Rack Em Up, Eat Em Up, Drink Em Up!

The cocktail scene in Changkat Bukit Bintang seems to be growing right now, with quite a few bars along that street with pretty decent bars serving some pretty good cocktails. The newest palce to offer some nice cocktails is this place called RACKS.

Why is the place called 'Racks'? Well, apparently it's because they serve RACKS of pork ribs, and also RACKS of cocktail shooters. Unfortunately, their waitresses don't really have huge racks, but that's beside the point. Hehe.

The place has some interesting deco, with a couple of torture racks (hey, there's that word again), chains hanging everywhere, and even some torture racks. No it doesn't look like a torture chamber (it's quite cozy looking actually), just... odd.

Anyway, although the focus of the restaurant is its pork dishes, I figured I'd start off with the drinks first, since that's what I do best anyway (and what I did most of during the review). It's all related to the food though, since Racks is quite quite big on apple-based cocktails because apparently because apples go well with pork (which is quite true, surprisingly).

My first cocktail of the night was this yummy Apple Mojito:



Made like a usual mojito except with Bacardi Apple instead of normal rum, and apple juice, this was a yummy, apple-ly, refreshing drink that didn't seem too strong either. The mint and the apply combined quite nicely too.

Next was this dainty little Apple Martini:



Made using Smirnoff Apple, triple sec and apple juice. Pesonally, I prefer my appletinis with vermouth as well (like a regular martini), so I thought this one was kinda normal and light. Not sure why they serve it in a martini glass though, I reckon this would be better if served in proper glass or as a long drink.

Frankly, I preferred the Apple Daiquiri:



Made with Bacardi Apple, Apple Liqueur and FRESH apple juice. The apple juice made all the difference, making the drink a lot more well balanced between the alcohol and the juice, and it was fresh-tasting, not too sweet too.

I also tried a couple more apple cocktails that night, including the Apple Margarita (tequila, apple liqueur, triple sec) and last but not least, the BIG APPLE LEMONADE (Bacardi Apple, Amaretto, Sprite & some homemade sours):



which was not bad, being nice an fizzy, refreshing and despite the Sprite, not too sweet either.

In between the cocktails, the owners of Racks also brought out some racks of shooters. First up, was the aptly named, lethal Molotov shooters:

Made with vodka, tequila, Jack Daniels and with a dash of Tabasco sauce, this really is as lethal and potent as it sounds. The three spirits makes for a heady mixture, and the finishing taste of the Tabasco sauce after you swallow gives it a real OOMPH. Quite an awesome party drink, actually, heh heh.

Next up, we had these pink little Test Tube Babies:

Made with Cranberry juice, vodka and Peach schnapps, this tasted like a Cosmopolitan in a test tube, heh heh.

And finally, we had the nice fruity Illusion:

Made with Midori melon liqueur, vodka and pineapple juice (yes, ignore the 'Cuervo' logo, there's no tequila here) it was actually very easy to down (I think I did three of it in one shot and didn't feel a thing...)

Of course, this being a FOOD review, there were also lots of good stuff for me to line my stomach with while I gulped down the cocktails.

The starters consisted of a few platters with stuff wrapped in awesome pork prosciutto, including fruit, seafood, these sausages (The so-called 'Special Pigs in Special Blankets'):

My personal favorite, the asparagus:



and even oysters!



Mmmmm, yum yum.

There was also a platter of pretty good cold cut meats:



and after that, it was time for the main courses, which included some GREAT pork sandwiches, and these two burgers.

The Pulled Pork Burger:



And the Rack's Pork Burger:



Of course, you can't go to a place 'Racks' without trying their racks of pork ribs, which were huge by the way. Here to illustrate how big the pork ribs are, please welcome back Kimberlycun's Arm:

Anyway, we had two types of pork ribs that night, Sweet & Sticky Pork Ribs, and the Hot & Spicy Pork Ribs:

The Hot & Spicy Pork Ribs were my favorite of the two, largely because the former seemed a bit too er... common, while the Hot & Spicy one was at least quite different from most other pork ribs I've tried.

Oh, and yes, the pork DID go VERY well with the apple cocktails.

Racks is located right at the end of Changkat Bukit Bintang, directly opposite Havana.

Weissbrau, Where The Brew Is At

October has become a month that I both look forward to and dread the most at the same time these days, because of a very very special festival... OKTOBERFEST!

