homemade blues

Yup. Am counting the days. One of my resolutions is to keep blogging about my time off, and especially keeping a food journal. I have plans, y'know. Places to go, people to see, things to do. So, yeah, I'm sorta looking forward to it.

But in the mean time, I'm being used as an excuse for the work-gang to go out for lunch.

Banquet @ Bangsar Village 2 Review
On Wednesday, some of my colleagues and I went out for a long lunch (we shouldn't, but ahh, 'tis the season to be jolly, no?) to Banquet @ Bangsar Village 2. It was nice. We shared each other's food, so I had a bit of this, a bit of that. Not cheap though. One meal can set one off about RM50 (plus govt and service taxes). So not so often lah. Hehe.

I had the set lunch menu - pita bread with 3 types of dips (chickpea, hummus and yoghurt+coriander, I think) as the entree, the main was pan fried dory with snake green beans and orange juice. But I had a taste of YN's squid ink risotto (it was nice! unbelievable! but we all had black teeth and tongue for a while... :P), and also Chef's risotto with porcini mushrooms. We all shared garlic bread, and for dessert, 3 types of crepes - with banana, raspberry jam, honey+lemon) and also creme brulee! It was madness. We were so full, by the time we went back to the office - urgh, didn't feel like working already. Haha.

Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures. I guess I should, but I dunno. I had a funny feeling that the establishment's management may not take too well to my picture taking. But I have this funny feeling all the time when I eat out. I'd love to play food critic, so, yeah, I should start taking pictures of what I eat...

Anyway, the entree was good! The pita bread was cut into 6 pieces, and the 3 types of dips were served in little bowls, and the chickpea was the best, in my opinion. YN's squid ink risotto was NOT what I expected. Ya lah, the whole dish being totally black in color, but sprinkled with some finely diced red capsicum (I think) that gave the dish a nice color contrast. And it tasted nice! It had a seafood-y flavor, but a nice balance of salty and savoury and creamy texture. It was a pleasant surprise.

Chef's risotto with porcini mushroom had strong mushroom flavor, and was a bit too heavy on the cream for me, but still pleasant, although I don't think I could finish a whole plate. And my mains came with generous portions of pan-fried fish fillets that sat on a bed of crunchy snake green beans, and mushroom sauce (which tasted very similarly to Chef's risotto). After all the tasting, I could hardly finish even half of the serving (luckily YN and Chef helped).

The crepes were lightly thin, and unsweetened, which enhanced the natural sweetness that was given by the filling. The creme brulee, on the other hand, was a bit too sweet and milky for my liking, but the caramelized surface was perfect.

All in all, it's a place I'd go with G and recommend to friends. Btw, they do have local delicacies served (like nasi lemak, curry mee, etc.), it's just that we decided to go western this time. Hehe.

Secret Recipe @ Wisma Thrifty, PJ
Today SR and I went with SL for my "au revoir" lunch, and sad to say, we are sorely disappointed with the food. Already a bad omen, SL requested for the Thai Fried Rice, and the answer we got is that the chef is not yet in, and the assistant cook at the back doesn't know how to prepare it, so no fried rice.

O-kay. Bad news no. 2, SL and I asked for the mushroom chicken with herbed rice, and bbq chicken with herbed rice, respectively, and while SL didn't like her food, my bbq chicken didn't come with bbq sauce, but instead came with a tomato-chilli sauce like concoction that resembles something like the sauce that goes with hainan chicken chop, minus the garnishes that usually goes with it, like the diced tomato, onion, etc. I don't know how to explain it, but needless to say, I was disappointed.

Last bad news, for dessert, I recommended the cheese brownie, which Sharon got for me once, but this time, it was dry and flaky, and not nice. Like it's been in the display for too long. Much too long.

They have deteriorated. Am not recommending this outlet to anyone.

But the company was great, which made the lunch worthwhile. :)