Beans N Beans, Damansara Uptown

We decided to go into the Beans N Beans cafe due to the promise of free coffee when you buy 1. Because why would you want to pay full price when you can get it for half?<Asian genes>

Anyway… the place looked very hip and young, something that our own ageing hips would not recognise.The industrial decoration and stylish text against the total black brick background should draw its intended target demographics and one can never go wrong with the Buy 1 Free 1 attraction. We rated the decor an 8/10. The place even had some games that one can play among a group of friends like Jenga, UNO (though it was UNO Frozen), some crocodile-teeth thingy and another pirate-on-a-barrel-with-sharp-swords thingy. You can stick to the board games like Monopoly or Snakes & Ladders but we wanted a quick game so we chose UNO. It did not turn out to be short after all. We probably spent an hour hanging out there as N & S desperately tried to lose in order to finish the game. There were also goofy props that one could use to accessorize oneself like hats, wigs, moustaches, glasses, tiaras, masks and wands so that a happy picture could be snapped and uploaded into one's social media account to portray a life full of happiness, care- freeness and everlasting youth.

Surprise, surprise…none of us knew that it was R’s birthday. Not even J, who has been R’s good friend for the past 3 years!!!! So please excuse our incredulous and disbelieving looks when R casually mentioned that it was his birthday and he wanted to treat us to coffee. After his birthday was confirmed via his identity card, which was really lame of us to have even requested of him in order to believe him, we counter- treated him to the Korean dessert, bingsu. 

We had green tea bingsu, which looked nice but probably tasted ordinary. But hey, R’s birthday does not come everyday. Bingsu is practically a dessert made out of shaved ice topped with sweet stuff. Kind of like ABC here in Malaysia but with Korean flashy looks. Our bingsu, which cost RM 17.80, was infused with green tea syrup flavour and topped with a scoop of tasty green tea ice cream plus some gelatinous condiments which we have no idea what they were. R generously shared his birthday treat with us and we happily obliged (while still trying to finish that stupid UNO game!). We rated the dessert a 6/10. Maybe we overrated it because of the auspicious celebration.

The coffee tasted okay. Since we could only have the same free coffee as the one we bought, J & N both had the cappuccino, originally priced at RM 11 each but now given a 50% discount. J being a coffee connoisseur rated it a 7/10. Well, he actually rated it a 6/10 but S added an extra mark because the bear design was so cute, in its left facial nerve palsy way. The barista has done his homework on inclusion policy, we see. N was too busy focusing on trying to rid himself from the ever- growing collection of Anna & Elsa cards in his hands to care. R & S each had a tall glass of iced caramel macchiato, which would have cost RM 12.20 but now cost RM 6 per glass. Since neither of them were coffee aficionados, they just drank their drinks quietly. No cute bears either so they rated their drinks 5/10.

Overall it was a joyous occasion and we ended it by getting R a set of 4 cupcakes from Wondermilk. We could not rate them as R ate them all and we are sure he would say they were all lovely if we asked him.

Wondermilk cupcakes: red velvet, salted caramel, butterscotch & peanut butter and chocolate flavours

 May the force be with you, R!

Honest Foodies Review, Penang edition: Gurney Drive, The Alley, China House & Nasi Kandar Line Clear

So, this was a long time coming. A bunch of us were attending a course in Batu Ferringhi, Penang and wanted to document our limited foodscapade there. Most of the meals were taken in the hotel itself so we only had dinner, supper and everything in between to stuff ourselves with authentic Penang fares.

Egg, R and S took our maiden Uber trip which was free to Gurney Drive to try the famous delicacies offered there. This was around dinner time so we were quite famished. Egg and R had some non- halal stuff which they did not bother to rate. So let’s just assume they were delicious.

 S wanted to employ some evidence- based method to choose her food options wisely. Limited time, limited stomach room, that kind of reason. But the method backfired on her. You see, she went to stalls that displayed newspaper cuttings of their food. Sucker for advertisements, she was. So the first dish she tried was char kuey tiaw. Her verdict? So- so. Like 4/10. Like ‘I’ve- had- better- even- in- KL’. There was not enough depth of flavour to the noodles and it fell flat.

