Some updates about life in Sydney! Yes I have started working for close to 2 weeks now, and recently found a place of my own to stay! Believe me when I say that the rental market here is extremely competitive! I had gone through at least 5 rejections before finally landing this apartment but I have no complaints. This place is close to work, clean and is not too expensive. Perfect! Now after being here for more than 6 weeks, I do have cravings for Malaysian food. Thankfully, there’s Sambal to the rescue. The restaurant that boasts of Singaporean and Malaysian cuisine is my favorite joint to cure my char kuey teow fix.

Penang Char Kuey Teow

Located along Lane Cove road just minutes of walk from the Macquarie Park train station, Sambal is always packed especially during the weekends. They have weekend specials during lunch, with different dishes offered every week on the month. KL Hokkien Mee is one of the dishes that is only offered during the weekends, so we gave that a try. Fried to a silky black finish, I found the noodles to be a tad too sweet. The noodles were chewy and nice, although slightly different from the ‘dai lok min’ we usually have. I think it would have been much nicer with some pork lard? But I realize that in Australia, generally people are more health-conscious and food tend to be less oily.

KL Hokkien Mee (AUD$14.80)

The Mee Rebus was commendable, with actual egg noodles being used and all the usual deep fried suspects present. The only thing I found amusing was that they used lemon instead of lime for the dash of sour. I thought the combination was slightly weird at first, but grew to accept it. Apparently it’s quite hard to find lime here, hence the replacement by lemon.

Mee Rebus (AUD$13.80)

My favorite dish of all has to be the Penang Char Kuey Teow. There was a choice of either mild, medium or hot that one could choose from, and being me, of course I went for the hot option. I didn’t regret it. I have always liked my char kuey teow to be spicy and hot! The version at Sambal was spicy enough and had a nice aroma. I thought it was done pretty good considering I did not find any pork lard used. The only difference was the flat noodles ‘hor fun’ used here was thicker than the ones found in Penang. That perhaps affected the flavor and texture a little, but it’s quite close to the real thing. I was definitely satisfied.

Penang Char Kuey Teow (AUD$12.30)

Teh Tarik is another of Malaysia’s specialty, so it was also offered here. This was a little lacking in terms of the flavor from the tea, for I only tasted the milk instead. I found that the tea from another Malaysian restaurant called Mamak, was much better and thicker too.

The Tarik (AUD$4)

Last but not least, we shared a bowl of Cendol for dessert. When the bowl was served, I didn’t expect much but it turned out to be pretty good. The cendol pieces were fat and chewy, not starchy like how some would be. Most importantly, the gula Melaka or palm sugar used was fabulous. It was very aromatic and went extremely well with the santan. They were definitely not stingy with quality ingredients.

Cendol (AUD$6.50)

Overall, I’d say that the Malaysian food here is surely above average and Sambal deserves a pat on its back for doing such a good job. The dining environment is fairly spacious and comfortable, service is prompt and food is genuinely Malaysian. I’ll be back to try out their roti and nasi lemak, when the craving comes.

Opening Hours

Sambal along Lane Cove Road

Sambal
285-297, Lane Cove Road,
North Ryde 2113,
New South Wales, Australia
Tel No.: (+612) 9889 7977
Website: www.sambal.com.au 

There is no question that girls have a sweet tooth, and that includes me. So during our Singapore trip, I couldn’t resist from ordering some cakes for the few of us to try out. What was supposed to be a coffee session ended up to be more like a cake session, for we ordered more cakes than we could finish. And we did all that in Canele Patisserie Chocolaterie in Paragon. To be honest, we randomly picked a cafe that time, and we chose Canele because we were attracted to their colorful display of cakes on their store front.

Strawberry Shortcake

Canele’s menu

The first cake that caught my eye was the Triple Chocolate Cheese Cake. What I saw from the display was chocolate, nuts and cheese! What’s not to love? Taking a bite revealed a layer of chocolate ganache mixed with nuts, covering a thick and dense chocolate cheese that was almost too rich to down. Almost. It was filled with chocolate flavor and proved to be a tad sweet after several bites. This was definitely meant to be shared. But I did enjoy the creamy and smooth texture of the cheese, which reminded me of chocolate mousse.

