FIRST TASTED: Lazio at Danga Bay

Last Saturday was one of those rare occasions which I had a whole day free to hang out with buddies, so, I made it a extremely eventful Saturday. Morning, I had my cousin’s beauty shop opening; noon time, I had a series of test driving; afternoon, I had movie; night time, I had a decent dinner with my buddies at this place- Lazio at Danga Bay. This place was the last on my To-Try list at that moment until further update or survey being done, which I think it won’t take long.

So, this place, as the name suggested, the restaurant is located at Danga Bay. It’s selling mainly Italian food, such as Pizzas, some steaks and some other food which can be easily found in any other restaurant around.

Ambient/ Environment:

It’s quite comfortable a place to be in, the entire layout of the tables and chairs make it very spacious. The best thing about being built along the coast of Danga Bay is, of course, the pleasant scenery and beautiful sea view, which we didn’t manage to enjoy much when we were there, because we were too late to arrive there that day.

Food:

I’ve gotten quite a good deal of steak set meal from Groupon which consists of a Tomahawk Steak (which is practically huge chunk of grilled Ribeye steak with the bone still sticking on it), 2 mushroom soup and 2 glasses of wine. The set meal is good for two people. Since we had four of us, we added on the Lazio’s Garden Salad, Hawaiian Pizza and the German Sausage.

The Lazio’s Garden Salad was the first to be served. It seemed like a simple dish, but don’t be fooled. It didn’t come with simple taste. In fact, it’s quite spicy, not something that would really open up our appetite.

Next to be served was the mushroom soup which was tasted super mushroomy, the Shitake mushroom taste was so strong that one of my buddies, who hates it, stopped taking it after a couple of scoops.

   

Not long afterwards, the Hawaiian Pizza was served. I have to say, the Hawaiian Pizza is always the safest choice of all at any pizza stalls. It can’t possibly go horribly wrong, same goes to this one. It’s got everything it needs to be called a Hawaiian Pizza. There’s ham, pineapple, cheese and tomato being spread evenly on top of the pizza dough. It’s neither very good nor very bad. The ingredients were pretty standard; the chef was quite generous on the cheese though. This is not the kind of pizza that I had in Italy, it’s very thin and can be eaten effortlessly.

Next up was the focus of this dinner- The Tomahawk Steak. I was supposed to have it done medium, but one of the waitresses gave me a weird expression and suggested to go for medium well. I went for her suggestion. When it’s being served, it didn’t look as huge or as heavy as the photo/ menu suggested. One cut of the juicy Ribeye and delivered to my mouth, immediately I could feel the sweetness of the steak. The outside of the steak was nicely grilled; the inside however, was a little bit of a problem and at that moment I realized why the waitress gave me that weird expression. The deeper/ more middle we cut, the more bloody it turned out to be. I personally don’t like the bloody look of any steak. I couldn’t blame the chef for delivering such dissatisfied steak either, because this Tomahawk steak was very thick, it’s not easy to get the best out of both worlds, i.e. even doneness across. We finished it anyway, even though it’s pretty rare in the middle.

We then added on the German sausage to close up the whole meal. This sausage could have been grilled for a longer time until it’s a bit charred. To me, it’s not really cooked, inside the sausage was soft, I couldn’t feel the texture of minced meat at all. I was indeed disappointed by that. The mashed potato at the side was pretty good. Even so, it still couldn’t compensate those substandard sausages.

Service:

I’d say the waiters and waitresses there were quite friendly. Some of them were quite blur with what they are doing. One of the guys served me an additional glass of beer which I didn’t order and charged me on that. That could possibly be the best way to sell your product!

Verdict:

This is one of those try-once-is-enough shops to me. For the price we paid, inclusive of the Groupon promotion, it’s simply not worth to revisit this place again. The foods that they serve here simply couldn’t match the price they are charging.

I’d suggest Brazzo, if someone is craving for some grilled meats.

FIRST TASTED: Stew Küche @ 119 Bukit Merah Lane 1

Last Thursday, my colleagues and I went for German cuisine in a hawker center near Bukit Merah. I know, this is quite strange a combination, but my colleagues, who had been to this place, said it’s quite good. Hence, we gave it a shot.

This hawker center is only walking distance away from the IKEA Alexandra, but it’s not an obvious spot which one could find it easily.

