Bon Ga, Korean Restaurant – 3 December 2016

So again, we decided on Korean BBQ at Solaris to celebrate Suet May’s birthday.

This restaurant is on the 2^nd floor of a corner building at Jalan Solaris 3 and its air conditioned, unlike the restaurants on the ground floor, which are mostly open air.

Entrance to the restaurant

We were served with the Korean starter dishes. There were so many varieties to choose from compared to the other Korean restaurants that I previously visited at Solaris. You will have so many starters to sample from; kimchi, tofu egg, seaweed, peanuts with anchovies in sweet sauce, beans sprout, and the list goes on. Surprisingly, they also served us tofu soup (to be shared) as a starter dish.

Dakjumuluk (Korean side dishes) RM29.00. And I thought they were supposed to be free......

First time I experienced soup given as a starter dish, it was just normal tofu soup. Tasted very similar to Kimchi soup but less of the spicy taste 

We ordered our meat; i.e. pork, chicken and beef. The waiter will cook the meat in front of you and thereafter, other meats that you order will be cooked at a separate table.   

BBQ Jummuleok RM70.00. Beef is the most expensive meat on the menu

Moksal (pork chop) RM58.00

Hangjungsal (sliced pork) RM33.00

Gochujang chicken (marinated and glazed with spicy Korean fermented chilie paste) RM32.00

Jummuleok (beef) RM70.00

Dang Jang Jjigae (fermented soya bean paste soup) RM23.00. We thought from the picture in the menu, it was kimchi soup but when it came, the owner told us it's not kimchi soup. However, it tasted very nice, not spicy and there were a bit of seafood inside the soup. 

Haemulpajeon (Korena egg pancake) RM38.00. The omelette tasted very simple but is huge, equivalent to 8 slices of pizza 

Dak Kalguksu (Chicken Noodle Soup) RM25.00. This serving is huge and is enough for 3 pax. Tasted ordinary with more veggies inside than  chicken.

The service in this restaurant, in terms of serving your food and drinks, was fast. The price will depend on what you order. That night itself, there were 5 adults and 2 kids and the bill came up to RM475.75 (including 4 bottles of big bottled beer at RM25 per bottle, surcharge of 10% and GST of 6%); an average of RM95.15 per adult. I think the price is ok considering the starter dishes that were given out.

The ambiance of the restaurant is simple. If you want free parking around the shop lots, be prepared to go there early or do a few rounds before finding parking, unless you park inside the building nearby.

Part of the restaurant

Looks more like a Japanese restaurant. Must reserve a private room

  

The details of the restaurant:

Bon Ga Korean Restaurant   

No.2-2, 2-3. 3A-2 Block E

Jalan Solaris 3

Mont’ Kiara

50480 Kuala Lumpur  

Tel: 03-6204 0012

Opens daily from 12pm to 10pm

O&S Coffee Shop

If you are craving for Penang hawker food, head to O&S coffee shop at Paramount Garden. For those of you who live in Klang Valley, you will be very familiar with this coffee shop. It has been open for a very long time (under different names and owners) but has managed to survive until today.

My parents love this place so much, and have been buying from the same hawkers since the 80s.  The hawkers know my parents very well and now I’m buying from them too.

This coffee shop is at a corner of the Paramount shops. You won’t miss it. They serve all types of hawker food; chicken rice, wan tan mee, char kuey teow, assam laksa, prawn noodles, chee cheong fun, etc.  Basically anything and everything you want except for Mee Jawa (that was recently closed as the uncle decided to retire for good). 

So what is good? Everything is good here. Here are some of my favourites:-

Siew Yoke Fun (Roast Pork Rice) – RM10.00 for roast pork and RM1.50 for rice. The roast pork is super crunchy and tasty. I always take away and surprisingly when eating much later at 3.30pm, it’s still very crunchy. It comes with dark soya sauce for the roast pork and chili sauce.  A must to have.

Seafood noodles – RM6.00. I know the lady who cooks this, so well that she always gives me more soup, more lalas, sotong (squids), fish and 3 prawns. The soup is definitely a bit salty with MSG but the mixture of seafood in the soup goes well with the noodles. This is my favourite food here.

