Marriot & Dinner

Assalamu'alaikum wbt, meeting again! Brain-drain since the last post. I had to squeezed in just to write this between my precious time and believe me, I tried my best to make this entry happen..nge nge nge..

 Did nothing for these few weeks except work and leisure at home. Was having 'tahlil' for my late Ayah at my house last fortnight, thank you for all those coming (although I knew none of them will be reading this..). Thank you so much for the prayers. And just to mention here, the food was fabulous! hehehe..



Image courtesy of OxiHotels.com

 Can you see the image above? It's Marriot Putrajaya, Malaysia. Nicely located behind the bush alongside the highway Puchong-Kajang (i don't know what's the name of this highway, forgive me..). If you're from Puchong heading to Kajang, it should be on your right and vice-versa. I went to Marriot last Friday for a dinner. Attending a conference to be exact, frankly, I don't have that much money that I'm willing to spend on a dinner just at Marriot. I wish I'm that rich but maybe even if I am that rich, I woud rather chose to eat somewhere else, not because the food is not that tasty, it's about satisfaction, seriously..

 

Right, ok, I went for dinner last Friday at this beautiful hotel, and I enjoyed every bit of it. It's free, I was paid to go there, and the dinner was paid by the organization which hired me to be present there. What else should I say except 'Alhamdulillah', praise be to Allah! I finally get to eat dinner at Marriot. yeay! From the appetizers till the dessert, it was a tasty dish.

 

I enjoyed the appetizers so much that I forgot to snap a picture of it. It's a combination of 4 types of appetizers consist of 2 cold and 2 hot dishes. The first one lucky enough to enter my mouth was the 'Squid Cocktail'. I'm not sure which dish goes to cold and hot since all was at ambient temperature..?? The presentation count, we were served the appetizers after the Grand Ballroom went dark for about 2 minutes and all that I can see was scatters of small dots of fire sorts of flying around. Camera flashes reveals that waitresses were walking and assigning themselves to each table with a dish tray in their hands. The background music was somehow was energetic, I don't know the song but the music was so strong I felt like running! and walla, as the lights went on, there was this covered tray on our table and the waitress was " here madam, ..". I wasted no time, take a sip of my cup of chinese tea and start turning the server around to have a closer look at each appetizer and I picked the Squid. I was a simple dish - squid cooked in soy sauce with dried chillies and cashewnuts. I like the tender squid flesh and the crunchiness of the cashewnuts. The nuts was done cook donely and the chef make a good job. The crunchy of the nut together with the tender squid goes well. The next was steam broccoli and shitake mushroom cooked in soy sauce. Again, the chef did a good job because the broccoli was crunchy and but you can tell that it was steamed and cooked to perfection, no worries that you will catch thyhoid later on, ..I gave 3 thumbs up to Marriot for those 2 appetizers. I forgot the other 2 appetizers because I didn't enjoy it at all..So no point comment here.

 

Seafood soup with shitake and crabmeat strips

 

Main course came second, I'm expecting shark's fin soup after reading the menu card it stated 'Seafood soup with shitake soy sauce and crabmeat strips', there was actually another food material listed but I can't remember what it was. It came and the above was what it look like. It's delicious but I don't think it's a shark's fin soup. Considering the environmentalist and marine biologist declare a war against shark's poachers, I don't think Marriot is that stupid to serve that soup at the congress. This congress was attended by Vets and medical practitioners worldwide, they don't want to be caught red handed of course, 1/3 of the congress attendees were from marine research institutions. During this moment, there was a funny incident at my table. There was 10 of us and one participant was from Nigeria, he didn't eat shark's fin due to the boycott, so he was asking the lady sat beside me on the menu, reading the card, she simply reply "oh don't you worry, it's a chicken soup, we don't kill shark anymore in Malaysia..."..It was a brave and a stupid answer both at the same time for me....Anyway, the soup was gorgeous and nicely done. There was no fleshy smell, the soup was fragrant and you can taste the crabmeat. Mushroom was every bit of it and crunchy. The thickness of the soup marks the good job done by the chef. There was this tiny balls and I don't know what is it but it adds the flavor of sweet to the soup.

 



steam broccoli with mushroom and fried onions in soy sauce



 Then another dish resembles the appetizers, as on the left - steam broccoli with mushroom - it was nicely done especially combiningit with fried onion.



