nekochan
Personally, I think that having seafood in Jimbaran is overrated but it's something that is highly recommended when one is visiting Bali so we went with the flow.

The last time I was there, we ate at Uluwatu Cafe. it wasn't bad, the weather wasn't very good so we were seated inside but after a while it cleared, so we sat in one of the pondoks outside by the beach.
The seafood was quite fresh, not fantastic though. MBF said that the fish came frozen in styrofoam boxes so how fresh could that be?

We had some grilled squid, carb and red snapper. Rice and veges come free. We paid an equivalent of approximately RM120 for the two of us which I thought was a bit pricey for Jimbaran.

Uluwatu Cafe
Jl.Pantai Kedoganan, Jimbaran
Tel: (0361) 708782

When we told friendly Balinese that we had eaten at Uluwatu Cafe they told us that it's a place more for tourist and that locals eat at Menega Cafe. Too bad we didn't have an extra evening to try it but it's top of our list for the next trip!

Menega Cafe
Muaya Beach, Jimbaran Bay
Bali
Tel: (0812)393539
e-mail: menega@indosat.net.id

Entrance is on the road that leads to the Four Seasons hotel and it's right beside the Intercontinental hotel. When you hit the car park it's about half way along.

nekochan
Vietnamese food is one of my favourite cuisines and access to it was really easy while I was living in Melbourne. When I returned, there was only one Vietnamese restaurant (in SS2, PJ) which closed down, leaving a big gap in my choice of restaurants.

The past few years have seen many so-called Vietnamese restaurants sprouting around the KL/PJ area.
After trying many, my favourite has to be Little Sai Gon in Desa Sri Hartamas.

I was told that the owners are two Vietnamese ladies from HCMC, both married to Malaysians. Not sure how true this so if I'm wrong, I apologise. More importantly is the food!

I normally judge a Vietnamese restaurant on two dishes - rice paper roll and Pho Bo (beef rice noodle soup). Compared to many other Vietnamese restaurants around, firstly, this is one of the few places where I can get both items on the same menu and they're both yummy. Oh....perhaps I have forgotten to mention, Little Sai Gon is not halal. That may have something to do with how the food tastes.

What I like there:
Pho Bo (beef rice noodle soup)
Fresh Prawn rice paper roll ('Gui Cuon')
Hue-style rice noodles (if you like something spicier)
Meatballs with rice paper roll (I like it because you have to assemble the roll yourself, I love the interactivity! They give you the dried paper rolls, a glass of water with paintbrushes, a plate of various herbs including basil and mint and of course, a plate of meatballs ..and you have to put it all together!)
Desserts are yummy too and there's nothing like Vietnamese drip coffee to end the meal.

Ambiance: Simple and functional. There's a bar there but I've never really seen anyone sit there. I like the water features as it gives a 'cooling' effect to the whole place.

Little SaiGon (same row as Souled Out)
14 Jalan 30/70A, Desa Sri Hartamas
50480 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 23001196
Hours:
Sun-Thu 11:30am-3pm, 6:00pm-10:00pm
Fri-Sat 11:30am-3pm, 6:00pm-11:00pm
NON-HALAL
nekochan
La Risata
128 Jalan Kasah, Medan Damansara
50490 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 20959572

What I like: the seafood spaghetti

Opus Bistro
Jalan Bangkung, Bangsar
59100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 20924288

What I like: the gamberi fettucini
nekochan
On Sharing Food
"Sharing food with another human being is an intimate act that should not be indulged in lightly."
~M. F. K. Fisher, An Alphabet for Gourmets

On the Simplicity of Food
"In cooking, as in all the arts, simplicity is the sign of perfection." ~Curnonsky

On Smell
"The smell and taste of things remain poised a long time, like souls, ready to remind us....." ~Marcel Proust (French writer)

Food for the Soul
"Soul food is our personal passport to the past. It is much more about heritage than it is about hominy."
~Sarah Ban Breathnach

"You don't have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces - just good food from fresh ingredients." ~Julia Child

"The preparation of good food is merely another expression of art, one of the joys of civilized living"
~Dione Lucas

"Too much of a good thing can be wonderful." ~Mae West

"First we eat, then we do everything else." ~M.F.K. Fisher

If you are ever at a loss to support a flagging conversation, introduce the subject of eating.” ~Leigh Hunt (1784-1859)
"Before eating, always take time to thank the food." ~Arapaho Proverb
nekochan
Stepping into the Ritz-Carlton Kuala Lumpur always makes me feel like stepping into another era, another place in time. I would like to say that it makes me feel like I'm in New York but seeing I've never been to the Big Apple, I can't really say that either. Anyhow, from the moment you drop off your car (you can't park the car yourself, you have to leave it with the valet for RM10), you're welcomed by everyone from the valet to the guards, basically everyone who will cross your path. Now we know why their motto is "We are Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen".

MBF and I were there to have dinner at Rossini's, thanks to the 50% discount voucher courtesy of the Edge (Subscriber PrivilEDGE lah!). The R-C website describes Rossini's as a "casual dining restaurant offers creative MediterrAsian cuisine".

The first thing that welcomes you when you enter Rossini's is the piano-guitar-singing duet team crooning light and easy music. You get taken to your place and then you get presented with the drinks menu, wine menu (not together but one after the other) and then finally, the food menu. Water is brought to your table, and of course, it has to be San Bernanetto at RM24.95 per bottle!!

