Brunei Restaurant Review: I-Lotus

I Lotus Restaurant situated in an isolated building near Perumahan Rakyat Jati in Rimba. You never have to worry about parking as they have their own huge private parking area specially for their restaurant alone. Another great thing is that you don't have to worry much about traffic jam as well, since there aren't any shopping malls around. Pretty convenient and hassle free.

To me, it's a great place to have a nice family gathering. You get to enjoy the great food and relaxing ambiance at affordable prices. You can choose to sit inside the restaurant or outside, with a garden like patio which is mist cooled. You can also come here for lunch and order typical Chinese food such as char kway teow or fried rice. They have pretty good Yang Chow Fried Rice and Cantonese Deep Fried Noodles here. But tonight, I'm here to celebrate my sister's birthday and it's going to be a family dinner. Let's step into the restaurant shall we?

I walked into the restaurant and was politely greeted by one of their staff who brought me to my table. I like the design of the restaurant, it gives you the impression that a lot of work was done for every table and the interior design is elegant. I especially liked the colour of their napkins and the flower blend well with the restaurant. It's the feeling you should get when you walk into a restaurant to enjoy fine dining.



Our first dish to come was the hot and cold dish. I did not manage to take the full plate but just took my share of golden parcel; wontons wrapped with chives and a slice of their crispy chicken, which I quite enjoy. The wonton was alright.



Next was the claypot seafood, consisting of sea cucumbers and abalone.



Followed by the sizzling sensation of hot plate Japanese tofu which is served with minced chicken and mushroom sauce. I think the saltiness is enhanced with the addition of diced salted fish.



Stir fried mixed veggies



Chicken cooked two style in one plate. On the left are sliced chicken breasts with a sweet and spicy sauce and crispy chicken on the right. I especially like the sweet tangy flavour with a spicy kick on the sliced chicken breasts.



Steamed fish with herb and soy sauce. The fish tasted fresh and it was cooked just right. Texture was good and the soy sauce complements the fish very well.



We ended with their Cantonese Style Seafood Crispy noodles. Their sliced fish that was served with the noodles were very tasty and the best part's the crispiness of the noodles. Yum!

Overall, the experience was pleasant and the staff was prompt with their service. They were also very friendly and know their menu quite well when we were doing our ordering. The price's very reasonable for the experience and I will most certainly come here again next time for lunch or a gathering with friends.

KL Restaurant review: Secret Recipe and the Pie Shop

When I was in KL, I had the pleasure of trying one of the famous franchises of Secret Recipe. It's mainly desserts but they also have their famous lamb stew and other savoury dishes. I went there twice and got to try some of their tasty cakes.

Chocolate and Banana Cake



White chocolate and macademia cake~hmm...



Chocolate brownie ... look so chocolaty and rich~~ Yumm~~





Their chicken chop with rice



This is their award winning Irish Lamb Stew with mashes potatoes. Highly recommended. Soft and succulent..hmm..

I also have the opportunity to go to a nice restaurant called "The Pie Shop". My friend knows the boss and she recommended two of their popular dishes. I enjoyed them throughly especially the tasty beef stew, can fight with Secret Recipe's one.

Melt in your mouth beef stew and their mashed potatoes with melted butter...ahhh... so nice



Baked chicken pasta - simply divine.



Drowned down with a nice splash of affogato..hmm...

Polenta Crusted Wasabi Chicken

Made these for a karaoke snack at Jo-En's place. Initially wanted to do stuffed cherry tomatoes but then the girls would prefer chicken - so decided to make this snack instead. Pretty simple to make and kid friendly. You'll only get a hint of wasabi. Instead of breadcrumbs, I decided to use polenta as the crust. It has this grainy crispiness that you don't have with breadcrumbs.

Ingredients for marinade:

500g chicken breasts, cut into strips.
4 tsp wasabi powder (trust me, it may seem a lot but you won't feel that much kick, you can add more if you love the taste of wasabi)
salt and pepper for seasoning
1 tsp white sugar

Marinate these for around 30 minutes.

Almost done coating all the chicken

While waiting, get ready three different containers for flour, eggs and polenta(cornmeal). On one bowl, fill it with corn flour, one bowl with 2 beaten eggs and one bowl (around 2 and half cups of uncooked polenta) filled with polenta (mixed with 4 teaspoons of wasabi powder)

1) Coat chicken strip on the corn flour then shake off the remove excess flour.

2) Lightly dip in egg mixture

3) Coat on the third bowl of polenta(with wasabi)

4) Put aside on a plate and repeat with the rest of the chicken strips.

5) Deep fry them until slightly golden in colour.

Note: You must fry them in batches so the temperature of the oil won't drop too much. Don't chuck them all in at once. What I did is to deep fry the first batch, and continue coating the rest, while keeping watch on the ones that are being deep fried.

I got someone to help me coat while I deep fry - so it's easier to manage.

Still being fried - hmm...



Nice and golden...



Serve with sweet chili sauce or you can make a wasabi mayonnaise dip. Just mix 2 tsp of wasabi powder with a cup of Japanese Mayonnaise.