Assam Laksa – RM6.90. The most important thing about Assam Laksa is the soup. Once you take away this, your whole car smells of Assam Laksa. The soup is so rich and full of fish for you. Normally other hawker stores are pretty stingy with the fish, but not this store as it gives you as much fish as you could ask for.

Goreng Pisang (Banana Fritters), Fried Potatoes, Fried “Nee Ko” – RM1.00 each. The price is on the high side but still lots of people love these fried items.  This hawker uses good bananas and makes sure that they're sweet. He fries it to perfection and it's super crunchy. Be there early to get his fried food as it will run out pretty early; especially the fried bananas.

Chee Cheong Fun (Penang style) – RM2.40 @ 1 Chee Cheong Fun costs RM1.20. This is Penang style Chee Cheong Fun with only the “Ha Ko”, i.e. prawn paste, mixed with chili sauce and topped with sesame and fried onions. The paste is very creamy and salty. Not sure why my dad loves this so much and he will "clean his plate".   

Nyonya kuih – RM6.90 for 3 packets. The nyonya kuih came to the hawker store quite recently. This man said he starts selling at 6.30am and most of the time, the ang ku will run out before lunch. I managed to buy some ang ku this time round, together with white flour peanut ball (so difficult to get these days) and onde onde (gula Melaka, i.e. brown liquid sugar inside the little flour ball covered with desiccated coconut).

Other hawkers' stores below:-

I wouldn't say this is Penang hawker food. A variety for the customers to choose.

 Inside and outside of the coffee shop, only ceiling fan. Guaranteed to sweat............Be prepared!!

The price for the hawkers' food is reasonable. You can't compare with the price in Penang, which is much cheaper than PJ and KL. Of course, the downside is the portion that they serve you in Penang is smaller. If you are going to O & S for lunch, make sure you go there early, about 11.30am as it gets extremely crowded by 12.30pm and you will have to share a table with strangers. Some hawkers will run out of food by 1.30pm. Also, be there early to get a parking space. Parking is horrible and you may have to go a few rounds.  

  

The details of the coffee shop:

O&S Restaurant   

39, Jalan 20/14

Taman Paramount

46300 Petaling Jaya

Selangor Darul Ehsan

Opens daily but closed twice a month (either Tuesday or Wednesday)

Unable to tell you when they close as it’s been set by the boss with other bosses around the coffee shops in Paramount.   

Just right opposite the coffee shop, there are an elderly couple selling "mua chi", flour cakes dipped into crushed peanuts and desserts. The dessert van will be there on every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. 

A mixed "mua chi" will only costs you RM5.00. There are original, black sesame, lycee and pandan flavours.

 

The red bean dessert

The dessert van

Menu of the desserts and the prices. My favourite green beans always not available as there is no demand for it. The sales person claimed that they only cooked the green bean on Saturday, but not always Saturday. 

Rendezvous: A Modern Circus Art show by PsycuSix – 12 November 2016

It's me, the poster girl

Me again, featured in the article of discoverkl.com

Viva Vertical was invited by PsycuSix (Malaysia’s leading modern and contemporary circus performing group) to perform for this 1 day event, free to the public at the Square, Publika.

We were informed 2 weeks before the event and were asked who was available for the show. I was available and I said yes and had no regrets as it was super fun being surrounded by the circus team!

We were rehearsing the whole 2 weeks; with late nights on Wednesday and Friday, the week before the show. On the full dress rehearsal on Wednesday, 9 November 2016, we were able to watch the circus act put together by the team, PsycuSix, and we got to try the “air-brush make-up” done by Anissa, one of the lady members of PyscuSix. We had to hold our breath and close our eyes while the colour make-up was sprayed on our faces.   

Our show was scheduled to start at 8.00pm. Before 8pm, we saw the crowds already coming and trying to get the best seats in the house, though right at the front you needed to sit on the floor. A few seats were put near the front (in front of the restaurants) but that was not enough. Also, some people would go and get a table at the restaurants upstairs to get a better view of the whole stage.