Since this is a hawker, I will do it the hawker way, making this post brief and concise.

Ambient/ Environment:

Well, it’s typical hawker feel. What’s odd about this is that this hawker is not selling those hawker foods that we could see every day. As opposed to that, this place is selling mainly high priced (by hawker standard) foreign cuisines, mainly western food, without giving the eaters any sense of oppressiveness while eating, which is good, to me at least.

Services:

Since this is a hawker, for sure it’s on self-service basis.

Food:

Now, we come to the most important bit of this trip. There were 4 of us. We ordered the Swiss Farmer Dinner Combo from Stew Küche, which consists of pork knuckle, German sausages, potato wedges, some sautéed mixed vegetable and some archar. Look at that, the boss was very generous by giving his customers plate full of food! I personally think that it’s very good value for money, despite the fact that part of the lean meat on the knuckle which was too dry to my liking. On the whole, this Swiss Farmer Dinner Combo has everything you need and it is definitely worth the travelling.

Other than that, we ordered a pork burger from another stall, called De Burg. I didn’t get to shoot a great photo, because we were too hungry to do so. Overall, the meat patty was well cooked, juicy and tasted a bit charred on the outside, which I like; the bread was soft; the vegetable sandwiched in between the buns was fresh. All these are basic fundamental to make a good burger; lacking either of them is going to ruin the whole thing.

We also ordered a deep fried whole fish and a pot of mussels from another stall which I couldn’t remember the name of it. The fish was crispy on the outside, tender on the inside. I could easily tell that the fish was extremely fresh by the sweetness of it. The potato salad that came along with the fish wasn’t bad too.

The pot of mussels was nothing more than ordinary, but then again, fresh seafood would taste good even if you don’t have the skill of a chef. The original taste of seafood is always best. I suppose the chef had this believe on his mind while preparing this pot of mussels. It neither surprises me nor letting me down.

To conclude, this is the kind of shops that I will revisit, due to its casualness of the ambient that somehow gives me some kind of special feeling and of course, the pocket-friendliness of the food selling here without disappointing us in term of the taste of the food.

Cheers!

   

FIRST TASTED: The Brazzo @ Taman Ponderosa

Last Saturday, my mum and I went out, to a place that we have never been to before, for a dinner. This time round, we came to this place recommended by my friend, called The Brazzo @ Taman Ponderosa. There’s another outlet in Perling area, if I am not mistaken. As always, I have done some research before I come to unknown places like such. My research indicated that a number of bloggers gave quite good comments for this restaurant, especially the food they serve.

This shop located at newly developed area in Taman Molek. It’s not particularly hard to find if you are familiar with that area, which I am not. I trusted my GPS too much that I lost my way into a Malay Kampung. After U-turned and came out from the Malay Kampung, I chose to trust my instinct, and here we are, The Brazzo, located right next to the UOB bank in Taman Ponderosa.

Ambient/ Environment:

We arrived around 7pm. First step into the shop, it’s quite chilly due to emptiness of the shop. The business didn’t seem to be very good, quite the opposite to the result of my research. I tried to convince ourselves that we came too early; people tend to come late for dinner, especially on weekends.

Anyway, we were brought to the table that we reserved and started ordering.

Food:

We ordered a salad, 2 main courses and rounded them off with some beer.

First dish to be served is the Smoked Duck Salad. The vegetable was no doubt very fresh; the smoked duck was nicely seasoned, but not smokey enough; and the dressing was overdosed, too sweet to my liking. I like the simplicity of it, but I still prefer the smoked duck from ONE63.

Second to be served was the Oven Baked Tasmanian Trout. This salmon-like-but-with-lesser-fat fish was nicely baked, crispy on the outside (especially the skin of it), while maintaining the tenderness on the inside. The texture of the baked trout is somewhat similar to that of salmon without the unique burning fat taste. The cream sauce that dressed on the trout fillet was quite a good match. The special mashed potato caught my eye quite a bit too. The brownish color of it gave me the wrong impression about the materials to produce this mashed potato, I once thought that it’s potato mixing with sweet potato. I was so wrong. One of the waitresses said it’s a mixture between potato and carrot, but she gave us an unsure look. I chose to believe her anyway. Part of the reason why we couldn’t accurately judge what’s in the mashed potato is because that thing was rather tasteless; it’s lost most of the natural flavor of the raw materials. So, it’s a show, but no go. And then, the stir fried lily flower with a type of mushrooms putting right next to the mashed potato was not bad at all.

