[Review] Bel Pasto, Aman Puri

In my previous post for Bel Pasto, Kepong Baru I mentioned that they have another branch at Aman Puri before the opening of the Kepong Baru branch and I have never been there. So, this time I paid a visit to the Aman Puri branch instead to try out the menu there and to see whether it is better than the Kepong Baru branch as claimed.

It is located at the shop lot opposite the Shell petrol station and McDonald's at Aman Puri, next to a corner restaurant. The exterior and interior have similar design as of Kepong Baru's branch but it is narrower in comparison to the later.

This time I came with my family instead and we are able to order more off the menu. We tried from starters to pasta, main dishes as well as pizzas. For starters we ordered the soup of the day followed by garlic bread. 

 The soup of the day appears to be chicken soup and it is different from what we usually drank. The chicken soup is more like what we will cook according to the recipe for chicken soup, that is a blend of celery, potatoes and carrot cubes as well as cubes of chicken meat with chicken stock. Well, nothing much to shout out about the soup. Very original taste of the chicken soup recipe, which to be honest, similar to what I will usually prepare at home as well.

The garlic bread is served with a good layer of garlic butter on one side. It is served in 5 pieces for a plate, just nice for a family of five. Also nothing much to shout out about the garlic bread and it is good as starters while waiting for the dishes.

We ordered a few types of pasta including macaroni, penne and lasagne. As described previously, the tomato sauce is prepared by themselves using fresh tomato. The presentation is also plain and simple unlike the fancy decorations that you found in other Italian restaurants.

Then here comes one the lamb shank. We noticed it has a chef's recommendation icon there and decided to give it a try. Their lamb shank is served with salad and tomato rice, which is slightly different from other restaurants that has different side dishes to accompany it. The lamb shank has a very heavy taste and I don't think many will like it. The usual gamey smell when having mutton is strong in this dish and have to be eaten together with the rice in order to minimise it.

On the other hand, the pizza is worth trying. The pizza we order has four different types of toppings but we opt the beef for other ingredients which is mushroom and tomato. The pizza is called a Pizza Quatro, which explains of having four different toppings. The crust is very nice with soft and chewy texture, accompanied by nice wheat aroma. The pizza is a good try.

Last but not least will be the Tiramisu. The Tiramisu definitely worth trying for every visit. As described in my previous post, the Tiramisu is prepared using the original recipe that uses lady finger biscuits dipped in thick coffee and layered with mascarpone cheese. It will not disappoint.

I guess I have wrapped up for both branches and already have a rough idea on which to order for my next visit if I fancy for any Italian food nearby. Read up about the Kepong branch from this link: http://gavincty.blogspot.com/2012/10/review-bel-pasto-kepong.html

[Review] Haji Musa Ikan Bakar - Crystal Bay, Melaka

Dear visitors,

I have moved my posts about food and travel to my new blog with renewed look as below:
[FOOD] 20140711 Haji Musa Ikan Bakar @ Crystal Bay, Melaka

Feel free to pay a visit and also to read about my latest experience at
Travel Foodie

Thank you

Last edited: 06 July 2015

[Review] Bel Pasto Kepong

Bel Pasto, A fine meal everytime!

Bel Pasto, Kepong branch is opened for quite some time already and it is until recently I paid them a visit on a Friday evening for dinner. It is rare to see an Italian restaurant operate in a place like Kepong, and it is even ran by real Italians themselves. The first outlet is located at Aman Puri, which is also nearby Kepong. The Kepong outlet is located at a shop lot behind Carrefour Kepong alongside with many steamboat buffet restaurants like QQ buffet steamboat and BBQ. It is a humble and cozy restaurant with not much exterior design, which makes it a bit hard to notice if you are not reading the signboards one by one. Even thou the exterior of the restaurant is just a plain glass panel and a lunch promo panel, the interior is decorated like a typical Italian restaurant with paintings on the wall and square-patterned table cloths on wooden tables. I went early and there's only one table with customers while others were empty.

I've always heard good comments about the branch in Aman Puri but I guess I will give it a try for the Kepong branch, which some claimed, not as good as the Aman Puri branch. We ordered pasta only for this time, skipping the pizza and other main course first just to try out. Chicken Bolognese and Chicken Lasagne were our choice because I'm a fan of tomato sauce and I couldn't take beef.  Besides that, we also ordered their signature Tiramisu as dessert to compliment the meal. Drinks were just normal peach ice tea and ice blended Cappuccino.