Main course of fried rice with fried shrimp and egg and ikan bilis

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fried rice with fried shrimp and ikan bilis is another wonderful main course. It's a simple dish and yet the taste was not as those gerai makan typically available here. Best summarize as nasi goreng hotel yang ada standard. The rice was fried according to Chinese style fried rice with lot's of egg and mix vegetable but addition of fried shrimp and ikan bilis give a crunchy testure to the rice and it does make an impact to the taste. Together with this goes another two main course which is 'Roasted Chicken with Honey' and 'Chicken and Fish fillet Cocktail in Lime Honey Sauce'

 



Roasted Chicken with Honey & Fish fillet Cocktail in Lime Honey Sauce on top of my plate of fried rice



 



Superb isn't it? I gave 4 thumbs up for the main course to Marriot. Chicken was tender and juicy, the fish fillet was nicely done, fried and yet tender and sweet. It's a dory fillet I think but by coating the fish fillet they did a good job. The coating has a hint of anise, lemon and marjoram. It's a perfect combination for me, I'm not sure about any other chef but it taste good on my tastebud and it satisfied my hunger that evening..

 

And I thougt, I was the last of the main course, until another two large serving of fried grouper and buttered prawn hit our table. Yes, I still have space for that hehe.

fried Grouper

Buttered prawn

I start with Fried Grouper. The fish was deep fried and doused with lemon sauce gravy. Lot's of Bengal onion freshly served on top togther with spring onions and strips of ginger. Fish flesh was tender, sweet and juicy marked the freshness of the serving. Only one regret - the fish still hold a smell that tells off it was from a farm and not fresh wild fish. Anyway, strips of ginger did a good job. Those who aren't that particular or choosy about their fish won't notice that. The honey lime juice also hindered the smell from being loud. I like it! Then I moved to Buttered Prawn. This is a typical buttered prawn you can get from Chinese style restaurant. I compared this dish with Restoran Abdullah Chan's buttered prawn. On the scale of ten - I gave Marriot 5. Abdullah Chan's deserve 8/10. Prawn was nicely fried and tender but you cannot taste the juice and sweet as it suppose to be should the prawn was fresh. It's not that dissappointing but being Marriot, they should come up with better variant of Buttered Prawn....

 

Lastly, their presentation of dessert. In the menu it was mentioned as 'Mix of sweet dessert, hot and cold'. I was expecting a sort of porridge maybe. And this greatly dissapoint me. Dessert was a cold syrup with sea coconut and longan and serving of wantan style sweet savoury.

Above : sweet red bean savoury (yellow bun) and kaya filling lotus flower ; Below : cold syrup with sea coconut and longan

Sweet savoury : red bean (yellow bun); kaya (pink lotus)











 

At least, they should serve something better than that. Marriot can do better than wrapping red bean in a sticky flour with yellow coolured shape into a fruit and kaya filling in a crunchy wantan-style lotus flower. Out of resepct for food and rezeki yang Allah bagi, I ate one of each (since I took one each!). I was having a hard time trying to finish it. I am so not into the dessert...But lucky enough, chinese tea served was one of the best I've ever tasted. It was very mild and yet so strong you can feel the tea flavor. Without any sugar, the tea itself gives sweet and soothing flavor. The whole evening, I was clinging to my chinese tea. I took a few sip from my orange juice glass and I kept putting my hands on the glass everytime the waitress trying to top up my glass but I guess they just doing their job. There's one moment when I told the waitress as not to keep on topping up my orange juice, the reply was "tak boleh madam, nanti boss saya marah. saya kena buat ini"...oh ada juga macam tu ya!!..

 

Chinese tea and orange juice

Overall, I gave Marriot 6/10 for the dinner. As for portion, it was plenty. My table did a good job by 'cleaning' all the appetizers and main course. But we are hopeless at dessert. Most of us, didn't even finish what we have and didn't get to even bite the other dessert after tasting the first one. The waitress - they need to train them more and they should train the waitress to actually listen to diners. It's annoying when you keep on topping the diner's glass when they wanted to keep their glass empty and just enjoying their meal but I guess it's a protocol that has be followed by the waitresses.

 

 

It's a nice experience having to dine at Marriot Putrajaya. And I hope to get the chance again but with improvement of their dessert. Maybe I should try their breakfast. I've always wanted to try pumpkin soup at Marriot....wondering when...mmhhh..

