A Cottage for the Crepe or Pancake

It's really a story of "Once upon the time...", I've been thinking and nagging about visiting this restaurant, the Crepe Cottage that is located at the Gurney Drive. I wouldn't have noticed or known about this small house if I've not read about it in the website. Standing strong despite it's only a crepe and pancake stall, you'll be surprised by the varieties that are served here.

Starting with the main courses and we girls have decided to share the Crepe Cottage Original Roast Chicken, the Brown Sauce with Mushrooms on Chicken Breast, the Cheesy Bake and the Triple Seafood Crepe. The roast chicken is the boneless chicken drumstick that is topped with the Crepe Cottage's Special Sauce that is made of black pepper. The succulent chicken meat goes well with the thick gravy that is slightly spicy and it has a nice aroma of the black pepper. For a non-drumstick lover alike me, I feel that the chicken meat is just too fat and softy. The button mushroom that is cooked in the brown sauce, it's a good match to the breast meat. I love the saltiness and thickness of the sauce that go well with the chicken meat that has been grilled plainly without too much seasonings. Moreover, the sauce is matching the crepe that is filled with sliced onion, it's refreshing! The chicken cubes are sauteed with mushrooms and onions that are then wrapped into the crepe. Finally, the wrap is topped with the Cheddar and Parmesan Cheeses before being heated in the oven; this is the delicious Cheesy Bake! The only small disappointment is the chicken cube that is slightly dry and chewy. The fish, prawn and calamari are cooked in a sweet and sour sauce, we agree that there has been an unknown ingredient in the sauce that has ruined the freshness of the seafood. The sauce tastes somehow weird. The combination of seafood with crepe, I'll definitely not order it again in my life. Indeed, not all poultry goes well with the crepe or pancake. In our orders, we think that the black pepper chicken is delicious only on its own.

It's a must to try out the crepe as sweet dessert. We've taken the Hot Apple on Ice-cream Crepe and the Chocolate Crepe with Nutella & Banana. The crepe is rolled with 2 big scoops of vanilla ice-cream and then being topped with the sliced apples that are freshly sauteed with sugar and cinnamon; the meeting-point of hot and cold, the taste is marvelous! I do enjoy the chocolate crepe that is filled with Nutella and slices of banana but not the side dishes of chocolate ice-cream and whipped cream. I would like to have more Nutella Chocolate, pleaseeeeeeee...

Please remind the Chef if you dislike onion because they're using it in almost every dishes here. Do come here and try out the crepe, especially the desserts. I bet your mood will be cheered up completely.

Since the Childhood... the Bee See Heong

I could still recall that I was just a primary school kid when I'd first visited the restaurant. It was at least 15 years ago...

Here we're again at Bee See Heong Restaurant美时香餐室, together with my family. Reading through the Facebook page, I've only realized that they've started the business since 1962. The restaurant is as old as before yet the business is still as good as usual. The car park is completely full and so with the dining tables that are slowly filled up at dinner time.

The traditional style here whereby the food is served in the steel plate. William has started with the ordering of a few famous dishes here that include the Black Pork黑肉, the Black Fish黑鱼 and the Curry Prawn咖喱虾. The pork meat is stir-fried with the thinly sliced ginger and onion. It's slightly sweet-based due to the dark soy sauce. The meat is tender and I like the sauteed ginger and onion that have given the dish a nice aroma, it's tasty! We've ordered 2 plates indeed, for 6 pax of us. The fried fish is topped with a special dark soy sauce that is spicy and sweet. The sauce matches the fish completely, it's very appetizing. The curry prawn is definitely the starred dish whereby the fresh prawns are cooked in a thick curry paste that has a nice aroma and it's delicious. This is the perfect sauce to go with the white rice or bread and I've licked clean almost the whole plate.

We've also tried out the Fried Egg with Bitter Gourd苦瓜煎蛋, the Fried Chicken炸鸡 and the Fish Maw Soup鱼鳔汤. The fried egg is a little too oily, the chicken is quite tasteless that I'm expecting that it's added with some herbs or spices while the soup tastes ordinary only.

We've a satisfied meal here. They're not really the expert in all dishes yet they're definitely the best for some of my favourite dishes. Despite it's old, we love this restaurant as it brings back some nostalgic memories and the "flavours" of togetherness with the family.

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Go to Plan b if plan a Fails...

The girls have tried out Plan b that is located at Queensbay Mall. It must have just been newly opened as I've never seen it before I've decided for our vacation in Dec'14. It's a cafe and I'm totally attracted by the menu that is designed with the word "Drink Coffee LAHtte", it's the typical Malaysian-English slang! Besides, the water bottle is special, isn't it?

