Three Sixty

Three Sixty
Location: City Bayview, Georgetown, Penang
Date of Visit: 14th September 2013

>> The old version of the revolving restaurant located on the top floor of the City Bayview hotel which offers the public buffet dinner in the past is no longer available. The place have been renovated into a high class skybar and restaurant.

Many would think what in the world has gotten with the City Bayview's management team to turn the place into a high end and swanky restaurant? Based on the my last visit to the buffet line here before it turned into this, the restaurant offers a pretty weak line of buffet as compared to many other hotels in Penang such as Rasa Sayang's Spice Market or E&O's Sarkies. The condition of the restaurant was pretty shabby to be exact. 

According to my brother-in-law who's familiar with the restaurant businesses in Penang, the revolving restaurant was purchased by former 32 Mansion's management which practically owns many more renowned restaurant businesses in Penang such as Macalister Mansion and also the newly opened Five27 located at Straits Quay. Three Sixty boasts as a spot not to be missed when you are in town and it is the only sky bar in town.

Three Sixty is a separate entity on its own and it's not ran by the hotel's management. I believed that the hotel's management has a small share of the business as it's located at the roof top of the hotel. Upon arrival to the restaurant, I took notice of the changes that's being made to the restaurant. It has reduce its overall seating numbers, lights were dim and the kitchen ventilation was poor as you can smell the kitchen's cooking inside the restaurant.

The menu was quite a surprise as well. It's extremely pricey for a semi buffet place. We had an after dinner discussion during our way home and it's agreed by everyone that the dinner wasn't worth the amount that was paid. It costs a bomb for a meal of 8. My bro-in-law also mentions that it's not about the main course that was being served, he has problems with the buffet line which was served for starters.

Julienne of carrots, cucumbers, and also simple mistakes for putting up tuna despite its clearly written as salmon salad. It does rubs salt to the wallet as the amount paid for such bad taste of starters from such a reputable restauranteur. I didn't even take note of what was ordered. Perhaps it's a sign that this place is worthy of not remembering? The main course tastes great and their dessert for the night would be Tiramisu.

Their Tiramisu lacked consistency as some had more of the mascarpone cream than the coffee cake while others are the opposite. Oveall, I guess that I won't be returning to this place again other than coming back for a drink or two with some friends in the future. And that will also depends if their drinks menu won't be as expensive as their dinner menu or else this place may risk closing shop sooner than expected.

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Alexis

Alexis

Location: The Gardens, Midvalley City, Kuala Lumpur 

Date of Visit: 4th September 2013 

>> My final night before I head back to Penang. The SOFTEC convention had caught me and my travelling colleagues crossed eyes during lunch. The trip to Kuala Lumpur didn't bore any fruit as the convention was extremely boring.

Heavy rain came pouring down immediately after lunch which prompts my colleagues to leave the convention earlier than usual, fearing that jam will be bad. I made an appointment with my god-sister, whom also residing in Kuala Lumpur, for dinner that night. She's working at Bukit Jalil on that day which made it easier to access to Sunway after work. However, due to the bad jam and also the rainy condition, she arrived a bit late.

She became my chauffeur for that evening as we made our way to The Gardens for dinner. The reason we chose The Gardens is because I would like to do some shopping (which didn't really materializes) and she would like to pick up some contact lenses while we're there. We arrived at Midvalley's carpark and we immediately found a parking spot without having to waste any further time. For dinner, the first thing that came into mind was Alexis.

I remembered that my sister bought a slice of their famous Tiramisu a few years back and it tastes heavenly. God-sis eventually told me after dinner that if it's not for Alexis, we would have opted for Plan B which is situated at Midvalley Megamall instead. I replied that there's plenty of opportunity to go there in the future. We were showed to our table upon arrival as the crowd was rather thin that night. Probably its the weekdays and its a rainy evening.

Despite the vast range of food selection on the menu, she ordered Angelhair Aglio Oglio served with grilled Yabbies while I ordered a Smoked Salmon Sandwich. I was still full from the evening tea break served at the convention. For drinks, we ordered the Green Apple Mojito Soda. The drinks tastes heavily of the apple syrup, overpowering the mint that came along with the drink. Aren't suppose mojitos to have a stronger taste of mint instead? 

After placing our order, we managed to catch up on the missing times. Our dinner was served and everything looks great. The pasta was cooked to Al dente, has the texture and the taste. The Yabbies were grilled perfectly as it remained moist and succulent. As for my sandwich, it tastes pretty bland. The bread is rather stiff despite it has been toasted and the salmon lacks the smokiness. I should have lowered my expectation out of this sandwich.

However, the main highlight for the night would be the Tiramisu. It tastes heavenly as it has marveled me in the past. Light, fluffy Mascarpone cream, the right amount of coffee liquer and of course those nutty brittle takes it up a further notch. We took our time devouring that single slice as we continue to catch up on things. By the time we're done with dinner, its almost 9:30pm. I promised my god-sis that I will take her on a cafe tour the next time she comes back to Penang. Let's see if this promise will be fulfilled in the end.

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Chinoz On The Park

Chinoz On The Park
Location: Suria KLCC, Kuala Lumpur 
Date of Visit: 2nd September 2013 

>> I made a visit to KLCC on my second day in Kuala Lumpur over the five days trip. I was sent by my company to attend the SOFTEC convention that was held at Sunway Hotel Resort & Spa. The weather wasn't being too kind to me throughout my trip down south.

It has been raining on most occasion as I made my way out from Sunway immediately after the convention was over for the day. It's been a rough day throughout the session as it was quite boring and slow. Even the invited guests who gave speeches made us aware that it's going to be a long session and to bear with him while he goes through his long winding speech. At least they acknowledge that this sessions will be long and tedious.

