O’Briens @ The Curve & cuppacakes® by + wondermilk

Had a quiet evening out at The Curve (yes, I seem to be there a lot!). Decided to have something quick and light, so I headed over to O’Briens Irish Sandwich Bar and ordered a “wrappo” and a drink.

They now have three different types of wrappos — plain, wholemeal and spinach. I decided to try the last option since I’ve never had it before. A wrappo is basically a glorified popiah. I had a Hummus Wrappo (RM 11.00), and well, it is a glorified price for a simple snack, isn’t it?

Somehow, they weren’t as generous with the fillings as they usually are at O’Briens. Today’s wrappo was a little under-stuffed and they skimped on the potato chips too! The green-coloured tortilla tasted like a regular tortilla — nothing spinachy about it. It was wrapped around some lettuce, bell pepper, sun-dried tomatoes, and a very, very thin smattering of hummus (pureed chickpea, also spelled houmous). There was so little hummus that I didn’t actually taste it till my third bite!

Stingy portions aside, it was a light dinner that went down well — simple flavours to keep the palate happy. And I thoroughly enjoyed the freshly-prepared concoction of Apple, Carrot and Ginger, which the people at O’Briens call a “detox” drink. The ginger gave a nice zing to the natural sweetness of the apple and carrot juices. Very refreshing!

 

Decided to give myself a little treat for dessert, so I dropped by The Apartment on the way back and picked up some cuppacakes®. Yes, more cupcakes! These were slightly smaller than those from the other cupcake place I visited earlier this week and slightly cheaper (RM 4.00 each). The cake is also denser — think homemade buttercake. The cake base is essentially the same (with the addition of chocolate chips for some flavours). Only the frostings and toppings change.

Tried the Royal Vanilla©, Orange Choc Chip, Mint Choc Chip and Strawberry Dream©. The frosting was a lot less sweet than the other cupcake place. I enjoyed the dense buttercake — both with and without the choc chips. The orange choc chip is my current personal favourite because I’m a sucker for anything that combines chocolate with orange! Plus, they were very generous with the yummy chocolate frosting on the orange choc chip — it was about 1cm thick!

Only complaints … There wasn’t much strawberry flavour in the strawberry frosting and a little too much mint essence in the mint frosting. Besides that, I think it’s safe to say that I’m well on my way to becoming a cuppacakes® fan. Won’t you join me? Ha ha!

O’Briens Irish Sandwich Bar
Lot G79, Ground Floor, The Curve
Mutiara Damansara, Petaling Jaya, Selangor
Tel: 03-7727 2181
Open: Mon-Thu 8am-11pm, Fri-Sun 8am-1am

cuppacakes® by + wondermilk
Tel: 019-387 4107 or 019-369 9102
Open: Mon-Fri 10am-6pm
Visit:  cuppacakes.blogspot.com

Cupcake Chic @ The Curve

First donuts, now cupcakes … My sweet tooth knows no bounds!

Dropped by The Curve to check out this “cupcakery” after finding out about it via Facebook (what would we do without it?). Got there at about 6.30pm on a Tuesday to find myself faced with twelve different flavours/toppings to choose from.

At RM 4.50 a pop, I could only squeeze two into my rather limited budget for the week, so I picked the yummiest sounding of the lot — On Cloud 9 (chocolate marshmallow cake with chocolate frosting) and Forget Me Not (lavender cake with Bailey’s frosting).

Now, everything looked really promising — the cheery, brightly-lit store; the friendly well-informed guy at the counter (sorry, I didn’t get your name!); and the scrumptious looking cupcakes sitting in neat rows on the display shelf … I couldn’t wait to get a taste of the cupcakes.

Sadly, the Forget Me Not turned out to be memorable for a completely different reason as I found myself crunching on bits of eggshell soon after taking a huge first bite. Not something one looks forward to after paying a premium price for what is supposed to be a premium cupcake. The frosting was borderline sickly sweet with not a trace of that unmistakable Bailey’s Irish cream flavour or scent. It actually had the aroma of buttery-sugary frosting (which it was) and nothing else.

