KAMPUNGBOYCITYGAL A MALAYSIAN FOOD & TRAVEL BLOG

Famous for their aroma and taste, truffles are the jewels in Italy’s gastronomic crown and Garibaldi is offering a special menu as part of white truffle season, which started in October and lasts till January.

Haiing from our neighbouring country of Singapore, Garibaldi is perhaps one of the most renowned Italian restaurants in town.

To supplement your meal at Garibaldi, there is also a full bar and an excellent wine list at Garibar downstairs.

Our degustation menu of the day was carefully crafted by Chef Giuliano Berta.

Bread Sticks

Freshly Baked Foccacia – I love the buttery/salty crust with a soft, chewy crumb!

We started our meal with Ostrica, Irish Oyster with Poached Quail Egg & Caviar. Plump, juicy and briny; the freshness of the oysters were further enhanced by runny egg yolk. I also like the luxurious addition of caviar on top!

Cappasanta, Sea Scallop with Saffron Crispy Cauliflower and Tarragon Saucet.  Coated in a sweet and slightly zesty sauce; these big and succulent scallops were really good.

Vitello Tonnato, Italian Cold Cuts Veal in Traditional Piedmont Recipe with Tuna and Caper’s Creamy Sauce. The cold cuts have a milld taste, with slightly grainy texture. The capers creamy sauce is one of the tastiest ways to do up a nice mild cut like this.

Brodo Ristretto, Clarified Beef Broth with Egg Yolk and Truffle Bigne. Clarified with egg white; the beef broth was delightfully delicious. Some of us stirred up the egg yolk together with the beef broth while some preferred to have it separately.

Fagottino, Black Ink Squid Ravioli with Crab Meat and Sweet Dried Tomato on Potato Emulsion. The black ravioli was certainly an eye catcher! Generously filled with crab meat, the ravioli was impressive in both taste and presentation department.

Orata, Pan Seared Line Catch Sea Bream Fillet with Apple Black Rice Puree and Whitebait Omelette. This is probably my favorite way to eat sea bream. The delicate sweet flesh contrasts nicely with the crunchy skin. The slightly tangy apple black rice puree helps to reduce some ‘jelakness’ as we were going into our last course.

Agnello, the Roasted Tobacco Smoked Lamb Rack with Purple Potatoes, Celeriac Mash and Berries Sauce. I love my rack of lamb the way it is; it was a particularly tasty version.

Meringata, the Crispy Italian Meringue with Chocolate Chip Parfait & Dark Cherry. It was so airy, sweet and crispy that they seem to almost melt in my mouth the moment I put them in!

Sorbetti – Raspberry & Passion Fruit

Petit Four

Meet the affable Chef Giuliano Berta who has more than 10 years of experience in fine Italian cuisine.

Garibaldi is still the indisputable champion of Italian cuisine in Kuala Lumpur. However, pricing could be on the higher side. It’s degustation menu changes from time to time and is priced at RM250++ per person. Thanks Sonia, for the kind invite!

Garibaldi Italian Restaurant and Bar
Lot. 10 & G22, Bangsar Village
Jalan Telawi 1
59100 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
03-2282 3456/57

With stylish new cafes popping out by the dozens since late last year, Publika @ Solaris Dutamas is my current (f00d) playground. This time we found ourselves at The Red Beanbag, a modern contemporary Australian-inspired café situated same row as our favourite French Bistro – Nathalie Gourmet Studio.

The Place – This café interior has a striking combination of contemporary lines, clean, warmth and rustic charm. Adding to the cafe’s rustic flair, a number of bean bags imprinted with words like “play”, “passion” and “creative” adorn the walls.

The Menu – Printed on a corrugated cardboard, the menu item is created with quirky names such as The Nutty Professor (tiramisu), Shroom Shroom (mushroom fettucini), Beef Me Up Scotty (grilled beef fillet) and many more. Apart from serving all day breakfast, there’s also main meal such as pasta and burger.

The Food -We stared with the RBB Signature Breakfast (RM 19.90) with poached, fried or scrambled eggs on toasts, sauteed mushrooms, grilled tomatoes, beef/chicken sausages, beef bacon, baked beans and hash brown(RM 19.90). Everything was decent (but not exceptionally good) except for the rubbery and tasteless scrambled eggs. I am secretly hoping for pork bacon too; but The Red Beanbag is a pork free eatery. Savings grace came in the form of Egg Benedict (RM 15.90). The perfectly runny yolk surrounded by nicely cooked egg white is the greatest part of the pleasure of Eggs Benedict. We poked through the yolk and enjoyed the runny hot mess. RBB’s Specialty Baked Eggs (RM 17.90)was pretty good too; with eggs cracked into a baking dish of lamb bratswurst, sundried tomatoes, potatoes and cheese, baked to perfection and served with crusty bread.