Chicken Bolognese - RM9.90

The restaurant is operated by real Italians, meaning to say, I would be getting a more closer taste of authentic Italian cuisine (I suppose?) than other Italian chain restaurants in the shopping mall. As you can see in the picture, there's no fancy decorations on the plate, just pasta. The look may not be appealing, but how about the taste? The first bite of it you definitely will be able to taste the tomato from the sauce. The tomato sauce is different from what we usually taste outside or even different from the pasta sauce that we cooked at home. The reason is because the pasta sauce served in other restaurants or in our house are usually canned/bottled tomato puree that is processed in the factory and then further cooked into pasta sauce, which have a very vibrant red colour and strong sourish smell.

Simple pasta

The tomato sauce used in their pasta is obviously cooked from fresh tomatoes due to the distinctive colour and smell of local tomatoes. I knew because I cooked my own red sauce at home too and that flavour is very similar to what I prepared at home. Local tomatoes are more to orange colour than red and the flavour is not as rich as imported red tomatoes. It is a waste that they did not use imported red tomatoes as the ingredient for the sauce but at least you know they prepared it themselves instead of using pre-cooked cans of tomato puree, which might have artificial flavours and preservatives.

Enough talk about the sauce and move on to the pasta and the other ingredients. The pasta is very soft, in fact I would considered the softest spaghetti I had when compared to other restaurants I visited. To be honest, I prefer my spaghetti to be more chewy instead. Perhaps I should notify the waitress next time. Anyway, the pasta was well seasoned and the sauce is cooked with minced chicken meat and black pepper.

Chicken Lasagne - RM11.90

The next dish will be Chicken Lasagne, prepared directly in an oval bowl baked in the oven. The tomato sauce used is similar, or I would say same as the one in the Chicken Bolognese but with slightly stronger flavour. The aroma from the Mozzarella cheese definitely makes me drool over it and the portion is just nice for one person. Other than that, nothing much to shout about the Lasagne.

Tiramisu - RM8.90

The Tiramisu is actually what we really looking forward for in this meal. The waitress will ask whether to serve it before or after meal when ordering. The picture may not be able to tell you the portion but I can rest assure that this is a portion for two. Just take your typical cheese cake from Secret Recipe, and times two. That's the portion for the Tiramisu that they served and definitely worth the price of RM8.90.

They make the Tiramisu according to real Italian recipe, i.e. by using Ladies finger biscuits, dipped into rich coffe and then covered with thick layers of mascarpone cheese and lastly decorated by generous amount of coffee powder and chocolate syrup. This is the real Tiramisu recipe and not some fake Tiramisu cake that is made of cream and cake that usually found in cake shops. I enjoyed having it and I felt like I could help myself for another piece. In fact, some people even claimed that it is better than the overrated Alexis Tiramisu that charge a bomb for its Tiramisu cake, but well, taste and preference is very subjective.

Overall, the dining experience here is pretty pleasant. I would like to visit here again next time to try their starters, pizza as well as the main courses before I give a conclusion about this place. The pasta did not really make a great impression on me but the Tiramisu did. I wouldn't mind to drop by after dinner to have a piece of Tiramisu with a cup of Cappuccino for dessert or supper. Perhaps I should also pay the Aman Puri branch a visit to compare the quality to see whether it is better or equal like some people claimed.

Update: Aman Puri branch visit
Their blog for menu: http://belpastoitalianrestaurant.blogspot.com/

[Review] Levain Boulangerie & Patisserie

Was browsing my Lightroom's old album and found out that I missed out one album to share here. It was taken 4 months ago during my visit to Levain Boulangerie & Patisserie with a group of friends. It is a famous bakery, well known for its pastries and bread with their signature stone oven.

It is located at Jalan Delima, nearby Prince Court Medical Center, Wisma Technip and Off Jalan Bukit Bintang. The bakery is renovated from a Bungalow/Mansion into a bakery, serving fresh breads and special pastries. We went on a Sunday noon, where the whole place is crowded with people and many bread were sold out as well.

View Larger Map

We managed to secure a table outside and choose some breads to try. Basically after you secured a table, you need to remember the table if you wish to order beverages or other meals like pasta. After you chose your pastries and breads, proceed to the cashier to order your beverages if you want, and then tell them cashier the table number so that the waitress can serve to your table later. The attached picture below show the ordering instruction written on a black board.

Since it was 4 months ago, I couldn't really remember the names of the bread that we took and the price associated with it. I will try to recall some of it, nevertheless, pictures will be provided.

