Moon Cake Festival

The Moon Cake festival is held on the 15th day of the 8th month, of the Chinese Lunar Calendar. In the Western calendar, this festival normally falls between the 2nd week of September and the 2nd week of October.

The Mooncake Festival a.k.a. Lantern Festival a.k.a. Mid-Autumn Festival , call it what you will - is a celebration of unity. This festival is believed to have originated from the ancient ceremony of Sacrificing to the Moon Goddess for the year's end harvest. This is when families return to celebrate and give thanks for the year's bounty. Offerings of their harvest such as fruits (apples, pears, oranges, pomelos) were common. Other offerings cooked or baked included moon cakes, cooked taro, water chestnuts and of course the famous 'tong yuen' made from glutinous rice. 'Yuen' means 'round' which symbolize 'completeness' as in 'yuen man' of the cycle.. i.e., it means unity and harmony within the family.

For me, Mooncake festival is a time of dispute.. of war! hah!
Where I have to fight with Cumi for that last piece of sweet dessert.. gimme THAT you... i saw that first:P

Lucky for us, our friends are so kind as to give us more than enough for TWO hungry 'ghosts'.. me and cumi la, that's who.

The latest ones we tried from chef choi are delicious!

Rich, heavy, dense.. one is enough to fill me up for a couple of hours. No more fighting with Cumi this year.. fair share for everybody. Yay!

Daikanyama is not a swear word!

PART III to Ciki's Birthday Week

Of course Daikanyama is not a swear word! Aoyama, Omotesando and Daikanyama all share things in common- they are in central Tokyo and have small shopping centers and restaurants, as well as a relaxed atmosphere.

Daikanyama... we saw it walking by Changkat BB the other day en route 21. I also recently read about it on Sean's blog. No wonder it is named as such, because walking into the establishment, one is immediately aware of how relaxed and trendy the place is.


Anyway, I had been badgering Cumi to check this place out for a week now, and so it was with great surprise when we walked in and saw Bari aka Barricudda! and Edwin, who are both our friends.. what a small world!

Cumi knows Bari from his adventure activities (Bari is an accomplished diver and daredevil.. amongst other things ahem..) and I know Edwin from Hajime. You can see and feel the upbeat tempo and deco of the place from the moment you look at the menu, drawn out to look like the Tokyo subway, to the 'green-lung' in the centre of that cozy bar.


I should call it the 'un-green lung' rather, because that's where the smoking corner is!

Looking at the menu , we feel rather perplexed as the menu is rather brief. Then Bari informs us that Daikanyama is positioned not as a restaurant but rather as a bar with quick and easy food! It is not a place to bring families and have a long and extended dinner session. It is more a place for a drink to unwind after a hard day's work and for some fuss free, quick, Japanese. On the menu are, Sashimi, Yakitori, Japanese Rolls, Japanese Noodles (cold/hot) and an interesting variety of Japanese fried rice. To get this point across, Daikanyama does not serve Ocha... that's right.. we are not a restaurant.. goddit? :P

Well, if you've been following my birthday week, you will see this was the perfect place for us for dinner that night, because after eating that humongous lunch only hours ago and birthday cake courtesy of fbb, we were still stuffed. (well, cumi was.. me .. i was ready for dinner!)

The first carafe of Sake was the Toku Toku Non-Bei and the last was the Kasen Ginkan Ozeki. Don't ask me what came in between:P

The Umeshu which Edwin gave us on the house (sweetie!) was the 'Taru' Umeshu which was a premium Umeshu(plum wine) that's stored in Oak barrels for a premium finish. Not too sweet like some other brand of Umeshu for sure.

I love the Maki here. No complaints all these dishes go really well with Sake.

Reading about the battered soft bone (Chicken) on "Eat Drink KL", I just had to have it. Good is not the word! I use to 'whack' all the soft bone out of my Grandma's boiling pot, before she could give it to the dogs. That's why, till today, I have such good enamel. Kids, eat your bones.