The cake itself was fluffy and light, but didn’t taste much of lavender. In fact, the only hint of lavender I got was when I ate the four little buds that were sprinkled on top of the cupcake (refer to the pic above). So much for believing in descriptions on menus …

The chocolatey On Cloud 9 looked sinful enough and, being a chocoholic, I was hoping that this would save the day after the rather disastrous lavender-Bailey’s introduction to Cupcake Chic’s offerings. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the case as I sank my teeth into a rather gooey-textured cake that immediately got stuck to the roof of my mouth. Some may love this sort of cake, but it was too sticky for my liking (more gooey than my favourite brownie!).

Wish I had more nice things to say, but the best part of this cupcake were the two mini-marshmallows sitting on top. The chocolate frosting, while not as sweet as the Bailey’s frosting, was still rather high on the sugar scale.

Maybe they’re still working out the kinks in their cupcake and frosting recipes, or perhaps my sweet tooth isn’t as sugar-tolerant as it used to be … Whatever the case, it looks like I won’t be dropping by again anytime soon.

But don’t let that stop you from trying the other 20-odd flavours on the menu. Who knows, you might find something you like … Be sure to let me know about it if you do.

Cupcake Chic
Lot GZF-4, Ground Floor
The Curve
Mutiara Damansara
Tel: 03-7726 9075
Open: 10am to 10pm daily

Big Apple @ The Curve & J.Co Donuts @ Pavilion

NOTE: This posting dated 27 October 2007 was moved from my previous blog (makanminusmeat.blogspot.com).

Okay, so donuts don’t exactly constitute a “vegetarian meal”, but I just had to blog about them because they’re soooooo yummy!

The story goes that Indonesian chain J.Co was “inspired” by the famous American chain known as Krispy Kreme and Big Apple (another Indonesian chain), in turn, was “inspired” by J.Co. Whichever the case, my palate is just glad that two out of the three have made it to our shores.

My first taste of these delish treats was from Big Apple at The Curve. Bought half a dozen (RM 9.50) and immediately fell in love with the Chocoholic (filled and glazed with chocolate!). Also liked the Hot Berry (I have a thing for strawberry jam and donuts). Not too sweet, not too rich. Just riiiiiight! Ha ha!

The Glacier was plain and nice — good with a hot cuppa, I would imagine. Chocoring and Go Nutz were your regular chocolate-dipped and chocolate-dipped with chopped nuts versions. Nothing to shout about, but yummy just the same. The last one I tried was topped with white chocolate and covered with black sesame seeds — an unusual combination that didn’t quite impress my tastebuds.

The donuts were feather-light and soft, unlike the dense, heavy Dunkin Donut style that we all know so well. It was a pleasant surprise to find a donut that didn’t make me feel overstuffed halfway through the first piece. Oh, and there wasn’t much of a queue when I was there on a Sunday evening, so I guess my timing was right because …

I stopped by Pavilion on a Sunday afternoon to give J.Co a try (even though a friend had already bought some for a bunch of us earlier that week). It was a 20-minute queue that moved veeeeeery slowly because most people couldn’t make up their minds about the flavours that they wanted.

The variety at J.Co was wider than Big Apple’s. My favourites from the half dozen (RM 11.50) that I bought were the chocolate-filled and glazed Coco Loco (the bitter-sweet chocolate is more mind-blowing than Big Apple’s version), Ice Chocolate (completely drenched in chocolate!) and Why Nut (filled with smooth, creamy peanut butter and glazed with white chocolate).

J.Co’s donuts are as light as Big Apple’s, but a little higher on the sugar content — especially the glaze on the Blueberry. It was super-sugary-sweet. Too sweet for even this sweet-toothed donut fiend. The JCrown chocolate was a tad chewy and last, but not least, Crunchy Crunchy (chocolate cornflakes on a chocolate glaze … did I mention that I like chocolate?) had a nice contrast of textures, but it wasn’t one of those flavours that I’d fight with someone over the last donut for.

Service at both outlets was friendly and efficient, as one would come to expect from a fast-moving environment. No complaints.

