Madam Kwan's, KLCC, Kuala Lumpur

Haven't eaten at Madam Kwan's for a very long time. The last time might have been that one at Mid Valley. This was us getting re-acquainted at KLCC (Lot 420 / 421 , Level 4, Suria KLCC, 50088 Kuala Lumpur).

Was looking forward to a robust and creamy teh tarik from them. It's adequately milky but not as kaw (😂) as I was imagining. The first description that came to mind was the description 'textbook teh tarik'. To be cautioned that you and I may have used different textbooks while schooling 😂. Didn't suck. In fact it passed muster. Drinkable.

What's really good was their petai fried rice. Calling it petai fried rice was a bit of a misnomer because what stood out apart from the stink beans was the deliciously umami and shrimpy sambal they used for the fry.

Pretty big portion too.

Green chilli on the side had a lot less heat than I thought. But it's kinda good with the fried rice.

This was our first nasi lemak from Madam Kwan's. Never had it before. Closest thing to it we've tried was the one from the defunct Grandma's. It's not a bad rendition but after the recent Together Nasi Lemak and having tried the likes of Village Park, I don't think I'll put this at the top of my list.

Otak otak's chunky and has bits of fish inside. I wanted to describe them as being similar to Muar otah but these didn't taste like those.

Didn't think much of their fruit rojak. I'm surprised that with so much sesame seeds and crush peanuts, very little of those flavours came through. No you tiao also. The fruit consisted of just sour crunchy mangoes and equally sour pineapples - unless one counted chunks of turnips and cucumber as fruits. Tau pok was dry and crunchy like biscuits.

Ice coffee's thick but not fragrant.

Liked their ice campur better than I thought I would. The shaven ice was topped with rose syrup and milk. So it's bandung-y.

Surprised to find a bunch of cashews and raisins in there.

Sweet Dots (甜心点点), 100AM

Chinese dessert/小吃 shop (#03-16 100AM, 100 Tras Street) in similar vein to Yat Ka Yan/Mei Heong Yuen/Jin Yu Man Tang. Also trying a pistachio paste for the first time. It's apparently their signature and available in limited quantities. Sure. It's not dissimilar to other Chinese paste desserts. Pistachio flavour was present but not exactly robust unlike how some black sesame paste can be. Not exactly impressed but also didn't dislike it as well.

Les Ducs, Ann Siang Hill

A few bouillon styled eateries have popped lately. Les Ducs (8 Ann Siang Hill) along with Bouillon Gavroche were a couple of them.

Sourdough was smoky. Nice with butter.

Foie gras terrine's...okay. A bit pricey methinks. The foie flavour seemed muted, not like what I remember of them from Brasserie Gavroche.

Pretty meaty steamed prawns. Love their cocktail sauce that we even saved them for fries.

Not a fan of their roast chicken leg with mushroom sauce. Skin's a bit chewy and the meat's pedestrian. Sauce felt a little thin didn't taste particularly mushroomy; definitely wasn't the creamy variety that I had in mind. Also not something that I'd associate with French and sauces. I'd rather the roast chicken leg from Cold Storage. Seriously.

Not bad tartare de boeuf.

Tartar was tangy, a little herby and creamy. Didn't seem to have capers though.

Their ham and Comte cheese coquillettes was basically a French mac & cheese. Nicely done.

Pretty nice chocolate mousse. Had the expected smooth creaminess with dark chocolate notes and importantly, not overly sweet.

I like their crème Mont Blanc. White pudding-y bottom reminded me of yoghurt. Top's chestnut cream and meringue.

Another dessert idea at HaiDiLao (海底捞)

White fungus and their tau huay from their dessert station. The former's hot and latter is cold so you kinda are still going get that hot and cold with a fresh bowl.

Back to brunch at Wooloomooloo Steakhouse

I mentioned coming back here for their burger. 

The butter with the onion focaccia is like the icing on the cake.

Their crustacean bisque is always a good choice.

One of the first course option in the brunch was an open faced beef gyoza with avocado. Beef's really tender but the flavour was almost totally muted by the yuzu mayo.

There's a Australian wagyu carpaccio which was pretty good tasting. Not so much because it's wagyu but more of the combination flavours with the tuna sauce and sweet pickled onions. That and the textures from the diced onions and not too salty crispy capers.

So here's that double cheeseburger. Special sauce on the side.

Nice, hot and meaty between buttery buns.

Picanha from Pure Black cattle. Meat's beefy and metallic, tender and chewy at the same time. Much like skirt/flank. The sweet glazed carrots that came with it was awesome. 

Sticky coffee pudding with vanilla mascarpone to end. Pretty good.

Revisiting Cenzo

We finally made it back to Cenzo.

Sparkling water is a couple of bucks and bottomless.

Wagyu tartar cannoli wasn't memorable. Wouldn't have known it was wagyu if the menu hadn't mentioned.

The lardo tigelle with truffle honey which we liked from the last time has become garlic bread whipped lardo burnt honey. This one was nice...cheesy, savoury and tinged with sweetness. But I couldn't shake the feeling that the tigelle was nicer. 😅

There's a lot of pistachio stuff going around lately. Most of them are second rate. I'm also being kind by just labelling them second rate because the honest description would conceivably be 'con job'. Not this gramigna with pistachio pesto though. It's not just nuttiness in the pesto, it's pistachio specific nuttiness here. With actual crushed nuts. Enriched by burrata.

What I had been looking forward to was their lamb porchetta. You read that right.

This was awesome. Serious crackling cushioned by a layer of flavourful lamb-y fat over meat. That and its unique blend of bite, greasiness and crunch. Why so? It doesn't have the same mouthfeel as regular porchetta because of the size. Pretty rich and heart clogging. 👍🏼

Tiramisu to end.

Niigata Food Fair stuff and the old black truffle fried rice from Tampopo @ Ngee Ann City

Haven't eaten at this branch of Tampopo for a really long time. The last time we were here might have been that one where we had their gyukotsu ramen. We were reeled in today by a couple of items that were featured in their Niigata Food Fair menu.

One of which was their amaebi rice flour tagliatelle. Couldn't tell if the tagliatelle was made with rice flour through the gravy/broth which had an intense umami sweet crustacean flavour. Think prawn bisque. Those amaebi also had a gentle but discernible sweetness to them. Nicely done this one. 👍🏼

Presentation has kinda...changed for their black truffle fried rice compared to how they used to plate it. Thankfully, it's still pleasantly greasy and sufficiently salty to be moreish.

The other Niigata Food Fair thing we tried was their matcha parfait. Notice a sprig of thyme. No cornflakes in this one. Plenty of intense matcha sauce. Nice.

Re-revisiting Merci Marcel @ Eng Hoon Street

Been some years since we were last at Merci Marcel at Tiong Bahru.

Got the sweet potatoes & lentils hummus thinking it might be sweet. They weren't. 😬 Tasted like regular hummus packed with cumin flavour and a different texture. There's supposed to be coconut milk in the hummus which I never detected.

Love the roasted feta with the pears, both poached and fresh.

Pleasantly surprised by their beef burger. Meat's nicely caramelised, still moist on the inside and not destroyed by marinates/herbs. Good saltiness coming from the Parmesan cheese and crispy Bayonne ham. Those toasted sesame on top of the buns were nice!

Cauliflower trilogy - had these at Club Street previously. Still so delicious.

Not bad orange confit & cardamom cake.