Yup, that beer-guzzling festival has never failed to make me utterly sick of beer every year it comes around, thanks to all the one liter steins of beer that is available everywhere these days:


(picture from Kimberlycun)

Anyway, a couple weeks back me, LL, Deepak, Shaolintiger and Kimberlycun were at Weissbrau Pavilion KL for a little private food and beer sampling, in conjunction with their Oktoberfest launch.

First up, the food. We got some sandwiches, some burgers and pork knuckles, which were pretty decent, but the highlights for me were this potato pancake:



... which was super awesome! Cheese, potatoes, ham and a sunny side egg on top, all melted together and formed this AMAZING little thing that I could not stop eating.

Also, the seafood pizza they served us was pretty good as well:



I especially liked the sweet onion base they put on top of the crust. It was really one of the best pizzas I'd tasted in a LOOONG time.

Of course, we also drank a whole lot of beer (Kim even managed to finish one whole half pint of Franziskaner all by herself without speaking a single word of Mandarin or falling asleep!

Ok, on hindsight, I probably shouldn't have taken one whole liter of Erdinger Dunkel all by myself, especially after two glasses of awesome Schneider Weiss beer, but I managed (barely) to finish it eventually. I think. I don't remember much after that. But at least I drank more than Deep, who chickened out halfway MUAHAHAHA.

(picture from Kimberlycun)

Anyway, the Octoberfest celebration at Weissbrau started on 22 September 22 and ends on October 6 (yup, that's this Thursday). You can purchase either one litre of Franziskaner or one litre of Erdinger Weissbier and Erdinger Dunkel at the price of RM 60++ during Happy Hour (10am till 9pm) and RM 72++ for non-Happy hour. The customer can also purchase the one litre mug at the cost of RM 7+. Not a bad deal, actually. Hurry up! the offer ends on Thursday!

Beer Of the Week: Looky Looky, it's Newky!

I'm a bit of a sucker for new beers, especially ales. I find ales like Kilkenny much easier to drink, as it is lighter than stout (which I used to drink a lot of) and still more full bodied than the usual lagers.

So when I found out GAB was bringing in a new beer that is ALSO a brown ale, I was ecstatic. In fact, I couldn't wait to try it!

The new beer's name, is Newcastle Brown Ale, or more fondly referred to as Newky:



I first found out that the beer is available here in Malaysia when Geoff (the Sid of Sid's Pubs fame) and Frank were going on and on on Twitter about drinking loads of it at their pub in Damansara Heights. So much so that I also gian wanna drink it that time.

You may have seen the beer's logo being displayed on the jerseys of the Newcastle United team some time ago, and apparently, it's quite a popular beer in the UK (it's apparently the No. 1 selling premium bottled ale in the UK and available in more than 40 countries).

The beer is only available in bottles (and apparently it's that way even in the UK), and can be found in about 25+ British and Irish-themed outlets, including all four Sid's Pubs.

Anyway, speaking of Sid's, Sid's Damansara Heights (Or as I like to call it: Sids 4, because it's the fourth Sid's Pub that has been opened so far) is now one of my favorite hangout joints, not just because the beer there is great, it's also because it's the easiest place to get to when I get stuckin a jam on the way home and need a place to er.. detour to to wait out the jam. heh heh.

It's not just the beer that's awesome though. The other day, I was there for my favoritest burger of them all. Behold, the Sid's Ben Nevis burger...



...an awesome tower of two meat patties (you can choose beef, chicken, lamb or pork - my personal favorite is lamb + pork), bacon, cheese and fried egg. It's definitely the type of burger that can't be eaten without making an unholy mess.

And guess what? It's even better when you have a nice beer to wash it down with. This time around, I tried having it with Newcastle Brown Ale; and the burger + ale went surprisingly well together. Especially since Newky was lighter, smoother and more refreshing than a stout or other ales, enough to wash down the grease from the burger; and yet sweet, caramel-like and full bodied enough that the finish lingers on after the initial swallow.

Overall, Newcastle Brown Ale is easy to drink, refreshing and has a very pleasant nutty finish. In fact, I liked it so much after my first try that it's become my de facto 'first beer' whenever I go to Sid's, the beer I order when I walk in and which sets the mood for the night. If you want a beer that you can drink all night long, this is it.

Beer Of The Week: It's Grimbergen. Not GrimBurger.

YAY NEW BEER!

Brussels just recently brought in Grimbergen Blonde, an abbey beer from Belgium, and yesterday they invited the whole bunch of us to their branch in Menara Hap Seng to thrash and puke on their flo... er... drink the beer!

