Iftar at Nikko

Finally, the family decided to have berbuka outside. This would have been the only second time we had berbuka outside as a group, the last being at Flamingo. This time around, it was for Puan Anita’s birthday. It was also the final iftar for this year’s Ramadhan. So it would be Aidilfitri the next day. Anita’s brother was also back from Turkmenistan for the Eid, so it was a nice occasion for the family.

Nice serene surroundingThe grills at the balcony areaSince it was a day before Eid, I got the usual flowers and cards for Anita, but she wanted to delay her presents until after the Eid break. Not really sure what she wanted, but she did hint on an iPad. I’ll leave her to make her mind up. So back to the berbuka vanue this time, Hotel Nikko, in Jalan Ampang.

The main entrance to the hotelHotel Nikko was infamous for its Ramadhan buffet, mainly because it was damn expensive and it was notoriously crowded and popular among the corporate types. I remember a couple of years ago, people were making a fuss about it. It cost more than RM100 per head to get in. I didn’t how much it cost this time around as it was not me who footed the bill. Since it was the final evening of Ramadhan, there were only a handful of people at the restaurant. We were left to our selves to enjoy the food.

Puan Anita and his brother, RazakI will talk about the iftar in three parts, first, the venue. It was located on the ground floor and as my parents-in-law were also there, access was not an issue. We dropped them off at the main entrance, and went to park our cars at the basement. There were no stairs for them. 50m later and they were already on their seats. The venue was I think their main restaurant. Nice seating area, spacious area for food display and efficient waiters.

The second would be the spread for the buffet. It was a varied selection. We have the grilled section on the balcony, with the smoking area. They had roast lamb, satay, chicken kebab, biryani and other Indian selections. Coming inside, the main spread consisted of sweets for breaking fast, rice and curries, mini pizza, dim sum, spaghetti, some sushi and salads. There was also chicken rice and other main dishes. Next, by the entrance were a few stalls doing apom balik, rojak, yong tau foo and sweets. There was also the obligatory chocolate fountains - a hit with the boys.

More stalls on the sidesA rather lame attempt at apom balik actually - the dough did not set properlyPart three - ambiance. Since the eatery was the main food outlet for the hotel - I was sure the breakfast were served there everyday - transforming the whole place would be impossible. What the management did was to put in elements of Ramadhan here and there. That being the final evening, and Eid was the next day, the decor was almost complete. At the balcony, there were torches. The staffs were dressed in traditional costumes already. 

Finally, was it worth the asking price when we talk about the quality of food. A resounding NO! That did not mean the food was bad. There were just nothing special. According to my brother-in-law who was there a couple of evening previously with his friends, the food selection was different. That meant that the menu was rotated, which is good. Less chance of left-overs slipping through. But considering the stature of this establishment, I would not expect this to be so.

The roast was overdone. The biryani was so and so. Rojak was a disaster. Sweets were nothing special. Basically, it was just above average. A safe bet if you were bringing a business associate to impress but if you took a girl for a date, there was no guarantee that you would have wooed her. It was not exactly Harrod, although you were paying for a similar price.

Since the place was only half filled on the evening, getting a seat and parking spot was never a hassle. Would I go there again next year? Not unless somebody drove me there, book a table and pay for the tab. Would I recommend it to somebody else? If you were paying on a corporate account, then why not? I would have preferred my Mum’s cooking.

A while

It has been a few days since I last updated the blog. Things have been kinda hectic and the wish of visiting more mall to check out the decorations remained a plan. Hopefully after the next couple of days, things quieten down a bit. I'll be starting my Raya break from Wednesday. Woot!

Trendy Cow!

Moooo!I will be off Saturday - today. Taking Monday off as well, so it will be 4 straight days - woot! Even though I got the feeling that I will have to turn up at the ward on Monday morning to sort something out. Today, after berbuka, I thought I bring the troops out. The boys wanted Marche, so off we went to The Curve. It was a public holiday in Selangor - Nuzul Quran, so the traffic was light coming in, although the car park was packed.

I blogged about the lobby decoration in an earlier entry, but since Idlan was not with us then, he got excited with the kampung house, and was keen to visit our house in Kuala Kangsar during Raya. Hmm! Not a bad idea actually. After a few minutes walking around, we settled for Marche. Unfortunately in the evenings during Ramadhan, they only offered buffet. The boys insisted on pizza. We had a look around and the waiter at Marche suggested that we try Italiannies, just a few doors away. The boys noticed that the Marche bull at the front of the store was decked up with Jalur Gemilang and songkok. Cool!

