Good Food, Good Fun and Tiger Crystal

Last Thursday I went to a Tiger Crystal beer food pairing session at Italiannies.

Started with Clams in chili tomato puree kind of sauce. A bit of sourish with a tinge of spiciness. Down it with a bottle of Tiger Crystal. Ah......

Coming up. Pepperoni and Cheese Pizza. The cheese just melts in my mouth and the crust is thin, I like. Down it with a bottle of Tiger Crystal. Ahhhh.......

Next up. Sau-sa-geh with onion, chili and fried ikan bilis. One of Marcky's favourite of the night. Cool down the spiciness with a bottle of Tiger Crystal. Ahhhhhhhhh!!.......

Lamb rib cutlets were tender and charcoal grilled just nice. The mash potatoes is le creamy. Washed it all down the stomach with? Yes. Tiger Crystal beer of course. Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!.....

Some spicy chick came up later. Mexican? Spanish? Italian? Who cares? It's one hell of a tender and spicy chicken. Did I just wrote spicy? What beer goes very well with spicy food? Tiger Crystal!!! Ahh...............................

What? We haven't finish yet? Seafood pasta. Fettuccine to be exact. Marcky favourite again minus the mussels lol.

Last but not least. Dessert. Some kind of bread. It's very nice too. We were able to almost finished two plates of this even after such a feast.

There are so much left. I tapaoed the chicken, Marcky chose the pasta and Ah Bok had the pizza but the waiter got the chicken and pizza mixed up. I ended up with the pizza (which can still be eaten after I left it for 4 days in the fridge) and Ah Bok took my chicken.

Just like the refreshingly different experience that only Tiger Crystal can deliver, Tiger Crystal is proud to bring its consumers an exciting opportunity through its “Refreshingly Different” Tiger Crystal Facebook photo contest. All they need to do is upload a photo of their most refreshingly different Tiger Crystal moment. The grand prize winner will walk away with a trip for two to the incredibly unique ICEHOTEL in Sweden, a hotel made entirely out of ice and snow. Contest begins on 10 November 2011 and will end on 10 December 2011.
To find out more about Tiger Crystal and the “Refreshingly Different” Facebook photo contest, kindly log on to www.facebook.com/tigerbeer.

Starbucks Card Grand Launch Party

Starbucks fans, most of you would have know by now that the Starbucks card is finally here in Malaysia. Last week I went to the launching of Starbucks Card at The Curve. During the launching day, Starbucks there will be giving out free Starbucks Card that was preloaded with RM10 stored value to the first 100 customers that queue up for the card. I heard the queue started around 4 p.m. and they only starts to give out the card at 7.30 p.m. when the launch party is launched :p

Customers queuing up to get the free Starbucks Card. I didn't notice Michelle noticed me taking the picture :P I only found out that she posed for this picture when I was editing.

As for me, I don't have to queue up because I was invited as a blogger there. I got the preloaded Starbucks Card once I registered myself at the blogger registration counter :p At 7.30 p.m. sharp the party is launched and Starbucks cards were given out to the first 100 customers that queued up.

We were kept entertained with performances like dance, singing and fire show.

Didi, the 1st Runner-up of Malaysian Idol Season 1.

In between the performances there were lucky draw sessions, food and free flow of Starbucks coffee and tea, graffiti and Best Picture contest on going. Instead of shouting out the name, mobile number was dialed to seek the lucky draw winner. All will get Starbucks Christmas merchandise except for the grand prize which is a Starbucks Card preloaded with RM500 stored value, which is the maximum value one can top up the card.

I didn't win the lucky draw but I got one more Starbucks Card by answering a simple question of "What's the minimum value to top up the Starbucks Card?", which is RM20 of course. Yeah, I can has two Starbucks Card now. I will have to register my Starbucks Card in Starbucks.com.my so that I can have more privilege like getting a free Grande after purchasing 10 drinks using my Starbucks Card or get a free Grande when I purchase a Starbucks tumbler. Also, be sure to put in my birthday correctly because I will get a surprise birthday gift from Starbucks on my birthday. For more information about the other privilege of owning a Starbucks Card click here.

