Nasi kukus craze at Dapur Mama Kuantan

Nobody is really so gaga over nasi kukus (steamed rice) until nasi kukus my mama franchise became an immediate success using the concept of a fast-food store to sell 'slow food'. Then Dapur Mama came about. But this is our first time trying Dapur Mama.

Look at the queue at lunch hour! One has to submit their orders and pay at the counter first before lining up to get food. They do have a wide variety-not just chicken.

Waited about half an hour-only to make us more interested to find out the charm of their food!

Classic nasi kukus ayam berempah
Hands up if you are a Malaysian but hates fried chicken because you most likely don't exist :p look at how my rice was flooded with awesome curry sauce! Even if you are not a rice lover, you are going to love it! Chicken is cripsy but would have been perfect if served with more crunchy fried spices.

Beef set-stewed so soft until it just melts in the mouth. Generous piece of meat served.
Pineapple chunk cooked in curry sauce is juicy and still able to preserve the freshness of pineapple.
Boiled salted egg- not salty at all. It complements the rice very well. And the meat curry sauce drizzled all over is different from the chicken set.

Now we know why it's worth queueing!

We rate it 8.5/10!

Dapur Mama - Original Nasi Kukus
36, Jln IM 6/7, Bandar Indera Mahkota, 25200 Kuantan, Pahang
013-940 2855

https://goo.gl/maps/94qiNBoQ7yz

Black canyon lunch date with my mentors! @kuantan

There's no end to learning and no easy way to thank your mentors. Liyana and I had a mini farewell lunch at Black Canyon East coast mall with our team today.

The restaurant has adopted the dine all fresco concept and we are glad that there were no smokers outside. The theme is western/Thai/Malaysian.

The highlight of the meal was actually the drinks! Absolutely love my matcha latte. It's not easy to find a place that can balance the strong flavor of matcha with milk well, yet not adding excessive sugar.

The black canyon coffee was equally awesome. Look at the color and coffee lovers will definitely go for it.

This is the second time I ever had Ruby crystals as dessert. The water chestnut was crunchy. But overall lacking in flavor and I still prefer Rama V- read here for my previous review.

Chicken wings! Always look so tempting. Tasted juicy and well marinated. These can never fail to attract people.

Green curry noodles with chicken. The curry has such a strong punch of flavor. Gives you a kick of spiciness in the stomach after a few mouthfuls. Gravy could be thicker though.

In a nutshell, we had an awesome time here.

I rate it 7/10!

Chillax on a weekend at Onederland Cafe Kuantan

Having an aimless Saturday is ready hard to come by. We were scrolling through places to eat and decided to head to Onederland Cafe due to the awesome reviews given by Google and Facebook.

The whole place was very homey. The owner has a huge collection of games that entertain the young and old alike. We settled with a pile of Uno cards (probably last played in the past decade). Baby Bing was fascinated by the wooden blocks arranged on a towed cart.

Other customers were mainly families and ladies who would like to chat over a cuppa with their children nearby.

Here comes the food!

Pan fried brinjal with honey chicken rice. The sweetness of honey permeated the whole rice dish and was in a stark contrast with the hot peppery cabbage chicken soup. Chicken breast cubes were pan fried and slightly caramelised and cripsy.

Fish and chips. Nothing too amazing but really loved the tartare sauce and the generous amount of mayonaise in the coleslaw. The fish was a bit dry.

Chicken pops with cheese sauce. Great for those who just want to munch on something crunchy while chit-chatting.

Mocha and cappuccino were sadly not served with fresh milk.  

Overall, great ambience for those who wants to spend the afternoon catching up and playing some board games. Food was average though with a reasonable price tag.

We rate it 7/10.

Comfort food @ Dream House Kopitiam

As doctors, we do not have fixed lunch time. As we were not busy for the day, we headed to Dream House Kopitiam in search of some comfort food.

It's not easy to find a place that sells hawker food air-conditioned. It's so important nowadays because the weather is so unbearably hot.

Their signature 3 colored pan mee. Red=dragon fruit, green=spinach, yellow=carrot

Tasted average and noodles not springy. But the portion is generous and soup refreshing. Match this with belacan chili sauce which is uniquely East coast.

The dried version is much more interesting. Noodles mixed with caramel sauce and seasoned. Topped with half boiled egg, fried minced spicy dried shrimps, minced pork, minced garlic, fried pork lard and chopped spring onions. All these intertwined and produced a harmonious combination.

Their roti titab is superb! Bread generously fried in salted butter-sinful combination yet so delicious. Down this with half boiled egg that is so gooey that it doesn't run (just the perfect consistency) and fragrant kaya. Will definitely order this again.