Last to be served was the main focus of today- French Rack of Lamb. The big-flat-slate-like plate did give us a misconception that it’s very big portion. In fact, it’s not. We had it to be done medium. The little lamb was grilled perfectly, succulent and tender while it’s being delivered into my mouth. The sauce was just typical black sauce for steaks/ grilled meats. The sides that came with the lamb were simple too- some garden salad (similar to the Smoked Duck salad, without smoked duck), some broccoli, cherry tomato and water boiled mini potato seasoned with some herbs and spices. They were all very fresh. However, I have a little complaint to the water boiled mini potato. It’s tasteless on the inside. I believe there’s better way to prepare this.

Feeling quite remorseful when looking at the tiny bone of the lamb rack and the blood.

   

Services:

Considering this shop is rather new, I will forgive their blurriness.

Verdict…

This shop does supply some quality grilled products. I would come back when I am craving for one. I think it’s a good drinking and eating place for a group of five or so. There’s happy hour (which is not exactly happy to me) going on here from open till 8pm daily. Beer set costs RM55 with a free snack plate. With this, I believe my next visit to this place will come very soon.

FIRST TASTED: Cestino Bakery & Bistro

It’s been a while since my last C@ri M@k@n session, reason being, I was kind enough to give my stomach a couple of weeks break for CNY.

Last Friday was one of those beautiful Friday which I didn’t have to go to office and work. I’m not too sure if I was too boring or I simply adore eating. When I have nothing to do, the first thing comes to my mind is always food, especially the food that I have never try. This time round, in the lazy afternoon, I came to this place that I have long drooled about- Cestino Bakery & Bistro, for a high tea session with my parents.

This particular Cestino is located right behind the shop lots of Tebrau AEON. They have another newly opened branch in Country Garden Danga Bay.

Ambient/ Environment:

First step entering the cafe, immediately I could feel the ampleness of it, as it’s a 2 shops construction. There’s nothing but the fridges and the picture resemblance to Marilyn Monroe appeared right in front of us. It’s quite surprising that it’s not crowded at all even on Friday afternoon, considering Friday and Saturday are official weekend in Johor. Or it might because of the food and drinks offered here are simply not good? Gosh, that baffled me quite a bit at that moment.

Since we were there and had no other places to go, we nerved ourselves up, got ourselves a table and started ordering.

Food:

For a start, I like the texture of the menu. It feels solid, clearly illustrated and some of the foods are even shown with pictures.

For weekdays afternoon (3pm-6.30pm), they do offer high tea sets which I think they are quite good value for money. Such a good deal, we definitely won’t miss it out. We went ahead and order a high tea set C, a mushroom toast and a chicken club sandwich. The high tea set C consists of 2 cups of hot coffee/tea, a piece of cheese cake/tart/frangipani and a house dessert. We had a cup of Cappuccino, a cup of Americano, something (apple, if I remember it correctly) with blueberry frangipani, their signature Tiramisu as our high tea set.

            

Overall, the food that we ordered was quite acceptable, considering the price that we paid for, which was not particularly high. While for the drinks, the cappuccino was the greatest disappointment of the entire high tea session. It looked promising when it’s delivered. One sip of that, I realized that it tasted more of a café latte than a cappuccino, it’s lean. Also, I felt that the espresso and the milk were detached/ disengaged. This cup of cappuccino nearly ruined the whole session; fortunately, we have a cup of Americano to compensate that.

Services:

A number of blur waiters and waitresses who seem to be newly employed/ part-timer and have not much experience/ knowledge on what products they offer, what the signature is and etc.. That annoys me quite a bit.

So, would I come back to this place?

I probably would, if I come to Tebrau area in the afternoon and in need of food to fill up my stomach, simply because of the friendliness of the price and the rather quiet environment. I won’t fake myself by saying the food selling here is any great, it’s just average if I am brutally honest. There are flaws everywhere, but none is major, could be easily forgiven. What they need to improve, is simply a good manager/ personnel who can work on every single details of this bakery shop.