We've wanted to try out the BIG Breakfast yet it's out of stock, despite it's written that the breakfast menu will be served till 6pm. Anyway, it's more on the adventurous mood and without disappointment, we've decided for the Spicy Duck Spaghettini and the Spicy Crabmeat Linguine. The earlier pasta contains shredded duck confit and chili padi while the later comes with real crab meat, lemongrass and prawn oil. Both of the pasta contain kaffir lime leaf that has given a nice aroma to enhance the tastiness of the dishes. The pasta noodle is cooked to the correct springiness while on the part of the meat, both of the duck and crab meat are very juicy. The crab meat pasta has been added with cherry tomato in order to give a sourness and extra refreshing taste to this seafood dish. We're completely impressed by these Fusion Pasta. To combine the Asian seasoning with the Western noodle, it's very important on balancing these tastes and the Chef has definitely made it successfully.

Taking a mug of Americano for the need of the caffeine, I'm happy with the almond biscotti but not for the coffee indeed. The taste is somehow too thin for me.

Wow... we've been so satisfied with the pasta that we've tried out at the Plan b! I'm indeed planning for the next trip, to try out the Asian dish here.

La Fabrique, the French on the Samui Island

Starting the journey back home with a breakfast, we're brought to the La Fabrique that is a French Bakery on the island of Koh Samui. The menu is on the table or it's actually the wallpaper itself, just look around and you'll find the various choices that include sandwich or baguette, Pizza, egg and muesli.

Attila and I have ordered the Maenam and Bophut respectively. Each breakfast set comes with fried or scrambled or poached or boiled egg and an Americano or Espresso or hot tea. Maenam consists of bacon, and a choice of baguette or small croissant. I get additionally an orange juice and fresh fruit for my Bophut. Attila's breakfast looks delicious while on the other hand, I've enjoyed my fried egg very much. The egg white is completely cooked while the egg yolk is still in half liquid form, the perfect egg of mine! This is a French Bakery, both of the baguette and croissant have been made correctly. It's freshly baked that Attila thinks that the baguette is still too "crispy" to be served immediately. He prefers if the baguette is aired awhile in the ambient, weird for me... Anyway, I love the puffiness of my small croissant.

It's a nice breakfast to start the day. We're charged up to head for home...

A few of the Authentic Italian Cuisine in Koh Samui, at the La Taverna

Attila has been making noise about having an authentic Italian Pizza in Koh Samui. I've checked randomly through the tripadvisor and I've recommended the la taverna il ristorante italiano. I'm truly attracted by the post that has rated la taverna as one of the few classic Italian Restaurant that is still available on the island.

A very friendly service from the restaurant owner to arrange a table for 7 of us that we can sit comfortably, despite we're at the peak dinner hour and we've not booked in advanced. A nice starter of bread and Grissini or bread sticks that are served with Tomato Salsa and mixture of olive oil with vinegar as dipping.

Attila is so eager to try out the Pizze Salame E Gorgonzola that consists of tomato, pork salami, Mozzarella and Gorgonzola Cheese. I like the strong taste of the Gorgonzola that goes well with the saltiness of the salami. The dough is slight crispy at the outer layer yet it's still soft, this is a delicious Pizza! I've chosen the Spaghetti Alla Carbonara that is one of the basic pasta that is cooked with pork bacon and creamy egg sauce. The sauce is very tasty and I've definitely enjoyed the bacon that has been sauteed to a slight crispiness. Well, maybe a small preference from my side... if the onion is chopped into smaller pieces?

Lovingly to try out a sweet dessert, I've decided for the Profiteroles. It looks and also tastes alike cream puff except these puffy balls are topped additionally with chocolate sauce. Delicious but can I have more chocolate sauce, pleasssss... 

I'm happy to see Attila's smile on his face. He has been so satisfied with this restaurant.

Address:

168/18 Moo 2, Chaweng Beach,

Tambon Bophut, Koh Samui,

Suratthani 84320, Thailand.

Ladurée, They Make Macaron

I like Macaron but I don't simply buy or try out this pastry anywhere. It's more towards the mood and also the trust towards the brand of the Macaron. Being advised by Su that I can checkout the Macaron at Ladurée in London and the easiest spot is at the Harrods Shopping Mall.