Next S tried the rojak pasembur next, a must have to those visiting Penang. This particular stall also showed the newspaper clipping of its food. Undeterred by the previous meal, she tried like RM 14 worth of rojak. The gravy was not well- balanced: the sweetness, spiciness and saltiness were off. The rojak ingredients themselves were kind of hard and over- greasy, like the pieces have been re- fried or were exposed to the air for quite some time.

The next day, La Bonito invited us to have dinner with her aunt and uncle at the Captain’s Restaurant, Penang Swimming Club along Tanjung Bungah. This is like the best swim club that you do not have to swim in, ever. The restaurant is located at one of the higher levels (14th floor or something like that) and the view was breathtaking. The food is delectable and cheap too. They serve a jumble of Chinese, Western and fusion dishes. Service was okay, waiting time of probably 15 minutes for our food to arrive. Alas, we were too er, bashful to take pictures of the food while some other mature adults were around. So we just managed to take the picture of the orange juice, which cost a mere RM 1.50 only. We gobbled the white rice with fish curry, salted egg fried pumpkin, mixed vegetables, steamed chicken with mushroom gratefully and thanked our gracious hosts. The food here is honestly tasty and equally affordable but unfortunately, not rateable since we were too polite to scrutinise our food in front of our hosts. It must be our Asian upbringing. Even the mostly wacky La Bonito managed to behave in front of her aunt and uncle. Colour us impressed.

The only shot we managed to get before getting our proper table manners on in front of Aunty & Uncle. Orange juice tasted freshly squeezed.

After dinner, La Bonito’s aunt and uncle dropped us off at Perangin Mall to do some shopping. S dreamt of eating the churros she saw N posted in their WhatsApp group so she was determined to find that place even if it meant walking around aimlessly with a Waze that was trying to be funny by changing up routes every few minutes. Reached the place they did and boy, were they underwhelmed by it. The place was called The Alley Cafe in Stewart Lane. Might have to do with it being in an alley where most people who are not locals will have difficulty in locating.The decoration and ambience was nice, like hipster nice. You know, making- ugly- old- run- down- thing-look- cool- because- we- can- draw- murals- and- make- cool- quotes nice? If the wall underneath our air conditioning unit in our own homes became mouldy and had bubbles or bullae on it, then we could probably open a cafe like this. S gave the ambience a 6/10 with kudos to the owner for having the creative guts for fixing upping this colonial era building.

The churros (RM 9 for 6 sticks) were soggy and dense. They were dense because though they looked perfectly fried outside, the insides were undercooked and we could still taste the raw floury batter. Maybe we came at the wrong time, who knows? It was 8-9 pm ish. We gave the churros 3/10 for taste and something slightly better for the presentation. Maybe 6/10. The salted caramel dip was nice though so that is something.

The cronut (RM 7) was okay, not as bad as the churros. Maybe we are too old to eat these kind of fashionable things…maybe? We were probably expecting too much anyway. We had great imagination of how a fluffy and impossibly flaky croissant being transformed into a donut would be. We gave it a 4/10. Presentation was as nice as the churros’, a 6/10. The chocolate sauce drizzled onto the cronut was okay, not overly sweet.

We also shared a slice of the lemon cheesecake. It was toe- curling sour in a great way. We did not bother to take a picture before we ate the cake as we were still dejected from the previous plate but S personally thought the cheesecake was the saviour in an otherwise overrated place, rating it a 7/10.

Never one to give up, La Bonito coaxed us to forgo our 9.30 pm bedtime with the promise of great dessert. So we walked a bit further to China House at Beach Street. Still in the old quarters area of Georgetown, the front of the shop looked like your typical ordinary… Chinese brothel? Chinese apothecary? But the facade does remind you of something back in the day when this part of town was THE part of town. Once you enter the establishment, wow, you are in for a pleasant surprise. The shop extends longitudinally to the back, through a narrow alleyway, passing through an expansive courtyard with al fresco seating surrounded by willowy fragrant mango trees and some awesome Chinese landscaping works as well as a calming structure of a pool and finally through the building behind it facing Victoria Street. The place looked like it was going on forever. We think there were 3 shops that we went through without ever walking onto the street, the last stop being a bar. 

