Breakfast at La Bodega

A couple of months ago, Anita went out with a friend who was holiday from the UK and ended up having breakfast in Bangsar. After looking around, they decided to try La Bodega. It was a well-known tapas bar chain, and I did not realise that they serve breakfast. She could not stop raving about the breakfast there and since I was free this morning - while I was still on holidays - I decided to try it.

The interiorMy egg BenedictEgg Benedict no moreMy God, it was great. I ordered egg Benedict with smoked salmon, with sauteed mushrooms, and had a double expresso to go with them. The egg was well-cooked, the bread toasted just the way it should be, the smoked salmon was succulent and the mushroom was gorgeous. The expresso certainly added zing to my morning.

Should you guys visit Bangsar during the morning and was wondering where to have breakfast, do give La Bodega a try. They certainly know how to serve breakfast.

18-1 Jalan Telawi 2, Kuala Lumpur, Bangsar - 03-2287-9468

Rest Day Ahoy

Looking forward to a day off tomorrow after a couple of stressful day organising an exam. Went to Bangsar earlier this evening with Puan Anita to browse a few things brut unfortunately was too late to have dinner outside.

The main stop was Czip Lee where I wanted to have a look at their Moleskine stock. Must say that Tango Mango won it hands down! Will write more tomorrow. Already getting tired and needed to catch up on some zzzzz.

Restoran Rebung

Photo with the owner, Chef IsmailIt was my Mum’s birthday yesterday. She wanted a nice Malay restaurant to have dinner at and after much pondering, Anita came up with the idea of booking a table at Restoran Rebung. The one owned by a celebrity chef, Chef Ismail and the Angkasawan, Muszaphar Shukor. The hotel is situated at a couple of bungalows at Lorong Maarof in Bangsar, just round the corner from Bangsar Village. Lorong Maarof actually run parallel to Jalan Maarof, so getting there was easy. The hard part was getting a parking spot as there was no designated parking area for the restaurant.

It was raining heavily and getting there was rather slow as Julia - my sister - was driving the other car with my Mum and her children. Got there around 8.30 in heavy rain. With the earlier booking, we were given a room - a nice comfortable one I must add.

We were lucky as the owner, Chef Ismail was on hand to look after us, and he was at his charming best. Spending some time chatting with my Mum - she is a big fan of his - singing Happy Birthday to her and we were looked after very well indeed. The restaurant does buffet in the evening, although we a la carte was also available - at least to my boys. And the spread was authentically Malay and tasted like home-cooked meals. Very nice indeed.

The restaurant was only half full, that being a Monday evening and with the heavy rain outside. The ambiance was simple but cozy and homely. The restaurant itself was a couple of converted single story bungalow houses. There were sets in the lawn I an open garden concept - that was where the buffet spread was, and indoor dining, with air conditioning. There were function rooms inside which can easily seat at least 80 patrons.

The pick of the food was the satay, with a gorgeous peanut sauce. The sambal tumis that I had was not bad either. There were nice selection of Malay kueh and the bubur kacang was the best I had ever tasted. If you want and authentic Malay buffet in a nice cozy restaurant, nice food and frindly hospitality, I would recommend Rebung, no doubt about it. And there was an incident as well.

Irfan being all excited meeting his cousin went on to vomit out his dinner right in the middle of the room. Far from being rude, the waiters just came in with the napkins and mops, showed us where the wash area was. We got Irfan cleaned up and by the time we got back to our table, everything was cleaned up. I did not even have to say anything but apologise. The Chef then came over, brought Irfan some drinks and asked if he was feeling OK. Irfan proceeded to gobble down more satay and up and running before we knew it!

After an hour or so, the rain had subsided and it was time to go. Chef came over with some pulut for my Mum’s birthday and obliged for some photos. The price was also very reasonable. And my Mum really enjoyed the dinner and the hospitality.

Restaurant Rebung Chef Ismail, No 4-2 Lorong Maarof, Bangsar Park, 59000 Kuala Lumpur (Landmark: Dataran Maybank). Tel: Tel: 03 22832119. For more information, head to http://www.rebung.com.my/

A nice lunch at the Smokehouse, Telawi, Bangsar

Irfan is starting off his new series of classes at Pingu's English. There are 3 levels of classes, and each modules are divided into units, the first level being 8 units if I am not mistaken, taken over a period of about 6 months, depending on the number of hours spent. He finished his level 1 classes last month, and at the end we were not sure whether we should enroll him for level 2 or not. He is due to start at Sri Utama next January to join Idlan. As he really liked his teacher - Teacher Kumari - we decided to start him on a weekly program, basically just some reading lessons. The first class was today, every Saturday at noon.

The decors are up at Bangsar Village

While waiting for his class to finish, Anita planned to use the time to shop for groceries and others at the nearby Bangsar Village. For today, my in-laws decided to tag along. We got there in plenty of time. After sending Irfan off, we headed straight for groceries. The Xmas decor is just being readied. After all it is some 6 weeks away. There was a huge Xmas tree in the middle of the main lobby. After mingling around for a bit, the in-laws wanted to look for a spot for lunch. We went for the Smokehouse, next to Madam Kwan opposite the Bangsar Village II.

We have been eyeing the place for some time but never had the opportunity to try it. Today was the day. When we entered, we were presented with the menu and made our selection while seated in the cosy ground floor area, themed alike an authentic English living room. A fireplace would not appear out of place here, nice with plush sofa and magazines. After we made our orders we were ushered upstairs to take our seats. We were quite welcomed to have some drinks downstairs prior if we want since the chef will need some time to prepare the meals, but since Idlan was already restless by then, we went straight up.

All the meals here we prepared on site in the kitchen. There were no such thing as microwaved frozen food here. Everything from the salad to the whipped potatoes and chips were freshly prepared. There were 2 kinds of meal, prepared from a menu devised by two chefs. One is purely English, pudding, roast and the lot. The other is Thai. They were both delectable.

My delectable chicken pie

Anita had some fried mee hoon and tom yam soup. They were both very good. Idlan had some fried chicken cobs, plus chips with mushroom sauce. Very nice! Mum-in-law had roast chicken while my dad-in-law and me had chicken pie ..... Gorgeous! Everything was freshly prepared as I mentioned. The staffs were very friendly. However, since there were plenty of competitions for food in the area, there were hardly any customers at the time we dined. What do you expect when Madam Kwan is right next door. We were too full by the end when the asked if we wanted deserts.

Back to Bangsar Village after Anita left her handphone earlier

After all the hassle of traveling to Klang and back for my teaching, Anita called to say that when she went to shop earlier in the day, she left her handphone at the store. Luckily it was hidden in the changing room and the keeper was able to find it and kept it for her. We went over later in the afternoon to pick it up. Since we were out, we decided to have dinner outside, and headed for Alexis at Bangsar Shopping Center.

The branch at BSC is smaller compared to the ones at The Garden and Great Eastern Mall. I ordered the rocket salad and to my surprise, the portion was bigger than expected. Unfortunately, they put a bit too many splashes of balsam. I also ordered the burger, little that I realise that it comes with blue cottage cheese. A touch too strong for me. I should've ordered with just regular cheese. After the exploits I must say I am rather tired and in need of a good night sleep.

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