The piece de resistance is Classic French Toast (RM 13.90) coated with almonds, served with seasonal fruits and maple syrup (RM 13.90). It was so soft and fluffy! The almond coating gave it a nice, pleasant crunch too. However, RM 13.90 for ONE piece of roti is quite a steep price to pay.

Since there were 7 of us, each of us picked a dish and somehow Shaun is craving for risotto. Don Scallopino (RM 24.90) is seaweed risotto served with seared scallops and seaweed. A generous hand with the scallops but the risotto were on the bland side. My Crustacean Cousin (RM 27.90) on the other hand; was quite good. With tiger prawns and mixed seafood served with freshly pressed pasta, I felt like having lobster bisque with pasta. The lobster/prawn gravy was probably the key to this delicious seafood pasta. We don’t quite like the Shroom Shroom (entree RM19.90/main RM 24.90), creamy mix of mushroom and beef bacon bits on a bed of creamy fettucini. Those mushrooms and beef bacon bits had appeared for the third time (first & second time in our order of signature breakfast & egg benedict) and we find the pasta to be bland tasting.

Like for all caffeine oriented antipodeans, the key to a treasured breakfast haunt is the coffee. No complains! I also love how the barista tried to create coffee art for everyone around our table.

How do we like The Red Beanbag? It was a tough call. We loved the ambiance, the service (which was way beyond excellence), the vibe but the food was somehow disappointing. Don’t get me wrong. Food was actually decent, but it was a case of setting our expectations too high after reading some of the rave reviews.

p/s: will revisit for the Classic French Toast though.

p/s: still think Antipodean Cafe serves best breakfast

THE RED BEANBAG
Lot A4-1-8, Solaris Dutamas
(opposite Publika’s open space/Ben’s)
Jalan Dutamas 1,
50480 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: +603-6211 5116
Tue – Fri: 8:30 am - 5:00 pm
Sat – Sun: 9:30 am - 6:00 pm
Pre-booked dinners for functions available.
http://www.facebook.com/theredbeanbag

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As I mentioned before, a lot of you have asked if we earn 7 figures each year to afford such a lavish lifestyle? My answer was we do not live a lavish lifestyle. We can only afford 2 – 3 holidays per annum and we usually spend less than RM 4,000 per person for one of those trips. Contrary to popular beliefs, we do not eat out every day for every single meals. Eat outs usually happens in the weekends, which we really enjoy doing so.

As much as we would like to have more holiday plans and lavish eat outs, the reality hits. We are working for someone else, and we do have BILLS to pay. To make the most out from our meagre income, the secret is to INVEST.

We have only 24 hours a day so there is a limit to how much we can do. That’s when investing comes into place; it’s all about putting your money to work so it earns you an additional income.. Find out more by clicking “LIKE” on the Prudential R U Ready’s Facebook Fanpage and read my article about INVESTING.

You can also sign up for the entrepreneurs workshop that will be held on the Feb 18th in PJ Live Arts, Jaya One. Participants will be getting insights from young entrepreneurs how to start a business and getting to mingle with like minded young people, etc.

Antipodean – pronounced “an·tip·o·de·an” (adj)

means

(1) coming from or relating to Australia or New Zealand

(2) Ancient Greek: anti “opposed” pous “foot” opposite points on the globe.

Antipodean is a kiwi style cafe that has taken the city by storm.Serving good coffee and delicious breakfast spread, this little premise is packed to the brim almost every morning. Expect to see expats with kids and/or their pets in tow, as this place is extremely child/animal friendly. Hence securing a table can be a difficult matter, so it is better to come in a group of 2-4 as they have only 2 tables which catered to a bigger group.

Antipodean Cafe carries an Aussie vibe – filled with lifting coffee aroma, cramped but cozy interior and buzzing with activities.

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Full Itinerary “6D5N @ Bangkok + Hua Hin – Purely R&R, Food & Shopping!”, click here!

Upon checking into our beautiful resort, we hired a cab to Sofitel Centara. It is a classic colonial-era Railway hotel that has occupied an idyllic spot on Hua Hin beach front for almost a century. Sofitel Centara is well known for its colonial style architecture and topiary gardens full of bushes shaped like animals.

Our main purpose was to do afternoon tea at “The Museum”, a beautiful tea room which features the many histories of the old Railway Hotel. ‘The Museum’ is overlooking the gardens within the main hotel and another at the other side of the lounge area overlooking the topiary garden. As we studied the vintage black and white photos and various old ornaments in The Museum, we felt as if we were being transported back to the 19th century.

The afternoon tea menu is typical. We indulged in a beautifully arranged three-tier English afternoon tea (480 baht per pax) set with freshly baked scones, bite size sandwiches, tiny cakes and pastries. The tea or coffee was presented in delicate china sets. We were also served by a couple of charming Thai ladies dressed in silk Thai trouser-pants and fine lace blouses.