 Maple Toast

Turkey Ham & Egg

Turkey Ham Croissant

The interior design follows some English cottage style with some plants outside the compound. There's basically three main sections including compound outside, the ground floor inside and the first floor upstairs with modified rooms that are quite small thou.

U may find a lot of decorations that are based on cottage or farmer home style around the bakery especially first floor. The price is on the high side, definitely not an everyday tea time location for people like me which is not from the higher income group. However, if you have a sudden crave of good bread or pastries, this is definitely one of the place you can come for a casual tea time break.

[Review] Plan b, Paradigm Mall

Paradigm Mall is a new mall located at Kelana Jaya and it is the new attraction for that area recently. Knowing there are many restaurants within the new mall, my colleagues and I decided to drop by for a meal on a casual weekend. We ended up at Plan b to try because other restaurants like Fish & Co., Nando's and Italiannies can be found at many other places and this seems new to us.

Plan b basically serves western dishes along with some local delicacies. Burgers, sandwiches and pastas are the main ones that you can find in their menu. Their menu is a very unique one where it's like a pile of papers bind on a piece of wood with a catchy slogan of "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade".

We were served with plain water while reading the menu. The water comes in the form of a bottle, similar to the acid bottle we used back in the school days for experiment purposes. It feels like we are drinking a big bottle of medicine, but of course in smaller glasses.

I ordered a Chicken Burger for myself and my girl ordered Pasta Aglio Olio. Within the menu, I noticed they used a lot of nuts in their dishes and drinks as well. Presence of nuts is also felt within my Chocolate Milkshake, dunno is it me or they really blend some nuts within.

The pasta is rather simple with proper seasoning. Nothing much to shout about with a price tag of RM15++.

The Chicken Burger on the other hand comes with more than just the burger itself. It is served along side with a bowl of salad with lettuce and nuts, and a serving of fried chips of yam, sweet potato and tapioca I suppose. The burger's portion is quite big with a thick piece of grilled chicken breast with mashed avocado toppings on it and fresh lettuce under the patty. The patty was grilled just nice, well cooked enough for the thickness but not overcooked until the meat is dry. The avocado paste compliments the patty well and best to eat together. However, I'm not sure what is the piece of cracker or what ever name you call it located on top of the avocado paste. Maybe I'm not used to western cuisine and has no idea on how to eat it. All these sums up to a price tag of RM24++.

 

Overall, it was a good experience dining there. Probably due to the environment and the company. The restaurant is decorated with some vintage items, partly antique, partly natural with modern feel and cozy furniture. 

Not much review is done in this post thou cause my main purpose of visit is for gathering instead of a proper dining intention. Perhaps would drop by again in the future for a better one.

It is worth mentioning that all the pictures above are taken with my Galaxy S3 instead of my DSLR. Looks like my phone can replace my camera for some photo shooting provided with good light source is available for shooting.

Review Writing for My New Phone's Camera

Finally after few days of hardcore writing, my review, or I should say guide for the Samsung Galaxy S3's Camera is ready and published at a separate blog. The reason is that blog is created specially to cater different audience and I do not want to mix it with this blog. I will update pictures taken by my Galaxy S3 from time to time as a gallery for myself.

There are total of 6 parts, explaining and discussing almost everything about the Galaxy S3's camera and how to maximise its potential for our daily use.

Please proceed to my new blog if you are interested to see what the new flagship phone can deliver

The Galaxy S3 Gallery

A Comprehensive Samsung Galaxy S3 Camera Review and Guide:

Part 1: Hardware and Features
Part 2: User Interface
Part 3: Limitations
Part 4: Shooting Mode
Part 5: Scene Mode
Part 6: Summary and Conclusion

P.S. I would like to apologize to my girl for being busy these few days. ;)

[Review] Melkco Leather Casing for Galaxy Tab 10.1 P7500/P7510

Disclaimer: This is not a professional review and all the findings and opinions are based on my own experience only.

Preface

A tablet as big as the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is definitely not as pocketable as phones and PDAs. Therefore, carrying it out naked will possess quite some trouble if no proper protection or cover is used. Usually we will always put our tablets on the table and no doubt they will always be humps and bumps that will damage the tablet's chassis or dirt that will scratch the surface of it. Besides, a casing or a cover will act as disguise to avoid unnecessary attentions when holding it or using it in the public. I did not buy a tablet to attract attention like some other people, who prefer some particular brand. I want to keep as low profile as possible, to avoid attention and for safety reasons as well.