Triple Chocolate Cheese Cake (SGD7.65)

Glorious rich chocolate cheese

The Cake of the Day was also a piece of cheese cake,sandwiched by dark chocolate on the bottom and milk chocolate on top. Again, I could find no fault with the texture of their creamy, fluffy and smooth cheese. If I wasn’t careful, I would have ended up gaining a size bigger just based on that meal.

Cake of the Day (SGD7.65)

The favorite of the group turned out to be the Tarte Citron, an eye-catching piece of yellow tart that was not only pretty but delicious on the palate too. This was the least sweet dessert among all, but also the most interesting, for the play of flavors was quite brilliant. The lemon curd on top was smooth but not overly sour, while the almond pastry at the bottom was crumbly and sweet enough to neutralize the tanginess. It was somehow a combination that worked and it was also the cake that was finished the first.

Tarte Citron (SGD7.10)

Citrusy and creamy

Last but not least, we had the Strawberry Shortcake, perhaps the lightest dessert of all. It was generously filled with huge strawberries amidst light cream in between layers of sponge cake. Even though I would have preferred the strawberries to be sweeter, this was quite a delight to eat.We finished this second after the tart. Either that, or it’s a nice change after taking bites of the other overly sweet cakes.

Strawberry Shortcake (SGD7.65)

Staying true to our original mission, some of us did order Cappuccino. I took a sip to find the coffee to be too bitter, in fact, with a hint of burnt smell. My guess is that their beans were over-roasted? I had certainly had better coffee.

Cappuccino (SGD7)

Stressed = Desserts

Canele’s dining environment was comfortable, rather spacious and not overly noisy, even though it’s smacked in the middle of a busy shopping mall. Couple that with above average cakes, I can see why this place is fast becoming a hit, even among the visitors from overseas. I am definitely one of the returning customers.

Canele sells chocolates too

Canele at Paragon, Singapore

Canele Patisserie Chocolaterie Cafe
Paragon Shopping Centre
290 Orchard Road #B1-K8
Singapore 238859
Tel No.: +65 6733 8893
Fax: +65 6733 8896
Opening Hours: Mondays to Sundays (8am to 10pm)
Website: www.canele.com.sg

When a Singaporean is asked to name their ‘national’ food, 2 dishes are bound to come up – Hainanese Chicken Rice and Chilli Crabs. Well I have tried the former years ago, so I was determined to try the latter during my previous trip there. Googling would reveal that Jumbo Seafood is the go-to place for your chili crabs fix. Since we stayed in Clarke Quay,we opted to visit the branch there right after our tour at Skypark Marina Bay Sands. Unfortunately, by the time we reached the riverside restaurant, we were told that it was fully booked and that we would not have a place even on standby because they were booked until their last order time! Imagine my disappointment! Fortunately, we were told that there’s another branch across the road at The Riverwalk, and we could try our luck there.

 Red Hot chilli crabs

 So we walked and walked towards Jumbo, amidst the crowded Clarke Quay on a Saturday night. Thankfully, we managed to get a table there, it didn’t matter that it was already 10pm. We placed our orders and put on the cute aprons; someone even brought a cover for my handbag. How thoughtful!

Going through the menu

The apron and red cover for my handbag

Obviously, we ordered Chilli Crabs, being the main reason we were there. The name might be misleading to some, for the crabs were not all that spicy. They were mildly spicy, savory and with a hint of sweetness to it. Somehow, the whole combination was really tasty and agreed with my tastebuds. Dipping the deep fried mini buns in the gravy was the best! I couldn’t resist from ordering a second serving of the buns for they absorbed the delicious gravy so well.

Deep fried Mini buns (SGD0.50 each)

Chilli Crabs (SGD48/ 1kg)

Speaking of crabs, did I mention the sheer size of it? They were definitely not your average size crabs. The claw/pincer itself was so meaty that it made the effort of peeling off the shell worth it. Really. The meat was fresh, succulent, sweet and juicy. Really, one could not have asked for fresher crabs or better gravy. At least, that was how I felt that night. I enjoyed the crabs very much and would have been satisfied if they were the only things we ate that night.

Crab claw/ pincer

Size of the claw

But they were not the only things we ate, for we also tried the Pork Ribs. These ribs were sold individually, with a minimum of 2 ribs per order. So we had no choice but to order a pair of them and we did not regret it. The ribs had crispy and savory skin, with a tender and juicy interior that was oozing with flavor. The accompanying sauce was sweet and sour, bringing out the best in there ribs. It was suffice to say that both bones were licked clean that night.