We settled for the for the family- friendly side with the huge long picnic table and benches. The cake table was brimming with delectable cakes from Beach St. Bakery and had a wide range of flavours. Like really, they have everything for everyone. They looked rustic and home- baked though costing a pretty penny with nothing less than RM 10. Some cakes do have alcohol in them so be careful of what you choose, teetotallers. The furniture were repurposed antiques and complimented the Old World vibe they were going for. Books and magazines lined the shelves there, allowing bookworms to stay in the restaurant for ages. They were dusty though so we doubted the reading materials were fully utilised. We suspect most people came and played loud family games like we did. We played Jenga, the block building game where attention- deficit players try to stack one block after the other without trying to make the whole thing fall apart. Pretty nerve wrecking stuff, and a futile effort when you involve stubby fingers like ours. Let’s just say we enjoyed it too much than we should. The table was covered in huge plain white paper for us to express our um, arty ideas with the provided crayons. By the looks of it, let us just say we would not be leaving our day jobs to work in the creative industry any time soon. We give the ambience an excellent 8/10. Very casual, very rustic without looking like it was trying too hard to become hip only to come off as snobbish.

Being the most experienced one amongst us, La Bonito treated us to the perfect dessert while we try to flex our Jenga muscles. She chose the sinfully delicious Towering Brownie. As the name suggests, it is structure made of 3 chocolate brownies stacked together and towering over dark chocolate shavings and nuts. A scoop of vanilla and also chocolate ice cream are sandwiched in between the gooey, rich brownies. The brownies would just have been good chocolate brownies based on its texture, density and richness but the flavour is elevated another notch by the addition of a berry- licious sour base that offsets the decadence and richness of the chocolate flavour. A refreshing twist to an otherwise already tasty brownie. It did become a mouthful for the four of us to finish but finished we did, eventually. The girls appreciated the balanced richness in flavours and rated the dessert a 9/10 while the guys thought the tartness kind of ruined it a bit and rated it an 8/10.

Here is another picture to remind you of the delicous and decadent Towering Brownie

We finally made our way up back to Batu Ferringhi with our nice Uber driver and called it a night. For R & Egg though, the night was not over yet as they made their way through the Batu Ferringhi night market to find some phone cable. Or so they claimed.

The next day as our course pulled down its curtain, me made our way to the airport. We had our dinner at Nasi Kandar Line Clear at the Penang International Airport. Yes, this famous Penang heritage has spread its wings to the airport. We totally expected the expensive price due to its location but it was still too much to pay for a mediocre tasting nasi kandar. 

All of us except for La Bonito had nasi kandar with different types of protein. La Bonito genuinely liked her murtabak, it was crispy on the outside and fluffy inside. Nasi kandar is obviously not Egg’s cuppa tea as he only took the rice with the fried fish and vegetables without any gravy. S had the fried chicken with boiled salted egg and vegetables with a mixed curry gravy. N had his deep fried bitter gourds (which was dry and probably refried) and fried chicken in honey sauce while R had something similar. Overall, we rated our food a disappointing 4-5/10 for the taste and expensive price but La Bonito scored hers better at 7/10. The plain nasi kandar Egg had was RM 14 while S, R and N’s dishes ranged form RM 16- RM 18. 

We sure wished we had more time to explore the exciting food trail Penang has to offer but alas, this working/ studying trip must come to an end. Who knows, maybe one day we would be all be here together another time and continue our gastronomic journey. From the looks of our performance during the course it might just happen.

So, goodbye Penang and welcome back, Kuala Lumpur/Petaling Jaya!

Honest Foodies Review Team

Nando's, Mid Valley Megamall, KL

As you would usually notice, when there’s only N, J and S around, public transportation will be involved since it seems we are too lazy and selfish to let go of our precious parking spaces. Besides, a taxi ride to Midvalley which costs around RM 10-ish? And no hassle for parking? The cost benefit ratio is overwhelming in our favour.

Initially, we wanted to try out the Korean chicken wings shop, 4 Fingers. But once we got there, we did a quick mental arithmetic and found out that we would probably be not happy with the amount of food we will get compared to the price we will be paying. Again, who said the Economics you studied way back when is not useful? Let that be a lesson to you youngsters out there. When somebody says they do not need school to be successful in life, you remember this paragraph okay?

