Davids Diners: pass its prime...

once upon a time, an uncle told me: " u recalled the nice chasiupau u eaten when u were young, n u realized that the taste is different now? the truth is the chasiupao didnt change, u did?" probably that was my thought that cross my mind. i hope that it was me that changed not the food.

Davids diners which situated in Greentown, behind Hospital Ipoh, is a famous hangout place for decent western food. it boast to serve ori American food, n it used to kept up to its promise. i used to really like the food here, especially the burger. a whole set that costs less than RM10, plus 2 side dishes from a whole page to choose from. the burger used to be so nice, the home made patty was juicy. even the bread once toasted was better than any average burger. the side dishes was the killer, with roast potato, garlic mash potato on top of the list. simply delicious, and one of the best potato side dishes ever.

then came the recent dinner here last week. brought along wife and mother in law for a nice american treat. the place is still the same, the same cosy feel to it. service is still nice. then came the food.....

all of us ordered burger dishes and it was expected to be good, or decent at least. alas, the burger was so bland, even the worse of Ramly burger could not beat that. even the burger i cook myself at home using Tesco brand patty was better than this. the american classic burger and mushroom mozeralla was totally bland as in tasteless. the cheese was there, so basically it was just a cheese burger. the patty has lost its consistency and sort of give way on the first bite. then i tot maybe the David forgot to put salt into the patty. then came the grilled chicken burger. hmmm... at least this would be better.... the same story repeated itself, it was just bland.

overall, all of us was so disappointed at the outing, i kept telling myself that it could be just this day the chef forgotten bout salt..... or maybe the public had actually bought all the salt in the market for Fukushima Daichii nuclear outbreak prevention that there was no salt left for David's.

ratings: 2half poink! (for old time sake. wife was so upset at the 3 burgers that she just want to give one poink only)

comments: i may be wrong, or maybe it was just one off event. or maybe the chef got hypertension and punish the rest of us to have the same diet. would i return, i would, for old time sake, but it will b a long time before i return...

Vegas Kitchen: decent American meals

I never imagine that one day Kampar would boast of such variety of food. once, it is just chinese, indian and malay food, but in the recent years, saw the uprising of fast food and different varieties coming in. the japs, even recently a korean restaurant. of course, the pseudo-western food was there all along. however, rarely u will get one that mimic the ori better than the rest.

Vegas kitchen, as the name suggest, served pseudo-american dishes. the best in the area that came to mind was Davids diner in Ipoh. then again, david have an advantage since its boss is an american. so u cant compare both.

first, the location, it is just beside kampar's Grand kampar hotel in Bandar Baru. cant miss it. situated in a corner, it appeared to be full of students everyday, especially it is next to NoNo cafe which is relatively empty. then again, at times, there are spillover effect, making both appeared to be busy. the deco is rather contemporary, mimicking some of the western restaurant out there, with a bit of poster and stuff. no big deal there. the waiter and waitress are frantically running around all the time since usually there are so many patrons.

the menu is rather long, 2 pages full of burgers, another one half of chicken chops/ steak. however, one 3 selections of spaghetti, then again, noodles came from Europe. the first time wife and me came here, we were disappointed with the burger which was rather tasteless. tat was very long time ago. so for the sunday night dinner, we decided to try something different. wife ordered a cheezy chicken (Rm12.30). surprisingly, it was really nice. deep fried in the outside, with cheese in the inside. once u cut it open, the cheese just melted out. taste like Cordon Blue, minus the ham. and it cost a fraction less. i ordered the "ball of fire" spaghetti (RM 8.90). in the menu it is warned that this dish is spicy, but when it came, it is one of the oddest dish ever. taste like dry curry mee, served with giant fishball. IF the noodle was used instead, the dish would be better, but spaghetti? plus fish ball? that DID NOT word at all. the saving grace was the potato salad (RM3.50). just the perfect blend of herbs, potato and mayo. simply tasty.

the real funny thing is the menu was written. it is one of the worst menu language ever. someone did not even bother to check what was written. fancy to eat "chicken tight" which was just drumstick? and all of the dish was chef recommendations, that equal to no recommendations at all. do come visit and have a look.

ratings: 3.5 poink!

comments: despite the funny thing i noticed in the menu, the food was rather good. crowds dun lie so the big crowd is definitely not wrong. will try their burger next. just dun order the "ball of fire"

Pappa rich: definitely your rich dad

Robert kiyosaki once wrote a book Rich dad, poor dad. well, whoever is the son of this franchise would be smiling, since this is definitely one of the better kopitiam around. the kopitiam genre was mushrooming everywhere, starting with Old Town. though i started with Old Town, the food had deteriorated to a certain level, making it is not on top of the genre anymore.

once far away from Ipoh, now, Ipoh resident can visit Pappa Rich in De Garden Ipoh. yup, anyone can find the pop

ular franchise all below one roof, though literally speaking the many roofs of De gardens. for anyone who is STILL NOT familiar with De gardens, just look for Jusco, and walk across the street.

