Yummy Yummy @ Fondue House

The first time cheese fondue came to my knowledge was from a Japanese drama - Over Time. The second time I saw it was also from a drama, but a Hong Kong's one - to Catch the Uncatchable (栋笃神探).

Some facts about Fondue:
Fondue refers to several French Swiss communal dishes shared at the table in an earthenware pot ("caquelon") over a small burner ("rechaud"). The term "fondue" comes from the French "fondre" ("to melt"), referring to the fact that the contents of the pot are kept in a liquid state so that diners can use forks to dip into the sauce. The sauce is usually warmed either by a separate burner containing an alcohol-based fuel or simply by tealights. Though cheese fondues are the best known kind, there are several other possibilities for the contents of the pot and what is used for dipping.

As with other communal dishes, fondue has etiquette standards ranging from practical to amusing. Some people consider it rude to allow one's lips or tongue to touch the fondue fork, and with meat fondues one should use a dinner fork to remove the meat from the dipping utensil. The "no double-dipping" rule applies here as well, once a taste has been taken of a dipped morsel it should not be returned to the pot. If the bread or fruit is lost in the cheese or chocolate, it is tradition for that person to buy a round of drinks or to be punished in another way.
(Extracted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fondue)

And about one year ago, I came to know from newspaper advertisements that there's a place in Sri Hartamas which offers cheese fondue. Eager to indulge myself in this special dish, I brought my family to this restaurant during the past Raya holiday.

The Cheese Fondue


A closer view of the pot of cheese.


The vegetable platter (Cauliflower, Broccoli, carrot slices, celery slices and mashed potatoes).


Biscuits and crackers.


The set of garlic cheese fondue and vegetable platter.


The chicken fillets with some vegetables.


The biscuits and crackers.


The original cheese fondue and chicken fillet platter.


The fork to dip your servings into the chocolate fondue. It's a smaller and shorter than the one for cheese fondue.


The plain chocolate fondue.


The small fruits platter.


The chocolate powder, crushed peanuts and grated coconut served together with your chocolate dip.


The Chocolate Fondue


Overall, I think chocolate fondue tasted nicer than the cheese fondue as I personally thought that the cheese fondues were too salty to my preference. In addition, I actually could not differentiate between the Garlic Cheese Fondue and the Original Cheese Fondue. And these views were shared unanimously amongst my family members. Anyway, there are still a lot of people out there which love it very much, so take my opinions at your own risk! :P

The cheese fondue in Fondue House comes in 6 types of flavours :~
i) Original Cheese Fondue
ii) Garlic Cheese Fondue
iii) Cream Cheese & Crab Fondue
iv) Bacon Cheese Fondue
v) Creamy Mushroom Fondue
vi) Creamy Veggie Fondue

And there are different sets of platter to go with the cheese fondue (Price ranged from RM 29.90 to 49.90) :~
i) Chicken Fillet (breaded, crispy and golden)
ii) Lamb Cubes
iii) Sirloin Beef Cubes
iv) Seafood (fish fillet, shrimp and crab sticks)
v) Jumbo Mix (a mixture of the above items)

Vegetables (carrot slices, celery slices and broccoli) and a basket of bread and crackers come together with those set meals. A-la-carte style is available for your choice as well.

For the dessert (The chocolate fondue) :~
i) Plain Chocolate Fondue
ii) Orange-Flavoured Chocolate Fondue
iii) Peanut Butter Chocolate Fondue
iv) Whiskey Chocolate Fondue

To go with the chocolate fondue, there are fruits and strawberries available in the menu. There are other snacks available as well, such as pandan chicken (5 pieces for RM 9.90), curry samosas(6 pieces for RM 4.90), spring rolls (6 pieces for RM 4.90), calamari (RM 10.90) and various kinds of cakes. For beverages, there are teas, coffees(hot,blended or iced), fruit smoothies, fruit juices, soda drinks(pasion fruit soda & pink guava soda) and mocktails.

Now, for the most important piece of fact :~
Fondue House
5, Plaza Prisma Ville,
Jalan 26A/70A,
Desa Sri Hartamas.
Tel: 03-62033346
Business Hours: Daily (11am-11pm).

I was told that it's better that you reserve your seat before you go as the place will easily get crowded especially during peak hours (though the place was not crowded when I went, it was a dinner time, but no harm making a phone call in advance, right? :p).

Additional bit of information is available from http://kuali.com/news/story.asp?file=/2005/12/1/eatingout/12627429&sec=eatingout.

Cheezeeee~~ Enjoy!