Pork Ribs (SGD7.80/ each – minimum 2 orders)

Last but not least, for some greens, we had the Broccoli with Scallops. Scallops being the expensive ingredient here, we didn’t expect to see much of them in the dish but lo and behold! There were around 10 pieces of them served! And they were pretty sizable too, not to mention succulent. We were indeed pleased with our orders that night, with one dish impressing us after another.

Broccoli with Scallops (SGD22)

Even though the prices were not cheap (considering we had to convert from RM), I thought that it was one of the best meals we had in Singapore. The experience was somehow very satisfying, and perhaps I’d go to the extent of saying it’s worth every cent spent. Speaking of which, Chinese tea and wet towels here are complimentary. And they are very useful when your hands are all dirty from peeling the crabs! If we ever return to Singapore, this is one of the places that I wouldn’t mind visiting again.

Free wet tissue

Jumbo Seafood Gallery

Jumbo Seafood Gallery
The Riverwalk
20 Upper Circular Road #B1-48
The Riverwalk Singapore 058416
Tel/ Fax: 6534-3435/ 6536-3836
Opening Hours: Lunch (12pm – 3pm) & Dinner (6pm – 12am)
Website: www.jumboseafood.com.sg

After our visit to Ku De Ta in Singapore, we patiently waited for the sky to turn dark so that we could feast ourselves with the gorgeous night view of the Singapore skyline. This post will be featuring mostly pictures from the Skypark, from the daytime view to the moment just before it turned dark until it’s completely night time. Warning – overload of pictures coming up!

Singapore night view from Skypark

To get to Skypark, we took the MRT to Bayfront station. From there, we walked past plenty of high end retail shops as well as the casino, at the same time passing by some celebrity chef restaurants.

Marina Bay Shoppes

All ready to get up the Skypark

On the way to Marina Bay Sands hotel

TWG Tea House

ArtScience Museum

The signature cantilever design of Marina Bay Sands

At the ArtScience Museum

The person who took photos of me

View from the ArtScience Museum across the river

Another angle of the ArtScience museum

Across the bridge

witch and Saucer

Getting closer to the Skypark

Singapore Flyer

Pretty soon, we reached the entrance of the Skypark and purchased entrance tickets costing SGD20 each. This only allowed us to entrance to the observatory deck and not to the swimming pool. There’s a guided tour to the pool everyday but it was fully booked by the time we reached.

Tickets to Skypark

The view from the Skypark was pretty spectacular. Even though the sky was not very clear but the feeling of being the top of the world, or in this case, Singapore, was quite something. It was also extremely windy up there, so it was probably to a good idea to bring a cardigan if you decide to wear sleeveless dress like me. Here are some of the pictures I took with my trusty LX5 in the evening and during night time.

Singapore skyline in the evening

View of the harbor

View of the Singapore flyer

Night view of Singapore #1

Night view of Singapore #2

Night view of Singapore #3

Night view of Singapore flyer

Yes we were there for almost 3 hours just to wait for the sky to turn dark but it was all so worth it. The night view was more magnificent than the day view, I think and adjusting the shutter time on the camera could do wonders! Stay tuned to the next post as we went around hunting for dinner in Singapore!

No, that was not a typo error. Amazing is becoming AMei-zing now that the Taiwanese super star A-Mei is going to rock Malaysia in her world tour concert. Known in the music industry for more than 16 years, she has the nicknames of “Pride of Taiwan” and “Taiwanese Madonna”. This artist that can entertain with her singing and energetic dancing is wildly popular during our visit to Taiwan just recently. Most of our Taiwanese friends would gleam with pride whenever we mentioned that we knew and loved A-Mei.

AMeiZING World Tour Live in Malaysia

For fans of A-Mei, guess what? The superstar will be in Kuala Lumpur on 5^th of May for her AMeiZING World Tour Live in Malaysia concert. Her concert will definitely be filled with stage theatrics, crazy performances and lots of her big hits. For Celcom customers, enjoy 20% off on A-Mei concert tickets with your choice of any seating tier. Isn’t that another amazing deal?

Energetic performance by A-Mei

But if you’re like me, who wants to watch the concert but is short of money, why not try to get the tickets for FREE? It’s simple! Just get on The Cube by logging on to www.thecube.my, and check out all the cool content that you can subscribe in.

