Food Notes: Japanese Dishes at an Affordable Price

Location: Sukiya - Tokyo Bowls and Noodles

Fancy enjoying Japanese food for less than RM 20.00? I can still hardly believe that everytime I dine at Sukiya (available at several locations including Mid Valley Megamall, Uptown Damansara, IOI City Mall Putrajaya and AEON Bandaraya Melaka), I would only have to pay a bill totaling less than RM 20.00. Except for the Unagi-don (which is priced above RM 20.00), other dishes on offer here would mostly cost you around RM 15.00 including drinks.

Sukiya's signature dish is the gyudon, which is a bowl of rice topped with thinly-sliced beef simmered in a special sauce. Apart from its gyudon, a variety of noodles are also on offer. Its tagline "Tokyo Bowls and Noodles" says all about the menu on offer.

I have tried several of Sukiya's gyudons. My favourite would be the Osaka Okonomi Gyudon, which is particularly fulfilling with a mixture of cabbage, mayonnaise, okonomiyaki sauce and some sort of meat floss added on top of the rice and beef. It also comes with a wobbly, perfectly poached egg in another small bowl to top the dish. Carefully pour the egg onto the rice and let the yolk burst in your bowl!

The Osaka Okonomi Gyudon comes with a poached egg

When the wobbly round egg bursts...

There are also the Three Cheeses Gyudon (gyudon topped with three types of cheese) and the Snow White Cream Gyudon (gyudon served with mixed vegetables in a creamy white sauce).

The Three Cheeses Gyudon

Other rice dishes I have tried here is the Teriyaki Chicken Bowl: rice served with tender, boneless chicken marinated in teriyaki sauce. Then there is the Tokyo Oyakodon, pieces of chicken meat and egg served on top of the rice with spring onions. According to the explanation included in the menu, "oyakodon" literally means "parent and child bowl", which directly refers to the chicken as the "parent" and the egg as the "child".

The combination of chicken, egg and spring onions goes well with each other to produce the scrumptious Tokyo Oyakodon.

Tokyo Ramen with Double Chicken Meat

As for the ramen, I had had the Tokyo Ramen With Double Chicken Meat. The shoyu soup is totally perfect and the steamed chicken meat is so juicy that I felt fortunate to have ordered the one with "double" chicken meat (there is another, the Tokyo Ramen With Chicken Meat, which obviously contains lesser chicken pieces).

Oh, by the way, please note that prices of some dishes vary depending on the size of the bowl - you can choose from sizes S, M, to L accordingly.

For Muslims, rest assured that Sukiya is certified halal so you can enjoy the dishes without doubt.

Apart from its affordable pricing, I also like the fast service at Sukiya. I have never been kept waiting for my food - it usually arrives within ten minutes or less. I usually spend about 30 minutes at the outlet. Save money, save time! :)

Food Notes: The Venetian Feel of Monte Bianco

Location: Monte Bianco, IOI City Mall Putrajaya

The attractive interior was what brought me to the place for the first time. Its interior decorations screamed of a combination of Venetian elements with Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Tiffany blue sofas and cushioned chairs toned down the bold, black-and-white chequered tiles on the floor. Ornate chandeliers and rustic wooden tables add to the romantic setting.

At one part of the restaurant, wrought-iron tables and chairs are placed to bring life to its Venetian concept. Paintings of Venice, as well as fancy Venetian masks complete the interior decoration.

Monte Bianco serves fusion dishes, particularly Italian pasta dishes mixed with different palates of the world. I frequented the place ever since it was known as Perfume Dance Cafe; some of its menu may have undergone some changes after its rebranding.

One of my favourites here is the Spaghetti With Shrimps in Mentaiko Sauce. Although the shrimps inside the dish are not that many, the creamy sauce is fulfilling and yummy enough that I don't consider the spaghetti 'empty'. The dish is topped with crispy seaweed strips as a reminder of its Japanese 'heritage'.

The Spaghetti With Shrimps in Mentaiko Sauce

The place once offered a pasta with a Malaysian touch, the Chicken Rendang Pasta, in which I immediately tried (not very sure if the dish is still available now). The pasta is strewn with a generous amount of chicken bits, but the creamy 'rendang' sauce tastes more like the mentaiko sauce rather than real rendang. Maybe the cream used to thicken the sauce has overpowered the rendang flavour. Nevertheless, it is still a delicious dish, given you don't judge it based on its rendang-ness.

I also had the Pasta With Chicken in Pesto Sauce. Two pieces of chicken breasts topped the pasta, which had been mixed with green pesto sauce. The sauce is very oily and the taste of olive oil was too overpowering for me.