The Selection

There are many variety of casing to choose from in the market to fit my tab, with price ranging sub RM100 to few hundred ringgit to choose from. Samsung themselves also have their own design of casing for the tab, which is very slim and offer least protection but remains the slim profile of the tab, and it is good looking too. However, the price for it is exorbitant and it does not fulfill my requirement for protection purpose hence I will skip the official ones.

I bought a Belkin slim folio casing for my tab on the first day of launch but it has several issues. The linings beside the casing were terribly glued and it started to peel off within a month of usage. The peeling starts from the folding area where it is used to fold and keep the tab standing and slowly propagates along the glued sides. Another problem with the casing is that it is very hard to clean it once contacted with dirt, especially water or oil stains. Hence, after a month of usage, the casing shows a lot of wear and tear even thou I took good care of it. After two months, I couldn't bare the low quality Belkin casing anymore and issued a RMA request and sent it for replacement. It took them around 2 weeks plus to respond and Belkin replaced my slim folio casing with another variant, which is thicker and bulkier. I immediately sold it off and start hunting for a better quality casing.

Having heard of the good reviews Melkco received for their premium hand made casings for iPhones and Galaxy S2, I decided to give it a try even thou it makes my tab looks thicker and bulkier. However, the hand made genuine leather and the build quality is what attracts me the most because leather are very durable and easy to clean compare to PU, thou some maintenance are required to keep the leather last longer. Besides, a polished leather gives a very classy feel which will not make you shy to take it out and show it to others.

The Purchase

I spent some time looking for shops online that sells this Melkco casing for Galaxy Tab and found out that not many shops carry this model because of low demand. Most of them charge a very expensive price, which is around RM270 for the casing itself. My budget allocated for the casing is just RM150. I went to survey around shopping malls and shops, those who have this model sells it at very high price and claims it is a rare product as they don't take in much stock. When I almost giving up on finding it, I came across a shop located in Subang which sells this casing in lelong at a cheaper price at RM170. I contacted the seller to inquire about the stock availability and he says its avail but one stock left.

Wasting no time, I drove all the way to Subang because I want to inspect the casing by myself, in concern of a fake product due to the cheap price. I took me some time to look for the shop in Subang because I'm not familiar with the area. The seller shows me the casing, having one black and one red left in his cabinet. Even thou the red one looks nicer, but I choose the classic black instead, due to lower profile and more classic look. The seller let me open the box to inspect for any defects and it is a genuine product no doubt, with very good hand made stitches, the genuine leather smell that you will get for any leather product. After the inspection, I happily paid the seller, who in turn, gives me a further RM5 discount when I jokingly asked for it. So, the total damage for this casing is RM165, which is just RM15 more expensive than that low quality Belkin slim folio casing. Worth much more than it too!

Real World Experience

It has been 6 months since I had this casing, and it still feel very new, except that the leather smell, which is no longer there. The stitches are still very in tact, no sign of thread coming out. The casing is very well built with excellent workmanship. It has some cushion beneath the front facing leather which makes it very nice to hold and touch. Sometimes I will use my tablet as my arm rest too because the cushion and leather is so comfortable to put on. The back is also leather but wrapped on a cardboard, which does not have the cushion feeling as the front cover. 

The interior is covered with padding and carpet like texture and the padding has three grooves that can hold the tab in standing position. On the padding itself you will find it is embedded with the Melkco logo and brand name diagonally. The casing is made in China but no doubt on its quality which is superior to other leather casing you will find in the market. The leather is genuine cow hide, with my unit has some slight defects on the skin surface, but doesn't really affect the overall quality because such slight defect is expected from genuine leather.

 

Picture courtesy of Melkco website: Melkco Leather Case for Galaxy Tab 10.1

 A bad comment for this casing is that it is a bit troublesome to change it into standing position as it requires us to detach the bottom grip of the casing in order to tilt the casing in standing mode. Troublesome for initial use, but once you get used to it, it doesn't feel so anymore. Another thing is the cover grip, the cover closes on the tab with minimal grip because it uses a curved hook to just hang on the tab's side. Aside from the hook, the connecting strip between the back and the front gives me a feeling that I will snapped it if I open it in a harsh way. However, after half a year of abuse, no issues with it really. It performs how it should, and it is very durable.

Wrap Up

A very premium casing which offers good protection, good maintenance and classic look that will make other owners drool over the leather and the quality. Wear and tear is minimum, with some damage to the side but not very obvious, thanks to the black colour. The leather requires some clean up once in a while and will get damage by sharp finger nails, which must be careful. Overall, it still feels very new and I know it will last longer than my tablet's lifespan. A very well worth product to buy.

