Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Bubba Gump Shrimp Co

When Boolicious, my blogging idol, asked me if I was free on Tuesday to try out this new place, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co, (for some reason, it my mind, it sounded like Bubble Gum Shrimp Co), also to do a review, I was quite excited. (coz I thought she was gonna be there) Turns out, she wasn't, however, she managed to convince fellow food blogger (the one who won the most recognisable face award), Jackson Kah, to come along, so it wasn't so bad.

The invitation was courtesy of this trendy holiday magazine, called HOLIDAY.


A pretty cool travel magazine, which succeeded in making even Taiping look exotic. Then again, I guess Taiping is kinda ...exotic. Editor Vanitha and colleague, Asha (who had been our contact point) are the kind of people you'd love to have at a dinner party. Great company, and very gregarious.

Looking at the pic of this building, I really felt I was in America a bit. Actually, it's on the First Floor of THE STREET, at the CURVE.


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Jackson was sitting in one of those booths, which was hot as hell, and certainly not big enough for 4, so I was pretty relieved when we were ushered to the upstairs, which was airy, bright and comfortable, and private as well. I'm never too comfortable shooting away at food with many onlookers.

Okay, the name, as film afficianados might surmise, is based on Tom Hank's FORREST GUMP. The theme of the restaurant is based on the movie, and you have this replica below of Mrs Gump's resthouse, a room that contrasts dramatically with the rest of the rustic woody interior. Of course, the youth of today, like Jackson Kah, had never watched the movie.

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More pictures of the interior. The place has paraphernalia from the movie, and posters as well.

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The two signs are meant to assist you in hailing the waiters. When the sign is red, it's for the waiters to STOP at your table. And when it's blue, they should run away. The sauces are placed in a bucket, so god forbid you should kick it.

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The specials are mounted on this ping pong bat, since it was Forrest's favourite game. Did he actually play against someone? I only remember him playing with the wall. A good tool to spank wayward children with.

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We were asked to order our drinks, and since it was the afternoon, I thought I would restrain myself and not look at the alcoholic section, since no one else seemed inclined that way, and well, drinking alone in the afternoon is akin to putting a stamp on your forehead proclaiming, I'M SUE ELLEN EWING. However, since the choices of non alcoholic drinks were few, and all but one, contained yoghurt, I very magnanimously let Jackson have the Mango Sparkler I was about to order, which was non alco, while I sacrificed myself and ordered a Lousiana Lemonade, which had Citron Bacardi Rum in it. The servings are huge, ....pity you have to catch a cab to get to the nearest toilet. These mall restaurants toilets are usually miles away.


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Lousiana Lemonade RM22.90

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Asha's Run Forrest Run, I think it was

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Jackson's Mango Sparkler RM9.90

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And Vanitha's Peach Love Rock and Roll, which looked really good and thirst quenching. RM22.90 as well.

The very affable Manager of the place, Rizal, joined us, and ordered for us a sampling of the dizzying array of stuff the menu had to offer. Okay, before that, we should clarify that SHRIMP here doesn't refer to our udang kecik. In America, apparently, Prawn = Shrimp. So when you order Cajun Shrimp, do not expect a plateful of miniscule plankton, cincalok kinda shrimp. They're actually prawns, and rather large plump ones at that.

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Cajun Shrimp, with lovely garlic bread, toasted to perfection with a hint of some cheese...probably parmesan. The cajun sauce flavour, seeped into the prawns from sauteeing, was divine.

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Net catch of the day. A generous platter (and this is the small portion) of prawns, with a bucket of cajun sauce poured over. You're supposed to use the bucket for your used shells. Lots of buckets around. These prawns are boiled and the sauce incorporated later, unlike the first one, which is sauteed in the cajun sauce. It's a large generous serving.

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Bourbon Street Barramundi, charbroiled cajun spiced barramundi in the bourbon street sauce, a creamy seafood bisque-y kind of sauce, that I found overpoweringly rich, and could feel my arteries seizing up. Maybe it was because we were approaching fullness faster that you could say Bubba, so this dish didn't really appeal to me. However, if you like rich sauces, do try it, as the quality of the fish is great, and its a substantial meal. Loved the fried nachos which embellished the fish.