Pasta With Chicken in Pesto Sauce

I tried the Risotto Seafood once, and that was my first time having a risotto. I decided I'm not that into it. I don't really know how a good risotto should taste like, but my first impression says it is like eating sticky rice with nothing - unless a good amount of ingredients are added to bring in more flavour. Monte Bianco's Risotto Seafood comes with shrimps, squids, clams and olives, but maybe the way risotto is - thick, unlike plain old rice - just made me feel the seafood content inside the dish are not enough to cover its 'emptiness'.

Risotto Seafood

Moving away from its Italian fusion menu, I recently tried the Smoky Cheesy Grilled Chicken and it was completely fantastic. The chicken is so juicy and tender, while the sauce has enough smoky flavour that I thought I was having a grilled feast at Tony Roma's!

The Smoky Cheesy Grilled Chicken

Monte Bianco also had several choices of dessert. I have tried the Waffle With Chocolate and Bananas, as well as one named the 'Dancing Diva'. The waffle is a bit too big a portion for me, with four quarters of thick waffle which comes alongside bananas and a small bowl of ice cream. The waffle dish is tasty, and would be nicer if more chocolate sauce is provided.

Meanwhile, the Dancing Diva is enough for at least two people to eat together. Initially I though it is a cake, but am I wrong. It tastes like bread cut into several big cubes and spread with ice cream. A stiletto-shaped white chocolate is placed on top as a finishing touch.

Waffle With Chocolate and Bananas

The Dancing Diva is topped with an edible 'stiletto'

There are a wide range of drinks available at Monte Bianco, including tea and an array of mixed fruit drinks. The mixed fruit drinks - most as thick as a smoothie - comes with quirky names such as 'Naughty Devil'.

To this day, I still frequented the place to enjoy the ambience.

Food Notes: The Legend of the Creamy Cronuts

Location: Dotty's Pastries & Coffee, Jalan Tun Mohd Fuad 2, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Kuala Lumpur.

Imagine a "cronut", a term used to describe a type of delicacy which is a hybrid between a croissant and a doughnut. Imagine not just mere plain cronut, but one topped with apam balik-flavoured cream (apam balik is a type of delicacy that looks like a pancake, folded over with fillings of sugar, crushed peanuts and sweet corn kernels).

Can't imagine how it will taste like? Try the Apam Balik Croissant Doughnut, which I recently discovered being served at Dotty's, a pastry and coffee house situated in Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI), Kuala Lumpur.

Upon entering the shop, I was greeted with rows of freshly-prepared cronuts of various flavours, arranged in a glass room and ready to be served to customers. The Apam Balik cronut grabbed my attention due to its name. How could a French pastry such as the croissant weds a local delicacy, the apam balik, and produce a hybrid?

The cronut is shaped like a squarish doughnut, but at one look you know it is not made of real dough like real doughnuts. Give it another look and you say it is a stack of filo pastries shaped like a doughnut, complete with holes. The cronut itself is crispy and tastes something between a croissant and fried filo pastry. The topping (and filling) of the cronut determines its overall taste.

For the Apam Balik one, the taste of crushed peanuts is overpowering, as any apam balik can be. Sweet corn cream tops the cronut and its filling. It is more of an apam balik taste rather than a croissant or doughnut taste.

The Apam Balik Cronut

The star at Dotty's, the Salted Egg Yolk Cronut

However, I was made to know that the Apam Balik Croissant Doughnut is not the star at Dotty's. It is the Salted Egg Yolk Croissant Doughnut: a cronut topped and filled with salted egg yolk cream. This one is fast-selling; you might have to wait for a new batch to be prepared if all had been ordered or sold to walk-in customers. As for the taste, I am not really sure how it is supposed to taste like. Is it supposed to be that salty, as when you eat a salted egg, or not? I can make out the eggy taste but for me there is no trace of saltiness.

Ah, and be prepared to smudge your face when you have a cronut: due to its thick creamy topping and creamy inside, you will be a creamy mess as you dive into one (or two, as I had it). Have the napkin at your side before beginning.

Speaking of salted egg yolk, I also tried the Salted Egg Yolk Spaghetti With Beef Bacon. It looks a bit like spaghetti carbonara, but it has a creamy, eggy taste. I can make out a moderate salty taste in this dish, but I suspected it to have been from the beef bacon.

Then I also tried the Red Velvet Funnel Cake. This one should be eaten with company; the serving is too big for one person. The funnel cake, velvety red in colour, is much more thin than the ones I found in America. But due to its thinness, there is this tasty crisp in your every bite. Sweet glaze is drizzled onto the cake, and there is a large dollop of vanilla ice cream and whipped cream topped with chocolate sauce and crushed peanuts completing the whole dish.

The Red Velvet Funnel Cake

Dotty's is a place where you can have various pastries and light meals such as eclairs, pavlovas and sandwiches. I find the place usually busy and crowded. Come early if you plan to eat at the place. Otherwise you can just grab some treats and eat at the comfort of your own home.