 

So, care to share your experience with me on Marriot Putrajaya?.....Till then, hope to write another review soon to be shared with you...Night (22:09)



Roti canai, lontong dan sirap suam di pagi Sabtu..

(This was drafted on Sunday, 9/9/2012).....

Assalamualaikum, Good afternoon.

Just came back from wedding, ate a plate full of briyani rice with ayam masak merah, acar nenas & timun and sayur masak lemak. delicious? Unfortunately, I didn't snap any of the pix of me eating those..sorry. :)

          Talking about food, on Saturday we had a brief breakfast at a 'kedai kampung' in Klang. Strategically located at the traffic light junction in front of Masjid Kg.Delek, Restoran Burhan can uplift your morning mood. I've been to the place a few times and never once went out from the restaurant in dismay. Except once when their lontong was sold out and the only food left was roti canai. Their roti canai or the Eastern called 'roti parata' is nice but hello, it cannot justify my hunger..

So last Saturday, after visiting my father's grave, we went there for breakfast.  It was quite late, 11.30am so we expected only roti canai to be available which were true it is. We ordered 5 pieces roti canai, 3 sets of half-boiled eggs, 3 milo ais, 2 teh ais and a glass of warm sirap. Wonderful roti canai made a miracle to actually satisfy my hunger,temporarily yes.

 



Milo ais sedap....



 

This is milo ais. Order by Aishah, anyah and me. I always like mamak's milo because they serve a great rich milo. From my research (always checked my eye on the rows of condensed milk mamak has..), mamak use Gold Coin condensed milk with a about a teaspoonful of evaporated milk for a glass of drink. They justify their 'put a hole in the pocket' price by adding evaporated milk but the result - they sell gorgeous taste drink than any restaurant. In my opinion, only Tchibo can beat their coffee! Wahaha..Ok back to this milo, yes it is rich texture, creamy and not that sweet. Just nice for a light breakfast to go with it. Sayangnya, this restaurant didn't have toast in the menu..or else a slice of kaya toast will surely goes well with this milo. The milk and milo ratio blended well with the ice, making it silky smooth. You won't believe until you try it!

 

 



Gulping a nice teh tarik




 



 

The teh tarik were great too. Of par with mamak's. (wondering why mamak always the best in drink..). Well, my mother's teh tarik is way by far better than mamak but not everybody can have a sip of that so can't comment it here..hehe. Right, tea blended well with the milk and the ice as the milo. The last sip will still leave you the stint of milk tea watering your tastebud. And oh the smell of tea, I think this restaurant's using a good brand of tea. The smell was so fresh and fragrant. I like!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Sirap suam yang gojes!



Sirap suam order by Mak. I like it so does Mak. She wanted less sugar for her sirap, usually she will still complaining about her sirap even at mamak, but she was quiet and keep sipping the sirap suam while chatting. I took a sip and yes, the sirap was finely blended with the sugar to taste less sweet. And he sirap was good too, they must be using a good stored sirap unlike some stalls or restaurants that served a badly taste sirap..Thumbs up. Tak sakit perut lepas minum dan tak kene angin..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

kuah dalca with sambal for roti canai

 

 

Roti canai seeing here with a gojes companion of susu pekat manis

 

We ordered roti canai, the order was served within 5-7 minutes. Yeay! Didn't have to wait long. It was served with kuah dalca and sambal ikan bilis. We requested for a small plate of susu pekat manis to go with it. Eating roti canai with sugar, susu pekat manis and sometimes milo powder has been the long time history of the family. Roti canai was tender, easily bite and blended well with kuah dalca and susu. It's crispy on the outside and chewable in the inside. Cooked well, we can't find "raw flour" and importantly - it was fresh. The size? Well justify the price of RM0.80/pc. Not that thick and not that thin, the dough was really chewable and crispy. And oh, this is another must-have at this restaurant - LONTONG...

Crispy roti canai..yummey...

 

Lontong - kuah masak lodeh sayur kubis karot kacang, kuah kacang, telur rebus and nasi impit.