Sardine with a not dissimilar feel to that of beef jerky(I call this fish jerky), dipped in the Japanese mayo, also a winner. Don't let my description of the texture put you off - the flavour is smoky and grows on you the more you eat it.

Chicken gizzard.. tres tres yum!
There's me fighting tooth and nail with my food. My, my .. what strong jaws u have ciki. All mine - cumi would have none of this :P

Many rolls later, we were finally satiated.

We really like this place. It's as cosy as the bars you find in Tokyo proper. We will definitely be back to kick back and unwind to a nice, chilled, shot of sake, knowing that there will be no screaming kids to disturb our Zen.

Thanks Bari and Edwin for a smashing night:)

Add:
Daikanyama,
42, Changkat Bukit Bintang,
50200 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel:603 2141 0323

D & D get hitched!

We were recently invited to a Wedding dinner at The Westin KL.


The last time I attended a wedding at the Westin was like 6 year ago and it is nice to see that this place has not lost its charm at all.

The Westin looks as spanking new and well maintained as it did on the day it first opened.


The gorgeous bride..!

Bridesmaids in waiting..


The Grand entrance!



That was when a friend at our table whips out this contraption.
(OK la, you guessed it. All YOU readers PLUS Cumi, are all 100% smarter than me. A handbag hanger!)

Cumi: I told you so... (smug)
Ciki: Pfft... :P

The reason why I love the dinners at the Westin is mainly because they serve Fusion. After one too many Low-Sangs and Chinese sit down dinners, this Foie Gras Duck Roll, Scallop, Unagi Salmon Roe and Truffle Mushroom Parfait Starter, was like a breath of fresh air!
It tasted divine.


Let the Slide Shows begin...

This is the braised crab roe broth (hence the orange colour) with scallop and fish maw. Delicious! What a difference a thick, murky soup makes ..!

Next was the Steamed Canadian Cod fish with Lobster Emulsion. How amazing does that sound.. I wondered to myself, how many Lobsters they had to melt down, exactly to get an Emulsion.. ?!


Mongolian Lamb (was it really from Mongolia?), King Prawn with Asparagus, Parcel Vegetables, Japanese Udon with Escargot..
All tres, tres yum!


From the smiles, you can tell it was a fantastic dinner!


Us and the groom! The Bride was off for a quick change into her evening gown.

All in all, a truly lovely wedding(but which wedding isn't) ... and I learnt what a handbag hanger looks like.. though I doubt I'll ever use one.. (erm, my handbags are all either really too tiny or too huge for that hook.. lol)

FIN.

Add:

The Westin,
199 Jalan Bukit Bintang,
55100 KL.
Tel: +603 2731 8333,
Fax: +603 2731 8000

Food:8/10
Service:7/10
Ambiance:7/10
MSG levels: Low
Salt levels:moderate

The two P's of eating...

We are back in that familiar place! ... My favourite Italian restaurant (I cannot say it enough).. on a weekend.. Read about my other visit here.

How goooood it is, when close friends meet together over Prosciutto and Prosecco!

Those have got to be my two favourite P's in the Italian vocab;P

Speaking of which, they do Prosecco by the glass at Nero Teca, so you can really pace yourself and get plastered nice and easy...

RM26.00 per glass


This is the Prosciutto Melon.

The story of Prosciutto is really the story of pigs, since it takes the best pigs eating the right foods to make a perfect ham!

(Ooo, which reminds me of a cartoon i read..)

How cute is that.. ?! :P

Ahem.. as i was saying...

Prosciutto is an Italian ham that has been seasoned, salt-cured, and air-dried, but not smoked. It has a gorgeous salty meaty taste, offset by the sweetness of the melon... heaven!

Prosciutto Melon - RM34.00

This is the Carbonara. I love this carbonara because, it's not too creamy, the pasta is rapturously al dente and the bacon is smoky, chunky and fatty. This is the soft chunky bacon sort as opposed to the streaky crispy thin bacon. I find the soft chunky sort absorbs the carbonara flavour so much more effectively. Pure art!