I made a date with my little brother, who's currently staying in Kuala Lumpur on that night for dinner. It's hard enough to date a pilot given the amount of time he spent flying around the world, able to catch him when he's back in the country is considered a blessing. Despite all the hassles of planning on where to go for dinner, I made the decision to go to KLCC simply because of the Kinokuniya bookstore that's situated at the shopping center.

We made the decision to try Chinoz, which was seconded by my brother-in-law through Whatsapp although he's not in KL with us. We were supposed to meet up at 7:30pm but eventually due to the bad traffic, we met after 8pm. I reached a wee bit earlier, which enabled me to have half an hour of window shopping before going to Chinoz. Upon reaching the restaurant, the place was dimly lit and crowd was rather thin. 

I was shown my way to our reserved table and I had to order some starters and a half pint KilKenny while awaiting for his arrival. I made the order of Deep Fried Calamari which was served upon my little brother and his girlfriend's arrival. Just in time for dinner! As we plough through the calamari, we also made our dinner order. I ordered a Chicken Pie and 3 Mushrooms. They ordered a Seafood Paella, a Salad with Turkey Bacon and a Rainbow Sushi. 

The calamari was spot on delicious. By adding lime, it provides the zing in the crunchiness of the deep fried goodness. It's quite surprising that despite the crowd that's pouring in to the restaurant at that time, dinner was served pretty fast. The salad has the usual texture with the normal greens lathered with vinaigrette dressing topping with turkey bacon goodness and a half boiled egg. As for the Paella, it was complete miss.

Despite the generous serving of seafood on the Paella, it was extremely salty and the cheese was thick, making it rather gruesome to continue after a few spoonfuls. It's just like tasting sea water on a plate. Full on salt overload! Never the less, those two managed to finish the entire plate of salt while made a lot of complaints of what they ate without even bother complaining it to the floor captain. To it off, we've decided to go for their desserts.

I've ordered the Sundae while they ordered the double chocolate which consists of a chocolate ganache cake with a serving of chocolate ice cream. It costs a bomb for the entire meal despite the bill were split two ways as I'm covering my dinner costs under corporate expenses. Overall, I'd say this place is only worthy of visiting for a meet up, for a nibble or for tea breaks. Main courses are big miss and because its rather pricey dishes that's considered pretty simple, it makes one wonder if its worthy of revisiting.

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Auntie Gaik Lean's Old School Eatries

Auntie Gaik Lean's Old School Eatries 
Location: Bishop Street, Georgetown, Penang 
Date of Visit: 13th September 2013 

>> It has been quite a while since I last posted anything here, there's plenty for me to catch up upon. With my recent visits to Kuala Lumpur and also newly discovered cafes in Penang, I hope that my fellow readers will look forward to my upcoming posts.

Let me start things off with a new eatery place that my family discovered for a while now and I only managed to visit this place recently. Auntie Gaik Lean's Old School Eatries is considered as a reminiscence of my grandparents cooking that we all missed ever since their passing almost a decade ago. Now, we rejoice over the fact that we've rediscovered the things we loved and craved in the past. What can I tell about this place?

It may look like a 60's coffee shop from the outside, the inside is rather spacious and brightly lit. It's nothing like those cafes that you seen sprouting all over the heritage city. This place offers you comfort food that you enjoyed eating when you are a kid growing up. I remember that my parents and grandparents spent countless hours to coax us on the things that was plated up and we were skeptical over how it would tastes like.

Then there's the familiarity of the things you loved like all those fried stuff that every kids in the world would love. I guess I had enough talking about Malaysian childhood meals, I'll get straight to the name of the things that we've ordered that night. For drinks, I've ordered the Ang Th'ng Chooi which is rose syrup with chia seeds. Those chia seeds eventually looked like frog eggs when actually it's seeds that comes from a flowering plant called Lamiaceae.

The rest of them ordered Nutmeg Punch which is a fizzy drink that's being added with nutmeg syrup. The first meal order came and it's a test platter which consists of Poh Pheah Chee or known as spring roll, Loh Bak or known as meat roll, Cucur Udang or known as deep fried mince prawn and vegetable fritters and of course there's a small bowl of Acar, which is pickled vegetables. I can easily finish that bowl of Acar on my own as it's just tastes really that damn good.

On that night, we've also ordered Asam Hae, which is stir fried tamarind prawns; there's Otak-otak which is fish custard, Kiam Hu Kut Gulai which is curry mixed vegetable cooked with salted fish bones, Jiew Hu Char which is mixed julienne vegetables and shredded dried cuttle fish served with a side of lettuce, the undisputed and well known Curry Chicken and last but not least there's Nasi Ulam which is mixed malay herb rice.

The manager has been nice enough to offer us a small bowl of Perut Ikan, which is nyonya stewed fish stomach with vegetables. We've eventually ordered a big feast that none of us are able to finish in the end which resulted in take away that night. We're filled to the brim but they still managed to put a small spoon of food into the mouth occasionally despite they've surrendered and awaiting for our unfinished orders to be packed for take away.

Did I mention that this place is a Halal place? It serves no pork, however knowing that my muslim friends are quite particular about the halal logo, they've yet to be certified as a halal eatery place. My parents noticed when the owner decided to come to talk to them, she's one of my mom's long lost colleague who used to work with her in the same company a long time ago. What a coincidence! The owner told us that the cooking ideas came from her in-laws.

The food has the touches of the elders which cannot be replaced at any given time or money. Overall, it's a great eatery place that I foresee that we will be revisiting from time and time again. The food tastes great as it tastes better than any nyonya or local cuisines that tried to resemble to home cooking. If my fellow readers have the chance, do bring your parents along to have a meal and you'll eventually understand the nostalgia they will have when eating at this place. Highly recommended.

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