Wadi Hadramawt

In the last few years, we have done Chinese, Indian, Minang, Western, Thai, so we thought we try Arab this year. Before everybody went overboard, the reason why we tended to go out for a big meal during my birthday was because I share it with my father-in-law - and Dr Mahathir as well if you must know - so, the family was actually celebrating his birthday and I just tag along for the ride. It tended to confuse my boys though as both their father and granddad share the same birthday.

Anita picked up Wadi Hydramawt. Every time we drove by Jalan Ampang, she kept looking at the restaurant and this time, she wanted to give it a try. Booking was straight forward, she asked for a private room upstairs and we turned up just after 8.30. Walking up the stairs proved a nuisance both for my kids and parents. So, be careful if you we planning to venture into the private rooms. We did not pre-order our food though.

Taking time to orderLet me start by commenting on the venue. It was a converted bungalow building, more of a colonial touch, right of Jalan Ampang, to your left if you were driving up from Ampang Park towards Jelatek. The building did look extravagant from the outside, and there were ample parking space for the patrons. It was attended full time apparently, so it was well-lit and safe. You have a choose of eating at the open verandah, or inside the building - our room were upstairs on the first floor. Pretty cosy but was crowded when we arrived. Sitting in the room, with the air-conditioning on cut us away from the buzz happening around.

The menu was straight forward, and we all took orders of rice with either chicken, lamb or fish. And here is a tip should you were there for a visit - order the set rice meals, such as chicken mendy rather than fish. The fish took a good half an hour to be ready, and were the laser to come. All the other rice meal I was sure were pre-cooked. The drinks came fast, so was the salad. Being a Sunday evening, I could appreciate that the restaurant was fully booked, but what did not help was they were clearly short staffed. And the staff on show were a mix of local and Arabs, and the Arab waiters could do with some English classes, as their Malay we non-existent. All that said, the waiter assigned to our table was courteous and did not mess our order at all. His English was another story.

So, what did I sample? Olive and hummus salad for starters, then chicken mendy for mains, with side orders grilled chicken - which looked and tasted pretty much like tandoori - and lamb with brinjal curry. For drinks, I had some freshly - and I really mean fresh - blended mango juice. We also had a variety of salads, and my children and father-in-law had fish for their main meals.

My chicken mendyTime to tapau!

On the whole, the food was better than expected. I couldn't resist the comparison with Al Rawsha, another Middle Eastern restaurant we frequent. The menu was comparable, and so was the price. I have to say that Al Rawsha's food was a touch better, with greater variety. The service at Al Rawsha was a bit slower though from what I experienced before. Al Rawsha's "castle" near Bulatan Pandan was much bigger however, although during peak hours, parking there could be a pain despite having attendants to help out.

On the whole, if you were craving for some Middle Eastern food, you could do much worst than here. Be prepared to pay a premium as it was not cheap. I might come here again on the odd occasions, and I would recommend you do the same as well from time to time. More information available here in their rather extravagant website.

Ming Palace

This was a favorite Chinese restaurant of Anita's family since she was young. As far as she can remember, this has been the spot. Anita's father was an army officer and they as a family used to live at MinDef nearby. The restaurant users to be the flagship of Ming Court Hotel. For the past 10 years or so, the hotel was taken over by the Corus Group and has been renamed accordingly. However, they still retained a couple of famous eatery there - The Ming Palace where we ate last night, and Kimuro, a Japanese restaurant who served a mean tappenyaki - shamed that I did not like tappenyaki, even thought I love Japanese food in general. I just probably prefer them raw maybe.

Last Monday was Idlan's seventh birthday, while Thursday was Mum-in-laws. It was her idea to have Chinese and the choice was obvious. Ming Palace it was.

The food there has been consistent for the last few years. The Peking Duck was excellent although we did not have it last night. The steam cod was heavenly, although expensive. The buttered prawn was not too bad either. In fact, the food were reasonable across the menu. We had soup to start things off, and for the last 10 years, I have been against shark fin soup, so I had some corn and crabmeat soup, which was a firm favourite. We ordered seven items amongst us last night, a variety of beef, chicken, prawns, vegetables and fish. The Kung pow beef was excellent, a new find for us.. Lemon chicken was good as well. The disappointment was the vegetables. The asparagus was rather overcooked. I did not taste the fish as we ordered steamed Latin last night, and I got this thing with fresh-water fish!

