found this article posted by a friend on facebook... very interesting article about a malady that strikes fear into the heart of cellists everywhere... ummm... somewhat
Cello scrotum? It's a load of...
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Saturday, January 10, 2009
on the plate: New York New York Deli @ 1 Utama
Found this place just outside Cold Storage in the new wing of 1 Utama, where Giant used to be. It looked intriguing, so I thought I would check it out sometime.
I finally found the time to go over there and try it out. Doing some research on the internet (yes, if I am interested in a restaurant I do check it out first) I found out that it's a Singaporean chain. A promising start, especially since Jack's Place and Sakae Sushi, both Singaporean chains are pretty decent establishments. Anyway, the website didn't have the full menu which was pretty disappointing.
The menu was pretty varied, and was interesting for the most part. They serve a variety of Western foods such as pasta, pizza, chops, burgers, sandwiches, and other mains and stuff. I had the Brats with bacon and cheese (sadly, not real bacon, but turkey bacon instead). Didn't look too impressive, and was so-so only. The bratwursts were not real bratwursts (which have real meat inside), but some processed stuff that tasted okay, but it really wasn't what I was hoping for. Gimme real sausages wrapped in real bacon, and some good cheese melted on top, then we'll talk. Okay?
The other dish was the Hawaii teriyaki burger, which didn't look like much (the patty looked really hand-made, which could be more or less appetizing, depending on your preference) and actually tasted pretty good, surprisingly. The beef had absorbed the teriyaki flavor, and there was enough beef to go around for every bite. In other words, a pretty decent and tasty burger.
Pricewise, I'd say this place is pretty decent. Each of our main courses was RM16.50 each, and they do supply drinking water (none of this "no free water here, buy our bottled tap water for RM10 per bottle or dehydrate and die" crap).
They also have this uber burger called the Giant Yankee burger. Supposedly 8" wide, 4" high, and with 2 pounds of beef inside. Really interesting stuff. At the Singapore branches if you can finish it on your own with a bunch of fries, it's free and a root beer float on the house. No such promotion here though. And it costs a whopping RM48.90 or something like that. Saw a group of people at another table order it, and my interest quickly waned as the bread looks really, really thick. I'd rather not be munching on something that's predominantly bread over everything else.
All in all, it's not fantastic, but a decent, comfortable place to hang out and chill (too bad there's no bottomless drinks!) and a widely varied menu, there should be at least something for everyone (especially the cheese fondue and chocolate fondue! I'll be trying those next time, hopefully).
Alright, here's the ratings
Food: 6.7/10 - not great, but not bad either
Drinks: 6.5/10 - a good choice, but too bad there aren't any refillable or bottomless drinks. Huzzah for the plain water though! :)
Ambience: 7.4/10 - a bit exposed to the shoppers passing by, but pretty decent.
Service: 7.6/10 - for some reason one or two of the waiters kept coming to check the order sheet which was placed on our table. Probably trying to check on the kitchen to make sure they were getting our orders ready. If so, good work, guys, but some reassurance that our food was coming would have been great, rather than the silent effort.
More to read about at their official website.
EDIT: I've heard a lot of pretty bad reviews about this place, and a few good ones, so it'll take another visit or two to really get the feel of it. Will keep things posted :p
I finally found the time to go over there and try it out. Doing some research on the internet (yes, if I am interested in a restaurant I do check it out first) I found out that it's a Singaporean chain. A promising start, especially since Jack's Place and Sakae Sushi, both Singaporean chains are pretty decent establishments. Anyway, the website didn't have the full menu which was pretty disappointing.
The menu was pretty varied, and was interesting for the most part. They serve a variety of Western foods such as pasta, pizza, chops, burgers, sandwiches, and other mains and stuff. I had the Brats with bacon and cheese (sadly, not real bacon, but turkey bacon instead). Didn't look too impressive, and was so-so only. The bratwursts were not real bratwursts (which have real meat inside), but some processed stuff that tasted okay, but it really wasn't what I was hoping for. Gimme real sausages wrapped in real bacon, and some good cheese melted on top, then we'll talk. Okay?
The other dish was the Hawaii teriyaki burger, which didn't look like much (the patty looked really hand-made, which could be more or less appetizing, depending on your preference) and actually tasted pretty good, surprisingly. The beef had absorbed the teriyaki flavor, and there was enough beef to go around for every bite. In other words, a pretty decent and tasty burger.
