Bright and breezy cafes are the norm in Bangsar where people often go on lazy weekend mornings to hang out over a cup of coffee or to chat over yummy cakes and tea. Marmalade is one such cafe. Tucked away in a corner of Bangsar Village 2, the cafe is done up in rustic white wooden decorations and bright yellow cushions which gives it a lovely laid-back feeling. The highlight of the cafe are its brightly painted murals on the walls which feature a funky ferris wheel and cheery designs. I recently got a change to try Marmalade for two events and came away suitable impressed. Read on for my review below.

Marmalade Cafe Is Great For Gatherings

We had planned a surprise birthday party at Marmalade Cafe, Bangsar and I was pleased to find that they were quite nice about making reservations for a specific little corner on a busy Saturday morning. They also allowed us to bring in our own birthday cake which I found really nice too. We ordered off their breakfast menu which came with a good variety of breakfast sets which came with freshly squeezed orange juice and coffee. Their French toast set was really good and came with yummy caramelised bananas! Service was satisfactory and it was quite funny to see how amused the servers were when we were hiding to give our friend a surprise welcome!

Marmalade Cafe Is Perfect For Childrens’ Parties

The second time I went to Marmalade was for a friend’s son’s 1st birthday party. Marmalade is a great place for parties as it has a little area which can be turned into a private party area for you with a minimum reservation of 35 people. A good spread of breakfast and brunch food was served with scrambled eggs, sausages, breads, fruit salad, quiches and even little boxes of cereal and milk for the children. They were also thoughtful enough to provide plastic cutlery, plates and cups for children in bright and cheery yellow. The food was pretty good although some of the muffins and pancakes were a little dry.

I love the casual setting Marmalade Cafe has and their bright cheery murals which makes it a wonderful place to spend a lazy Saturday or Sunday morning. The wooden panels in white give it a nice rustic country look with little corners to curl up and chat. A delicious array of cakes are displayed at their entrance and anyone with a sweet tooth will be terribly tempted!

Marmalade Cafe is located in Bangsar Village and Mont Kiara at the two addresses below:

Marmalade Mont Kiara
E-01-02, Block E,
Plaza Mont Kiara,
Jalan Kiara 2, Mont Kiara

Tel: 03-6201 1743

Marmalade Bangsar
1F-18, 1st Floor,
Bangsar Village 2,
Jalan Telawi 2,
Bangsar Baru

Tel: 03-2282 8301

Last weekend was a bit of firsts for me. It was my first time going on a food-themed treasure hunt in KL, my first time doing it with the Blogger Babes – PB, Beetrice and Rinnah and our first time in using Maxis Finder301! Read on for our experience in the Food Hunt and our review of Maxis Finder301.

Picture stolen from PB

Klang Valley Food Hunt Wasn’t In KL!

We had taken part in the Food Hunt organised by Time Out Solutions and Rasa Rasa in Penang two years ago but this was the first time they were having it in Klang Valley and surprise, surprise, we were hunting for clues mainly outside KL City! The only nod to KL was Bangsar Telawi area for our second leg which was not a good idea at all as Bangsar Telawi is notorious for its double parking and terrible traffic jams! Add some hundred over zealous treasure hunter cars who drive with their eyes upward looking for clues and you have absolute mayhem not to mention some rather dangerous driving!

Time Out Solutions Treasure Hunting Clues

I have to take my hat off to Time Out Solutions and the mega brains behind them who come up with the treasure hunt questions! Some were easy but some were real brain gymnastics and gosh, to solve some of them in the wee hours of the morning was really painful on my little brain! Some questions we thought seemed a little unfair but I guess that’s what separates the pros from the newbies!

Maxis Finder301 Is Not Clever

Note to Maxis – Do not beta test a new product when you require large numbers of people to log in simultaneously to look for places! The Maxis Finder301 is a new service Maxis is launching which acts like a GPS on your phone to lead you to places or food outlets. You’re supposed to send a keyword, e.g. “nasi lemak” to 301 and depending on your location, the service will spill out options (3 options each time) where you can go. You are not charged to receive the SMS but you are definitely charged each and everytime you send to 301 and if there are more than 3 options, you will need to keep sending back SMSes to get the additional options on the other pages!

