Rolling Pin Christmas Cupcakes Too Pretty To Be Eaten @FollowMeToEatLa

These are really cute and adorable little cupcakes. It’s my first time seeing it, never seen such pretty X’mas theme cupcakes before. The 1^st impression I had of the cupcakes were that there are 'seriously too pretty to be eaten'. They come in a set of ½ dozen; six cute little cupcakes in a see-thru top white little box.

The design of the cupcake is nice and simple, suited to the Christmas theme. Great details and effort have been put into designing each of it with the use of various cute fondant icing. I can see that each cupcake’s design is intricately done especially the little Snowman face & the X’mas tree too.

Taste wise, I like the chocolate cupcakes the most as it is moist, not too sweet. I usually dislike cupcakes as I find them too sweet for me. But for this time, I can easily eat 2-3 in a go. On the other hand, the other flavour; vanilla butter is quite inconsistent as some are nice, soft and fluffy while some are quite dry, not moist on the inside. It crumbles when you chew on it. It’s not like eating a cake, it falls apart. It was like eating a kuih bahulu. Maybe this happen because I kept it in the fridge and it turns out this way. I didn’t eat it fresh, but I was informed it can be kept up to a week or so in the refrigerator.

Anyway, the uniqueness of these cupcakes is that there are available in any design or theme. In other words, the cupcakes and the designs can be custom made. Rolling Pin has a made to order concept whereby you can choose from the varieties of cute fondant icing designs to suit various occasions or celebration. Price varies and depends on the size of cupcakes, quantity and the type of designs required. Of course, the ones with intricate design will probably cost more than the simpler ones.             

To Order, please click on the following for more information :

Website:             www.rollingpin2u.weebly.com

Facebook:          www.facebook.com/rolling.pin.pj

Instagram user:  @rollingpin90
Contact:            017-309 5020 (Jolene) 

Photo credits to Carmen Hong @ www.carmenhong.com

Manmaru Homemade Udon Truly Best Udon @ Mid Valley By FollowmeToEatLa

Let your taste buds run wild with the taste of the Land of the Rising Sun! Manmaru Udon is the first self-service concept udon restaurant in Malaysia. Located conveniently in Mid Valley, one of the most happening malls in town, your dining experience is worth the trip!

Manmaru Homemade Udon

Inspired by the truest traditions of Japanese cuisine and infused with the imagination of contemporary tastes, Manmaru which means 'perfectly round’ or 'circular' in Japanese, conveys a lifelong passion in serving the perfectly freshest and finest Japanese food while providing its diners a well-rounded culinary experience they will never forget. 

As I spoke to Mr Richard, the proprietor of Manmaru, I can feel his passion and commitment towards his business. Committed to providing the highest standard of Japanese noodles, he took a trip to Kagawa Prefecture in Japan to learn the art of udon making. A quick check in the Web, also reveal that Kagawa Prefecture located on Shikoku Island, Japan is also known as “Udon Prefecture”.

Udon is one of the most popular Japanese noodles around. It's made from 100% wheat flour, salt and water. Hot soup and dipping sauce are made from soy sauce and soup stock, which is made from bonito flakes, kombu seaweed among others.  Some like it hot, and cold … Udon is topped off in many different ways, but usually always either hot, in a steaming fish-based broth, or cold.

We usually eat it in hot soup or with dipping sauce. They can be served cold with a dipping sauce or in a hot broth with toppings. Udon is considered  fast and healthy food with basic dishes and usually go along well with common toppings include tempura, thin slices of fish cake, beef, deep fried bean curd or even seaweed. 

Manmaru offers Japanese dining experience with a wide range of authentically classic to special udon menu to meet its diners taste and demands. Diners can take their pick from the available menu of 10 varieties of broth or soup base starting from classic Kamaage Udon, Zaru Udon, Kake Udon, Bukake Udon, Niku Udon  to the adventurous ones like Curry Udon, Kimchi Udon, Cream Corn Udon, Ume Udon and Kamo Seiro Udon among others.  