Eating is believing so... just come eat...

Spaghetti Carbonara - RM23.00

This is the Costina - fried pork ribs. Not for the faint hearted. Let me just warn you that this dish will not be of the 'soft, fall off the bone pork ribs' sort. Me, I order this when I am in a feisty mood, because the Costina will give you a good fight - meat is tougher and the smell of pork is strong. This does not make it any less good! Infact, I dare say, this is the way pork ribs should be eaten (bangs the table, spits and swears..) :P:P

Finally, no italian meal is complete without the Panna Cotta! An Italian invention - pure, simple, delightful cooked cream! Cool and soft and goes down easy... Do not leave without trying this!

Panna Cotta - RM14.00

Many flutes of Prosecco later, we stagger out the door and into the dark and starry night.. , happy to be alive and well...then we begin the long journey home:)

Add:

Nero Teca,

ground floor, somerset

8 lorong ceylon

50250 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 03-2070 0530

Food:8/10

Service:8/10 (slower on friday nights as it's usually packed)

Salt levels: moderate

MSG levels: nil

Behind the Veal ...

Wow... a couple of months back, we were really surprised when we drove past Changkat Bukit Bintang.. because the last standing, corner HOUSE had finally buckled and SOLD! We thought that the Gan family who virtually own the entire stretch along the row opposite El Cerdo would not give up that house! Oh well, apparently that house was kept for mama Gan, and when she passed on, they decided to put it up for rent too.

So... the man Werner whom we love from El Cerdo, and his nephew and our friend, Andreas, have opened Werner's across the road from El Cerdo!

We could not wait to sample the food! Apparently while El Cerdo is famous for their PIGGY, this place serves great veal and free range chicken from Spain.


The place was really well renovated.. be it inside sitting...

or outdoor balcony lounging...

this place has a cosy feel with a warm ambiance.


We quickly settled on a Spanish rose.. which was really rather good... almost as good as the Brut Rose, but at half the price.



For starters we had the Canapes.. gorgeous toasted bread with either Caviar, Smoked Salmon or Goose Liver Pate... this went great with the Rose..

A Canape is a small, bite-size, decorative food, often served during cocktail hours, either salty or spicy, in order to encourage guests to drink more.

No wonder we were having so much fun with our Rose! lol.


We just heard that white asparagus are in season! We just had to try them! These are huge ... far huger than their green counterpart, and can be rather expensive depending on the grade. They are considered an expensive May, June seasonal delicacy, in Northwest Europe. A whole plate of these babies could set you back RM55 ! Not Cheap.

My veal! I see it! Wow.. it smells divine.

When I sink my teeth into it, I can understand why Veal should be prepared well done. As it is baby cattle, it is already sooooooo soft that you don't need to bite hard into it. It literally melts in the mouth! The cream sauce and the hash brown like potatoes it comes with, completes the ensemble perfectly.


On the other hand, we were not so lucky with the duck pasta. The duck was gamy, bony.. and the pasta was over cooked! No wonder they tell you to eat either the chicken or the veal here...

I would say that pasta is not this restaurant's forte! lol.

Upstairs, Andreas makes us a mean cocktail post dinner... it is called "The Old Fashion". Bitter is added to a rock of sugar to take off the edge. Then orange peel is grind into the glass and along the outer part of the glass rim.

Wild Turkey Bourbon is then added to the concoction.. Wild Turkey is a brand of Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey, and its nicknames include "The Dirty Bird," "Gobble Gobble," "Thunder Chicken," and "The Kickin’ Chicken" ! How cute! :P

What you get is a really nice strong scotch (55%), but that is easy on the throat. Very, very good!

Now that we have eaten our fill... and drunk our fill.. we shall say.. Good night!

Food: 7/10
Ambiance:8/10
Service:7/10
MSG levels ; nil