As Maxis was one of the sponsors, the food hunt required us to actually use this service to locate eateries, police stations and banks to take photos of as part of our challenge. Perhaps due to their unreadiness or the sheer number of people logging in the service was terrible! At one point, we were within the Damansara Uptown and standing right outside Old Town Kopitiam and we kept receiving locations for Old Town Kopitiam in 1 Utama and Jalan Bukit Bintang! FAIL!!

We Finished The Food Hunt Half Hour Early!

When we started the hunt, our aim was to at least win something and we not only finished half an hour early but won ourselves a little hamper for our efforts! We placed 31st place out of 139 teams which was pretty good for newbies! You rock, girls!

*cough* Although there were some indications that the first prize winner and maybe even the second *cough cough* were employees of one of the main *cough* sponsors. If it was true, it was totally unfair and I think sponsors and their employees should have a separate category of prizes from those who actually PAID to join the hunt.

It left a bit of a bitter aftertaste but hopefully that wouldn’t put us off future treasure hunts with the Blogger Babes!

I’ve been seeing the KFC Shrimp Stix advertisement on TV and was rather interested by it as KFC has always been known for its chicken, not seafood! The advertisement featured plump shrimp wrapped in a crumbed batter which looked pretty good until I tried it! Read on for my review of the KFC Shrimp Stix promotion!

KFC Shrimp Stix Is Expensive

An ala-carte order of Shrimp Stix nets you four sticks for RM5.15 (almost RM6 with tax). The pieces are tiny 2-inch long little sticks for about RM1.50 per piece! The way it was served only accentuated its tiny size further for I had four little sticks rattling around in a large paper box! Certainly nothing like their advertisement and although I put that down to the power of advertising and media liberties, I thought it was a real rip-off to charge customers such a high price for something so tiny! If you’re looking for a cheap snack, this is certainly not it!

KFC Shrimp Stix Tastes Horrid

After my initial horror over the price, I tested the overpriced shrimp. It was absolutely horrid! Each stick was coated in crumbed batter not unlike the processed seafood or chicken nuggets you can find in your supermarket freezer. Its crunchy and when you bite into it, you get a creamy concoction with no shrimp! No plump shrimp waiting for your every bite!

Instead, all you get is a chewy texture not unlike the imitation crabstick filamen you can again find in your supermarket freezer. The taste was not memorable at all and I only remember a creamy texture which tasted a little like plastic!

So will I recommend you try KFC Shrimp Stix? Not particularly unless you wish to experience it for yourself! Otherwise, you probably can find cheaper and tastier snack options in the form of packed nuggets!

Japanese confectionary and savoury snacks have always been top of my list of favourites, more than any other type of chips. They somewhat seem healthier, perhaps because they are mostly baked not fried although the MSG levels inside are something else altogether! It used to be really hard to find places selling a wide variety of Japanese food and snacks but now thanks to Shojikiya, KLites finally have a one-stop Japanese shopping outlet for all their Japanese food! Read on below to find out where the Shojikiya outlets are.

Shojikiya is the first Japanese specialty outlet store in Malaysia. I love their variety of products which total over 1,000 different imported varieties direct from Japan! Any Japanese food lover is truly spoilt for choice with fresh food ingredients for cooking, ready to eat Japanese snacks and confectionery, Japanese green tea and liqour and even fresh Japanese fish!

The prices are surprisingly quite affordable for some products, considering they are imported directly from Japan. However, if you don’t mind buying products that are closer to the expiry dates, look for the frequent promotions Shojikiya runs where you can pick up Japanese biscuits and crackers at discounted prices.

Most Shojikiya outlets are located next to the popular Sushi Zanmai and Pasta Zanmai outlets. In the Gardens outlet, you can actually purchase fresh fish from Shojikiya to be cooked by the Sushi Zanmai restaurant for a small fee! Nothing beats freshly cooked fish!