Sofitel’s afternoon tea starts at 15.00 and lasts until 17.00. We took a leisurely stroll around the hotel grounds after that. I have been fascinated by topiary gardens for years and in here, we got a sense of Sofitel’s passion for British colonial-era gentile country life.

What a beautiful evening (in a thick British accent)! Sofitel Centara is the place to go if you are planning a trip to Hua Hin. The fabulous ambience and great friendly services more than make up for the decent/average food, making it an excellent overall experience.

The Museum
Sofitel Centara Grand Resort & Villas,
1 Damnernkasem Road,
Hua Hin 77110, Thailand
Tel: (+66) 32512021
Email: reservation@sofitel.co.th

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Full Itinerary “6D5N @ Bangkok + Hua Hin – Purely R&R, Food & Shopping!”, click here!

Happy 2012 to our dear readers! Have your got your holiday plans ready for the year? Well, we already have two places in mind for the first half of year 2012! If Bangkok is one of your holiday destination this year, why not consider making a 3D2N trip to Hua Hin?

Hua Hin is unlike any other beach resort in Thailand. There’s no all-night action of cabarets and discos, neither there’s any tourist crowds, traffic or anything for that matter. It is a quaint seaside resort city which is very popular among Bangkok residents as well as a small group of Japanese, Korean, Hong Konger and Taiwanese tourists. It is well known as a rainy season retreat and is closely associated with the Thai royalty. In 1926, King Rama VII built the Klai Kangwon (Far From Worries) Palace on the beach a few km north of the Railway Hotel and this palace is still frequently used by the Royal Family. The Hua Hin railway station is also frequently visited by the Thai royalties. There’s even a Royal Waiting Room in it!

Situated about 200 kms from Bangkok, there are a few ways to get to Hua Hin:

Bus:

From Bangkok Southern terminal every 40 minutes from early until late, about THB 160 each way, journey time about 3 hrs 15 minutes

Pros and Cons: Cheap, comfortable and relatively faster; but the location of Bangkok Southern Terminal is not convenient.

Train:

Fares vary depending on type of train and class. Journey time from around 4 hrs to 5 hrs. Most have 2nd class air conditioned some also 1st Class.

kampungboycitygal’s comment: Cheap (around 100 baht); but the trains go very slowly getting away from Bangkok so 2 1/2 hour road time to Hua Hin stretches to 5 or 6 on the train.

Air:

As of 2010, there is no scheduled air service between Bangkok and Hua Hin. Charter jets and helicopters are available if you are in a hurry and have lots of money. Hua Hin Airport is also convenient for Cha-am.

kampungboycitygal’s comment: Fast, comfortable and convenient; but we don’t have the money to charter a jet.

Taxis:

Easily available, journey time about 3 hours, fares range from THB 1,600 onwards.

kampungboycitygal’s comment: Fast, comfortable and convenient; but 1600-2000 baht is still a steep price to pay for 2 pax.

Limousines:

Easily available from airport and city, fares range from about THB 2,850 upwards, and more comfortable than normal taxis. Large sedans and min-vans available.

kampungboycitygal’s comment: Fast, comfortable and convenient; but 3000 baht is still a steep price to pay for 2 pax.

Hotel Transfers:

Some hotels / hotel groups such as Hyatt and Dusit have regular transfers between their Bangkok and Hua Hin properties, either large sedans or luxury mini-vans.

Shared Mini Vans:

This option is available from most any travel agency in Bangkok, but must be booked ahead. It’s one of the most cost effective ways to get to Hua Hin. One way fares usually cost no more than THB 500. The trip takes a little over 3 hours, depending on your place in the pick up or drop off queue.

kampungboycitygal’s comment: Cheap, convenient to board (Victory Monument BTS) and relatively faster (2.5 hours); but seating can be very tight and there’s no luggage storage space available.

Information from Trip Advisor

To board a minibus, proceed to Century Shopping Mall (Victory Monument BTS). Cost is 180 baht, limited baggage. You might be asked to buy extra seat if you have a lot of luggage. If you’re traveling light, it’s a great way to go.

The Hua Hin vans board in the alleyway next to Century Movie Plaza close to the stairs at the southern end of Victory Monument BTS station. From the skytrain station, take the walkway towards south, descend the staircase on the east side to street level. The minibus area is next to the stairs. Look for a small table with “Cha Am, Hua Hin” written in English to buy your ticket. There’s service to Pattaya as well.

The mini van departs every 30 minutes, or when the van is full (~15 pax).

Our mini van stops near the Clock Tower. From there, we took a 2-3 minutes walk to Hua Hin Tourist Information Centre.

The friendly staff provided us with a range of information. They even helped us to call up our resort to arrange for pick up!

Can’t wait to explore Hua Hin!

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