Beverages, especially the Wine is quite expensive, with Dom Perignon leading the way at RM2400 for the bottle. Average wine cost is around RM250 per bottle. Nothing caught our fancy so it was an alcohol-free night with just pure h20 from the mountains of Italy.

Service-wise we expected better, I mean, it's the Ritz afterall and after the preview when you first enter. ... we were later informed that they were quite short-staffed as three of their staff, including one very experienced one, had resigned the previous week. oh well ...
The service staff was all extremely apologetic as we had to wait quite a while for our food.

Food-wise - the mushroom soup was definitely freshly made, non of that can stuff, very thick and hearty. The scallop/aubergine looked good though it was pretty hard pressed to find the scallop. The tiger prawn rocket salad was quite yummy even if the three prawns weren't that huge. However, no rocket in sight at all.

The duck orange was slightly overdone so was a bit rubbery. It sat on a bed of mash. I felt that there wasn't enough of the red wine 'jus' and the crunchy deep-fried slithers of parsnip (?) was soggy and I couldn't taste the orange at all.

The beef terderloin didn't fare much better - even though the request was for medium, it came very done. Overall, nothing very exciting.

Why didn't we send it back? Well, we had waited forever for it so what's the point?

We initially ordered pavlova mascarpone caream with wild berry compote and baked ricotta cheesecake for dessert but they were out of the pavlova so the chef put together a sampler platter which had some nice fresh mango, unripe strawberries, grapes for fruit with chocolate pudding-thing, a slice of baked ricotta cheesecake and two slices of not-so-nice tasting chocolate brownie which was really dry.

We ordered tea only to be informed that they only have one type of tea. what??? C'mon it's the Ritz-Carlton!!! Anyhow, when we asked a more experieced service staff, we were told that they had a wide variety so we had earl grey. Turns out the waiter who earlier served us was a trainee.

MBF and I had:
Mushroom Soup (Roasted Pumpkin Soup was out)
Tiger Prawn with Rocket salad
Scallops with eggplant in some basil cream thing
Orange Duck
Beef Tenderloin
Platter of Dessert which had Baked Riccota cheesecake, a sinful warm chocolate pudding and some dry chocolate brownie-type thing with fruits.

The ambience was Ok, though the music was too loud, and the singers weren't very good 9don't think they would get through American Idol!)

Would I go back again?? I'm not sure ......

Ritz Carlton Kuala Lumpur
168 Jalan Imbi
55100 Kuala Lumpur
tel: 03 21428000
Directions
nekochan
The last time I visited Cafe Cafe was when they had feathers floating from the ceiling (sometime early 2003 if I recall!) Well, it's all gone upmarket now with crystals floating from the ceiling these days and the prices are also reflecting the upwards direction.

The menu is more focused now, a more 'daring' menu to match the likes of trendier restaurants. Definitely not cafe-level food as the name suggests.

A glance at the menu showed foie gras, pates, salmon, pastas - you could have been at FIC's and not Jalan Maharajalela (with Jalan Choo Cheng Kay a 1 minute walk away!). They had four set menus ranging from RM95 to RM115 (I think!) per head for a four-course meal including appetizer, mains, dessert and coffee/tea. Appetizers included foie gras, mains had duck breast something or salmon and desserts from the menu.

The singing gang and I were there earlier this evening and didn't have a chance to try any of the savouries, mainly because the desserts were so tempting. Unfortunately, the tiramisu and creme brulee were out. I had the Royale which was a slab of chocolate ganache with praline and dark chocolate. Calli's chocolate mousse looked equally sinful dusted with cocoa powder. KP's 'Love Bites' - fried ice cream hearts sat atop two banana halfs laced with chocolate topping also looked excellent.

It is also great to get away from Starbucks and to have the coffee here. Cris's latte looked lovely, my Cafe au lait was served in a big bowl and actual coffee beans for deco. There's also a fine selection of alcoholic coffees - I'll have to ask Nic for a review. Tea is served with honey as a sugar alternative.

Ambiance - very chic, very Parisian, very un-Jalan Choo Cheng Kay!! For a brief moment, we escaped to the city of love, completely with French Kiss soundtrack and other French music. I hear they sometimes have musicians performing there but too bad the piano can't actually be used. There's a lounge upstairs which had some of the gals oohing and aahing over it ...

Prices - have definitely gone up since my last visit. Brief prices of what we had:
Aubergine / Mozarella Salad RM25.90
Pastas are in the RM30+ range
Foie Gras is in the RM45+ range

Coffees
Liquored Cofee RM24.90
Cafe Au Lait RM10.50
Cafe Latte RM9.90

Desserts
Chocolate Mousse RM12.90
Royale RM14.90
Love Bites RM16.90

Oh ...they charge for water RM0.90 per glass. I thought this was a bit much especially since we didn't ask for water, they just plonked it down in front of us.

Cafe Cafe
175, Jalan Maharajalela
50150 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 21418141
(right opposite Dewan Bahasa and Pustaka, corner shop lot of the row of shophouses starting at what used to be the Bulatan Edinburough. Well hidden behin shrubbery. Directly beneath the huge 'Visit Thailand' billboard, a few doors away (to the left) of Bank Simpanan National)