Bala's Banana Leaf, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur

Lunch at Bala's Banana Leaf (25 Lorong Ara Kiri 1, Bangsar, 59100 Kuala Lumpur, tel : +60 17-862 2759).

Portions here were...very manageable. I expected food coma inducing quantities but apparently not. Egg briyani came with some spicy sweet fruit chutney/sambal(?) which was actually kinda nice. Reminded me of the fruit chutney from the goat briyani at Dandenong Market years back. That basmati rice was also nice. Light, well spiced and packed a bit of heat. Good enough to eat on its own.

Kaya appam with egg. 

Banana appam with egg. Nice pisang raja-ish type of banana was used here.

Interesting carrot lassi. There was an light gritty texture to the drink and a carrot aftertaste which was unmistakable.

Teh halia was not much gingery.

Alta Cafe, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur

Heard about the Alta burger from Alta Cafe (59-1 Jalan Bangkung, Bangsar, 59100 Kuala Lumpur, tel : +60 3-2201 0725) and wanted to try it.

Pretty decent looking with smashed patties, cheese, onions, pickles and their special sauce.

Could have been a good cheeseburger in my books if not for an amateur's move - over saucing with that special sauce that wasn't special. That sauce ended up as the dominant flavour blanketing everything between the buns. I wanted a cheeseburger and not a sauce burger. Pity.

Noodling at Moneys Corner

Moneys Corner (144A Jalan Vivekananda, Brickfields, 50470 Kuala Lumpur) is a food court. It's mostly out of sight from the main street. One entrance can be found along Jalan Tun Sambanthan. The red sign points the way via an alley.

Right at the end of the alley.

Bowl of kampua mee from Sarawak Kampua - Original Sibu Kampua Mee was pretty good. Noodles are a style from Sarawak. I've had a rendition from Swan City Noodle House some time ago which seemed to be a little different. This one had tastier minced pork and much better quality char siew. Not to mention a good scatter of impressive house fried shallots. All rounded up with a bit of lardy broth in the noodles.

I admit to judging the bowl from Peter's Pork Noodle by its nondescript appearances prior to tasting it. Was a lot better tasting than I imagined. This bowl was kuey teow with sliced and minced pork. Light savouriness and lardy in comparison to the garlicky broth from Uncle Beh Pork Noodle.

More cakes from Baked by Kenny Hills Bakers

Got ourselves a couple of cakes from Baked by Kenny Hills Bakers.

I don't know why this was called Tiramisu Cake. Did not taste like tiramisu.

Loads of crushed candied nuts on the surface and something that might be cream cheese and hazelnut cream on the insides. Chocolate too. Not bad tasting, but I'm not connecting with its name.

Orange zest flavour which I think came from the glaze but no citrus sweetness like one would get from orange juice. I was hoping for that kind of citrus sweetness. Not bad tasting though. In this part of the world, it can also be recognised as sugee cake.

Bibi's Popiah, NU Sentral, Kuala Lumpur

We were recommended to try Bibi's Popiah (Lot LG.44, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lum, 201 Jalan Tun Sambanthan, Brickfields, 50470 Kuala Lumpur) for their poh piah. The Vulcan Post did a write up about a collab they did for a RM2,888 roll. Said write up mentioned their history from Ipoh, citing perfection of the recipes, fresh home made ingredients and all the usual fluff. Not feeling all of it from this stall run by a few dudes. 5 in fact, who looked totally bored and couldn't wait to get off work.

Anyways, I haven't a clue how these poh piah were supposed to be like. Tried a regular roll and a seaweed roll. Did not taste bad. Savoury with nice stewed turnip and lots of crispy bits. 

The skin (wrapper) was different from the the dry variety that I was expecting though. These were soft and chewy and totally fell apart when we tried to pick them up which kinda defeated the purpose of getting them into rolls. Didn't dislike them but I did not think they were good enough to come back for.

Chee cheong fun's not bad tasting. Love how the fried shallots added their aroma to the rice sweetened rolls.

Pizza Mansion, Jalan Mesui, Kuala Lumpur

Came across Pizza Mansion (25 Jalan Mesui, Bukit Bintang, 50200 Kuala Lumpur) by chance.

Tried their clam pizza. Kept expectations low. Pretty edible. Double the clams and much more dill would have made it respectable. The amount of dill was barely garnish level. Also, not big on the crust.

Lamb bolognese tasted cheap. The tomato sauce was tart; tasted like it was mostly concentrate. No flavour coming from the lamb at all in both the sauce and the actual mince meat. Minced meat portions in the sauce were lean and paltry. That's just sad.

Now we know which pizza shop to stay away from.