So,J opted to finally choose a restaurant today and decided on Nando’s. We know, you probably  think you do not need a review of a franchise restaurant as famous as this one, but hey, it is our blog so we will review it because we can. The place was air- conditioned and in a mall. Decoration- wise, it was a franchise restaurant with a vaguely Mediterranean theme. Is this restaurant Portuguese? South African? Who cares. We love our food but we are obviously not experts. 

As you might have guessed, when it comes to food selection we can be an annoyingly indecisive lot. N, being the Nando’s expert among us (and in food, generally) gave us the low down on the  main dishes, the sauces and sides. After what seemed like ages we finally made our choice from the menu.

J chose the quarter chicken (343kCal) with 2 side dishes (RM 18.90). His preferred sauce was lemon herb and had sides of corn on cob and garlic bread (258kCal). Just to clarify, corn is not a vegetable, no matter how hard we wish them to be. And notice the calorie tag? Yeah, some reader suggested it a while back and so here we are, aiming to please. His tasty chicken was tender and succulent while the full length corn on cob proved to be a challenge to finish. The garlic bread was garlicky without being too salty. He rated his dish a 7/10.

N opted for the chicken butterfly with 2 side dishes, costing RM 20.90. The chicken butterfly was boneless chicken breast which was juicy and tender. He chose the hot Peri- Peri sauce to accompany his chicken and opted for Peri chips (289kCal) and garlic bread (258 kCal). He enjoyed the succulent chicken butterfly and there is nothing more heavenly than a double dose of carbs in one meal with the large chunks of fries and garlic bread. He rated his dish an 8/10, which is kind of surprising for someone as discerning in taste as N. 

S had the chicken breast burger in hot Peri- Peri sauce (261 kCal) with 1 side of grilled vegetables (104 kCal), priced at RM 16.90. The chicken burger was good, because you kind of feel that you are eating a healthy meal even though you really, really want to eat burgers everyday for the rest of your life. The roasted vegetables were nicely cooked and charred well. There were carrots, capsicum, garlic and cucumbers all dressed in some funky dressing. The serving turned out to be a big portion for her to finish, not helped with the over- tangy flavour of the dressing. But she knows some people really dig that kind of sour, just not her. She rated her food 7/10.

Only S deigned to order the bottomless drink (RM 5.90) as she was thirsty due to the recent hot weather. The dramatic queen that she is, she feels that she may get heat stroke just by stepping out of the building where she works. Anyway, back to the drinks. Again, we would like to reinforce on an important mantra that should be practiced by everyone: “The best drink is a bottomless one”. Try it.

The funny thing about Nando’s is that they give you a new glass and a new straw every time you request to refill your bottomless drinks. You guys certainly do not know how Asians think. So after drinking her share of iced lemon tea, she just ordered refills so that N and J can take turns to drink too.

On the way back, we ate free samples of the heavenly coconut-ty Sangkaya ice cream. Hence, having completed our required food groups for lunch, we happily made our way back to the workplace.

Until the next review,

Honest Foodies Review Team.

Touche, Section 17, Petaling Jaya

We wanted to go for a quick lunch to appease our growling stomachs so N drove us to Touche in Section 17. J had tried this restaurant before with Mr. Z and concurred with our selection.

When we entered the restaurant, we were immediately hit with a sense of deja vu because it looked similar like our usual hunting ground, Seeds & Wheats Cafe in Section 13. The pastries looked the same, the bread looked the same. Even the writing on the pastry labels looked the same! Later we found out that they are sister cafes. The seats are limited though, but we guessed it had something to do with maintaining good quality service or something like that. The air conditioning certainly helped with the humid weather we were trying to briefly escape from so we rated the generic cafe setting a 7/10.

The brunch menu looked more appealing than the lunch one, but we came way past the brunch time. 

J, extrapolating that what works in Seeds & Wheats should work here, opted for the grilled chicken chop, setting him back RM 19.90 pre tax. N also made the same option. The chop looked similar to the one in Seeds & Wheats but with more greens and less carbs. There they served the chicken chop with a huge dollop of mashed potato & a side of fries but here they served it with with garden salad and the mashed potatoes. Taste wise, it was not too far off the mark. The chicken was tender and not dry, the mashed potatoes were a mouthful to finish and the crisp salad helped balance out the meal. so they gave their food  7 out of 10.

