Rock Me Amadeus

Oops, wrong picture. Though admittedly, the name was popularized by the movie, or seriously, how many people would have known that Wolfgang's middle name was Amadeus.

I speak of the latest place in town, at KL Life Centre, actually, this trendy cafe, with good food and wine from that fancy enomatic machine. Enomatic produces a wine serving system that allows you to dispense wine, one glass at a time. That way, it's like having a new bottle of wine, opened just for you, each and every time. So in effect you have a wider variety of wine you can choose by the glass, rather than the typical house wine by glass that most places have.






I love the ambience here, it's casual, yet tastefully done, and has a well stocked bar, AND I noticed, Guinness on tap. You can see the pictures of the Enomatic Machine, and the bottles of wine nestled in the contraption. Basically it pumps Nitrogen into the opened bottles, preserving it's freshness (coz Oxygen is wine's enemy, whereas Nitrogen is a friend).


I am a sucker for poached eggs, and few things thrill me more than seeing a runny yolk spurt of out its casing, the way lava oozes out from a crater. And I love asparagus, so despite the wide variety of starters, I chose asparagus with poached egg (RM19), which I know, to some sounds boring.


Beef Soup With Crepes (RM15), a traditional clear beef broth with sliced crepes...which at first I thought was Chicken Noodle Soup.


Ah, the runny yolk that I love so much.


Cured Salmon Salad RM 18 cured citrus flavored salmon with parmesan dressing). The cured salmon tastes so fresh, almost like sashimi!



Lamb meatballs RM 19 (herbed lamb meatballs with green peas in a light tomato sauce). Not really a lamb fan or of their balls.


Stuffed Mushrooms RM 18 (button mushrooms stuffed with herbed fresh cheese, served with home made chili sauce). A good finger food, but misleadingly filling. (as in, they don't look a lot, but can be very filling).



Smoked Duck Salad RM 16
(smoked duck breast on a bed of mixed lettuce and light vinaigrette dressing). Very good value salad for this price, and actually, for the healthy, this is a meal on its own.


Pan Seared Scallops on Cauliflower Puree (RM24). Scallops were seared just right, though I could do without the cauliflower puree.


Duck Terrine RM 21(duck terrine layered with flavorful stuffing and pistachio nuts, served with a slice of home made bread and pickles). Such an attractive dish, and the pickles were good!


Turkey Sausage RM 32(home made turkey sausage, served with grilled Mediterranean vegetables). For a sausage that comes from a bird with relatively low fat content, I have to say these turkey sausages are exceedingly flavourful and moist, and do not taste lean.


Hungarian Goulash RM 36 (traditional Hungarian braised tender lamb stew, served with mashed potato). Seems like good old comfort food. Tender lamb pieces in a rich gravy that would probably also go quite well with rice.


Penne Alla Vodka RM 26(a creamy flavorful tomato sauce flambéed with a dash of vodka. Probably desensitized by all that wine, I swear I could not tell there was a dash of vodka in this dish at all.


Chicken Roulade RM 38(chicken roll stuffed with asparagus and mushroom mix, served with mashed potato and French beans. You know, being of typical Malaysian chinese upbringing, we always mentally dismiss chicken as a "cheap" dish, especially in western restaurants, as they are synonymous with Hainanese chicken chop, that kind of thing, and are usually priced half that of say, beef. So, at first glance, RM38 for a chicken dish sounds exorbitant, in relation to say, a lamb stew. But actually, the dish was very palatable, and actually would be something I would eat repeatedly. Also, it gives the simple chicken some added dimension and layering.



Duck Confit, RM42. This was my dish. No complaints, the meat was tender and moist, and falling off the bone.





And finally, dessert...lemon cheesecake, lemon tart and creme brulee. I loved the creme brulee, and finished every last drop.


Red Velvet, Italian Cream Cake, Sachertorte, and Cointreau Flavoured Tiramisu, instead of the usual Kahlua or Coffee.


Actually, the cakes were above expectation. The red velvet was moist, and not overly sweet, and had just the right amount of cream cheese. I loved the complexity yet simplicity of the Italian Cream cake, with the slight crunch of almonds in the cake itself, and the fresh cream. The sachertorte, which most found dry, is apparently meant to be dry-ish, so might not bode well with our moist local palates. Now, it might be an urban myth, but apparently Caucasians produce more saliva, hence their breads, and now apparently cakes, are drier than those in Asia. I swear I heard this somewhere, I can't remember where.


Our delectable company for the night, hosted by the lovely lovely Dina Djumic, who we previously met at Dubrovnik Restaurant.

Amadeus is at
M-03 Life Centre
20 Jalan Sultan Ismail
50250 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-21622788

website : www.amadeusbistro.com.my

And thanks to Ciki for the invitation.

