Sekinchan Ikan Bakar

If I were to be asked to give a one word review for Sekinchan Ikan Bakar, the word I'd use would be "embarrassing". I have heard so much reasonably good review of the chain, that when we came across an outlet on the way to I-City the other evening, my sister and I did not give it much of a thought. Anita was also into ikan bakar, so all was left was to get our boys to agree, and as their cousins were also along for the trip, they did not say much. We have already given them dinner prior to going out, so they were not too fussy about it.

The outlet we went to was in Shah Alam, right opposite I-City. Since we arrived there pretty early, well before sunset, we planned to pass some time there. So we sat down, and naturally, ordered some ikan bakar. Now, let me explain to you about how the order works. You don't actually ask for a menu for the fish. You go to the counter to choose. Unfortunately, this was where the problem lied. The workers at the counter did not know who came first, so, the more pushy you were, the more likely you would get your order first. And then, there was the risk of them messing out your order and until today, I was still trying to figure out how they could tell which one was your order. The restaurant was only a quarter full, and the still managed to mess up our order. And then they got the cheeks to say that it was our fault. To compound the matter further, they also messed up our drinks, which we ordered from the table, with the order clearly written. It was just plain embarrassing.

To be honest, grilling fish was not really that hard, and with the right equipment and experience, you would likely get it right most of the time. You have to make sure that you marinate it right, and perfect the sauce and air asam. Well, not only that the marinating sauce was worst than your typical teenagers running a pasar malam stall affair, even my clueless maid could make a meaner air asam. We ended up with a sour taste in our mouth - pun intended of course.

Save & Close

Ikan bakar - or grilled fish - if prepared the right way was a joy. It was plainly clear that Sekinchan Ikan Bakar had lost their focus as not only the messed up the actual meal, the bad customer experience we had made it unlikely that we would be giving the place the benefit of the doubt, even at another of their outlet. The workers there, being a mixture of locals and foreigners clearly couldn't clear less about how we felt. I shudder to imagine how they would cope with a full house. I would unfortunately label their outlet under "one which I would avoid". Please let me know if you have had a different experience, preferably indicating the venue which the fish was better. Bad service at these outlet were a given I was afraid.

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.

How the mighty had fallen

After a trio around town to run errands and visit some family members who was admitted into one of the local hospital in KL, myself, Anita and her parents had lunch at the once famous Cosy Corner, at Ampang Park right in the middle of town. The place used to be and to a certain extend, still was full of patron come lunchtime, with queues of legendary length. The food there was really good, both of the locals and Western variety. The service was fast and prompt, making it ideal for a quick lunch meeting for the corporate types on a budget.

The laser time I was here must have been a good couple of years ago. I used to remember the food being excellent, or at least much better than its sister outlet, Cosy House at Great Eastern Mall. Unfortunately this time, the food was frankly bad and the service - as the core of the waiters and waitresses comprised of Indonesian workers, the order were messed up, and the right ones did not go to the right table. It was frankly a mess. A far cry from what it used to be.. To make mattered worst, I ordered a sirloin steak - cookers to well-done. It came with some basic vegetable and a few slices of French Fries. It did not even come with gravy. When asked, apparently, I had to pay extra for them, and they only came in in black pepper or black sauce. I just shook my head in disgust. How do you expect me to guzzle down a dry piece of steak with some chilling sauce. Disgusting!

The irony was, the steak came with a small Malaysia flag. I felt like assaulting the Manager's eyes with it ..... I was that disappointed. Suffice to say, I would not returning the any time soon. I would rather have the McDonald's downstairs ....... and that was meant to be an insult .....

Al Rawsha

On the Saturday afternoon, we went for some take-out at Al-Rawsha - wanted to try some Middle Eastern food for Mother's Day dinner for my Mum-in-law. Initially we went to its old branch near Jalan Damai in Ampang. It was almost completely refurbished. So off we went to the new establishment by Bulatan Kampung Pandan.

The new place was huge, and grandiosely built as a castle. Since it was by the main road, turning into the parking lot was rather tricky, and once you were in, the space to park were surprisingly limited. At least they had some helpful attendant there. Since we were early, getting a spot was not an issue.

I noticed upon entering the restaurant to place our take-out orders that most of the tables were already taken up by those booking for dinner later that evening. The tables were appropriately decorated with flowers and the staffs there were busy setting things up. I did not notice any buffet - maybe they don't do buffets at the venue. We were warned upfront that some of the orders may take a slightly long time to prepare. We decided to go for the rice as they can be prepared in under 15 minutes. 

The main rice dish there were called mendy - you can place either chicken or lamb, or simply the rice alone. It was easy to order and it came with some sauce, yoghourt and cucumber salad. That was what we settled for for fear of a long wait.

And the food was rather good actually. My Dad-in-law claimed that it was authentic Middle Eastern. I couldn't recommend anybody having them regularly as it was filled with ghee, but the meat was succulent and filling. Price? It was on the expensive side I must say but the restaurant itself was clean and comfortable should you fancy a dinner in.

Ayers Rock Grill

During the Earth Hour yesterday, instead of staying in the dark, I attended a birthday party for Idlan's classmate. The lights at the restaurant was rather dimmed, so I can say that I celebrated Earth Hour, at least, the spirit of it.

Unfortunately, after our afternoon outing to the Pavilion, Irfan developed a fever and Idlan was not feeling too brilliant either. We ended up not taking the boys to the party. And as the parents of the birthday boy was a rather close friend, we just went there to enjoy the celebration, pass on the presents and enjoy the food. The party was held at the Ayers Rock Butcher and Grill at Wangsa Maju, and it was quite a surprise.

The place was rather too small for an indoor party.As the shop was at a corned lot, there were plenty of space on the sides for the game and other fun stuff. About 20 children turned up, they a couple of clowns plus a magician for the games and shows. They also had a live band indoors.

The place was run by a young Malay gentleman, and the premise do not serve any alcohol. As my Dad were always keen on Western Food, I might bring him along one of these evenings. They have other branches opened, in Kota Damansara and Shah Alam, but I do not have their details. The branch in Wangsa Maju was on these GPS coordinates - 3.196585,101.74122