Because Frank hardly had any savoury courses (being a vegetarian, Renoma Cafe Gallery does not feature a lot of vegetarian dishes on the Sunday Brunch menu), we decided to go all out on the desserts and ordered almost everything. Orange Vanilla Creme Brulee. We ordered double portions because both of us wanted this to ourselves. Frank walloped three of these up though. I like the citrus tang imparted in the custard. The burnt sugar was perfectly crispy.This is the Chocolate Raspberry Mousse. I love the combination of the bittersweet chocolate and super tart raspberry. It’s a match made in heaven.The Tiramisu was surprisingly good. We had a bite of this and our eyes popped. It was rich with coffee liquor and moreish. In fact, we went ahead and ordered another one which Frank hogged and finished.Nothing to fault in these cute Chocolate fondant puddings. Oozy chocolate centre as expected. Once again the combination of chocolate and forest berries worked well. Evidently, good quality chocolate was used and it showed.Unfortunately the apple pie didn’t work this time. It was more a Cinnamon pie than it was apple. The aroma was a little too overwhelming even for the cinnamon lover in me. Frank barely touched it.

The two of us hardly managed 1 fifth of the full menu but I reckon we have definitely got our money’s worth. I want to go back soon!

Renoma Cafe Gallery (hereby referred as RCG) has been blogged about by nearly all the food bloggers in Kuala Lumpur, some even more than once. I have been tempted time and time again, but it was Kc’s undying excitement that finally saw me walking into this restaurant with a very unique concept. Walking in, you first encounter some display of shoes, bags and clothes. Then it opens up to a spacious dining room with hues of black, red and silver, funky art pieces installed everywhere.

We picked a table right behind the bar and dived our noses straight into the our menus. On Sundays (and Public holidays), an ala carte buffet is served from 11am to 3pm where you can order everything from the not-at-all limited menu. All for RM85++ per person. Now you know why I had to go last Sunday? Coffee, tea, soft drinks and juices are included.First to arrive was some previous Hokkaido Bay Sea Urchin, Deep fried bean curd, Salmon roe, Poached white asparagus, sitting in the Hong Kong Chilli Oil Broth. As you can see the dishes for the buffet are made smaller so we could sample more dishes at once! The combination worked well, and sea urchin was suitably fresh. I especially love the crunchy asparagus. The creamy tofu takes on the flavourful spicy broth, addictive.Unfortunately, the vegetarian options are quite limited on this menu. This was one of them. The ball of fried Mozzarella cheese was nesting atop some heirloom tomatoes, pine nuts, and smear of aged balsamic reduction. The cheese seemed to be a little too chewy, perhaps they have been sitting around a bit. Flavours are great though. Frank detected a hint of fish so he couldn’t eat this.There are 4 dishes on the menu with Foie Gras and this was excellent. The fatty liver slice was sandwiched between slices of sweet potato, battered and deep fried. I love how the tropical fruit compote helped cut through the richness. I will have it again next time!The other Foie Gras dish I ordered. Nice big piece of Foie, pan-seared to perfection, paired with gooey poached egg and rich smoked duck consomme. Very well-executed dish. The wood-ear fungus and water chestnut provided some much needed crunch.I’d like to reiterate how much I appreciate the tasting portions, especially when it comes to carb-laden dishes. I love the mushroom risotto. Perfectly cooked and seasoned. Frank couldn’t have it because it contained chicken broth and we have asked if they could do this with vegetable broth next time. You know, to cater for the non meat-eater.Best dish of the day. Done medium rare, the steak was tender, juicy and further enhanced by the fantastic port wine sauce. The truffle mash might be a little under seasoned on its own but pairs exceptionally well with the sauce. I enjoyed the crunchy vegetables and wiped this plate clean.Having been to Nobu for the original Miso Black Cod, I have high expectation for this dish. It’s decent but I think the cod was slightly overcooked and hence lost the delicate texture.

Dessert Post to follow.

The service is impeccable and friendly. I love the jazz band too, it's a nice touch.

Despite all the glowing reviews, all this time I haven't had a chance to dine at Frangipani, but when I heard that Frangipani has now a new executive chef thus a brand new signature menu, I knew I had to check it out. Hails from Malaga, Spain, Chef Manuel Lopez Quinones has worked in many countries as well as his homeland, and most impressive accomplishments includes his stints at 2 Michelin Star "La Broche" in Madrid and 2 Michelin-star "Arola" in Barcelona, under the famed Sergio Arola. Previously a predominantly French menu, now Chef Manuel brings a bit of Spain to the table.