Toh Yuen's Mooncakes and New Dinner Menu

Sometimes I think that these Chefs who work in pork free Chinese restaurants have to think harder, and necessity becomes that mother of invention. Fortunately though, in this day and age, people are so much more accepting of creative cuisine..it wasn't so long ago that the older folk would balk at the idea of a sweetish savoury dish, sweet and sour pork aside (anyway, that's probably a western invention by the colonialist imperialists), and till today some still find the idea of salty caramel as baffling as Pluto being deregistered as a planet.

Toh Yuen, at PJ Hilton is one of these pork free Chinese food establishments...and to kill two birds with one meal, they also introduced us to their vast array of mooncakes. For some reason, I was late, very late, but arrived in time to see the tail end of some of the starters.


Chilled Pacific Clam salsa. Having arrived late, at first I thought that was an individual serving, and was going to whack the whole thing myself. A refreshing starter, though I am not a fan of pacific clams anymore. They were all the craze when they first appeared, because of its vague similarity to abalone.


Deep fried lamb with Cumin & Dried Chillies. I can see this trio of starters appearing under a 3 seasons platter kind of thing actually.


Deep Fried Soft Shell Crab with Chicken Floss & Garlic. Good beer food.


There were two choices of soup, but unlike bloggers who travel like animals in Noah's Ark, ie, two by two, I have only me and myself, so I only get to sample one. (doesn't that sound mournful). A lovely village chicken soup, (not sure which village this chick came from), and of course, in case it wasn't boiled enough, it was double boiled.


Braised Sea Cucumber, With Huge Huge Chinese Mushrooms, and Abalone ...sauce. I wonder if abalone sauce is like oyster sauce, and if so, does it really contain abalone? Sea cucumber is supposed to be good for you in so many ways, though I have come across some methods of cooking that make it less than desirable. This combination however is quite mainstream and easy on the palate. And I love mushrooms, magic or otherwise. Okay, that's not true, I have never tried the magic ones.


Prawns with Salted Egg Yolks. Trust the Chinese to pair the unhealthiest of the unhealthiest items together. But such a burst of flavour. I honestly believe you can hardly go wrong when you use Salted Egg Yolk. What did the duck do to gain such favour with the Creator, when the chicken's yolk is so pedestrian in comparison?


Canadian Cod, Steamed with Fu Yeng Sauce. Not sure what Fu Yeng is, probably some martial art form, you know, FU as in Kung Fu....
The cod must have gotten here on a direct flight, coz the cod was fresh.


Deep fried smoked duck with Fruit Sauce. Lovely color, and complemented the slight saltiness of the smoked duck. As in, the red fruit sauce did. Duck was nice and tender.





Yam Basket, with Kung Po (is that another martial art form) Vegetarian Chicken. I am unsure as to the obsession with Chinese Vegetarians to imitate meat, unless they meant we were eating a chicken who was a vegetarian, but I highly doubt that. The yam ring was yummy, the yam light and fluffy.


Sauteed Venison with Chinese Croissants (except the chef didn't )add those that day, so theoretically its Sauteed Venison Without Chinese Croissants (Yoo Tiao, more commonly known), and Cumin. Cumin and Cikin. Sounds like some familiar bloggers...


Fresh fruits with Deep Fried Banana and Strawberry Cheesecake. Yup, beneath that battered soul, I mean, roll, lies a banana with strawberry cheecake.





And finally presenting the Technicolor Dream Mooncake selection....a staggering selection of snow skinned mooncakes, in colors that would shame a rainbow. And as a party pack, a gorgeous selection of the traditional baked mooncakes, in a pretty box.



Please call 03-7955-9122 ext.407/4 for reservations.

Do visit Hilton PJ’s F&B blog www.ZestPJ.com for the latest promotions

When Life Gives You Royce Chocolates... You Make Royce Rolls

A few days ago, the very nice ladies from Royce Chocolates, Elaine & Christine, sent me an email asking if I've heard of Royce, etc etc. Considering I walk past their BV outlet almost daily, the question was a bit redundant, and also recently I had the luck to be sampling their caramel potato chips, which is sheeeeer decadence on earth, courtesy of Makan Fairy Godmother and Paranoid Android.

So I was thrilled when they (the Royce girls) told me to stop by at the BV outlet to collect some chocolates to try. Now, honestly, Royces to me are luxury items, and I would buy them as gifts, but frankly, I would not buy them to indulge myself, because I am a frugal stingy cheapskate who doesn't even wear a watch. I have on several occasions been lucky enough to receive them as gifts, and have always totally enjoyed them.

The Royce outlet in BV is located next to Auntie Anne's pretzels, just next to Village Grocer, across from Starbucks and Plan B, so anyone with half an eye would not miss it. It looks classy, so not a place riff raff such as myself is likely to frequent.



