Having a colleague who'd always mention about pork during office hours at least once a day isn't helping me into getting a slimmer body figure, but to crave more for the non-halal piece of meat.
Thanks to Daniel, another carnivorous eater, who has recently joined force as my partner-in-crime for food explore, hence off we go to the famous Japanese BBQ at Taman Desa.

First attempt was a disaster, we went there on a raining Monday night, only to find out that all the 3 restaurants by Mr Seiji Fujimoto (along with Maruhi Sakaba and Sanuki Udon) were closed. Oh yes, don't ever trust the "opens daily" as published from elsewhere, they are all closed on Mondays.
Second attempt was a gamble on luck, there was still drizzling at 5pm and finally stopped when we were there. Faber Plaza was pretty easy to find with the help of "Jalan Desa Jaya" on Waze navigation apps.
Japanese BBQ is located at the center court of Faber Plaza, easily recognizable with its zinc roof, red bricks, and the red lantern with the words of 居酒屋 (Izakaya).Rustic environment with al fresco dining.
Though not preferable especially at this hot weather of Malaysia, we went on a good timing for BBQ which is after the rain, hence the cool evening breeze.豚肉ラーメン Pork Ramen RM10
This ramen has quite justify its value of RM10, or even did more than that. Still far from the level of those chain Japanese Ramen restaurants but good enough to fill our groaning stomach while waiting for the meat to be ready.ラムジンギスカン Gengkhis Khan RM20
This is the only lamb dish in the menu and would be the first dish if you ever order it, since it comes in a sizzling hot pan.
Mongolian lamb stew of tenderness, minimum gamey taste yet so flavourful that I wished to have a bowl of rice with me.
By the way, that's the ultimate compliment one can give in chinese culture.
We even finished all the cabbages as they have absorbed the essence of both meat and broth.
Not even one drop of the soup was wasted as the staff poured it all for us while he takes the hot pan away.キノコホイル焼き Mushroom Foiled Yaki RM10
Oyster mushroom, enoki mushroom, shitake mushroom, chopped onion with butter as seasoning.

We've ordered ビーフリブアイ Beef Ribeye RM10, ポークベリー Pork Belly RM10 and ポーク内もも Pork Inside Leg RM10.
They are all small in portion I must say.

They also offer meat selections of lamb, pork and beef along with long list of innards to choose from, such as tongue, intestines and much more.We then proceed with the grilling after the staff has taken away the hot pan.
Dripping pork lard had just made the fire gone wild.While the meat was fresh with minimal marination, it goes great with the sauce provided which is a mixture of Japanese soy sauce, sake, mirin, sugar, garlic and sesame.野菜焼 Mixed Vegetables RM5
Heated but uncooked vegetable?
While this doesn't make sense, it did happen. The vegetable was either overcooked with burnt edges or too raw to be consumed. Top up another RM5 to Teppanyaki Vegetable is highly recommended.

Unlike other restaurants that do online marketing, this restaurant has no namecard, no contact number and no facebook. Their only marketing was word of mouth, either from patrons or bloggers. Still, many would come to pay a visit, so do come early.

Several years ago when I was still in internship, I was blessed to have colleagues who seek high and low in order to have good food as lunch. Once, we came to this Chilly Pan Mee at Taipan and since then I have never forget the taste of it. With no blog at that time, I have no medium to share but it is different now.

Thanks to Agnes who brought me to this Chilly Pan Mee again for lunch few days ago.
We were amazed at the ability of this chinese-originated Pan Mee in capturing the stomach of others such as Indian and Japanese(no kidding, they just sat next to me), other than Chinese itself. Homemade Fried Dumpling (Sui Kow 水饺) RM6 (Small, 4 pieces)
Crispy deep fried dumpling of wanton skin that came with minced meat, carrot and yam bean.
Not too oily as something to munch on while waiting for the famous chili pan mee.Chili Pan Mee RM6
A generous portion of Pan Mee nicely presented with toppings of fried shallots, minced meat, deep fried anchovies, poached egg and some spring onion.Customize the spiciness of Pan Mee according to one's preference and tolerance level.Beat the running egg yolk, mix everything together and voila....

