GoodyFoodies

Burgers have been on Hubby's mind for a while now, hence dinner was at Killer Gourmet Burgers (KGB) at their MidValley outlet. KGB is located at LG Floor of The Gardens Mall. There is also another KGB outlet in Bangsar.

There are around 20 burgers to choose from -- crust seared, grilled, fried or vegetarian. Simply place your order at the counter, and you will be given a number and the servers will serve your food to you when it's ready.

We went for 2 burgers - The Animal Style (RM14.90) and Truffle'd Swiss (RM20.90), as well as onion rings (RM6.90) to share.

The Animal Style comes with crust seared beef, mustard, sharp Cheddar, caramelised onions and shack sauce. The beef used here is 100% steak grade Australian grass fed beef. This was one juicy, tasty burger.

The Truffle'd Swiss is intoxicating.... as soon as the burger hit the table, we could definitely smell the truffle oil. Sandwiched between two soft buns are grilled beef, sauteed Portobello mushrooms, Swiss cheese, truffle infusion and herbed ranch. The patty is slightly less juicy than the Animal Style burger but just as delicious!

The buttermilk fried onion rings were nice and crispy too, making this a very satisfying burger experience for us.

Opening times: 10am to 10pm daily.

Service: Good.

Price: Total bill RM45.60.

Location: Killer Gourmet Burgers (KGB), Lot LG-233 B&C, The Gardens Mall, Lingkaran Syed Putra, Mid Valley City, Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 03-2201 5557

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Our kids get lunch in school, but sometimes we would pack some biscuits or muffins for them to snack on. I would always make the muffins in cute cases as this gets them excited - simple things that make them happy! Sometimes, I would pack extra for them as their friends would also ask to share the muffins with them. :)

So, these carrot muffins are moist and packed with their favorite nuts and dried fruits. They're also pretty easy to make (except for the grating carrot part which takes a little time). If you would like to frost your muffins, do check out these posts: lime mascarpone frosting or cream cheese frosting.

Carrot muffins
Recipe by Baby Sumo, adapted from here
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 20-22 minutes
Makes 15

Ingredients
250g self raising flour, sifted
A pinch of salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground nutmeg
150g soft brown sugar
4 eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
240ml corn oil
250g carrot, peeled and finely grated (approx. 2 medium carrot)
60g walnuts, chopped into small pieces
60g sultanas or dried cranberries, chopped
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (no fan). Line 2 muffin-trays with 15 cupcake liners.

2. Place the flour, salt, ground cinnamon and nutmeg into a large bowl and stir in the brown sugar. Add the eggs and corn oil to the dry ingredients and mix well. Stir in the grated carrot, orange zest, sultanas, chopped walnuts and vanilla extract.

3. Fill the cupcake-liners to 2/3 full and then bake in the pre-heated oven for 20-22 minutes or until a skewer inserted in centre comes out clean. Allow cakes to cool for at least 30 minutes. Store in an airtight container, they will keep for 4-5 days.

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Today, 1 April 2015 marks the day of the GST (Goods and Services Tax) implementation in KL. However, the GST in this post is not what you think it is..... GST here stands for Great Steak Tonight ;)

Hubby and I went on a date night yesterday, and chose Prime as our dining venue for the evening. We enjoy coming here as both service and food is excellent. I already knew what I wanted - the scallops starter and oyster blade steak. But flipped through the menu anyway while waiting for Hubby to decide what he wanted - and saw that they have a few new cuts since our last visit.

Hubby decided to have the same as me, so 2 scallops and 2 oyster blade steaks for our table. Chef Antoine, who just popped into the kitchen, saw our order and immediately knew I was in the restaurant. LOL. Anyway, I had a really great meal - scallops were perfectly cooked, totally enjoyable and the steak was so tender and melt-in-the-mouth delicious! Steak craving satisfied!

Seared sea scallops Parmesan potato, poached egg, fresh herbs dressing (RM55)

Australian Certified Wagyu Beef (Marble score 9 and above) - Oyster Blade Steak, 220g (RM130)

Note:SPG members can enjoy 20% off total food bill. And best of all, the card is FREE.

Pork-free.

Opening times: Monday to Friday: 12.00pm to 2.30pm (Lunch); Monday to Sunday: 6.30pm to 11.00pm (Dinner)

Service: Excellent.

Price: Total bill RM350.75 (after 20% discount)

Location: Prime Steak Restaurant, 5th Floor, Le Méridien Kuala Lumpur, 2 Jalan Stesen Sentral, 50470 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Tel: 03- 2263 7434

GPS Coordinates: 3.135685, 101.686524

Website: http://www.dining.lemeridienkualalumpur.com/PRIME

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Decided to drop by Lot 10 Hutong for lunch when we were at Bukit Bintang area last week. This is still one of our favorite "food courts" in KL. Please note that it is non-halal though.

Hubby had the duck egg char koay teow (RM12.50) from the Penang Corner.... really really tasty! My brother also had this when he was back for his holiday and he too commented that it was good. They use really huge prawns as well as cockles and lap cheong in their version.

I fancied some loh mee (RM11.50) after seeing the photo at Kim Lian Kee's stall. This definitely hit the spot - thick and vinegary... so appetizing! Plus the serving is huge, good for sharing.

I like mine with extra vinegar!

Hubby also had cendol (RM5) from Oriental dessert but not very photogenic so didn't take a photo:P

Later, we stopped by at Ben's Pavilion for more dessert.. we shared a banoffee sundae (RM18) and Hubby also had an affogato (RM10).

