Penang Village, Hartamas

As mentioned in my main post today that we had lunch at the Bangsar Village branch at Hartamas Shopping Center. Clearly undeterred from the bad experience we had at the branch in Great Eastern Mall, we decided to give the franchise another chance. At least now we found out that the chain is consistent. Consistently bad.

Despite the neat interior and nice cosy space, the food there left a lot to be desired. Being a Penang boy, there were not much Penang-ness on offer here. The menu looked appetising enough when we went through it. So let’s start with the positives.

They had a dedicated kid’s menu. Irfan had nasi goreng with fries on the side and it came free with drinks. We had some sirap bandung for him, all for a very reasonable price. Idlan wanted some chicken chop, and it was pretty OK. Irfan’s nasi goreng was also nice, but the portion I must say was a wee bit small. We sat by the entrance, with plenty of space for the restless boys and the ambiance inside was welcoming. The washing area was very good and clean. We had a small insect in Irfan’s drinks, and after pointing it out to the waiter, we got it changed, no question asked.

My iced mocha came with a scoop of vanilla ice-creamIrfan's nasi gorengThe service was in general very good. Food came within reasonable time, and the waiters got all the orders correctly.

Idlan's chicken chop

Now came the not-so-good part. The waiters were mostly foreigners. I have nothing against that, but the problem against that, but the problem was they were not able to speak Malay or English at all well. We ended up having to show the items from the menu. Luckily, the manager for the day communicated very well and cleared up all our queries. He was also the one who got Irfan’s drink changed. Irfan’s food was OK, and so was Idlan’s chicken chop. Both Anita and I decided to have some rice with three orders. They were steamed fish - we had assam steamed garoupa, salad - mango with soft-shell crab, and fried calamari. The fish cost us nearly RM70, and it was awful. The mango salad was the best. The calamari was overcooked, and almost tasteless.

The oh-so-expensive garoupaThe mango saladFried calamariDespite the food being well-presented, there was not much to shout about. We decided to skip the dessert, and later had some tea elsewhere.

Maybe the joint was better at noodles and nasi goreng, but not traditional Malay dishes. But to be honest, we won’t be going there any time soon. If I had to endure the place again, maybe I pick a mee goreng or something similar. The restaurant was located at the ground floor of the shopping complex should you hazard a try - Lot G8B & 9, Ground Floor, Jalan Sri Hartamas 1, Sri Hartamas, 50480 Kuala Lumpur, Tel - 03 6201 9816 

Look at my new shoes - Cuti Raya Day 2

Kasut baru, kasut raya, originally uploaded by Haris Abdul Rahman.

A rather dull day today. Anita had to go to Putrajaya to settle the maid's permit for next year, and I babysat the two boys. She was back by 1 and we planned to do some shopping later in the day and get a haircut for Idlan. His fever is now better and he is getting restless to leave the house. Since Anita and her Mum was tired from the Putrajaya journey, they took a nap before we left.

We set out at around 3.30. The traffic was really bad along MRR2 and Jalan Ampang. We finally reached the Great Eastern Mall carpark just before 6! 2 and a half hour journey to travel 7 miles! Madness. Apparently the Minister has announced that tomoorow will be a day off for schools. The parents hence set about to leave for kampung tomorrow and went into a last minute shopping frenzy. The traffic was basically jam-packed, not just at Jalan Ampang, but most of the trunk roads into the City Center. We were lucky that the boys were still under control in the car, and nobody needed to rush to a toilet.

Since time was tight, we got the shoes for the boys. Irfan actually picked her own (above). Apparently the spider on the laces were the clincher. He can't stop running around in them right after. We then headed to Cozy House to see if there are any empty table for iftar. We were turned away however. Reluctantly we had to settle for a table at Penang Village right next door. I decided to have Japanese instead at Express Sushi. It worked out better for me I think.

Luckily the traffic back was smooth. By the time we reached home, everybody was already tired. Time to catch some zzzz. I am taking my Uncle to see the Urologist tomorrow, so going back to UMMC for a bit tomorrow morning.

v7uj6ihkzn

Happy Birthday Anita

Anita's Birthday 1, originally uploaded by Haris Abdul Rahman.

090909 marks Anita's birthday and being a good hubby, I organised a few things for her. However, since it was a normal working day, we only celebrated in the afternoon. Being Ramadhan we decided to have our iftar outside after she enjoyed her prezzies and flowers.

Shot of the Colonial-themed interiorI let Anita picked which restaurant she wanted to go to. She picked a new restaurant at Great Eastern Mall, a branch of Penang Village. The actual restaurant was as mentioned, newly opened. All the furnitures and trimmings were nice. The concept appeared to be English Colonial, which is understandable as Penang was one of the former English Straits settlement. And unfortunately, that was where the niceties end. It was meant to be a buffet, but the spread was rather pathetic for one. A price tag of RM45++? You got to be joking me. Put it this way, the food selection were spread along two tables, and that was it. Yeah, that would be OK for a private party, but to charge patron for that amount of money .... I thought it was ..... inadequate - being diplomatic here.

Anita enjoying her foodAnd how about the food? One thing that will always win buffet over for me is diversity. People coming to take on a buffet expects that there will be selections. Here, there was some sweets - mainly jelly or Malay kueh, a small selection for appetiser and salad - like 4 plates to choose from, the main course, being either white rice or 'tom yum' fried rice with about 7 dishes. If you don't fancy rice, there was either spaghetti or 'kuey teow'. The food were best described with the typical Manglish expression of 'so-so la' - reminding me of Idlan's music school where he had to sing out the notes - fa-so-la. To sum things out, I went for a take away right after the RM250 dinner ...... My mum-in-law in her typically acidic one-liner quipped - "better to eat at home".

Since we arrived there early and fed the boys there, they became restless by the time we finished our meals. Irfan especially was going hyper and I had to take him out for a walk in between my courses. It was not an altogether bad evening. Anita was happy with her gifts and well-wishes from her friends. When I updated my facebook status about 'my wife celebrating her brthday', one of my old collegemate replied that she wishes my wife a happy birthday and said sorry that she did not no her personally. When I told her who Anita is, she then realised that they used to share the same dorm while in college - Anita is my childhood sweetheart and we went to the same school before.

We came home relatively early with some take away of course. That was then I had my dinner. Will I recommend Penang Village to anyone? No for a buffet. It was simply a lame excuse for one. Maybe the ala cart menu is better. I suspect that that was how they usually do their business. The interior settings however was nice. There were big wndows with good view of the outside. I bet it would be nice during lunch.