S tried the baked chicken sandwich, which cost RM 16.90 sans tax. Yes, she had sandwich for lunch. The greens were fresh and crisp,not that soggy weird texture you would sometimes get. The dash of parmesan dust added to the sandwich added heaps of taste in addition to the zing you get from the vinaigrette dressing. The chicken breast slices were not too dry either, and the tangy mustard seeds on the crust added some pop to the flavour profile. Overall, an okay sandwich to appease one’s hunger until an early dinner. She rated the food a 6/10.

We did not order any drinks because there was free flow plain water. 

The pastries looked delectable. S ogled at them too much that N probably though she had a crush on him or something since the pastries counter were next to him. However, just when she had the courage to go up and choose the lucky pastry, she saw a fly comfortably nesting on it. As pretty as the decor looked, a pastry counter with the back exposed is never a good idea in this part of the world. So, S’s money and stomach were saved by the hardworking fly. 

Overall a nice quick lunch in a comfortably cozy setting. The food prices were in the upper middle range and the buzzing fly reminded us that we were still in Malaysia. 

Here’s the address if you want to check it out: 7, Jalan SS 17 /56, 46400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor. 

Until the next review,

Honest Foodies Review Team

Mango Chili, Nexus, Bangsar South

We agreed to go here just to try out the new app we installed on N’s recommendation, Offpeak. It is an app that shows participating restaurants that gives discounts on their food and beverages. So, since this restaurant offered 30% discount on the app, we decided to give this Thai food establishment a try. Besides, this eatery does try to incorporate some socialist agendas on top of its usual capitalist ones by feeding kids in need based on the amount one spends there. They also sell products that can aid underprivileged people, mostly sold by NGOs.

They did offer lunch sets but we went ala carte since that was the rules stipulated by the restaurant for us to get the 30% discount. Us, sharing food? That’s a first in Honest Foodies Review team.

The place had nice clean decor with a corner for children to play with. Definitely a plus point for parents yearning for a peaceful meal. There were lots of bubble texts used for photobooth events and wefies. Ha!Surprised you guys didn’t we? We know what wefies are and we used them in the correct context. But being irrelevant old people like we are, we did not even bother to see what the texts read because the idea of taking pictures of ourselves seemed weird. Food, we understand. But people? And non- famous to boot? Downright wrong. But we are old people, so please forgive our archaic views. Anyway, we rated the ambience 7/10.

The waiters were helpful and attended to our table promptly. Serving time was acceptable and food was still hot when it reached our table. We also gave the service 7/10.

The biggest dilemma we had was on the choice of rice. Or specifically, on how much rice to buy. You see, a single serving of rice is about RM 2 but if you buy the 6- person portion, it is slightly cheaper at about RM 9. Clever marketing ploy for cheap people like us right? R was thinking we should get the 6- person portion although there were only 3 of us. After a short discussion (i.e S shooting down R’s suggestion), we decided to order 3 servings of jasmine white rice.

We chose to try the Tom Yum Chicken because hey, what is eating in a Thai restaurant without tom yum? It did pack a punch, being all sour, salty and sweet all in one.

The chicken with cashew nuts was delicious. The gravy was smooth, not too ‘flour-y’ and well- balanced in its flavours. N, in his succinct comment, feels that there was not enough chicken. Which was true since you did advertise the food as chicken with cashew nuts and not the other way around.

Our final dish was the deep fried fish fillet in sweet and sour sauce. R felt it was definitely the best dish amongst the 3. Not a fan of frozen fish fillets, S found that the fillets were surprisingly tender and well cooked. The sweet and sour sauce certainly helped with adding layers of flavour to the fish. 

We rated the food generally 7/10. Nicely seasoned, tasty and flavourful.

As for the drinks, since we are rolling in a heatwave of some sort nowadays, N & S decided to go for the bottomless lemongrass pandan drink while R tried the iced Thai green tea. Nothing too fancy about the lemongrass pandan drink but it served its purpose to quench our thirst from the heat outside and form the food. R felt his drink was ordinary. 

Overall, we had a highly satisfactory lunch here in Mango Chili for a reasonably decent price as we used the 30% discount by using the app. We split the bill 3 ways and after discount, it came to less than RM 20 per person. We would definitely recommend you to go, but only if you use some discount app. Because paying full price puts it at the pricey end range.

To food reviews, and beyond!

