Mall-functioned, Zouk Cafe & Bar, Gardens

Organised retail is a tough call. On one hand, our heinous traffic/public transport conundrum presents a commercial case for the ongoing erection of these mercenary all-in-one monoliths.

But sticking in air-conditioning and opening the shutters are hardly sufficient to convert window shoppers to serious ones, given the stiff competition and growing disdain for these hastily built but ultimately malfunctioning edifices.

Zouk Cafe & Bar at the Gardens in Mid Valley is an example of an outlet with failed potential given the captive traffic who work in the vicinity and starved for choice to wind down on a Friday evening.

Lasagne a.k.a. hunka microwaved rubbery beauty topped with melted plastic resembling play-doh cheese. Tasted no better, I was informed.

Fettucine Carbonara got an indifferent "Creamy" from meal owner, but only because she was well famished by the time the pretty gleaming plate was set in front of her and had no inclination for verbal expression.

An underwhelming Steak Sandwich done rare, which somehow translated to an alarming grey mass of mystery meat.

The Cheeseburger, a far cry from the Ramly outside a 7-Eleven I had later that same evening.

The Seafood Alio Oglio, which was served with thoroughly dessicated scallops. Not the way the mighty Creator intended for this mollusc to contribute to the food chain.

The Doughnut Dippers were hilariously stale and colourless. No one was in a hurry to try this.

Happy Hour beverage prices currently apply only for Carlsberg and house pours.

A disappointment, as with most mall outlets, saved only by the dependable camaderie of battle-scarred colleagues. Next time, we'll know better to get into our vehicles, fight the traffic out a little further for a better class of merrymaking.

No surprises please, we're old, Alexis, The Gardens

Niz had just turned the grand old age of... say, somewhere in the early-30s vicinity. The older we get, the less receptive we are to surprises, so it was decided we would congregate somewhere fuss-free, with a tried-and-tested menu where everyone knew what they would get, at Alexis at the Gardens.

Can't go wrong with Alexis' pizzas... particularly enjoy the Gambretto with rocket! This time however, I watched the others order. That evening, I was on...a liquid diet of some sort. First up... the Pizza Pollo. Meal owner was kind and spared me a slice, and even when cold, it was yummy and made me secretly hanker for more!

Others had the equally dependable Sarawak Laksa, swimming in rich, coconutty gravy. What a mega portion!

Beef Noodles arrived lukewarm. Fiz tsk-tsk'ed and sent it back to be heated thoroughly. We like our soup scalding hot, thank you very much!

Club sandwich - Cheese, chicken, avocado, beef bacon, egg and the usual garnishing. But why oh why the shoestring fries? Shoestrings spell to me skint, ungenerous, emaciated, McDs! I like mine fat and substantial!

Baby spinach and chickpea salad - a very nice filling salad, I picked off all the olives! Ish nicsh with wine

The classically bashful, but bitingly bitchy birthday boy

The sweet-toothed cried in unison at the end of the meal, so away they went. No introductions or elaboration necessary here, so I'll just post these up and siesta...

Pavlova

Tiramisu

Nuff said! :-) Hope it was a happy one Niz!

Back to Basics at Sid's Pub Bangsar

Reently learned that Sid's opened up another outlet in Bangsar South, much nearer to my workplace and home than the original outlet at TTDI so off we went to check it out one lazy, HOT Sunday afternoon. It'd been a while since I last ventured to the Pantai area and I was surprised to see how the Village (essentially UOA's Bangsar South showhouse) was already nicely inhabited by an Old Town, a Secret Recipe, a 7-11 and Sid's. All the basics to convince you this is going to be prime real estate! Investors, get your cheque books out!

The cool tranquil pub interior offers refuge from the blazing mid-May Malaysian sun. Entrez s'il vous plaît!!

Signature Sid's dark wooden furniture, paraphernalia-adorned walls, one very well-stocked bar. In addition to its proximity to home, this outlet has the advantage of more room, both indoors and out...

...and Strongbow Cider! Much preferred to Blackthorn's served at TTDI's. We have the pub all to ourselves for a delightful couple of hours.

On another visit on an uneventful Friday evening saw a more decent crowd, chugging back them pints. The very decent pub grub at Sid's did not fail us that evening.

Mel's Pork burger. Very meaty tasty patty, the plate flowing with fries. Despite the fact that this filled her up plenty, Mel thought the patty wasn't all that generous - "you just cannot compare this with Ramly's!"she wisely observed.

At this point, unexpected company burst through the door and joined us, lending further hilarity and stomach space for food sampling. Thank you for the pre-birthday surprise, folks!

Eevon's Bacon Butty - I should've snapped a pic of the last few mouthful of her sandwich, which looked like it held about 2 inches thick of bacon.

Vicky has mash and lamb sausages with baked beans. Mash tasted powdery, she proclaimed and left it pretty much untouched.

The pièce de résistance of the evening was the Nevis Burger - basically double-patty and all the add-ons you can handle. When this arrived, the whole table watched entranced as the glistening leaden fat dripped from the top of the grease tower languidly to form a mounting pool of sin at the base of the burger.

