Friday, September 07, 2007

888 Cafe

I thought I'd better get this over and done with, because check out the competition with their large equipment....I can't beat that, and if I don't post this quick, I'll have zilch readership.


The event, organised by the enterprising and illustrious, Timothy Low, was a food sampling at 888 Cafe & Bistro, which in a nutshell, is named after the brand of 888 Coffee and Teas, which is a subsidiary of Thong Guan, a public listed company. Of all times to forget my handphone, I did so last night, and it was only my photographic memory and brilliant sense of direction that helped me recall the map posted by Tankiasu, as I navigated my way to unfamiliar territory beyond the border of Ikano and the Curve.

Located in Dataran Sunway, in Sunway Damansara, it's a nice corner lot, brightly lit and easy parking for now. I was one of the latest floggers to arrive...these people take these things very seriously.

First on the menu was Itchy Chicken, according to Lianne. Actually it's Inchi Kabin. Basically fried chicken marinaded in a cornucopia of spices... probably 5 spice, tumeric, etc etc. Cameras zoomed in as if this was some rare fowl on the brink of extinction. I often wonder how the public sees us. Well, at least we don't shoot to kill.

Inchi kabin, passable as a starter, for hungry palates. A bit on the dry side, but I find with chicken, some parts are prone to be drier than others anyway.


My Michael Jackson drink.... I was forewarned that the soya bean is from a can, not homemade. But the cincau is homemade. Strange. I thought it was easier to make soya bean than cincau.

The next two items that came along were the Brain Brain, (Otak Otak), and a shrimp toast thingie. Actually, I didn't even know what cuisine to expect, as Tim listed "ex la bodega chef" as one of the credentials, so I guess mentally we were expecting tapas-y kinda food. But the name 888 should have been a dead giveaway.

Otak otak was palatable. Smooth, and didnt have that fibrous content that some otaks do. The toast was unevocative, not something I'd order deliberately.



Then came the nasi lemak, which looked good. I love those broad ikan bilis, that are fried to a crisp. The condiments to the dish were good, but the rice itself was a bit vapid, and lacked the santan taste. It's actually quite a substantial meal, this, on its own. Got fish, beef rendang, egg, water convulva, (kangkong), okay, convulvulus, nuts....all the food groups represented.


Sizzling away on the platter was Mary's little lamb. A lamby aroma that I dont care much for assailed our nostrils. However, the lamb was surprisingly tender and tasty, and didn't taste like it smelt. I guess the sizzling effect might have elevated the odour molecules to a higher energy level.


OH NO!!! I didn't get a picture of the star of the night. Shucks, that's like going to Gwen Stefani's concert and only getting pictures of the back up dancers. In my opinion, the star of the night was their signature Nyonya Laksa. In a luscious creamy but yet not overly rich coconut gravy, some say a cross between curry laksa and assam laksa, because of the slight tanginess, the soup was excellent. It comes with all the necessary prerequisites for a good laksa, ie, cockels, aka see ham, prawns, sambal. Highly recommended.


Hmm, by now, I am beginning to sense a familiar pattern in the food. Where have I seen this kind of food repertoire before? Penang village? Kluang Station? But anyway, these are foods truly Malaysian and no one can really lay claim to exclusivity. Chau Kueh Teow. With crab meat. Yum. Alas, by the time National Geographic was done photographing it, the dish was colder than a glacier in Finland. I imagine it would taste a lot better piping hot.



Forgive our sins as we forgive those who sin against us..... Above, spaghetti bolognaise, which Teckiee proclaimed (with as much authority as JAIS raids khalwat couples) was CHICKEN, caused much stir was non beef eaters like Jackson and Lianne merrily tucked into it like happy kids with lactose intolerance found dairy free ice cream..... only to be told that it was BEEF. Luckily Lianne was busy talking to me about something, which distracted her from placing large chunks of cow into her mouth.

The non Beefatarians were compensated with a Seafood Aglio Oli, which actually was rather good. Just the right amount of olive oil, and nicely flavoured with chilli and garlic, it was actually a far better alternative.


And another sizzling dish, chicken this time. The sizzling chicken went well with the aglio olo pasta.


Meanwhile, Jackson Kah, sitting in the middle of the long table, (like a central figure in the portrait of the last supper by Davinci), was commanding a lot of attention. Considering we were celebrating his birthday nearly 2 months ago in King Crab, it's amazing that we were still celebrating it last night.


There's a large poster detailing the history of the 888 brand.


