Roaming KL

Kuala Lumpur is growing on me. When I first came here two years ago, I thought it was a boring city. I just visited the KL Tower, the Petronas and Bukit Bintang. I was only there for 2 days. I came back the next year with my daughter, and still went to the same places. Recently I was there for 3 days, now on my own without any agenda. This post is not about KL but more about the snack times I had. Some famous restaurants I patronize in Malaysia are Secret Recipe (now here in Manila) and Seed (which is a cafe of the same clothing brand). I am not such a fan of Malaysian food, since it's like Singapore's. I like their Rendang though and their Fried Chicken which is just like ours. What I like about this is their rice and sidings! You can never get something this complete here, at the same price as a Fully Loaded Meal in KFC.


Anyway, there's this newly opened mall, the Pavillon, along Bukit Bintang, in front of the Marriot. The mall was huge and high end. It reminded me of the Paragon in Bangkok.


There were a lot of interesting restaurants here especially on the top floor. I was jsut checking the mall out and took pictures of the restos. Wasn't able to eat here though, but I had snacks in two venues here.

LA LOT, a Vietnamse restaurant


BOSPHORUS, Mediterranean fine dining


ANGUS HOUSE, obviously a steak place


BASKIN & ROBBINS CAFE, don't know who was first, HAGEN DAAZ or THIS. Baskin's colors are so bright and cheerful, I was really drawn towards it.


BIG APPLE DONUTS AND COFFEE, like an imitation of the popular J-CO DONUTS in Singapore, Jakarta and also in KL

So, passing by these restaurants, I made my first stop, merienda at O-Cha, a green tea cafe which served fabulous green tea cheesecake. The pictures show the great texture of the cake. The green tea was excellent too. Perfect for a 2PM snack.






Next stop, the Loaf, at the same mall. It was an upscale bakery, think sosyal Breadtalk. The bread were presented well, and each looked irresistibly delicious. When in KL, try to visit this new bread cafe, something that we can take here int he Philippines. Though it may be expensive though, but I see its concept hitting well here. Here are some pictures for you to enjoy.






I moved on to Sunway Pyramid in Subang Jaya. It is the mall where Sunway Lagoon, the waterpark, is located. Near the entrance of the newly expanded mall lies a newly opened cafe that jsut caught your eye, the Friendster Cafe. I wasn't sure if it was a franchise of the social site, so I had to visit it. And yes, it was. They had two computer stations which I used for free to surf the net. Of course, the homepage was Friendster. I ordered Marble Cheesecake and an Iced Latte. The coffee and cake were average. It had few customers, and having a full Starbucks beside it, I wonder if it would last long.






We had dinner in Sunway at this restaurant which prides itself as the original chicken buffet. I forgot their name, but it was on the lowest level in Sunway just to the right of the central stairs. The chicken buffet served 3 types of chicken, fried, roasted and grilled, along with chicken fingers, chicken curry and a whole lot of other variations. There were lots of side dishes and even soup and a salad bar. There was even soft serve ice cream for dessert. All this for just roughly 250 pesos!! Again, nothing like this in Manila.



Finally, dessert. I wanted ice cream and since there was a Hagen Daaz back along Bukit Bintang, we opted to indulge there. I haven't gotten the chance to try the HD Cafe here and sample their famous fondue, so we did in KL. All I can say is, I'M GLAD WE HAVE IT HERE. This was simply the best ice cream fondue experience, if not one of the best fondue indulgences I had. Yummy.




To just make this end quick, we also had a quick buffet dinner at the Mandarin Oriental beside Suria KLCC. I mentioned quick because we only had around 30 minutes before they would close, so we had to get all the food we wanted. I simply loved their chocolate rice aka champorado (they call it bubur something). I thought Mandarin would be a safe choice for food, but unfortunately, I wasn't impressed at all in their limited buffet.


I know it's incomplete, but this was all I could take and write about. We also had dinner in Chelsea by the Park in Suria KLCC, which I always wanted to try out ever since my first visit to KL. I was disappointed though, so I would rather not say anything about it. I am also endorsing the Equator Hostel, a very clean and friendly guesthouse for young travellers on a budget like me. A bed costs 300 pesos and it was okay. So to end, if you're passing by KL, or just want to save on hotel rooms, come here and you'll find the experience more satisfying as you meet wonderful people as well.



EQUATOR HOSTEL
70 Lorong 1/77A
Off Jalan Pudu
http://www.equatorhostel.com/

HAPPY TRAVELING!