• You can send personalized Voice Messages and dedicate A-Mei’s song to your friends. Just dial *005<recipient’s mobile number><song code> and press call.
• You can also subscribe to The Cube’s MMS Puzzle. Type ON AMEI and send it to 22229 and you’ll get an MMS Greeting Card plus a contest puzzle for FREE. You would have to rearrange the jumbled A-Mei picture by sending in the correct picture sequence.
• On top of that, you can connect with all your social network friends via Facebook SMS and Twitter SMS. For Facebook SMS, type ON F and send it to 32665 while for Twitter SMS, send ON T to 29800.

By subscribing or downloading any of these contents, you stand to get 2 tickets to the A-Mei concert worth RM298 each!

A-Mei the Taiwanese superstar will be in KL!

As if that’s not enough, you have the chance to win the BIG prize of an all-expense paid trip to watch A-Mei live in concert in, guess where? Hong Kong! With a friend! This unforgettable trip can be yours with a download of A-Mei Call Me Tones from 20^th March – 15^th May. There is really nothing to lose – great tones and a chance to win a free trip!

To download A-Mei Call Me Tones, dial *888*<Call Me Tones Song Code># and press “Call”. Here are the songs you can subscribe to:

RM1. 50/week for each song (a small investment for such a humongous prize)

Speaking of which, there’s only less than 2 weeks before the contest is over. Quickly head to www.thecube.my for more details.

*Note: This is a sponsored post.

]]> http://www.iamthewitch.com/2012/05/06/ameizing-world-tour/feed/ 6 http://www.iamthewitch.com/2012/05/04/day-wollongong/ http://www.iamthewitch.com/2012/05/04/day-wollongong/#comments Fri, 04 May 2012 01:10:15 +0000 iamthewitch http://www.iamthewitch.com/?p=6428

Who would have thought that in Australia, one would find the largest Buddhist temple in the Southern hemisphere? It’s true, Nan Tien Temple, also known as the Southern Paradise, is located about 80km from Sydney and aims to focus on the interchange of western and eastern cultures. During my first few weeks in Sydney, I was lucky to visit this place on a bright sunny day. On the way there, we stopped at a lookout point called Bald Hill to be mesmerized by the excellent views of Stanwell Park and Wollongong in the distance.

Bald Hill

The blues and the greens

Bald Hill is a famous location for hang-gliding sport, but since we reached there rather late in the afternoon, most of the hang gliders had already left. It would have been exciting to watch people flying off the cliff into the ocean! That aside, the view from here alone was breath-taking and enough to free our minds of worries and thoughts, if only for just that few minutes. The waves of the ocean were soothing and the gentle breeze so cool and comforting.

Relaxing by the cliff 

View from Bald Hill towards Wollongong in the distance

From Bald Hill, we continued our journey towards the temple but not before driving through the gorgeous Sea Cliff Bridge. Driving along this bridge offered spectacular views of the ocean, with an option to walk on the footpath if you like.

Sea Cliff Bridge

Soon, we turned into Berkeley, where the Nan Tien Temple is located. We reached there around 4.30pm, just half an hour before the temple closed, so it was pretty deserted. I have to admit that I was really impressed with the size, the design and the landscaping of the temple. If you showed me pictures of this temple, I wouldn’t believe that they were taken in Australia itself.

The majestic Nan Tien Temple

 Main shrine

Eight statues near the entrance of the main shrine

Well-kept garden

Even the attention to the smallest detail was given here, noting the animal figures on the roof. They reminded me of the imperial palaces that I visited in Beijing and Seoul.

Pagoda

Animal figurines on the roof

To get to the main shrine, we had to climb up a flight of stairs, which incidentally meant that we are taking steps to gain enlightenment. Cameras are not allowed inside the shrine, so the pictures were taken from outside instead. There were 5 magnificent Buddhas inside the shrine, with one laughing Buddha greeting us at the entrance.

The Buddhas in the main shrine

Praying area in the main shrine

Outside the shrine was a huge bell, an auspicious symbol in Chinese tradition. Sounds of the bell ringing would fill the air during prayer sessions by the devotees.

Large bell at the main shrine

Visiting this temple really opened my eyes on how different cultures not only make us unique, but they bring us together. The famous Nan Tien Temple is a popular spot for tourists who visit Australia from around the world. It is indeed a place to find calm, peace and possibly, enlightenment.