 

The lontong was priced at RM4/plate. Served with kuah kacang and boiled egg, it's a must-have. Best seller, if you come later than 10am, usually you cannot get this lontong, SOLDOUT. Masak lodeh was rich with coconut milk and yet it was not heavy at all. I guess this could be due to they are using freshly grated juice of coconut. Top with kuah kacang and whole boiled egg, this lontong a merry of creamy, spicy, and nutty. The nasi impit was done nicely and fresh. Quite a big portion, if you're a light eater, you can share a plate of this lontong with a friend.

 

You can find Restoran Burhan located in front of masjid Kg.Delek Dalam, Selat Kelang, before the traffic light. If you are from Klang, it should be on your left. Besides Burhan, there are many other restaurants available daily here. Will try to review a few other outlets I've been there in the nest publish for your reading. Have fun trying out this outlet, and if you do, please feedback to my review, will be very glad to have comments here.

 

Auf Wiedersehen, bis dan...

Sunquick, Sainsbury, Waitrose & Bickford...

Assalamualaiku & Good morning. It's still morning, 11:06...:)

 

What can I write today? I need to submit a jurnal draft today, I need to design 2 posters for a conference and I don't bother to do just that. The thing about writing an academic paper or designing the so-called poster IS you need to be at ur most tranquility. U need peaceful, far from annoying sounds such as people gossiping and all. So rather than spending time continuing flooding the pure white blank page of the jurnal format, I'd rather blogging.

 

 

It's quite hard to review things. I have a few pending reviews I made on restaurants that I think should be put on hold until I can find a proper terms to use. Reminds me of a visit to a friend's place this week. She served me with Sunquick Tropical juice. It was nice, served plain (air masak biasa tu je bancuh dengan Sunquick ni) and without any addition of extra sugar for me. Together with it, I get to have a warm rice with beef rendang nicely said (Offal style rendang of meat, liver, spleen, lights). I don't need to review the lunch but I'm interested in the drink - Sunquick Tropical juice served warm. (psst..can get it online, you don't have to spend on fuel at http://aidan.com.my/demo/catalogdemo/sunquicktropical )

 

Sunquick Tropical juice bottle RM 10.99 for 840ml bottle (Courtesy of aidan.com.my ; Aidan online Grocer)

 

The colour of the concentrate were excatly the Sunquick Orange but it's whole different story with the taste. I was expecting a sourly sweet taste but my tounge experienced was a different version from my brain hypothesis. It was sour with a hard tangy crisp of pineapple. I can smell mango but I can't taste it in the juice. On the label which was on the bottle it stated that this fruits drink base contain mixtures of juices from pineapple, orange, and passion fruit juice from concentrate and mango, banana and apricot puree, contains permitted flavouring with milk substances, permitted food conditioner, preservatives and colour substance. My judgement may not be that precise, but the flavors that I can detect using my clean wonderful always-working tastebuds are pineapple, orange obviously and a slight hint of passion fruit. No mango,no banana or apricot. Yes, I can smell mango but maybe Sunquick's meant to do just that, not by taste but the smell so people will keep on gulping the drink just to ensure or prove that this concentrate really dies have mango in it. muahaha. maybe, people are getting more crazy now adays...Conclusion - I suggest that this drink be serve cold with addition of sugar syrup to go with it. It would so much better with that recipe.

 

 

 So, another conclusion - I was chagrined by the experience. Not because I don't  like the tropical mixture but devastated (melampau la sampai devastated kan..) by the the way it tasted. I love tropical punch, in fact I'm a avid 'drinker'. I can keep on gulping on tropical punch like forever, ..my favorites were Sainsbury and Waitrose tropical squash.  Oh, the Bickford's too (get it online at http://presto.my/drinks/fruity/juice/ ) but it's a juice bottle drink can't keep it for long, ;)

Waitrose Tropical Squash (courtesy of www.mysupermarket.co.uk)

Sainsbury Tropical Squash with 20% fruits (courtesy of www.mysupermarket.co.uk)



Although these two brands were much expensive than Sunquick but they both deserve to be tag as Tropical Squash. You can taste almost all the fruits claimed to contain in the concentrate. Colour of the concentrate also compliment the tag of being tropical compared to Sunquick. Don't worry, these two brands can be obtain from Pavillion Grocer, Isetan Supermarket, Sogo Grocer, Jaya Supermarket and selected Jusco Supermarket. Price were heavy at each cost more than RM20 per bottle of 1liter and 1.5liter each. By now, Sunquick seems a champion because of the cheaper price tag!