We were most impressed with the beautiful layout of the intimate dining area with a pond in the middle, and the lighting was sufficiently dim to create a romantic ambiance. Service staff was most attentive and polite, they definitely know the menu very well. Without further ado, we were given a menu to choose our dishes from the Signature menu. And I decided to stick to seafood and let the service staff do the wine pairing for me.

Of course, the amuse bouche was first given to us.Arugula, Smoked Salmon, a touch of cream cheese and alfalfa sprouts. Tasty combination. The arugula lends a peppery and bitter note this which I enjoyed.

My first course was Sauteed Baby Squid and I love the simple and elegant plating. Adorned with super finely chopped parsley and chives (impressive knife skill), garlic, extra virgin olive oil with a quenelle of mash on the side and dots of aioli surrounding the baby squid, this was almost too pretty to eat. The herbs and EVOO definitely enhance the flavours of lightly sauteed squids. They were cooked to perfect, tender with a touch of bite. The mash is on the light side as we were told Chef Manuel doesn't like to use a lot of cream and butter, which is refreshing actually. Very good start to the meal.

My second course was grilled Hokkaido Scallops presently daintily on 2 rings of Mango salad. Once again a very elegant way of presenting the dish. Look at the giant sized scallops with beautiful char marks, what a sight to behold. I love the meaty scallops, the texture was dense yet delicate and soft, pairs well with the mango salad which had some coriander, mint and a touch of chili. Perfection.

My main course was confit black cod with corn puree, baby corns and some caramelised bits of corn.I love the simplicity of this dish. Black cod is my favourite fish and it was amazingly soft. Heavenly! Pairing with corn gives it very clean flavours. Sweet and savoury well balanced. The assorted sprouts on top lend a contrast to the the texture. Delicious! This foie gras dish is not included in the signature menu but we ordered it anyway because I heard Frangipani does it well. And people have spoken, as this was hands down the best foie gras dish I have tasted so far. The liver was perfectly charred outside and buttery soft inside, great mouth feel. Pairing it with apple is quite surprising, but it works.

I thought the foie gras was going to be the highlight of the dish as I'm usually not crazy about dessert. Boy did I get it wrong! The desserts are not specified on the menu so when this banana and toffee "fritter" (I'm sure Chef has another name for it but I think I had too much wine at that point to remember it), with Creme brulee icecream was presented to me, my eyes lit up instantly. I love everything about it. The icecream was the first one I went for and it tasted exactly like creme brulee. The "fritter", crispy with well caramelised banana inside. It was like Chef read my mind and knew exactly how I want my dessert. Needless to say, this tops the list for dessert in Klang Valley at the moment.

Good food, great service, what more can I ask for? More wine, perhaps, though I think I sure had quite a few last night. Hopefully we will get another chance to visit soon.