Advantages 

• Premium feel and quality 
•  Genuine leather for durability and cleaning 
•  Very strong grip of the tab 
• Hand made stitches with excellent workmanship 
• Comfortable cushion 
•  Solid build 
• Offers fairly good protection for front and back 
• Durable 
• Classic outlook

Disadvantages 

• Sides and edges are exposed 
• Thicker and bulkier 
•  Cumbersome to change to standing position 
• Offers only adequate grip on cover 
• Pricey 

Official Website for Melkco: Melkco Leather Casing for Galaxy Tab 10.1

[Review] Italiannies - Subang Empire and The Curve

This set of pictures have been laying around in my hard disk for half a year now and finally I have the time to dig them out, give them some touch up and published online. Since it has been so long ago after my visit, I have forgotten most of the names of the dishes that we ordered and probably just able to show some pictures. The pictures are not really up to standard as well due to the low ambient environment and the hunger that hasten my finger to simply compose and snap away. Nevertheless, hope I'm able to share something, and it will be a proper review.

Italiannies, an Italian restaurant that is quite common as we can spot it in many major shopping malls. They have 6 branches around Klang Valley, with Paradigm Mall as the latest one as I just checked their website. The restaurants has a very traditional Italian ambient and their waiters and waitress always make you feel at home. I have been to two branches, the first one was at the Subang Empire last year, and the recent one will be at The Curve. I will start off with the Subang Empire first then continue with The Curve at the second part.

I went to the Italiannies in Subang Empire during December last year. It was a Wednesday night and expected less crowd in the shopping mall and the restaurant as well. We took our time to read the menu and order what we wanted. As usual, we are served with some bread with a plate of oil and vinegar mixture to go along with it.

 

Some condiments are found on the table, such as olive oil (I suppose), vinegar, salt and pepper. I would say they are part of the decorations on the table because of the fancy glass bottle containing the olive oil.

 

I forgotten what we ordered for drinks, probably Cappuccino and Mango shake. I will just show the picture instead. 

My girlfriend ordered Shrimp and Mushroom Linguine and according to her, the taste was just OK only for her. Just a pass, I suppose. Sorry for the different white balance for both pictures.

I myself ordered a pizza which I couldn't remember the flavour. Apparently they removed it from their latest menu because I can't seem to find it anymore. It was a typical thin crust pizza with toppings of chicken cubes, traditional tomato sauce, some capsicum and not forgetting the Mozzarella cheese.

Well, that's basically everything we ordered during that visit. I'm not an Italian food fan and do not really know how an authentic Italian food will taste like. So I will just give my opinion, based on my thoughts of the food. My second visit is with my family at the Curve. This time, we ordered a lot more than my previous dine in in Italiannies.

As usual, we were served with bread and a plate of oil-vinegar mixture like what I had in Subang Empire.

As for drinks, we ordered ripe mango fruit shake, cafe latte, cafe mocha and ice latte.

For starter, we ordered a platter called Quattro platter, which is actually a combination of deep fried risotto balls, calamari, fried lemon cheesy balls and zucchini strings. It comes along with two types of sauces, which is the typical tomato sauce and another one is cheese sauce I believe. The fried lemon cheesy balls gives you a mouthful of cheesy sensation and will not be suitable for those who are not fancy with the smell of cheese. Calamari is good and fresh, while the risotto balls is a good try as well. However, the zucchini strings and onions are not really my type, probably will have their own fans, but not me.

We ordered a Chicken Lasagna as well since we never tried it in an Italian restaurant before. It tasted very good with a very strong taste of cheese in it.

Not forgetting to accompany the dinner with traditional Italian pizza. We ordered the Tropicale flavour since we liked pineapple within our pizza.

 Last but not least, a house specialty of Sizzling Roasted Chicken, which is served in a pan with a generous amount of vegetable in it like potato and onions. This is something very special as we do not usually eat it else where except in Italian restaurants. The soup (or sauce) is nice with very rich taste, I guess wine was added into it but not too sure about that.

Overall, both dining experience in Italiannies was good and would come back if I have a sudden crave of something unique.

I do apologize for such an informal review, or I should say just mere sharing as I'm no expert in Italian food. I hope the pictures will compensate some text for me in conveying the message.

Do visit http://www.italiannies.com.my for an in depth recommendations on their menu.