Eats: Simply Mel's @ The Sphere, Bangsar South

We came to Simply Mel's after hearing rave reviews about this place from Hubs's cousins. In fact they wanted to host Christmas lunch at Simply Mel's but unfortunately the restaurant was closed.

Simply Mel's is a family-run business and at the kitchen's helm, is the lovely Melba, otherwise known simply as Mel. The restaurant exudes a warm and cosy feeling with numerous displays of the owner's Malacca Portugese heritage.

The menu is an extensive showcase of various well-known and loved dishes of the Eurasian community. Being married to an Eurasian myself, the dish that I first fell in love with was the Devil's curry, eaten to my heart's content at every family gathering. So of course, without doubt, we ordered this during our visit. The curry was very homely, with a tinge of sourness and just the right amount of spice.

The Chef's special of the day that night was Baked Fish, and Hubs insisted we order this as well. For me, this is the star dish of the meal. I so *heart* the chilli paste that was used to baked the fish which in my humble opinion was better in taste compared to the Devil's Curry. Unlike other version of baked fish, Mel's version had the fish pan-fried first before baking which gives another dimension to the overall dish. I thoroughly enjoyed the fish and ate it till bones were left. ;p

For the greens, we ordered sambal kangkung and needless to say, another well-done dish.

I can see that the restaurant is really a labour of love because in between busy times, Mel took time to visit every table to explain their dishes, the Malacca Portugese culture and even informal afternoon tea classes that teaches Kristang language to the younger generation. I certainly agree with Mel that while the Malacca Nyonya has done very well in promoting their culture through food, the Eurasian community is still lacking behind and it's heartwarming to see Simply Mel's as one of the few that has taken on this mission.

For dessert (we normally are not dessert people, but decided to try anyway), we had The Last Polka Horlick ice cream and Mel's Sugee cake.

I ordered the Horlick ice-cream for nostalgia sake. As a child, I used to love (and still do!), to chew on Horlicks sweet-tablets as a snack. And the ice-cream brought back fond memories of those days. It was fine in texture, very creamy and with just a hint of Horlick, leaving me wanting for more! Just like the sweet-tablets. :) 

By Mel's recommendation, Hub's had the Sugee Cake and it was really good. We never particularly like sugee cake because some versions can be rather oily. But Mel's Sugee Cake is surprisingly light, and the addition of almond nibs gives a very good bite to the overall cake.



























We came home very stuffed that night, obviously over-indulged ourselves but it was all worth it. We definitely will be back for more.

****

Simply Mel's
Unit 1-1A, 1st Floor, The Sphere,
No. 1, Avenue 1, Bangsar South,
No. 8 Jalan Kerinchi 59200 Kuala Lumpur

Recipes: Meatball curry

This dish is one of Hubs's family favourite and really easy to make. My first attempt in making this dish a few years back was not very successful and I never had the opportunity to try again with work commitment and all. However, being in Jakarta, we do miss home cooked curry every now and then, hence I decided to try this again. It turn out well this time around, and I foresee there will be more request of this from Hubs. :)

Meatball Curry

For the meatball:

500gm of beef mince
1 egg
1 potato, boiled and mashed
1 onion, minced
3-4 stalks of coriander leaves, minced
1 red chilli, minced
salt and pepper to taste

- Combined all the ingredients in a large bowl. Stir to mix well. Roll the mixture into small balls i.e. golf ball size

For the curry:
2 tablespoon of meat curry powder
1 tablespoon of chilli powder
1 onion, sliced
1 stalk curry leaves
1 star anise
1 cinnamon stick (about 3cm)
3-4 cloves
3-4 cardamom 
2 potatoes, cubed
1 tomato, cubed
Water or stock


- Mix the curry powder and chilli powder with a some water until turn paste.
- Heat 2 tbsp oil and fry onion till soft. Next add in curry leaves and spices and fry till fragrant.
- Add in the curry powder mix and continue frying for about 15 minutes. If paste dries up, keep on adding water to make a watery paste. 
- Add in potatoes, and cook for a futher 10 minutes.  Next add in the meat balls, and add just enough water to cover. 
- Bring curry to boil for 20 minutes. Do not stir the curry as this will break up the meatballs. Instead, carry the pot and give a couple of swirl to mix.
- Add in tomatoes and cook for another 15 minutes. Allow curry to sit for at least half an hour before serving. 

Recipes: Grilled Chicken Breasts with Cumin and Thyme

When I made this dish the first time, we loved it so much that it warranted a repeat. I thought the combination of cumin and thyme was a bit odd but the end result was superb! I especially love the use of cumin in this marinade which gives a hint of spice and sweetness to the chicken.

Grilled Chicken Breast with Cumin and Thyme

3-4 pieces of chicken breasts

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 tablespoon salt

1 1/2 tablespoon black pepper

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon thyme

1/8 teaspoon cumin

- Combine all marinade ingredients in a bowl, mix well. (I used a pestle and gently grind the mix to release the flavours of cumin and thyme

- Coat chicken breast liberally with marinade and allow to marinate for at least 2 hours in the refrigerator

- Heat some oil in a non-stick pan. Grill the chicken breast until no longer pink in the center and juices run clear, roughly about 4-5 minutes on each side

On my 2nd attempt, I used the leftover marinade to flavour the vegetables, which turn out pretty good as well. What I did was to heat up 1 tbsp of butter, pour in the leftover marinade and quickly added the parboiled the broccoli for a couple toss before serving.

