Pick And Brew

For some reason, I associate certain words with certain phrases or actions...like Pick, in my mind, is naturally followed by "your nose". So to type those words, Pick N Brew, instead of Pick Your Nose, is a mega effort on my part, and I think deserves the kind of applause that I heard resounding throughout 1-Utama on that Thursday night, when Chong Wei won his silver medal. It's nice to see a whole nation, regardless of shape and size, color and creed, cheering in unison. TV screens were everywhere, and pockets of people stood transfixed. I meanwhile was more intent on getting the cake to the venue, for I didn't want to look weird carrying a cake in a cake caddy around the shopping centre.

The occasion? The birthday celebration of two of our most prominent, most famous, most photographed, most adored by women, food bloggers, Jackson Kah and Simon Seow. In fact, Simon's camera is full of pics of him posing next to celebrities, like Amber, etc.....

I was incredibly early, coz Jackson told me dinner was 7pm. Too lazy to log on to facebook to reconfirm, I took his word for it, afterall, he was the host, and it was at his premises. When I arrived, no one was there, except Jackson and his colleague, who were busy discussing about work. I quickly excused myself and sneaked in a brief workout by walking one end of 1u, from the old wing, to the other. ie, from Pick and Brew, to MPH and back. Wonder how many km is that?

Oddly enough, I have yet to patronise this restaurant, although I did pop in once when it was still under renovations. Reviews have been pretty mixed, so I was quite curious to see for myself. Love the little knick knacks that adorn the place. Coffee grinders, coffee pots, coffee beans, a world map made from coffee beans. Obviously that is supposed to the core business. Coffee.

I am a plebian, and give me butter (salted only) with my bread any day. This olive oil and balsamic vinegar combo was a novelty to me when I first tried it like 20 years ago, but eventually, who am I kidding, I am an uncultured buffoon, who opts for all the unhealthy foods in life. Butter butter please.

Since the youth of today were all late, (like 8.30 and still no quorum), I decided to placate my hunger pangs (after my 1km within 1 u workout) by ordering some bruschetta. Obviously bread is not a scarce commodity in this place.

While I have no complaints about the thick chunkalicious bread (which was spread with butter), it did make elegant eating a bit of a challenge.

The toppings of the bruschetta were good, and overall, it was a rather tasty dish. I love the pink color of the smoked salmon.

Teckiee, who strolled in after the bruschetta, brought these Japanese something something (doraemon?), two with custard filling, two with red bean. As I was already filling up on bread, and my chick smoothie, I abstained.

My rationale for ordering the chick smoothie, which was banana and strawberry, is simple. They're all priced the same. BUT, I know for a fact that strawberries are the most expensive fruit per kg vs mango, and the other smoothie flavours. Gosh, I must have some latent Penang blood somewhere. Never mind that I looked like a has been drag queen sipping that pink concoction. It's all about MONEY'S WORTH.

Guess who's fingers are those?

Then came the mains. I kinda pleaded with everyone to order different dishes, coz I am thinking of reviewing this restaurant as my maiden article in MY NOURISHMENT magazine. Everyone kindly acquiesced. I asked Jackson to order the Moussaka, although he was full.

Not exactly your traditional greek moussaka, this was more like lamb mince, with aubergine topping swimming in bechamel sauce. However, the taste is good. Perhaps they should rename it something else to avoid any false expectation. The sauce is cheesy, and rich, and actually, I personally would not have been able to work through an entire dish of this myself. Good to share.



Teckiee's Tikka
Basically lamb mince shaped like sausages. Flavoursome, and not too lamby. Love the brilliant colors and accompaniments to the tikka. Oh, we all kinda gave each other a piece of ourselves to try, hence my verdict about flavoursome.



Hmmm, what was this? Chicken rendang? I think Simon ordered this. Again, I love all the presentations of food. Striking colors, and looks appealing from afar. Much like a girl with makeup. Tastewise, it was also good.



The Leng Lui shooting her prey.


An insight into the Moussaka. As you can see, it doesn't have the traditional lasagne type layers of egg plant, that characterises the real thing.


Chicken Cordon Bleu, ordered by Jason Ipoh Mali Tidak Sombong. I thought it tasted good, and I love the red jelly thing, I think it's cranberry jelly. I might actually order this next time. Again, full marks for color.


My snapper crusted with oats and muesli. Dunno what possessed me to suddenly attempt to be healthy. Mine seemed the most boring of the lot, but however, I did like the bed of spinach that lay beneath the fish. The fish was tasty, but the texture not great. A bit soft.


Like a Bride Within the Veil.....In Pensive Thought....

Anyway, I had a enjoyable time, and it was fun meeting up with the legendary Simon Seow, aka Celebrity Blogger....
Wishing the both of you Happy Birthday, and may you have a great year ahead.