My 1st Korean BBQ experience, DAORAE!

My 1st Korean BBQ experience starts at DAORAE when we've decided to go for a dinner after work. I don't pretty sure the reason that I've never intended to eat Korean food, partly is because the 'meaty' menu?

DAORAE owns franchise in Malaysia and we've chosen the one at I-Avenue Penang. It's easily to be spotted from the blue and red, bright signboard. Korean BBQ is definitely all about meat, ranging from beef, pork till chicken while they do have seafood as well. We leave the menu ordering to our expert, Alex whereby he has ordered the beef and pork meat with different tenderness or should mean from different parts of the cow and pig. The greatest thing about Korean BBQ in DAORAE is that you don't need to do any grilling job by your own. There's a waiter whom will help you to grill the meat dish by dish, just simply with onion or garlic to release the natural sweetness beneath. They've just grilled it perfectly that the juiciness is still being locked in the meat itself and the meat is just tender to be bitten in the mouth. One fact that I've just realized, it's so wrong to add extra sauce or seasoning during BBQ-ing. To enhance the taste of the meat, they do serve some chili paste, salt or sweet sesame oil and even some fresh garlic that you can go with your meat.

Additionally, we've ordered a Korean Seafood Pancake that looks a little bit alike the omelet with various ingredients such as squid, prawn, onion, leek and sliced chili inside. The good point is the flour pancake is so thin whereby the chef has generously put in plenty of seafood. Last to come is the Kimchi Steamboat that is boiled with a gas stove in front of us. We can find pork, tofu and noodle inside this hot and spicy soup, flavoured by the Kimchi itself.

(Source from Wikipedia: Kimchi (김치; pronounced /ˈkɪmtʃɪ/, Korean pronunciation: [kimtɕʰi]), also spelled gimchi, kimchee, or kim chee, is a traditional fermented Korean dish, made of vegetables with varied seasonings. Kimchi may also refer to unfermented vegetable dishes.[1][2][3] There are hundreds of varieties of kimchi, made with a main vegetable ingredient such as napa cabbage, radish, green onion or cucumber.[4] Kimchi is the most common banchan, or side dish, in Korean cuisine. Kimchi is also a main ingredient for many popular Korean dishes such as kimchi stew (김치찌개; kimchi jjigae), kimchi soup (김칫국; kimchiguk), and kimchi fried rice (김치볶음밥; kimchi bokkeumbap).)

I've nearly forgotten to mention about our meal starter; the appetizer! It's a normal tradition in Korean food to be served with Kimchi as the starter. They've various choices such as the cabbage, radish, cucumber and also boiled egg for us to start our meal. My preference or 'Thumbs Up' goes to the Beef Soup that tastes so sweet and delicious. I guess they've used a lot of bones to create such natural sweetness in the soup itself.

The whole course of this dinner is so 'meaty' for me. Anyway, I do enjoy the service and the taste of the Korean BBQ that I've in DAORAE. Not much seasoning or sauce, but the freshness of the meat is extended to the optimum...

Tree Monkey; In the Jungle or On the Tree?

It's been a long time that I wish to visit 'Tree Monkey'... Finally, Here I go for a lunch on a relaxing holiday. It has been a fine sunny day; to sit there for a nice meal and letting the wind to blow over the ears. It's a quiet place to keep us away from the noise of busy city life.

Tree Monkey is located beside the Tropical Spice Garden. I guess they're from the same owner, with the similar concept to bring the guests into the nature; surrounded by the trees and looking to the ocean view that seems to be faraway yet so near. Every single tables and chairs here are made from the wood. You can choose to sit nearby the sea view, inside the big wooden house or preferably the small hut that you can have your own private time.

They serve mainly Thai food here; with more varieties over the Asian food other than some Western dishes or BBQ meals over the weekend. We've started our meal with the Thai Tapas as our appetizer. They provide a large selection of the 'finger-bites' food and I've decided to go for the 8pcs plate that consists of Money Bag, Prawn Sarong, Lemongrass Stick and Darling Crab. Wrapping with the blended fish meat and some vegetable inside the Popiah skin, this is our Money Bag that I don't really fancy over the oiliness. The Prawn Sarong is in fact circling the noodles over the fresh prawn before it's being fried till golden brown color. I love the freshness of the prawn whereby it's still tender and feeling so lively with the juiciness of the meat to spread inside the mouth. About the Lemongrass Stick, it's actually the blended fish meat with vegetables to coat on the Lemongrass Stick before it's being grilled. The taste of the lemongrass is absorbed into the fish meat, leaving behind a nice aroma when biting. However, some people may dislike the strong lemongrass smell. The last dish in our Thai Tapas is the Darling Crab that means also baking the mixture of blended seafood and vegetable inside the half crab shell. The seafood mixture is soft and juicy yet with a slight crusty surface.

For our main dishes, I've ordered a Pineapple Fried Rice that is really being served inside a big pineapple. The rice smells nice from the Thai curry powder or spice that has created a delicious taste as well. The chef has generously put in a lot of chicken meat and some cashew nuts as the decorations; goes well with the Sambal that is not too spicy except a little too salty for me. But, it's weird... I've found only one small cube of pineapple inside my fried rice?!! My boyfriend has chosen the Fried Beef with Cashew Nuts and both of us give a 'Thumbs Up' compliment to this dish. The beef is fried with the sweet and sour sauce, with some dried chili to give it a little spiciness; that has completely stimulated our appetite to ask for more. The beef is so tender that it's just nice to be cut in the mouth.