Banoffee Sundae - fresh bananas, shortbread, vanilla ice cream and almond tuile

Non-halal.

Opening times: 10am to 10pm daily, although it is advisable to come early as some stalls run out before dinnertime.

Location: Hutong Food Court, Lower Ground Floor, Lot 10 Shopping Centre, Jalan Sultan Ismail, 50250 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

***

Opening times: 11am to 10pm (Sun-Thurs), 11.00am - 12 midnight (Fri-Sat)

Location: Ben's, Pavilion KL, Lot 6.11, Level 6, Tokyo Street, Pavilion KL, 168 Jalan Bukit Bintang, 55100 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 03-2141 5290

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Happy Easter to all! Easter is the day where Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. For us, Easter is our second favorite celebration (after Christmas). Here are 5 reasons why we love Easter!

1. Easter chocolate eggs

Who can resist these delicious chocolate eggs? Our favorite are the Cadbury creme eggs... and this year, we also baked some hot cross buns for the occasion.

Nowadays you can get Easter chocolate eggs in all shapes and sizes... eg cute chicks and rabbits.

2. Easter egg painting

We love doing crafts at Easter time - especially egg painting! We would start collecting shells 1-2 weeks before Easter (simply empty the eggs out for cooking/baking, then rinse the shells with soapy water and leave to dry).

Get your water colours out and let the kids get creative!

PS Here are 5 easy and fun Easter crafts you can do with your kids.

A fun morning painting eggs!

3. Easter egg hunt

And since we have plenty of painted eggs, we're all set for our Easter egg hunt. We've been doing this with the kids for the past 3 years and they really enjoy it!

Put on their masks, basket in hand and a-hunting we will go! Both kids managed to get 10 eggs each, but Baby C was declared the winner since they found the bling bling egg worth 5 points! :)

And after our egg hunt, we had eggs for breakfast! Half boiled eggs as well as hard boiled eggs... eggs galore! By the way, for those with lots of leftover boiled eggs, check out this post.

4. Easter Bunnies

Don't we all love Easter bunnies? They're absolutely adorable. This year, both our kids dress up as Easter bunnies and we attended the Egg-cellent Easter event at Avenue K.

A big hello from our Easter Bunny

Showing off their bunny tails ;)

We also baked bunny biscuits earlier that week. You can find the recipe here. The kids enjoying making these every year.

5. Easter BBQ

Easter is the time we have our annual BBQ dinner at home. Pomfret, chicken wings, corn, grilled prawns... yum yum!

So share with us what Easter means to you!

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Last week, we were invited to The Spread at St Giles The Gardens - Grand Hotel & Residences to sample their Weekday Buffet Lunch. The Spread is the hotel's all day dining restaurant and has recently undergone a refurbishment and reopened to guests in February this year.

For the lunch buffet, guests can choose from the daily changing menu of over 180 selections, including local and Western specialties. The Weekday Buffet Lunch is available Mondays to Fridays from 12noon till 2.30pm and is priced at RM111 nett per person.

To start, guests can feast on fresh oysters, mussels, tiger prawns on ice, sushi, sashimi, rojak buah or Caesar salad. Obviously, being a Japanese food lover, I started with sashimi and my favorite Japanese condiments such as Japanese seasoned seaweed (chuka wakame), marinated scallop lips (chuka hotate) and jellyfish (chuka karage).

For mains, there are roasted items at the carving station (during our visit it was roast lamb), live cooking stations with items such as grilled fish, noodle station, deep fried salt and pepper squid, curry fish head, satay, tempura as well as butter chicken and pakora. We tried the char koay teow and it was pretty good (served with huge prawns). The lamb from the carving station was also good - tender and pink inside.

The highlight at the dessert counter is the cold-pan fried ice-cream, which originates from Thailand. There is also an array of cakes and local kuih, as well as waffles and fresh fruits which you can choose from.

The Weekday Buffet Lunch is available daily (Monday – Friday) from 12noon till 2.30pm and is priced at RM111 nett per person. Rate is inclusive of 10% service charge and 6% GST.

For reservations, please call The Spread at 03 2268 1123 or email to spread.fnbghr@StGiles-Hotels.com.

Location: The Spread, St Giles The Gardens - Grand Hotel & Residences, Level 6, The Gardens, Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra, 59200 Kuala Lumpur. (The Gardens Hotel/Robinsons side)

Tel: 03- 2268 1123

Website: http://www.stgiles.com/kuala-lumpur-hotels/the-gardens-hotel-and-residences/the-spread/

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Last week, we took the kids for a staycation at Prince Hotel & Residence KL as they were on their school holidays. One of the things our kids love doing during staycations is enjoying good food (foodies in the making, I think!).

For dinner, we visited Tai Zi Heen (one of the best pork-free Chinese restaurants in KL IMHO) and sampled their All-You-Can-Eat Dinner new menu. It features dishes from their a la carte menu and dim sum selections which are prepared a la minute. Priced at RM79.30 per person (inclusive 6% GST),this dinner promotion is available daily from 6.30pm to 10.30pm.

The menu is made up of 50 delectable items, and diners can choose from appetizers, soups, dim sum, barbeque, seafood, poultry, beef, venison, lamb, bean curd, vegetables, noodles, rice and desserts. It certainly isn't easy when it comes to ordering as everything on the menu sounds enticing. There is no limit as to how much you can order and you can order a certain dish as many times as you like, if that is what you desire.