I'm impressed by the Ladurée Tea Room that has been setup inside the Harrods, it's elegant! As I'm in a hurry, I've decided to take-away a box of 8 Macarons that cost £1.85 each. Randomly choosing over the varieties that are served here, I've decided for the Chocolat pure origine Ghana, Pistache, Pétale de rose, Caramel a la fleur de sel, Fleur d'Oranger, Ananas, Marrons and I think the Praliné. They're basically ranging from the flavours of pure chocolate from Columbia, pistachio nuts, rose petals, caramel with salted butter, orange blossom, pineapple, chestnuts to the pralines. The pastry cookies are crunchy while the filling is not over-sweetened and these combinations are definitely making up to a delicious Macaron. Anyway, my favourite still goes to the Macaron in Korea - by Ruben Jan Adriaan.

I've shown the Macarons to Attila's family and they love it completely! I've at least completed a main item in my checklist to London - Ladurée!

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Chino Latino, the Award Winning Pan-Asian in London

It's my 1st trip and it's a short trip for myself to London. I've decided for a night at the Park Plaza Riverbank Hotel that is located at the Albert Embankment. It's nearby the Vauxhall Underground Station, that has made my move-around such an easy task. The greatest fact for myself is the London Eye that is located within the walking distance. This is the main and this is one of the reason that I've wanted to visit London, other than the Tower Bridge.

I've decided to try out the Chino Latino Restaurant that is located at the ground floor of the Riverbank Hotel because it has won the award for the Best Pan-Asian. I've missed out the lunch hour that I've to stay at the Bar & Lounge area but luckily that the food is also served by the same restaurant. I've chosen the Crispy Duck that comes with sliced cucumber, chili, spring onion and being served together with the Hoisin Sauce. There's a few steps to enjoy this Oriental Dish. Firstly, the waiter will help by shredding the duck drumstick into tiny pieces. Then, the duck meat is to be wrapped together with the various vegetable in the steamed dumpling skin. Lastly, the sauce is garnished on top of the ingredients. The whole wrap is to be eaten as one dumpling! The duck meat is very tender and the dish is indeed very delicious. Yet, this is not the most delicious or unique duck dumpling that I've ever eaten because the sauce is not as tasty as the one that I've tasted at Chin's Restaurant in Penang. My personal opinion, the sauce is thicker and heavier at Chin's that it gives an extra "kick" to the duck meat. Besides, the vegetable is cut into thinner slices that are more even in term of thickness and shape.

Chino Latino is no doubt a good restaurant that should be considered for a delicious Oriental Dish in London. At the same time, I'm truly grateful that I can try out the same dish yet in a more delicious taste, back in my own home country. 

What Can You Do during the Winter of Christmas?

I've never celebrated Christmas in the cold Winter, under the ambient with the temperature that is lower than 5°C. Merry Christmas or "Frohe Weichnachsten" and we've decided to visit Germany in December 2014. It's not common to see white snow during the Christmas in Regensburg yet the low temperature is sufficient for me to enjoy some activities at the Christkindlmarkt.

Christkindlmarkt is a special scene that is available only before Christmas time in Europe. There's plenty of huts whereby people are selling the hot drinks, the sausages and also some decorations here. My favourite things to do are to drink a mug of hot wine or the Glühwein and also to eat a bread with sausage or the Wurst Semmel. Glühwein is the wine that is cooked with cloves, cinnamon and tea whereby it's meant to be served warm during the cold weather. You can try out the red that is made of grape or the white that is made of apple. The Glühwein is slightly harsh in the taste due to its alcoholic content that you can opt for the Kinderpunsch if you prefer the sweeter taste and it's without alcohol. I'm very happy as I've tried out the 1/2 metre Putenwurst Semmel or the Turkey Sausage. It's very juicy and tender whereby the saltiness goes well with the mixture of sweet and spicy senf.

Besides that, it's a must to try out the Christmas Stollen. It's a tradition for Christmas in Europe whereby it's actually alike the bread that is filled with raisins and dried fruit. Attila's favourite is the Edelmarzipan for its sweetness. I've tried it for the 1st time and I'm crazing about it completely. It's such a delicious dessert and not to forget the various Christmas Cookies as well.

Christmas is a reunion time for the family. Everyone gathers for a dinner together while the presents are placed under the Christmas Tree, to be unwrapped only after the meal. In the tradition of Molnar's family, we're eating Sauerkrautwickel or the cabbage roll that contains minced meat and being boiled together with the Sauertkraut or the sour white cabbage. My favourite dish by the Mom and I love it!

On the 26-Dec-14, the snow has finally landed at where we're staying... It's a beautiful scenery, isn't it?