Yummy Yummy @ Taman Equine Yong Tau Foo

It was my first visit here although it had been opened for one or two months. Overall, the taste is average, nothing special about except that the dumplings are not bad, tasted fresh and sweet (credits to water chestnut as part of its ingredients). For a little piece of information, the yong tau foo is priced at RM 0.80 per piece.

Yong tau foo ( also spelled yong tao foo, yong tau fu, or yong tau hu ) is a Chinese soup dish with Hakka origins commonly found in Singapore and Malaysia. In Malaysia, the Ampang region of Kuala Lumpur is particularly famous for this dish. Essentially the dish originated in the early 1960s by a restaurant called "Chew Kuan" as tofu stuffed with a meat paste of fish and pork, thereby earning the dish its name "Yong Tau Foo," which means "stuffed bean curd." Since then all variety of vegetables and even fried fritters have been similarly stuffed, and the name Yong Tau Foo has thus been used liberally to apply to foods prepared in this manner.
(Extracted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yong_tau_foo)

Here're some pictures of the meal:

Yummy Yummy @ Foh San

I had this for breakfast after some 40 minutes of being lost in our way to this restaurant - Foh San Dim Sum Restaurant. Below are some pictures of what we had. It was a public holiday, it was a Sunday, it was already late to have dim sum comfortably on such a day. And so, it was a not-so-nice experience of having to wait for a vacant table for at least 20 minutes (because I had the luck of "waiting at the right table", thank god, I was not waiting for the next table, it took them more than 30 minutes, at least! ), having to squeeze into the crowd for some dim sum, having to queue for at least 15 minutes to get in the toilet. Oh god!

Overall, the taste is ok-ok, but the variety is a lot with some special dim sum which might not be available elsewhere (I think :P)! Worth a try anyway~ And I would certainly visit there again if I have got the chance.

Yummy Yummy @ Wan Li Laksa a.k.a. Jawi Laksa

This post is going to be about my Penang trip again~

Well, this time, I want to introduce to the world, Wan Li Laksa, better known as Jawi Laksa.

Assam laksa is a sour fish-based soup. The main ingredients for assam laksa include shredded fish, normally kembung fish or mackerel, and finely sliced vegetables including cucumber, onions, red chillis, pineapple, lettuce, common mint, "daun kesom" (Vietnamese mint or laksa mint) and pink bunga kantan (ginger buds). Assam laksa is normally served with either thick rice noodles or thin rice noodles (vermicelli). And topped off with "petis udang" or "hae ko", a thick sweet prawn paste.
(Extracted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laksa)

This laksa originally is selling beside a Tua Pek Kong temple at a small stall in . Well, the stall is still available. But, for better environment and hygiene, the restaurant would be a wiser choice. Yes, both the stall and the restaurant sell exactly the same tasty laksa, don't worry. :D

Jawi Laksa is famous with its biscuit served together with the laksa. Some customer even order only the biscuit together with the laksa soup. Talking about the biscuit, the thickness is just so appropriate and crunchy. For the laksa, the soup is not too sour nor too sweet, and the laksa noodles are just perfect (smooth and silky), sounds like a shampoo ad? :p errm...take off the "silky", please...:P And don't forget to add a spoonful or two of the prawn paste. It will make the soup taste sweeter and nicer. Don't expect to have fish chunks served in your bowl of laksa, as it's not the trend of the jawi laksa to do so. Instead, the fish slices are already crushed, mixed well and cooked together with the laksa soup. Thus, this is why the soup has its sweetness.

Till present, it's one of the best laksa I have ever tried. Do have a taste of it yourself if you happen to be around there. Oh ya, there's a branch in Taman Mutiara (I hope it's still there). Enjoy~

Outer view of the restaurant


Inner view of the restaurant


Laksa!!!


Laksa topped with prawn paste


Cendol
Chendol or cendol is a popular type of dessert and drink that is normally associated with Indian immigrants in Southeast Asia, in countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand. Its ingredients usually consist of white coconut milk, thin worm-like, pandan-flavoured, green-coloured pea flour noodles and palm sugar (gula melaka). Red beans, pieces of glutinous rice, grass jelly and shaved ice are optional additions.
(Extracted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cendol)

The cendol here is not using the shaved ice of what you found out there. However, in this restaurant, the cendol is available using normal ice. Besides, you can try the Barley kidney beans drink which is the barley served with cooked kidney beans in the drink. It's quite refreshing.


Newspaper articles about the restaurant


Newspaper articles about the restaurant