Honest Foodies Review Team

The Humble Pie Co., Section 17, Petaling Jaya

N, being the most established food aficionado amongst the team, recommended this cafe for lunch. Besides pies, the restaurant also offers non- pie delectable entrees. And on this special day, we were fortunate to stumble across the Tuesday special, buy 3 main meals and get the 4th one for free. Guess how many of us were in the party? Yup, lucky four!

 The daily promos offered here

The place was quaint, similar to the hipster trend of industrial looking decor with exposed pipes and bricks. I guess it looked almost the same as the other cafes we have been to that serve similar food. But as we have reiterated time and time again, we judge an eatery mostly on its food. The looks are,like us, secondary. We scored the place 7/10 for its generic comfortable ambience that seems to appeal to the young set. The waitress were prompt with serving the menu and getting our order. For that, we rated the service was 7/10.

N, J and S all had the roasted quarter chicken with side servings of roasted carrots, humongous potatoes and salad . All of us rated our food as 8/10. The portion of the chicken was satisfactory and it was well cooked. Taste- wise, it was okay. We were just thankful it was not dry. The gravy complemented the and the vegetables were tender without being overcooked. The potatoes really did us in, filling us to the brim. We rated our food 8/10.

Defying peer pressure, R decided to go for the Humblerger, which is essentially a chicken burger sandwiched between brioche and slathered with gooey melted cheddar cheese and served with a good portion of potato wedges and mayo.  He also rated his meal 8/10. 

Overall, an efficient lunch service which provided good quality food with a medium to high price range. Our meals cost from RM 18 to RM 22 pre-tax. Though plain water was free and free-flow, so that really helped.

As you can see, none of us ordered any pies. Most probably that was because none of us felt that a piece of pastry can sustain us for long. Maybe we will try them in the future for desserts. We hear their speciality banoffee and musang king pies are to die for. But we will probably go through the pasta list first before trying the pie. 

Here is the address in case you want to try it out:
No 11, Jalan 17/45, 46400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

’Till the next review,

Honest Foodies Review Team

Dunkin’ Donuts, Petronas Petrol Station, Sprint Highway, Kuala Lumpur (we think)

With a precious 1 hour break in between tasks , our rumbling tummies made their way to this outlet. J was craving for some nasi dagang Capitol and we were honestly going towards said place if not for the strategically placed billboard showing the breakfast set that cost only RM 5.90. I mean, who can resist? Surely not us.

So, we detoured towards the nearest Dunkin’ Donuts we could think of and reached the Petronas petrol station along the Spring Highway. The easiest landmark we can think of is it is just before the intersection going towards KGPA on your left and Seksyen 16/ Eastin Hotel on your right.

The ambience? Well, it is your typical Dunkin’ Donuts outlet so we have no comment there. Air conditioned with indoor seating is all we ask for as we rush our way through the most important meal of the day. The sofa chairs were in need of refurbishment, that’s all.

 J, disappointed with the lack of nasi dagang, opted for the sunny egg and chicken slice with a mug of in-house hot coffee. He rated his food a 6/10. “Enough for breakfast lor”, he gloomily added. He was slightly disappointed that the chicken slice turned out to be, well, one single slice of chicken ham.

Aerial view: looks like an egg benjo

Ta- da! 4 meatballs in the eggy sandwich

R tried the sunny egg with meatball because they advertised it as a new addition to the menu. He opted for iced coffee. He also rated his food a 6/10. He loved the fluffy texture of the egg. Who would have thought nuked eggs at a petrol station were so silky smooth right? Although his love for the eggs were bordering on having an illicit affair, he thought his iced coffee was average, rating it a 5/10. 

S opted to have the sandwich and donut meal as she was ravenous at the time. Or more likely she could not stand the taunting look of the donuts. So she opted for the chicken mayo croissant sandwich with a piece of Boston cream donut filled with yummy custard. She had no options for drink except for coffee so she just requested to the server there to add extra milk to her iced coffee, you know, to hopefully dilute the coffee taste. Well, it did not work. She felt nauseated for the rest of the afternoon. But that feeling was balanced with the happiness of eating a donut. On a workday. Oh, she rated her croissant sandwich a 7/10 because she loves her chicken and mayonnaise. Croissant not so much. The donut was creamy and chocolatey, a 7/10 too while the iced coffee was 5/10 but it was because she disliked coffee. S’s set cost about RM 13, which seemed like a ransom compared to J and R’s meals but there was donut involved.

