Free lunch at Amarin

Free?  Well, yes, it was RM0!  What a steal! What a steal!

The catch – I just recently signed up for a Citibank card at Mid Valley and upon collection of the card, was offered a choice of a duffel bag or a meal for 2 at Amarin.  I naturally opted for the latter.

I love the food at Amarin but I must say that the ambience has changed since it halved its restaurant.  It’s much gloomier and pricier too! 

However, truth to be told, the food still remains excellent.  Tasty with very little or no-MSG added.  Tastefully presented and just the right amount of spices to each dish.

For starters, we had spring rolls , which was served with Thai chili sauce.

The mains consisted of 2 portions of pineapple fried rice.  Absolutely yum!  The pineapples were diced quite fine which provided just the right amount to sweetness to the dish.  A sprinkling of lime gave the meal its zest!

Next came the green curry.  Small and mighty, this deceptive dish was highly potent!  Served with cubed eggplant, chicken fillet, peas and long beans, it went very well with the fried rice.

Dessert was Tap Tim Krop.  Way too sweet to our liking but nonetheless, a pleasant end to the meal.

We were also served Chinese Tea.

For pics, view: http://www.iantan.net/2011/08/amarin-heavenly-thai-mid-valley.html

Delifrance deals

For RM5, we got a meal + drink at Delifrance worth over seventeen ringgit!!  We bought all four options and this is how they turned out:

 

Creamy & light seafood sandwich

Pasta creamy red tomate (this unassuming dish has a kick – it’s really quite spicy but goes well with the garlic bread)

 

Beef bolognaise  (a very ordinary dish for the young and young at heart)

 

Chicken bolognaise (a white meat aka slightly healthier version of the former :)

All meals came with Sjora drink  (pic above) which was is probably just mango cordial with ice.

 

Overall, the ‘cheap’ meal at Delifrance is reasonably priced (for Delifrance food that is).   Very ordinary  fare.  Read the fine print as the deal excludes service and government tax. So, at the end of the meal, top it up with an extra RM0.80 per meal.  The restaurant staff informed me that they had to run after customers to collect the taxes which were not already included in the original pricing.  Perhaps Delifrance should consider a one-off payment upfront upon purchase with the meal to avoid hassles with tax collection.

Simple Jojo Little Kitchen (Pan mee)

The decor of Jojo’s little kitchen reminded us of a ‘tai chow’ (big stir fry).  Hence, without this voucher, we’d never have ventured in for pan mee!

For the RM9 deal via JackCow, one gets 2 bowls of noodles plus 1 side dish.  The deal was available at their outlets in Kuchai Lama, Mahkota Cheras, Sri Hartamas and Sri Petaling.  We bought 2 vouchers and chose:

Lat jiu pan mee  - thick noodle version

Here was our lat jiu pan mee – thin noodle version.

 

Fried pork pan mee (crispy pork with very sweet dark soy sauce at the base of this noodle – tasty and filling)

Dry wantan pan mee (wantan was sumptious enough)

 

Choice of chili plus ikan bilis

SIDE DISHES:

Wantan soup

Pork ball soup

The food at this outlet was fairly ordinary pan mee.  The serving was small but like most pan mee, don’t let looks fool you to how much you can take.  A single serving swells in the belly hence, giving the feeling of fullness despite the lack of quantity.

Business was brisk for a mid-Saturday morning.  Waiters were busy but efficient. The only snag was the billing and the lack of know-how for foreign staff who manned the outlet but were not briefed on coupon use.

RM4.90 for wanton noodles/Hakka stewed rib rice @ Jaya Noodle House, Jaya One

Here’s another great deal.  The food at this 30-year-old restaurant has been consistently good.  The deal provides a choice of Dumpling Noodles (Prawn & Pork) or Wantan Chasiew Noodles or Hakka Stewed Rib Rice + RM2 Cash Voucher for Next Visit @ Jaya Noodle House, Jaya One PJ.  Happy feasting!

 

Be quick! Grab the deal from:

http://www.webuy.com.my/V1/register.php?memberid=14239

Henry Cook Set Meal for 2 @ RM22 at SS2 Mall

Fusion food with a twist by a Singaporean chef.   The appetizer (which arrived much later than the main course) was simple enough.

2 Deep Fried Chicken Wings

To compensate the lateness of the appetizer, they provided us an extra bowl of soup complimentary.  No complaints there especially since the soup was light and creamy with a sprinkling of croutons.

Mushroom Soup

For the mains, we opted for the Stuffed Chicken Roll with Yellow Fragrant Rice or Baked Herb Potatoes (supposedly an Award Winning Dish at Food Asia).  The description read  Tender Stuffed Whole Chicken Thigh Marinated With Our Secret Recipe And Oven Cooked To Perfection. Topped With Henry Cook's Signature Dressing & Brown Sauce, Served With Crisp Lettuce And Mixed Salad. Taste It With Our Extra Spicy POWER Chilli To Heat Things Up!