So there you have it, my little donut rave. And, I’d like to point out that there are things that a non-meat eater can indulge in that aren’t exactly beneficial to the waist-line, pocket or blood sugar level, so we don’t survive on rabbit food … Rabbit food and donuts, maybe! Ha ha!

Big Apple Donuts and Coffee
Lot G72A, Ground Floor, The Street
Western Courtyard
The Curve
Mutiara Damansara
Tel: 03-7726 4250

J.CO Donuts & Coffee
LL1.05, Pavilion KL
168, Jln Bukit Bintang
Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-2141 7751

Delicious @ Bangsar Village II

NOTE: This posting dated 20 August 2007 was moved from my previous blog (makanminusmeat.blogspot.com).

After finding our originally choice of cafe closed for the day, we proceeded to have supper at Delicious instead. It was past 10.30pm and pretty crowded on a Friday night, but we managed to get a table at the back (next to the smoking section).

In order to save room for dessert, main course was a light selection — Grilled Vegetable Sandwich (RM 14.90++). One look at the “sandwich” and you’ll be asking, “Where’s the bread?!”

If you look closely at the pic, it’s there, under all those veggies … A single slice of foccacia piled high with a chilled (yes, refrigerator cold!) combination of sauteed oyster mushrooms, zucchini, bell pepper and asparagus, topped with a dollop of pesto.

Great for those on a low-carb diet. Not so great for a carb-fiend like me — I ran out of bread before I could finish the veggies! The foccacia was also a lil’ over-done (perhaps someone forgot to take it off the grill in time?)

On the plus side, I enjoyed the tangy dressing that came with the side salad — a very light vinaigrette with a hint of garlic.

After polishing off the sandwich, I turned my attention to dessert — Delicious’ signature Chocolate Brownie (RM 10.90++) with lashings of chocolate sauce. It’s usually served ala mode, but I asked for the ice cream to be served separately.

Dark, bittersweet and sinfully rich (am I describing the ideal man or dessert?), the brownie did not disappoint. It took a lot of self-control to keep from licking the plate clean. Ha ha!

The cosy ambience and our friendly waitress made for an enjoyable night out … Am looking forward to my next visit!

Delicious
Lot GF-1, Ground Floor, Bangsar Village II
Jalan Telawi, Bangsar Baru, Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03-2287 1554
Open: Sun-Thu (9am-12am), Fri & Sat (9am-1am)
(Kitchen closes at 11pm)

Colonial Times @ The Curve

NOTE: This posting dated 15 August 2007 was moved from my previous blog (makanminusmeat.blogspot.com).

Had a quick meal at Colonial Times a few weeks ago. From my sporadic visits to this outlet, it’s safe to say that the food is quite consistent.

It was late afternoon on a weekday, so we had the whole place to ourselves. Service was attentive, but a tad slow, probably because it was their break time — that lull before the dinner crowd starts coming in.

Ordered my usual Vegetable Biryani (or briyani, whichever way you choose to spell it) (RM20++ for a serving large enough to share between two small eaters). It was served in a pretty clay dish along with a bowl of creamy onion and tomato raita.

The biryani was packed with fragrant spices and chunks of fresh carrots, broccoli and French beans. In one word: DELISH!

It also had something I have yet to encounter in biryanis elsewhere — cili padi! Yup, the biryani is HOT, in more ways than one. And this is probably what makes it so appetizing in the first place. Ha ha!

Also had a serving of Aloo Ghobi (RM16++), which is a spicy North Indian cauliflower and potato dish. It was tasty, with just the right amount of salt and spices … But even this had cili padi in it! Spice overkill? Hardly. Hey, that’s what the raita is for.

The only thing missing at this meal was the ubiquitious pappadum. They do serve it here, but at an extra charge, unlike some other establishments where the crispy cracker comes with your biryani. Oh well, can’t have our pappadum and eat it, now can we? Ha ha!

A hearty meal for when you get the craving for something exotic. They also serve a credible banana leaf lunch that’s a lot more affordable than the somewhat pricey ala carte menu.

Colonial Times
Lot 146 & 233, The Curve
Mutiara Damansara
Tel: 03-7729 2441
Open: 10am-1am daily