Scott's Restaurant, Frasers Hill

The owner of Smokehouse at Frasers Hill has a couple of children, Ashley and Scott. Those name appeared all of the place at the hotel and the sister restaurant of the chain at Frasers Hill town is called Scott. It was run by a former Assistant Manager at the hotel, a Myanmar gentleman called Henry. He served us at the hotel the last time we were in Frasers Hill. So, on the Sunday lunchtime, we went into town looking for him.

Bad timing though, as it was a busy afternoon. It was opened at noon and when we reached there, about ten minutes after opening, the place was already full. We ended up waiting for more than an hour for our order. Real bad timing.

The food was pretty standard as far as Smokehouse was concerned. they also serve at noon scones, but we were far too early far that. we spent the time waiting for food exploring the restaurant. It was decorated to the English Tudor style, which was the theme of the Smokehouse as well.

The restaurant was situated right smack in the middle of town, next to Puncak Inn. Upon reaching the town from The Gap, take the first left turn when you reach the famous clock tower roundabout. The restaurant should be on your left just past Puncak Inn, right opposite the public toilet. You can't miss it.

More on the Fraser's Hill stay here.

TWG Tea Boutique, Pavilion

After berbuka and prayers last evening, I took the boys out for a drive. We planned to see some lights in Kampung Baru, but it turned out that traffic was really bad. We ended up stopping at Pavilion instead for some drinks.

As we came out of the car park, we saw this intimidating new restaurant there. Well, not rally a restaurant, but more of a boutique cafe, something similar to the Starhill Tea Salon, called TWG. We saw a branch before during our stay at Marina Bay Sands Singapore earlier this year, and we got curious.

An eye-opener!

But we had a slight issue. The boys were already in their pajamas, and this being an upmarket cafe, they might throw us out. Idlan and Irfan were having none of that, and insisted to go in to have a look, bearing in mind, Irfan especially was a tea drinker. The wait did not mind, more so after Idlan went to the counter and started ordering some chocolate bars.

We were sat down in the middle of the restaurant and had a look at the menu. There was at least 200 blend of tea on offer ...... some being just simple iteration is the next, but the list was impressive none the less. Picking time.

Yes, they sell teapots tooAnd some gifts tooIdlan ordered some Assam tea - by some exotic named blend of course. A second flush brew for extra kick! Irfan went for chamomile, but mixed with some exotic herbal concoction. Being a coffee drinker, I decided to go with some iced beverage, coffee mixed with watermelon juice. Not bad.

Irfan's brew, chamomile. Very fragrant.Anita's a bit strongerWagyu burger. Well done!Irfan had some quicheYup! Grounded tea powder sprinkled on them fries!For food, I had a burger, while the children shared some quiche. The fries which came with my burger had ground tea powder sprinkled on them. And the food was actually rather nice. I would definitely be coming back for snacks.

The restaurant was situated in the second floor of Pavilion, turning to the right wing on entering them all from the Bukit Bintang entrance. More details here.

Nyonya Sayang?

Peranakan food is one of those myth that been floating around when you visit either Penang or Melaka. This is especially so among our Singaporean visitors whose eyes begin to lit with the mention of Peranakan food. It is supposed to be a fusion of old Chinese and local Malay cuisine, creating a eclectic mix of the exotic. Or so we thought.

Peranakan is an endearing term of the Baba and Nyonyas, assimilated Chinese who came and settled in Tanah Melayu during the Sultanate times. A romantic era, and they live by their adopted custom. Some of them can't even speak a word of Mandarin and could be seen in sarong and kebaya. They also often speak pristine Malay. Our original "Malaysia as the Second Home" initiative I supposed.

So one to expect something magical when it comes to their food. But unfortunately, over the years, the Peranakan cuisine had been exploited. We were dined at one such restaurant in Bandar Melaka last weekend, Nyonya Sayang. It was so bad that one of our Singaporean colleague actually stood up and proclaimed, "this is not food". Rather hatch but I must say that I agree with him. The food was poor. We should have suspected it upon seeing how deserted the restaurant was when our bus arrived.

One of these days, I should really look around for a real Peranakan meal. Maybe then, I might appreciate what the fuss is all about .....

In the meantime, avoid Nyonya Sayang at all cost .....

Return to Alexis

Alexis at The Gardens, Mid Valley used to be a popular place for us to have lunch. Unfortunately, since a change of menu and the predictable drop in quality, we only went there often. After about 7 months, we were there again for lunch on the Chinese New Year Eve.

The place was empty, as you would expect when we sat at the sofa seats by the entrance. We then realised that they had extended the restaurant. It now occupied the whole wing, more or less twice the size it was before. The food remained the same although I was disappointed with my rocket salad. The main was all together a different story.

The rocket salad looked better than it tasted. It wasn't as fresh as I would have wished, and they put too much pepper in it.Next came the really nice, oven-cooked pizzaThe wagyu was definitely the highlight. Heavenly!The wagyu beef steak was exquisite. It did not come cheap however and I ended up sharing with Anita. The boys had one whole pizza each and try finished them. And Irfan enjoyed his chamomile tea.

A dash of honey in his chamomile of course ....Taken from the floor above, the restaurant had expanded to occupy the whole end of the wing.The wagyu was definitely very nice indeed and the side mashed potato and sauce was also hard to beat. A definite recommendation.

Dinner at Fullhouse

On one of the evening we were at Sunway, we had dinner at Fullhouse, a rather unique boutique cafe with branches all over town. The flagship was the spectacular converted bungalow at Jalan Yap Kwan Seng. For the past year, we had been wondering what the place was all about and since there was a branch here, we decided to give it a go.

The menu was in the form of a magazineThe drinks came in these large trinkets

The interior was very cosy, and the seating - especially the sofa was very nice. The boys enjoyed it, by the food was not so. The menu was eclectic, in the true sense of East meets West. The spaghetti had green "chili paid" in them for extra zing. My beef tenderloin had fruit bits as part of the gravy. The children menu was a bit more conservative however. The drinks came in large trinkets. All those small unique touches.

There was some cili padi in that mushroom speghettiAnita's croque monsier, with pineapplesSome raisins in the gravy. Not my kind of gravy unfortunately.

Unfortunately, we were left disappointed with the food. The past was not bad, but my steak was not great, to put in mildly. If this restaurant was a book, the cover was much better than the actual chapters if you catch my drift. However, I was sure it was a great place to catch a drink or snacks. But for a heavy meal, maybe one should look for an alternative.