For a long time, I've been moaning about the lack of good dessert places in KL. Of course, I was, perhaps unfairly, comparing the Klang Valley to my favourite city, Bangkok where there are many delicious dessert places such as Mango Tango, a Matter of Taste, KuppA and Anna's Cafe, just to name a few.
Anyway, over the past week, I've been on a high-sugar diet which started with the Etoile Bisto Dessert Buffet over at Equatorial Hotel, then on to the newly opened Bakerzin in Bangsar Village and on to Chef Loong's in SS2.
Etoile Bistro Dessert Buffet
This special buffet ran for the whole month of December 2004 at the cost of RM35++ per head. I would have thought that it would not have been a good time to have it right after Hari Raya and just before Christmas where the festivities bring so much traditional sweets out that the last thing people want to do is actually go out and have more sugar.
Anyway, friends and I decided to make an evening out of it. On the dessert side, there was unlimited Haagen Daaz ice cream, a chocolate fountain (yes, like the one at Lemon Garden Cafe at The Shangri-La KL!) with frozen fruit and ice cream to dip, cookies, cakes, mousse, etc. On the savoury side there was pasta, chicken wings and an oxtail soup which made a more convincing crab bisque if I had to name it.
Unlike the last time I went which was a good 2 years ago, the place was relatively empty and the offerings menial. I remember the last time, there was much more varieties of ice cream, there was also Mrs Fields cookies and a wider selection of cakes and crepes they would cook on the spot. Must say I was slightly disappointed with it this time.
Perhaps they should consider moving the buffet to sometime in the middle of the year when it's quieter and the craving for sweets is higher?
Bakerzin @Bangsar Village
Unlike it's counterpart in Jakarta where one has to line up to for seats, Bakerzin @ Bangsar Village is not yet the place to be seen which meant that getting that seat wasn't a major problem. SA and I had the lunch special wherby for RM13 extra, you can add either the soup of the day or dessert and a coffee to your main course. Unfortunately, the main course had to be ordered from the Hearty Meals section of the menu which meant that the duck salad was out of the picture.
Anyway, SA had the soup which was crab bisque for the day and that came served in a fancy see-through glass (rather than a bowl). Unfortunately, they didn't have soup spoons so she had to scoop it with a normal spoon. SA also ordered the spaghetti arrabiata which didn't look or taste very inspiring and not really worth much of a mention. I had the toasted brioche with poached egg and spinach and mushrooms which was not bad but looked rather sparse on the large plate and considering it was over RM20, I thought it was rather pricey. It was tasty but not very filling as the portion was not very large, not large enough to be considered in the Hearty Meals section of the menu, anyway.
The desserts, of course, look absolutely enticing as you are greeted by them when you first walk into the shop. I didn't want anything chocolate so opted for a sponge with pistachio cream and strawberries which was quite yummy. We had coffee to round off the end of the meal.
Being new, I will forgive their service staff for being absolutely blur. They had this knack of looking at you in a way that you knew they didn't understand what you were asking for. Another point of contention is that they only serve Evian water which I'm sure, they would charge a bomb for.
Lunch set us back around RM70 which is quite a lot for a quick meal.
Chef Loong's in SS2
In contrast to Bakerzin, a meal for 5 people cost us RM75 at Chef Loong's.
Set up as a Chinese dessert place, the dessert here range from traditional chinese to Hong Kong desserts. There's also a savoury section with more finger /light food type dishes.
Between the 5 of us, we had porridge (oyster and rainbow which had yam and sweet potato in it), chicken pies (really tiny but quite tasty), yamcake, rice flour rolls, pan fried Shanghai buns, cheesy squid and prawn rolls, glutinous rice and for dessert, the following: peanut cream, black sesame cream, red bean banana katafil and avocado katafil (my favourite!), durian pancake and egg tarts (BB's favourite!!).
Looks like we're not so dessert-starved in KL afterall .....
