[20.10.2012] Oiso Traditional Korean Cousine

Hey Guys! Hows the weekend going? Hope its going great for all of you! For those of you who dont know, I am a big fan of all things Korean.. I love the Korean tv series, the the veriety shows, the music bands and artists/idols, girls and best of all, THE FOOD!

So yesterday i was out and about with madamme to do work but as it was almost lunch by the time I picked her up, we decided to eat first... I must say that I dont frequent Cheras that much and even more the malls in that area. So yesterday I finally set foot in Cheral Leisure Mall which I have passed by on numerous occasions.. It was a long time ago i heard that the mall was dying but for some reason it survived and seems to me to have been seriously revamped and now looks pretty reasonable. 

So where did we eat? Well.. I believe the place we ate was at the old arcade area and this whole place had undergone a serious makeover and in the middle of it stood this Korean Restaurant. I have been to several Korean restaurants and ALWAYS ordered the Bibimbap and had always loved how the veg and the rice could be mixed into something nice.. so immediately after looking at the menu and deciding that the place was ok to eat.. we were ushered upstairs... Initially I thought ok upstairs.. usually going upstairs = place meant to hide people away or have less than splendid service or be rarely cleaned. And surprise surprise.. we were really shocked to see how nice the place had been made into.. There was a nice walkway with grass (feels like authentic grass) growing around and really nice lighting which wasnt too hot or cold and just perfect.Check out the pics.. 

Then we re-opened the menu and started to decide on the food. I have always loved bibimbap as I said, however I was a bit adventurous that day and decided to try out the kimchi stew. The description was kind of weird as it said it had sometimes egg.. so I guess it depends on the hens that day whether we are getting eggs or not for the stew and madamme ordered the mussels soup we also added a plate of Spicy Rice cakes to go along with the lunch.

I must say that the prices here are also a bit on the authentic side as I remember when I was in Seoul the food was roughly about the same price or with just 1-2 ringgit difference or a bit cheaper! 

This place is arguably authentic as I believe the owner is a Korean who has been living in Malaysia for the past 5 years and is also a chef! haha score! Even some of the waiters seem to be Korean.  

Here's a look at the menu. 

somtimes egg

So you must be wondering how the food looks like right? Check out below!

Clean and covered utensils

Spicy Rice Cake

Ok.. so here's my review.. I think the food was great. Its a little on the bland side for my stew but thats normal as I think Kimchi stew should be a little bland. I loved the portions as the egg (I got the egg!) and the other stuff really was filling. The rice was wonderful and not like our normal malaysian rice so I believe it was authentic.. I must say however the kimchi stew did not taste like kimchi (so dont worry if you dont like kimchi). hehe. The condiments were a bit little but being a korean shop I think they allow it to be refilled so you can get all the kimchi you want and more!

The madamme's mussels soup was really tasty as you could taste the seafood-ness of the food and the broth was flavourful which made it totally awesome! They did not skimp on the amount of mussels as i think there were more than 5 or 6 mussels in there!

Honestly however, I think we miss judged ourselves when we ordered the spicy rice cakes as we both became full almost immediately with the food we had and couldnt finish the rice cakes. I must warn all of you however that when they say its spicy, its not like spicy pedas.. but spicy hot..it was more of the bahang in the mouth.

To wash it down I ordered the organic brown tea which costs 90 cents (and is refillable!) Score again! The organic brown tea is the same as it tastes in seoul and has a very delightful wheaty taste to it.

I have to say that i really like the place. The waiters were really attentive and fast in serving us and the utensils were clean and covered and I really like that.. 

Here's my review! 

Ambience/Decor 5/5 (yes truly!)
Service and attention 5/5 (extremely)
Food and Taste 5/5 (Tummy agrees!)
Price 4.5 (Some things were expensive but normal and reasonable, but some were cheaper and worth it!)
Probability of frequent returns 4.5/5 (Yes! But I havent been to cheras too often..)

They also have another shop in Bangsar South I belive.. Check their FB page!

[30.9.2012] Levain Boulangerie

Yesterday my mom came by and said my aunt is in KL and she suggested I take them out. So there I was thinking where to take them since clearly it was already Sunday afternoon and I am not the type to venture out too far.. and then it hit me... Levain!

The thing is, I have never been to Levain and the only reason I know about the place is because my friend Izreen (Yes you!) asked me for directions when I was in the office and I had to google the place to find out how to direct her.. But surprise surprise! The pics of the place looked great and the food looked awesome too..!

So off we went My Mom, My Aunt, My Nephew and Me!

Unfortunately when we arrived, there were a lot of people there and there were still lots of pastries left, but I think if you go earlier it would be better.

Anyhow, I dont like to take pictures of other people unless its a minimal amount so I didnt manage to get a picture of the interior of the place.The interior is really nice with little features that make it seemed like it was in an english tavern or some sorts.

Anyhow, the food was really on the ok side and the prices were very reasonable.

I wont make a full review as I intend to go there and really take pics. But here's some pics of the place.

Quoting the words of my nephew, "this is my favourite place!"

The nephew who loved the place...

Trying to learn how to play with the functions

My Lasagnia

The FOOOD!

[10.9.2012] Botanical Restaurant Bangsar Village II

It was the Madamme's birthday the other day. Since she loved vegatarian food, and with a little bit of research, I found a nice new restaurant that featured an all vegetarian selection and it was run by the BIG Group. We have always been happy with the BIG restaurants so we decided to give it a try.

The restaurant was located  in Bangsar Village II.

We started with some bread and ordered the Portobello Mushroom Burger and the Palak Paneer. The Portobello Mushroom was great and quoting the Madamme - "its Nice!" is what she said and I too must agree with her as the bread was soft, the salad that accompanied it was interesting with sea weed drenched in sessame oil made it just oh so delightful..

However I must say that the Palak Paneer was so so and the Lasagnia was great but I fel that the sea weed tucked in between kinda spoiled the taste.

All in all this was a nice place and it had an 'out door' kinda garden which was located inside the mall which made it more pleasant. To those who have never been to Malaysia or tried to have a decent meal  in the open air, please be warned that Malaysian weather can get too humid to enjoy the simple things in life like the food.

Anyhow, I ordered the mushroom burger which actually tasted quite good even without the meat! But i guess sometimes its not the meat that people sell.. Its the sizzle..haha

I do recommend this restaurant if you are keen for something different!

Review:
Ambience/Decor 5/5
Service and attention 4.5
Food and Taste 4
Price 4/5 
Probability of frequent returns 4/5 (the vegan thing wasnt really for me and paying almost full price for a vegetarian alternative seems high but I dont mind having it from time to time.)