Drunken tiger prawns with Hua Diao wine

First to arrive at our table is the drunken tiger prawns with Hua Diao wine. Four big prawns, just nice for our family of four. Fresh and meaty, we enjoyed this! For the kids, we also ordered siew mai (chicken and shrimp dumplings) - sorry no photos, as kids were fast as lightning. While the kids enjoyed their siew mai, Hubby and I had the roasted crispy duck with sweet brown sauce and Beijing-style mantau. Love the crispy skin. Portions in general for this promotion are just nice for 2-3 pax if sharing a lot of dishes.

Seared black pepper smoked duck breast with mango chutney

I would highly recommend the beef dishes - tried the sliced Australian beef sirloin with tangy Mongolian sauce, as well as the wok-fried sliced Australian beef sirloin with black pepper sauce. The beef was super tender and both sauces had its merits. If I had more tummy space, I would definitely order another plate of beef.

Obviously we ordered the wok fried fresh sea scallops dish too... anything scallop cannot escape me. Or my kids. My boy was super excited when the scallop dish arrived and as soon as photos were taken, 1-2-3 scallops went into his mouth. So mummy ended up eating broccoli. :P

One of the recommended dishes from Chef Michael was the Szechuan-style poached seafood with spicy chilli oil. I did notice that they have quite a number of Szechuan-style dishes on the menu such as the hot and sour soup and poached boneless chicken. The spiciness level was just nice for me, and it came with generous chunks of prawns and fish as well as Nameko mushrooms. We also ordered the deep fried sea grouper fillet as the kids wanted fish, this was served with a tangy Thai chilli plum sauce.

Another really delicious, not-to-be-missed dish is the stir fried Shanghai noodles with shredded chicken in supreme soy sauce. Very very very good! We were pretty happy with all the dishes we tried, only dish we didn't like was the seared black pepper smoked duck breast appetizer as we found it a little too salty for our liking.

Szechuan-style poached seafood with spicy chilli oil

Deep fried sea grouper fillet

Wok-fried sliced Australian sirloin beef with black pepper sauce

For desserts we had the steamed bamboo charcoal buns with salted egg yolk custard, crispy Chinese pancakes with lotus paste and 3 portions of chilled mango pudding with passion fruit sauce. Yup, you read it right... 3 portions. First plate went down a treat, so we ordered another, and then another.

*Staycation is self-paid, however we dined at Tai Zi Heen by invitation of the hotel.

Verdict: Delicious, good-quality dishes. This promotion is great for those with big appetites as you get to try many dishes in sampling portions. Great price, great value.

Pork-free.

Opening times: Mon- Fri 12.00pm - 2.30pm, Sat- Sun 11.30am - 2.30pm; Mon-Sun 6.30pm-10.30pm.

Location: Tai Zi Heen, Level 2, Prince Hotel & Residence Kuala Lumpur, 4 Jalan Conlay, 50450 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Tel: 03-2170 8888 ext 8200

Website: http://www.princehotelkl.com

GPS Coordinates: 3.150179, 101.714516

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Other than vegetables and herbs, we also plant fruit trees in our garden. Currently, we have kedondong (ambarella), guava, passion fruit, soursop, custard apple, Vietnam apples, pineapple and bananas. And last month, we harvested our first bunch of bananas.

It was actually an unintentional harvest, as one stormy evening the super strong winds and heavy rain battered our banana tree. But fortunately the fruits were ready for harvesting and all we had to do was wait for it to ripen after we took it in. The banana variety that we planted is the Pisang Mas (or pisang emas), known as lady finger banana. From the bunch of bananas that we harvested, there were at least 6 hands and 15 bananas on each hand.

Homegrown bananas... feeling so proud!

Gone bananas...

And they all ripened at the same time... so what do you do when life hands you bananas? Make banana loaves of course!

These Pisang Mas are extremely sweet so they're perfect for making a sugar-free banana loaf. This recipe is mostly adapted from my previous sugar-free banana cake bake. This is so good that I made it 3 days in a row (and I needed to use up the bananas too :P). Guilt-free too as no sugar is added. :)

Do remember to use ripe bananas (though overripe ones with black spots are the best when making banana cakes/loaves).

Sugar-free banana loaf
Recipe by Baby Sumo, adapted from here
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 45-50 minutes
Serves 6-8

Ingredients
250g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
150g sultanas or raisins
100g butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tbsp milk
6-7 small ripe bananas, mashed (approx. 500g peeled weight)

1.Preheat the oven to 190°C (no fan). Grease and line the base of a 9"x 4" loaf tin with baking paper.

2. Sift the flour, baking powder, and cinnamon into a large bowl. Add the sultanas/raisins and mix with a wooden spoon.

3. Place melted butter, vanilla essence, egg, milk and mashed bananas into another bowl and mix with a whisk or fork.

4. Pour the wet ingredients (from Step 3) into the dry mixture (from Step 2) and combine thoroughly with a wooden spoon.

5. Pour the cake mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 45-50 mins or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes then turn out to cool completely on a wire rack.

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Back when we were dating, I visited Hubby (then-boyfriend) at Aberdeen and he told me that he was bringing me to Storybook Glen. I thought 'How strange that he wants to bring his adult-girlfriend to a kiddies place" but he proved me wrong once I stepped foot in that place.

Storybook Glen is a world of make-believe and fun for children and adults of all ages. It is set amidst 28 acres of scenic beauty of Royal Deeside and in there, you will find your favorite nursery rhyme and fairytale characters. It certainly was charming, and I got to relive my childhood as I went around identifying the characters and singing along to nursery rhymes. Plus it's a wonderful place to enjoy some sunshine on a beautiful summers day.