Decor at the Curve

Italiannies was rather packed even late on in the evening, after the berbuka puasa crowd has left. Since I already had dinner, I decided to just try the salad and desserts. I was so surprised at how fast the service was. As soon as we settled in, we got the bread ready, followed by the salad Puan Anita ordered. My bruchetta came a few minutes after, with the drinks. The pizza came last, and oh boy, did he boys love it. Puan Anita then had creme brule while I tucked into my bread pudding. The portion was huge, so I had to take home half of it - consistent with its slogan, “so much, so good, so share”. The ambiance was nice, complete with a loud Italian family sitting on the next table - I was not joking, they happened to be customers as well. You can’t get any more authentic than that. I was worried that they will start a song anytime soon. The waiters were also very friendly, speaks very good English - mostly Filipinos I think.

Welcoming sign outsideCozyBread and virgin olive oil - nice!BruchettaFor the drinks, I had a mocktail which was really nice. Well, any drinks would have been nice after fasting a whole day. We had a nice time. The boys enjoyed their pizza. After dinner, we had a nice stroll before heading to the car park. We finally made it home close to 11pm.

Pudding to finish things offTime to goWill I recommend Italiannies? Most definitely. I would have preferred to comment more if I had had a main course but from what I sampled, the food there was really nice. In terms of price, it was comparable to similar joints such as Marche and Apartment. I will definitely return again in the future.

More details available here. Address - Lot G75 & G76, Ground Floor, The Curve, No. 6, Jalan PJU 7/3, Mutiara Damansara, 47800 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia - Tel: +603 - 7728 1715.

Ramadhan is Back!

The fasting month is back. But from looking at what I ate, I probably took more food in total than usual. I basically just gobble them down as fast as I can come iftar. Yes! It was bad but hey, I was hungry. I just can’t help it.

With Ramadhan, came the bazaar where we head out to the stalls buying food for iftar. As usual, I went to Taman Melawati. The usual suspects were there, most of them recognised me by now. There was the middle age lady selling cucur udang - I went there without fail since 2003. There was also our favourite drink stall - the gentleman mix the meanest air asam boi in town, I kid you not. There was also the guy from Sarawak selling terubuk masin. The Kelantanese lady with Nasi Kerabu. The last but not least, the rocker from Sabah with the tasty chicken wing. Yup! I sampled them all. There are now on the table, and iftar is a good 90 minutes away.

For all my Moslem friends, Salam Ramadhan, Happy Fasting, and good luck with the food! You need luck because most of them looked really nice but one may need to use expletive to describe how they taste!

Malam Raya - Day 4 Cuti Raya

Malam Raya 5, originally uploaded by Haris Abdul Rahman.

It is almost here. Last minute shopping was done, but unfortunately my Dad took up smoking again during Ramadhan. His bronchitis is back and he started to cough badly in the last couple of nights. The night before, he needed nebulisers at the local clinic. I decided to get him checked out at UMMC this morning. Thought of putting him on short-term steroids. Then we found out that his blood pressure was sky high.

We put in down to his diet and the fact that he stayed up most nights for prayers during Ramadhan. He needed to chill and most importantly, give smoking up. He may not be able to drive with us to Penang on Monday. He may have to catch a lift from my sister.

On the way back from UMMC, we drove past Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman. The road leading to it was well empty, but oh my God! Were we wrong? The entrance to Chow Kit was gridlocked. Mostly by foreigners. I bet the locals have done their shopping and has already legged to their respective kampongs. We had to skip our plan to stop and have a look.

Initially apprehensive

Irfan soon warmed upIdlan getting groovyLater, I brought the kids to visit their Grand Dad, where we had to stay an extra couple of hours due to haevy rain. The rain was severe enough that apparently there were reports on another landslide in Bukit Antarabangsa. It was close to Iftar by the time we reached home.

A lot of chores needed doing that night. After clearing and cleening, it was time to treat the boys with some fireworks and sparklers. They stayed up until almost 11pm. Initially Idlan and Irfan were intimidated by the sparklers, but later they warmed up. Grand Ma done all her cooking during the day. The rest of the troops spend the evening decorating and preparing the main tables, cookies and all. I was really tired by midnight, hence can only punch in this entry the day after. Happy Hari Raya.