I was given three varieties to sample....The Ghana Bitter, which I have yet to open, saving it for a special occasion. Oh, during the course of our correspondence, I did indicate my preference for Dark Chocolate, and not milks, and although I am partial to the odd drink or two, I somehow do not enjoy liqeur chocolates. It's like how I don't like sauce on wagyu. Some things are just meant to be untainted.


The Criollos are lovely dark chocolates, not too sweet and not too bitter, and I had to apply the brakes before I finished the whole box myself. So easy to eat, and so easy on the palate.


Royce Potechi Crunch Chocolate - This one has nuts, rice crispies (or something similar) and milk chocolate. Kids loved this, though I found it a bit sweet.

Now, here's the thing. What does one do when you are given three boxes of Royces? Ta dah, ..I present you ...the ROYCE ROLLS...





A moist chocolate sponge roll, with a rich ganache filling, (I couldn't get myself to waste the Royces on the ganache, so used a lesser chocolate for that, but added chopped bits of the Criollo and Potechi into the roll itself.



The result? Totally decadent. What would be even more decadent? Using the Dark Royce for the ganache...making it a 100% Royce Roll...but well, I didn't have that much Royce on me.

Thanks Royce for the totally decadent and delicious treat.

The Moon-Cake Represents My Heart - At Lai Poh Heen

Much like our festive decorations in shopping malls, mooncakes are appearing earlier and earlier in the year. Up to two months before the actual event, (which I believe is the Mid Autumn Festival, should be on September 30th) mooncakes in all shapes, medium and sizes appear from hotels across the country, to ice cream parlors like Haagen Daz. And gone are the days when mooncakes were the traditional lotus paste with double or quadruple yolks, or red bean, or ping pei. Now, the list of flavours is endless, with all kinds of combinations, which can be a bit mind boggling when it comes to choice.

Me, being a bit of a traditionalist, still like my white lotus paste with egg yolks, the more yolks the merrier, kinda thing. I was invited to sample the mooncakes at Lai Poh Heen, thanks to the lovely Jesslyn, Communications Exec in the KL Mandarin Oriental. A lovely crowd of bloggers were also present, partaking in a lovely meal. Lai Poh Heen is pork free, but has always been a popular restaurant, due to its fine Chinese cuisine, and interesting methods of food preparation.

The various types of mooncakes were lined up, like a bride waiting to be photographed by the paparazzi.


I am not sure when chocolate became a favourite ingredient for mooncakes, and personally, I like chocolate so I am of course okay with this idea, but as I said, being the traditionalist, I am thinking, might as well eat chocolate as chocolate, and save space for the traditional ones, which arent available all year round, as opposed to...chocolate.
Clockwise from left top: Dark Chocolate with Star Anise and Red Bean Ganache, White Chocolate with Orange Ganache and Jam, Dark Chocolate With Salty Caramel, (Yum, salty caramel, my favourite), and Milk Chocolate with Peanut Butter Crunch.


The traditional ones, with white lotus and numerous number of yolks combinations...


Mini snow skins with Durian Paste, (Very yummy), Mini snow skin with pandan flavour and mini snow skin with blueberry and coconut.


Chicken Ham and almonds...


Needs no introductions,....


And to accompany the mooncake fest, Double-boiled abalone soup with seasonal dried deluxe seafood and baby cabbage


Jasmine tea leaf smoked chicken with ginger and spring onion dip. The lovely aromaticness of the tea leaf infused into the chicken, and the superb ginger dip, very good. And unlike some smoked chicken, which can be overpoweringly smokey, this was perfect.


Crispy egg noodles with assorted seafood and vegetables. Being an extreme noodle fan, I wouldn't have minded more noodle and less seafood...


Lai Po Heen’s special seafood fried rice


As if the mooncakes weren't enough for desserts, they decided to let us sample most of the desserts from the alacarte menu.


My all time favourite, lemon grass jelly, aloe vera and lime sorbet, a most refreshing palate cleanser after a chinese meal.


Chinese inspired chocolate coconut dome


LPH's signature durian pancakes. I think this was one of the first places in KL to serve this, and I remember oohing and ahhing the first time trying this many years back. The standard has been maintained, and it's still good.



Chilled Mango Puree...another refreshing dessert, tangy, sweet...


Ideally, each man should have two of these....


Chinese Banana Split, ...with the pineapple thrown in for the "yellow" element, since it's described as Banana Split recreated the Chinese way.

The mooncakes are priced from RM14 for the smaller snow skin ones, to RM28 for the bigger chunkier ones.

To purchase, please call Lai Po Heen at +60(3) 2179 8885 or email mokullpoheen@
mohg.com. Orders can be collected daily from 12noon to 10.30pm.