For Japanese food lovers, Shojikiya Outlets in Malaysia are:

The Gardens, Mid Valley
LG-205, Lower Ground Floor, The Gardens, Mid Valley City, Lingakaran Syed Putra, 59200 Kuala Lumpur.
Phone No: (03) 2283 6160
Mobile No: (012) 480 6162

Midvalley Megamall
F-051, First Floor, Mid Valley City, Lignkaran Syed Putra, 59200 Kuala Lumpur.
Phone No: (03) 2288 1420
Mobile No: (012) 420 1220

One Utama Shopping Centre
G210B, Ground Floor Promenade, One Utama Shopping Centre, No 1, Lebuh BU, BU Damansara, Bandar Utama, 47800 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
Phone No: (03) 77280390
Mobile No: (012) 7720390

One Utama Shopping Centre (New Wing)
SK9A, 2nd Floor High Street, One Utama Shopping Centre, No 1, Lebuh Bandar Utama Damansara, 47800 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
Phone No: (03) 77270310
Mobile No: (012) 2170130

Hartamas Shopping Centre
Lot P-17A, Plaza Ground Floor, Hartamas Shopping Center No 60, Jalan Sri Hartamas 1, Sri Hartamas, 50480 Kuala Lumpur.
Phone No: (03) 6201 3730
Mobile No: (012) 281 6270

Sunway Pyramid
1st Floor, Japanese Street, Oasis Bouvelard 2, Sunway Pyramid Shopping Center, No 3, Jalan PJS 11/15, Bandar Sunway, 46150 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
Phone No: (03) 7492 0020
Mobile No: (012) 371 9720

Desa Park City
GF-07, The Waterfront @ Parkcity, No 5, Persiaran Residen Desa Park City, 52200 Kuala Lumpur.
Phone No: (03) 62808130
Mobile No: (012) 3288130

I have always passed Dome Cafe and heard of their good food and coffees but only recently tried their lunch menu. Their lunch menu was pretty extensive with a good mix of local and Western food and their cafe bright and breezy with waiters in cute French peaked caps. However, I don’t think I’ll be back there in a hurry. Read on for my review of Dome Cafe.

Good service at Dome Cafe

I went to the outlet in Bangsar Shopping Centre. Being used to bad service from waiters who pretend not to see you, I was pleasantly surprised by the waitstaff in Dome who were quite attentive and quick to come whenever we needed something. They took our orders quite quickly and the food came quite fast too. Unfortunately, while the service and food wasn’t too bad, the bill wasn’t!

Dome Charges Extra For Additional Sambal!

I ordered the nasi lemak at RM19. It came with a good portion of chicken rendang, a whole egg and a small saucer of sambal. Nasi lemak is best savoured with lots of sambal and I did just that and found that the sambal wasn’t quite enough for the huge portion they gave. So I asked for some extra sambal which is usually provided without any fuss from any restaurant, cafe or even roadside makcik. After all, what is the cost of sambal when the nasi lemak is already RM19 (without tax)?

To my horror, when I got the bill, I found that Dome charged me RM1.50 before tax for that tiny plate of sambal! I don’t like paying for overpriced food and even more so when it does not seem its worth. RM1.50 for a little saucer of sambal which barely costs 10 cents is definitely not the way to make money from your customers! Any nasi lemak makcik will be happy to dole out the sambal for free since it is hardly any cost to them! For the record, a similar request at Kluang Station was smilingly met with no additional costs!

Will I be back at Dome again? Will I recommend Dome? Definitely not in a hurry despite their good service and food. Do beware when you dine at Dome and request for additional sauces or sambal to go with your meal.

Celestial Court in Sheraton Imperial Hotel, Kuala Lumpur has always been one of my favourite restaurants. It is a contemporary Chinese restaurant located on the 3rd floor of Sheraton Imperial. You enter the restaurant through a mock pavilion into a comfortable restaurant with delicious and delicate Cantonese cuisine.