Egg yolk added the extra creamy texture to Pan Mee as if it just slipped down my throat. Add that with chili flakes that would escalate the spiciness in my taste bud. Not to mention crispy deep fried anchovies along with flavorful minced meat that were on their way deep down to my stomach.
It was indeed an eating pleasure with everything harmonizing inside the mouth.

"An afternoon tea set for 4 pax at a discount of 55%."
Seeing the title of this deal alone would make most ladies go crazy and the next you know, Groupon voucher is already in your hand. I know it because it was the exact same process which I have gone through. Afternoon Tea Set (4 Pax)
* 4 x Tarts
* 4 x Parfaits
* 4 x Macarons
* 4 x Savoury Pastries (Quiche, Curry Puff, Samosa)
* 2 Cakes
* 4 x Drinks (Coffee or Tea)
for only RM52 instead of RM114.90

Ten28ight Boutique Cafe does not serve its afternoon tea set in full western cuisine, but rather a fusion with local taste by adding in samosa and curry puff. Curry Puff
To be honest, I'm spoiled by my mom's homemade curry puff. One of the reason I love hers is because she would always take the extra effort to make this crispy spiral flaky pastry. It was not an easy task because she spent few hours just to make 100 of them, by mixing 2 types of dough overlaying each other to produce the difference in texture, hence more layers of flaky pastry would mean the more crispy it will be. Because of the extra effort, spiral curry puff would be slightly expensive than the normal ones.
I appreciate the fact that they served us this and it was homemade.Samosa
Despite these being fried savory, they weren't oily at all because it was only fried the moment we sat down and ordered. This attention to details is what would make the customers return. Parfaits and Macarons
We got a little bit messy when having the parfait because it keeps falling apart. Nevertheless, it was good with fresh fruit of strawberry and blueberry.
The texture of macarons was a bit inconsistent, but I understand it was hard to standardize that. I had the lemon flavor. Though it was of artificial flavoring, at least the sugar level was decent not to cover the lemon flavor.

Overall, desserts here maintain their consistency on sugar level, which was not too sweet for consumption. With the generous portion that was given to us, I would say that it was quite worthy even if I were to pay the full price.

When I first received an email from Henry asking to review his restaurant's new concept dishes of fruit-based dishes, fruit-based soup and even Yong Tau Foo made of fresh fruit, I did raise one side of my eyebrow, couldn't help but being rather skeptical. Really? Fruit and Steamboat?
From many years of my gastronomical experience, fruit is only supposed to appear before or after the main dish instead of together, am not the too health conscious one that would have fruit as main meal.

However, this was only the first impression, read on for my final verdict:Home Style Yong Tau Foo RM1.20 each
(From left to right) Star Fruit, Mango, Pineapple, Jambu
The fruit which did not overripe during the cooking process and surprisingly maintain its state of fresh and crisp managed to balance out the excessive greasiness of what supposed to be in a deep fried dish.
Even Daniel, my companion of the day, took his first bite of this yong tau foo in his favorite mango and nodded in approval
In fact, what's not to love for eating yong tau foo of fish paste combine with the fragrance of fruit in light taste but crispy deep fried texture?Minced Pork Rolls RM7.90
Aromatic minced meat stuffed into roll shape and deep fried to perfect golden brown. Its crunchy texture with tasty meat filling in between definitely deserved to be one of the chef's recommendations.Fruitaste Set 创意火锅套餐 RM33.60 for 2 pax along with mee and 2 eggsFruit Lover Soup Base
(Left) Fresh & Sweet 美白清爽水果锅
(Right) Sweet & Sour 开胃酸甜水果锅
Fresh & sweet soup of chicken stock was on the salty side yet giving out aromatic fragrance of apple and pineapple fruit. Sweet & sour on the other hand was of the same chicken stock but with star fruit and passion fruit, a rather appetizing combination. These were the most innovative and special steamboat broth I've ever had. Best of all, these came with my steamboat set so no charges applied. Unlike the usual steamboat sessions where the thick layer of oil accumulated on top resulting from the meat fat, it is not visible here. I think the fruit based soup did a good trick on that.