3 layer coffee goes perfectly with these.
Bottom- melted palm sugar
Middle- evaporated milk
Top- coffee
A tad to sweet for the taste buds but fantastic combination to die for.

Therefore we rate this 7/10. Mainly disappointed by their signature noodles.

Lazada blogger contest! Merdeka! MERDEKA!

It's this time of the year again!
Let's shop at lazada to celebrate this 60th national independence day!

 a. What do you love about being Malaysian? 
We are multiracial living in a melting pot of cultural diversities. As a result we have wonderful food.

 b. Choose your favorite local brand here : 
My favorite local brands are Anakku and munchy's

 c. Select two product from that brand that you love. The Article must contain screenshots of the products mentioned. 

These Anakku baby wipes help to maintain my sanity as a mother. Whatever mess from food to poo can be settled with a few wet wipes. I always have a few packs ready to go whenever I go with baby. These wipes are free of fragrance and alcohol so it's absolutely baby safe.

These munchy's biscuits are my good companions because I'm always hungry as a breastfeeding mother. When I have time after ward rounds, I'll have a few packets just to last me through the day.

Merdeka! Merdeka! Sale @(http://www.lazada.com.my/merdeka-sale/)will take place from 25 August to 31 August (where you can find special discounts up to 80%!). 

Hurry!

Happy dessert time! @kuantan

Feeling something is missing after a meal? Craving for some sweet stuff? Dessert time! I have shortlisted a few dessert places in kuantan. May not be your classic ones but definitely worth visiting.

It's a sweltering day and I just want to cool down. So I grabbed a cup of king mango shake. At only RM5 for a huge cup, it's definitely worth the price. Made with pure mango slushie topped with fresh mango cubes and a scoop of vanilla icecream. What I really enjoyed was that it wasn't sickeningly sweet, just naturally sweet.

If you fancy slushie or ABC and love mamak stall, drop by Kampung Jawa. Sitting just next to the main big drain, you will find this mobile truck selling awesome shaved ice. They use real fruit and it's again, not too sweet. They start selling after lunch hour until evening everyday. Their ice is slightly coarse. There's so much ingredient inside that there's surprise each mouthful!

Mango shaved ice

Soursop shaved ice

Kula cakes is famed as the best spot to grab a good slice of cake in kuantan. The signature mango cheesecake is indeed to die for. So cheesy and densed with a thin layer of fresh mango.

We also had a slice of pavlova topped with strawberries, kiwi and other rejuvenating fruits.  This is the first pavlova that's not too sweet but has just the right bliss point.

What about some traditional Chinese char kuey and taufufa? Head to 888 food court along Jalan Teluk Sisek around lunch hour and you will get your well deserved dessert here. Some said it's the best in kuantan. I concur.

Cripsy char kuey tastes even better with sesame.

Taufufa so smooth that you just can't resist getting more.

What are you waiting for? Grab your dessert now!

Pengalaman menginap di Hilton Hotel Petaling Jaya

Kami kerap melawat kuala lumpur untuk menghadiri conferences and workshop. Bawak Baby Bing sekali untuk jalan-jalan.

Sebelum ini, kami pernah bermalam di Double Tree By Hilton (konsep hotel di atas kompleks membeli belah) dan juga Hilton Hotel Kuala Lumpur. Pengalaman agak memuaskan.

Hilton PJ besar and mempunyai east dan west wings. Staff hotel mesra dan fasih dalam bahasa ingerris, melayu dan cina. Sempena SEA games, Hilton Hotel sangat sibuk.

Bilik kami cukup luas untuk Baby Bing kejar bolanya di dalam. King bed lembut dan memastikan kualiti tidur yang baik. Tapi, bilik agak bising disebabkan berdekatan dengan projek pembinaan dan sistem hawa dingin.

Bilik air pulak jenis open design dengan dinding kaca yang berlangsir. 

Baby Bing suka sangat nak main peek a boo dengan mak ayah haha.

Kolam renangnya tempat yang paling disukai baby Bing. Namun sini tiada kolam renang baby.

Sarapan jenis buffet. Sedap roti, keju, salad dan kek. Tapi, sarapan ala Malaysia sederhana saja. Staff peka untuk memastikan pengalaman menyantap yang bagus dan aman walaupun guest ramai.

Untuk parkir, guest dikenakan bayaran RM5 untuk sehari. Wifi pulak bukan percuma berbanding dengan kebanyakan hotel lima bintang. Agak mengecewakan.

Secara umum, kami rasa Hilton PJ patut diberi markah 6.5/10