Dim Sum Buffet at Ming Palace, Corus Hotel KL

Hi everyone. =)

Today's review is Dim Sum buffet at Ming Palace. 

I've always love dim sum. No idea why, just love it. Probably because of its variety.

It was RM35 per person, bought it when Groupon had offer. Normal price is RM67.30 per person including tax. Since it was quite cheap and I had been craving for dim sum for quite a while, I decided to let myself to have a feast.

*For your information, their dim sum is halal. So those who prefer dim sum that are made of pork might not like it.

Dining time is 12pm-2.30pm.

I like their door and entrance. It has that antique Chinese houses/restaurants feel.

Nice decorations and environment.

I'm ready to EAT and EAT. 

Their buffet is by order. I basically ordered everything on the menu expect for those porridge, fried rice and mee.

This is lemon grass jelly with plum. It was quite refreshing. Couldn't taste plum tough.

Chilled sea coconut with longan. 

These few types of dim sum were readily prepared. It was on a counter at the left corner where the desserts were.

I took steamed chicken dumpling (siew mai), steamed fresh scallop with beancurd skin, crispy vegetarian spring roll, sesame ball with peanut paste and deep fried yam dumpling.

The taste was so so. Not as good as I expected. Just normal dim sum that you can get anywhere.

This is Sze Chuan hot and sour soup but not hot and not sour at all. Just like the ordinary soup that we have when we go for wedding dinner or big occasions in air-conditioned restaurant. 

This is Wantan soup. Normal as well, nothing special. Even some wantan in other restaurants are better than this.

This is pan fried raddish cake. I only like the crispiness of its outer layer. Couldn't taste the raddish, too much flour.

This is deep fried crispy otak-otak roll. I like this as this is a new thing to me. It was crispy and I like the spiciness of the filing.

This is deep fried beancurd roll. Normal as well.

This is deep fried crispy seaweed roll. I like this because of its cute looks. 

This is stuffed beancurd puff with fish paste. It was a bit hard and dry.

The chicken rice flour roll tasted super weird. It had that cockroach taste or something like that? I don't know how to describe. Totally NOT OK.

Steamed shrimp with celery was nice, as I love shrimp.

Steamed fish ball dumpling, normal only.

According to my bf, this braised chicken feet in abalone sauce tasted weird as well.

This Japanese fried dumpling was the best of all dim sum. The skin was okay, a bit crispy and the filing had a lot of chives that I love. Just yummy!

If it wasn't on offer, I don't think I'll ever try it out. 

It's expensive and yet the quality is so so only, not worth it.

Location:

Ming Palace @ Corus Hotel Kl
1st floor, Jalan Ampang,
50450 Kuala Lumpur (nearby Avenue K)

Kindori Japanese Ice Cream at Tokyo Street Pavilion

Hi everyone. =)

Today's review is Kindori Japanese Ice Cream.

This is their Tokyo Street outlet.

The prices are reasonable for me and I like their varieties of flavours.

For the fruits & vegetables series, you pick the flavour that you want and they will make it for you right on the spot (using fresh fruits & vege).

I want to try the mix series - matcha + red bean but they run out of red bean so I try their specialty series - matcha, RM8.90 (cup).

It looks so smooth and creamy. Can't wait to eat it!

It's a blend of matcha and vanilla. The outer layer is matcha, inner layer is vanilla.

One of the best matcha ice creams that I have ever had. It tastes just like how it looks, smooth and creamy with a rich matcha and vanilla flavour. 

Normally, I don't prefer matcha flavoured things because I feel that it's a bit bitter and it's like I'm eating tea powder but you don't get any of those problems in Kindori's matcha ice cream. 

This is sumiyaki coffee, RM8.90 (cup) as well.

It tastes nice too, a rich coffee taste. I feel that it's a bit different from the coffee ice cream that I usually eat, probably because of the blend of coffee and vanilla (yes the outer layer is coffee, inner layer is vanilla as well). It's more milky and I love that. 

Try out this yummy ice cream today.

Oh, they have ice-cream cakes as well and it's on offer now. Grab it soon.
http://www.groupon.my/deals/klang/kindori-2/718487146?context=sold-out&treatment=similar-category&bcsp=0e8uThPW4L5rpOrCctOcFw

Location:

Lot P6. 14. 00, Tokyo Street, 6th Floor, 

No. 168, Jalan Bukit Bintang, 52100 Kuala Lumpur (beside Komugi).

Winter Lover Bakery at Kota Damansara

Hi everyone. =)

Today's review is Winter Lover Bakery at Kota Damansara. The multiple flavours of their mille crepe attracted me so I wanna give it a try.

They have Caramel Macchiato Mille Crepe, French Chestnut Mille Crepe, Hokkaido Milk Mille Crepe, Mocha Mille Crepe, Yam & Red Bean Mille Crepe, Grand Marnier Chocolate Mille Crepe and many more! All of them seem so yummy!

This is how the shop looks like. It's at the 2nd floor.

Not a fan of places that need you to take off your shoes because the shoes area stinks.

Cute decor on the door.

Apparently, they have special rate for student. Too bad it's too far, or else I'll go there often. 

