Cafe Palma at Mt. Kiara Condominiums.

Cool, breezy, overlooking the pool and lounge deck-chairs.

If I didn’t know better I would say I was about to have a pool-side dinner in a Holiday Resort.

That is the sort of laid-back feeling you get dining and this lovely little pool-side Cafe in Mt Kiara. This cafe is situated in the Palma condominiums, which is located opposite the Old Coffee Bean at Mt Kiara. The new owners took over this space after the old Italian eatery moved out last September.

Thanks to Marian Eu for the invite because we really had a feast that night. Amongst the dishes ordered were the Chicken Curry, Curry Chee Cheong Fun, Jawa Grilled Fish, Bittergourd with Glass Noodles and the Herbal Fried Rice. After that we had some lovely homemade dessert of Lin Chee Kang and Kuih Kosui.

The Herbal Fried Rice was fantastic. I loved the shredded limau purut leaves, bunga kantan and lemongrass in the rice that gave it an aromatic infusion of local flavours. The rice was also nicely fried up with tons of French beans and baby shrimp in it that made it taste so good. It was not overly soggy nor dry. Just perfect!

Another one of my favourites was the Curry Chicken. Spicy and full of coconut milk and herbs. I wanted to drink up the sauce.

The Bittergourd with Glass Noodles was next – fried up with a lot of “Wok hei” (smoky wok flavour). The Jawa Grilled Fish that was Dory fillet cooked in assam, wrapped in foil and baked was delicious too. The tangy sour taste with enough spice to make you sweat was really rather effectively eaten with rice.

The Chee Cheong Fun was not one of my favourites because I like mine a certain way – the IPOH way!

Finally desserts to cool us down. I really liked the Lin Chee Kang because it was not overly sweet and was full of lovely ingredients such as  lotus seeds, red dates, ginkgo nuts, dried longan and seaweed. Fantastic. The Kuih Kosui was chewy, not too sweet,  nice and rich due to the fresh coating of coconut shavings.
We were suppose to check out the delicious Lamb Chops as well but because Cumi arrived late, we decided to save it for next time.

we go here to eat rice!

The set is extremely affordable. Set Nasi Lemak is just under RM10 but the best thing about this is the accompanying crispy, sizzling, freshly fried, FRIED chicken!

For variety, try the lemongrass fried chicken – the herbs are superb.. so good you end up eating the skin first (as in the picture above).

This place is also famous for their assam laksa. I am not normally a fan of the assam laksa because I find most assam soups in KL thin, lacking in fish and taste.
The Assam Laksa soup at Rice Cafe is so thick you can do a head-stand on it:P

Add the ‘har-ko’(black prawn paste) and take the flavour up a notch.

Most excellent.

Finally, wash whatever remnants of grease away with the sour-sweet calamansi…,

..because you will need it once you have finished guzzling your assam laksa sauce!

Add:
Rice Cafe,
Lorong Maarof,
Bangsar.

Me and my colleagues love this place for the Mee Jawa! It has a light taste, with just enough oomph! to fill you up but not leave you feeling too sleepy after your meal. This is really important especially if you still have a lot of things to do, after lunch.
Just a word on the Mee Jawa, it is really not that spicy for those who like a lot of heat in their noodles.

The Assam Laksa. This was really rather poorly done. Weak with hardly any fish taste. The soup tasted like dish-water. Do not order this if you eat here!

Farewell LPW.. you will be missed! As our good friend and colleague moves on to greener pastures, we wish him all the best and send him packing with a Bang!

What better place to celebrate than at that relatively new party area in Mont Kiara. Compared to its London or New York namesake, this is purportedly KL’s version of Soho, and is aptly named SohoKL or Solaris. The whole area is meant to be a trendy mish-mash of food and entertainment outlets… we wasted no time checking out the pubs and restaurant here.

To start off the evening of Drinks and debauchery, first stop, Michelangelo’s..
Michelangelo’s is spacious but remains cozy with its warm lighting and rustic décor.
They serve Italian here, but we decided to eat a little later… First the beer!

Michelangelo’s Ristorante & Bar M
Lot J-OG-03 & J-OG-04, Soho KL
2 Jalan Solaris
Solaris Mont Kiara
Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-62037734

Followed by dinner at Ole-ole Bali…

This place serves authentic balinese food, but unlike the older, more established bumbu bali, where the standard of the food has dropped, the food served here at Ole-ole is slightly better. At least the food seems less oily. However, I would not go so far as the say that the fish or prawns were fresh. No one really notices considering they have ‘bakar-ed’ it to death.
The service here is bad. Everyone stands around looking bored but no one notices when you holler. Sad.

The saving grace is Ole-ole’s deco. Vibrant, relaxed furniture and a sidewalk eating area make this place look and feel like a sidewalk cafe in Bali!

Ole-ole Bali,
J-0G-15 & J-0G-16 Soho KL,

Solaris Mont Kiara,

2-J, Solaris KL

Phone no: 03-6204 9688

Fax no. 03-6204 9698
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After dinner we decided to check out RAW.

I read recently in the papers that RAW is famous for its Melbourne-inspired cocktails. Wow.. now that sounds like my sort of drink! Once you enter the club, you’ll notice Raw is actually quite chic. Postmodern designs and structural elements are evident all over, from the wall structures, floor layout to the lightings. The effect is pleasingly eclectic.Well you know what they say.. the proof of the pudding is in the eating.. and in this case, the drinking… so, bring out the cocktails:P

Guy talk.

After cocktails, the shots…

After the shots, the flaming lamborghini…

After the flaming, more shots…

and more cocktails and more shots…