Whisk Espresso Bar & Bakeshop, Empire Subang

My obsession with coffee began when I was studying in Australia years ago. I still tell everyone who ask that I required at least 6 cups of coffee a day to get me going (now old abit, cannot 6 cups. 5 cups only now) and I used to go to my favorite coffee house in Adelaide, Australia EVERYDAY for a nice cuppa coffee. The situation was so bad (well, considered good to me la) that the barista need not ask me what I'll be having for that day. Kristy (if you are reading this blog, I just wanna let you know you are STILL my favorite barrista :D) would just bring me my latte with extra shot of espresso while I sit outside with my book and a few ciggies. Yes those were the days...








































And then I came back to Malaysia, where "a good cuppa coffee" to most Malaysian means a trip to Starbucks or Old Town Kopitiam. The coffee in Starbucks are generally not good enough to my liking and for Old Town...well lets just say I prefer my coffee NOT made out of powder by some Bangladeshi who has no idea what the water basin in the toilet is for.

And one day when I was walking around Empire Subang Shopping Mall, I saw this place. Whisk, reminds me of one of them little Italian coffee houses tucked away in some alley along Little Italy Adelaide. Naturally, Me and a couple of friends managed to meet up there a couple of days later just to have a taste of this little place.



















The environment inside reminds me of Italy really. Old looking ceramic tiles, overcrowded cashier area and the MOUNTAINS of cakes and pastries available. And the smooth aroma of coffee..simply divine! This surely IS coffee heaven!



















































We settled on a toffee nut latte and something rather interesting for me, Bicerin coffee. The toffee nut latte smelled good and aromatic, as my friends commented that it taste good as well, just enough and not too overpowering. My Bicerin coffee is a kind of coffee originated from Cuba apparently, as explained by the boss. Its instant Cuban coffee placed on top of a hot foamy cup of steamed milk. not too bad, though the milk in my mind overpowered the coffee a little bit. But then again, I am a coffee-holic and for those who cant really take strong coffee, this might just be the thing for you.



































We decided to order some macarons and a nice slice of chocolate cake as well. The chocolate cake is rich and fluffy, really nice. The best thing I supposed is that they used dark chocolate and that prevents the cake from being too sweet, perfect for my pallet. As for the macarons, sweet, fluffy, light and really a joy to eat. For those who had never tried macarons I strongly recommend you try them here, you will not regret it :)



































































What I like most about this place is the serenity of the place. Really the perfect to sit down and unwind with a nice book. Staffs are friendly and even the customers are civilized, polite people. No one would stand beside you and stare at you if they cannot get a sit, everyone knows how to respect one another's space and freedom.

A cuppa coffee here starts from RM5 for an Americana up to the teens for a flavoured latte. Macarons are priced at RM2 a piece and the chocolate cake is roughly RM9. Worth it even just for the environment alone.

Heres a map for you readers. Empire Shopping Gallery is located just behind Subang Parade, and Whisk can be found right near Jaya Grocer at the Lower Ground Floor. Just follow the aroma of coffee :)




















Whisk Espresso Bar & Bake Shop
Empire Shopping Gallery Subang
LG 03A (near Jaya Grocer)

Tel: 03- 5022 2060



doggyjames says...A fine example of Italian coffee culture right here in Subang Jaya, one of my favourite chill spots now :)

Yong Tat Seafood Restaurant, Telok Gong

When one of my friends mentioned that we are going to have seafood in Telok Gong,I was happy as a butterfly thinking of the famously tasty coconut wine there and imagining me savoring every single drop of that glorious moonshine. So without any second thoughts I just say YES!, hopped into a car and followed them there.

Then we arrived at this place.

















I was like WTF? I thought we are gonna have coconut wine???

Well apparently we are not having anything close to shandy. Just a nice proper meal...despite being a little bit disappointed, I was brought back to life by the aromatic smell coming from other guests' tables.

We were served with some coleslaw made with chinese cabbage and your normal mayonnaise while we wait for the main course. Refreshing, though we found a black piece of unknown substance which is still unknown till this day, probably better that way anyways.

















Of course, tea would be mandatory. And fineeeeee...I did have a taste of alcohol courtesy of some wines brought over by Evonne.

