It's free, so I can't choose the card design.

Bumped into Tziaaa there. She's so tall with her high heels.

RED FM DJs, Mynn and Linora.

Prize giving time.

The couple gets the 1st prize for the Best Pose picture voted in Starbucks MY Facebook Page.

Lucky draw grand prize winner. Can't wait to use his Starbucks Card :P

There you go Starbucks fan. At last the Starbucks Card has reached our shore. On the side note, the Starbucks 2012 Planner is out now, make your way to Starbucks to get it. Oh, also, the Starbucks Card can only be use in all Starbucks in Malaysia, so don't go swipe your Starbucks Card when you are oversea :p

Tenshi no Cafe 天使のCafe, e@Curve, Mutiara Damansara

Okairi Goshujin-sama means Welcome Home Master in Japanese. Hearing these words might be every otaku's dream. What's more, they will be able to see real life people dressed as French maid and butler to serve them in a cafe that is designed as if it came out of a manga or anime.

While previously one can only find these kind of fantasy cafe in Japan or Taiwan. Recently it seems that someone has brought this concept to Malaysia. I got to know about Tenshi no Cafe 天使のCafe which means Angel's Cafe in Japanese when I read Jason Mumbles' post on it. I also bought the group buying promotion from Hahah Deals, which will get me a package worth RM83 for only RM38. Two meal, two shakes and a dessert. Because there's more than 50 deals purchased, so there's a bonus of RM3 worth of “Spoon Feed – 3 spoons” and Choice of “Conventional Games” or “Playstation 3” for one round worth RM5.

From outside, Tenshi no Cafe looks like a home more than a cafe.

One of the house rule is no photography of the maid, food and interior. I kindly asked permission from the kawaii lady butler, so the only thing I cannot take with my camera is the staff there.

The ten house rules.

The interior is very bright with pink as the main colour. It looks very clean and comfortable. There is one area where there's a PS3 and a HD TV showing a Japanese group's MV.

Since the deal is enough to feed two person. I invited Emily to join me to discover this maid cafe concept that is new in Malaysia. But luck is not quite our side because we came last Saturday during lunch time and there are no maids but only butlers were there. According to the kawaii lady butler, the maids took half day leave to attend a cosplay event at Tropicana City Mall. Quite obvious that most of the staff here are also enthusiastic cosplayer.

From the deal, I can order one dessert, I chose Banana Split. Quite a while I didn't eat Banana Split already. My mistake is that I didn't ask it to be serve after the main finished. It was served first. Sigh.

Banana Split

Emily and I shared the banana split after we finished our mains. I should have left the choco stick for the maid (actually is the kawaii lady butler) to spoon feed me. Well, just the ice-cream and banana will do, so I got spoon fed by her on each flavour of ice-cream starting from chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. Emily just kept laughing during this spoon feeding session. One scoop is worth RM1, if you are interested to experience it. Go read Jason's post for the total experience captured on camera because he got invited to do a special review hence can take picture of everything.

Japanese fried rice with Ebi Tempura

We can order one dish from the Japanese Rice section and another dish that is worth not more than RM19.90. Since, Emily chose Japanese Curry Chicken Katsu Rice (RM 19.90). I'll have to choose Japanese Fried Rice with Ebi Tempura (RM 19.90) from the limited Japanese Rice section.

The fried rice has a lot of Edamame beans, tasted quite good too the fried rice. I suspect that the Ebi tempura is not fried in a oil that is hot enough because some the bread crumbs is still not quite cook yet.

Japanese Curry Chicken Katsu Rice (RM 19.90)

While my fried rice is nothing to shout about, Emily absolutely love the Japanese Curry Chicken Katsu Rice from presentation to taste. She told me it tasted much better than Full House's Japanese Curry rice. So, it's not only the good service that is provided here, the food here also taste not bad.