Pricewise, I'd say this place is pretty decent. Each of our main courses was RM16.50 each, and they do supply drinking water (none of this "no free water here, buy our bottled tap water for RM10 per bottle or dehydrate and die" crap).
They also have this uber burger called the Giant Yankee burger. Supposedly 8" wide, 4" high, and with 2 pounds of beef inside. Really interesting stuff. At the Singapore branches if you can finish it on your own with a bunch of fries, it's free and a root beer float on the house. No such promotion here though. And it costs a whopping RM48.90 or something like that. Saw a group of people at another table order it, and my interest quickly waned as the bread looks really, really thick. I'd rather not be munching on something that's predominantly bread over everything else.
All in all, it's not fantastic, but a decent, comfortable place to hang out and chill (too bad there's no bottomless drinks!) and a widely varied menu, there should be at least something for everyone (especially the cheese fondue and chocolate fondue! I'll be trying those next time, hopefully).
Alright, here's the ratings
Food: 6.7/10 - not great, but not bad either
Drinks: 6.5/10 - a good choice, but too bad there aren't any refillable or bottomless drinks. Huzzah for the plain water though! :)
Ambience: 7.4/10 - a bit exposed to the shoppers passing by, but pretty decent.
Service: 7.6/10 - for some reason one or two of the waiters kept coming to check the order sheet which was placed on our table. Probably trying to check on the kitchen to make sure they were getting our orders ready. If so, good work, guys, but some reassurance that our food was coming would have been great, rather than the silent effort.
More to read about at their official website.
EDIT: I've heard a lot of pretty bad reviews about this place, and a few good ones, so it'll take another visit or two to really get the feel of it. Will keep things posted :p
Thursday, January 1, 2009
new year, same old
So, 2008 has come and gone. Big whoop.
Personally, I generally find that with every year, I'm really glad that it's over. Honestly. I don't know if I have ever looked back at a year and found it nostalgic or particularly wonderful or anything. Yes, good things happen, but just as many or even more bad things happen that just tend to spoil the mood. Or maybe I'm just bitter that I didn't get to go back to Singapore at all this year. Whatever.
But anyway, not to sound like sour grapes. Every new year brings new hope. Maybe one day I'll get to do the things I enjoy. But anyway, for now, it's back to the same old, same old. Work begins again in earnest in three days. Meanwhile, I'm off to try to enjoy my remaining few days of freedom (well, relative freedom) as much as I can.
On the bright side... last night I cooked a major beef dinner for some relatives who wanted beef (they can't eat beef at home for religious reasons). Beef stew, steak, home-made hamburgers, along with my roasted potato salad and a roast chicken for those who didn't eat beef. Those who know me well enough know that I love eating cow, so it was very exciting. So exciting that I didn't take pictures. Again.
So with them not being regular beef eaters, there were leftovers. So this morning for breakfast, the first breakfast of the new year, I heated up and made a cheeseburger for myself. Not too shabby for a brekkie!
Personally, I generally find that with every year, I'm really glad that it's over. Honestly. I don't know if I have ever looked back at a year and found it nostalgic or particularly wonderful or anything. Yes, good things happen, but just as many or even more bad things happen that just tend to spoil the mood. Or maybe I'm just bitter that I didn't get to go back to Singapore at all this year. Whatever.
But anyway, not to sound like sour grapes. Every new year brings new hope. Maybe one day I'll get to do the things I enjoy. But anyway, for now, it's back to the same old, same old. Work begins again in earnest in three days. Meanwhile, I'm off to try to enjoy my remaining few days of freedom (well, relative freedom) as much as I can.
On the bright side... last night I cooked a major beef dinner for some relatives who wanted beef (they can't eat beef at home for religious reasons). Beef stew, steak, home-made hamburgers, along with my roasted potato salad and a roast chicken for those who didn't eat beef. Those who know me well enough know that I love eating cow, so it was very exciting. So exciting that I didn't take pictures. Again.
So with them not being regular beef eaters, there were leftovers. So this morning for breakfast, the first breakfast of the new year, I heated up and made a cheeseburger for myself. Not too shabby for a brekkie!
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