typically a kopitiam, one cant help but to compare to Old Town. by numbers, Old Town is everywhere. while Pappa is just found in Gardens. menu-wise, it is not as extensive as Old town choice, but for any kopitiam, the essentials are there. the usual bread, sandwiches, nasi lemak, oriental fav laksa, mee.... u just name it. though there is still not chasiu or wantan mee by far, it is as impressive. there are more variety of drinks and combination of drinks available, etc, cincau plus cendol plus soya. add some gula melaka and u got urself a nice combo. my cousin swear that the Uptown branch of Pappa rich had the best coffee available. to me, they all taste the same. then again, i am one of those who cant tell from Latte to normal coffee.

dishes.. now, the nasi lemak i ordered was not the best, compared to those which were sold authentically by makcik besides the road. BUT, compared to Old Town, this is definitely better. the rest of the gang who came on the lunch ordered laksa and curry mee, and they did not disappoint. i used to enjoy their steam bread but did not try it here. steam bread sort of bring back memory of the old Hailam kopitiam with their own home made bread....... yeah, i am that old and ancient.

price is as expected, comparable to Old Town. the joint is clean, as clean as the rest of the Gardens. service is tip top. better than some of the kopitiam joint. overall, u can see that i always compare to Old Town, unavoidable. and yeah, Pappa rich did win in certain points. definitely one of the top kopitiam joint in town.

ratings: 3.5 poink! (for kopitiam)

comments: Old Town had advantage in that they are everywhere, but if both are the same distance, i would go to Pappa Rich. buck up, Old Town!

link: http://www.papparich.com.my/

127 hours: now this is reality show!

thus began the oscar journey: will try to watch as many oscar nominated film as i can....

was having my doubts as to how would i sit tru 127 hours.

from the story if u still dont know bout it is about this mountaineer, Aron Ralston,decided to take the weekend off to go into Blue John canyon to be one with the nature. in the end, due to some mishap, he was caught when a boulder fell and trapped his forearm. no surprise there, the whole show was about how he survived the ordeal, all the 127 hours, which is 5 days plus 7 hours. and in the end, no spoiler there, he cut off his own forearm with a dull knife to free himself. why no spoiler? cause it is a real story of a real person. so u have it there. the whole story. actually not much of story though.

hmmm.... do i like it? yeah. why? i can expect lots lots of people would said otherwise. although there is no story, no character development watsoever, this, is the true reality show. this showed the determination of one person to overcome the impossible. it was rather inspiring at the end. (although the amputation scene scared my wife...). thestar commented that the hallucination scenes dragged the show, but i felt it gave a different edge to the film, so at least it stands out above some of the other survival film. the cinematography was really awesome, although the nature could be cruel, but the scenes depicting the canyon was so nice that probably i wanted to visit the place where he left the remnants of his hand. the acting was top notched, heck, it is not easy to watch one single person for 2 hours, but he made it bearable. the editing was what made this movie. u see, the whole show could be really really dry and boring. but different scenes, different shots, angle plus certain old school scene changes made it looked "hip". specially love the rock music and the fast pace scenes in the amputation scene.

yeap, the whole movie is just about James Franco, much like "castaway" with Tom Hanks and "wilson" (the ball), so at least this show have real conversation, even though much of it is either with the cam, or in his mind. in that sense, this show was really better compared to castaway. i cant recall much of that show at all.

lesson to learn from this show:

1. never buy china made knife. buy swiss army knife. better still, take a parang out with u. in case ur hand got stuck in any place, it will just take one swing. 2 at the most.

2. tell people where u going. sms at least

3. get a phone with a line. no use for good deals and packages if u cant use it.

4. carry a phone that can record. in case of emergencies, record a visual will.

5. dun go out alone. better still, dun go out, better to sit in the living room and watch other ppl cut off their arm.

ratings: 4 poink!

comments: the amputation scene was suppose to be climax, too short for my liking. not gruesome at all, then again, u are talking to someone who sat tru Hostel.

the final scene, which showed the real Aron Dalston, was really touching.

Rango: its all about Depp...

very rarely i n wife would wan to go watch an animated film in the cinema. blame it on internet, blame it on the mediocre cartoons, blame it on tonnes of Disney style saccharine overload story. then again, who can say no to johhny depp? n my itchy fingers while online landed me the ticket 2 hours before the show start, so be it....

the opening of the film reminded me of another film of Depp. imagnarium of dr parnasus, which until today, i cant understand the show at all. weird, odd and quirky. the story open with an unnamed pet chameleon, stuck in a aquarium. fate decided that this lizard to end up in the dessert, thus the story started. expected, it end up in a dessert town. one fated incident after another, in addition to his brag, he ended up being the sheriff of the town. the town is facing the danger of losing water, as the reserve is running low. behind the disappearance of water, lies a bigger conspiracy. however, anyone could see who the real villian is in the beginning of the show. throw in some moral teaching of searching yourself of who you are, and be true to yourself.

