Truckin while Waitin

It would become a routine from now on. Idlan will attending tuition in Melawati every Tuesday evening. Anita would stay in Gombak after school and should I have time, I would be joining her in Melawati while waiting for Idlan to finish his class.

While waiting, there were a few food trucks near the tuition venue. We decided to sample some pasta and were pleasantly surprised. My carbonara was superbly done and I must say that in was impressed. The only problem were the variety. There were three trucks parked there and all three seemed to have almost identical menu. Mainly Italian and Mediterranean.

I was pretty sure I've seen this before

Luckily there were a few more traditional restaurants around there. So, should we became sick of those cheesy offering, there would always be tomyam.

I must say I recognised the truck from the recent Foodgasm Fest we attended back in November. We didn't get to sample the food then since they ran out of food. Now we knew why the food ran out. They were rather good.

Looking forward to next week...

Visiting Miss Ellie

On one of those rare occasion when I managed to escape from the hospital early, Anita suggested that we try one of her favourite cafe which she normally go to with her friends. It was a unique one, Miss Ellie Tea House at Taman Melawati. But looking at the outside, you would never have thought that the inside looked so cosy. So, I indulged her.

And pleasantly surprised I was.

Keep calm ....Nice hat ....Wouldn't mind this being my living room ....The decor was exquisite and very English. And the food was heavenly. We started with scones but the main I had pasta. Not exactly English, but the pasta was just amazing!

Let’s start with the decor. The place was not big. It had about half a dozen of tables, with a row of sofa for the casual diners. The lighting was homely and they had tit bits from the Old English adorning the walls. A few months back, my boys and their classmate made their way in much to the horror of the owner as the boys were like …. boisterous. I could share her concern as most of the decorative elements there were on the fragile site. The sideboards were antiques and the china were also proper.

Everything was freshly made at the cafe, from the pasta, to the jam for the scones. The coffee was freshly grounded and the tea was just superb.

The portion for each of the meals was large enough to satisfy, but small enough to make you ask for more. I went for the most difficult pasta to prepare, which was the pesto. And it turned out a delight. The pasta was dry enough not to go soggy when immersed into the sauce, while retaining it grainy texture and taste, while the tomatoes and vegetables tasted fresh and succulent. I just wished that the parmesan which they used had a bit more bite to it. As it was, I just felt that there was something missing. Not a complaint though, just me being fussy.

Iced coffee?Sharing them scones. And these are proper ones ....Time for the pestoPesto no more ....I had a cold-brewed coffee as it was a hot afternoon. Again, can’t fault the preparation. Well blended and not too bitter.

The place was half full even on a week day afternoon. I don’t think that they could have coped if the cafe was situated in a more affluent area such as Bangsar or Taman Tun. The sheer number of patrons would make them lose the homeliness and ambiance. I was just happy as it was, and being in the middle of almost nowhere, parking was a doodle. They are closed on Sundays and Mondays though.

Please check out their website for more details and directions to the place. I would definitely be going there again from time to time. I might try something else next time …..

Plaza Ramadan Winding Down

The plaza Ramadan which I went to earlier today - at Taman Melawati - was ready to pack up today. Only half of the stalls were opened. All of them saying that today would be their last day. They would be fetus ing to their respective kampungs from tonight.

I would definitely miss the drinks. Almost every time we had the chance to go over there, we would get some air mata kucing. Really hit the spot. The kuih there tensed to be lame, as I mentioned before.

Clearly some of the stalls were still going strongSo, not much take-out for tomorrow. Usually, we would be eating some food prepared for Raya on the evening before.

Anita had been preparing her rendang, plus there would be laksa and bolognese tomorrow. The boys, as usual would be up to no good. We bought some sparklers for then earlier but the quality wasn't that good. It was more smoke than fun. They got bored after a few minutes. Irfan had a bit if a burn on his leg as the debris from the sparkler kept hitting his feet. Painful stuff.

Another Turn

It turned out there were two parts to the Melawati Bazaar Ramadan. We went to the first part, and today, we found out that there was another. But did it make any difference? Not really.

The second part was well away from the main road, and seemed to be less crowded. The area was also more specious, but unfortunately it didn't offer anything different to the first part. I still couldn't get my fix of cucur udang or proper air asam boi! Still not as good as past year.

We decided to get our iftar stuff from a restaurant today, after finding some kuih at the bazaar. So, happy iftar all ......

Back in KL

Made it back to Gombak, via Taman Melawati for a spot of take-out. Anita was too tired to cook after the long journey. Traffic was light and it took just under three hours from JPO to the Sg Besi toll. Traffic into KL was also easy.

Just finished unpacking and trying to convince the boys to hot the showers. Next would be dinner, before a spot of television later tonight. Will also be unloading my photos from the camera. Will do the sorting and editing tomorrow I guess. Needing some rest. Work tomorrow. School for the boys Tuesday.