Unfortunately, my good impressions of Celestial Court were recently marred by a really unpleasant dining experience. Read on below to find out why.

We recently went for a dim sum lunch there on a Sunday afternoon approximately 1.30pm which was past the lunch crowd. The restaurant was only half full when we arrived but the waiters and waitresses were all dashing around busily and no one even stopped to attend to us when we stood at the entrance. Finally, I stopped the harried cashier and she just pointed to a table and told us to sit there.

No one came to attend to us while we were sitting there and we had to call several staff just to get a menu to place our orders. No one flipped our napkin or even offered us a drink while we sat there for at least 10 minutes. One of them finally appeared with the menus, put it haphazardly on the table then left again much to our surprise! This left us having to look for staff, all over again, when we wanted to place our orders. When we finally got a waitress, she was obviously not prepared to take our orders as she did not have any pen or paper with her and ran to get some only after we suggested that she jot them down. Even with jotting them down, she managed to miss out one of our orders which we noticed only after they placed our dim sum order chit on the table.

All throughout our lunch, the staff were dashing about with stressed expressions which made for a very stressful dining experience. Empty plates had to be left for quite long on our small table before they were cleared and no one offered to top up our water glasses or offer us clean plates.

It was a real disappointing experience and something we definitely did not expect from a 5-star dining establishment! It was a real pity their service levels were so bad as the food was delicious and I had some of the best dim sum I have eaten in a while there.

Perhaps it was just my luck that afternoon, nevertheless, I believe service levels should be always kept consistent and optimum to ensure customers keep coming back. Should you wish to try their delicious dim sum, do try:

• Har gau (prawn dumplings)
• Buddha Jumped Over The Wall Dumpling in Sharksfin Soup (it had a whole abalone!)
• Cod & Prawn Fried Dumpling with Wasabi Dressing (very unique)
• Sesame Seed Balls Filled With Jade Lotus Paste (not too sweet and bursting with lotus paste)
• Herbal Jelly With Sea Coconut and Lemon (deliciously refreshing after the heavy dim sum meal)

I would recommend Celestial Court Restaurant for its food but definitely not the service levels!

Westin KL does a dim sum brunch buffet every weekend from 11am to 2.30pm. It is an all you can eat buffet where you can order from a menu of various dim sum items which the chefs will deliver to your tables. While this method keeps the dim sum hot, I do like the old-school dim sum by the cart in traditional dim sum restaurants.

The dim sum buffet is in the Eest Restaurant – their Pan-Asian restaurant located on the 1st floor of the hotel. Eest is a uniquely decorated restaurant with touches of Chinese art pieces and Japanese water features. If you are dining in a large group, do try to make reservations for one of the 3 tables on a raised platform next to the windows. It offers a fantastic view of Pavilion KL and the surrounding KL roads. Read more for my review of Westin KL’s dim sum brunch buffet below.

I made reservations recently for the dim sum brunch buffet. Upon arrival, I was led to a table right in the middle of the room which I subsequently requested for a change as it made me feel a little “exposed” They were operating on a full house so it was quite nice of them to help us change the table. Previously, they used to serve a little amuse-bouche platter of light appetizers to whet your appetite before you start ordering the dim sum. To my surprise and disappointment, there wasn’t any this round, perhaps due to the economic downturn?!

The menu is presented in a little silver book that runs over 3 pages of various steamed and fried dim sum items, congee, noodles and dessert. There isn’t a wide variety offered with approximately 10 items for each dim sum and 5 options for the noodles, congee and dessert. A waiter will take your order and advise if you have ordered too much!

The menu sounds very impressive with names such as steamed grouper roll, chicken and black truffle dumplings with flying fish roe, black cod rice rolls and pomegranate dumplings with black truffle. However, when the dim sum appeared, it did not look very different from the dim sum you get in other restaurants! We found that the congee was also lacking in meat and ingredients which made it rather plain. The black cod chee cheong fun we ordered was mostly just rice roll skin which was disappointing. Complaints aside, the prawn dumplings and fried turnip cake was pretty good although the latter was a little oily.