Fast forward 6 years and when we were holidaying in Aberdeen with the kids, we instantly thought of bringing them to Storybook Glen for a fun day out. And as expected, they loved it. When we first visited in 2013, they were doing some renovations / extension, and when we went back in 2014, they have opened up an extra indoor bit with a play den and cafe. They also renamed the place as The Den and The Glen.

With Thomas

Hairy Coo.. why are you so adorable? ;)

I have an obsession with them :P

The adults have as much fun as the kids here :D

Some of the nursery rhyme characters you may find here include Little Miss Muffet, Jack and Jill, Humpty Dumpty, Little Bo-Peep, Hickory Dickory Dock, I'm a Little Teapot and Hey Diddle Diddle. There are also many fairytale characters such as Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella, Snow White and Goldilocks and the 3 bears, as well as cartoon characters such as Barney, Postman Pat, Noddy and Thomas the Tank Engine. In the past we had to guess each of the characters (they're not labelled) but nowadays they give you a map with the names of all the characters.

With their grandparents and Humpty Dumpty

Our kids love this slide the most... it's a fast and bumpy slide down :)

One of my personal favorites at The Glen is Old Macdonald's Farm... "driving" the tractor (with number plate EIEIO) and also taking photographs of (and with) the Highland Cow. They have some other live animals here such as chickens and pigs. There are also lots of open spaces for your kids to run around as well as chutes, climbing frames, slides, swings and roundabouts to play on. You can bring your own picnics or when it gets too hot, cool down with an ice cream. :)

For those who paid to go into The Glen, you will get to enter The Den for free. They have climbing frames, Astro slides, and giant ball canyon.

Tip: Bring plenty of water and a sun hat if it's a warm day. And even if it looks like it's going to be a scorcher, bring a light jacket as it can get pretty windy (and cold) at times.

Opening times: 9.30am to 5.30pm daily.

Admission rates:
The Den: Adult: FREE; Under 1's: FREE; 1-3 years: £3.95; 4+ years: £4.95
The Glen: Adult: £2.95; Under 1's: FREE; 1-3 years: £3.95; 4+ years: £4.95
Family Annual Pass £65 (unlimited entry to Glen only)

Location: The Den & The Glen (formerly Storybook Glen), Maryculter, Aberdeen, AB12 5FT, Scotland, United Kingdom.

Tel: +44 (0) 1224 732941

Website: http://www.storybookglenaberdeen.co.uk/

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One weekend, kids asked if we could go for dim sum. I wanted to drop by at Midvalley to do some grocery shopping, so we decided to have dim sum there - killing two birds with one stone :)

Initially we thought of going to Tim Ho Wan (only Baby D and I have been before previously) but there was a pretty long queue (still!) and we couldn't be bothered to wait so our next option was to try the dim sum at Grand Harbour.

Grand Harbour serves dim sum and Chinese cuisine and is located at the external shops on Ground Floor (same row as Delicious). If memory serves me right, they also have another outlet in Fahrenheit 88 mall. Other than the air-conditioned restaurant, they also have an outside seating area. We chose to sit indoors since it's already late morning.

Their dim sum is served from 10am to 6pm daily, and you can choose from their signature dim sums which feature lots of "animal" themed dim sum such as quail egg shrimp dumpling (in shape of cute chicks), crispy durian puff (in shape of swans), and glutinous rice ball in coconut flakes (in shape of mice). They also have the regular steamed dim sums as well as fried and baked dim sum, rice rolls and porridge. Other than dim sum, they also have noodle dishes, rice and a la carte dishes.

Ordering is simple - just tick which items you want on the paper menu and hand it back to one of the servers. Service is pretty prompt, though they did forget our egg tarts but all it needed was a gentle reminder.

For me personally, the best dish I had here was the shrimp roe and wantan noodles (RM13.80). My daughter and I shared this since we're both big fans of wantan noodles. Love the thin, springy noodles coated with the fragrant shrimp roe.

We also had the har gau (steamed shrimp dumpling- RM8.80), siew mai (pork and shrimp dumpling - RM8.80), and steamed pork ribs (RM7.30). Har gau and steamed pork ribs were good, but siew mai was below par as the skin and filling texture was too hard.

We also ordered the crispy salad prawn dumpling (RM9.30) - pretty hard to go wrong with this. Then two desserts requested by the kids - the cute steamed piggy buns with lotus seed paste (RM8.30) and steamed custard quicksand bun "Hong Kong" style (RM7.30). Other than being cute, the piggy buns were a little disappointing (hard again) but the steamed custard bun saved the day. Yummy molten filling! Freshly baked egg tart (RM6.80) was not too bad either.

Did you know Moo Cow does a Buy 1 Free 1 promotion every 15th of the month? Our favorite is still the Original (RM9.90 without topping).

3rd Dessert - caramel popcorn from Delectable by Su (RM8 per pack).

Cutie pies ;)

Opening times: 10am to 10pm daily.

Price: Total bill RM88.60

Location: Grand Harbour Restaurant, GE-017, Ground External Floor, Mid Valley Megamall, Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra, 59200 KL.

Tel: 03-2283 3398

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A couple of months ago, I made roasted pork ribs for dinner, and as a side dish, I also made a Japanese potato salad. Japanese potato salad is made with (yes, you guessed it) Japanese mayonnaise which is slightly sweeter and tangier than regular mayonnaise. Other ingredients in this potato salad include red onion, cucumber and quail egg.

The original recipe calls for regular chicken eggs, but we had a surplus of quail eggs that week since my mum bought them for making the gingko barley 糖水 tong sui dessert.

Everyone loved this potato salad - light, delicious and easy to make! It goes really well with roasted meat.

