Busaba, The Exchange TRX, Kuala Lumpur

Busaba (L1.02.0, Level 1, The Exchange TRX, Imbi, 55188 Kuala Lumpur) may be the first time we've having Thai food in KL. Typically, it's not something we go for since Bangkok isn't that far away and Singapore has decent ones as well. I prefer to eat something more Malaysian which we can't get back home. And some others. But one meat kinda tipped the scales in our decision. 🐑.

We did have some things we generally like. Like tom kha gai.

This was loaded with tender slices of chicken and coconut meat. Pretty delicious rendition if I might say so.

Some pomelo salad with tempura-ish deep fried prawns.

Fried prawn cakes. Decent rendition as well.

Sadly, the lamb pad krapow that walked us in was forgettable. Super forgettable. The meat was either very marinated, very fat free or both. No even the slightest hint of lamb. Pretty disappointing for RM65.

That one item on the menu which could've been it just didn't do it. As for the other dishes, it's not exaggeration to claim that they're more or less a dime a dozen in Thai restaurants in this part of the world. Will not be coming back of course.

Uncle Soon Fried Rice, Wisma Cosway, Kuala Lumpur

Uncle Soon Fried Rice (Lot 1.25 Wisma Cosway, 88 Jalan Raja Chulan, Bukit Bintang, 50200 Kuala Lumpur) is just next door to Francobolli. Tried a plate out of curiosity. Not bad tasting per se but there was too much residual grease. That sambal belachan definitely helped. None of the guys in the shop looked like they could be an Uncle Soon.

Francobolli, Wisma Cosway, Kuala Lumpur

A hole-in-the-wall-ish fresh pasta shop sequestered in the 2nd floor of Wisma Cosway (Lot 1.25 Wisma Cosway, 88 Jalan Raja Chulan, Bukit Bintang, 50200 Kuala Lumpur). Open only on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 11am.

Menu and seating space are limited. The former has only a few pastas and the latter fills up pretty fast after they open.

The one with garlic, olive oil and anchovy butter was kickass. Great linguine texture that had a good bite slicked with a gritty garlicky umami. 👍🏼 

Nicely done rigatoni cacio e pepe. Great texture as well with adequate cheese and pepper. What's more impressive was that I could also taste fruitiness from the olive oil in it.

Revisiting Hameediyah Multi Concept Dining

How did we get here? Probably craving for nasi kandar.

To the uninitiated, both plates look similar. Rice drenched with curries/sauces with colourful toppings. To the initiated, it probably also looks the same. 😂 We got a bunch of stuff that we did from the last visit - like fish roe, curried squid roe, cabbage, mutton korma.

Carrot susu here's not bad. Thicker than the one from Pudu Pasar Wanton Mee.

Betty's Midwest Kitchen, Aman Suria, Petaling Jaya

According to the owners, Betty's Midwest Kitchen (A-G-40, Jalan PJU 1/43, Aman Suria Damansara, Petaling Jaya, tel : +60 3-7886 9357) serves American diner inspired food from their visits to Iowa. There's a pretty good selection on their menu and more things that we wanted to try than there was space to do so.

We were intrigued by their meatloaf. Each slice was tender, crumbly and pretty meaty tasting with bits of carrots and something tangy I couldn't identify. There was a beer based sauce on the side which was also tangy. Not bad tasting.

One can top up a few ringgit for each main ordered to get soup and a drink. Current soup was described as tomato with ham. It's actually more like minestrone.

They have house made lemonade which was okay-ish.

Pork chop with apple sauce was pretty good. Pork's tender and yet had a satisfying chew. The sweet and tangy apple sauce was loaded.

What registered as outstanding was the gravy on their mash. Creamy, milky and rich with a velvety texture to boot.

Ah Fook Cheong Fun Yong Tao Fu (阿福肠粉酿豆腐), ICC Pudu, Kuala Lumpur

This stall at ICC Pudu (Jalan Kijang, Pudu, Kuala Lumpur 55100) was mentioned as a recommendation before. Judging from the queue, they appear to be the stall to get yong tau foo.

Tried the curry version. The selectable toppings were pretty good quality. Chee cheong fun was decent if unremarkable. Not feeling it for the curry though which was somewhat powdery. I was hoping that it would be the Nonya-esque style of curry with coconut milk but this wasn't it. If we ever came back, we'll try the sweet sauce/chilli instead.