Overall, a good place to go to when one is in a rush or broke. Or both.

‘Till the next review,

Honest Foodies Review Team

Thai Corner, PJ New Town

Well, well, well. Here we are. In PJ New Town. Again. Who would have thunk this area is so full of delectable surprises eh? 

We walked around and found this nice Thai restaurant just opposite the MBPJ complex. As the early bird catches the worm (euwww…), we were the first patrons to this establishment for the day. In fact, the restaurant still smelled strongly of bleach. And the air conditioning was probably just turned on a few seconds before we entered. As was the lights. Or the ‘Open’ signage. 

The restaurant was spacious and well lit with pictures of their dishes neatly framed along the wall. Nothing too fancy, but everything was tidy so that scored a 7/10. The waiter (he might even own the place for all we know) was efficient in bringing the menu and serving the peanuts for us to nibble and gain some extra calories. So that is a 7/10 from an original 8. We had to minus 1 mark for the added calories brought by the peanuts, which cost RM 2 per plate.

Generic decor but neat nonetheless. 

Reminds one of Ikea's catalogue, doesn't it? 

 Typhoid, Salmonella & Cholera got nothin' on this 'A' rated eatery 

 Our attempt at non- food photography

We were immediately gravitated towards their set lunch menu, priced at RM 13, which included a main dish, a Morakot dessert and drink option of either iced lemon tea, soya bean or barley.

We do not understand J and R’s obsession with pineapple fried rice but they sure like to order it whenever we go to a Thai restaurant. So, yes, they ordered the the fried rice again and they liked this restaurant’s version the best (remember the Streat Thai debacle?). The dish was plated inside a pineapple shell ( do pineapples have shells?) and was garnished with freshly chopped spring onion, chillies, tasty dried shrimps and a couple of slices of fresh pineapple. There were some chicken bits inside the well- cooked fried rice and was perfectly seasoned. Like telepathic twins, R and J rated their food 8/10. 

S had the crab meat fried rice because there is no better combination in life than seafood and fried rice. Except for chocolate syrup and ice cream, but we can leave that to another review. The fried rice was served with a piece of crunchy fried poppadom cracker because, why not? The fried rice, with its luminous individual grains mixed with a generous portion of tasty crab meat, was what fried rice dishes around the world should aspire to be when they grow up. Let’s face it, who likes soggy, clumpy, overcooked fried rice right? She also rated her dish a 8/10.

The dessert was okay, nothing too brilliant about it. It was basically shaved ice with some milk, red syrup and some gelatinous chewy bits in it. It did enough to cleanse and refresh our palate after the main course.

This place is definitely a good lunch place to try out with its nice environment, efficient service and tasty but affordable food. Parking might be an issue though, because let’s face it, we are talking about Petaling Jaya here.

Here is the address if you are up for a bit of parking war:

4, Jalan Yong Shook Lin, PJ New Town, 46050 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

United in our quest for good food,

Honest Foodies Review Team

Pappa Rich Dining, Nexus, Bangsar South- average taste, pricey meals

Honestly, we were planning to try the ‘off- peak’ app (we even used up our phone data just to download it) at Mango Chilli which was located in the same building but it was not opened yet so we decided to have an early lunch in Pappa Rich Dining, located at the ground floor of Nexus. We think Nexus is an office building because if it were a shopping mall, it will become the most boring mall on earth. Besides offering the usual Pappa Rich fares like nasi lemak, chicken chop and paratha, this eatery also offers side dishes that are not available in other branches, making it a unique dining experience.

But alas, the price kind of put us off. Sure,the food is palatable but we felt that we could have eaten this type of food for a cheaper price elsewhere. the ambience was nice and comfortable, with indoor air- conditioning provided to ease ourselves from the humid midday weather. Hence, we rated the environment a 8/10. Service was prompt too, with the waiter providing the menu immediately on sitting us down at the table and taking our order soon after. 8/10 for you there, sir.

R, still reeling from the disappointment of not being able to use his newly- downloaded app at the aforementioned restaurant, decided to have the Pappa cendol, priced at RM 6.13. He rated it a 5/10, an average fare with hard- as- rock shaved ice with the usual chendol condiments.

