Artisan Roast & TopShelf.

After a stressful week, I finally had time to meet up with Ben for tea on Thursday after my mid term paper. We actually wanted to try out Dip N Dip but the moment we got to Telawi it started raining cats and dogs so we took shelter in BV II's Artisan Roast cafe. I've been to the Taman Tun branch numerous times so I knew I wasn't gonna be disappointed :)

Ben's Latte.

I opted for tea as I had a slightly annoying experience with coffee the night before. Decided on TWG's Silver Moon tea (which I love). I'm glad to see quite a few places have started selling TWG's teas. 

Lemon slice & Pecan slice (RM6 each).

I can't compare it to other places because it was my first time trying these flavored cakes but I enjoyed it both :) Especially the pecan slice because I LOVE pecans. Which reminds me, I really wanna try Alexis's pecan pie. It looks so good!

Last night, Hazel & I had one of our regular dinner dates at TopShelf, Taman Tun. The food overall was really good but the service was bad as they were very obviously understaffed what with a full house and only two pairs of hands.

We started with 3 entrées, followed by 2 main courses & a dessert.

(we are such fat eaters).

Les Escargots au beurre RM24.

snails served with butter and fresh herbs.

The taste was good but I wish they had more sauce for the dipping bread.

 Salmon ravioli RM23

stuffed with smoked salmon and ricotta cheese served with a seafood broth.

The broth and the stuffing complemented each other amazingly.

Crispy aromatic duck RM28.

shredded crispy duck with think pancakes, cucumber, scallions and hoi sin sauce (basically, peking duck).

Yummy :) I've always loved my peking duck.

For my main course I had, Boeuf bourguignon RM34.

slow-cooked beef in burgundy red with homemade pasta.

The sauce and pasta went well but the beef should have been more tender.

Hazel had the Confit de canard RM33.

duck confit, fondant potato, braised shallots & french beans.

The confit alone was salty but paired together with the cranberry sauce, it was really good. 

Creme brûlée RM18.

Still fell short of a good creme brûlée as it was way too eggy.

Boo :(

By the end of the meal, I felt like I could roll around. We ended our Friday night in, enjoying 2 bottles of wine :)

Friday night @ Marini's & Sultan.

Pretty laced dress that I bought two years ago from a boutique but never wore.

 & my sparkly Steve Madden wedges :)

My brother asked me to join him & his friends at Marini's on 57 and I dragged my two sidekicks along.

Marini's lived up to the hype everybody has been creating. The view really is so pretty and it's such a nice place to dress up and have cocktails with a small bunch of people. Except my two sidekicks & I aren't the most feminine of creatures as we don't drink cocktails. Prices are steep here but worth it for the ambiance! I would definitely make it my go-to bar.

After that we headed down to Sultan Lounge to see the birthday girl!

Happy 20th Birthday, Selina :)

So, a really cute white boy hit on me. I mean, REALLY. CUTE. WHITE. BOY. Boy (!) not an old creepy white dude which is what you can normally expect. Too bad he just wanted to bang but he called me beautiful so I'll just be happy about that :D

I'm so shameless.

Yakitori-Do & Just Heavenly Cafe #2.

After reading about Yakitori-Do on eatdrinkkl, and seeing all the mentaiko dishes that they had, I knew I just haaaaaad to give it a try. Good thing I did :) You should note you can't get your usual sashimi and sushi here though.

The ambiance was very nice albeit rather small.

Starters were cabbage with japanese mayo (or what I assume it to be).

 A nice light beer to go with our Japanese meal :)

Mentaiko Cream Udon RM21.90.

BEST MENTAIKO PASTA HANDS DOWN! The udon was slurp worthy and the sauce was just the right thickness and taste was spot on.

Potato with Mentaiko RM 3.90.

A very subtle but yummy taste :D

Omusubi RM 4.90. 

This was the least favorite as there was way too much rice for the little amount of mentaiko in the middle.

Wagyu Beef Yakitori RM 9.80 (per stick). 

The marinade was really good but the meat wasn't wagyu standards.

After a satisfying and very reasonably priced dinner we decided to give in to our sweet tooth. Alwin told me that Vin's recently revamped their menu and added in creme brûlée (MY FAVORITE DESSERT) so we headed there to check it out :)

Sadly, it was disappointing. It was too eggy and cold at the bottom! :(

  

But the Chocolate Truffle Cake made up for it. Just check out the gooey chocolate!

What a satisfying dinner :) However, my 3 days straight of gym-ing went straight down the drain. Whatever, still worth it! Today, we headed back to Just Heavenly Cafe for round two of their awesome menu :D

Detox Salad RM22.00

A light, tangy salad of organic quinoa taboule, roasted mediterranean vegetables, red onions and our greek yoghurt. 

SO GOOD.

Grilled Nutella and Banana Sandwich RM12.00

A generous slice of sourdough toasted with cinnamon topped with nutella, bananas, crushed hazelnuts and a drizzle of orange reduction.

A good rendition of our favorite nutella and banana sandwiches :)

Quiche Lorraine RM16.00

A traditional french dish filled with beef brisket slices, onion and cheese baked for perfection in a shortcrust shell.

Cheesy goodness :)

Good Morning Vermont RM12.00

A stack of freshly made ricotta hotcakes with a side of pure canadian maple syrup and butter.