AUMMMM!!!!

He collects it, he opens up his mouth wide, he brings it in and he scores! The evening's unquestionable hero for throwing frivolous table decorum out the window as he wiped his plate clean. For what are birthdays if not the most elementary reminders of our individual mortality in the larger scheme of things and the futility of denying ourselves enjoyment while we can?

And on that note, will be back, again and again!

The Young and the Rested, Frames, TTDI Plaza

We were celebrating youth, or the process of departure from youth anyway. Young Jonathan was turning a year older, and Frames in TTDI Plaza was where we would solemnly observe this occasion.

The interior was standard cafe - clean, sleek, fuss-free, with an inordinate number of Ikea photo frames, either blank or filled with random pictures of anything at all. I think they could do a lot more thought with the stuff that goes into the frames. Rather than pretty stock pictures that don't actually mean anything at all, they could choose to make a statement about picture frames and what compels one to frame a memory, a visual.

Janice's Mushroom Mascarpone, one of the novel pasta dishes on the menu. She found the inclusion of whole walnuts a tad askew. I had a taste, and I'd be keen to try it again, with a different kind of pasta (the staff informed me that they also do penne or ribbons).

A few ordered the recommended Pasta Diablo, a spicy seafood & olive oil sort of mash up. Probably a safe choice, because really, how hard would it be to get this right?

My Mushroom soup came was just the right balance of stodge, the amount of cream comfortably scraping my ceiling tolerance of dairy. The three slices of paper thin garlic bread that were served with it made sure my resistance of carbs stayed on the right side of half-hearted.

I also had the Balsamic Chicken salad another of Frames' recommended highlights. It was robust although I did find the balsamic somewhat overpowering towards the end, and could have definitely done with more leaves.

The eyecatching Mushroom Parmigiana, not quite your ordinary sandwich. The hefty amount of cheese heaped on top of the grilled mushrooms sealed the deal, and the bulk of the concoction requires critical decision-making on how to attack and savour it in its entirety.

AUMMMM....!!!!

Meal-owner whined a little about the bottom part of the sandwich not being toasted on both sides, rendering it soggy from the weight of the filling. But other than that, it appeared to have fulfilled his masculine meal quota!

Sick member of the party settled for Oxtail Soup. Have no idea how it tasted, I didn't ask because he was quite huffy about this whole photo-taking of food business.

Jon knew the owner, and by association, we got free lekor on the house! Fresh from my neighbourhood lekor sojoun, I dug in, and wasn't disappointed by the crunchy thin version served here.

The ever-youthful birthday boy shared a tender, inspiring personal nugget on young love. I can't speak for the rest but I can only dream of being as patient and as unadulterated when it comes the mighty affairs of the heart. The boy may be young but has a soul that's curiously cultivated.

Hope it was a grand one, Jon!

A pint, or five, Online Pub and Brussels Beer Cafe

Some evenings, you just need that solid, no-frills pint, when dressy cocktails and uniformed wait staff just won't do. I was fortunate to have a friend point me in the right direction one night after work, to Online pub at Damansara Kim.

This is really back-to-basics pubbing - a working man's neighbourhood watering hole, where the beer's always cold, the satisfied "aaahhh" after your first sip always guaranteed.

The central bar counter area, lined with old rickety bar stools. In fact, the place itself seemed a bit rickety as a whole, which is part of its charm. There is definitely a sense of having left that weight on your shoulders once you enter. No pretenses, no confusion over what the place is for - you come here for a few quiet pints after work before you bugger off home.

Apologise for this nasty piece of photography but by this time, I think I was well into my third pint :-P Online has a simple, sufficient menu and they serve up a mean lard-laden Hokkien mee. I think the intent is to make sure any inhibitions are shot, or as long as you're at Online - have a pint, have five! Fill up on lard, it doesn't count if it's consumed while intoxicated!

The exterior of Online pub, spartan and understated. Plenty of parking around in the evenings too.

Two days later, on a fine Sunday afternoon, we felt compelled to visit the famed Brussels Beer Cafe at Jaya One for some European ales. While I enjoy draft Hoegaarden as much as the next drinker, I am partial towards Stella.

Mmmmm.... Sunday afternoon beer buzzes... the pints were drained before one could say "beer belly". We probably went a bit overboard that afternoon. Pints at Brussels, while tasty and worthwhile enough, are hardly in the same $$ bracket as Online pub, and we were abit taken aback by our own indulgence, when the bill was presented to us 3 hours later :-S

Drinking on an empty stomach is a no-no, as anyone with half an appreciation of the wonders of inebriation, would tell you. We were delighted to find that Brussels serves pork but the kitchen was closed, it being the after lunch lull when we were there, but they rustled up a bacon and egg sandwich for us to share. It was a modest affair, garnished with very wilted lettuce but redeemed itself with fat, fat fries, which were polished off as quickly as our early pints!

There's great joy in discovering nooks and corners for a cold one, or several. Where's your favourite pub?