Anyway, I got there really early, around 5:30pm (the event was supposed to start at 830pm); and got right into the new beer.



I love the pale golden straw colour of the beer, and the phoenix on the logo (I'm a sucker for stuff like dragons and phoenixes hehe). The beer is very light and citrusy on the nose, and it's got a sweet, caramel-y taste, with some hints of apples and pears. It tasted surprisingly light and smooth, but don't let that fool you, it's got 6.7%ABV! It's a light beer that is really strong! Heh heh.

Anyway, Grimbergen is an abbey beer - meaning it used to be made by monks but now it's done by a brewer who pays the monks for the right to use their beer recipe instead (in this case, it's Carlsberg) - so it's got the typical abbey beer goblet, just like Leffe.

Speaking of Leffe, I tried the two beers side by side, and found that Leffe Blonde actually tasted really bland next to Grimbergen.



The Pork Gang arrived around 8pm, and we got down to the serious business of drinking a lot of beer. Hard work, that. Oh, and they also served us some food during the launch, including these awesome mussels that were cooked with Grimbergen:



Cheese + Beer + Bacon + mussels = AWESOME.
No really. BEST. COMBINATION. EVER!

They also gave us some awesome siew yoke as well, which were snapped up within SECONDS of it coming to our table:



It was a real fun night. The Carlsberg MD did some rapping, the Luen Heng boss gave us Jager shots, and we all drank copious amounts of beer. Not much to complain about, except for the hangover I had this morning. GAH....

The Big One And The Big Beers

Lots of beer. Paired with lots of food. How to say no lar?

I got to try out the new menu at Brussels Beer Cafe at their new outlet in Solaris Mont Kiara in two separate sessions recently (one for the column, one as a blogger. AWESOME LOL), AND got to pair the food with their range of imported beers as well. AWESOME.

Ok, there was a lot of food there, but this ain't a food blog, so if you wanna know more about it then you should go read KY's blog instead.

There WAS one awesomely HUGE sausage that is worth mentioning though. Behold.. THE BIG ONE:



How big is the Big One? Well, in length, it's about the size of Kimberlycun's forearm (minus the middle finger):



In terms of diameter, well, see for yourself in this comparison with a 20 sen coin:



Frankly speaking, it's a bit too er... meaty for me though, and I DEFINITELY won't be able to finish it on my own. And the beer that came with it definitely helped to wash it down, because my jaw got a little tired from chewing it after a while. Heh.

But never mind the food. I was there mostly for the beers. We tried a couple of beers that Brussels had on tap that day, including Konig Ludwing, Hoegaarden, Franziskaner, Warsteiner, Leffe, Stella Artois...



My favorite of the lot is definitely Konig Ludwig. In fact, these days I would not take another wheat beer if there is Konig Ludwig available. It's THAT good. It's refreshing Bavarian wheat beer that is full of flavor, full-bodied and even slightly sweet and easier to drink than say, Paulaner.

Brussels tried pairing the beers with the food, and while some didn't really work, some were quite good, including the Warsteiner lager paired with the pork knuckle:



And also the Hoegaarden with the er.. Mussels cooked in Hoegaarden.

Speaking of Hoegaarden, during the blogger session, we got to drink beer from the GIGANTIC five liter Hoegaarden glass...



Yup, using STRAWS. Which was quite sad. Using straws to drink beer just isn't the same as gulping it down properly, because you can't smell the aroma of the beer properly, and all the amount you suck up from the straw just isn't enough to let you properly taste the damn beer.

But watudu. After all, the glass WAS bigger than the head of a Fireangel:



That tiny glass in front of FA is the cute little Hoegaarden miniature glass they gave each of us as a doorgift.

Just to illustrate further how awesomely BIG the glass is (and how cute the tiny one is), here's another picture featuring Shaolintiger and LL:



During my first session, we got to try a new beer they had in stock from Erdinger - the Erdinger Schneeweisse Winterbier - which is a seasonal wheat beer that is apparently only brewed between November and February.



How does it taste like? Frankly speaking, it's a bit too light for me. It IS slightly better than those shite lite beers from America, but for a German wheat beer, it's just not full-bodied or flavorful enough for my liking.

After that, the big boss of Brussels decided to have some fun and treat us to some less er... conventional drinks. Like this shooter that consists of Midori, Amarula cream liqueur, and something else I don't remember (it might be Jager or codka, I'm not sure):



Then, in response to a shocking revelation from someone who said she had not tried Jagermeister before, he merrily ordered a line of 'Submarine' drinks:



... which was basically just a glass of Carlsberg with a shotglass of Jagermeister chucked into it and downed in one gulp. Urgh. I won't be drinking THAT anytime soon...

