Vanity Mansion

Click here for earlier entry on Vanity Mansion (March 29).

Slowly but surely, Vanity Mansion is expanding its offerings. Now they have satisfyingly thick slices of complimentary bread, which wasn't provided previously.

Wilted romaine lettuce with smoked anchovies & poached eggs. A well-prepared recipe with a creamy blend of flavours, but the portion was too puny for the price.

Grilled king prawns with Espelette pepper angel hair pasta & capsicum puree lemon butter sauce. Fresh-tasting crustaceans with a mild-flavoured pasta. But the description on the menu was more tantalizing than the actual offering.

Pan-seared foie gras with sherry caramelized apple tart tartine & spiced chocolate sauce. Can't go wrong with foie gras; wish the serving size had been chunkier though.

Baked pineapple flan with creme fraiche custard & meringue. Tasted like a fresh-fruit version of a pineapple tart, if that makes sense.

Chocolate mousse with lime cinnamon creme chantilly & vanilla sauce. Sumptuously sweet.

Greed (white rum, galliano, orange marmalade, monin spicy mango, mango juice) & Sloth (dark rum, blue curacao, monin lychee, monin cucumber, lemon juice).

Wrath (kiwi vodka, wild strawberry liquor, monin strawberry, lemon juice, cranberry juice) & Gluttony (gin, cointreau, orange marmalade, lemon juice).

Vanity Mansion,

Jalan Kamunting.

Hoagies Hauz

Stop here for a quick bite if you're in the mood for sandwiches or pasta.

Portuguese Chicken in foccacia. Tender meat, slathered in a sweet, mayo-like sauce. All the bread here tastes fresh and light, maybe since it's made in-house.

Barcelona Fish spaghetti. A slightly spicy, passable pasta. Decently prepared.

Viennese Baguette with margarine & sugar. Simple but addictive.

Coffee & Ice Blended Vanilla.

Hoagies Hauz,

Sunway Giza, Kota Damansara.

Movida

Movida has enjoyed a fair share of hype in recent weeks, swiftly becoming the most popular watering hole in Kota Damansara's Sunway Giza mall.

It's a stylish two-story venue that seems to appeal to a wide clientele, ranging from youths snacking on pizzas to middle-aged beer guzzlers.

Smoked salmon on mesclun leaves, tossed with citrus oil, grapes, pineapples & cheese balls. A tangy salad that came in a surprisingly generous portion.

Deep-fried whitebait, tossed with paprika & chili flakes. Could have been more crisp, but at least it wasn't too oily. Good for guilt-free snacking.

Fettuccine pesto, with scallops, parmesan, pine nuts & basil. Not the best in town; the pasta was a tad too starchy and the pesto sauce was weak.

Mojito Madness! Buy one, free one.

Grasshopper & Spanish Fly cocktails.

Movida,

Sunway Giza, Kota Damansara.

Pacifica

Click here & here for earlier entries on Pacifica (April 27, 2009 & Oct. 23, 2009).

Fresh bread, lovely spreads (tuna in olive oil, Echire & passion fruit butters).

Amuse bouche of bouillabaisse, capsicum crisp & lobster ice cream (a bizarre sorbet-ish item with the flavour of chilled lobster).

Oyster shooters (French Tsarskaya in vanilla margarita, a blend of sauza tequila, vanilla & fresh lime, alongside French Fin de Claire in absolut vodka, tomato & celery). A slippery treat that should be slurped down all at once.

Roasted monkfish loin with fava bean cassoulet. Similar to one of Pacifica's offerings during last October's MIGF promo, except that this monkfish came with potato gnocchi and was soaked in a superbly flavourful star anis broth, instead of the MIGF version's unmemorable Madeira broth. Tweaking a recipe can produce more satisfying results after all.

Boston lobster poached in its own oil with cucumber vinaigrette. Fresh-tasting and succulent; also a variation of an MIGF item, but with an additional side of lightly battered lobster with a horseradish-laced, densely textured mousse.

Halibut fillet steak with Cafe de Paris butter sauce, chanterelle mushrooms, oxtail tortelloni & lettuce chiffonade. A complex combo, though the fish was not the star of this platter; we preferred the pleasantly earthy mushrooms, as well as the tortelloni, which provided a beefy meatiness to complement the firm, fleshy fish.

Chocolate oyster (Albaco choc shaped as an oyster, filled with green tea crumble, vanilla custard & Meyer's lemon jelly). A creative dessert, with a sweet, powerfully rich flavour.

Sauvignon, Marques de Riscal, Rioja (Spain).

Pacifica,

Mandarin Oriental.

Heidelberg Kaffeehaus

A comfortable cafe that offers hearty Western fare from breakfast through dinner, as well as imported chocolate and coffee products for takeaway.

Pumpkin soup. A massive serving that four people could share. Thick and piping-hot, with that "freshly made" flavour that we love in our broths.

Organic broccoli omelette with onion jam. Fluffy and healthy-tasting.

Nutella crepes with bananas. Generously stuffed with sweet hazelnut spread.

Chocolate brownie with ice cream. The brownie was warm and moist, oozing with a rich chocolate taste and a melt-in-the-mouth texture that blended so well with the ice cream.

Carrot cake. Probably not the best in town, but not bad at all.

Pineapple tarts. A buttery pleasure, terrific enough to rival the best of Malacca's tarts.

Albi German fruit juices: Multi-12 Vitamins & Raspberry Maracula Nectar.

Heidelberg Kaffeehaus,

A4-G1-05, Solaris Dutamas, Jalan Dutamas 1.

Tel: 6207-9277