Alternatively, there are still clear soup and tomyam soup, making 4 soup options in total. Sliced Pork RM 9.90
Alternatively, upgrade to Pork Slices Set for RM39.90, an addition of RM6.30 from Fruitaste Set.Honestly this was the biggest fruit tart I have ever seen. Comprising of star fruit, dragon fruit, strawberry, green and red apple, this fruit tart has 3 layers of sponge, cream and custard. A good dessert that was not too sweet to my liking.

Opened in 30th March this year, Henry has used 6 months to come up with this innovative fruit-based dishes concept and another 2 months just to fine tune the taste. That is the perseverance shown by him and the taste approved by both our stomachs.

By the way, if you think the photos in the menu were good, it was taken by our very own Henry ;)

So many positive reviews on Thirty8, Grand Hyatt that I've decided to make it as my next afternoon tea venue. However, this may not turn out to be the next positive one. Upon arrival, we were stunned by its magnificence view of KL Petronas Twin Towers and wished we could have the seat closer to it. Needless to say that sunlight contributes to better photographs. Yet, we have received no reply in corresponding to that request. Hence a piece of advice to specify the seat during reservation.Thirty8's Signature Cake RM25
Made its entrance in glass dome along with dry ice as if mystery yet to be discovered in the swirling mist. Butterscotch was then dripped to the top of what believed to be joconde cake. A feast for the eyes before it is being placed on the tongue. Now, verdict on my tongue was not as good as my eyes or even my photos would suggest; especially the banana ice-cream which it tasted like having too much of artificial flavoring.
Thirty8's Signature Cake is a must try, they said.

Thirty8's Afternoon Tea Set
Sweet
Plain and raisin scones with strawberry preserve and chantilly cream
Opera slice
Hazelnut eclair
Strawberry mousse slice
"Flowerpots"
Almond friands
Selection of macarons
(misspelled as macaroons in the menu instead)
Hazelnut biscotti
Savory
Finger sandwiches:
Cucumber, dill, cream cheese
Smoked salmon, chives,lemon butter
Egg mayonnaise, watercress
Chicken, horseradish
Selection of teas and coffee

The rate was RM68 per person but second person may opt for sharing by ordering own teas/coffee.Different types of bread given for finger sandwiches; Mediocre in term of taste but appreciate the fact that they didn't come in soggy condition. The scone was fluffy and not too dry.
Too many photos on other reviews showed their scones wrapped in napkin to keep warm but ours were not served in that way. It was the inconsistency in service that have got me so frustrated. The name "strawberry preserve" might sounds better in menu but strawberries were nowhere to be seen. In fact, we have got 2 fruit jams of orange and strawberry along with chantilly cream.Again, they were not even jams of higher range.I have nothing to shout about on opera slice and hazelnut eclair yet this strawberry mousse slice gave me the feeling of leftover from previous buffet session. The taste was artificial enough to be blend into lower range of confectionery shop. This has seriously brought down the standard of Thirty8's afternoon tea where we couldn't bring ourselves to finish that small piece though we have the virtue of not wasting food in any possible way. Just couldn't. With that amount of butterscotch oozing out, I'll leave to your imagination on how sweet it was.
Double that sweetness as we had it in Signature Cake and "Flowerpots".
They have challenged on my tolerance towards sugar level and as if that wasn't enough, try lemon macaron that has been overpowered by sweetness.

Though desserts are meant to be sweet, but it is the art of controlling the amount of sugar and other elements that would make a masterpiece.

Along with Agnes, we had high expectations but imagine the frustration when it didn't even come close.
Thank you Agnes for this treat as celebration for my belated birthday but I guess we have picked the wrong afternoon tea venue. Agnes has escalate our concerns to the management and they will look further into the matter.