Modest Middle Eastern Style Beach Resort... in Malaysia

Location: Al Safina Kijal Beach Resort, Kijal, Terengganu

Al Safina Kijal Beach Resort is situated in the town of Kijal in Terengganu's Kemaman district. You will pass through local villages and narrow roads to get to the simple and laidback resort. Situated across a small road from the beach in a Kampung Che Wan, you can find peace by the beach, which is so far free from mobs of tourists or locals like in the Batu Burok beach, for example.

When I was there, the beach was free from the crowds

Room prices range between RM 150 to RM 200++, a rate I deem suitable enough for the modest beach resort. From the outside of the lodging block, I thought the rooms to be quite small and compact. I was surprised to find that some rooms can accommodate up to six adults at one time.

The row of hotel rooms. Cute, I say.

Basic amenities in each room are free wi-fi, a water heater system, basic toiletries, a refrigerator, and an electric kettle, amongst others. There are also a swimming pool, Muslim prayer rooms, a hall for private occassions, as well as the open-air Al Safina Restaurant. In short, all the basics found at most hotels are available here.

I was unsuspecting when I saw Middle Eastern-style cushions at the reception area. When I crossed the Al Safina Restaurant to get to the beach, I saw several shishas placed by the glass window of a back room near the kitchen. I glanced at the restaurant menu and realized that the restaurant serves a la carte Middle Eastern cuisine. And suddenly, I saw several Middle Eastern-looking individuals busying themselves in the restaurant.

I managed to ask the girl at the receptionist, and she told me that co-owners of Al Safina are Iraqis who migrated to Malaysia. Aah, now it is clear why the resort had some Middle Eastern influences. However, local Malaysians have been hired for jobs at the reception, housekeeping and restaurant service. Based on my observations, Middle Easterners are only hired to work in the kitchen (albeit also alongside locals) - most probably to ensure the restaurant can serve Middle Eastern dishes for their all day dining offer (as for breakfast, Malaysian dishes are available).

The hotel lobby has a Middle Eastern tinge to it.

At dinnertime, I tried several dishes at Al Safina Restaurant. The restaurant is not only open for residents at the resort, but also offers an opportunity for locals to enjoy Middle Eastern cuisine without having to venture far. I can see several local people park their cars by the beach and went dining at the restaurant.

I tried the Lamb Kabab and also the Mix Lamb and Chicken Kabab With Rice (I just didn't realize that I ordered two lamb dishes... and both are kababs).

The Lamb Kabab are minced tender lambs marinated in spices and grilled to perfection. Four pieces of lamb tenders are served with french fries and toasted bread. The combination of grilled lamb, crispy bread, fresh onions and yogurt sauce are just heavenly!

Meanwhile, the Mix Lamb and Chicken Kabab With Rice is an almost similar dish to the one I had earlier. Pity this time there are no crispy bread available alongside the meat!  Two pieces of lamb tenders and two pieces of chicken tenders are served with a mountain of rice. This one is also heavenly, although I preferred the lamb rather than the chicken. I gulped down the dishes and washed it down with fresh honeydew juice.

The Lamb Kabab

My stomach was still full when it was time for sleep. I had earlier found that next to my room was a young family with noisy toddlers. Surprisingly, I did not hear any noise when I entered my room. The next morning, while the kids next door splashed and had fun in the swimming pool - which is situated right in front of our rooms - I still enjoy a quiet morning inside my room. It was a pleasant surprise that noises entering my room are very minimal. Either the door and walls are quite thick, or the resort provides sound-proof rooms for its customers - which I believe to be unlikely. What's for sure is that I had been enjoying the quiet stay at Al Safina.

Sunset on the Train

Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

When it's nearing sunset and it's been a very clear day, why not try taking the LRT train to any station that is situated between the Ampang Park and Gombak stations? If you really enjoy watching the sun going down, then you should try this.

I did it once. It was a clear day and the setting sun had begun to project a warm orange colour on the sky. I took the train from KLCC station towards Wangsa Maju, and discovered a nice sunset view along the way. I got to see the KL Twin Towers and other high-rise buildings in the capital being engulfed by the rays of the setting sun.

Pity I was too stunned by the beauty of the scenery that I never thought of disembarking at any of the stations along the way to get a clear photo (you can also attempt taking a photo from the train, if you can control the shaking effect from a moving train).

I eventually got off the train at the Wangsa Maju station. Luckily the station is an elevated one, so I still managed to catch a glimpse of the KL Twin Towers and the KL Tower in the sunset, albeit at a much farther distance. It could have been prettier if I disembarked at a station closer to KLCC, as the Twin Towers would be more prominent in the picture.

This scenery was photographed from the elevated Wangsa Maju LRT station

But anyway, this moment really made my day and I spent the whole night looking at the picture over and over again :)