A big hit with the whole family.

Happy snapper :)

Japanese Potato Salad
Recipe by Baby Sumo, adapted from Japanese Bible
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves 5-6

Ingredients
500g large potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 Japanese cucumber
1 medium red onion, peeled
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup Japanese mayonnaise
6 quail egg, boiled, peeled and halved
Ground white pepper

1. Boil the potatoes in a saucepan filled with salted water over medium high heat. Cook for about 15-20 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Drain and place the potatoes in a large bowl. Lightly crush with a fork to break up a little.

2. Halve the onion and then slice very thinly. Place onion slices in a bowl and cover with water. Set aside for 10 minutes, this is to remove any bitterness. Drain onions and set aside.

3. Peel the cucumber alternately lengthwise, then cut in half. Cut into 5mm slices. Sprinkle with salt and leave for 2 minutes, then squeeze out any excess moisture.

4. Add the mayonnaise, onion and cucumber to the potatoes while they're still warm and gently mix to combine. Season with white pepper then top with the quail egg.

Note: I use Kewpie Japanese mayonnaise. You can also replace quail egg with 2 chicken eggs.

You can check out my other cold potato salad recipe with bacon and egg here.

* I am also submitting this post to "Cook-Your-Books #22" hosted by Joyce .

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Songkran, also known as Thai New Year is celebrated from 13-15 April every year. In conjunction with this celebration, I have put together a list of my Top 10 favorite Thai recipes. Enjoy!

Click on the dish names for the full recipe.

1. Seafood tom yum
My favorite Thai food of all is tom yum. I frequently have cravings for this spicy and sour Thai soup. I love it with lots of seafood, as well as mushrooms.

2. Pad Horapa Moo (Stir fried minced pork with Thai basil)
This is perfect for busy weeknights - it's my ideal healthy fast food! Don't forget to top it with a fried egg, all the yummier!

3. Galloping Horses (Ma Haw)
This is delicious and popular Thai appetizer - sweet and sticky caramelised minced pork is topped on segments of fresh pineapple or tangerine and garnished with a coriander leaf and thinly sliced red chilli. Great for parties too as canapes!

4. Thai sliced steak salad with hot and sour sauce
A gorgeous salad topped with slices of tender steak - what's not to love? Plus the dressing is tangy and very appetizing.

5. Pineapple fried rice (Khao pad sapparot)
A really tasty fried rice and I love how it is served in hollowed out pineapple halves. The fragrant rice is cooked with sweet, tangy chunks of pineapples, fresh juicy prawns and cashew nuts.

6. Tom yum pasta with king prawns
This one's a fusion dish created by yours truly - cos I love tom yum a lot and was thinking of ways of incorporating it with some of my favorite ingredients. Try it!

7. Tom Yum Fried Rice
Another tom yum dish, this time tom yum paste is added to fried rice resulting in a dish with a multitude of flavours - sweet, sour, spicy and salty.

8. Chicken with million year eggs
A Northern Thai specialty, this dish features creamy century eggs and fragrant Thai basil leaves stir fried with chicken.

9. Thai-style sweet and sour pork
Deep frying is a no-no in my kitchen, so the Thai-style sweet and sour pork is the way to go for me. It tastes much healthier too.

10. Mango sticky rice
My favorite Thai dessert which we often make whenever mangoes are in season.

So, tell me what is your favorite Thai dish :)

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We regularly take part in The Gardens Mall Instagram contests - in one of them, we won RM30 voucher from Eight Ounce Coffee. So we took the kids here for some desserts after lunch one weekend.

Eight Ounce Coffee is a specialty coffee company, located on the 1st Floor near the walkway connecting The Gardens Mall and Midvalley Megamall. They have limited tables, however turnaround seems to be pretty quick so we had no problems getting a table. They serve a range of coffee, tea and desserts here. Simply place your order at the counter and pay, and you will be given a number. Food and drinks will be served to you.

We ordered the espresso (RM8) for Hubby, and two mille crepes for the kids to share. Baby C (and Hubby) favored the oreo mint mille crepe (RM11.90) while Baby D (and mummy) preferred the cookies and cream mille crepe (RM11.90). In parenting, we call this a "WIN" situation :P Hubby enjoyed his espresso.

Both cakes were good, nice thin layers with lot of cream.

Other outlets can be found at Suria KLCC and Pavilion KL.

Opening times: 10am to 10pm.

Service: Good.

Price: Total bill RM31.80

Location: Eight Ounce Coffee, F-K06, 1st Floor, The Gardens Mall, Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra, 59200 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 03-2201 3190

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Today, I had the pleasure of attending a food review at Hanaya Japanese Dining located in Grand Millennium Hotel Kuala Lumpur. Turns out we were the first guests of the restaurant as this was a preview of their menu, and they were only opening their restaurant to paying customers from tomorrow onwards (16th April).

Hanaya is operated by the same folks as Ten Japanese Fine Dining so we knew lunch was going to be good. Their chefs come from Japan and we watched as they skillfully sliced the sashimi behind the sushi counter.

Hanaya serves traditional Japanese cuisine and during our review, we were treated to an extravagant 8-course omakase dinner. The omakase is priced at RM300 per person.

