Lamb and beef ribs from Tony Roma's in Malaysia

We haven't had Tony Roma's for a long time. I remember them mostly from the time when I was much younger. When a family outing to their restaurant was something to look forward too. But the ribs wore thin after a while. I started ordering chicken. *cues suspenseful music*

Basically I was never interested in eating at their restaurant again until we found out that the Tony Roma's in Malaysia, or at least this one (Lot 203, 2nd Floor, KOMTAR JBCC Bandar Johor Bahru, Johor Bahru Johor Bahru 80000, tel : +60 7 300 5060) serves lamb and beef ribs. The porcine variety is obviously not on the menu because of the Halal requirements.

These ribs I'd have to admit were pretty tasty. The lamb rib was toe-to-toe with the one we had recently from Astons Steak & Salad; slip off the bone tender with some nice bits of fat for flavour. Their beef one was likewise a pretty good eat with their original TR Original BBQ sauce. This almost felt like the old times family restaurant outing again.

Ho Seng Kee (何成記), City Square, Johor Bahru

I've heard good things about Ho Seng Kee (J6-07, Level 6, Johor Bahru City Square 106, Jalan Wong Ah Fook Johor Bahru 80000, tel : +60 12 710 7140). So after the excruciating clearance at the JB side of the customs, we made it our first destination for lunch to see if it were as good as the buzz. Lo and behold! It was awesome. 

We ordered a couple of bowls. One of the original flavour and the spicy black. Both were good but if we had to pick which we preferred, it'll be the original; which had what I discerned was sesame oil, lard and maybe something like a light soya sauce for that light saltiness. The texture of their brand of egg noodles (which I hear is made fresh daily) was deliciously chewy and free from lye flavour.

Those bowls came with a few wantons underneath the noodles. The dumplings were smooth, substantial and meaty; also flavoured with pepper. Those fried versions were the same except for those greasy (but tasty) crispy skin. 

They're be introducing pandan flavoured noodles in a couple of months so we'll definitely be looking forward to that.

Laksa pizza from Pizza Express

The first time we ate at Pizza Express was while we were waiting for our flight at HKIA. They have a few shops here now. We came by this one at Scotts Square to try their laksa pizza. Something we were pretty sure could not be found anywhere else in the world. Expectations were kept low. But it turned out not bad. The pie tasted like a laksa pizza rather than one that was trying to be it. The rempah, sliced chilli and laksa leaves definitely helped achieve that overall flavour.

The crust was pretty thin though. So thin that it might as well have been pita.

Kebabs 'n Curries, Mustafa Centre

The restaurant (#07-00 Mustafa Centre, 171 Syed Alwi Road, tel : +65 6419 0749) reminded me of a post apocalyptic greenhouse setting. The interior appeared a lot older than what I had seen on photos and was almost - just almost looking like it was in a state of disrepair. In silence, it might have been Blade Runner-esque. The blazing sun that filtered in through the dome didn't help the fact that air conditioning was makeshift. Pretty sure we got tanned by just having lunch.

But their badam milk was really nice. Sweet, creamy, appropriately chilled and infused with aroma from cardamom. Very promising start here.

We enjoyed their murg makhani (butter chicken). It was creamy like most of the things we ordered coupled with a warmth from the spices and also the associated sweetness. One could also detect the smokiness from the chunks of chicken tikka mired in the gravy.

The other heart clogging goodness we went with was their gosht panipat - lamb with a pistachio gravy. Sweet, spicy, nutty and also rich. Couldn't identify any pistachio but we never expected to when we ordered it. This one had chunks of tender lamb.

One of the starches came in the form of their coconut uttapam. A competently done uttapam that was crisp on the edges and made better with the generous topping of finely shredded coconut.

Followed by some garlic cheese naan which was used to mop up all the delicious gravy options that we had.

Re-revisiting El Mero Mero

It's been a couple of years since the last time we were here. The status quo for upmarket and premium quality Mexican food has not changed. These guys are still the go to.

I had never realized that they have a michelada on the menu. It's a spiced beer with a bunch of condiments and spices. Everyone has their own mix. This one tasted like a tamarind flavoured Bloody Mary. Nice.

We started off with a few of their tacos. The one above was the Kurobuta al pastor which we've previously had. It seemed like the standard of that taco has declined compared to the last time. The meat was dryer and harder today. The treatment has also vindicated my wisdom against using Kurobuta. The grilled fish tacos on the other had were pretty good. They were accompanied with onion and shishito tempura. Possibly just ranked itself up among our favourites with the Dorper lamb tacos.

I thought their enmoladas was delicious. The dish featured a Oaxacan black mole which was rich, creamy, savoury, sweet, spicy and chocolate-y at the same time. The heat from the spices cumulated into a nice warmth. I'd eat this again. 

This was the Dorper lamb dish under their Josper Grill Mains section of the menu. I couldn't tell if the lamb had been through the grill. It didn't look nor taste like how they were done for their tacos because it was covered in sauce and lacked char aroma. The kitchen claimed that it had been grilled though. I had initially thought it was braised. Wasn't bad, but also wasn't what I had expected. Not something I would spend money on again. 

Capri Trattoria & Pizzeria, Binjai Park

So, another one of those location (3 Binjai Park, tel : +65 6468 4886) that's been on radar and didn't happen until now. I take it that anyone who knows where Binjai Park is and doesn't live in that vicinity understands how one needs to make their way specially there for anything because it's a location that's not in the way for more than 99% of the people here. I digress......

We started with a couple of anitpasti. This one was amusingly named ricostruzione di un fungo which translates into 'reconstruction of a fungus'. I'm seeing it as how the stems of the mushrooms have been replaced by scallops. This was delicious. Expensive but very tasty with little but salt and the natural flavours of the mushrooms and scallops.

Capri Trattoria has cold cuts that are allegedly made in house. Maybe except for the mortadella.  This is mention worthy because not many Italian restaurants here cure their meats.

There was a citrus risotto with quenelles of prawn tartare which we couldn't pass on. The citrus flavour was refreshing while the rice was light that we inhaled it off the plate easily. Not to mention that those prawn tartare were really good. The meat was barely cooked and filled with flavours and sweetness of the crustacean. Pretty impressive. For now, a runner up to my favourite fruit risotto.   

These guys do a pretty competent fettuccine alla nocerina. The egg noodles had great texture, sauce was creamy and rich and the flavours on the whole came through nicely. It just needed a bit more salt. It seemed that the restaurant had just recently recalibrate the salt for some of the dishes from feedback.