We had an excellent time. My brother-in-law was also present. We we're really too full to order any desserts. From what I know, the main attraction of the place was the excellent din sum lunch they offer. I have sampled them on a couple of occasions and the service was quick and friendly. In fact, the waiters and waitresses the knew Irfan and Idlan by now. In fact a few of them watched them grew up over the years, and remembered how t prepare their favourite Chinese Fried Rice.

I must confess that it was not the cheapest joint in town. In fact, do be careful if you were ordering for fish and you may be caught staring at the bill ........ Certainly for the business types, the private rooms offered privacy.

Corus Hotel is located along Jalan Ampang, opposite KLCC and right next to the now oh-so-quiet Avenue K. Ming Palace was located on the first floor of the hotel. The parking can be a pain as they charge you RM 10 per entry!

Quick stop at Alexis

It has been a long day. Not about the work, but the errand I had to run after coming home from work. First thing, I had to drive Anita to Bangsar to pick up the cake for tomorrow. That done, picked Idlan up from Quran School, and off we went to Great Eastern Mall for some more shopping at Toys'r'Us there, mainly for the tidbits in the goodie bags to be handed tomorrow at Idlan's class party.

By the time we got that sorted out, it was already time for dinner. As usual, it would be pizza for my boys and their favourite pizza joint there was at Alexis on the Ground Floor. Why you may ask? The pizza there was prepared in a wood fire oven. Well, allegedly. They were thin-crusted and nice.. The portion were also reasonable. Not too big, and not too filling either. And between the two of them, they would finish the pizza easily.

I had my usual salad and pasta for dinner there. The rocket and pine nut salad there was highly recommended, although the pasta could be hit and miss. Tonight, my carbonara was good, but Anita seafood pasta - I've forgotten what it was - was not so great. Another favourite of ours were the seafood pasta in parcel. Usually nicely cookers and delicious.

If you were out for a drink, or dinner, around Great Eastern Mall I'd definitely recommend giving Alexis a try. Yes, the price was a bit on the high side. Certainly more expensive than say, Delicious, but with good company, it could be great night out. The musical line-ups during weekends were not too shabby either. Usually jazz-infused and classy. Personally, I have never attended one. Maybe, with the kids on tow, those time where we can visit a jazz bar and chill, may have gone into a hiatus.

Ayam Dara?

After sorting out Idlan's antibiotics, we had to head out to search for dinner. Rather hungry by then and with my sore throat, I wanted to get some chicken soup. Some chicken soup for the tummy I must say.

The warung just near our place was famous for its 'Ayam Dara'. Wonder what was on offer .......

More jalan-jalan

I was taken to dinner again tonight after another long day. This time it we went to Arab Street for some Peranakan food. The venue was authentic enough but the food wasn't. It was more South Thai and Indonesian than Straits Chinese. But it was still very nice food. Can't really complaint.

The restaurant was located by Kandahar Street, where the Indian Moslem community congregate. I performed the Maghrib Solat by the Mosque there, while enjoying the bright moon. Apparently, that was the nearest the Moon going to be to Earth for the last 20 years it certainly was very bright.

The old Malay Istana. Now a museum.After the wholesome dinner, we took a stroll by Bugis Street some 10 minutes away. There was a lively night market there, and the place was packed even though it was past 9pm. Our host wanted us to try dome reflexology, but according to others, it was not a good idea to do so right after a meal.

Apart from the family-friendly stalls along the walk, there were also sex toy shops and other fun stuffs can be seen there. The nearby shopping complexes were still opened. At that hour, I did not really fancy doing any shopping.

On the way back to the hotel, we were driven by the Marina, where the Singapore Flyer and Marina Bay Sands were located. We did not stop however, but I managed to snap a couple of frames of the landmark. We reached the hotel by 10.30, just in time to pack, hit the shower and get ready to snuggle in bed to watch the ManYoo match for the week. We would be playing Bolton. A bit of a bogey team actually.