restaurants and it is interesting to know who will prevail as winners.

Christine, KY, WeiZhi and Me

This is also the first year Time Out KL inviting bloggers to participate in the award show. We are one of them, nominating Lot 10 Hutong for the Best Hawker category.

On top of having a great time there, we were also delighted to see old friends and we did a lot of catch up there. There were also a number of familiar faces from restaurant owners and media friends.

Dominic Lau and Daphne Iking run the show, a short and funny award show. After thousands have voted, we were also as anxious as the rest. The winners and the results of Time Out KL Food Awards 2011 are as below:

Best Chinese:

Li Yen, Ritz Carlton (Winner)

Chynna, KL Hilton

Grand Imperial

Restaurant New Paris, PJ SS2

Shang Palace

Yut Kee

Best Continental:

Hakka Republic (Winner)

El Cerdo (Specially Commended)

Albion KL

The Press Room

Tanzini

Twenty.One Tables+Terrace

Best Fine Dining:

Cilantro (Winner)

Lafite, Shangri-La KL (Specially Commended)

Sage, The Gardens Hotel & Residences

Shook!, Starhill Gallery

Chalet, Hotel Equatorial

Best Hawker/Mamak:

Devi’s Corner (Winner)

Hutong, Lot 10 (Our Choice)

Nagasari Curry House

Nasi Kandar Pelita

Sri Nirwana Maju, Bangsar

Best Healthy Eating/Vegetarian

Marmalade, Bangsar Village (Winner)

Annalakshmi, Brickfields

Haven, Ampang Hilir

R.A.W. (Real and Wholesome)

The Yogitree

Best Indian

Kanna Curry House (Winner)

Bombay Palace (specially commended)

Gills

Passage Thru’ India

Sri Nirwana Maju, Subang Jaya

Best Italian

La Risata (Winner)

Il Lido (Specially Commended)

Cicio

Nerovivo

Sassorosso

Best Japanese

Kampachi (Winner)

Fukuharu (Specially Commended)

Rakuzen (Specially Commended)

Tatsu, Intercontinental Hotel

Gonbei San, Starhill Gallery

Zipangu, Shangri-La

Best Malay

Bijan (Winner)

Enak KL

Makan Kitchen

Songket

Restauran Rebung Chef Ismail

Best Middle Eastern

Al-Amar (Winner)

Al Andalus

Al Rawsha

Hadramawt

Laziz

Tarbush

Best Thai/Indochinese

Rama V (Winner)

Erawan

My Elephant

Sao Nam

Tamarind Springs

Best for Pub Grub

Jarrod & Rawlins (Winner)

Arthur’s Bar & Grill

Hoofed

Sid’s Pub

Tom, Dick & Harry’s

Best for Coffee

Espressamente Illy (Winner)

Antipodean, Bangsar

Chilla Cup

R.A.W. (Real and Wholesome)

Whisk Espresso Bar & Bake Shop, Empire Subang

Best Seafood

Restaurant Fatty Crab, Taman Megah (Winner)

Causeway Bay Spicy Crab

Fisherman’s Cove, Starhill Gallery

Green View, PJ

Lala Chong Seafood Restaurant

Pantai Seafood Restaurant

Best for Steak

Prime, Le Meridien KL (Winner)

Jake’s Charbroil Steak

MeatWorks

Qba, The Westin KL

Suzi’s Corner, Ampang

Best New Restaurant

Ben’s (Winner)

Antipodean

Arthur’s Bar & Grill

Brotzeit

Cuisine Gourmet by Nathalie

Hoofed, TTDI

Outstanding Chef of the Year

Chef Nathalie Arbefeuille (Winner)

Chef Saiful Baharin, formerly of The Press Room

Chef Michel Karam, Al-Amar

Chef David King, formerly of The Westin KL

Chef Adi Radzi, Hakka Republic

Restaurateur of the Year

T forty Two, Tate (Winner)

Benjamin Yong, BIG – Ben’s, Ben’s General Food STore, Bistro 42, Canoodling, Plan B, Ricetaurant,

Joseph Afaki, Al-Amar

Richard Holland & Dan Thompson, DrBar

Edward Hyde, Gastrodome

Werner Kuhn, The Werner’s Group

Blogger’s Choice Award goes to Memoirs of a Chocoholic for recommending Village Park, a great choice.

We didn’t win but enjoyed the event. Thank you Time Out KL for having us and giving us the opportunity to be part of a successful award show.

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