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Ah, my favourite. Dumb Luck Coconut Shrimp. Strips of coconut line the batter in which these prawns were fried, and it is accompanied by the most GORGEOUSSSSSS cajun marmalade. Absolutely yummy. Crunchy on the outside, moist plump prawn on the inside.

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Tossed Chicken Cob Salad, lots of leafy greans, avocado, beef bacon, (poor Jackson), and chicken breast. Like Nigella Lawson, I prefer thigh meat to breast, (I'm talking about chicken, not her), and can't fathom how anyone can choose breast meat over thigh meat. The vinaigrette dressing was sweet and tangy all at once, and very refreshing. The only bummer for me was the chicken breast meat. I'd have ordered it without. But if you are a breast-avore, you'd be jiggling with delight.

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Shrimper's Heaven...I was too stuffed to stand up and take an aerial view picture of the contents of the cones, but basically, it was tempura prawns, coconut prawns, chilly (as in brrrr, I'm chilly) prawns, likewise with a variety of sauces. By this time, we were getting a bit prawned out. I was beginning to feel like an overweight blue whale, who had just overdosed on krill.

.........which was a pity, coz this dish, Salmon & Veggie Skillet, with jasmine rice, was rather delicious. The rice is fragrant and fluffy, and the taste overall very palatable.

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By this time, understandably, my waist had increased by a full inch. When Rizal asked if we wanted desserts, Vanitha chirped, "just one small one"...which we found out doesn't exist in American vocab. It's like "TEH TARIK KURANG MANIS"....an order in futility.

The chocolate chip cookie sundae was good. A large chocolate chip cookie at the base of the pan, smothered with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. I felt for this quality of dessert, they should have also increased the quality of the ice cream, and not use our generic ice cream. But that's me, always feel that if we're going to ingest calories, they should be quality calories.

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Finally, the flourless chocolate cake with ice cream. The cake was lovely and moist, and very chocolatey, (they use good quality, Calibut). By this time, I was like Mt Vesuvius waiting to erupt.... could barely waddle out of the place.

We ended the session with a tour round the very well equipped and well laid out kitchen. A special thanks to Vanitha and Asha from Holiday Magazine for organising this, and to Rizal, the manager of the place. Great food, great company. And alcohol at midday....perfect.

Forrest's famous bench.





39 comments:

Anonymous said...

Whoever go with me will be very lucky. Cos I don't take prawn (normally) :P

Who wanna tag along?

Anonymous said...

Hubba bubba!! Them shrimps look delish!

Seafood here is so pricey. You'd think being by the sea, it would be cheaper but nope. Only good thing is that they're extremely fresh. I miss all the cheng ching seafood. Here, they either deepfry or grill.

Hahahaha..Sue Ellen!!

Babe_KL said...

u really got me laffing from the start till the end hehehe... sighhh so many deep fried stuff huh?

sc said...

gorgeous photos..am so hungry looking at it..funny i didnt noticed this place when i was there 2 weeks ago. time for a visit!

Henry Yeo said...

Hhhhhmmmmm......was vanitha's full name vannitha balasingam?

never mind, any crayfish on the menu?

Anonymous said...

OMG!! Forrest Gump was made 12 years ago!! And I thought it was only like 4-5 years ago. I love that movie. Is the DVD still on sale??

boo_licious said...

aaargh! Everything looks good. Must go try one weekend...hopefully this weekend.

sc - the place just opened last Sat only.

Anonymous said...

Ooh! There is one here at the Peak Galleria - did you see it when you last visited? We tried it last year and it was pretty good too, surprisingly. We got a free plush panda and a flashing-strobe tumbler as well, which makes my eyes pop whenever I use it. Did you guys finish all that food?

Argus Lou said...

The deveined shrimp certainly looked divine, FBB.
Wah, are you writing reviews for magazines? You can certainly write for The Star's WeekEnder. Very entertaining read!

