Growing up in Sarawak, I've never had banana leaf rice before because my family tend to only stick to Chinese food or home cooked food. So it took me 28 years to discover this. Nirwana is fairly well-known banana leaf rice restaurant that is almost always busy. Not surprisingly since the food there is consistent and good. A basic set of banana leaf rice comes with rice (of course), 3 vegetarian side dishes, then you can choose to have some fried chili (not sure what it's called) and rasam (tamarind soup) and the type of gravy you want over your rice. Like this: I love to flood my rice with plenty of gravy and often will request for chicken and fish (their dahl is pretty good too). Being conscious of what I eat, generally I will stop them from giving me too much rice. My favourite side dish would have to be the deep fried bitter gourd. Not sure what they used to achieve the vibrant red colour (hopefully not food colouring) but they sure are addictive. I love the crunch and the mild spices. Delicious. The middle one was chopped up long beans and they were pretty good too, well seasoned and retaining their crunch. Lastly, on the left we have somewhat a salad with cucumber and carrot. I think the milky liquid might have been yoghurt, this tasted pretty mild, but refreshing. I love their rasam (not pictured) too.

With a meal like this, there is no need to order more side dishes but if you prefer to have your meal with meat or seafood, there are plenty to choose and most are quite good. Especially their chicken dishes. Just beware it can get quite expensive if you go crazy on the side dishes. Otherwise the basic set is only RM6.

Cafe Cafe is a very pretty place with lotsa chandelier and pretty crystal hanging off the walls, they also have a lot of trinkets dotted through the restaurants. But one problem though, it's notoriously difficult to photograph because of the super dim lighting. Nevertheless it has remained one of my favourite restaurants in KL because of the charm and consistently good food. So I generally treat myself a visit once a year. They offered pretty reasonable priced set menu for the quality of food they offered, which is another bonus.

Also, everytime I visit, there are 2 items that I always order. First is their pan seared foie gras Foie gras is incredibly easy to mess up (judging by the standards of most restaurants here) and badly cooked ones are barely edible. But at Cafe Cafe, it's always perfection. They changes the condiment occasionally the this was peachy. Well caramelised outside, meltingly tender inside with a rich buttery taste. Well, there's nothing further to add. Except to apologise for the bad photo (dim lighting!)This was my first time trying the clam cooked with white wine and it was lovely. The clams weren't overcooked. The sauce was beautifully oceany with a distinct wine aroma. I slurped this up with no hesitation. The braised beef cheek is another must order dish here. Here the tender pieces of beef sit atop a neatly plated mash, surrounded with assorted mushrooms. It's incredibly luscious. Beef: tender, aromatic from red wine with a hint of herbaceous note. The mash was perfectly creamy and smooth. I love the mini shimeji (I think) mushrooms as they have a little crunch in them. Just a super delicious dish. I'm generally not a big fan of chocolate lava cake but I have heard so much about their version. It was just textbook perfect. Rich dark chocolate with a molten centre. Heavenly.

The history of Chilli Pan Mee can be debatable but there is no doubt that Kin Kin Chilli Pan Mee claims the title for best chili pan mee. It’s no wonder the shop is always full of customers despite the attitude from the owners (very famous for bad service). Ever since I had my first taste as a tourist several years ago, I’ve been in love.

Let's take a look at the famous chili pan mee. The toppings: Seasoned minced meat, perfectly poached egg, fried shallots, fried anchovies, finished with chopped spring onions atop plain springy noodles made in-house (albeit with a machine). The chili is served separately in a big container. I love my food super spicy (go hard or go home right?) and I always put 4 spoonfuls (yes, crazy). If you have been to Kin Kin you'd know their paste is superb. Well caramelised and definitely explosive, it adds so much flavours to the noodles. Of course, there are plenty of msg involved, that's why I generally limit my visit to few times a year. After adding the chili paste, you poke the egg yolk and mix everything together. Then slurp away! The umaminess of the anchovies, minced meat and the aromatic fried shallots will bring your tastebud to noodle heaven. Not pictured was the small bowl of soup with pucuk manis, ready to take the spiciness down if it's too much to handle. Around RM6-7 per portion, and sometimes I even go for the second bowl! Admitedly I don't do it that often but when the cravings strike, I can't help myself. Hehe.

Spasso Milano is one of the many higher-end restaurant located on Level 6 Pavilion. We were just passing by and thought to give it a try as we both love Italian food. I think I was probably an Italian cook in my past life! Keeping it simple, we ordered one pizza (for him) and one pasta dish (for me). The margherita pizza looked pretty good with a solid crust. I hate pizzas that are so thin you can't tear the slices out properly. This was a very simple and straightforward pizza with tomato, mozzarella cheese and some basil. Flavours were good. I opted for Spaghetti Bolognese and it looked pretty good. However I felt the bolognese sauce was lacking the depth of flavour. It was pretty one dimensional. The pasta was also slightly overcooked. Very disappointing. It's very unlikely we will return there again.

Generally, I don't eat heavy meal before I perform on stage. So before my gig last night at Pavilion, I decided to just pop into Dome for a quick meal. After studying their menu, I picked the wild mushroom soup. I have never tasted the food at this chain before but looking at other tables, food looked promising. Before long my aromatic bowl of soup arrived on the table, piping hot. This may not look like much, but the bowl is pretty deep. The soup is pretty thick with tiny bits of mushrooms (I like it this way), the flavour is earthy, savoury, with a hint of garlic and cheese. The croutons were perfectly crispy and matched well with the soup. Here's a closer look.

Unfortunately, it got a little too creamy for me halfway through so I had to stop. Have to say it was quite filling too because I didn't feel hungry for the rest of the night. RM18 might be a little expensive but the service was attentive and friendly.