The show started off with the opening of beating of the drums and then a contemporary opening dance. There were Acts 1, 2 and 3; Act 1 told the story of working adults with their busy life in a beautiful future and showcased the circus team performing various acts like juggling, acrobatics, aerial arts in hoop and silk, fire arts and hip hop dance. 

I was in Act 1, performing the opening contemporary dance, duo hoop with my partner Sheila and towards the end in Act 3, in the LED performance. After Act 1, we quickly rushed backstage to get our make-up done by Anissa.

Our duo hoop performance, picture captured by my friend Caroline Jim. She had the best seat, i.e. 1st floor restaurant

My partner, Sheila, getting her make-up done

This is me and Anissa, my make-up artist

Scary......

There were international artists that performed that night; Dai Zaobab from Japan, Marvin Ong from the US, Legato Visual Performing Arts from the Philippines and Ehrlich “Firechill” Ocampo from the Philippines.

We had an amazing time with the make-up, circus team and crowds. I was so grateful that I have my husband, little girl and a few friends that came and supported us and videod our performances.   

The swan and the bee. The costumes for our Act 3- LED performance

Check out our make-ups

The bee trying to sting the swan

Group photo of the aerialists and our manager, Nana 

Our colourful costumes

El Fresco Intermark – 5 November 2016

The restaurant

Jaya Grocer at the Intermark has this service where you buy your steak or seafood from the butcher and/or seafood counter inside Jaya Grocer, and you can have the chef in El Freso cook it for you after you paid.  The cooking charge is only RM8.00 for 1 steak/seafood meal.  

 

Menu and there is also a menu at the counter

The kitchen

I was informed by my colleague that the steak was super good. So, I decided to try it out myself.

Step by step, this is how it works:-

(a)  Go inside to Jaya Grocer and choose your steak/seafood;

(b)  Proceed to pay at the cashier;

(c)  Bring your steak/seafood to the order/cashier counter at El Fresco;

Bring your steaks or seafood to this cashier counter

(d)  Inform them how you would like your steak cooked, i.e. rare, medium rare, medium, well done;

(e)  Choose your side dishes from the menu or from the counter and order your drinks (there is other Western food as well on the menu like pizza, spaghetti, salads, pies);

You can also order your side dishes from the display fridge

Side dishes available and also serve sandwiches and pies

(f)   Make payment. Please take note that there will be a cooking charge of RM8.00 for the steak/seafood;

(g)  Find a table and your meal will be served shortly.

These were the steaks that we bought and had cooked together with our side dishes and drinks from El Fresco:-

The steaks that we chose

 

RM39.81 (for steak) + RM8.00 (for cooking charges)

This steak is rare. Just checked out how they grill it. It's super perfect. 

RM28.54 (for steak) + RM8.00 (cooking charges)

The steaks were grilled and it was super duper yummy. If you checked out the steaks above, it was not marinated for us and it does not come with any sauce. The cook must have put some black soya sauce and seasoning to make it taste good. You eat it as it is and it's super juicy, tender, chewy and the best thing is you can taste the steak juice.  

Steak Fries RM7.50

 Super crunchy steak fries. I do recommend this side dish.

Aglio Olio Spaghetti RM7.50

 This spaghetti is slightly spicy for kids as there are chili flakes and other herbs on it.

Garlic Mashed Potato RM7.50

Topped with cheese on top of the mashed potato. If you don't like garlic, there are no bits of garlic and no taste of garlic. I only tasted creamy cheezy, rich mashed potato.

Fresh Orange juice RM6.90 and Fresh Apple juice RM6.90

Those drinks are not freshly squeezed. It must have been pored out from a juice carton.

The service in this restaurant was good. It does look like a mini café/ food court concept. You won’t miss it when you come from Jaya Grocer’s cashier; it’s on your left side. 

If you love steaks, freshly cooked for you, this is the place to go. It’s on the expensive side but the meals are worth your pennies. 

The details of the restaurant:

El Fresco Intermark

Lot LC-01, Intermark Mall

The Intermark

348 Jalan Tun Razak

50400 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 03-2181 0978

Fax: 03-2161 2022

Opens everyday, 10am -10pm