Hey, I have a magnety little soft-toy shrimp just like the one in the logo stuck to our spiral-staircase pole - Other Half must've received it in S'pore or California.

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

wahaha..looks like u had to skip past fitness first after this didnt you?

fatboybakes said...

nipples, it SOOO didnt cross my mind to drop by at FF the curve. but however, i did go later on for Body Combat la...probably worked off one bite of the dessert.

argus, no no no, i'm not writing reviews for magazines, not qualified la da. i only have to refer to the magazine, and likewise, they'll refer to me, in their review. now that you drew attention to the logo, hmmm, it looks like jiminy cricket had an affair with sebastian the crab.

HL, wah, long time no see. No la, we couldnt finish the food...such a pity, and i didnt dare to ask for tapau...which i should have in retrospect, since i hate seeing food wasted. so cute, but wats pandas gotta do with shrimp?

boo, yeah, thanks again for the referral. food WAS good.

kat, aiyo, FG is ancient la. i can barely remember the movie... but i'm sure its avail on dvd.

henry, nope, dont think that's her surname. and no crayfish.

sc, thanks. yar, as boo said, they oni opened last week.

kat, hmmm, someone on the table was actually commenting on how our seafood is generally NOT good. its all relative i guess. i hate those plump prawns that taste like ... erasers. but these were rather sweet and nice.

jason, who's paying?

fatboybakes said...

babekl, aiyo, so honored that can make you laff laidat... funny meh?

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the link.. an honoured to be added here :)

Dee said...

You had me at charbroiled cajun spiced.

Anyway, regarding the grapefruit marmalade, I think we bought some from Cold Storage once. If you can't find there maybe you can try Crabtree & Evelyn or M&S - mahal, but pretty good selection.

Or I'll give you some of mine. I've still got loads in the fridge, and I need an excuse to make some peanut butter :)

HairyBerry said...

one youth of today really enjoyed that fantastic soundtrack! and what fine actors in that memorable movie!

so, i guess being a MNR (multi-national restaurant), the quality of prawns should be top-notch. no udang air tawar, whatsoever lar, hor? looks like there's a reason to dine at the curve after all..yippeee!

fatboybakes said...

nickhkl, you know, i also never had a desire to dine at the curve. my one & only exp, marche, was dismal. (excluding the 1901 hotdog la). the chinese place is horrifyingly exp for a place like that. so yeah, now i also have a reason.

dee, aww, how sweet of you to offer. i might just take you up on your offer aitelyu. start selling la.

min, the honor is mine.

Argus Lou said...

Hey, FBB, you're qualified lah. Sharifah, the editor of WeekEnder, is always looking for restaurant reviewers like you - informative and entertaining. Her email addy is at the front of the publication. Tell her I recommended you (and Lyrical too, if she's interested!).
I'm serious.

Anonymous said...

here always got panda-mania mah.

Hey, have you watched "Run Fatboy Run" ?

http://www.runfatboyrunmovie.com/

Dee said...

selling would take the fun out of everything la. but offer still stands so let me know if you want then we arrange something lah.

btw, thanks for the link up. i already linked you erm... without asking. how rude!

Big Boys Oven said...

I was there too on the opening... food was good and I got too much too drink! lol!

fatboybakes said...

BBO, drinks are good hor. hey, we should go for drinks one day.

dee, thanks, honored to be linked. no need to ask. and maybe we should have a little tea party so we can sample your preserves hor.

hl, no la, is it about a wannabe cook?

argus, hahah, no la, i shy to call la. thanks anyway.

Anonymous said...

jason: Can I tag along? I dun mind walloping your prawns (normally). :P

FBB: Well, this one is another youth of today who remembers Forrest Gump. Not as fondly though as everyone else seems to. Shocking as it may seem, I found it a tad sentimental. (Yes, moi. I know...)

Big Boys Oven said...

you know that night there were free flow of drinks, my God those cocktail drinks are a real killer! Blur! Blur! lol! yes we should head out one day to paint the town red! lol!

Anonymous said...