My sister basically poured the whole jug of maple syrup on it and YET it wasn't very sweet. Not that I'm complaining since I don't really fancy super sweet stuff :)

Death By Chocolate RM12.00.

Too bitter for my chocolate liking.

Key Lime Pie RM12.00

Tropicana ice cream lovers should totally try this! :)

Sigh, I love my food.

Procrastinating on blogging about my birthday weekend. Soon! I now have midsems to study for.

Just Heavenly Cafe & Nails #1.

Took my sister out for dinner at Just Heavenly Cafe, BSC as a post-PMR treat :) Glad I finally got to try the food here and I'm definitely going to keep going back until I try out (almost) everything on their menu! Seriously, it all looks so good & the best part, it seems relatively healthy.

Soba Salad.

So glad I ordered this even though I was tempted to order the Detox Salad (just to try out what Quinoa tastes like haha!). The taste was so fresh & I loved how all the flavors came together! 

Chicken & Avocado Open Sandwich with Cranberry Sauce.

I liked this too but they should have given more cranberry sauce to make the taste stronger (but then again I love cranberry sauce so maybe I'm being bias). Besides that, everything tasted fresh and yummy.

Lamb Burghini (I didn't get the pun at first.. I'm so slow).

One of the best lamb burgers I've tried. The lamb patty had just the right texture & moisture + the mint yoghurt sauce complemented everything perfectly.

Can't wait to head back and try the rest of their sandwiches & key lime pie which Ben recommended but sadly they had ran out :( Oh! I definitely wanna try their super big breakfast (I think that's what they call it?) which they only serve on weekends & Public holidays, all day.

On to nails!

I've been a loyal Amante customer for about 4 years now (oh wow I didn't realize it's been that long). I love the service that they give and it's also very convenient for me since it's in Aman Suria and I live less than 10 minutes away. I've bought two packages from them which is the RM1000 nails package where you get RM300 free and more recently, the RM1000 gel nail package which comes with 5 free gel nail removal (which usually costs RM40-50) and also RM300 free.

I got this done two weeks back @ Amante.

The basic gel manicure costs RM78 + RM55 for the nail art/stones.

I really loved how it looked but within a week, the stones started falling off and it bugged the hell outta me. So I decided to get my nails done again (it was my birthday weekend, so I'm excused). The only bad thing about Amante is that their color choices isn't very extensive which is a real bummer since I do my nails very often and I'm running out of colors! So I decided to give Color Culture a try.

OPI Strawberry Margarita (Gel).

RM40 for gel removal + RM90 for the manicure.

Well, obviously the color choices (even for gel) is muuuuch better but the service isn't as great. I prefer the comfy sofa chairs & warm atmosphere Amante has to offer. Also, from experience, I think Amante does much better nail art compared to a lot of places. I think I'll stick to Amante (besides, I still have my packages) and hope they bring in more colors!

Petaling Jaya @ Aman Suria
No. C-G-5, Jalan PJU 1/45

Tel: 03-7803 4664

* Note: they have 10 other branches if you're interested for somewhere more convenient :)

Redbox @ The Curve & Oriental Cravings.

Felt like dressing up so I threw on my H&M blazer & new Aldo heels (which were so crazily uncomfortable I felt like I spent RM250 just to feel PAIN).

Awhile back I got the message above and since my friends and I love to karaoke, we jumped at the opportunity. The terms is that it's free for only one person (birthday girl/boy). The usual price on weekdays for 8-11pm is RM42++ per person. Split by 3 people it only comes up to RM28++ per person (including a free buffet and 2 free drinks). Oh, by the end of the night they extended our session by another 3 hours for free. So in my opinion, totally worth it! ;)

 

The spread was quite wide but the taste and quality was, to no surprise, on the down side. However, us being the greedy pigs that we are (we had just had dinner btw) decided that "HEY, it's free! Lets screw our diets and eat just because it is FREE". We have no shame.

Well at least the tofu & sushi were pretty alright.  

Hahahahahahaha I do not remember what song she was singing to but she was really into it :p

Typical angst-y face.

She's evil. This is the look she always gives innocent babies & scares them!

Totally in the zone guys. 

As always, had a great time singing my lungs out with my favorite people :) Nothing like some S-Club 7, Backstreet Boys and A1 to relive our younger days! Honestly, not many people should be allowed to see us "in the zone" - especially when we're "rapping" to Nicki Minaj.

After a good Yoga class the following day, Aunty Doreen (Ben's mum) invited us over to her restaurant, Oriental Cravings in One Utama, for a free meal. I love birthdays. Free stuff everywhere! :D

Egg fu yong, oat prawns (SO GOOD) & Aunty D gave us a special chicken dish. 

It's called BB chicken and it's not in the menu. Only the head chef knows how to cook it.

IT WAS AMAZING. All three of us (Hazel, Marie & I) loved it! Yay to being special!

I omitted rice because of my diet but I couldn't resist a bowl of cendol (I know, I fail).

So worth it though, so so so worth it.

I've been to Oriental Cravings numerous of times and their dishes are always of top quality. I strongly doubt Aunty D would ever ever let it be anything otherwise :) So go try it out! You might be able to catch Ben on the job as well ;)

Birthday weekend! Let's see how it turns out :)