View from the main shrine

The Southern Paradise that is Nan Tien Temple

Nan Tien Temple
180 Berkeley Road,
Berkeley, N.S.W. 2506, Australia.
Tel: +61 (2) 4272 0600
Opening Hours: Tuesday to Sunday & all Public Holidays (9am – 5pm)
Website: www.nantien.org.au 

You asked for it, now here it is! My very post on Australian food, Sydney to be exact. Yes, I know I have told most people that I was supposed to fly to Melbourne but due to a certain twist of fate, I am now in Sydney and have been here for the past one month. It’s funny how things change only at the last minute, but when they turn out to be the best thing to happen, who’s complaining? For the past month, I took some time off to visit nearby suburbs, restaurants, places of interests, etc. And by gosh, Sydney is filled with Asians, and I don’t mean it in a bad way. But I certainly have no problem fitting myself in here, while enjoying the cool weather and blue skies.

Brunch

One thing that many of my new found friends do over the weekend is to have brunch. Brunch, being the meal in between breakfast and lunch, is very functional – it allows us to sleep in for that extra couple of hours, and also saves one meal in a day. How economic. A popular place for brunch in Sydney is Surry Hills, where many artsy cafes are located. We visited one of the notable cafes there one weekend, Reuben Hills, only to find ourselves having to queue for a table. The place was packed to the brim. Fortunately the wait was not too long and we had our table within 20 minutes.

Cappuccino ($5)

Ordering was easy since they only had a one-page menu that included food and drinks. My cousin had the Cappuccino which he praised well. Apparently,Reuben Hills also roast their own coffee beans upstairs. I must bring Saucer here to try their famous coffee.

Wagyu salt brisket, pickled slaw, melted manchego and horseradish cream ($16)

My cousin also had the Wagyu salt brisket sandwich, which was really delicious! I was given some to try and I didn’t have any expectations since it looked like a normal sandwich, but the combination worked wonders. The wagyu was very well-flavoured and savory, the slaw was slightly sour and the horseradish just tied everything together with the warm toasts like a nice present. I ended up liking this more than what I ordered for myself, so I’ll definitely return to get a whole portion of this for my own next time.

Balaeda with pulled Pimenton pork ($13)

I had the Balaeda, which, according to the menu, “originates from El Progreso Honduras and is one of the most original and popular food there. It’s really a wheat flour tortilla, often quite thick, folder in half and filled with an array of fillings.” My order was filled with pulled pork and salsa, and even though it didn’t look like much from the picture, it was pretty filling. The pulled pork was soft and flavorful, while the salsa was sharp and spicy. It was quite a nice combination although it did get a little boring halfway through. Still, I would consider this as a filling meal that could replace both breakfast and lunch, without the feeling of guilt.

Glorious pulled pork with salsa

Overall, I was pretty satisfied with the quality of the food here, and I most certainly enjoyed their environment. It was very laid-back, casual and fuss-free, with an interior that looked like an old warehouse. But it certainly had its own charm. Or there wouldn’t be such a long queue even after we left.

Reuben Hills at Surry Hills, Sydney

Reuben Hills
61 Albion Street
Surry Hills NSW 2010
Australia
Contact No.: +612 9211 5556
Opening Hours: Daily (7am – 4pm)
Website:  reubenhills.com.au

To me, a visit to Singapore wouldn’t be complete without going to the Skypark at Marina Bay Sands. Ever since its opening, I have been wanting to visit this place so the opportunity came when Saucer and I were in Singapore for a short trip over the weekend. We took the MRT to Bayfront station, which brought us to the Marina Bay Sands Shoppes itself. From there, we explored past the many high-end shops, the casino and finally to the hotel heading towards the Skypark. Now I have drafted a complete post on Skypark itself, so I shall concentrate on something else for this post, namely the Ku De Ta restaurant.

Marina Bay Sands Hotel

We never had plans to dine at Ku De Ta at all, since we knew it would be expensive and touristy, especially considering our small RM value. We reached the Skypark at around 5.30pm in time for an evening view of the Singapore skyline, but I was not satisfied until we could capture the night view as well. After all, we paid SGD20 each to come up here. So there was nothing else to do but to wait at the Skypark, and after an hour, both of us got pretty restless and hungry while the sky was still bright. We contemplated having dinner there but decided against it since we already had plans to have Chilli Crabs. So we continued loitering around the Skypark until we couldn’t stand our hunger and our tired feet. There was no place to sit around the park!