About 20 minutes later, our fish dish arrived in the form of Special Mee Hoon with Lala. Really good stuff this one with just the right amount of spices and salt, with the natural sweetness of lala too! Lalas were plentiful as well, just look at the picture!


































And here's uncle & auntie Hoh approving the dish!


















The meal were followed by 2 types of chicken, Salted Chicken & Friend Chicken. Whilst both dish are equally well done, I find the salted chicken erm...not so salty. I suspect they didnt really cooked the dish using the traditional method, which requires the chicken to be wrapped and steamed/baked/cooked in a thick layer of salt over a long period of time. The fried chicken taste fantastic, crispy and smells fantastic on the outside, tender and moist in the inside. Goes fantastically well with their home made chili sauce!


































Then came the tofu soup. Its alright though I prefer the one served at Lala Chong...A bit too salty for me.


















The came the Seven Star Grouper Fish Fillets simply steamed with some rice wine and soy sauce, and some ginger and chili on top. Really fresh, really nice, matches the expectations set when one is having seafood anywhere near Klang.Good stuff this one.

















Next to come were the Steam Prawns, prepared the same way as the Grouper. Fantastic stuff, the prawns were done just right, just enough chewiness without destroying the delicate sweetness of the prawns. Yummy yum yum :D

















The last to come were the BIG Lalas, just figured we order this lala since its stated BIG in the menu. Well they were HUGE and arranging rather nicely on a bed of ginger, chilies and rice wine. The taste is alright but I wasn't so fond of the texture. They overcooked the dish and the lalas became a little bit too chewy and even rubbery. I passed on this after one or two pieces.


















Still not ready to stop we ordered some Char Kuey Teow. Really good and nice, and certainly beats some of the CKT stalls here in PJ! Just the right amount of saltiness and oiliness, a perfect "dessert" to finish off the meal :D

















This is really a great meal, we made sure all plates were cleared and left with a smile on our faces. And with less than RM30 per person for 10 of us, we will definitely be back for another round! :D


































Here's a map for you readers, if you are coming from Shah Alam Highway, just go straight into Pulau Indah Highway and turn into Jalan Telok Gong after you see the signage. Drive for around 10 minutes and you should see the restaurant on your left.


















Yong Tat Seafood Restaurant
No. 9185, Kampung Telok Gong,
Pandamaran, Pelabuhan Klang,
Selangor.

Tel: 03-3134 1167

Opening Hours:
Mon:
11.30am - 3pm (only lunch)

Tues - Fri:
11.30am - 3pm (lunch)
5.30pm - 10pm (dinner)

Sat, Sun & Public Holidays
11.30am - 10pm (all day long)



doggyjames says...a good restaurant by any standards, would be back for more for sure!

Asam Laksa, Puchong Town Centre

Whenever I go up north to Penang, there is one thing I die die must try - the Asam Laksa there. Unlike curry laksa which passed as laksa in Selangor and most parts of Malaysia, this is the one and only laksa which I truely love. Unfortunately I am no longer a frequent traveler to Penang and chances of tasting this uniquely Penang dish goes slimmer and slimmer...

That's until I found a stall in Puchong which serves Penang standard Asam Laksa! :D

Discovered after a boozy night at one of the beerhouses in IOI Boulevard, this particular Asam Laksa stall is located in a parking lot hiding in the middle of Puchong Jaya town centre and only opens for business at night for us night crawlers. Its one of those food lorries with a couple of plastic chairs and wooden tables for customers, this is as old school as it gets.


















































Preparation is as simple as it seems, taokeh takes a bowl, fills bowl with white noodles, pour in soup and you can start eating. Though the soup is so flavorful I am sure the boss took at least 6 hours to slow cook it with care and "real" ingredients. I did not taste ANY MSG or other taste enhancers, simply fantastic when it comes to the soup. Ingredients were fantastic as well and the best thing about the ingredients here is the fact that they use REAL mackerel here, not some cheap mackerel replacement like canned white fish or other unidentified fish. This is the REAL stuff I tell you :D


















































We sat down under a tree and less than 5 minutes later, our food arrived. The smell was intriguing, the soup was flavorful, thick and rich, and the ingredients fresh, succulent and oh-so-fantastic. Trust me when I say this is by far the BEST asam laksa I had in Selangor AND Kuala Lumpur.


