After, finishing our meals. It's time for some exercise. Which, I utilize the 1 round of PS3 game service. Again, I'll play PS3 motion game with the kawaii lady butler and not maid. The maids are not back yet. Actually 1 round of game means 5 minutes. I was able to play 3 different short motion sensor games with the lady butler. She kicked my ass by winning two games out of three.

The butlers and maids here are very polite and friendly. Ask them any question and they will politely answer you. There's one question that you cannot ask though, that will be their phone number :p If they are not too busy, they will sometime stay for a short chat with the customer. In term of service, I'll give it 10/10, ambiance 8/10 and food 6/10.

Well, before we left the place, we manage to see two maids that finally start their shift. If you are interested in the maids' picture, click here. Overall, this is a RM 38 well spent. Too bad it doesn't include a polaroid photo with the maid of my choice, which will cost RM 8.




Address:

Tenshi no Cafe
LG18, e@Curve
No. 2A, Jalan PJU 7/3, Mutiara Damansara,
47810 Petaling Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan.

Other Ppl's View:
Jason Mumbles
Jerine Lay
I Am the Witch

Funky Villa, e@Curve, Mutiara Damansara

If it is not for CityGal invited me for lunch at Funky Villa, I won't have know that it is a restaurant serving very authentic Thai cuisine instead of a lounge and bar. One will have to forgive me for the misunderstanding because the interior design of Funky Villa doesn't really linked my mind with Thai cuisine at all. If I ask my friends like, "Hey let's have Thai for lunch at Funky Villa", they would have looked at me like I'm some sort of crazy person. Who would have thought that a place named Funky Villa serves up really good and authentic Thai cuisine?

We have quite a sizable group that day for lunch. KampungBoyCityGal, Chris & Christine, Ai Wei, Wen Ching, WMW, Jason, Squall and I. First time meeting Wen Ching and Squall. I've been reading Sugar Sugar Bean Bean for more than a year already.

Our bottomless drinks, Roselle (Fresh Ribena), Tamarind (Asam), and Lemongrass (Serai).

If it's not for the Thai MV playing on the screen, one won't have know that this is a Thai restaurant.

There are three areas where one can enjoy the food here. There's the normal dining area, the more relax sofa area and the open air area.

Funk Villa is having lunch set promotion, so we decided to order a few lunch set and then order a few dishes from the a la carte menu to share. The set lunch price is starting from RM 9.90++, damn value.

Click to enlarge.

Let us start with the appetizer. Pamelo Salad (RM15.00++) which is pamelo tossed with chillies, dried shrimp, cashew nut, shredded chicken & prawn. The pamelo is imported from Thailand because the local pamelo will give a bit of bitter taste so it's not too suitable to used in a dish. I think this salad is not too common in Malaysia where the usual Thai salad we encounter is the Mango salad. Especially when the pamelo can't be locally sourced. It's nice change from the same old stuff. Believe me, it tasted as good as mango salad.

Pamelo Salad (RM15.00++)

Fish Cake wrapped in Half boiled egg (RM13.00++ 4pcs) is one dish that you won't commonly find in other Thai restaurant in Malaysia. A Northern Thai Specialty Dish, which is prepared by the Thai chef of Funky Villa. I am salivating just by looking at the picture.

Fish Cake wrapped in Half boiled egg (RM13.00++ 4pcs)

I was just watching Chua's Choice 蔡瀾歎名菜 a day before this lunch. In that episode it shows the process of making this dish, Cat Fish Mango Salad (RM 22.00++) . I was wondering where to find this dish in Malaysia, and voila on the next day I am already having it in front of me. Talk about coincident. To make this this, first the cat fish have to be cooked and then the meat will be taken out from the bone. The fish meat will then be chopped very finely and then fried till crispy. It's quite a effort to make this dish, so it's worth every sen. Imagine crispy fish floss and eat it with sourish young mangoes. Damn, I'm salivating again.

Cat Fish Mango Salad (RM 22.00++)

A Thai meal is not complete without the famous Tom Yum Kung (RM23.00++) and each chef have their own special recipe for Tom Yum Kung (Kung means Prawn in Thai). For Funky Villa the Tom Yum Prawns is cooked with young coconut pulp so the spiciness is not too intense, and you'll get the pleasing coconut taste. Try eating the coconut pulp, you'll love it.