The dessert menu has approximately 5 items comprising mango pudding with white chocolate and olives, bubur cha cha, double boiled pear in Vietnamese tea, mochi ice cream and sticky rice with mango and coconut ice cream. The portions of dessert served are tiny so you can opt to try as many as you want if you still have the stomach space! I found the mango pudding pretty good unfortunately the white chocolate sauce covering the top was really cloyingly sweet. I would recommend ordering it with the sauce on the side! My favourite dessert there was the double boiled pear in Vietnamese tea which was essentially cold sweetened tea with a slice of pear. It was cool and refreshing and a good way to end a rich and heavy meal.

I have to admit that I was a little disappointed in the quality of their dim sum. I remember being served dim sum of much better taste and quality several years ago when I first tried it. Their standards seem to have dropped a little with their quality not being much better than that of an ordinary dim sum restaurant. The Westin Dim Sum Brunch retails for RM88++ per person for an all you can eat buffet. It is a little hefty to pay and is worthwhile only if you have some dining discounts there!

I get cravings for sushi every now and then but they used to be a very expensive food option. Now, they are much more affordable thanks to outlets such as Sushi Zanmai and Sushi Tei that recently opened in Tropicana City Mall. Sushi Tei is a chain restaurant originating from Singapore which features kaiten style sushi and an ala carte order menu. I heard lots of good reviews about Sushi Tei on the quality of their food and affordable prices. Read my review of Sushi Tei below.

Sushi Tei is located on the Ground Floor of Tropicana City Mall, next to Kenny Rogers. It is a relatively big restaurant with booth seats along the side or seats around the sushi belt. Being a new restaurant, the servers are quite attentive, however, I couldn’t understand why the same server who took my drinks order could not take my food order! Instead she had to ask another server to come forward to record our food orders.

The selection of sushi going around the kaiten looked fresh and delicious. I found that Sushi Tei was rather generous with their ingredients. An unagi sushi plate I took had thick and big slices of unagi for RM6 which you will never see in places like Sushi King! I also tried their ebi floss roll which was an interesting combination of sushi rolled in chicken floss with a tempura prawn inside. Although prawn or crab sushi will cost RM6 a plate, Sushi Tei gives 6 pieces of sushi on that plate which makes eating there worthwhile.

Photo credits

We also ordered the Teriyaki beef steak and grilled teriyaki chicken skewers from the ala carte menu. Our orders came quite quickly and like the sushi, they were equally generous with their meats.

 The Teriyaki beef steak was a large piece of steak that was perfectly grilled to medium rare and incredibly tender. It was topped with fried garlic slices that added a delicious flavour to the meat. We found the teriyaki sauce used a little too salty as we were eating it on its own, however, I am sure it will be absolutely delicious with a hot bowl of rice! The grilled chicken with leek was tender and came with large pieces of chicken. Personally, I preferred the beef steak and will definitely order it again!

The servers there are rather attentive. We had a slight accident there when we accidentally knocked over a water glass which broke. The servers immediately rushed over to clear the mess and although it was our fault, the manager came out to ensure we were alright and to check if the glass breaking was due to the hot water in the glass. Thumbs up for their good service!

Dinner for two there came up to approximately RM47 with tax for 2 plates of sushi, Teriyaki beef steak, grilled chicken and leek skewers and a cold tofu. I found it quite affordable for good and generous Japanese food and would definitely come back again. Hopefully, their good service and generous food portions are not just a temporary thing since they’re new!

Sushi Tei is located at:

Lot G-16, Ground Floor,
Jalan SS20/27,
Petaling Jaya 47400 Malaysia
Telephone +603 7728 9299
Facsimile +603 7728 4299

I first tried cranberries when I was in Australia and a friend offered them for me to try while telling me that they were good for women! I subsequently did some research on them and found that these little wonderberries pack a powerful health punch!

