Had dinner at Rossini's (Ritz-Carlton, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) tonight. The restaurant is small. I ordered the mushroon risotto with duck breast. Even though the restaurant was almost empty (there was only one table occupied by an old couple when I walked in), I had to wait for quite some time before my dish was ready. The risotto was usual, with quite a generous amount of mushrooms but the duck breast slices was overcooked and tough. Another mistake the chef made was leaving the skin on the duck, which became too chewy through the overcooking. If the chef had wanted to leave the skin on, a better serving suggestion is to roast the duck so that the skin is at least crispy. All in all, an unspectacular experience.
Even though this is an Italian restaurant, the selection of Italian wines are limited (only two types were offered). On learning that I liked Frescobaldi's Brunello di Montalcino, the captain went to pick his last 1996 bottle to show me (not on the wine list) and offered to sell me at RM320, which is a total rip-off. I had managed to get my highly rated 1997 Frescobaldi Brunello di Montalcino earlier last year for S$55 per bottle from a distributor in Singapore.
Had buffet lunch at Biba's Cafe (Mandarin Oriental, Kuala Lumpur City Centre, PO Box 10905, 50088 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) yesterday. The spread is good: sashimi (tuna, salmon, swordfish, and yellowtail!), BBQ station (satay, prawn skewers), mongolian and chinese stirfry, roast duck & chicken. The roasted strawberry in caramel at the dessert station is delicious.
Had dinner at Hakka Restaurant (No 6. Jalan Kia Peng, 50450 Kuala Lumpur) last night. This restaurant started more than 40 years ago as a hawker store in Ipoh. I've heard good comments on this restaurant since about 4--5 years ago from a Japanese friend Tomoya Ichimura, then a Deputy Director with the Japan Ministry of International Trade and Industry (now known as Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry), whose embassy recommended the restaurant when we were in Kuala Lumpur for an APEC meeting. But I did not attempt to try this restaurant until last night.
We ordered sharks fin soup with crab meat, deep fried yong tau foo (stuffed bean curd), sea cucumber, tiger prawn shashimi, and deep fried pork knuckle. The sharks fin soup, yong tau foo and sea cucumber were ordinary and in fact not nice, but the tiger prawn shashmi and pork knuckle are exceptional! The tiger prawns, which were served embedded in crushed ice, were very sweet and crunchy. The pork knuckle is crispy all over, better than the German version. Would certainly return for these two dishes and other more unusual ones.
Had dinner at No Sign Board Restaurant, Pasir Panjang Branch. The standard has dropped much. The food is tasteless. About the only thing left that is of some standard there is the crabs.
Opened a bottle of Mt Billy Antiquity Shiraz 2000 for dinner last night. This is one of my favourite wines. Made from century old vines, the nose was just in your face -- intense raspberry, black currant and wood. Very jammy and powerful on the palate, with spice, smoke, and black currant. A wonderful complex full-bodied wine. Below are comments from Winefront Monthly:
"Made by Dave Powell of Torbrek off century-old vines, this is the kind of wine that's just waiting for a good vintage in order to explode (which is probably why there's such a buzz surrounding the label right now). The initial release is unusually savoury, fascinatingly floral, rich, purple, spicy, blackberried, and has a nose of gunsmoke, beefstock and green tobacco. In the mouth it's a hunt of savoury, pencilly, blueberry and blackberry liquer with a sample of sweet caramel and a square tightening of tannin on the finish. Gorgeous flavour, intensity, cut-and-polished acid/oak with a bright tobaccoey-flavour acid reach, this is almost a great wine. Drink: 2004-2010. 87 points."
Celebrated Mother's Day with dinner at Coffee Garden, Shangri-La Hotel Singapore (22 Orange Grove Road, Singapore 258350). The hotel was very very quiet. The Lobby Court was also empty. A huge contrast against the pre-SARS days. Service was reasonably good considering that they were under-staffed -- most staff were forced by the hotel to take unpaid leaves in order to save cost. Food variety and quality has dropped in standard. SARS has really hit the hospitality industry hard!
Just got back from a one-day trip to Kuala Lumpur today. Had dinner with some friends at Deutsches Haus Pub & Restaurant (46 Changkat Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur 50200). We ordered a sausage platter, a BBQ platter, and a pork knuckle to share. I had the mushroom soup which is alright, but my friend who had the fish soup was disappointed -- there's not a single piece of fish in it! The meats were also a little too dry. The service is friendly though.
Had lunch at Olio Dôme, Wheelock Place ( 501 Orchard Rd, Wheelock Place). My friend ordered a burger while I ordered a pizza. When our food came, my friend commented that mine was the most miserable looking pizza he's seen. Not just that, we bite into our respective dishes and found that both were cold! Just incredible! The chef put my pizza into the microwave instead of the oven and this made the pizza soft instead of crispy. Huge huge disappointment!
Had lunch at the Claymore Cafe in Meritus Negara Hotel (10 Claymore Road, Singapore 229540) today. Went for the "yong tau foo" (stuffed beancurd) buffet. I particularly enjoyed the fried oyster dumpling.