Aiyo.. FBB, I really eye-flower lah. Your choc chip cookie, was too blinded by your promise of easy recipe, I saw ONE tsp baking soda, instead of HALF!! And I made double recipe summore, making that TWO tsp of b.soda!!

After baking, we were like, 'Eh, very soong but taste weird leh.' Like eating hap tou soh liddat. Luckily, after I added some cornflour and baked it until it was crispy, it was more palatable!!

Dee said...

Hi FBB, I was wondering if you or any of your readers would know the location (or existence) of an Iranian/Middle Eastern supermarket in KL (Ampang?). Or if there's one in PJ. Thanks.

fatboybakes said...

hi dee, argh, in the recesses of my mind somewhere, i've heard of this middle eastern supermarket, in ampang. but cant recall. will ask around.

kat, wah, so clever ah, can salvage with cornflour one ah?

BBO, just let me know when.

kenny mah, ya, i wouldnt really say i am mad about the movie either. it's a tad depressing...like world accdg to garp kinda way.

Dee said...

hey, don't worry about it! nice chap that he is, bbo has given me not one, but 2 options!

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

eh remember the girl who has the "hots" for me? apparently now you are being pulled into the picture also WAHAHAHA!

Anonymous said...

went there too last week for dinner....i got the same cajun shrimp and the other 2 mains recommended by an ang moh gal was really bad...i think it's fishwich charbroiled sandwich(omg, the portion is soooo small even for a small eater like me) and the shrimps in a broth served with bread and rice(weird combination and the shrimp is overcooked with powdery texture).

all in all i don't think the shrimps there is fresh and they tend to overcooked it. wrong recommendation on first visit really makes me think twice before revisiting again. also they employed nepal guys so service is not really there too. why? because they don't give u back ur credit card straight away after u signed and they bring in the receipt that u signed in there for soooo long..very suspicious lor!


p/s: from your pics it seems like the portion is huge maybe they knew u guys r bloggers and media, no? hehe....

jen

Her Worldly Pleasures said...

Just watched a rerun of Forrest Gump last night and would love to check this place out if I was in KL...the shrimps look so good. How long has this place been around cos I was in KL last month and didn't know about it.*sigh*

jesscet said...

ohhh i would go not for the prawns but for the decor alone! Forrest Gump is one of my all time favourite movies! didn't know they have this place here.. cool!!

and thanks for all the nice pix!

STEFFI said...

hey FBB, thank you for sharing such a excellent spread of food. the portions are really something else! =)
am waiting till you bake again.

Rarebeet said...

Judging comment above, will give this place some time to find their legs before giving it a try. My god you guys ate a lot!!! This place looks fun and so gimmicky. Am sure it will do very well at the curve.

Simon Seow said...

Jason bila you mau pergi?

Wah, you guys are fast. This just open recently.

I watched Forrest Gump 3 times and I even got the original soundtrack. Does this mean I'm old? :P

fatboybakes said...

hahah, simon, i guess FG is a modern day classic la, so it's like people my time who have watched shows like ben hur or sound of music three times. so no, it doesnt reflect your age at all.

paps, well, if what they served us is anything to go by, its honestly pretty good wor.

steffi, thanks for dropping by. for a moment, i thought you were thanking me for actually feeding you with a big spread of food, and thought you were one of my dinner guest!!! hahah, blur la me.

jesscet, go try la. HL said hong kong one oso was pleasant surprise.

wai sik miu, the place only opened about 2 weeks back, that's prob why u didnt see it. thanks for dropping by.

jen, according to the manager, those are the normal sized portions, and actually, i think they were. in fact, we were telling him they should consider smaller options as msians arent as large eaters as americans...or are we?

nipples, it IS a "she" right?

dee, oh, do share, where are they?

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

what is Calibut?

fatboybakes said...

calibut? where did you see that? i dunno, must be a cross between cajun and halibut...

Squidy said...

Hi,

Greetings from Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.

I'm Rozi, the Marketing Manager from Bubba Gump Shrimp Co and I would like to invite you to come over to Bubba Gump Shrimp Co in Sunway Pyramid, to try out our new menu offerings. Hope to hear from you soon.

Best regards,
Rozi Wong