This came much later, this rice with more inchi kabin....by which time I was full, so didn't try it.


Meanwhile, we had a debriefing session with the chef, whereby all the floggers put in their 2 cents worth of compliments, criticisms, etc, which was apparently all captured as can be seen by this monitor.


The night ended (for me anyway) with Jackson cutting his 10th or 11th birthday cake. Sidney of BBO was commenting how many cakes he's (JK) had.


Very drama hor.

Anyway, if you are in that neighbourhood, the 888 Cafe is at 1-1, Jalan PJU 5/10, Dataran Sunway.

Thank you Tim for organising the event.

19 comments:

Lyrical Lemongrass said...

Nyonya laksa. Goddit.

Big Boys Oven said...

OMG! They only left me with half eaten of nasi lemak and pasta....@#^^$($&*@)!....lol... i was very very late.... great meeting up again. Can I have more than one birthday cake?

MeiyeN said...

man.. you are fast!!!!!! da cheesy durian cake that you baked/made was WOW!!!!! my first time having so "exotic" piece of cake... and truly enjoyed every bites of it, thanks! jackson was lucky, really! and i hope you are done with your cake that got into an "accident" lol...

Precious Pea said...

Aikkss....got durian cheesecake somemore ar? Missed that tim....grrr

Babe_KL said...

*sobs* and i have to bake my own birthday cake :(

fatboybakes said...

lemongrass, hor.

BBO, hey, finally nice to meet you, after hearing so much about you.

meiyen, glad u likey the cakey. you should have had a 2nd helping..i thought tak laku...no takers.

precious, you tried before wharrrtttt...anyway, dont expect any sympathy from me, your horrible professional holiday goer, sum more all free on air asia...grrrrrr

babe, really? awww, dont worry, i had to bake my own too.

Anonymous said...

Ouch, that knife cuts right through my head!!!

p/s: Corporate slaves like me will never be able to blog as efficient as rich people like you! Grrr...

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

wahliao eh..i havent even "picasaed" the pictures..nor think abt the food and post yet..and dont worry..my pics look horrible..hahaha..

so did u manage to fix ur damaged cheese cake?

boo_licious said...

LOL, I love that slight "tongue" Jackson seems to be showing before he "kamikaze" the cheesecake.

Rasa Malaysia said...

The guy with canggih camera is Timothy Low ar? I think his camera more "keng" than mine. ;)

backStreetGluttons said...

was trying to get hold of ...at least that infamous chin but...never mind. if those things sound familiar its because thats 888 ! haha the way things are speeding up soon that boy will become very famous , what with all the slashings and burnings ( of the midnight swoops ) in food heaven

Anonymous said...

OMGGGG~!!! I looked sooo horrible in the last pic.. :'(

Anyways, I'm really glad that I went for the food tasting gathering....cause I got to try (First time) your lovely and truly amazing durian cheesecake...the first spoon of the cake into my mouth, I was like....ooooo...please spare me this time causee those cakes were really heavenly delish!

Rarebeet said...

Looks like you guys had a blast! Enjoyed reading your post very much, you are hilarious! Scrabble?

Unknown said...

I felt really bad la. I think I have to cook minced chicken and beef and taste it together. (Food blogger konon.. cant even differentiate chicken and beef *Bangs head on the keyboard*) Sorry Lianne! Sorry Jackson!

Unknown said...

thanks for the durian cheesecake..i kept burping in the car but that would not stop me from consume any durians..

Tummythoz said...

Photographic memory? Wow.

Anonymous said...

an obsession with the 'v' word perhaps? :p

fatboybakes said...

sunshine, what V word?

tummthoz...yar, only for maps though.

kgboy, u're most welcome. nothing like a good durian burp to fill the air.

ee chian..oh, is that your real name ah? then whats teckiee? dont worry lah, i think an accidental consumption of beef probably gets only a few demerit points on the sin scale, as opposed to say adultery, or fornication.

parika, we did, and DONT YOU SCRABBLE ME, woman. people, take note, paprika is damn good at scrabble okay, a real hustler. dont toy with this rabbit unless you can make words like ZOUNDS, ZOON, etc, on the scrabble board.

cookies, where got, you look good wat.

team bsg, i have no idea whatchew talking about.

rasa malaysia, congrats on the glowing reviews of your blog. no, the guy in the pic with the large equipment is nipple joe. timothy's equipment is even larger, and he has a tripod to rest them on.

Anonymous said...

What a dramatic ending :P