All in all, the food at Brussels is pretty good (though a bit pricey for my liking). But the BEER is a different matter. They've got so many different types of beers it'll take a few more visits to try them all (or one VERY LONG visit, heh heh). Who wanna join? :D

OMGODIVA! Gimme More Chocolates!!!

What's better than chocolate?
Godiva chocolate of course,
Yes, that brand of chocolate that I can never afford.
But is so goddamn awesome.
Mmmm, chocolate.
Yummy yummy chocolate.



Anyway, last week I got an invite to the Godiva Cafe in Pavilion to try out their new menu, which as far as I could tell, consists of some new cakes. Hey don't blame me, I was too busy chomping down chocolates to notice. heh heh.

Yeah, they were giving out chocolates throughout the entire event, and I don't think I've eaten so much chocolate in a VERY LONG TIME.

Funny thing is, I'm actually not THAT keen on chocolates (I'm not a fan of really sweet stuff in the first place), but when it came to THESE chocs, I jsut could not stop eating them, especially the dark chocolates....

I'm a real sucker for dark chocolate especially, and the ones they were giving out were AWESOME. Just leave it in your mouth, and as the outer layer of dark chocolate melts, the gooey center of liquid dark chocolate oozes out.... ish, now I want more!

They've got some Valentines Day stuff out as well:



Including one that comes with a bottle of Moet champagne!



Anyway, during the event, we were given aprons and divided into groups to decorate the plates of cake to win prizes. (Actually, we didn't have to decorate the cakes, just the plates. Heh heh).

Anyway, Kimberlycun was there in her new super-cute short hair cut!



Mama Shaolintiger was also there, and she was on my group! Here she is busy decorating one of our group's ca.. er plates.



Anyway, what happened was she and the other female reporter from a Malay daily did the decorating, while I stood around and took pictures (You DO NOT want me near any cake decorating activities, trust me).

Ok, I did A BIT of work, basically arranging the final presentation into this er... mess:



Funny thing is, Mama Shaolintiger later said that she did not know this was a competition, or she would have tried harder. But what she did was already great!

Sad to say, we didn't win the top prizes, but we still got a nice little bag of chocolates (which I finished off the next day in one sitting), AND we got to eat the cakes! My favorite was the Dark Chocolate Cake, which was SO RICH AND SO AWESOMELY CHOCOLATELY.

Actually, all the FIVE types of cakes they let us try were so rich and chocolately that we really could not finish them all, even between the three of us. Serves me right for stuffing my gob with so much chocolates before that I guess...

Anyway, I'd put up pictures, but by the time I thought of taking pictures we'd already tore into most of them, leaving a rather un-picturesque mess on the plates. Oops.

But here's a picture of the Dark Chocolate Cheesecake, just for kicks.



And here's a picture of the tiramisu (which sadly we did not get to try. :-( )



Suffice to say, I was on a sugar-high (and caffeine-high) for almost the entire day, which was a good high to be in. And thanks to the little bags they gave us on the way out, I got to be on ANOTHER chocolate high the next day... Oh dear. Now I have a craving for more chocolates. GAH!

A Typical Makan-ing Day In Penang

Last month, me, LL, Lance, Mel, and my mom went up to Penang for a pure makan trip. Meaning we just went up there for the sole purpose of eating, eating, and oh, more eating.

Sure, we did a bit of sightseeing at Suffolk House and the Blue Mansion as well (both of which were very impressive, BTW), but really, we would have been happy just eating the entire weekend away.

Anyway, a typical makan-ing day in Penang for us usually starts here:



That's a makan shop near the Pulau Tikus market, just opposite the road from the police station. And it serves one of the best goddamn Hokkien mee (prawn mee to all you KL people) EVER. Well, that's what WE think anyway.



How do you know when something is REALLY good? When you actually finish EVERY SINGLE DROP of soup, EVERY SINGLE STRAND of noodles, EVERY SINGLE PIECE of taugeh and anything else in the bowl. That's what I always do when I eat the Hokkien mee here. It's THAT good.

Be warned though, we usually go there around 7-8am, to be safe. If you go around 8:30am, don't be surprised to see THIS:



Yup, the Hokkien mee at this stall runs out REALLY early (they only make one pot of soup a day), and by 8:30am, they'll be literally scraping the bottom of the pot.