To start, we were served an appetizer of parboiled red snapper soft roe with ponzu sauce, seaweed and spicy grated radish. Soft roe, also known as milt or shirako (male genitalia of the fish that contains sperm) is a rare treat. I would describe it as creamy however it is an acquired taste. But I can finally say that I've tried this delicacy. :)

Next is the soup course - common Oriental clams and minced fish cake with grated green beans sauce and nanohana. Nanohana, better known as rapeseed is apparently one of the oldest vegetables cultivated in Asia. This spring vegetable adds a dash of colour and texture to the dish. Service is most impressive and commendable, as the waitresses are very attentive (quickly refilling our drinks and also providing us with a box/hook for our handbags) as well as being very knowledgable about the ingredients in every dish.

Every dish here is a visual delight, and the entree is a prime example. Featuring 5 different components, we all went "wow" as the plates were placed before us. I had a great time trying out all these new flavours such as the botargo (salted dried fish roe), bamboo shoots in balsamic vinegar and sticky tofu. We also had fried prawns served in 3 different ways - with nori, ohba leaves and arare (crispy Japanese cracker) - each with a different flavour and textures. My favorite is the red snapper with Mozuku seaweed.

And then came the showstopper.... the gorgeous assorted seasonal sashimi platter. Presentation is top notch, and ingredients are super fresh. We were advised to start with the milder flavours such as saba with vinaigrette, Chinese mactra (aoyagi), botan ebi with avocado and cucumber sauce, seared salmon with bonito cream cheesse and end with the chutoro with sweet spicy gochujang sauce. Loved this a lot!

Spot the dainty butterfly... so pretty!

I had to rush off to pick the kids up from school, but I was glad I got to try the next dish before I left. Charcoal grilled Akita Wagyu Steak is the name of the dish, and oh-my-God-it's-so-amazing! Cooked to a perfect medium rare, the steak was buttery, melt-in-the-mouth tender.... the marbling on the beef was just fantastic. Seriously good, and all it needed was sea salt to bring out its flavours.

The 8-course omakase will usually continue with a steamed dish, rice dish and dessert.

It was certainly a great lunch, thoroughly enjoyed the meal and company. Would love to return here with Hubby lunch next time ;)

Opening times: Lunch 11.30am - 2.30pm; Dinner 6.00pm til late.

Service: Excellent.

Price: RM300 for omakase.

Location: Hanaya Japanese Dining, Lobby Floor, Grand Millennium Kuala Lumpur, 160 Jalan Bukit Bintang, 55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Tel: 03-2110 5499

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How do you decide what to eat/cook for dinner? For us, it's simple - I'll just cook what my kids/family likes eating. My kids love tofu, so we have it for dinner often. One of our favorite tofu dishes (currently) is this tofu with minced chicken and mushrooms.

This is a quick and easy dish which you can prepare and cook in under 15 minutes. We love to top it on our white rice and mix it up before eating. The sauce is very tasty. Made it when we had dinner guests over the other day and they loved it too!

Tofu with minced chicken and mushrooms (Chinese)
Recipe by Baby Sumo
Preparation time: 5-10 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Serves 3-4

Ingredients
1 piece silken tofu, cubed
150g chicken breast, minced
4 Chinese or shitake mushrooms, rehydrated and diced
2 tbsp cooking oil
1-2 tbsp mushroom sauce (or oyster sauce)
1 tsp ginger wine
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 shallot, sliced
1 spring onion, finely chopped

1. In a wok, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the garlic and shallots and cook for 1 1/2 minutes, until lightly browned.

2. Add the chicken and mushrooms, and cook for about 4-5 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Season with the mushroom sauce and ginger wine, and taste.

3. Finally, stir in the tofu and cook for a further 2 minutes. Add the spring onions and give it a quick stir. Serve immediately.

Note: You can also replace the minced chicken with minced pork.

* I am submitting this to LTU: Chicken (April 2015) event hosted by The Domestic Goddess Wannabe.

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Yay! The weekend is here again, which means lots of fun things lined up to do with the kids. But first, let me share what we did last week - watercolour art! :)

Although it was their first time, they were both very patient, listened and followed instructions well and did a very good job. See their masterpieces and you will know what I mean.

For younger children, you can help them sketch the drawing and they'll be more than capable to do the watercolour painting on their own.

Have fun and enjoy the weekend!

BabySumoKids First WaterColour Art :)

What you need: Drawing block, palette, brushes of various sizes, watercolour paint, a cup filled with water (to clean the brushes), Kitchen paper (to dry your brushes), Pencil, eraser.

Suitable for kids 4 years and above.

1. First, discuss and decide with your kids what they would like to draw. We chose to draw our favorite zoo animals - I gave Baby D a hand with his, but Chloe drew everything on her own.

2. Start with the background (like clouds and grass).. help them mix the watercolour paint with some water in the palette. Help them choose the right brush for the job - in this instance, since there is quite a lot of sky to colour, we use the big brush to speed things up.

3. Once the background is done, we continue with the next largest object in the picture - the tree. For the smaller objects like the animals, you can just use the watercolour paint direct from the tubs - more intense colour means they will stand out more in the picture too.

4. After the sky has dried in, you can add some clouds with white paint.

5. Personalise the art by writing your child's name at the bottom of the artwork. Allow to dry and frame it up! :)

Use the right-sized brushes for the job

Kids earlier that morning at the park :)

Breakfast - soft boiled eggs :)

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Last week, we made a trip back to Seremban to run some errands and also met up with our close relatives. We invited them to join us for lunch at our favorite 大炒 (dai chow) - TC Keong Restaurant. A meal here is ALWAYS satisfying.

When dining here, do sit at the bottom half of the restaurant (away from the kitchen) as it is less warm in the afternoons.

Before we can even order, the lady who takes the order lists down everything that we want to eat - deep fried tilapia fish, stir fried beef, sweet and sour pork, stir fried beansprouts and kangkung belacan. She knows us too well! :)

Even with GST, the price of a meal here is still very affordable - portions are generous and can comfortably feed 6 people.