Bickford Classic Juice Tropical RM 6.00 for 300ml (courtesy of http://presto.my/drinks/fruity/juice/ )
 

So wise consumers or at least you thought you were, please do the right choice by choosing the right thirst quenchers that can satisfy you. If the drink were serve to you, you may find it amusing to actually suggest to the host or the resturants to modify the way they prepare the drink to be more enjoyable. Good Luck and feel free to counter my review!

 

 



Reviewing my own feelings, in remembrance of Ayah..

Assalamualaikum wbt and good evening, .. Alhamdulillah, I get to write again. Being grateful to Allah for granting me a healthy mind and soul to finally browsing my not-so-beautiful but not-that-ugly fingers on these nicely stacked on tiny buttons of English alphabets on this not-that-expensive but ain't-that-cheap notebook keyboard. Alhamdulillah. To date, I'm still confuse between HTML format and the Compose format when writing this blog. I guess I just have to buy the 'How to Blog for Dummies'. Tonight, I'm writing on the HTML. Well, it goes with the previous published too. As long as it can be published, I think I can't care enough. Looking back at previous posts, I noticed a major grammar blunder made by my shallow brain when writing. No wonder I still can't get my latest work to be published by highly cited indexed journals. I am so busted! Arrgghh, with my promise of writing at least a sentence a day in this blog gone like the wind, (is there such a proverb?). Life seems to be tumbling upside down for me. But I thanked Allah for blessing me with a wonderful Ramadhan & a modest Syawal. I lost my father on the 1st Rejab this year, he was an idol and a great man in my eyes and with him gone, my strength and the fighter inside me went away with him. I seem to not saddened by his death, I seem to not mourning compared to my mother and sibling, but inside, I was crying loud, the greatest tears I've ever shed loosing him. This blog was after his death, it's another way how I vent out my anger, dissappointment, regrets and sadness after loosing him. Talking to closest friends (a few that I have, I kept and I will hold forever inshaAllah) and to the man I loved (beside Ayah and my brother, I have this scandal like forever, ..) eased the burden but it won't do for a long time. To steer away from the remembrance of Ayah, I spent weekends lounging at shopping complexes or even driving around in my car singing, humming to zikir and even Fatihah. But that doesn't help too. I refused to talk about Ayah, I refused to do things that Ayah loved the most, I even 'ban' the last night market I went to buy taufu-fa for Ayah 2 days before he passed away. But that doesn't help too. What is there that I didn't do? I was thinking hard, I even had bad dreams about it, really bad that I don't have the hair to tell anybody (do not repeat after this proverb, copyrighted by Ezni Idrus - permanent head damaged symptom proverb). Until I realized, that I haven't let Ayah go. I haven't allowed myself to forgive Ayah for not letting us know that he will be leaving us. I've been living in denial after Ayah's death. And I have to let go. It's nobody's fault but I have been neglecting him trying to tell us that he's leaving us forever. And I don't want that to happen to anybody else. And this is why, I'm reviewing my feelings, my life and my history with my father here. Not to humiliate myself, not to invite hate or anger but to share with those who still have their parents that never ever lifting your eyes on a tiny minute sign by your parents that they're leaving you. I have no regrets that Ayah is not with us anymore in a sense that, I've been there during his bad hair day, I've been there during the time he was sick until he can't take his "wudhu'" without assistance and I was there all the time. I've been there when my father was sick and I put his socks on so that he won't feel cold. I've been there when his car broke down in the middle of night and in the middle of a jungle (yes, I was 5 years old then..). But I missed him, I missed Ayah a lot. And this feeling will remain there forever. I have to learn to accept and to be thankful that Allah grant me the strength to pull through. "Ya Allah, ampunilah dosaku. Berilah rahmatMu ya Allah kepada ku. Bimbinglah aku agar terus berada di atas jalanMu. Janganlah Engkau tinggalkan aku dalam keadaan terpinga-pinga tanpa hidayahMu" I pray for those who have the joy of their parents to have all the lucks to have them forever. To grow old with them, to have the strength and energy to take care of their ageing parents while they're ageing at the same time. To get to watch the weddings of their children and enjoying their ever happy smiley faces parents by their side. And to welcome their grandchildren and get to be proud to tell their parents "Ayah, mak - ni cucu saya...".... Penning off with tears, and a pray that Allah will guide us through and not let us wander in a confounded state without His guidance.