Loco is one of the newish restaurant that has landed on Changkat Bukit Bintang that serves authentic mexican fare. The head chef is from Mexico himself! It also ticked all the boxes of what good service is all about. We were greeted warmly as soon as we set foot in front of the restaurant. The staff were welcoming and promptly directed us to the corner table with the comfy couch.A bowl of deep fried corn chips promptly arrived on our table with 3 types of Salsa even before we had the time to look at the menu. How did they know that I was starving? According to the staff, the Tortilla Chips here are actually handmade by a Mexican lady and they get all their supplies through her. Certainly they taste heaps better than those out of a regular packet.The waitress who looked after us, Sweety, really lives up to her name. She recommended the Rock Melon and Honey Margarita while Frank, my partner, grabbed a Raspberry & Chili version. I liked both but we did order 2 more Raspberry and Chili Margaritas to follow. The chili kick is rather powerful. There are 2 shots of Jose Cuervo Gold and 1 shot of Cointreau in each Margarita, making them stronger than most. Sweety was also rather informed about their menu and was able to answer all of my questions about portion size and the ingredients of the dishes. It didn’t take long for us to decide on our choices.Although I’m not usually a big fan of prawns, this dish attracted my attention. I’ve always seen fish used in ceviche but have not tried the prawn version, and to serve citrus cured seafood it’s got to be really fresh as there won’t be an actual ‘cooking’ process to kill bacteria. This comes with tangy pico de gallo, spiked with some chili. It was really refreshing. The prawns were bouncy, zingy, hitting all the right notes. Portion is rather large for one though so keep this as a sharing dish.I was really impressed with the Chili Con Carne, it really packs a suckerpunch of flavours! A simple combination of beef, kidneys and tomato based sauce (I want to know what their secret spices are). They could pull back the salt level though, I had to mix a little bit of sour cream in it to tone down a little.If Frank sees Nachos on a menu, he has to order. The nachos at Loco are made the traditional way with chipotle and roast tomato salsa, avocado, jalapenos, cilantro and plenty of cheese. On the side we have the Guacamole and Sour Cream. The handmade tortilla chips made another appearance. Claiming to be an Expert on Nachos, he rated this the BEST Nachos in Kuala Lumpur. Well, isn’t that something?The Fish Tacos come highly recommended and I was close to not ordering because there are supposed to be 4 Tacos for the serving, Frank doesn’t eat fish, and I was already feeling quite full. But the kitchen was happy to serve me a single tacos for a reduced price, Rejoice! I love a restaurant that can accommodate a customers’ needs. The fresh dory fillet was served with lettuce, pico de gallo, avocado and mayonnaise, all wrapped up by a soft flour tortilla. And boy was it good! The flavours were subtle, definitely fresh, the fish just melts in your mouth. I was just sorry that I couldn’t have more than one.Even though my stomach was close to the point of explosion, I simply could not resist these churros. Deep fried dough with melted chocolate, how to say no?! They were absolutely gorgeous, crispy on the outside and a little chewy. I shook off quite a bit of the sugar but Frank was happily chomped them down as they were. I should have asked though if they could use a dark chocolate dip instead of milk chocolate. A perfect end to a gastronomic journey.

I should also mention that all the dishes arrived quite quickly. My second margarita was served frozen instead of on the rocks, and they were quick to rectify this and brought me back a new one. The ambience is generally cheerful, with occasional cheers from the crowd as the Olympics was on TV. We walked out of Loco happily stuffed and sure to return. The service stands out as one of the best I’ve experienced over the past years in Kuala Lumpur. Impressive.

SRK Noodle House is famous for serving authentic Sarawak food. SRK, obviously short for Sarawak, is founded by a super friendly Miri-an who started the business in 2012. His passion for Sarawak food and drive to share our gastronomy has seen him opening his own shoplot in 2014, and later several other branches in Klang Valley.
The main attraction of this shop is obviously the noodles, and to be specific, the foochow type of Kampua noodles. Not to be confused with Kolok mee, another Sarawak specialty, the kampua noodles are straighter in appearance and less chewy. It’s tossed with Pork lard, topped with char siew, minced pork (although usually not added in Sarawak), spring onions and fried shallots. Soy sauce is optional. There is also another option to pair with Mee Pok, which is a type of flat noodles, and that is usually my preference.The verdict? It’s definitely authentic with the distinct kampua aroma and I enjoyed my serving of mee pok very much. Especially with added chili sauce. The portion here is pretty big as compared to Sarawak though. The char siew is the leaner type and lends a balance sweet and savoury note to the dish. Excellent.Of course, I always order a side of wantan (or in Sarawak called Pian Sip) with my noodles. Here the wantans are quite large as compared to the ones in Sarawak, though I’d prefer the skin to be thinner. The soup base is simple but tasty.Manicai Fried Mee Hoon is another unique dish. I actually have never seen this in Sarawak, but Manicai is often fried with egg over there, so pairing with noodles is a natural progression. According to them, sharp-shaped “katuk” or sweet leaf is chosen especially for this dish. Paired with small shrimp from Bintulu (my hometown), the dish packs plenty of wok hei yet refreshing because of the vegetables. It also tastes extra aromatic and umami because of the small shrimps.We also tried the Fried Rice Cakes, done uniquely Sarawak style with dark soy sauce, egg, beansprouts and prawns. It is pretty tasty and reminds me of home. I love the chewy texture of the rice cakes and I suspect the stock is infused with dry shrimp as well to cook this for it is pretty aromatic. A comfort dish for sure.
Service here is efficient and the dishes do arrive quickly. You get to self-serve your own chili of choice and grab your own utensils provided on the table. Overall a pleasant dining experience. Definitely a place for me to visit whenever I miss hometown food.