Tom Yum Kung (RM23.00++)

Another soup dish that we had is Tom Kha Seafood (RM22.00++). Instead of coconut pulp, coconut milk is used in this soup to make this soup. Don't feel jelak when seeing that the soup is filled with coconut milk. For an unknown reason this soup don't feel that way at all.

Tom Kha Seafood (RM22.00++)

Some of the set lunches that we had are:

Shredded Green Mango Salad with Dry Shrimp & Coconut Flakes, Pineapple Fried Rice with Chicken (RM 9.90++)

Vegetable Spring Rolls, Green Curry Chicken & Steam Rice (RM 11.90 ++)

Tom Yum Gung, Pad Thai Seafood Noodle (RM 17.90++)

Pamelo Salad, Thai Herb Fried Rice with Seafood (RM 13.90++)

All sets come with bottomless Lemon Grass drink. If this is a not a bargain, I don't know what is. Remember the set lunches are available from 12pm to 3pm daily.

I've tasted Penang otak-otak, and Johor otak-otak. This time I get to try Thai Steam Otak Otak in Coconut (Homok) (RM23.00++). Homok is steamed fish with red curry & herbs served in fresh coconut. Very different from the Malaysian otak-otak that wrap the fish in pandan leaf. Yummy.

Thai Steam Otak Otak in Coconut (Homok) (RM23.00++)

I'll have to say that the Thai Herbs Minced Chicken (RM12.00++) is a very good dish to go with a pint of nice cold beer. Crisp- fried Battered Minced Chicken Meat with an Array of Thai Herbs & Crunchy Rice, beer dish, no? Too bad I didn't have any that day.

Thai Herbs Minced Chicken (RM12.00++)

The Stir fried squid in salted egg yolk (RM17.00++) is kind of different from the fried squid with salted egg yolk that we had in our Chinese tai chao. First of all, you won't see the salted egg yolk.

Stir fried squid in salted egg yolk (RM17.00++)

After so many dishes, we're almost have enough but wait, there's still room for dessert lol.

Dessert Twin Dessert special - Mango sticky rice & Red Rubies (water chestnut with jack fruit) to serve with vanilla ice-cream (RM16.90++). It's best to eat the mango sticky rice first when it's still warm.

Ginkgo Nut in coconut served with shaved ice (RM7.90++). Ginkgo nut, so healthy, no?

Cantaloupe with sago in coconut & shaved ice (RM7.90++)

The fun doesn't ends here. Let me introduce you to the mother of all cocktail. Giant Cocktail, Funky Rita 750ml (RM55.00++). Compare the glass with Wen Ching's hand and you'll have grasp of how big this Funky Rita is. I drank like 1/6 of it and I slept like a baby when I reached home after the lunch.

Giant Cocktail, Funky Rita 750ml (RM55.00++)

This is the best Thai food I had recently. I'll be sure to drop by and more Thai food here, and of course the Funky Rita.

Origin of Funky Villa

Funky Villa is inspired from the infamous Full Moon Parties in Koh Phangan. Moons ago, a group of tourists found that the most beautiful moon was in Koh Phangan. They arranged a party along the crescent-shaped beach of Haad Rin to celebrate the Full Moon night. From then on, people from all over the world come to join the monthly celebration. As twilight descends and the moon reveals itself fully, the beach comes alive with 7,000 to 10,000 party people going into a dancing frenzy with international MCs spinning on the decks, buskers entertaining the crowds, fireworks firing up the party and surf of waves lapping up the atmosphere.



Address:

Funky Villa
Lot No. G-03A, G-06 & EG-06, Ground Floor, e@Curve
No. 24, Jalan PJU 7/3, Mutiara Damansara,
47810 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
Tel / Fax : 603 7725 2308
Email : enquiry@funky_group.com
Facebook Page: FunkyVilla – e@Curve