Dean & Deluca @ Pavilion

Ever since my maiden visit to Dean & Deluca @ Pavilion for breakfast, I've been back numerous times as it has become a current favourite place of mine for beautifully cooked poached eggs.

Their poached eggs are always perfectly done (at least the times when I had it) and complemented by a terrific hollandaise sauce.  If you love poached eggs as much as I do, you've got to give these ones a try...seriously! ;)  And my sisters-in-law did when I brought them here...they went for the poached eggs which I highly recommended.

When I see grinders (not shakers!) of black pepper and salt on the table, I'm always happy....and here, it's no ordinary sea salt but (the more atas) Himalayan pink salt some more...kekeke! ;)  Freshly grounded pepper (from whole peppercorns) tastes so much more fragrant.  The place starts me off on a good note for my upcoming lunch already.

Each time I'm here, I'm always tempted to order the poached eggs time and time again but I think it's high time I give their other dishes a chance.  I decided to order the Seared Norwegian Salmon Fillet @ RM35 instead.  The salmon fillet was cooked just right, with a nice sear on the outside and revealing a juicy, tender fillet on the inside.  And for once, I didn't miss not having a crispy skin! :P

The salmon was served sitting on a bed of quinoa and spinach.  The first time I had quinoa, I can't say I was a fan of the bland taste and texture but my fears were unfounded as these ones turned out delicious.  Maybe it's because this one was cooked with spinach which gave it much more flavour.  I think I've a newfound fondness for quinoa.  The fresh tomato salsa (of chopped tomatoes, onions and parsley) was equally appetising to freshen up my palate.

This dish will appeal to those seeking a light, fresh, subtle-tasting dish with a host of healthy benefits at the same time.  I'd gladly order this again. ^o^

Next was a pasta dish chosen by my nephew, the Dean & Deluca's Signature Meatball @ RM30 in a tomato-based sauce served with parmesan shavings.  It came with three very substantially-sized beef meatballs making it a very filling dish.  I enjoyed the texture of their fresh, house-made pasta tossed in a lovely, light tomato sauce.  Choices include tagliolini or fettuccini as your pasta of choice (I'm assuming this is tagliolini which looks somewhat like spaghetti, only flatter and not as rod-shaped).

But the meatballs were very beefy...and the pasta very cheesy, not necessarily two things I'd love together in a sentence, but well suited for those who enjoy such flavours.

Another pasta dish, the Carbonara @ RM28 with beef bacon, mushrooms and grated parmesan was the choice of my niece.  It was both creamy and cheesy but not to the point of cloying.  Again, freshly made pasta is the way to go...so much better than dried pasta anytime.

I was fond of the good quality beef bacon and juicy button mushrooms which freshened up the plate from all that creaminess.  Yeah, I would have appreciated some fresh greens (perhaps arugula) to add a touch of lightness to the dish.

My sister-in-law got herself a piece of Carrot Cake for dessert from the cake counter.  I'm not much of a carrot cake fan (and the cream cheese frosting looked a bit over-chilled to me) but she said it was nice.

My Personal Opinion

Apart from their freshly cooked house-made pastas (way to go!), they have a variety of other options like sandwiches, burgers, quiche, soups, salads and more main courses of beef, chicken, fish and prawns to tickle your fancy! ;)

Though the pastas wouldn't be my personal choices, they certainly would be for people who like cheesy carbonaras and beefy marinaras.  I've got my eyes set on the other aglio olio pasta on the menu though.

Whether it's for beautifully cooked poached eggs in the mornings...or a more substantial main course (like salmon) for lunch or dinner, it's all good...and the prices are pretty friendly too! ^.^

Dean & Deluca
C3.10.02 Level 3
Pavilion Kuala Lumpur
168 Jalan Bukit Bintang
55100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-2110 0140

#ewew cooks Eggy Rice

One Pot Wonders are a blessing when it comes to whipping up something fast and easy for the dinner table. It can be cooked in a jiffy and involves the littlest of work in terms of prepping and washing.

After all, you just need to put everything inside a pot (in this case, your rice cooker) and wait for it to finish cooking.  And one such dish is this Eggy Rice, among the simplest of all one pot wonders, which I fall back on often when I've no time I'm too lazy to prepare a proper dinner.

You start by putting 1 cup of washed, uncooked rice to boil.  You'll need to reduce the amount of water you normally would use for the rice to cook but you'll still need a fair amount of it, otherwise the rice will not cook all the way through.