J tried the Dry Curry Mee with Steamed Chicken (RM 12.74). He also rated his food as 5/10. with nothing special to add to the review. He could probably eat the same food at half the price. He drank hot coffee (RM 3.68) and as you guessed it, was rated at 5/10 too.

N had the staple Nasi Lemak with Curry Chicken (RM 13.11) and Stevia white coffee (RM 8.02). Man, the longer we eat together the more we think alike. Scary. He felt his meal was okay with good portion but rated his food a 5/10.

The iced Stevia white coffee and hot coffee

S tried the koay teow beef with ginger and spring onion, priced at RM 18.40. Quite expensive for a hawker meal but the portion is super huge. Like abusing the tummy huge. But, S finished it as expected. She rated hers at 6/10 because it tasted nice with a tender strips of beef in smooth silky egg sauce and served in a huge dish-bowl but the price is a major drawback. The iced fresh lemon honey drink (RM 5.57) was refreshing and nice. 

Iced fresh lemon honey

Overall, the food here was okay but as we repeatedly observed, too expensive for a hawker fare. Our bill totalled to RM 78.90, including a RM 11.24 service charge with GST. Maybe if we were stuck in, let’s say London (we wish) and craved for Malaysian food then we will probably go to Pappa Rich but we will probably think twice about coming here to have a plate of char koay teow at the price they are selling.

From ain’t rich Pappas,

Honest Foodies Review Team.

Z-CUB3 Cafe & Gallery, PJ New Town

Laziness does pay off. Just look at us, we were too lazy to walk farther from our parking place to our intended original destination and stopped at the first decent- looking restaurant that crossed our path. We saw their value lunch meal deals menu displayed outside. They got us at ‘value’.

Once inside, we were pleasantly surprised by the nice decoration which resembled a pricey hipster cafe with air conditioning, wooden rustic tables, menu written on the chalkboard and those Ikea- like lighting chains. But in fact, the food are priced affordably and they actually looked and tasted good. So that was a major plus point for us and it was a unanimous 7/10 for ambience. The perplexing thing is that it is called a cafe and a gallery. The cafe part we get. But we could not figure out which part of this establishment was meant to become a gallery.Tables? Chairs? Food? Just curious.

The waiter was quick to get our order with no smartphone apps or tablets involved. The waiting time for the food was reasonable, maybe 5 to 10 minutes, we kind of lost count as we surfed through the free Wifi provided in the cafe. Service was good with N & S giving a 7/10 while R rated it an 8/10. The value lunch meals came with drinks and started at RM 10.95.

N had the teriyaki chicken rice set, priced at RM 13. The chicken chicken cutlets were tender and succulent cooked with capsicum and topped with grated carrots and cabbage. The accompanying sauce had the right balance of heat, sweet and salty flavours. The white rice was lightly sprinkled with crispy  fried onions and freshly chopped spring onion. The peppery aromatic soup was an added bonus as well as the crunchy crackers. N rated his food a 7/10.

R had the butter cream chicken rice set, priced at RM 10.95, which was similar to N’s set except for the chicken cutlets deep fried in crispy batter garnished with shredded carrots and cabbage and served with a creamy rich butter sauce, salty and added with just the right level of spice. As the sauce was served separately from the chicken cutlets, the cutlets managed to keep its crisp flavour without becoming too soggy by the wetness of the cream sauce. R also rated his food a 7/10.

S had the lemon chicken rice set, also reasonably priced at RM 10.95 (really, can’t they just round it up to RM 11?). The lemon sauce tasted okay, but she still preferred R’s creamy sauce. The lemon sauce probably lacked more lemon juice. The generous portion of the deep fried chicken certainly helped with her review, though. She rated her set a 7 out of 10.

The iced lemon tea all of us had tasted nice. Not bad. I mean, how different can an iced lemon tea be?

Overall, a good eating experience in our continuing gastronomical journey of PJ New Town. We hope we can make further discoveries in this quaint (but insanely difficult to find parking) part of town and make our mentor Francis Light proud.

Here is the address should you feel excited to try this place out:

No 31, Jalan 52/8 PJ New Town. ( It is just besides the multi- level parking building. Yeah, N & S also did not notice this old, dingy multi- level parking building existed before until today.)

Until the next food- tastic review,

Honest Foodies Review Team.