Saturday, November 27, 2010

Ferringhi Grill and Macarons

To commemorate a special occasion, a special celebration is needed. A visit to Ferringhi Grill, Rasa Sayang Hotel to try out the French cuisine. Surprisingly, there is a promotion on.

Here it goes, we have 3 types of menu, Two Feet ( Chicken, Duck but no Foie Gras ... ) , Four Feet ( Beef, Lamb ... ) and finally No Feet ( Fish and seafood )

The menu comes with a complimentary glass of sparking wine, specifically Chandon Sparkling Wine.
The menu in detail, we ordered 'Four Feet' for RM 145++ and 'No Feet' for RM 135++

Apart from the french cuisine, my beloved also got 2 boxes of Macarons.


John Paul Hevin macaron


Lovely chocolate macarons


Box with nice wrappings


Another box of Macarons


From a new french restaurant.

Back to the nice french cuisine in Ferringhi Grill.


The table setting with Aqua Pana, expensive still water from Tuscany, Italy.


I was so happy that the waiter actually refilled another basket of bread after I finish the first one. Nice tomato based sauce too.


Big plate, just for starters, a kinda of fish. Forgot what was the name of this 'dish' ? Or rather tit-bit.


Nice sparkling wine in champagne wine, too bad it was champagne, but Chandon is quite good actually.


Another snap of it. A bottle of Chandon would be nice, then 1 glass is better than none.


We also ordered additional food for this, RM26 for four slightly bigger than 50 cents coin scallop. Saute with carrots, peanuts and some vege. The scallops were cooked just right and tasty.


Fresh oyster with fried oyster rings, the oyster is indeed fresh but then it was not freezing cold. Just nice.


Steak n eggs( just one, should be egg not eggs), overall it is ok, however the steak was a tad bit dry.


Carrot cream soup, with smoked lamb bacon with watercress pesto.


'She crab' and corn chowder, tomato dust, purple potatoes, crab fat, madeira. This soup is creamy and fulfilling, very nice one indeed.


Chef Adam Roy in action ? Well he isn't but then we had a nice view of the french style cooking


At the carving table.


Exquisite ... smoked salmon-mascarpone cheesecake with muesli macadamia nut crust, green onion horseradish cream.


Crispy smoked lamb belly with pure Canadian maple syrup, the lamb belly again was a tad bit too hard.


Lemon sorbet to clear the palate before the main dish.

Between the meals, I was also helping myself with breads, so despite the small portion of meals, we have enough breads to go along too.


The 'main dish' , such small portion , smoked beef rib with horseradish mash, smoked tomato-mustard, chocolate barbeque kick on house rub. I might be able to finish the dish before the waiter finishes the details of the dish.


Another exquisite ... grilled black cod with grilled green beans, sour cream-sweet potato mash garnished with red wine cream ... such a delicacy, the mash wasn't quite there but the fish was superb.

And finally the desserts ...


Sticky date pudding, not too bad but again not really out of the world.


Special ... chocolate lava 'Bombalai', peanut butter ice cream with port wine and berry sauce.

Finally,


Minted chocolates leaving an after taste.

The menu is detail :


The verdict ...

(Best of 5 stars)
Food quality: 4.0 stars ( Exquisite ingredients, specially prepared )
Service: 4.0 stars ( Very good service, the even refilled the breads. )
Food portion: 2.0 stars ( Small portion of fine food )
Value: 3.33 stars ( Expensive, no doubt, but for the experience, quite worth it. )

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Syphon Brew Coffee - 咖啡方

As I begun reading about this method of brewing coffee, a basic english term hit me, is it syphon or siphon ? The thesaurus seems to like siphon as to syphon. Anyway, situated at King Street, we visited the 'Syphon Brew Coffee' shop.

The front facade of Syphon Brew Coffee.

As we were settling in, I found interest in the coffee making machine. This type of brewing is called Siphon Coffee. And so ...


this apparatus is called, siphon brewing machine.

This place serves other variety of food, but the main 'dish' here is the coffee.


Various menu to you choose the snacks available.


Banana cake, to be shared ...


A slice is enough, we were here for the coffee but not the cake.


Reminds me of some scientific equipments that I have played during my secondary school. Looks like a beaker, or as I used to know it with 'bikar' in Malay.


Beaker with H20 and Bunsen burner :-) , also a thermometer, science lab.


That's the chemical aka Coffee Beans.


Coffee beans are weighed and fine grinded using the white coloured grinder. This is done while waiting for the water to boil.


The owner preparing coffee at the counter.


The coffee powder is poured into the siphon brewing machine.


As the water is heated up, steam or water vapour builds and forces the boiling water out of the lower container to the upper vessel and brews the coffee


Boiling water brewing the coffee

The 'bunsen burner' is switched off and steam cools down creating a partial vacuum and sucks the brewed coffee down giving a fresh brewed coffee.


The side dishes of sandwiches.


And french fries ...

Overall, the coffee was just okay, it has the simplicity, light and the body. However, I guess this depends very much on the coffee beans used, the aroma and the taste wasn't that much impressive. It is quite pricey too. The beans used with 'Javanese' beans.

(Best of 5 stars)
Food quality: 2.8 stars ( Food quality just okay )
Service: 3.0 stars ( Service is good, probably because no one was around )
Food portion: 3.0 stars ( Okay but it wasn't about food portion, more of coffee )
Value: 2.80 stars ( Rather expensive. )

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Straits Collection visited

Actually visited the Straits Collection quite a while ago, yeah procrastination ... Well, here it is the old style ( 1940s) coffee shop serving food in old style ambiance.


Straits collection front facade , I wish the cars weren't park there, it would be timeless.


A brochure of Straits Collection.

Located at the intersection of Steward Lane and Lorong Chulia, Straits Collection is not just a coffee bar, it also serves as a hotel.


Ordered cafe latte and tit bits including scones.

Cafe Latte for RM9.00


Mezze Plate, if not mistaken, is Hummus, Eggplant Dip, Feta Dip, Tzatziki, Dukka & Olive Oil served with Pita bread, going for RM22.

I didn't quite enjoy the dips, instead used olive oil and butter as substitute.


Pita Bread with dips.


A small table by the corner.


This reminds me of the old charm of sliding door.


Scones with cream cheese, butter and strawberry jam. Having just tried Joel Robuchon's scones these lacked the milky and butter taste.


Retro styling with my new try on sepia tones. The place is truly retro old style, so no air-conditioning.


Procrastination ... I have forgotten what this drink is ...


This used to be the kitchen, the stove, to be precise.


The reading room with books. The old decor retained.

(Best of 5 stars)
Food quality: 3.0 stars ( Food quality just okay )
Service: 2.5 stars ( Service can be improved, service is slow even without lots of customers )
Food portion: 3.0 stars ( Good, can be better if it is larger a bit )
Value: 2.80 stars ( Nice ambiance, air conditioning would help. )