Udon Making Process

What sets Manmaru apart from the other restaurants selling udons are that they placed great importance in only serving the best and high quality noodles.The texture of Manmaru Udon's noodles is what makes them unique.

Keeping his promise of serving the freshest udon, a special noodle machine is placed right in the restaurant making it possible to produce high quality udon solely for this purpose. They make all of their udons in the restaurant itself to maintain the freshness and quality. According to Richard, all noodles are freshly made in house and, then cooked by boiling them hot water for 10 minutes. The noodles are then served and should be consumed within 15 minutes.  

How to eat Udon Noodles?

We need some knacks of eating udon. Watch what the diners are doing in the restaurant, and you will understand how to order and eat udon. 

1) First, we have to order correctly. 
2) Secondly, we choose additional flavours to suit our taste. 
3) Select your udon, next add your favourite side dish. 
4) After which, you can choose your delicious tempura and complete your meal with a drink.  

5) You can get additional flavours to udon by topping with "Agedama (tenkasu)" crispy tempura flakes, "Shoga" mince ginger, white radish and/or "Goma" sesame. Once all that is done, now you are ready to eat.

Let's slurp back the udon noodles with chop-sticks!

A medley of delicious vegetables tempura items to choose from such as “Enoki” golden needle mushroom, “Yasai kakiage Tempura” crispy mix vegetables, “Nasu Tempura” brinjal, “Renkon Tempura” lotus root, “Satsuma-Imo Tempura” sweet potatoes and Green pepper Tempura.  

Yasai Kakiage Tempura

My favourite tempura of the night is the “Yasai kakiage Tempura”. It’s the colourful combination that delighted my senses. Around 6 to 7 kinds of julienne vegetables: carrots, brinjal, onions, sweet potatoes, green pepper and pumpkin was finely cut and deep fried to crisp perfection. Loved the different texture and flavours in the mix vegetables. Delicious! The flavours complement each other perfectly and it was very colourful and pretty too. 

Feast upon appetizing servings of seafood tempura – Ebi Tempura (Prawn), Ika Karaage (Squid), White Fish Tempura and the Tori Karaage (Chicken).

I enjoyed eating the Tori Karaage as deboned chicken drumstick was juicy and tender. Bursting with flavour, well marinated and crisp but a little on the salty side, still it made a good complement to eat with the udon.  

Glorious looking selection of udon starting with (clockwise) Niku Udon (Sliced beef), Cream Corn Udon, Cold Bukake Udon (thick fish broth), Kimchi Udon (Spicy Korean style) and Curry Udon.  

 

Detectable authentic (top)  Kake Udon (classic soy udon) and (bottom) Ume Udon (refreshing udon served with pickled plum.   

The twin of the Udons is the Zaru Udon & Kamaage Udon (bottom). Zaru Udon which is an all time favourite cold noodle while the Kamaage Udon is served hot, an ‘Al dente’ style udon with warm kamaage sauce.

Standing Out: Kamo Seiro Udon

The most interesting udon on the menu was the Kamo Seiro Udon.  Duck meat lover like me was won over by the heavenly taste of the smoked duck and the gravy that comes with it. Truly a winner, probably the best I had that evening. 

Savoury and succulent pieces of duck breast meat really goes well with the udon. Manmaru’s homemade Udon has a firm, wonderful chewy texture. I think the extra long strands, meant to signify long life, were springy and slurpy with every mouthful. The noodles were devoured within minutes of being served.

So, if you are looking for quality premium Japanese cuisine in a great and cozy environment, Manmaru is the place to be! Get prepared for an awesome Japanese dining experience that will surely thrill your taste buds. 

Manmaru Homemade Udon

S-045A, Mid Valley
Lingkaran Syed Putra,
59200 Kuala Lumpur.

