Traditional set from Mad Roaster

That's the traditional set from Mad Roaster. A take on the local kaya toast and eggs with coffee by them. Traditional inspired would be much more accurate description. Not the chocolate babka though. That's not part of it.

The toast was pretty good. Butter's melted and soaked into the bread and there's kaya. Nice. Set included soft/half boiled eggs which can be used as a dip for the kaya butter toast.

Coffee was definitely not filtered through a sock. Did not taste traditional. Or bad. Or strong. Personally found it a bit too sweet.

Katong Laksa Holland Village Nasi Lemak, Holland Village Food Centre

I've had laksa from Katong Laksa Holland Village Nasi Lemak (#01-15, Holland Village Food Centre, 1 Lorong Mambong) years ago but don't remember if I've had their nasi lemak before. It's actually not bad because there was a bit of salt in the rice which brought out the flavour of the coconut milk. I'm thinking a bit more would be great. I've never thought about sambal belanchan with coconut rice but it worked for me! 

Otah and the chicken wings were delicious. I just need to remember to come earlier the next time so that I can get the chicken thighs instead of wings. 

Lontong from Istimewa Nasi Padang

Sadly this was a very average tasting bowl of lontong. The fried bean curd (tau kwa) had a hard and chewy exterior, vegetables weren't tender (or well stewed) like we were hoping for and that gravy just didn't pack the punch like the usual suspects of our yardstick list from the recent years - Queenstown Lontong, Lontong Sedap and Nusa & Tara. One could also tell by how it didn't feel heart clogging even with the serunding. Maybe that's how they roll.

The paru goreng was great though. 

Fishball kolo mee from Tracy's Sarawak Kitchen

Back at Tracy's Sarawak Kitchen because I like their kolo mee. Since I found the sweetness of their char siew a little overbearing/cloying, I got the bowl with fishball version instead. Those tasted generic. But the noodles were what I was going for. Still yummy. Especially with extra fried lard, pickled green chilli and that fried egg was nice.

Tonkatsu by Ma Maison without tonkatsu on a Ladies Night

So Tonkatsu by Ma Maison has Ladies Night on Wednesdays which gets 20% off the bill.

I remember not being impressed by their ebi katsu in the past but this was not bad. Looked/tasted like a mixture of prawns and prawn paste.

Good quality oysters in their kaki fry with a pleasant oyster-ly flavour. Actually, I expected no less from them. Nicely done with a good crunch on the crispy panko encasing the shellfish which was hot and juicy.

 

Sunday brunch at MTR 1924

Was looking forward to this after our last round here (一, 二, 三, 四, 五, 六, 七).

This button idly sambar was pretty good. Those are little idlys in sambar if anyone was wondering.

MTR's special pongal was a much better experience than the one from M.M.H Tiffin Centre. I had been expecting them to be dryer. Kinda like those we've previously had at Murugan Idli Shop, A2B Veg Restaurant or Ananda Bhavan. Maybe that's why this one was special.

Anyways, I did enjoy this rendition too. Rice-y tasting wet gruel with lentils flavoured with pepper, cumin and a bit of ginger. Pretty sure there's a bunch of other spices in there that have eluded me.

Vada from them has always been good and today wasn't any different. Crisp skin, spiced filled and tender yet dense savoury donuts.

That's the sagu masala dosa. Curried vegetables instead of potatoes in the dosa. Great stuff with lovely flavour from the crisp pancake. 

Pretty decent lemon rice. Tangy and savoury with nuts and a hint of ginger.

Trying uppit for the first time. They're also known as upma - kinda like pongal but are made with rice flour and semolina. The texture was pudding/dry porridge-like with a coconut-y flavour infused with ghee and black pepper. Amidst other stuff. 👍🏼

Badam kesari bhath - a rendition of their kesari bhath with slivers of almond. Nice.

I've been wanting to try their chandrahara for a while. It's a dense sweet pastry. Not sure if what we tasted came from just the creamy saffron sauce or did the pastry also include spices. Lots of cardamom and pretty milky.

For the first time ever in all our visits, a masala chai. This one had a balanced masala mix and was milky.