The reason for reducing the amount of water is obviously because of the extra liquid content the two beaten eggs will provide to the rice.  Add the eggs (that have been well seasoned with salt, white pepper and a little soy) as soon as you see the water has almost been absorbed fully by the rice.

Give it a good stir and let it cook a bit longer (at least a further 10 minutes) under 'keep warm' function until the egg is cooked.  If you like your rice slightly drier, keep it in the rice cooker for even longer.

Once cooked, they can be eaten just like that.  But you can bring it up a notch by adding pork lard crisps. But, let's be honest, most of us won't have crispy chee yau char at our disposal or be willing to make it at home.  So, fried shallots and shallot oil (or fried garlic and garlic oil) will have to do.

I always have fried shallots on hand as it's something I can't do without in my kitchen (that and fried garlic).  I use them to cook dishes or as toppings for the dishes I cooked. ^_~

Adding the fried shallots together with a few drizzles of shallot oil will amp up the flavours of the Eggy Rice even more.  Sprinkle in some chopped spring onions for a splash of colour and freshness right at the end.

Stir that through and it's ready to be served :)

Sprinkle a bit more fried shallots (it wouldn't hurt) and chopped spring onions over the top for presentation.

Note that the Eggy Rice will be a tad softer than the norm (but not too mushy or wet) because of the extra liquid provided by the eggs.  It can't be helped as you can't reduce the water content too much when boiling the rice, otherwise the rice grains won't be cooked fully.

The benefit of cooking this Eggy Rice is that all you'll need to cook is one additional dish (instead of the usual three) to eat with your rice.

I like to pair it with a simple fried fish, in this case a white pomfret topped with crispy garlic bits in a light soy and garlic oil sauce.....

.....or a simple stir-fry of fresh, firm-to-the-bite prawns with crunchy-to-the-bite green beans.

Or how about some soy braised egg and tofu?  Ok, ok, I didn't cook this one...it was bought earlier in the day (kekeke!) but it does go great with the Eggy Rice.

If you don't mind softer textured rice, then this Eggy Rice is perfect for a spur of the moment cooking that'll be a shoo-in for a quick and simple dinner...and well-received by the young ones especially when it's topped with a few slices of fried luncheon meat! ^o^

Rice, eggs, shallots (or garlic) and a can of luncheon meat are staples you'll find in most kitchens...something you can turn to on a rainy day when you can't go out for dinner or have nothing to cook.

Serves 2 (as a light dinner)

Lavender Bakery (Cakes) @ Pavilion

I'm a regular at Lavender Bakery @ Pavilion as it's one of my favourite and usual spots to buy pastries and bread whenever I'm at the mall (there's now one nearer me in MyTown Shopping Centre which I wasn't even aware of).

If I find myself at this mall, I'd almost always stop by to get myself some bread (like egg loaf, soft raisin ball, mini brioche buns, wheat buns and wholewheat bread) to make egg or bacon sandwiches, garlic bread or just having it with plain butter for my breakfasts.

It was on one of these trips here that I came across slices of banana cake at the cashier counter.  So, I got a slice @ RM1.40 a slice to try and liked it immediately.  The cashier told me that the banana cake is not something that's on their permanent menu.  After trying it, I thought it was quite nice...and hoped that it would make it to their permanent menu.

So, I was happy to see whole banana cakes on their shelves when I visited Pavilion some weeks later.  Glad that they've decided to put it on their permanent menu! ;)

The Banana Cake retails @ only RM11.90 for a whole whopping cake...that is an amazing price indeed (especially so when a piece of cake can cost even more than that these days).  It comes in a nice packaging too with a cute see-through banana cut-out...how apt! ^_~

It had a fair amount of banana flavour but without that artificial taste of banana essence.  More importantly, it wasn't all that sweet which is why I liked it.  Would I have liked a more intense banana flavour?  Sure.

This is a cross-section of the banana cake...which I managed to cut into 12 slices.

It may not be among some of the best banana cakes I've eaten but it's certainly decent in taste, more so if you take the price into consideration.  Where else can you get a whole cake for the price of a slice! O_o  I can't have any complaints.

Another cake I saw available was the Marble Butter Cake @ RM16.90 for a whole cake.  I got one too and it came in the same type of packaging.  The packaging makes it perfect as a gift to bring to say a makan party or simply gift it to someone.