so why this show deserve a high ratings in rotten tomatoes.com and a 4* in the star? johhny depp. he really carried the show. hi squirkiness from pirate was brought to the screen. it is like watching jack sparrow in lizard form. the animated was top notch. watch out for the flying combat scene, it really define the genre. the show didnot depends on the top notch animation though. the cinematography, the serenity in certain scene really was an art by itself. genius! in fact, towards the end, certain scenes were like it was pull out from pirates of carribean chapter 3. ultimately, the whole show worked like a western cowboy movie. i guess there were a lot of reference to the genre, but i wasnt a fan so not sure how spot on was it.

the jokes, however, was rather rare, not exactly very funny. and even some of the joke are rather not suitable for kids cause it is rather cerebral. doctors jokes anyone? and the 4 owls who are singing all the time, was rather annoying.

drawback? this is a very long long animation. near to 2hours. very draggy at certain area, may lead to sleep to some. story was predictable. the saving grace and the thing that propel the show above the rest? johhny depp.

ratings: 3half poink!

comments: then again, i like depp. since 21 jump street to edward scissorshand.

Tian Tian Lai: rare rojak gem... in Gunung Rapat

very rarely, i would blog about stall food. minus the odd stalls i found along the road which i love to write about cause i love eating from stalls. however, most of them were rather unworthy to be mentioned. so probably i would blog bout those good ones, or the worst ones as to warn people not to waste their stomach space.

back to Emas food centre behind Gunung Rapat MacD. the joint started as a big food centre, worthy as opponent to the likes of Wooly, however, at one point, the stall numbers just started decreasing, up to a point of pathetic. being a regular upstairs from the food centre, recently again saw the rise of the number of stalls again.

wife n me on a accidental outing bump into one of these stalls. stall no 22, or tian tian lai literally translated as Come Come Everyday. basically the stall only sell 2 things: rojak buah and sotong kangkung. had not try the sotong yet byt going to soon.

the rojak buah was one of the best one ive ever tasted. consistent taste as we came at least twice. cant say much bout the fruits as i would definitely expect it not to be so fresh. but fresh enuf for the rojak. as most rojak depends on, would be the sauce. the taste? simply good. the rite degree of hotness, which is hot by the way, the aroma and the belacan taste blended nicely, added with the roast ground nuts, the combo was perfect. it is not cheap, RM 3.50 for a small ones, but definitely worth the price.

gonna come back again for the kangkung.

ratings: 4 poink! (yeah, we love it that much!)

comments: i still wish there were more belacan taste, then again, that was me.

* Aug 2013: the stall had since not serve rojak anymore which is a loss, but still continue its wantan mee

Beacon Point: whats more to say?

yup, what is more to say bout Beacon Point? most people would know where it is, although it is situated rather unconveniently and hidden in a corner. if anyone really dunno where it is, well, from Jusco to Tambun, after the overhead bridge, turn right after the row of shop, it is just in one of the corner behind the row of shops. as i said, hidden in one corner.

the restaurant is small and rather cosy, definitely not made for lots of people. and that is the beauty of it. u dun feel the rush of any chinese restaurant. it rather felt more like a family joint cum bakery. service is swift. friendly. approachable.

the menu? the usual western and their own brand of oriental. anyway, anyone familiar with beacon point would not question their western dishes. everyday would have a different dishes as their special. the set, on a usual day, is up to par. cant comment much on that.

the more that we wan to review today was their oriental dish. i was bit skeptical as most of the western or pseudo fusion or even kopitiam do not make decent oriental dishes. even on their menu, the oriental dishes were limited. but after coaxing from the rest of the gang, i'd follow the rest in the moment of peer pressure to try their laksa lemak. i did not made any research as to laksa lemak. of course, everyone know bout the usual penang style asam laksa, and the southern laksa which basically meant curry mee. i personally prefer the northern laksa as though found in kelantan which boast white soup base. from the look of it, it resemble more of asam laksa. the taste is nice, with chunks of fish. the sour taste was nice, as nice as those found in a decent asam laksa. the difference? the lemak part which basically i suspect is coconut milk. it gave the laksa rather different flavour. bit on the filling side, but i still manage to finish the whole bowl. including the soup.

then, there was nasi ulam as well, which lack the usual "wok-hei" of the usual fried rice, lack the belacan taste i expect to find, but boast a rather subtle malay flavour. then again, i had not tried this dish elsewhere so it is difficult to make any comparison. both dishes cost less than RM8 each so it was rather good on the pocket as well.

trip to beacon point would not be complete without the cake. each slice cost bout RM 7. the cheese cake looked promising, although i was usually pampered by secret recipe, no harm in trying. surprise again, the taste was as good, perphaps better in some, and the consistency felt more substance, not so "fluffy". verdict? i like it. good cheese taste, the irish coffee cheese cake was without alcohol taste though. my lemon poppygrass was a normal fare. though these are good, i still miss the durian cheese cake from secret recipe.

it is known that beacon point is good for its western dishes, its oriental dishes also had its own flavour. definitely worth a visit.

ratings: depend on dishes, probably a 3 half poink to 4poink!

comments: come try it. u will find something that u like.

link: http://www.beaconpoint.com.my/