Frankly, I couldn’t quite comprehend the mix of flavours that was served!   There was brown sauce on the chicken, drizzled with bottled chili sauce and splashed with super spicy chili on the side.  A real mumbo jumbo which didn’t leave much room to savour the chicken itself! The salad was blob of mix greens and cucumber.  An interesting concoction to put it mildly but way too many things on a platter to live up to its hype.

We couldn’t even locate the stuffing!

Stuffed chicken roll

Beef Bomb with Baked Herb Potatoes

The second mains ordered was indeed “ flavorful Minced 10 Oz Beef Ball Stuffed With Hard Boiled Egg And Covered With Black Pepper Sauce. Served With Crisp Lettuce and Mixed Salad”.  The meat was tender and tasty.  However, the hard boiled egg was a little overcooked for my liking.

We took the opportunity to try out a couple of other items on the restaurant’s limited menu:

Curry laksa

(ala Singaporean style which is topped with satay sauce)

 

Sausage and potatoes from the kids menu.

 

Spaghetti and fries for the kids.

Ice-cream which came as part of the kids meal.

Some unusual decor at the entrance of the restaurant.

 

Overall, the dining experience at Henry Cook was very pleasant.  The head waiter was friendly, efficient and knew his menu.  The food was tasty although a little overly mixed up.  With the discount voucher, the meal was well worth it. 

 

Simple fare @ 3JC

For RM9.90, the set included noodles + 1 side dish + chinese tea + RM50 voucher for next visit.  We got most of it except that instead of a RM50 voucher, we were given a membership card and several vouchers for future visits.  The meal consisted of:

  
3JC dry noodle (tasty with just the right amount of noodle and meat not to make the meal too heavy).

The noodles were served with fishball (on the top right), side dish (Brinjal) and chinese tea.

The meal deal was definitely worth it’s weight in Ringgit.  3JC is well-suited for quick-fuss-free meals.  The restaurant was a little dated and in need of a clean-up but otherwise, no real complaints about the food and service.

We also sampled the following:

Seafood curry noodle (absolute yum!!! There was fish, prawns, fishcake, crabstick etc in this surprisingly unassuming dish)

Curry noodle (paled in comparison to its seafood counterpart but nonetheless a worthy dish)

Canvas Pro RM20 voucher

This deal provides a mark-down of 86%, that is by paying RM20 for RM120 Cash Voucher with Free Lifetime VIP Membership (worth RM68) + Chance to win TWO Canvas. 

A check with the merchant noted that the RM120 is off normal priced items.  A 12” X 12'” is RM158 and therefore a minimum top-up of RM38 is required in addition to the RM10 for delivery within Peninsular Malaysia and RM20 for East Malaysia.

The Lifetime VIP membership entitles the member to discounts up to 51% on subsequent purchases.

Grab this offer from:

http://www.jackcow.com/team.php?id=137&r=7795

Above average fare @ Lemongrass Cafe, Bkt Jalil

An Everyday deal offered a 3-course meal plus drink for RM19.90 per person.   Service and staff were average but the restaurant manager was very helpful and keen to please.  The meal consisted of:

Starter: Fried Veggie Fish Cake  (tasty and non-spicy, it was served with Thai sweet chili sauce)

Mains: Barbeque Quarter Chicken with BBQ Sauce (the BBQ sauce was very tasty but the chicken was mildly flavoured and bony)

 

 

Dessert: Double Scoop Ice Cream (no biggie here – just the run of the mill chocolate and strawberry ice-cream)

Drink: Lemongrass Signature (ahhhh…a most welcomed refreshment on a warm day.  The blend in this signature mix hit the right spot!  Not too mild and not too strong – a must try).

 

Verdict:  At RM19.90, the deal was slightly cheaper than individual items on the menu.  However, there were ongoing meal sets which were similar to this Everyday promotion and which did not require reservations nor prepayment.  The outlet is worth a visit if one is willing to fork out RM20-30 for a basic meal with a thirst quencher. 

 

While at the Lemongrass, we also sampled:

Chicken chop rice with sambal (tasty but ordinary).

Nissin noodle with egg. vegetable, seaweed and sausage (this was interesting.  The soup was tastier than our regular homemade version. I’m guessing it’s due to the amount of MSG added)

 

Tuna sandwich (a simple fuss-free snack)

Taste from Home! 6 pcs Shanghai mooncake @RM31.40

Just when I thought it couldn’t possibly get cheaper, here comes a terrific offer!  6 pieces of Shanghai mooncake (2x red bean; 2x lotus; 1x pandan lotus; 1x black sesame) for only RM31.40!! Plus, there are so many outlets to collect them from all over Klang Valley.  Best of all, they are low sugar and suitable for vegetarians.  Be quick though, deal is valid only till mid-Sept. 

Grab them from: http://www.everyday.com.my/coupons/kl/leetc.ec?1086

Bland & pricey Ireland’s Potato

I couldn’t resist this offer of Irish potatoes by Mydeal.  The deal provided 50% OFF Plain Fries + a choice of Mash Potato OR Onion Ring + 1 Drink  for RM6.90 nett instead of RM13.80.