Telephone : 2282 0287

Operation Hours : 10am – 10pm  (Daily)

Website:  http://www.manmaru.com.my/

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/manmaru.com.my/

Pak John Steamboat Buffet Fired up for Steamboat & Grilling @ eCurve by FollowMeToEatLa

Steamboat dinners are always enjoyable as there are many types of ingredients to dunk into a flavourful broth while everyone gets to cook their meals together. Great fun for all and great for family bonding too as 'A family that Eats together Stay together'.

I always enjoyed eating steamboat because it's a healthy meal & low in fat content. I was happy to be invited to makan hangout with Nomster at Pak John Steamboat & Yong Tau Foo recently. So, welcome to  the world of healthy and delicious eating with me at the latest steamboat outlet in town.  

Located conveniently on the lower ground floor of eCurve Shopping Mall, the newly opened halal restaurant serves a wide selection of dishes with more than 100 varieties of fresh seafood, poultry, meat, and vegetables. As this place is within eCurve's trendy lifestyle hub, this place provides a contemporary dining space for patrons to take a break from shopping.  Exudes a relaxed and welcoming ambience, this spacious outlet is great for company functions as they can accommodate a seating capacity of 200 pax. 

Nice Decor VIP room 

Also available are 2 VIP rooms for special functions which have to be reserved with prior bookings. Tastefully designed private room with granite table top, this room can easily fit 10 to 15 pax per table comfortably. With the sliding door in between the 2 rooms, this room can be converted into a spacious function room to cater for birthday celebration, anniversary dinners, company functions among others. 

Choose from an extensive variety sumptuous buffet spreads of more than 100 fresh selections of seafood, poultry, and meat which includes Australian beef slices, new Zealand lamb slices, organic vegetables and mushrooms. Seriously lived by their tagline or caption ie 'Quality & Fresh', I was delighted to discover that food served here are of the freshest and finest, premium quality for us to savour. 

 Fresh beef and lamb with signature in-house meat marinates

Colourful & Cute 'Lucky Cat' Surimi series to entice the kiddies

Adorable & Cute looking 'Lucky Cow' Surimi series   

3 Delicious Choices of Soup base 

To start with we were served with steamboat soup base choices of the regular chicken, spicy tomyam and a very special Miso soup. Something different and unique, I was looking forward to try out this healthy and full of goodness soup. I have tried Miso soup before as it's a traditional Japanese soup consisting of a stock called "dashi" in Japanese restaurant but not as a soup base for steamboat. 

 Special Steamboat Pot at Pak John's    

Pak John's very unique 2 in 1 steamboat pot with comes with a removable grilling pan. The pot is designed to contain one kind of soup, while the grill in the centre allows diners to barbecue their meats. What makes them different from others is that the grilling pan shall be change to a fresh one once it gets too burnt. So in this way, diners will be well assured that they get to grill and eat BBQ meats minus the blacken burnt food.  

For steamboat meals, dips are of great importance. Here, you get 4 choices of sauces, starting off with the in house made Thai Green chilli, Thai Chilli , Sweet Sauce and last but not least, my very own favourite, Belacan Chilli sauce. The co-owner is proud of their Thai Green Chilli sauce as it was a hit with many of their diners that gave praise for the special unique flavour. It comes off with a fresh lemonish to sweetness which later to spicy taste to the tongue. For me, this sauce is not doubt nice and special but it doesn't goes with steamboat. I would prefer the belacan chilli sauce to anything in the world. I'm a great fan of any belacan sauce, so I was practically eating them out of the sauce plate rather than using it as dipping sauce! 

                   Simply irresistible smoky and succulent duck breast              

Grilling at Pak John can't get any better as diners are served with premium smoky and succulent duck breast meat. Couldn't resist this one but after my first bite, I found an even better way to eat it ... wrapped with fresh organic and crispy lettuce dipped into belacan sauce, this combination was the perfect appetizer for me. 