The cake was nicely fluffy and soft, just like the banana cake, but missing a bit of that buttery, cocoa-chocolaty flavour.  Although if I wanted a marble cake, the first one that comes to mind would be the one from Yut Kee (RM18 now) but the last time I bought this, it tasted denser than I remembered it to be. :(

Here's a cross-section of the marble butter cake...one of twelve slices.

Each cake isn't very big...it measures only about 6 x 2 inches but is still a sizeable cake considering the price paid.

Well, if you happen to be in Pavilion, these cakes are good buys for their amazing prices.  They're great as contributions to say a makan party, a kid's birthday or a child's school event/activity as they're presentable and easy on the wallet too (why slave over the oven to bake your own when you can just buy one off the shelf....*wink wink*!).

Otherwise, it's also ideal for your own consumption, especially if you're one (like me) who doesn't like cakes with lots of cloying cream and icing and prefer simple cakes like these.  Like life's simplest pleasures, a classic, simple piece of cake complemented with a cup of coffee is sheer enjoyment :)

Other whole cake flavours on offer include chocolate, walnut butter (RM19.90, the most expensive) and pandan chiffon (RM9.30, their least expensive cake).  I think they sell them by slices too as I saw them cutting and packing the banana cake into slices (now RM1.50 a slice).  Why bother to bake your own when you can get one from as little as RM9.30...haha! ;D

Just One Food - Tauhu Begedil Goreng

Ramadan is coming to a close...and, as usual, like any other year, I've been doing my jalan-jalan cari makan rounds at Ramadan bazaars for food.  Some stalls have come and gone but most of my favourite ones are still around.  Well, this year I was well 'behaved' and didn't go overboard by eating too much...and you do that by simply limiting yourself to only one item at each walkabout (as you can so easily get caught with overbuying when confronted with so many smells choices at the bazaar).

After many years of visiting my neighbourhood Ramadan bazaar, I knew exactly which ones I wanted and didn't waste time with trying new stalls like previous years.  I just zeroed in on those I've come to enjoy over the years (like nasi lemak with various lauk, fried popiah, cucur udang, various nasi goreng kunyit, fried chicken ball, ayam goreng berempah, satay & otak-otak).  I've already written four blogposts in the past (2015, 2016, 2017 & 2018) on these Ramadan goodies, no need to add another one.

But I'd like to highlight something new I came across at this year's Ramadan bazaar which I've not seen or had before, so I got some to try out of curiosity.  Maybe it's not new.....but it's new at my bazaar...and it's Tauhu Begedil Goreng (RM5 for 4) and there were two stalls peddling this! ^_~

What exactly is Tauhu Begedil Goreng?  Well, I'm very familiar with begedil as I always pick that when I buy Malay mixed rice.  It's basically a patty of mashed potatoes with minced meat (chicken or beef) coated in beaten egg before being deep-fried.  I especially love all the extra fried frizzy egg strands...crispy and yummy.

And I obviously know what tauhu is (in this case it's actually beancurd puff).  So, it looks like some genius decided to stuff a begedil into a piece of tauhu and then deep-fry it...and voila, we have a new creation called Tauhu Begedil Goreng, people! ;)

To make this, they first sumbat (stuff) this inti (filling) of begedil into a beancurd puff.

They then coat it in beaten egg (as I can see some frizzy egg strands) and deep-fry them into crispy morsels of pleasure.

And they serve it with this punchy sauce which initially looked very much like the sauce for rojak buah (fruit rojak).  I actually thought it was just thick, dark soya sauce only to realise it had deeper flavours when I had a taste of it.

It was sweet, salty and spicy all at once (made with key ingredients of kicap manis or sweet soy, brown sugar and fiery cili api).  It went very well with the tauhu begedil.

The tauhu begedil also came with some whole green bird's eye chillies.  These green cili api were probably thrown into the oil (at the last minute) just when the tauhu begedil is ready to be fished out of the wok as I noticed them scattered on the heaps of ready fried tauhu begedil.

I'm not sure how I'm supposed to eat them...bite into the chillies while taking a bite of the tauhu begedil?  I'd much rather have them sliced and scattered on the fried tauhu (but that would mean extra work for them).

What's not to like, right?  It's deep-fried....it's crispy...it's potatoes....and it has a kick-ass sauce.  It's a win-win formula (don't you think?)....crispy tauhu with a tasty begedil filling! ^.^

Great as a tea-time or break fast snack, just not too many at one go coz it gets kinda dry once you've had one too many.  I know of bet someone who bakes & cooks will make a success of these at home if she gave it a go. ^_*