My aunt asks why we always order deep fried fish when we dine out - the reason is simple, because I don't do deep frying at home! :) The fish looked small but it turned out to be really meaty - so good! (RM28).

The sweet and sour pork (RM12) is another dish we never make at home so eat all we can here!

I'm going to have recreate this at home soon, another favorite of ours - stir fried beef with oyster sauce and ginger (RM12). So tender, so delicious!

Beansprouts with salted fish (RM7) - the only time I don't mind eating salted fish :P

My favorite - Japanese tofu with minced pork (RM8) - I ate almost the whole plate!

Kangkung belacan (RM7) - my mum's favorite!

Earlier that morning, a beautiful sunrise in KL before we headed to Seremban. We stopped at Asia Laksa for breakfast - slightly spicier than usual, but I actually liked it better like this! So yummy.

Homegrown organic jackfruit (nangka) from my aunt's garden

Bittergourd.. homegrown too

Water lily

Organic homegrown sugarcane ;)

See here for a list of Things to Eat in Seremban.

Opening times: Monday to Saturday, 12.00 to 2.30pm and 5.30pm to 10.30pm. Closed on Sundays.

Service: Good.

Price: Total bill RM88.51 inclusive 6% GST.

Location: TC Keong Restaurant, No. 7 Ground Floor, Jalan Seri Rahang 1, Taman Seri Rahang, 70100 Seremban (near Cosway)

Tel: 012-6118286 / 012-6189960

GPS Coordinates: 2.717239, 101.948973

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The other day, we were chatting with my in-laws on Skype and they were telling us about a nice Chinese takeout that they had the evening before. Which got me thinking of my favorite dish from the Chinese takeaway when I was still living in the UK. Presenting the Chinese Takeaway-style chicken with mushrooms.

If you live or have lived in the UK, you would probably have eaten this chicken with mushroom dish before. A popular dish which can be found at most (if not all) Chinese takeaways. This copycat dish is made using chicken breast meat, as well as white button mushrooms. Usually this dish doesn't contain any spring onions (scallions) but I added some for colour. To flavour, you can use either oyster sauce or mushroom sauce, however I prefer the latter. You can serve this with white rice or egg fried rice (that's what I have it with if I order it from a Chinese takeaway).

Chinese Takeaway-style chicken with mushrooms
Recipe by Baby Sumo
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10-12 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients
400g chicken breast, cut into small chunks
1 tsp ginger wine
1 tsp light soy sauce
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp cooking oil
1 pack (250g) white button mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 spring onions, cut into 1 " lengths
1-2 tbsp mushroom sauce

1. Marinate chicken with ginger wine and light soy sauce for 5 minutes.

2. In a wok, heat oil over medium high heat. Add garlic and fry for 1 1/2 minutes, until golden. Add the chicken, and stir fry for 4-5 minutes, until cooked through. Add the mushrooms as well as 1 tablespoon mushroom sauce, and saute for another 2 minutes until mushrooms are tender.

3. Taste, and add more mushroom sauce if necessary. Add the spring onions, and cook for another 30 seconds. Serve immediately with rice.

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We love leisurely Sundays, especially one which involves family time, great food and bubbly! Make your Sundays extra special at Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur's all-new Sunday Brunch featuring a delectable spread of classic breakfast treats, traditional Australian roasted prime rib, an array of imported ocean delights and mouthwatering desserts.

Made even better with Moet & Chandon champagne ;)

Last weekend, the kids and I were invited to Mosaic for a deliciously indulgent afternoon. "The idea of the Sunday Brunch is to deliver comfort food to our diners," explains Chef de Cuisine Andreas Block.

There is a wide choice of appetizers to choose from, including salads, cold cuts, Arabic mezzeh dips antipasti. Or if you're the kind of person who enjoys having a cooked breakfast on Sunday, visit the "Breakfast station" for classic breakfast egg dishes, complete with baked beans, sauteed mushrooms and cured beef - my idea of a comforting breakfast, for sure! There are also a variety of bagels (classic, whole wheat and Laugen), which come in cute mini sizes. I tried some mini bagels and they're absolutely lovely. The kids enjoyed the croissant, pain au chocolat and Danish pastries.

There is also a wonderful selection of seafood to choose from - seafood on ice such as imported lobster, flower crab, and freshly shucked Fin de Claire oysters, just to name a few. My favorite station yet again is the Japanese sushi and sashimi, thanks to their fresh salmon, tuna, red snapper and octopus.

Not to be missed is the glorious roasted Australian beef prime rib. The prime rib is first marinated in a spice mix, then cooked sous vide for 12 hours and then finished off on a lava stone grill for a lovely smokiness. The prime rib is served medium rare to medium, just the way I like it! There are also honey glazed root vegetables, duck-fat potatoes and Yorkshire puddings to go with your Sunday roast. While you're there, also try the salmon coulibiac, or selections from the BBQ - lamb chops (must-try!), mini beef steaks, Atlantic cod and king prawns.

Chef de Cuisine, Andreas Block with the sliced prime rib

Do leave tummy space to try out their Asian cuisine. Fans of Indian cuisine can enjoy the tandoori chicken, chicken biryani, lamb kofta and naan. From the Chinese station, the whole steamed sea bass is highly recommended and from the Malay stations, try the satay and traditional Malay prawn curry.