Eats: Serai @ Empire, Subang Jaya

I was first introduced to this cosy yet modern cafe in the Empire Shopping Gallery in Subang Jaya by a close friend during the month of Ramadhan when I was still in Kuala Lumpur, overseeing our new home renovation. At that time, the place was a bit quiet but according to friend, the place packs up pretty quickly during normal days once the clock hits 12pm.

On first impression, Serai is almost Delicious-esque (of Ms Read) but at the same time distinctly unique. I enjoyed my first meal here thoroughly and so when Hubs was back during the recent Christmas/New Year holidays, we came here again for him to try it out himself.

The owners of Serai paid attention to little details including
having jars of fresh cut flowers at every table.

Hubs's choice was the Serai Platter, which is serai-infused rice served with herb-marinated fried chicken thigh, oxtail in asam pedas, honeyed squid and acar. It was a very filling platter and certainly very good! The fried chicken was hot from the fryer and well marinated as well. Hubs was very pleased indeed. :)

Nasi kerabu is my vice and naturally for my second visit, I chose this again. It is served up with ayam percik with sauce on the side, which is perfect for me because I don't particularly fancy the slightly sweet nutty sauce, although I have to say that Serai's version is very palatable unlike Delicious's which is way too nutty for me. I especially like the fresh sambal and asked for more (like I did the first round) but unfortunately was served a sambal tumis instead, which was quite ok as well. The fish crackers that comes with the rice is also very authentic, almost like the ones from Kuala Terengganu and there's stuffed chilli with beef and kerisik to hoot! One very authentic dish by my standard. :)

 

Now that we are living so close by, Serai is definitely in my visit list whenever I'm back. 

***

Serai @ Empire

LG37, Empire Shopping Gallery,

Jalan SS16/1, 47500 Subang Jaya. 

Tel: 03-563 70706

Of Bir, Chanel and Porky Pig

After we moved into our new place here in Malaysia, Hubs and I went to a nearby hypermarket to pick up some groceries for the house. As we wandered into the alcohol section, Hubs was searching high and low of Bintang Beer and wondering out loud why he can't seems to find it, when I gently reminded him that we are back home in Malaysia. After making his selection and placed the cans into the shopping cart, as we were making our way out, I caught this silly signage which further affirm our physical presence here in Malaysia. Certainly, I have not come across such signages in supermarket in Indonesia when it is the largest Muslim country.

And I can't help but to compare this silly signage against a photo I have taken of a funny artsy sculpture on public display while window-shopping at Grand Indonesia. I'll let you draw your own conclusion.

To quote a remark from an acquaintance when this person saw this picture on Facebook, "Chanel and roast pork: life's essentials" ;)

Epic Traffic Congestion (by my standard)

Of course, calling it epic is an exaggeration to most Jakartans, whom I believe have been caught in worse traffic than this but, in my experience, this was by far the longest we took from our place to Social House in Grand Indonesia to meet a friend of Hub's for brunch before everyone flies out of the city for December holidays. 

We left at 11am to make it for brunch at 11:30. What would normally take half an hour on weekend traffic ended up in a close to 2 hours journey, just because the local authorities closed up the main road i.e. Jl. Jend. Sudirman until 12pm to allow city folks that live in the area to literally "take to the streets" for some recreational activities. The funny thing about this road closure is that nobody seems to know exactly which Sunday that the road is closed. Some say is 3rd Sunday of the month, while I read somewhere it seems to be on every Sunday now, apparently. 

A city folk leisurely cycles by along Jl. Jend. Sudirman, inhaling fumes 

contributed by cars choking the side road. Mind boggling logic!

 

Due to the road closure, the authorities diverted us into a nightmare traffic that took us on a snaking detour into neighbouring Menteng. Just getting into Menteng itself was a snail-paced crawl... 

... and one wonders why when cars, motorbikes and even a 

man-pulled cart shares the road. Welcome to traffic, Jakarta-style!

 

And just when I thought that traffic would ease up once we reach Menteng, it turned out not to be so. We had to battle Sunday church traffic and an Indonesian wedding traffic at a mosque, which both places of worship are opposite of each other on the same road.

To add salt to injury, by the time we reached the vicinity of Grand Indonesia, the authorities had opened up Jl. Sudirman and traffic was back to normal. If only we had delayed leaving the house by half an hour!

Hello 2012!

What a whirlwind three weeks it has been since I came back to Kuala Lumpur. I have been super busy going for follow-up appointment at the doctor's, catching up with friends, planning Christmas, house-warming and New Year celebrations with the family/friends, plus organising a move, all at the same time.

The move is ZE most important agenda of all because Hubs only has annual leave until New Year, so do-or-die, we had to move before Christmas. Luckily I already did one round of spring cleaning when I moved to Jakarta few months back, hence we did not have a lot of stuffs to pack. Phew!

We had wonderful time over Christmas and New Year, catching up with family and friends. Of course, gatherings are made the more fun when there's Food! Glorious Food! I sure stuffed myself with all the lovely dishes over the past one week! :)

And of course there's the party and the drinks! Although I gotta admit, age is catching up and certainly I can't seems to tolerate wearing high heels for long period of time. After 4 hours of standing in 3 inches heel ushering in the new year at a club whose name is close to half the age of Hubs, I begged to call it quits on the on-going party at 1:30am. ;p

Well, tomorrow is when the rest of the world brave the onslaught of traffic congestion, first day of school and first day of work in a brand new year. Certainly it's time to rev up the engine for a smashin' start to 2012!

Good bye 2011...

... and may everyday of 2012 starts with clear blue skies!