Two Sons Bistro, Pavilion, Kuala Lumpur

Lunch at Two Sons Bistro (Lot 6.44.00 & 6.45.00, Level 6 Pavilion Kuala Lumpur, 168, Jln Bukit Bintang, Bukit Bintang, 55100 Kuala Lumpur, tel : +60 10-222 8282) while waiting for our tea from Chagee next door. Restaurant exuded a vibe that seemed to convey that it was once popular but they're no longer so much. Like a fading star. Or maybe I'm just over-imagining.

Nasi lemak sambal paru petai.

Rice was decent. A little dry, some lemongrass and adequate salt. Sambal's sweet from the onions and infused with flavour from ikan bilis as was expected; just like how the textbooks would have described. Just like the textbooks as well, it felt uninspired. 😂

We were mostly intrigued by the paru goreng petai dish on the side with the nasi lemak. Flavour was sweet and salty but the lungs weren't marinated much. Not tasting any of the spices I normally taste in paru goreng nor did they taste beefy. Also noticeably more chewy than I think is appropriately done like.

Laksam Kelantan.

Broth had plenty of coconut and fish flavour. What bothered me was the raw tau gay. 😅 Rice rolls had the texture of a composite with more rice flour than other flour but the flavour didn't taste particularly rice-y. Not a bad tasting dish but the tau gay was almost overpowering everything else and the sambal belachan on the side definitely helped us get through the plate.

Mansion Tea Stall, Jalan Masjid India, Kuala Lumpur

Doing the food tourist thing here getting roti canai breakfast at Mansion Tea Stall (Jalan Masjid India No 2, Lorong Bunus Satu, Selangor Mansion, Kuala Lumpur 50100, tel : +60 12-331 1456). 

Place was a lot older than I imagined from the pictures I saw online. Vibe felt like an era gone by.

But first, tea while waiting. I like what they're doing here. It's not particularly strong but it's sweet without being excessively so and milky without being overwhelmingly creamy. Just sweet tea with milk in my  range of preferred equilibrium.

Pretty much everyone was getting their roti special which was presumably roti canai that was banjir-ed, hit with a dollop of spicy sweet sambal and a couple of soft boiled eggs. "Presumably" because those didn't taste like roti canai. Something was missing in the bread. Not that it would be easy to tell in the eggs and sambal and curry but I'm pretty sure it tasted different. Anyway, not bad. I wouldn't come out all this way for it the next time though.

Decided to end it with a roti boom.

Can't tell if it's Planta and sugar or if there's condensed milk in it but that golden hued insides with sweet grease sure was delicious.

Baked by Kenny Hills Bakers, SEIBU The Exchange TRX, Kuala Lumpur

Came across Baked by Kenny Hills Bakers (C.DS, CCF Seibu TRX Department Store The Exchange Mall, 01, Persiaran TRX, Tun Razak Exchange, 55188 Kuala Lumpur, tel : 03-3051 3201) and decided to get some cakes back.

We liked the butter cake. It's not what we imagined, infused in copious amounts of butter. It had sufficient. It wasn't excessively sweet and the salt in it rounded up the flavour nicely. What worked for us was the rough dense texture which gave it character as well. More butter and it would have been close to perfect. 😬

Unfortunately squished. Didn't affect the taste though. Sponge was light and delicious with the blueberry yoghurt cream and something lemony in the cake. Not bad.

Pistachios and the top of the cake were covered with a robust lemon-y glaze. Rest of the cake had the same rustic texture as their butter cake with bits of nuts.

Tiramisu was nicely done. Mascarpone was firm and the lady's finger well soaked with a discernible flavour from the rum. Much better than what I had imagined.

Tertemu Ramen (遇见拉面), The Exchange TRX, Kuala Lumpur

We were drawn to Tertemu Ramen (Lot C93, The Exchange TRX, Persiaran TRX, Tun Razak Exchange, 55188 Kuala Lumpur) by the promises of lamb on their menu.

Their 羊肉串 were sadly mediocre. Meat's not sizzling when they arrived and also felt like they needed either a bigger flame or more time on the grill from the lack of scorch marks which could have elevated their flavours. The meat was also a little less fatty than what I thought was ideal.

Tried their sour and spicy knife cut noodles (酸辣土豆丝刀削面). Not spicy or sour enough in my opinion.

The braised lamb (红烧羊肉) add on was not bad tasting. I just wished that they dealt with the leaner chunks by eliminating them altogether or braising them until they were softer.

The braising sauce from the 红烧羊肉, roasted chilli on the side and some splashes of vinegar seriously improved the 酸辣土豆丝刀削面 from meh to wow.

Food court chicken rice at The Exchange TRX

Decided to try chicken rice from the Hainan Chicken stall in Food Exchange at The Exchange TRX (C.FC.01, Concourse Level, Plaza The Exchange TRX, Persiaran TRX, Tun Razak Exchange, 55188 Kuala Lumpur).

Rice was definitely competent and had a pretty good flavour from garlic and a light hit of ginger. Chicken rice chilli's limey and a little sweet while the darker one was toasty. Not big on the honey bbq chicken but at least now that we know. Will be avoiding them for something more regular like the poached chicken, 

Ji Pin He Scones (吉品合), The Exchange TRX, Kuala Lumpur

Chanced on Ji Pin He Scones (C.87.0, Level Concourse, The Exchange TRX, Persiaran TRX, Tun Razak Exchange, 55188 Kuala Lumpur) which is a chain from Shanghai. Those "baked meat scones" they were making reminded me a little of 饼 or rou jia mo (肉夹馍). Specifically those from Qin Ji Rougamo because of the pastry skin.

The "scones" were basically pastry skin with stuffings. What's different from them and 肉夹馍 is that they're baked with the stuffings in the pastry; the stuffings in 肉夹馍 are put into the bread after they're baked.

Got one with chunky pieces of chicken and 麻辣-esque flavour. A.k.a. Sichuan peppercorn flavour. Not bad tasting.