Capucino cafe: good price, still far from perfection

It is usual that whenever we went out for dinner as a family, I tried to go somewhere new. Probably because I believe in being adventurous, at least in the food department. It is also because of that, whenever we go out for dinner, the headache occur. Luckily motormouth's blog was a good way to start to hunt for food, although I may not be total agreement over his palate.

Came across this joint in town, very near to our house, so since we are in the mood of something with a western taste, we decided to pay this restaurant a visit. Capucino cafe is situated in Jln Chung Thye Phin, across Ave Maria school. From Gunung Rapat, once past the town's roundabout, take the 10 o'clock exit, and take the first turning on the left. You will pass though Elim Gospel Hall first. Look out for the billboard where a couple in dark brown having tea. The name on the board may be missed though due to its peculiar font.

Deco is rather homely, spacious with earth colour as its theme. Service is expectedly fair. Seemed to be run by the family. The menu is rather typical of the fusion western oriental fare. The usual chicken chop, steak, fried rice, pasta.... u get the idea. However, what prompted me to come in the first place, was the resume of the chef. Printed over the back of the menu, the chef was working as an executive chef abroad, mostly in Singapore. "This cant be bad.." I thought.

Then came the food. Mother-in-law ordered an usual fried rice (RM5). Surprisingly, it is rather nice. The usual stall type of fried rice with adequate "wok-hei". Nicely done, though not much of meat in the dish. Wife ordered cheese baked spaghetti cooked with chicken meat (set:RM 8.90). It was also nicely done, with tinge of herbs on top. It felt rather stall typed though, the taste leaning towards Oriental style. I still preferred the one served by Airport. It was generous with cheese so I love the dish. I ordered Mongolian chicken chop (set: RM 11.90). The chicken was marinated well, and juicy. The sauce was the one that set it apart from others. Rather creamy with a bit of herbs and spice. Not hot though. I simply love the taste. We also ordered mash potato (RM 3.90 for 3 scoops). It was normal machine churned out mash potato, but the gravy was nice, taste like KFC minus the black pepper taste.

Ah, the taste was simply above average given the price was rather reasonable. HOWEVER, what comes after the dinner was the one to pull it back to reality. We were so thirsty after the dinner, which made me realize that probably much MSG was put into the dinner. Dun get me wrong, I still love the taste here, it is rather special given the normal cafe setting and the reasonable price. But, it is still far from perfection.

ratings: 3 poink!

comments: i suspect much MSG is the culprit, so lower down the scores....but for a cheap set dinner/ lunch, this is really nice.

Capucino Cafe, Jln Chung Thye Phin, Ipoh

[ closed ] Bourbon House: house of delight

It was one of the rare occasion to have lunch with wife during the long Friday lunch break. She usually do not have long lunch break since working with private and I would be too lazy to travel from TR. So it was nice for both of us to have lunch together since she is taking a break while I was in Hosp Ipoh doing attachment. Then came the important question. Where to eat?

Since it was a long break, we were still lazy to drive far so we decided to visit Greentown area, since it was just behind Hosp Ipoh. At first, we wanted to try Coccoon, since we were rather pleased with the dessert the last time we were here. Surprise, there was a change in management, and the place now is called Bourbon House (which we subsequently found out in the receipt).

Situated in the Greentown business area, just go around, it is situated at one of the corner, opposite Davids diner. It is near Mikes place and Nasi Vanggey. Deco was rather similar to Coccoon, spacious. It was rather thoughtful for the owner not to overpack the place giving enuf space in between the tables. Service was rather swift and friendly although the price is on the middle-low range.

Then came the food. The menu was rather limited, no more dessert. It concentrated on the usual pseudo western + oriental kind of menu. That also it was rather limited. About 3-4 pages of the usual dishes. The usual fried rice, noodles, pasta, chops etc. We decided to go for the set lunch since we were lazy to think. Friday lunch break is for relaxing anyway.

Surprise again, the food was a notch better than the rest. I had a brown sauce chicken chop rice (RM9.90) . The best I had was surprisingly situated in Astrol food centre, where the sauce is rich with butter taste. The usual ones out there would lean towards mushroom sauce which in turn taste like Campbells soup. This one was rather spicy. definitely leaning towards oriental side. However, it was really nice, not hot but rather spicy. Cant taste wat spice they put inside though. The rice was cooked with tinge of onions making it rather fragrant. The chicken piece was not generous but the usual deep fried ones. It was juicy none the less.

Wifes dish was not bad. Grilled chicken chop was served with french fries. the piece of chicken meat was juicy, well marinated. So the taste was good. The mushroom sauce was nothing to sout about though, but overall, it was nicely done. The french fries however, was rather oily much to our dislike (Rm13.80). The set lunch was served with the usual soup (rather tasteless, and watery), the drinks (ok-la) and few piece of oranges (unusual, since we had to peel it ourselves). The main dish was good enuf for us to come back again.

Overall, even though we expect to come for a coccoon experience, the cahgne to Bourbon house was satisfying none the less.

ratings: 3 half poink!

comments: cant say for the rest of the menu, but dun be deceived, I got a feeling that the pseudo-western dishes would have a oriental taste to it.

Bourbon House

12-1A, Persiaran Greentown, Ipoh

update 15/5/11: a night drive around Greentown revealed that the shop still house the word Cocoon, so which it is, beats me?

Serai Satay Kajang: huge disappointment

I used to remembered the days when we, while in uni, would drive all the way to Kajang for their satay. true to the legend, satay Kajang is one class on its own. the meat is HUGE, juicy, and just to take a few would be suffice for a dinner, even for someone as big size as me.

it had been years, and multiple satay kajang wannabe had sprouted everywhere. the one we tasted in Uptown, PJ was rather similar though the size had shrunken. similarly one satay kajang had open in Ipoh, near Tesco. however, the service was rumoured to be bad, the waiting time was exceptionally long, causing us to stay away from this joint.

imagine my surprise that one satay Kajang outlet was open recently in Gunung Rapat. just opposite MacD, KFC this shop is tucked at the side road. just go around, and u wont miss the SATAY KAJANG billboard. although the name of the shop SERAI was easily missed out. the deco is clean, with the smoking zone outside the shop. not bad, so thoughtful.

then again, the most important thing is the food. come the satay, it was rather fast, compare to the other counterpart. alas, the size is just as same as the other satay. the taste is not exceptionally good. it cost RM0.80 for a normal chicken, beef satay. rather expensive, the size is not bigger at all. it is rather dry, with some burnt meat. the sauce was bit on sour. which was bit odd. like authentic satay kajang, the sauce comes in 2 bowl. the usual kacang sauce with the hot sauce for u to mix it with. the sour part was bit turnoff. not good.

we tried something on the side dish. nasi lemak ibu...hmmm, that sounded different. but when it arrived, it is just a normal nasi lemak. RM 4++ for a normal plate of nasi lemak. without any chicken or beef or sotong. the taste was normal, not too bad, but for that kind of price and restaurant, i expect something better. heck, even tesco nasi lemak taste better.

the trip was rather disappointing that after that, we went to pasar malam for some better food.

ratings: 2poink!

comments: unless desperate, or u wan to bring someone to a decent place for satay, avoid this place. totally forgettable.