Etoile Bistro
Equatorial Hotel
Jalan Sultan Ismail
Kuala Lumpur
Bakerzin
(opposite Starbucks)
Bangsar Village
Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur
Chef Loong
86, Jalan SS2/60
47300 Petaling Jaya
Tel: 7877 4826
Anyway, over the past week, I've been on a high-sugar diet which started with the Etoile Bisto Dessert Buffet over at Equatorial Hotel, then on to the newly opened Bakerzin in Bangsar Village and on to Chef Loong's in SS2.
Etoile Bistro Dessert Buffet
This special buffet ran for the whole month of December 2004 at the cost of RM35++ per head. I would have thought that it would not have been a good time to have it right after Hari Raya and just before Christmas where the festivities bring so much traditional sweets out that the last thing people want to do is actually go out and have more sugar.
Anyway, friends and I decided to make an evening out of it. On the dessert side, there was unlimited Haagen Daaz ice cream, a chocolate fountain (yes, like the one at Lemon Garden Cafe at The Shangri-La KL!) with frozen fruit and ice cream to dip, cookies, cakes, mousse, etc. On the savoury side there was pasta, chicken wings and an oxtail soup which made a more convincing crab bisque if I had to name it.
Unlike the last time I went which was a good 2 years ago, the place was relatively empty and the offerings menial. I remember the last time, there was much more varieties of ice cream, there was also Mrs Fields cookies and a wider selection of cakes and crepes they would cook on the spot. Must say I was slightly disappointed with it this time.
Perhaps they should consider moving the buffet to sometime in the middle of the year when it's quieter and the craving for sweets is higher?
Bakerzin @Bangsar Village
Unlike it's counterpart in Jakarta where one has to line up to for seats, Bakerzin @ Bangsar Village is not yet the place to be seen which meant that getting that seat wasn't a major problem. SA and I had the lunch special wherby for RM13 extra, you can add either the soup of the day or dessert and a coffee to your main course. Unfortunately, the main course had to be ordered from the Hearty Meals section of the menu which meant that the duck salad was out of the picture.
Anyway, SA had the soup which was crab bisque for the day and that came served in a fancy see-through glass (rather than a bowl). Unfortunately, they didn't have soup spoons so she had to scoop it with a normal spoon. SA also ordered the spaghetti arrabiata which didn't look or taste very inspiring and not really worth much of a mention. I had the toasted brioche with poached egg and spinach and mushrooms which was not bad but looked rather sparse on the large plate and considering it was over RM20, I thought it was rather pricey. It was tasty but not very filling as the portion was not very large, not large enough to be considered in the Hearty Meals section of the menu, anyway.
The desserts, of course, look absolutely enticing as you are greeted by them when you first walk into the shop. I didn't want anything chocolate so opted for a sponge with pistachio cream and strawberries which was quite yummy. We had coffee to round off the end of the meal.
Being new, I will forgive their service staff for being absolutely blur. They had this knack of looking at you in a way that you knew they didn't understand what you were asking for. Another point of contention is that they only serve Evian water which I'm sure, they would charge a bomb for.
Lunch set us back around RM70 which is quite a lot for a quick meal.
Chef Loong's in SS2
In contrast to Bakerzin, a meal for 5 people cost us RM75 at Chef Loong's.
Set up as a Chinese dessert place, the dessert here range from traditional chinese to Hong Kong desserts. There's also a savoury section with more finger /light food type dishes.
Between the 5 of us, we had porridge (oyster and rainbow which had yam and sweet potato in it), chicken pies (really tiny but quite tasty), yamcake, rice flour rolls, pan fried Shanghai buns, cheesy squid and prawn rolls, glutinous rice and for dessert, the following: peanut cream, black sesame cream, red bean banana katafil and avocado katafil (my favourite!), durian pancake and egg tarts (BB's favourite!!).
Looks like we're not so dessert-starved in KL afterall .....
Etoile Bistro
Equatorial Hotel
Jalan Sultan Ismail
Kuala Lumpur
Bakerzin
(opposite Starbucks)
Bangsar Village
Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur
Chef Loong
86, Jalan SS2/60
47300 Petaling Jaya
Tel: 7877 4826