Noodle lover :)

End your meal on a sweet note with an assortment of decadent desserts at Lounge on the Park. Choose from 24K Guanaja chocolate macaron, velvet white chocolate and mango cheesecake, mille feuille and poached chocolate pudding with vanilla chantilly.

Love the cheese selection!

From 12 April to 30 June 2015, diners can participate in their "Eat Create Win" Instagram contest - create a MO fan emblem using food from the Sunday brunch buffet, and snap a photo of it alongside an identifiable prop bearing logo of either Mandarin Oriental KL or Mosaic restaurant. Submit on Instagram, tagging @MO_KualaLumpur and include hashtags #MOfoodies and #sundaybrunchatmosaic. A weekly winner will be chosen on Friday based on highest number of likes and will receive a 1-night stay in a Park Suite.

The Sunday Brunch is available from 12pm to 3pm and is priced at RM178 nett per person. It is also available with a selection of beverage packages at RM218 nett per person (buffet with free flow non-alcoholic beverages), RM268 nett per person (buffet with free flow house wine and beer), and RM538 nett per person (buffet with Moet & Chandon champagne, wine and beer). Kids aged 4 -11 years old eat at half price.

Reservations recommended, please call +60 (3) 2179 8881 or email mokul-mosaic@mohg.com.

Opening times: 12pm - 2.30pm (lunch) and 6.30pm - 10.30pm (dinner).

Location: Mosaic, Lobby Level, Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur City Centre, 50088 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 03-2179 8881

GPS Coordinates: 3.15568, 101.7120

Website: http://www.mandarinoriental.com/kualalumpur/dining/restaurants/mosaic/

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Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending a Master Cooking Class with celebrity chef Edward Kwon at InterContinental Hotel Kuala Lumpur. Chef Edward Kwon, one of South Korean's top celebrity chefs, is in KL as part of the luxury hotel's World Celebrity Chef Series in 2015.

Chef Edward has held numerous senior culinary positions in South Korea, United States, China and United Arab Emirates, as the Head Chef at Dubai's iconic Burj Al-Arab. He currently owns two restaurants in Seoul, Lab XXIV in Cheongdam-dong and The Mixed One, a buffet dining outlet in Hannam-dong.

Chef Edward is renowned for accentuating traditional Korean dishes with a variety of Western and European techniques and ingredients. On a mission to globalise Korean cuisine, he will thrill gourmet lovers with his country’s fare over a four-day promotion at InterContinental KL from 21 to 24 April 2015.

There will be nightly dinners (tonight 23rd will be the last one,priced at RM298 nett) as well as a Celebrity Gala Dinner tomorrow evening (24th, priced at RM490 nett including a selection of Penfold wines). Was super fortunate to be able to attend his cooking class yesterday, as I picked up some tips on Korean cooking and also meet the charismatic chef.

So, during the cooking class, we learnt how to make 3 dishes - the first one being the soft bean curd with soy and black sesame dressing. This is a simple cold dish, which did not involve any cooking - a black sesame dressing was made by blitzing some smooth tofu with black sesame, sesame oil, soy milk, white vinegar. The soy dressing is even easier - just mix grapeseed oil, soy sauce, toasted sesame seeds, salt, sesame oil and several pinches of gochugaru, then top on a cube of tofu. Garnish with some seaweed and greens and it's ready. Light and refreshing!

The one that we made

After the demonstration of each dish, we were served the same dish from the kitchen. A better looking version, garnished with a lotus root chip.

There was never a dull moment in the class, as Chef Edward was entertaining, for example regaling us with tales of barley and its effects. The next dish we made was rice veloute, better known as tarakjuk, considered as royal cuisine. Apparently, one of the kings from the Joseon dynasty had poor digestion, hence this was created for him. And that particular king had a long(est), healthy life amongst all the rulers then.

This Korean porridge is slightly sweet, a bit like rice pudding with a fine and smooth texture. It is made using sticky rice, water, milk, sugar and salt, cooked about 15 minutes, then blended until smooth and served warm.

The last dish that we learnt was how to make bulgogi beef. Look at the marbling on our piece of Wagyu steak. To make the marinade, for every 1 piece of 150g steak, finely chop 1 clove of garlic, 1 slice of onion and 1 spring onion. Add 1 tablespoon of grated pear or apple, approximately 1/4 cup of light soy sauce and 1/4 cup of water, 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1 teaspoon of sesame seed. Mix well and marinate the beef for up to 6 hours. Heat the pan on high heat, then cook the beef for about 15-20 seconds.

The marinade for our beef bulgogi

Chef Edward helping us slice our beef... cos we were too slow haha!

The bulgogi steak served to us, a much refined version.Very delicious!

And of course, must not miss the chance to snap a photo with the chef :)

This tasted superb, loved how tender and flavorful the beef was.

Group photo with chef Edward Kwon ;)

At the end of the cooking class, we were each presented with a certificate as well as a photo with the chef as memento ;)

As mentioned earlier, you can still catch chef Edward Kwon in action today and tomorrow at the Gala Dinner. For more information and reservations, please call +603-2782 6000 or email foodandbeverage@intercontinental-kl.com.my.

Pork-free.

Price: RM220 nett per person, inclusive of lunch.

Location: InterContinental Hotel Kuala Lumpur, 165 Jalan Ampang, 50450 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 03-2782 6000

Website: http://www.intercontinental-kl.com.my/

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Recipe: Tofu with minced chicken and Chinese mushrooms

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Recipe: Chinese Takeaway Chicken with Mushrooms

Sunday Brunch @ Mosaic, Mandarin Oriental KL

Cooking Class with Celebrity Chef Edward Kwon @ InterContinental Kuala Lumpur