We were done within 5 minutes, thats how good the asam laksa here is :)

















A big bowl of Asam Laksa here goes for RM4.50 and a small one will set you back RM4. Pretty reasonable if you ask me. Oh and I tested the boss and judging by his Hokkien slanmg, he is a true blue penangite for sure.

Heres a map for you readers. This spot is located at the car park behind Alliance Bank and Hong Kee DImSum, near the row of nightclubs and pubs in Puchong Jaya town centre. It has some other stalls selling Lok Lok and other Chinese hawker food there and really looks more like a food night market than anything.



















Asam Laksa Stall @ Puchong Town Centre
Between Jalan Kenari 9 & 10,
Car Park Area,
Puchong Jaya, Selangor

Tel: 019 - 449 4828 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              019 - 449 4828      end_of_the_skype_highlighting

Opening Hours:
Every night after 9pm until late at night :)



Doggyjames says...the BEST Asam Laksa in Selangor by far for sure, another definate MUST TRY of you are around the area.

Paulaner Directory :D

Was scrolling through some random blogs and found this:






Wah! Nice! This might just be one of the best directories/marketing strategy in Malaysia! Now we can just check which bars serve Paulaners easily and explore our options besides the same ol' ones.

SO I logged in.
















Damn! This is some good shit! And it only shows places which serves draft ones...sweet!

Am gonna go for a few Paullies @ U Yen Japanese Restaurant tonight after work, all thanks to this awesome website... heh



Click here for the site:

http://www.paulaner.my/



doggyjames is happy :D

Coffee Ritual, Sec 14 PJ

Its about 3pm after me and my buddies had lunch around Subang and we decided a cuppa coffee is in order. All we see around are Starbucks, Coffee Bean and the army of modern coffee houses around town, we decided to pop by Coffee Ritual instead, a place where I had lunch with some colleagues a few months back and fell in love with.

And off we went to Sec 14, and found a nice parking spot right in front of the place. Went in, ordered our drinks and relaxed a little bit with a few good magazines and some chit chat. Theres something about this place I really like, maybe its the relaxed environment right in the middle of PJ? Or the nice simple yet functional deco? I don't know, just liking it :)

































































My friends ordered a couple of hazelnut lattes and an ice blended Chocolate as they are quite into the flavoured coffee scene. Nice fragrance from the hazelnut lattes, tasted smooth and packed full with hazelnut flavour too. My friends loved it, but I thought the hazelnut overpowered the coffee taste. Just me I guess. Ice blended chocolate was alright although I wouldn't mind the taste to be a little bit stronger.








































The fancy coffes were not too bad, but I was really here for their single origin coffee, brewed using a Syphon coffee maker (vacuum brewing). What makes this so special is that single origin coffee means they use only coffee from 1 spot/grower instead of mixed ones like most of the coffee out there. The Syphon brewing process makes the coffee more power I think, yet really smooth for those who enjoys their coffee black and simple :)

Pretty cool stuff as you can see here: Chin the owner/resident brewer would pack the coffee into the upper container while broiling water inside the bottom one. Once the water reaches boiling point they would go up into the upper container, forcing flavour in while retaining its smoothness. Pretty neat stuff.

















































































And this in the end is what you get. An aromatic, flavourful and smooth cuppa coffee. Simply fantastic stuff, And at RM6 a cup it definitely wont burn a hole in your pocket!


















Ahh...life's simple pleasures... :)

I decided to order a serving of tiramisu as well, just because they looked so damn yummy! And they were! creamy and heavenly fantastic stuff, again a bargain at RM5.60 :D


















Yumz nomz nomz :)))
























The little coffee escape cost four of us RM42, quite alright and definately cheaper than one of those imported coffee chains! Do try their crapes if you happen to stop by, they are fantastically delicious :D

Heres a map (which I stole from their website) for you readers. If you are familiar with Sec 14 Digital Mall, its located right at the other end of Digital Mall right at the corner. Really hard to miss. Parking could be a hassle though so brace yourself.




















Coffee Ritual Sec 14
35, Jalan 14/20
Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Tel: 03-7956 1080

Opening Hours:
Mon - Sat: 10am - 11pm
Sun & Public Holidays: 9am - 10pm

http://www.gv.com.my/

*pork free & alcohol free




doggyjames says...really nice place located smack in the middle of PJ, a definate must try if you are around the area.