We've ended our meal with the recommended desserts of Ice Water Chestnut with Red Ruby and the Thai Coconut Ice-Cream. The red ruby is a common Thai dessert whereby the water chestnut is coated with red-coloured Sago flour and being boiled to cook before pouring in the coconut milk; with the sago flour to create some chewiness opposing the crispy chestnut. I don't really like this dessert here as the coconut milk is too thin as I prefer it to be thicker for a stronger coconut taste. Personally, the Ice-Cream is refreshing whereby it's in fact the nutty vanilla ice-cream being poured with the creamy coconut milk and thick condensed milk.

Oh ya, not to forgotten my drink that I've ordered the Mixed Fruit Juice of Orange, Carrot and Lime. I like this refreshing drink that is so colourful and with such a strong lime taste; to minimize the greasiness that I've had over my meal.

Not only the environment, we've indeed enjoyed the food also. Having a delicious meal with such cozy ambient is really a life satisfaction. We'll definitely visit here again...

Fresh Strawberry Tart... Freshly Homemade

Wondering of the dessert menu that I should have for the house warming party and here I go; SK Homemade Cakes. Why I've chosen SK Homemade Cakes? Well, it's definitely homemade and... I'm impressed by the 'Beauty in Red' images; the fresh strawberry tart that they serve.

The Fresh Strawberry Tart is comes with a layer of buttery flavour of almond base, then being topped with some custard and lastly, the fresh strawberries on top. The tart looks so yummy and in fact, it's really delicious. The butter has added a nice aroma to the crushed almond base and it's just-to-taste of without being too sweet. The custard layer is as an 'adhesion' for the strawberries and with a little sweetness, it's just neutralising the sourness of the strawberries.

I can still recall the moment when my boyfriend is complaining that 'No dessert is allowed for his German style BBQ party'. But, guess what... he gives a good compliment by finishing 2 big slices of the fresh strawberry tart.

If you like to order some delicious homemade cakes, please feel free to drop by their Homepage.

Breakfast or Brunch, it's European style!

It's raining on the Sunday morning, but we're still excited to be invited for an European style breakfast by the beach. Suitably to say, it's a brunch as it starts at 11am.

I'm first attracted by the cheese platter as I'm personally quite love the smell and the taste of the blue cheese, even though some people feel that it's awful. A stranger to me is the Obasta that seems to be the mixture of cream cheese, onion and paprika? It's having a very smooth texture with a thick and creamy flavour that goes well with the bread. The bread and bagel are made by Tommes, fulfilling Frank's appetite for an original European taste. They're more compact at the inner but with a crispy skin.

For an European breakfast, meat is a must to be invited on the table. Thus, it's not to be forgotten to have a nice Ham and Salami slices. The sales lady has a bad cutting skill whereby the ham has been sliced till torn but we do still enjoy it so much. The thin slices are just nice to melt in the mouth, with its little saltiness. Personally, I prefer to have the pork Salami with my bread. With some black pepper on the salty Salami, the bread turns out to be so flavourful.

A nice chef to cater for our needs, we're actually given the choice to have hard-boiled or scrambled eggs. What is it? This is the small tool to open-up the egg's shell that I find it to be cute. Just a little complaint that the scrambled egg is too dry.

It's definitely a new experience for me, to have an European breakfast in a 'meaty' way. But frankly to say, this is really a delicious breakfast or brunch for a perfect Sunday. Thanks to the Breakfast ala Frank ;)

Oh ya, if you've any wishlist, please don't hesitate to inform Frankie. Anyway, your requests will be rejected...

(From left: Bernd, Frank, Elaine, Su, myself & Attila)

Happy Birthday; specially to Attila

It's worrying when I still can't find a birthday cake for Attila's Geburtstag. I'm wishing for something that is to be unforgettable on his special day. Less than a week till I come across... Alice Cookies & Bakery. Alice and David are the loving couple whom are passionate towards baking good quality bakery products, ranging from cupcakes till custom made cakes for various occasions. It's really grateful at the moment I receive the reply from Alice that they're willing to accept the challenge by helping me to create my specialized design cake; the 3D sculpture of a big motorbike.

Why a motorbike? It's his 2nd girlfriend of Suzuki gsxr 1000cc with the number plate BHY 46. He's the fan of motoGP, especially the big supporter of Valentino Rossi. It's amazing that they really manage to make the cake 'stands' steadily with the wording to greet him 'Happy Birthday, Dear Attila'. I've to admit that the cake doesn't taste delicious because it has to be hard and compact, in order to stabilize this 3D sculpture. Moreover, a little disappointment as I don't taste the vanilla and chocolate taste in the cupcake and the fondant cake respectively. However, it's really a great satisfaction when I see the surprise and happiness in his eyes; receiving such a special present on his birthday. Well, I've been wicked by hiding all the preparation and telling him that 'there's no celebration at all'...

Happy Birthday to You;

Happy Birthday to You;

Happy Birthday Dear Attila;

Happy Birthday to You.

I've to say that the cake is quite costly due to the special design but everything is worthwhile for his smile and laughter...

If you're looking for something special as well, do drop by their official homepage