The counter.

They sell some dried flower tea too.

Comfortable environment.

They sell honey as well.

Their cakes and macarons.

They have Musang King Durian Mille crepe too. Durian lovers can try it out.

Our drinks True Love (Arabica Gold Coffee) and Romantic Love (White Coffee), RM8.90 each. 

My True Love (hot) is tasteless. The Ah Huat white coffee that I make myself is even better than this. 

Drinks menu.

Rainbow Mille Crepe on the left (their famous one), RM12.90 with Vanilla Macaron, RM3.90. Baileys Mille Crepe on the right, RM9.90 with Chocolate Macaron, RM3.90.

Their mille crepe is nice. Rainbow one is okay, not that special but I appreciate their effort in making it. Baileys one is better then the Rainbow, has quite a strong Baileys taste. The cream is okay too, not too thin (I like mille crepe that has a lot of cream/filing). 

Macaron is okay too. The filing is not full enough but it's better than other macarons which have very less filing.

This French Chestnut Mille Crepe (RM10.90) is the nicest! It's very creamy and rich in flavour. I love it!

I'm a bit disappointed when I look at the cakes that are on display that day. The flavours are limited. Since they have so many flavours in the flyer, why don't they provide more? I want to try the Hokkaido Milk and Caramel Macchiato flavour but too bad they don't have it. Next time then. =)

Location:

No. 22A-1, Jalan PJU 5/21,
Pusat Perdagangan Kota Damansara,
Kota Damansara, PJU 5,
47810 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Steam Pork Rips 豆豉蒸排骨

Hi everyone. =)

Today I'm gonna share with you this delicious yet simple steam pork ribs. Yes I know, it's pork ribs again haha.

One of the reasons I like to use pork ribs is that it is easy to prepare and won't take too much time mincing or cutting it. When I buy the pork ribs, the butcher will cut it into small pieces for me so I don't have to cut anything at all. It also has less fat; if there is, it's only a little.

I did 2 versions just to see which one is nicer.

1st version: Steam only

2nd version: Fried and steam

Let's go to the ingredients.

Ingredients: 1 pork rib 肋排骨 (for each version), 5-6 cloves of garlic (finely chopped), 2-3 shallots/1 small onion (sliced), some finely chopped ginger, some finely chopped chili (normal red chili, don't use small chili, it will be too spicy), some 'dou chi' (salted black beans) 豆豉, some spring onions, cooking oil 

Seasoning: Oyster sauce, soy sauce, cooking wine, salt, sugar, sesame oil, white pepper, some flour (for the fried version)

Portion: 2 persons

1st version: Steam only

The seasonings that you need for both versions.

Firstly, wash the pork ribs and marinate it with some oyster sauce, some soy sauce, some cooking wine, some salt, some sugar, some sesame oil, and some white pepper.

The amount is really based on your preference. You will need to add a bit more than the seasonings that you usually use to marinate your meat because when you steam it, the water produced by the steam will dilute the seasonings.

Marinate it for at least 1 hour or overnight.

Prepare some 'dou chi'. Wash and soak it for a few seconds. 

Don't put too much as it's quite salty.

This is the 'dou chi' that I'm using.

You can get this in supermarket or wet market. I bought mine at the wet market for 70 or 80 cents only (a very small packet).

Prepare some red chili and ginger, chop it finely.

Then, add the 'dou chi', red chili, and ginger to the pork ribs.

Mix well.

Steam it over boiling water for 25 minutes.

While waiting for it, prepare some garlic and small onion (I run out of shallots, so I replace it with small onion).

Chop the garlic finely and cut the small onion into slices.

When it's around 15-20 minutes, sprinkle some spring onions on it and continue to steam.

This is how it looks after 25 minutes.

Then, heat some oil in the wok to fry the small onions and garlic.

Yumm~ Smell sooo nice!!

Put those small onions, garlic as well as some oil on the pork rips. This step is an important step to me as it adds a strong onion and garlic fragrance to the dish.

2nd version: Fried and steam

Wash and clean the pork ribs.

Marinate it. The longer you marinate it, the stronger the flavour.

Add some flour (all purpose flour).

Mix well.

Heat some oil in the wok.

Make sure your wok is hot before you pour in the oil and also make sure the oil is hot enough before you fry the pork ribs (so that it doesn't stick).

Let it fry for 3-5 minutes on each side.

Turn to the other side.

This is how it looks like after frying.

Chop the garlic finely.

I run out of shallots or small onions.

Fry until it's golden brown. Just love the fragrance of fry garlic!

Remove it from the wok and keep in a bowl first.

Add in finely chopped red chili and washed 'dou chi'. I run out of ginger as well. >.<

Steam it over boiling water for 10 minutes (as it's already half cooked, you don't need to steam it for too long time).

Add in some spring onions after 5 minutes. Take the previously fried garlic and put it on the pork ribs. It's done and ready to be served.

This version will be more oily than the 1st one. People who want to cut oil can try the 1st version. The difference in the 2nd version is that the pork ribs are more fragrant as you fried it before you steam.

Choose whichever version that suits you best.

I hope you like it and enjoy!

Do try it out. =)