A plate of goodness - Australia Beef slices 

Glorious looking with unlimited supply of Smoked Abalone Slices

The freshness of the seafood was top-notch and a wonderful accompaniment with the Miso soup. What I liked about Pak John's seafood is that they're very generous with their serving. I get to savour large chunky pieces of dory fish - sutchi fillet cooked in the flavourful soup. The fillet with a delicate texture, went well with the miso soup too. Not forgetting the bamboo shells, clams, squids and prawns, I was in awe with the lavish spread of treasure from the sea that night. 

Highly recommended : Meaty Beef Balls  

Delightful Cheese Seafood Tofu  

Tasty Fish 'En' Cheese Shrimp

 Surprise by cheesy stuffing in the Fish 'En' Cheese Shrimp

Taiwan Cuttle Fish ball

Another noteworthy surimi that worth mentioning is the Taiwan Cuttle Fish Ball. Something different, it's made with fresh tiny cuts of squid within. I really enjoyed biting into these cuttle fish ball with real squid inside, chewy with an added extra texture, this tiny morsels are so tasty. It was really good and for that, it gets thumbs up from me.

Nutritious Mushrooms

I loved my mushrooms. Fresh or dried, I love them all. Pak John's menu features a wide array of mushroom with 6 types of mushrooms to choose from starting with the straw, button, shitake, oyster, enoki and even the king mushrooms. I, for most had a great time, savouring all these low calorie, fat-free and packed with powerful nutrients mushrooms in 3 different broths and to find that it's really goes with the delish Miso soup again.

Besides that, this all-you-can-eat buffet serves limitless drinks, ice-cream and fruits for diners to eat to their heart content. Free flow of drinks: special rose tea (my favourite), orange cordial, white coffee, cappuccino, teh-O and even latte. 

Remembering to check out this waffle station. The friendly Chef in waiting to serve piping hot and fluffy waffles straight from the pan according to your order. Appetising spreads comes with kaya, chocolate, peanut butter, strawberry and butter.  

Also, not forgetting the all time favourite ice-cream potong that will surely brings back nostalgia memories of our carefree childhood days. I tried out my favourite flavour, durian but I found it too sweet for me. Anyhow, I would like to try the Cendol flavour if I comes back here with my family the next time, probably in mid Dec to celebrate my 'special' day!  

In conclusion, I find that this outlet offers an excellent value for its food with great emphasis on freshness and quality, well assured that all are of premium product and will not compromised on the quality and service for its customers. Seriously this place is real money for value as I don't think you can find any place offering imported Australia beef, New Zealand lamb plus Smoked Duck at a mere RM 28.00 Buffet-Style price.

Well, this is the kind of restaurant that gives you the nice, comfy feeling after dining there. So, if you're looking for quality premium steamboat cuisine in a great and cozy environment, Pak John is the place to be!

     

Please note this outlet does not serve pork and alcohol on its menu.

Pak John Steamboat & Yong Tao Foo

e@curve Mutiara Damansara
Lot LG-13A & LG-15,
Lower Ground Floor, Ecurve. No 2A,
Jalan PJU 7/3, Mutiara Damansara
47810 Petaling Jaya Selangor.

Telephone:
03-7733 3913
018-386 3139
018-389 3139

Operation Buffet Hours : 6pm – 10pm  (Monday-Thursday)

Website : http://www.pakjohn.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pakjohn.ytf

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Asmara Penchala @Kg Sungai Penchala - An Ideal Spot for Intimate date @ by FollowMeToEatLa

Playing  with the alchemy of a warm and relaxing ambience, serving both traditional Malay and Western cuisines, Asmara Penchala is the one of the ideal place for romantic dates and intimate gatherings with family or friends.   

The narrow main entrance door inspired by the Balinese décor

Beautifully decorated Balinese theme gazebo

A contemporary-style restaurant with gazebos as part of its interior and within, a spot where diners can sit cross-legged as they indulge in asam pedas, ikan tiga rasa, kambing masala to juices of kedondong and desserts of 'kheer badam' and sago gula melaka.    

