Le Bon Funk, Holland Village

The last time we ate at Le Bon Funk was at their original branch at Club Street. This one at Holland Village (277 Holland Avenue, tel : +65 9833 9867) is at where Fosters Steakhouse used to be.

The decor had a 60s-ish vibe which contrasted against the intersperse of more modern appliances/furniture. Lighting was a warm with hues of yellows and browns with the exception of areas at the front and back with tinted blue by the sunlight filtering through the window panes. I'm not sure if I'm getting this across.

Shaken iced tea with hibiscus, orange and sage - tasted fruity, couldn't tell that there was tea in it.

This was their foie gras toast. The fluffy stuff on the top was shaven foie gras. Beneath them was some roselle jam/jelly; the previous time we had it, it was cedar jelly which I couldn't tell. Roselle came across much more discernible. Nice.

Couldn't resist their beef tongue and gribiche sandwich. As good as we remembered it.

Cast iron pancake with maple syrup topped with caramelised bacon and banana. Nice. Served piping hot with crusty edges. Pretty sweet. Bacon was smoky sweet like bak kwa. Bananas tasted like they have cumin in it.

Les Canons, IOI Central Boulevard Towers

Les Canons (#01-07, IOI Central Boulevard Towers, 2 Central Boulevard, tel : +65 8926 0726) by the il Lido Group is the 3rd bouillon styled restaurant that's open up lately together with Bouillon Gavroche and Les Ducs.

House lemonade was fizzy, has some mint and infused with maybe elderflower? Thought it tasted like elderflower.

Tartare de boeuf was not much tangy and didn't have much in the way of flavouring. Not one of the well flavoured ones around. The bread was very hard. Will not get again.

Pan fried foie gras on pain perdu. Nice. Thought I tasted orange in the sauce.

Pretty good tasting crevette Nantua - prawn bisque-esque sauce over mash and some meaty real prawns. Comfort food that's good enough to come back for. 👍🏼

Had a steak au poivre. Smallish Angus sirloin.

Fries were pretty good. Steak did not have much taste and very little salt. The meat was mostly dependent on the pepper sauce for flavour. Was more medium than medium rare that we asked for. Sauce was quite creamy and peppery.

Mashed potatoes was creamy, flavoured with browned butter. Nice.

I like the mousse from Les Ducs better. Tasted more like dark chocolate compared to his one which seemed to have much more milk in it. Not that it's bad. Love that creme Chantilly.

Nicely done thin apple tarte. Was served hot. Love the caramel on creme Chantilly on the side.

Coffee's smoky, bitter and nice.

Bintang Coffee (星咖), ICC Pudu, Kuala Lumpur

Tried a claypot coffee from this stall at ICC Pudu (Jalan Kijang, Pudu, Kuala Lumpur 55100). The taste was similar to Claymug Coffee - meaning Hainanese styled and not particularly fragrant. Not a fan.

Claymug Coffee, Wisma Cosway, Kuala Lumpur

Came across Claymug Coffee (Lot G65 Wisma Cosway, 88 Jalan Raja Chulan, 50200 Kuala Lumpur) and stopped for some after beef noodles at Mama Lek.

While we witnessed the brewing done in actual clay pots, we couldn't tell what exactly about the process that made them different. What we could tell though, was that it tasted similar to the Hainanese coffee back home and it wasn't particularly aromatic.

Mr Naan & Mrs Idly, Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur

Catchy name there (190 Jalan Tun Sambanthan, Brickfields, 50470 Kuala Lumpur, tel : +60 17-762 9070). Though for a restaurant with idly in the name, I was expecting them to open early enough for breakfast. 

Nice salty spicy masala lassi with cumin and a bit of burn on the throat.

Wanted a go with their special idly even though I had a good idea how it tasted. What with the nice drizzle of ghee and all. The texture's a little less dense than what I'm used to though. Still delicious with the chutneys and tangy sambar.

Their dal tadka was delicious. Believe it or not, it was deliciously savoury in a manner that reminded me of fried chicken. With a bit of heat as well. Nice one. 👍🏼

Some cheese naan to go with their dal. Good pairing if I might say so.

Vegetable briyani was well spiced and moreish. Portion didn't look huge but it was pretty filling.

Masala tea's milky and a little weak on the spice.

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.

Tiong Hoe Specialty Coffee, Stirling Road

Have been here (#01-1133, 170 Stirling Road, tel : +65 8958 1133) a few times for their triple espresso con panna on the go but never a sit in until today.

Sparkling coffee's not bad.

Lightly aromatic, not thick or full bodied. But good drinking in a hideout from the scorching heat.

Noci Pasta Bar, Suntec City

Korean pasta place at Suntec (#01-386 Suntec City Mall, 8 Temasek Boulevard) that opened late last year. They're by a Gold Moon Restaurants Group which has brought in brands like Tonshou and Seoul Noodle Shop.

Complimentary sourdough with whipped butter. Butter's nice. Bread's okay-ish. I prefer them with a bit more tang and texture.

There's baccala. Not as lard infused as I was imagining. Flavour's mostly from the fish which wasn't a bad thing.

Had a couple of pastas. This one featured their in house squid ink tajarin with bottarga and anchovies - understandably umami that way. Not bad.

The other was their cacio e pepe which also used their house made tajarin. What's different from the usual cacio e pepe are the crush bits of pistachio. Would like for it to be a bit more cheesy and peppery but I think I enjoyed this as well.

Both pasta had great texture.

A coffee called cream di noci which had bits of walnut and walnut oil. There was a thick crema but I didn't detect walnut flavour from the mundane tasting coffee which had little worth mentioning.