Health Benefits of Cranberries
Cranberries are a powerful antioxidant which boosts your body’s immunity and is said to pack more natural antioxidants per gram compared to other fruit. It also contains powerful nutrients called proanthocyanidins which prevent bacteria from sticking to your teeth and delivers lots of health benefits in these two-pronged approach.

Read more on the benefits of cranberries below and my delicious review of Ocean Spray’s Craisins Cranberries.

Cranberries Are Good For Women
Women are usually prone to urinary tract infection and half the women in the world may encounter this painful affliction at least once in their lifetime! Luckily, cranberries are highly effective promotes a healthier urinary tract and no more bacteria!

Avoid Stomach Ulcers and Helicobacter Pylori
Helicobacter Pylori is a bacteria that has recently been discovered to cause stomach ulcers over a long term period. Thanks to this wonderberry and its anti-stick properties, cranberries can actually help prevent this nasty bacteria from sticking to your stomach cells and causing stomach ulcers.

Antioxidants For Your Heart
Cranberries are power packed with antioxidants which do a fantastic job in preventing heart problems. Cranberries have been also found to reduce the formation of low-density cholestrol or “bad cholestrol” which sticks to artery walls and can cause heart attacks.

Cranberries are excellent for your health and make a delicious and low-fat snack. Ocean Spray cranberries are really yummy snacks. They resemble raisins but are a little tart compared to raisins. I had previously bought dried cranberries from Bangkok but found that those tend to have a slightly oily sheen to them which Ocean Spray does not have. It is even more comforting to know they do wonders for my body whenever I munch on them! So pick up a bag the next time you are in a supermarket! However, cranberries are expensive in Malaysia so do be prepared to pay a little more.

Wendy’s recently opened in Malaysia to give KFC and McDonald’s a run for their money with their tagline “Its waaaay better than fastfood”! I recently tried the Wendy’s at Jaya One and although it was already quite late, it was relatively busy. Apparently during lunch hours, the queue stretches all the way out of the door!

Wendy’s is the only fastfood restaurant to sell unique square hamburgers as they pride themselves on not cutting corners on the freshest ingredients. I found a square burger to be a rather unqiue concept as it certainly gives more meat for each burger patty. The banners in front of the restaurant feature delicious and juicy burgers that are pretty good advertising for Wendys!

Read my review of Wendy’s burgers below.

I was not feeling too hungry so I ordered the Wendys Kid’s Meal and was very pleased to note that they allowed me to order one despite not being a kid. Some fastfood outlets only allow children below 12 to order kids meals which I think is silly as not all adults will want a full-sized meal. The Kid’s Meal came with a choice of burgers or nuggets, a small fries and a choice of carbonated or non-carbonated drinks.

I opted to try the Cheeseburger and a Ribena set and got to choose a little pack of crayons as my “kid’s” gift!

I believe Wendy’s prepares each burger to order unlike McDonald’s but we did not have to wait too long for the food. My cheeseburger looked rather flat and my Ribena did not come together with my set due to some mix-ups in another take-away order I had. Instead, the server gave me a full sized ice lemon tea instead! When I checked again, he subsequently gave me the Ribena which meant I got a complimentary ice lemon tea!

I liked the bread Wendy’s uses in their burgers. It is fluffier than McDonald’s buns and the smattering of corn on top gives it some added crunch. However, the famous square hamburger patty was rather dry despite the tomato sauce inside the burger. I found it rather hard to swallow after a while and didn’t finish my cheeseburger. Their fries are quite good and less salty compared to McDonald’s. Unfortunately, their tomato sauce really sucked as it tasted funny and not like the usual tomato sauce.

I found their drinks were also not cold as they did not include ice. It does mean you get more drink, however, the Ribena and ice lemon tea I tried tasted a little diluted and nothing like what they were supposed to taste like! I also had a taste of their Wendy’s Chilli which wasn’t too bad although the average Malaysian palate might prefer something spicier.

In summary, I do not think I will be back to Wendy’s. Their burgers look good but unfortunately fails in the juicy test. It could be some teething problems they’re going through as it is their first time in Malaysia so do let me know if you found Wendy’s food good!