Additional toppings were RM3 each.  Despite being there at noon on a weekday, there was no one at the store.  However, the staff were super laid back and didn’t offer to promote the toppings available (I wasn’t even asked if I wanted it).  In fact, the treatment I got was similar to that of getting a ‘free’ serving when in fact, I had already paid my dues in advance!  Okay, so service sucks but I eagerly awaited my freshly fried fries and onion rings.

Served on its own, the fries were very bland and nothing special.  The onion rings, on the other hand, were light, sweet and tasted well even when reheated! Drinks offered by this promo was only carbonated ones ie. coke, 100+ and orange fizz.

What really bugged me was the English and lack of editing done to the backdrop of the whole cafe.  It is apparent that a not much effort had been put into the finer details of this outlet.  I’m giving it the thumbs down and am guessing that with its current menu offering and lack of staff training, they will not last longer than a year.

 

Meal for 2 @ Sin Hup Lee, Puchong

Deal includes:

* Signature chicken

* Stir-fried brinjal with long beans and dried shrimp

* Homemade tofu

* Service charge

* 2 rice portions

Get them from:

http://www.groupon.my/deals/klang-valley-selangor/sin-hup-kee/715849749/.35lScJ

4 Tong Wah mooncakes @ RM39

I really can’t believe the prices of mooncakes this year.  It’s an average of RM16 per piece.  Hence, when I chanced upon this offer by Everyday, thought I’d share it so that we can all save some RM!

Tong Wah is offering 4 mooncakes for RM39.  Coupon can be purchased at:

http://www.everyday.com.my/coupons/kl/leetc.ec?1056

Claypot meal for 2 pax at Vegipai for RM11!

This vegetarian restaurant offers fusion food with a twist.  Some Asian dishes like the claypot meals we ordered were given the extra ‘oomph’ with chili padi while the western menu even offered pizzas and burgers.  Naturally, like most vegetarian restaurant, we tend to forget the meat is actually soy-based.  Hence, providing a fuller feel at the end of the meal.

We got to choose from 3 different claypot meals: Assorted vegetables curry in claypot, Golden dry curry eggplant & abalone mushroom or Petola stew with homemade "dou fu" in claypot.  This deal included 2 bowls of rice.

We ordered 2 sets, namely the vegetable curry and dry curry eggplant which came with 4 bowls of rice.

Vegetable curry ( a little bland for my liking)

 

Dry curry brinjal (this dish came sizzling onto our table).  Deliciously warm with a kick of chili and spices. An absolute must try.

Besides the meals offered by the voucher, we took the opportunity to try a few other dishes.

We ordered the meehoon curry (pictured above) which was tangy (taste comparable to a mild asam laksa).

 

The sweet and sour mushroom rice (the vegetarian version of ‘koh loh yok’) was light, crispy and mild.  Suitable for those who opt for non-spicy food.

 

Tong Sui (white fungus with longan) – warm dessert which was not too sweet

Mango smoothie – something sweet for the young at heart

We’d give Vegipai the thumbs up and it is definitely worth a repeat visit.   Particularly since we got a RM10 voucher for the next visit :P

RM4.90 noodles set @ Tou Tou by Everyday

  Main entrance

 

 

For RM4.90, this deal included a meal set with a choice of a noodle (thick/thin hand-made noodle, mee hoon, keow teow or claypot in broth/soup/curry or dry) and a drink (green or herbal tea).  

 

Tou Tou’s menu

The noodles (list price RM7.90) was a choice of shrimp or squid balls.  We opted for the shrimp balls were well made – fresh, tasty and not at all spongy.

Having bought 3 coupons, our meal looked like this:

Curry noodles with prawn balls

Dry thick noodles (this was their specialty Hakka noodle) which came with prawn balls (pic below)

 

Prawn ball meehoon soup

 

To add a little spice to our meal, we tried their highly potent chilli concoctions in red and green varients.

 

To cool us down, our drinks were chinese tea and herbal tea.

We also took the opportunity to try other full priced meals including the thick and thin variants of chicken chop noodles, sui kow soup and fried dumplings with Thai (tasted bottled) chili sauce.

Thin noodle with chicken chop

Thick noodle with chicken chop

Sui kow soup

Fried dumplings with Thai sauce

 

Overall, the dining experience at Tou Tou was pleasant.  Service was quick.  The meal was delicious and well worth the RM4.90 per person. At regular prices, the meals remain reasonable for a family outing, particularly since we were given a 10% discount card for future visits!

The only disappointment was their specialty Hakka noodles (thick/thin) were not spongy/chewy enough.  They tasted very much like regular ‘pan mee’ with minced meat.

Worth specific mention is the chicken chop which were sliced so thin that it felt as though we were eating chips!  They were crispy, light and not dry.  The chicken chop went very well with both chili sauces and even with tomato ketchup.

 

Kitchen area @ Tou Tou