A restaurant with a Balinese-inspired decor located at Kampung Sungai Penchala, this place has a seating capacity of 1000. The restaurant is an ideal for intimate and warm gatherings with  outdoor garden gazebos, alfresco dining spaces and indoor air conditioned seating. Great place with pleasant and calming ambience, offering a comfortable and contemporary dining space for you and friends to dine in.
   

First in the menu, was the 'Asmara Punch', the restaurant Signature drink. If you have a liking for sweet-sweet punch, this is the right concoction for you and your partner. Made with a combination of freshly blended watermelon juice with orange puree and rose sirap. I found it a tad too sweet for me and adding in extras ice cubes doesn't help either. I think it's kind of overdose with the rose sirap and orange puree that are actually very sweet base drink by itself. But, the only compensating factor of this punch was the cute and pretty heart shape watermelon that comes with it. Please try this if you are a sweet toothed person.   

For dinner, I was served an appetiser at first. The Thai Fish Cake combines 3 tasty snacks into one - savoury dory fish cakes, zucchini slices and soft white bread topped with chiffonade carrots and lettuce for the extra crisp. Delicious and easy to consume finger food, I found it just right for me. Taste wise, the tasty snack of spice flavoured fish cakes goes really well with the rest of the ingredients especially the lettuce and zucchini.   

Another of the favourite finger food is the 'Asmara Kentang Goreng'. This appetising bites is soft on the inside and crispy on the outside. Served with chilli sauce, this simple and delicious bites is a sure hit with the kids any time of the day.

Next on the main course, it's the detectable 'Creamy Butter Prawns'. As creamy as it gets, this dish comes in plentiful portions. A good attempt by the Malay restaurant trying to emulate the Chinese Butter Prawns that are usually cooked with salted egg yolks. Guess the chef must have deep fried the prawns before topping it off with the savoury buttery cream sauce. The prawns was so well fried till it's even good to eat it as a whole, together with the shell and all. The prawns are fresh and succulent and the creamy sauce made it even more enjoyable.

Next is the Lamb Masala, which is tender and full of flavour, without being overpowering. A divine lamb curry cooked in a mixture of rich herbs and masala. The lamb dish served with cashew nuts and drenched in the Chef's special sauce were soft and flavourful, really delicious bursting with savoury and slightly spicy flavours. Now if only there was some naan bread to be eaten with these.

My favourite of the night was without a doubt, the 'Asam Pedas Asmara Tenggiri'. Serving was good with chunky pieces of the tenggiri fillet. Served piping hot in an authentic style claypot to maintain the warm of the gravy. Gravy was positively thick, with just enough spiciness to go with the steamed rice. The fragrance from the aromatic spices just permeates through & the taste of the ingredients cooked in these curries come forth instead of being overwhelmed by it. The only setback was the vegetable that comes with it as the some of the brinjals were still raw, uncooked and the ladies finger was too 'old', too fibrous to chew or bite!        

Romantic Décor complete with candle light, folded napkins, wine glasses & sweet scent of flowers petals to impress your date.

Tastefully decorated gazebo with warm lighting casts a romantic vibe & calm ambience for a perfect yet unforgettable dining experience for love birds. 

Overall, it is a great place for couples to dine and family to gather. With contemporary Malay architecture, mini canals, gazebos, and sprawling greenery greeting its customers as they step into the alfresco dining spaces of Asmara Penchala Restaurant. Serving a wide array fusion of local and international cuisines,whether it's a light meal, a main course or a sweet dessert, the culinary options here will satiate your senseless. Make this place a romantic escapade for your date and you <3

Don't forget to check out MyDeal.com for the best deals in town!

Asmara Penchala
2933, Jalan Sungai Penchala
Kampung Sungai Penchala,
60000 Kuala Lumpur.

Telephone: 03- 7726 0964