Singapore skyline in the evening

Finally, just after 7pm, both of us decided that we should at least grab some snacks and water from Ku De Ta, being the only restaurant there, while waiting for the sky to turn dark. Since we didn’t have any reservations, we were placed at the high tables instead of the proper dining tables. To be honest, we didn’t mind as long as we could finally rest our feet. Keeping to our decision of just snacking, we ordered a chicken and a noodle dish to be shared.

Table settings at Ku De Ta

One thing to note though, they charged a whopping SGD12 for a bottle of still water, so it’s best to request for normal water/sky juice when asked “Still or Sparkling?” Of course, we learnt it the expensive way. Our first dish was the Hand-Made Japanese Udon in Tonkotsu Broth. I was surprised to see that the udon here was a little different from what I was used to. The texture was very smooth the shape was flatter and thinner than the usual udon. The broth was light but quite tasty, the sort that grew on you as you continue slurping. This was definitely simplicity at its best.

Hand-Made Japanese Udon in Tonkotsu Broth (SGD12)

Half-way through, we were presented with what appeared to be their Amuse Bouche of the day. It was a plate of eggplant cooked in a thick and tasty sauce not unlike BBQ. This was quite a nice filler while we waited for our next dish.

Amuse Bouche

Saucer chose the Baby Chicken Teriyaki & Cereal Tuille to be shared, and was surprised at how ‘baby’ it was. It couldn’t be much bigger than the size of a chicken chop, to be honest, but it was cooked very well – honey-sweet, savory and tender. The addition of cereal tuille also gave it a nice crunch, giving an additional dimension to this well-marinated chicken. Oh, did I mention that it was boneless too? We almost had to fight for the last piece.

Baby Chicken Teriyaki & Cereal Tuille (SGD31)

witch & Saucer at Ku De Ta

The environment at Ku De Ta was actually pretty casual, perhaps due to the area that we were seated. It was very well-lit with glass walls all around, giving us a good view of the Skypark. Our waitress that day was attentive and friendly too, and even initiated to take a picture of both of us when she saw that I had a camera. Even though it was an expensive meal, we had fun and most importantly, it managed to keep us occupied until the sky turned dark!

Dining area

Waiting for the sun to set

Ku De Ta at Skypark, Singapore

Point to ponder: Just wondering, if one were to have dinner at this restaurant, does he still need to pay the SGD20 entrance fee to Skypark?

Ku De Ta
SkyPark at Marina Bay Sands North Tower
1 Bayfront Avenue 018971 Singapore
Tel No: +65 6688 7688
Opening Hours: Lunch (12noon to 3pm) Dinner (6pm to 11pm)
Website: kudeta.com.sg 

Buffet is not something that we usually crave for, but there was one day in Bangkok when we were sight-seeing from the morning to the evening with little food, and seeing the sight of all-you-can-eat instantly stirred up our appetite. Shabushi is a combination of 2 Japanese cooking elements – shabu-shabu (hot pot) and sushi (raw seafood with rice). According to the billboard, this chain is owned by Oishi Group, the popular establishment from Bangkok that started the first ever Japanese buffet restaurant in Thailand. We were there at around 5+pm but there was already a queue, albeit a short one. We managed to get our place by the kaiten belt within 15 minutes of waiting, and were told that we only had 2 hours to eat.

Shabushi buffet at 290baht (~RM29)

The first thing we noticed once we entered the restaurant was the wide spread of sushi provided in front. There was a variety of salmon sushi, saba sushi, tobiko sushi, ebi sushi, tamago sushi just to name a few. Some of the platters were half empty when we reached, but we were impressed at how quickly those platters were refilled throughout our dining duration. The platters remained more than half full most of the time. I enjoyed their salmon sushi, for they certainly were generous with the portion. The cut was relatively thick and the fish was reasonably fresh.

