Posts tagged lunch

The Bread Shop

Food

With a recent office relocation came the need to search for good, quick and nearby food. One thing about Kay-El is that you normally don’t find good bread. We did go to LeVain Boulangerie Patisserie a while back and the only problem with LeVain was distance and besides the atmosphere, the food is just above average. Coffee was also down to the individual barista. On two occasions that I was there, the coffee was noticeably worse than the previous visit a week earlier. Their breads, well, pretty great but it must depend on your basis for comparison. If I would prefer a more Asian twist to my breads, LeVain would meet that criteria. If you’re going for the European flavor, LeVain does disappoint somewhat.

So, it was a pleasure to find a little bakery and cafe tucked into the quiet nestles of Bukit Damansara (Damansara Hill) and within five minutes drive from my office. The coffee is consistently good (ten visits in three weeks) and their breads and pastries are simply up to mark. Of course not everything will satisfy everyone but to me, their white bread is simply the best. The cranberry walnut loaf is also good enough to eat it on it’s own… to paraphrase another bread maker’s slogan but this one is really special. I’d rate Bread shop a notch above LeVain. The modernistic concrete styling just complements the aroma and luscious softness of their breads and pastries. I’m a fan for sure!

The prices are also quite fair. It’s no more expensive than LeVain, Bread Story or Delifrance. The only pity is that they close on public holidays and Sundays but I really love it when I can pop in at 8am for a delicious croissant and latte before getting into the office!












The Bread Shop
11, Jalan Setiakasih 5,
Bukit Damansara,
50490 Kuala Lumpur

A delightful bakery in KL

Food

LeVain Boulangerie Patisserie… yup. Even Google translator stumbled. Google says “Levain Bakery & Patisserie” while Babelfish gives me “Leaven Bakery & Pastry making” and Paralink gives me “Sourdough Bakery and Patisserie“. Whatever it is in English, they sure know their pastry and baking! I’m rather fond of breads and am not really a “rice” kind of person although rice has been in my diet since, well, as far back as I can remember.

Interestingly, I stumbled upon this place while doing a recce for a wedding shoot. The dinner location was nearby and I decided to drive around to check for ideal outdoor locations a minute or two away. This old part of KL has a lot of charming old bungalows that have been converted to commercial premises and the old rain trees form a lovely backdrop. Some time later, my wife told me about an unpronounceable bakery and immediately I know where and what she was trying to tell me.

The place gets really packed right till about 2pm when the crowd seems to taper down. For such a classy looking place, you’d expect two things: it’ll be filled with expats, especially the Europeans who probably can’t get used to our local breads (I sympathize cos our local bread, well, enough said) and secondly, pricing that only the rather well heeled can afford. Surprisingly, this assumption is proved false which is good. There are some expats buying bread but up to 90% of the people eating and dining were local Chinese! Whoever said that the Chinese need to eat their rice need to be brought here. I mean people were having breakfast, brunch, lunch, whatever with nary a bowl of rice or noodles (unless pasta counts) in sight. The prices were very reasonable, in fact, some items were priced almost the same as some local chain bakeries. This is amazing value considering these items are made with quality ingredients and hence, taste better and are invariably fresher which I’ll explain later. For brunch, we had a couple of pastry items, soup and pizzas which totaled up to only RM29 without drinks. Drinks range from about RM6 onwards but looking at the way they hand-crafted my latte and the use of quality Australian (farm house) milk, I’d say the price is still good.

The breakfast items are nice, especially the pancake stack. I think we’ve tasted most of the pastry items and considering that we kept reloading our table with items meant that they were good. The only thing about being in such a full place is that the top pastry items such as their mashed potato bun, chocolate coronet, pizzas, etc get depleted quickly. Not to worry though as the kitchen is in full production and they get replenished quickly. This high turnover rate means that what you get is as close as you can to baking them yourselves!

There’s free wi-fi available, making it a good place to meet but parking can be difficult if you have a 5-meter long truck and your other vehicle is a CR-V. That said, we’ll be back again as I love their sweet desserts and lovely breads — especially their maple log loaf! So time to stop talking and let the photos do you in!

















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Levain Boulangerie & Patisserie
No 7, Jalan Delima,
Off Jalan Imbi,
55100 Kuala Lumpur.

Palate Palette

Food

Palate Palette, bar and restaurant in KL was a place I wanted to go ever since I saw a friend’s family celebration reunion photos. This time however, it was just a small gathering and we spent more time talking and eating rather than taking photos. The ambiance was great, aided by a gray overcast KL sky, it was not too hot to sit under the open sky, with trees and the breeze (and haze) wafting about.

We had quite a bit of food but the Chicken lollipops were great along with the Mushroom Cappuccino soup. The moo stew is also highly recommended plus of course their dessert. The ran out of the dark chocolate cake so we had to settle for the toasted carrot cake which was pretty awesome and of course the ginger crème brûlée! Delicious!

Melaka Makan-makan

Food 2 Comments


Sunset reflections on the Melaka River

First, the hectic work week and the scramble to find a hotel considering every place was booked out… After that, a nice drive with friends down to Melaka city. Arrive at 1pm, park, walk down Jonker’s street to Museum Cafe (or Jonker Dessert 88) and have our delicious Baba & Nyonya Laksa. That was washed down with cold Aik Cheong coffee and durian cendol! That done, we head to our hotel to check in and have a shower and short rest. It was really hot. Finally, we emerge at 4:30pm and drive to the Stadhuys. We climb St. Paul’s hill for the first E-Session shoot with Kelly & Chye before wrapping up at about 6:30pm. We then head over to Capitol Satay for the famous Satay Celup! Finding a super long queue, we switch plans and have delicous Oi-chen (fried oyster omelet) and Melaka-style wan-tan mee.

Filling very satisfied and full, we head off to Jalan Hang Jebat (Jonker’s street) and walk around a bit. After a walk up and down the street, we head back to Capitol Satay and join the much shorter queue. It still took about 45 minutes though and lots of ugly Singaporeans queuing up. Anyways, we have our fill of Satay Celup and it was time to head back to bed!

The next morning, we started early, having a quick breakfast at the hotel cafeteria and reaching Christ’s Church at about 8am and started the second E-Session shoot. We finished the shoot around Jonker’s street area and it was time for ice-cream. We went to a home-made ice-cream place only to find out that they’ve gone commercial and no longer made their own ice-cream. That was a pity but feeling all hot and sweaty, cold ice-cream feels really good. Soon, it was time to check-out of the hotel and go back to KL. What trip to Melaka is complete without chicken rice ball? So, on the way out to the highway, we stop by at a small coffee shop serving delicious chicken rice ball. This ain’t the tourist thing, this is where the locals frequent. Soon with all that food stuffed into our full belly, we head back home…


This Oi-chen was really top-grade!


How long do we need to wait?


Secret herbs and spices into our Satay Sauce!

A tower treat yesterday…

Photography

Amazingly, yesterday was the first time I was up at Menara KL (or KL Tower). Shockingly decorated in gaudy colors and bits of stuff, and the so-so food but the view was fantastic!

To see a full screen version, click here.