So if you wanna eat it, you need to be there REALLY early.

If you miss that, you could always eat the 'famous' wantan mee, which really is pretty good:



But seriously, I seldom eat it, because c'mon, it's WANTAN MEE. KL pun berlambak lar, why waste stomach space? :D

Or stick around and have some fluffy, delicious apam (no, it's not a typo. It's not Spam, it's Apam)



Made by this Indian dude. It's damn interesting watching him make the apam, so if you have time, watch him at work!



After the Hokkien mee, we immedietely headed to the next makan place (stopping by at another stall for a packet of Siamese mee kerabu, another favorite of ours), also near Pulau Tikus, to have one of my personal favorites, koay chap!



Mmm, duck meat, pork bits, and all sorts of unidentified meaty goodness in herbal soup. AWESOME.

My sister calls koay chiap 'guai zai mee', or 'good boy noodles'. Why? Because it's so easy to eat, it just sits nicely in the spoon like a good boy! :D



That was our morning itiniery. Next, it was lunch time, and it was time for some asam laksa!

Now, our favorite Penang laksa stall is actually in Balik Pulau, which has easily THE BEST asam and siam laksa ever, but because we didn't have time to go there this time, we had to settle for the one at Penang Road, which was STILL pretty good:



This is still one of the few asam laksas in the entire MALAYSIA that I can actually finish the entire bowl down to the last onion/drop of soup. Most of the ones in KL, I can barely finish the noodles, let alone the soup.

And of course, we had to have the cendol also lar:



One thing about these old food stalls in Penang though - don't keep asking them when your food's arriving. If you've ordered, just wait patiently for it to arrive. Question the stall owners' memory, and you'll be snapped at, like the little old lady behind the laksa stall:



From one cranky aunty to another, we next went to Lorong Selamat for the infamous Lorong Selamat char koay teow (yup, the one people are calling for a boycott over).
After hearing so much about it, I just had to try it out, by hook or by crook. As expected, we had to wait for an entire HOUR for the CKT to get here.

At least the hou jien (oyster and egg) and the yam kueh we had while waiting for the CKT was pretty good though:



And right on the dot, exactly an hour after we got there, our char koay teow finally arrived.

After finally trying the char koay teow, I can see why it's so popular. It really IS good, and the prawns are HUGE. One plate definitely isn't enough, especially after you've waited so long for it.



And there lies the biggest problem I have with the place. Sure, the char koay teow is awesome, but frankly speaking, for RM6 (RM9 if you order extra prawns) AND a waiting time of an hour for each plate of char koay teow, it just isn't worth it. It's got nothing to do with the aunty's attitude - her rudeness is average hawker standards at best - but everything to do with the fact that there are cheaper and equally as good CKT in Penang, AND you don't have to wait so long for it.

So, after finally seeing what the fuss is all about, it's safe to say I probably won't be going back there again (unless like KY says, I go before 11am when its less crowded... then again, there are OTHER more awesome things to eat in the morning).

On Sunday, it was time to go home. But not before waking up early (well, early-ish) to go and have some kick-ass koay teow thng at a small lorong just off Burma Road (I can't remember what road it is now...).



Anyway, this is easily one of the best koay teow thngs I've ever had, and I should know because I LOVE my koay teow thngs. The meat is juicy, the pork bits are crunchy, the koay teow is smooth, and the soup is just HEAVENLY. Yup, I finished the whole bowl, down to the last drop of soup. Wanted to order another, but the old uncle said it was all sold out. At 9AM.

The stall's been there for DECADES - the only reason we knew about it was when my mother said she used to go there when she was a STUDENT. And the same little old man has been manning the stall all this while:



It's pretty sad that the old uncle is the only one manning the stall though. No younger generation to take over, nobody to help him. Watching him hunched over his stall, lovingly making each bowl of koay teow thng two at a time (like the Lorong Selamat Aunty, he'll also snap at you if you ask him why your food is taking so long), it makes you sad that once he is gone, the recipe for the koay teow thng goes with him. Never mind old buildings, people like this old man are the LIVING Heritage of Penang.



Anyway, back to the food. The items mentioned here are not the only things we eat in Penang, of course. I haven't even mentioned the Balik Pulau laksa, the bowls of braised chicken feet at New Lane that we DEVOUR on evevery single trip to Penang, the old school nasi kandar at the Butterworth jetty... dammit. now I'm hungry. Road trip, anyone?