Variety of sushi

Selection of salmon sushi

More salmon sushi

My first plate of sushi

Saucer’s plate

Apart from the sushi, there was an individual hot pot for each of us, with our choice of soup. Since we were in Bangkok, we chose the obvious choice of Tom Yam soup. The kaiten belt was filled quite a variety of goodies, mostly seafood, vegetables, mushrooms, etc. The quality of the seafood was pretty decent, especially the clams and salmon head, which I found to be quite fresh. They also made the soup more tasty! And don’t forget the spread of raw meat offered for the shabu-shabu, we had a selection of beef, pork, bacon, chicken and fish fillet to our heart’s content. We initially thought that 2 hours was too short for a buffet meal, but we ended up to be completely stuffed after one and a half hours.

Kaiten belt

Continuous supply of food

Raw meat slices

For desserts, there was a choice of ice-cream, fruits or hot red bean soup. We only opted for the ice-cream since it was perfect to cool us down after the steaming hot pot meal. If that’s not enough, there was also unlimited supply of Oishi Green Tea, which was pretty refreshing too.

Ice-cream for dessert

Overall, we were pretty satisfied with the meal here. Quality was decent for a chain buffet restaurant, and most importantly, food supply was continuous and constantly refilled. Be careful not to mix up Shabushi with its competitor Sukishi, which is located just across the corridor at Siam Center. We tried the latter too and found that the quality was not as good as Shabushi.

Shabushi at Siam Center

Siam Center is just across Siam Paragon

Getting here: Take the BTS and alight at Siam station. You can already spot Shabushi from the station itself!

Shabushi
4th floor, Siam Center,
989, Rama I Rd., Pathum Wan,
Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330 Thailand

Just before I left my previous company, my colleagues brought me out for a farewell lunch at their favorite restaurant, Legend’s Claypot Briyani House. It was actually my second visit to the place and I remembered liking their clay pot briyani rice very much. Even though they have quite a few branches around Klang Valley, my colleagues mentioned that the one in Serdang is one of the better ones. I haven’t tried the others so I can’t comment.

Claypot Briyani

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. When in Legend’s, order the clay pot briyani. Or at least that’s what I thought. I tried the Fish Claypot Briyani, which arrived piping hot in a clay pot no less. It was served together with a piece of banana leaf for one to pour the rice on, either for better flavor or to cool it down for easier consumption. What I first did when my dish was served, was to quickly mix the rice well to make sure that there wouldn’t be burnt bits especially at the bottom of the clay pot. And I tell you, the aroma that came whiffing out made it that much harder to resist eating, burnt tongue regardless. Combined with pieces of fried fish, a good mix gave the spiced rice plenty of flavor. Each bite was a pure delight. The rice was fluffy, moist, well-coated with spices and bursting with flavor that it was hard not to finish the whole pot of it against my desire to eat moderately. It was well worth the calories.

Claypot Briyani Fish (RM13.90)

Tasty Fish meat

The funny thing about  my colleagues though, was that they thought the Banana Leaf Rice (BLR) there was much better than the clay pot briyani! Well, as tempted as I was to try something new, I still resorted to my own favorite in the end. The default vegetarian BLR came with either a choice of white rice or briyani rice with a selection of vegetables, curry, papaddam (crackers) and rasam, a South Indian soup. Add-ons are available in the form of either curry chicken, lamb or fish.

Briyani Banana Leaf Rice Set

Fish Curry

Vegetarian Set Banana Leaf Rice (RM6.50)

Some of the more popular side dishes were the Fried Chicken and the Chicken Varuval (dry curry). I personally enjoyed the former since they were fried to perfection with a crispy skin and moist, tender meat within. It was also very well-marinated, resulting in chicken that was not only tender but tasty. The chicken varuval, on the other hand, was a little overwhelming for me perhaps because I was having the briyani which was already full of flavor. But eating the dry curry with white rice though, was a whole different story. My colleagues swore by this dish and never failed to order this with their BLR.

Fried Chicken (RM6)

Chicken Varuval (RM5)

On the whole, even though some might not agree, I still enjoyed the clay pot briyani at Legend’s. I liked the clean and comfortable air-conditioned environment that is provided, because we would definitely be sweating halfway through the piping hot clay pot rice. The downside to it though, was that we were heavily comatose at work after the heavy lunch!

Dining environment at Legend’s

Legend’s Claypot Briyani House

Legend’s Claypot Briyani House
225 Jalan 18/23,
Taman Sri Serdang,
Seri Kembangan,
43300 Selangor, Malaysia.
Tel No.: +603-8943 2236/ +603-8943 3604
Opening Hours: Daily (7am – 11pm)
Website: www.legendsclaypotbriyani.com